Trip Report: Nearly beaten to death and into submission!, **Video Final Added** Options

[Cracker]

Title: Am I really ready for this?

Wow. What an exhausting, frustrating, trying-time this weekend during our first trip to Road Atlanta with the 914!

First of all, it became apparent during the first lap that my experience six-months ago at Roebling Road (nearly perfect) was not
indicative of how well the car and the driver were prepared this time around. I could barely drive it at track speeds - the fun began
after pulling off after only two-laps. The reality set in that this was going to be a long, difficult and trying process - ego and expectation
of a strong pace aside - we had to just get the car to the point where it could safety be driven! The other track hid some of the issues
we were experiencing - Road Atlanta magnified them!

Our problem(s): 1) The car had a terrible shimmy coming from BOTH the front and rear; 2) The lack of corner balancing (my fault!) left
the right-front 106 lbs lighter than the left-front - this meant under any serious braking, the wheel would lock up, 3) The alignment was
all over the place and ill-equipped (at that moment) to be driven in anger; 4) the wheels were out of balance, allot. If you add up those
FOUR major issues we had a car that wasn't fit or safe to be driven quickly. The work begins...

To take a step back...I had "thought" we had a pretty good car, ready to go. It is a humbling experience when you find otherwise and it is
all you can do to keep from wrecking (you and others)! I had to swallow my pride and start from scratch - my friend John Houghton and his
son Will, Larry Caulder (here on the board) and Randy Little all put their heads together to attempt to regain control of the little teener! It was
throwing a temper tantrum - it was winning too! LOL.

We started with the alignment that had a toe-out of .250" (yikes!); the rear was at zero toe (yikes #2)! Part of the problem was the steering wheel
was off-center at about the 10:30 position - drives me nuts! In attempting to fix "that" we made things worse before making them better. Anyone
ever done that or am I alone? Eventually, the suspension was not optimal but at least satisfactory for paddock hacks that we are. Next.

The brakes, particularity the front right, was a huge issue. You cannot safely go fast if you cannot safely stop. Right? The problem was a hold-over
from our first outing that was never addressed. Shame on me. Two times it caused problems - fortunately, I didn't hit anyone or a wall but it required
drastic measures to run. I greatly biased the brakes to the rear - like engaging the rears FIRST. Surprisingly, it worked albeit NOT a permanent fix - simply
a band-aid to get me by.

The Driver: Not only was the car ill-equipped to be driving quickly; I was not in a proper physical or mental state to jump from trying to sort the car to drive
the car. A good lesson for me here is when you show up with a car this poor; the toll it takes on the crew and driver has a tremendous affect on our ability
to - well, drive! I was exhausted and frustrated to the point that it was nearly impossible to be the focused driver I needed to be in this car. The car itself, takes
a tremendous toll on the driver; very physical to drive, saps you of all kinds of energy. I'm going to have to start working out just to be better prepared to drive
the car quickly. In short - it is hard to concentrate when so many "things" are pulling at your attention.

On Saturday, we only got 12-15 laps in the entire day - argh! So it goes when you show up with an ill-prepared car. Sunday was better but we worked on the car
from 8:30-1:00; missing both sessions over that span of time. At 1:30 we finally got out and had a "taste" of what this car can do - more safely this time! The car
is a brute and as a new 914 driver, I'm not nearly up to speed with the nuances that will be required to driver it close to its potential. It will take allot of seat time
to become familiar the chassis and confident as a 914 driver to extract its full potential.

The oddest thing we found (Larry Caulder actually) was that the source of the terrible vibration on both axles was the wheels were out of balance. We were throwing weights and the affect of that felt like something was broken, really broken! A couple trips to the tire balancer and a clean and tape job by my crew (thanks John!), we put that finally behind us. Whew!

Our best run was the "happy hour" late Sunday afternoon. I'm disappointed that the in-car video camera ran out of battery power before the warm up laps where even completed. The rear facing Go-Pro did record the entire session so I combined a couple different sessions to give you an idea of where we got the car to - by the end of the weekend. You will notice a couple obvious driver errors; 1) Since the brakes are still sub-par, I'm braking and off throttle WAY too early; and 2) I'm not picking up that throttle even remotely close to early enough. I might have been a little too conservative and scared of throttle over-steer and it showed.

By the end of the weekend, the car was drivable, just not at its limits. I was proud and thankful of my crew - we are all totally exhausted. The car was probably the third to fourth fastest car on pace despite my driver-inadequacies. The ceiling is very high - it will ultimately depend upon how much risk I want to take on in exploring that limit.

I've included a montage of video and picture below...ask questions, give pointers, good or bad. I'm worn and beaten today. I take full responsibility for the cars lack of preparation and the cascading affect that had on my crew. It is difficult to prepare properly when you're still building and fabricating so many aspects of the car - that list is still quite long! No excuses though - I need to be better than that - never again showing up at the track not ready to go.

Thanks for reading.

Tony/Cracker

PS: The video will take a few hours to upload...I'll post it here once complete.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ00HK827to



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJDftTS9CXQ

[ChrisFoley]

I've gone to events horribly ill-prepared before, and suffered for it.
But never with a car that could bite one so hard as yours.
Good to know you made forward progress and didn't damage anything beyond your ego.
I'm sure all the time you spent chasing shock absorber issues ahead of the event kept you from being more thorough in your prep of the entire car.

[struckn]

Excellent Post Tony, thought I was reading a Sam Smith, Road and Track, Column, only it's written in the Real World. Looking forward to following your progress.

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[0396]

Well, good thing you came back in one piece and didn't cause any damages. For majority of the folks that actually track their cars on a big track, I'm sure we've all been there before -(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
You know what you have to do to enhance your drive the next time. Good luck .

[JFJ914]

Wow, there I was cleaning out the basement all weekend thinking you were having fun!
Glad you and the car made it home in one piece.

[1stworks]

Interesting read.
Thanks for sharing...

I really don't have any advice except keep at it.


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[andys]

Tony,

Thanks for the colorful report. Sorry things didn't work out as you expected.

Yeah, preparation is the key ingredient to a successful track day. Leave nothing unverified.

Waiting for that vid.

Andy

[Cracker]

Here you go guys...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ00HK827to

[r_towle]

Ok, so alignment, corner balance and tires are important.....check.

[tygaboy]

Tony - Crazy... just crazy. Please make sure that hood is secure. Looks like it's trying to jump off. Can't say I blame it, being on the pointy end of that weapon...!
Stay safe, brother.

[mgp4591]

You ran that fast on WalMart balanced tires?? You are BRAVE!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[rick 918-S]

More to a track car than just a big engine and a pair of the hairy ones. Don't forget to enjoy the journey as you tune in all the other aspects.

There are many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. (Young Guns)

[Cracker]

Rich - Yeah. I walked into that one...and deserved it.

Chris - Yes. The hood is not going anywhere but I will be adding two more pins at the center wall between the shock towers. Thanks. PS: Text me your mailing address again - I've got three items to send your way.

MPG - They were enthusiastic (kids) - heck, I drove the car eight miles on slicks into town to get them balanced!

Rick - Yes Sir.

John - It was nice to be there; a couple decent sessions in the right direction can help greatly offset the work and frustration of the entire weekend. We didn't break - that was a win.

Tony

Ok, so alignment, corner balance and tires are important.....check.

[r_towle]

Might consider buying a set of balancing scales that could be used at the track.
Some of the nicer ones can be used for alignment also.

Adjustable perches from places like Coleman racing may help tune the corner balance....more than that will require new shock with adjustable rebound.

Rich

[pete000]

Man, your car is fast !

[messix]

a frustrating day at the track is always better than a good day at work!

i wouldn't beat yourself up. the car didn't blow up or shit it's self all over track spilling fluids or cause any other trouble for others. you learned a lot about what the car needs and there isn't really many other ways to learn that besides track time.

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[wndsrfr]

Here you go guys...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ00HK827to

Geez Tony....despite the issues it's clear that you "own" RA.....hope to see you there with Peachstate end of the month.

[Cracker]

John - Excellent. I've been after you to attend with me - glad it looks like it will work out. How'd it go breaking in the new track in VA?

PS: I certainly don't "own" RA - sure fire way of it balling your car up. I was very, very conservative (for good reasons) heading into, through and out of corners. Came home in one piece and I believe there is 3-5 seconds left with this package (tire limited!) when dialed in (driver too!).

Looking forward to seeing you later in the month...

Tony

Geez Tony....despite the issues it's clear that you "own" RA.....hope to see you there with Peachstate end of the month.

[ChrisFoley]

I think you were exceeding my car's top speed before braking for turn 6.
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[bulitt]

That car is never going to perform well Tony! You better give it to me... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)