March 27, 2007 - More driver development.
I've been autocrossing my little Seven for the past few years. But it's time to start concentrating on Miatas again for a while, so I bolted some race tires and a race seat into my girlfriend's supercharged Miata and went hunting.
The event was a Corvette autocross, always a fun group to run with. My coworker Brandon - driving a turbocharged Miata with another 60-80 hp over mine - and I were the only two non-Corvettes at the race.
It took me a few runs to get used to the slower reflexes and lower grip levels of the Miata instead of the Seven, but it started to come back. Lower grip levels not just because of the different car, but also due to cold weather and a dusty parking lot - a good indication of what we can expect in Newfoundland.
It was a good battle between Brandon, myself and a supercharged 2006 Z-06 running on massive V710s. On my last run, I left the braking a millisecond too late on the last corner and understeered badly to the finish line. Brandon didn't make any mistakes and took the fastest time of the day, while the Z-06 ended up just ahead of me.
Lessons for the Targa? The adjustable brake proportioning will be quite useful and of course I'll have to leave some extra room to stop in adverse conditions. I don't have any trouble controlling the car in big slides (after the first run, I did most of my steering with the rear wheels) but sliding off the outside of a corner in the Targa with locked-up brakes is something to avoid.
tags: testing, other cars, skills |
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