Monday and Tuesday I was at an SCDA event at Watkins Glen in NY ( link to track map). It’s an awesome course, much longer and much faster than NHIS and Lime Rock, the other two in my area. We were on the long loop, with the “boot”, and we were running the chicane too (3.40 miles long).

Some relevant technical info about my VR4 before I continue: I was on 275/40/17 Yokohama AVS ES100s (30mm wider than stock). Brakes were Stoptech 332mm rotors and ST40 calipers. Tein Flex suspension. My alignment settings were negative 2 degrees camber in the front, and negative 1.5 in the rear, with zero toe front and back. As some of you might remember, I was also running a manual steering rack.

I found the course pretty easy to grasp. Just about everything that I couldn’t do, I could at least identify as a mistake. I had a Spec Miata guy who was an instructor at the event go out with me my first session just to get some pointers, then I was by myself for the rest of the event.

The coolest part of the course is definitely the esses and back straight. By the end of the second day, I was getting into 4th going into the esses and then holding it flat out until the chicane. Entry speed for the chicane was probably about 80 (I started to push it and get sloppy in my later sessions), so I was hauling it down regularly from 135 to 75-80. Great fun and an opportunity to finally use my car’s power. Here’s a photo of the uphill esses. At the bottom of the hill, by the Bosch sign, I’m getting into 4th. Then I’m full throttle up the hill (where the green Elise is), through another switchback, and then on to the actual straight. It’s somewhat hard to capture just how long this part is with a picture.

Almost as cool is the sweeping right and then downhill left that follows the chicane. The Glen is not flat except on the front straight, so that right-hander is slightly downhill (you can’t see the apex cone until you’ve already either prepared to hit it or failed). Track out is uphill, then it crests and dives down to the left. Again you can’t see the apex until very late. This part has a killer roller-coaster feel, and by the end I was tearing through here. If there was a little more time between the corners I’d be able to get 4th, but as it was the fastest was to ride the limiter into the left-hander.

The second-to-last left hander on the course is awkwardly uphill, off-camber, and a pain in the ass. On my very first lap I oversteered and had the wheel ripped out of my hands. I’m glad it happened though, so I could feel what counter-steering and spin control would be like with the manual rack. Later I had a very nice drift through that corner that the flagmen got a great view of.

For 3 of my sessions I was having a great time going at it with a brand new GT3 in my run group. (Click here for a picture of the car.) We were fairly evenly matched skill-wise, and I was surprised to find that we were EXACTLY the same on the straights. No difference in acceleration. At first he was killing me in the chicane, but after I changed my line and started diving over the rumble strips I was actually able to gain on him through there.

As for the car, it did pretty well I thought. All concerns I had about the manual rack and 275s are gone. The thing is wonderful on track, in my opinion. My arms are a touch sore, but at no point did I struggle, find it vague, or wish for power steering.

I think I could probably use a touch more camber. The spread I had seemed to give a good balance of oversteer when I wanted it, and I spent a lot of time getting into a corner and just keeping the front end right on the edge of going out by modulating the throttle. Well, except for corner 1. Towards the end of the event I took a ride in a Spec Miata. He was cutting way in (that corner is very tight too). I stole the line on my next session and went from being close to ending fourth by the chicane to actually ending it.

Noah was there as well, with his Miata. I imagine he’ll be posting a report of his own, with a different perspective.