Had the best time ever with the 550 on track this weekend

Man oh man....new tires, more throttle steering, more confidence, and a couple of slightly new lines at TWS this past weekend (I was instructing at an event), and it made a huge difference! A whole lot less understeer, better rotation, much better launches out of the corners down the straightaways. Chased down & caught a number of other instructors' cars that usually are out of reach in the 4,400 lb. Maranello (car, me, adult passenger, and full tank of gas = approx. 4,400 pounds).

BOO-YAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What kind of tires were you running?

Regards,
Chris

 

Share/show the fun. Sounds like a great day!

 

sounds like a lot of fun. I am glad to see someone so excited about a 550 on the track. IF my 550 goes through next week, I would like to run it occassionally on the track. How does it compare to your M3 (obviously massively more acceleration but how about through corners?).

 

Dave,

What tires are you running?

You must be flying, great job, Lap times??

Mark

 

A 550 is like a broadsword on the track. You have to use every inch of the track from turn in to run out. Imagine racing a locomotive. But it is not as scary as it sounds. Everything is very predictable.

A 360, by comparison, is a rapier. You dance around the track. However, when it goes, your life changes in a hurry.

Dale

ps Dave, Ara is also planning to race Grand Am in a BMW, but I think in a different class.

 

I got rid of the Michelin Pilot Sport street tires that had heat cycled to death & were hard as rocks. This is a particularity of Pilot Sports that are used on track---they heat cycle to death after about 8-10 heat cycles. I replaced them with Pirelly PZero Rosso street tires. Same wear rating (we will see about that) but they are much softer & more compliant, but with a nice stiff sidewall.

It made all the difference, once I drove a few laps & realized that all of a sudden that car had grip! The 550's predominant low-speed understeer is still there (due to its prodigious weight) but the high speed understeer & the lower speed oversteer at slight throttle positions is gone.

For those who know TWS, I was able to dive MUCH deeper down the straightaway into T1, and take a broader line thru 1 & T2, with full throtle (in 4th gear) from T2 turn in all the way to the braking zone of T3. Downshift from 4th to 3rd. I had a lot more front end grip in T3, and was able ot confidently use more throttle there to rotate the car & blast to T4. Upshift. T4 turn in was early, fully using ALL of the new rumble strip (except in the wet yesterday...) and blast to T5...slight lift & then more throttle around to T6. Downshift to 3rd. I had a lot less understeer in T6, was able to rotate the car with more throttle & had a GREAT launch down the back straight. Slight lift at turn in for T7 (after the tires warmed up) but NO brakes!! And then full throttle up out of 7 up the hill. Still in 4th!! Gentle early braking into T8, off the brakes early to settle the car, rotate into T8 with gas, turn down T9 & get both right tires all the way over the right side concrete apron for more grip, full throttle! Hard brake into T10 (carousel), downshift to 3rd. Took a deep line, but the car rotated BEAUTIFULLY there for the first time ever, and I was able to get on strong throttle to late apex & settle the car before turning left into T11, where I was at full throttle before the apex!!! Still in 3rd, slight life before T12, then back hard on the gas. Wind out 3rd gear, hard brake, rotate into T13, then back to T14...LOTS of grip despite prodigious tire squeal, then full throttle out of 14 thru 15 onto the straightaway.

For the first time--partly due to tires & partly due to confidence & improved skillsets, I was able to drive the 550 like I do the M3. Mark, I don't have a transponder, but I always had a passenger...and one time one of them had a stopwatch. Best lap (on Saturday in the dry) was 1:56.xx, which is pretty amazing for street tires, stock suspension, and 4400 lbs. We did a bunch of 1:57's-1:59's that session as well, so it was not a fluke. I was floating on air.

How was your race??????????????????????????????????

Steve, the 550 is much, much heavier than the M3, and it feels it. Braking distances are about double (but i have the M3 set up for track use & also use track compound tires on it). Much more understeer (I have essentially none in the M3), and much more body roll, even in Sport. But the power is ungodly, and with my exhaust set-up, it sounds orgasmic!!! Mark knows the sound...

 

Dale, what BMW? Is it an M3? If so, it is a different class. He will be competing against Boris.

 

I'm not sure. He said that the car will cost about $60k. I'll let you know more when I find out.

If you don't mind me asking, how are you sitting for sponsorship money.

Dale

 

I don't mind you asking. The blunt answer is that, so far, I have zero. Have not even pursued it yet, but now that the license is here, I should. Do you have something in mind?

;-)