Driver's Needed - Watkins Glen!!!!!!

[SDW Racing]

Guys, we still need a few more students to fill some open slots at the Apex August 3,4 event at Watkins Glen.

If you ever wanted to see what your Mustang could really do here is your best and safest opportunity. Excellent instruction from experienced Cobra & Mustang drivers and the absolute best road course in the USA.
Bring your wife and kids and get your photo taken at speed on a real race track. (no your wife and kids cannot ride in your Mustang). A track photo of you in your Cobra at speed is worth more than all the show trophys you will ever collect.

WARNING, OPEN TRACKING CAN BE ADDICTIVE AND SO FAR THERE IS NO KNOWN CURE.

http://www.apexperformancedriving.com/2005 Events.htm


Currently there is less than half the normal number signed up, which means....

LOTS OF TRACK TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

45 min sessions will probably be the norm. This is a great time to learn how to drive your high performance machine betther than before.

Watkins Glen is driver (and beginner) friendly, lots of upgrades have been made, armco has been moved back, corners improved, etc.

Come run on the course that put Road Racing in America on the map, you won't regret it!!!!

JM

 

[ac427cobra]

W3RD! :rockon:

 

[ShelbyGuy]

i need a sponsor :cryying:

 

[NJ2000R]

I'm either doing this one or CMR (or both) the end of August....all depends on how busy work still is in august...

 

[mrmustang]

JM,

Already signed up epper: :banana: epper: . The little red wagon (ok, not so much a wagon as a hatchback ) should have it's new bearings, new oil pump, and new canton road racing pan all installed and sorted out by then. No chance of affording a set of slicks (same goes for a new set of 3:27 gears to offset the T10 close ratio 4spd and WGI's long straights) this time around, I'll be running a set of Kuhmo "Z" rated street tires..Just remember to wave as you lap me :burnout: ..........


Bill S.

 

[SDW Racing]

JM,

Already signed up epper: :banana: epper: . The little red wagon (ok, not so much a wagon as a hatchback ) should have it's new bearings, new oil pump, and new canton road racing pan all installed and sorted out by then. No chance of affording a set of slicks (same goes for a new set of 3:27 gears to offset the T10 close ratio 4spd and WGI's long straights) this time around, I'll be running a set of Kuhmo "Z" rated street tires..Just remember to wave as you lap me :burnout: ..........


Bill S.

Bill,

are the wheels on the red wagon 4 bolt or 5 bolt?

If they are 5 bolt I can lend you a set ot Goodyear GSCS tires. I only have a bazillion wheels.

 

[03'Darin]

John are you doing the Aug 22-23 event? Sorry for the brief hijack. lol I'm signed up to run and instruct. :rockon:

Ken, hurry up and get those IRS bushing kits done so you can get out and play. :banana:

Darin

 

[mrmustang]

4 lug :cryying: :cryying: :cryying: That's OK, I'll make do with what I have this year.....Then when things finally fall into place for me, I'll hopefully have some extra spending money for next year...............

Bill S.

PS: Of course the wife sat down with me not ten minutes ago as said she wants to quite her job :bash: :bash: :bash:

Bill,

are the wheels on the red wagon 4 bolt or 5 bolt?

If they are 5 bolt I can lend you a set ot Goodyear GSCS tires. I only have a bazillion wheels.

 

['03 Sonic Blue]

i need a sponsor :cryying:

Yeah, I'd need someone to buy my plane fare and put me in a car.

--Mike

 

[SDW Racing]

Darin,

No plans for 8/22, who is running that event?

I am on 'standby' for instructing the 8/3 event w/ Apex.

I'd really like to run some short tracks some more before I sell this car.
Would like to get back to LRP, Beaver Run (haven't run there with this car yet) and Summit Point.

 

['03 Sonic Blue]

[QUOTE='03 Sonic Blue]Yeah, I'd need someone to buy my plane fare and put me in a car.

--Mike[/QUOTE]

OTOH, the spousal unit says "it's Watkins Glen!!!" and she's game. However, 800 miles is beyond my current range and she does not share in the driving when towing a trailer. Besides, I can't keep anything cool for 20 minutes at a time, so 45 minutes would be quite a challenge.

--Mike

 

[SDW Racing]

Mike,

Remember in yer younger days when you could go ALL NIGHT with yer girlfriend?

Thats what driving the Glen is for 45 minutes,,,you are exhausted, but happy.

Run sessions may be longer, who knows??????????????????

May 2004 we ran Beaver Run with these guys ......ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!

5 hours of track time on day one and over 7 hours on day two.

by the time you finish with these guys you will never want to race again!!!!!!

....until the next time, that is.

:beer: :banana: :banana: epper: epper: :kaboom: :bowdown: :bowdown: epper: epper: epper: :beer:

 

['03 Sonic Blue]

Mike,

Remember in yer younger days when you could go ALL NIGHT with yer girlfriend?

Thats what driving the Glen is for 45 minutes,,,you are exhausted, but happy.

Run sessions may be longer, who knows??????????????????

May 2004 we ran Beaver Run with these guys ......ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!

5 hours of track time on day one and over 7 hours on day two.

by the time you finish with these guys you will never want to race again!!!!!!

....until the next time, that is.

:beer: :banana: :banana: epper: epper: :kaboom: :bowdown: :bowdown: epper: epper: epper: :beer:

So, what's the average high temp for the first week of August at the Glen?

--Mike

 

[mrmustang]

82 degrees for a high, 58 degrees for a low.

Click HERE for the Weather Channel monthly planner for WGI.

Bill S.




[QUOTE='03 Sonic Blue]So, what's the average high temp for the first week of August at the Glen?

--Mike[/QUOTE]

 

[SDW Racing]

Mike,

If you're worried about keeping car temps down, remember the Glen has two long straights, your temps will be much lower vs. running at short tracks where you are always shifting/braking.

Are you having cooling problems? If so, what are they?

 

['03 Sonic Blue]

Mike,

If you're worried about keeping car temps down, remember the Glen has two long straights, your temps will be much lower vs. running at short tracks where you are always shifting/braking.

Are you having cooling problems? If so, what are they?

Everything that can get too hot, does.

For now just the engine and transmission. I have a diff cooler installed and can keep temps under control on it.

I've got a Fluidyne radiatior, removed thermostat, plugged the thermostat bypass hose, run the heater full blast (with dash vents pointed at passenger). Added water wetter to 50/50 antifreeze. Built appox 5 inch air dam under the radiator in place of the stock 1-1/2 inch one to help incease pressure drop across radiator. (The air dam seemed to trim itself to a steady state height during braking and cornering.) We'll see how things go at Gingerman.

BTW, I don't think the Fluidyne radiatiator is much, if any, better than stock. But I don't feel like swapping it out at the track to get an apples to apples comparison.

At MAM with 90 deg ambient temp, I could run about 5 laps (<10 minutes) before the ECM declared the engine too hot (244 deg F as read from the OBDII port) and would go into limp-in mode. Actually I didn't have to back off too much to get it to stay under control. It looked like I could add two or three seconds to my lap time and keep the temp around 235F.

The tranny temp gauge only goes to 250F. We were running two run groups and only had time to take a quick peek at the brakes and tires between sessions. The tranny gauge stayed pegged all afternoon. At startup for the next session it would still be past 250F.

The SVT engineer I spoke with at AutoBahn said the trans should be good for the upper 200s and I shouldn't be concerned about it.

Now, I'm focused mainly on the engine. I think with the current set-up. I'm good til the ambient temp hits about 80 to 85F on a 2 mile course.

I don't know about longer tracks. The out of the box factory cooling system was only good up to 80F at Road America. I've not run there in warm weather since changes have been made.

--Mike

 

[ShelbyGuy]

my car stays cooler on the shorter tracks. full throttle under boost generates the most heat for me. i must not be going fast enough yet though, because my car has yet to go into limp-home mode on the track, even with the temp gauge reading 245f.

 

['03 Sonic Blue]

my car stays cooler on the shorter tracks. full throttle under boost generates the most heat for me. i must not be going fast enough yet though, because my car has yet to go into limp-home mode on the track, even with the temp gauge reading 245f.

There seems to be some difference between our cars regarding the calibration of the temperature sensor and the capabilities of the radiator pressure cap. Mine never loses coolant and goes to limp in. Yours was losing some coolant and not going to limp-in at AutoBahn. This may mean yours would lose significant coolant before the ECM thinks it's hot enough to go into limp-in. Mine may be going there too early.

BTW, I don't have a temperature gauge (other than the faux factory gauge, which shows about 3mm past center when it goes to limp-in) My temperature readings are taken from OBDII port which should be what the ECM is being told.

--Mike

 

[SDW Racing]

Typically, shorter tracks can generate higher temps because you are running longer in the lower gears.

A track like Shenendoah at Summit Point, I am running 2 thru 4. WGI, 3 thru 5.

Mike, I would recommend using something in place of the thermostat, you need to have some back pressure in the cooling system. You can use a thermostat housing minus the actual gate, hollow it out. I would also call the manufacturer of the radiator and get the specs.

Do you notice any change in the car? Do you really know the system is hot and not just a false reading on the guage?

I have a Howe aluminum radiator in my 95 Mustang race car and it runs at 170 to 190 all day long, even on the hottest days.

 

['03 Sonic Blue]

Mike, I would recommend using something in place of the thermostat, you need to have some back pressure in the cooling system. You can use a thermostat housing minus the actual gate, hollow it out.

Do you notice any change in the car? Do you really know the system is hot and not just a false reading on the guage?

Actually the thermostat housing is still in place.

As far as I know the temp is actually hot. The oil temp runs slightly higher than the water temp. I'll measure the temperature by alternate means after I get the diff put back together to confirm the temperature readings. I have a couple of thermocouple devices I can use to confirm the temp.

Does your race car run a separate oil cooler? One of the limitations of the '03 Cobra is the water to oil cooler. It's using the cooling capacity of the radiator to cool the oil, also. There are guys running these things in the south that I think have solved the cooling issue or at least made it tolerable in conditions there, I just need to do more research to see what they've done.

If I can't run in 85+ weather, then the guys in Texas wouldn't be able to drive past a track without overheating.

--Mike