It was hot last Tuesday at ICAR... like summer hot (26 degrees). Still, I really wanted to try and set a good lap time before the end of the season. I was pretty sure the car could do 1:14's and I wanted to prove this as soon as possible. I had a problem with my GPS the week before, so I didn't have any data, except for the last session's, which was a 1:15.70. I was hoping the heat would not rob the engine of too much power, but everything seemed OK in the first session. I managed a 1:15.18 near the end of the session, so I was very motivated to try to break into the 1:14's. In my second session, I was able to click off two laps in a row in the 1:14's, the best being a 1:14.74. I was pretty happy about that. Since I chose to only run in green sessions, it was pretty dark by my 3rd session and the track felt slower (the 944 driver confirmed it). I was a full second slower. I decided to call it a night, because the car was running well and I would be heading to Mosport only 3 days later. I wasn't terribly happy with the last session, but I was happy with the car and I had improved my driving in the chicane as well. The trick, I believe, is to treat the left-hander at the entry of the chicane as if it were a standalone corner, because if you are slow enough to make that left, you can surely make the right that forms the second part of the chicane. My struggles concerning gear selection (since installing the new final drive) are resolved: I always upshift to fourth if there is any doubt. Even when running a 1:14's, I was being passed, by the 350Z, a Cayman race car, a Cayman GT4RS and the blue MR2. That's fine with me, I think I'm doing all right for a normally aspirated front-wheel-drive car. I think the fastest Civics are doing high 1:12's, which is impressive, but I'm pretty sure they are lighter than my car and more powerful. Can my car run a 1:13? Maybe, if all the planets align... I hope it doesn't rain on the Perry Performance family track day in a couple of weekends so I can see what the car can do before I put it away for winter!
Here is a video of my best laps:
Four four-cylinder cars
Nicely modified Cayman
Rare Cayman GT4RS
... they look pretty similar side by side
Nice AMG GTR
Also nice: Nismo 370Z
Nice E92 M3, another Cayman in the background
Nice wheels on this Elantra N
Cayman GT4 and the 350Z that always passes me
Clean Civic Si
More Hondas
Pink clouds
Very clean EP3 from Ontario
The Civic and a cool NB Miata
Almost sunset
Photos from Facebook... it was dark in the last session
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