I haven't been on here in a while, so I'm gonna post an update, for anyone who remembers my previous thread about my road racing and my car, and wonders what's up with that.A month ago, I had an event in Tennessee, at which I got second, behind my sister's boyfriend, Brian. My car, however, didn't fair so well.The track we were lapping was pretty technical, which wasn't the problem. The prelim's put me in second, .31 seconds behind Brian in his STi (holy fast, Batman!) and 1 second before third, a Civic Si. The first race finished like prelim's did, meaning the top three, Brian, me, then the Si, started like that again. The second of three races, however, ended differently. I overtook Brian in the second to last corner, then drove defensively to a first place finish, meaning I'd start first in my third heat, no matter how anyone else finished, while he somehow fell to third. My third heat, the second to last one of the day, started at night, under the lights, which was only a small issue, but I could over come that easily. It was 5 laps, longest of the day, estimated to last 15 minutes for the first place finisher. In the fourth lap, I was chasing Brians STi, but closing quickly. Throughout the day, on the back straight, I had been hitting about 120mph, but for some reason this race I was hitting around 140mph for I had to brake for the third to last corner. This lap, I hit 157mph, braked for the corner, and slid past Brian to take to lead! Until the fifth lap on the back straight I had held him off, keeping my minimal lead alive. Last straight, last lap, and I have a lead... I downshifted for the last corner, fifth to third, shot through the corner, and buried the throttle for the straight away. 120, 130, 144, then brake... brake, BRAKE!!!!!! Apparently, I had damaged my front driver side brake pad, causing me to stop more slowly than usual! I turned into the corner early, hoping to bleed off speed when I changed direction, which worked, but gave up my lead to Brian (sad face). I came through the third to last corner, engine braking the whole way, second to last, hit the throttle, last corner, and I lost traction in the back tires entirely, spun a full 2 rotations, crossed the finish line in reverse at 40mph, and proceeded to slide off the track into the 'pits' (the prestaging area for the drag strip in the infield)I turned the car off, caught my breath, and was then dragged from my vehicle by Brian, thinking I was unconscious. As it turns out, my brakes had been slowly going all day, but I hadn't really noticed it enough to do anything about it. The Damage Report: Brakes on both front wheels, ruined; all four semi-slick tires, chewed to death by the spins; side skirts, smashed by the drop for track to infield to prestaging area; KYB Gas Shocks in the back, blown by overcompression, then overextention, then overcompression again when I left the ground; all in all, about $8,000 in damage, all for a $7,500 second place finish. I'm glad it is nearly covered by the finish, and I'm VERY thankful I didn't hurt anyone but my car, and that my only injury was a serious case harness burn. I'm counting my lucky stars, that's for sure.As of yesterday, the only thing my car needs is a rear suspension, which is in the mail from Japan right now. My burns are healed, I have a date with an amazing girl I've known for years, and she has decided she's driving, mainly because I don't have a car lol... So that's the size of that... just an update for those that want to know. Yes, I've learned from my mistakes, yes I know what I do is dangerous, and yes, I do have a new found respect for speed.
-
Automotive update
-
What car do you drive? Please say GTR.Either way, whilst you're replacing the brakes may as well go the full haul and slap on some monster Brembos.
-
It's a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T. I already had Brembos on it, but they've since been removed and replaced with an identical set of Brembos, but with Red calipers this time around. Helps add some red to a mostly black car.