Track video at Wakefield Park - It's online now

[BigKriss]

A big thankyou from Barry from Dubai (aka grave77). He is hosting the file for me and he lowered the video resolution to reduce the size.You can download it from here. (ftp://divineftp.no-ip.org/jap/BigKriss_track.wmv). It's unedited, and goes from about 43 mins. The file size is 84 megs.

I downloaded the file myself to check it out, for me download speeds varied between 4 and 20 kilobytes per second.

[Jeff N.]

Parse that thing man...3 to 5+ hours download time!

[liquidtiger720]

mine got done in 1.5 hours =)

The video is awsome.

[Jeff N.]

THREE spins in one day!???

Duuuude...c'mon. Get yer dick back in yer pants. :D

Jeff

[bahnstormer]

that is just too funny, an automatic 535i racin around hehehe
the revs drop so low in the turns its hilarious!

[niall]

good on ya kriss
were u in sport or manual?

[Jeff N.]

What do you see in the vids?

[niall]

that is just too funny, an automatic 535i racin around hehehe
the revs drop so low in the turns its hilarious!


you shouldnt really take the piss like that man

[BigKriss]

I woke about at about 5:00am, picked up my mate from the city, and then it's about a 2 hour drive to the track. It's about 220km (south) from Sydney.It's a small track, 2.2km in length.

The outside car video was my first time at the track on the 21/3/2005, the in car video was my second time, 11/4/2005. The first time on the track, it feels a bit intimidating at first. You don't exactly know where to break, when to turn, how much speed the car can take, how much throttle you can give out of corners, whats the best driving line, turning in early / late etc. The right driving line is so important, but i'm not always thinking in that mentality.

You try to brake a little bit later or harder, the car gets unsteady. Around corners on the limit, the tyres squeal a lot. it still feels 'pretty' firmly planted but there seems like always corrections to be made through the corner. the car is easy to drive though, light steering, steering response seems late, there is plenty of play in the middle on the steering wheel.

I never got any help from an instructor, the only help was on the first day, my mate (fellow Porsche 924 driver) who had tracked there previously, he advised me when when to turn and brake, for about 4 laps.

Other people who track their car, is surpised the car is auto. I have never driven a manual car before.

I know I spun three times, (twice on the second day) as you can see there is almost no-one else on the track. Sessions where about 20 mins each untimed. The cost is AUS$80, for the track use, then another aus$40 for a wakefield park licence which lasts one year, you need a motorcycle helmet and thats it.

I had it in 'sport' mode all the time (cuts out 4th gear which I don't need). In auto mode it changes back from 3rd to second then to third again through the corners. the fuel consumption meter was reading 30/L per 100 kms.

I don't know weather to keep revving the **** out of the engine in second, or let the torque do the work in third. Definately in second in pulls away harder. I'm scared of keeping the engine 5500+ rpms, but also I want to test the limits of the car. The car has a 6500 cut out which I didn't hit, I hardly ever revved the engine over 6000 rpm.

When entering a corner, should I shift the gearbox manually into second?.

At the end of the straight the gearbox slips into 3rd under brakes, to counteract this I have to push the accelerator moderalty hard to get it back into second.

Can you change the software of the auto trans to change the shift points and amount of time is held in each gear?

Maybe I'm complaing too much, sport mode shifts at around 5800, full throttle. With the EAT chip, I'm thinking I have another 400 rpm is usable engine power, of course at the exent of engine wear. Is it worth it?

The only advanatge I see with the slushbox is, left foot braking, which I do all the time.

[grave77]

I agree on this point, using the manual (snow driving) on the automatic gear is much better.

[grave77]

sorry for the late reply... since i'm hosting the file, and my upload speed is 256kbs, so if 2 or 3 guys were downloading u will be sharing the band width and i didn't want to limit the users. anyway good that u managed to download it. original file was 526MB =)

[Rory535i]

dude just change gears manually and hold it in each one for as long as you like so you get the extra revs.

[grave77]

well ... i think the answer to all this is to install a manual gear. i'm a bit ammused that sport cuts off ur 4th gear!! mine doesn't, but in ur case as i mentioned above u should have used the M, manual. I hit the 6200 rpm alot ... go to extremes this engine can stand it. u remember when I stepped on it to the 7000+ ... it was dangerous I know... but it happened to change the vavle adjustemnt after all. but its a nice experinece after all.

[Jeff N.]

You got basically no help from the "instructor". I didn't hear any discussion whatsoever of your braking point, turn-in, the apex you selected, throttle application, consistancy, smoothness, driving position, or any safety comments. Pretty damn sorry job by those folks.

That really was my biggest observation .... no useful instruction.

That first turn after the paddock is pretty scary. As I kept watching the video, I would gringe every time you rolled into that corner just waiting for a spin. Ultimately, you didn't disappoint me. :D The other spins were mild compared to what that corner can serve up.

Except for the first turn, I like the track layout. Looks fun to drive and has a lot of runout in case you do get off track. Nice and wide open too - you can see all the cars. Local track
here (http://www.pacificraceways.com/) is not really as safe as yours - much less runout, has some blind corners and trees and a big elevation change messes up the sight lines.

Didn't look to me like you needed any more braking help. Car seemed to do OK. I'd find a good instructor next time and have them really work with on getting the line nailed and some technique refinement.

Fun Stuff Kriss!