Took the F355 to the kart track

We finally convinced the local kart track owner to let us hold a sportscar night on his track. He made some money and we had a blast.




Having some fun in the F355.

http://www.youtube.com/v/JROuD-EYkNk?rel=0



Playing around in my wife's Corvette.

http://www.youtube.com/v/mZrzoCiDX1o?rel=0


Rob
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He was mainly concerned with people going off track and damaging a corner station or light pole or hurting themselves.

The Ferrari even on it's 6+ year old tires (new tires are on order) handled MUCH better than the C6 on it's (crappy) street tires. The weight difference and suspension design is a huge factor on this tight technical course, it's basically an oversized Auto-X course but a lot more fun and no cones to streak up your paint. The Corvette understeered on corner entry and oversteered on corner exit, all electro-nannies were OFF. I wish there was an ABS OFF switch as the system wouln't allow trail braking to help rotate the car, it kept kicking the brake pedal back to me and caused a wide line. The Corvette was still a ton of fun and handled great when the tires weren't overheated but the F355 didn't care about that, it handled consistently throughout the tire heat range, simply stunning. The ABS never interfered in the F355 though I'd still prefer an OFF switch to aid in spin control if necessary.

I didn't get any footage of the Corvette running CW, we switched up the direction for the end of the night and I just went out to do some sliding around.

I will be going back once I have the R comps mounted and it should net a lower lap time. I could have held tighter lines (and did throughout the night) but squealing tires and opposite lock makes for better video. I timed a few 1:05.XX laps in the F355, didn't time any in the C6. I'm hoping for 1:02's after the new tires. That blue 240Z in the pics has a built LS6 and slicks and it was running consistent 1:00's with a couple 59's and a 58. I drove it for 4 laps and ran a 59 and a 58.8. That car is FAST.

My favorite is the downshifts.

Rob

 

I think it's a simple matter of weight and size between the 2. The track I was on is a 2nd gear track with a short time in 3rd in each car. I shifted the C6 at about 5000 and the F355 at 7000 so truly both cars could just stay in 2nd the entire time.

I have NT01's on order for the F355, I don't think there is a better 'legal' R comp out there that fits the car. I sampled the Star Specs when they came out a few years ago, we got a free set for our shop STi to run an event and give a review. I wasn't too impressed but then again it was a 3300lb car on a tight course so it's hard to judge.


Rob

 

Thanks guys.

The track record is held by a shifter kart and the time is 46 or 48 seconds depending on direction.