Track Techniques Inc. - A High Performance Driving School

[pkieley]

Anyone interested in this school for the end of September?

http://www.racecity.com/links.php (scroll down)

If we can get a few people Jay Pringle would run a course over one day instead of the usual 3 evenings: which would be a big help $$$$ for out-of-towners.


The course doesn't certify for road racing but is a prerequisite for lapping days.

pm me your e-mail and I will send some more info.

Phil

[Snortin93]

This is a fantastic course for learning how to drive our cars to their limits (and beyond :eek: ) If you've always wanted to take a high-performance driving course, but could never justify $3-5,000 USD for a Skip Barber/Bob Bondurant course, this is your ticket. I took this course last year, and was so impressed that I had my 17 year-old daughter take it earlier this year. You'll be on the track with some Porsche's, Ferrari's, Vette's, Viper's, Lotus and all other types of vehicles that were made to run laps around a race course. You'll certainly learn what understeer feels like, and how to control it.

Only one word of caution if you plan on driving your Stealth. Upgrade your brakes before attending! An OEM braking setup will last you only 4 laps before they're gone. Trust me, I tried that last year. :o Upgrading to performance pads, brake fluid, and stainless steel lines makes a world of difference and allows you to use the car more to it's full potential.

Jay & his instructors are a really good group of guys that'll teach you as much as you're willing to learn. :bigup:

[surreal]

im interested in some more info ... sounds like just what ive been looking for ... but hopefully without the crazy price tag attached. pm'd you my email addy.
... hmmm, guess i should get some better brakes first tho ...

[surreal]

are there any later courses, or is this the last one offered this yr? :(
i really really really wanna do this, but i just dont think my car will be ready by then.

[pkieley]

You should talk to Jay Pringle, He is very accomodating. He is going to give me the classroom portion the same day as the first track day because I have to work. So I`m down for the 28th, 29th.

Can you scrounge up another MT car?

[surreal]

yeah maybe ill give him a ring and see if anything can be done, good idea.
well, if i cant get the ol stealth up to par maybe ill have to bust out the badass brick --- volvo 240dl!! wooo! fr 5spd! hahahaha

[Snortin93]

yeah maybe ill give him a ring and see if anything can be done, good idea.
well, if i cant get the ol stealth up to par maybe ill have to bust out the badass brick --- volvo 240dl!! wooo! fr 5spd! hahahahaDon't do it!!! You'll spend the whole time wondering how it would feel in your Stealth. Get the TT going, and you'll have a marvelous time. A buddy of mine also participated with his Acura TL Type-S, enjoyed the course immensely, but still wonders what it would feel like in a real car. What do you need to do to your car yet? Just get it done! If you don't, you'll spend all winter wishing you had. Especially when Phil's on the board telling everyone what an awesome experience it was.... :mad:

[surreal]

Don't do it!!! You'll spend the whole time wondering how it would feel in your Stealth. Get the TT going, and you'll have a marvelous time. A buddy of mine also participated with his Acura TL Type-S, enjoyed the course immensely, but still wonders what it would feel like in a real car. What do you need to do to your car yet? Just get it done! If you don't, you'll spend all winter wishing you had. Especially when Phil's on the board telling everyone what an awesome experience it was.... :mad:

haha yeah i dont think id have the heart to actually put the volvo thru that kind of track abuse anyway. and youre right, it just wouldnt be the same without the tt.

im still waiting on my new rotors/lines/pads ... my brakes right now are scary! maybe ill just change over the fluid and see if i can get pads locally ($$$ :( ) tho.
other things id like to install before hitting the track: new ball joints, springs, and rear strut bar.
ahhhhh ... so much to do. i was just starting my fp hotwire and alky inj ... maybe ill put that on hold now.

[Snortin93]

The only thing you really need to do is ensure that your brakes are up to snuff. If you're down on power, it's no biggie. If you're down on brakes, you're gonna crash!

I'm not sure if you're gonna find decent pads locally, but if you can, then you're set. Just don't try it with OEM or similar replacement pads. Fast Eddie or SpeedFreakSteve might be able to hook you up with some decent pads that are track-worthy. Turn your current rotors ($20-$40), replace the brake fluid with a high temp Dot 4 (such as Valvoline SynPower synthetic), remove the dust shields for additional cooling, and you should be okay for some good hard laps. A couple of hours, if you've got the parts, and you'll be road course ready.

If you're worried about hurting your engine, turn down the boost a bit just to be safe.

[surreal]

i cant seem to get the sfr website to work, guess ill pm him and see what he can do for brake pads. wanted to try the porterfields or stillens ... im guessing these will be near impossible to find locally tho.

thanks for the heads up on synpower too. i will probably end up using that as, once again, i cant find what i was looking for locally. any idea where i might get motul600 or ate fluid?

gonna try to do my ball joints morrow night and get the rotors off to be turned monday. might as well throw the springs in while im in the neighborhood haha.
least ill have lots of practice working in the dark with no sleep ...

EDIT: got the sfr website to work (.NET is fine but .CA is only half finished?) but he only seems to have fwd na pads :(

[pkieley]

Steve, are you going to come out for lapping on the 29th?

[Snortin93]

I plan on being there to watch for sure. I'm still debating about driving. The last lapping day I did, I wore out my Porterfield pads so now I'm just running some Wagner Thermo-quiets. They're fine for the street, but won't hold up for lapping. I'm planning on picking up some race pads and other brake parts from Supercar when I'm in the US in October so that I can run with the Vipers.

If I can get my Rx-7 ready for the track in time, I might just bring it out. We'll see..... :confused:

Surreal, you're prolly best off emailing SFS cuz I don't think he checks his PM's as often (<-based on another thread or comments by Steve).
And I can't seem to find FastEddies website now....

[pkieley]

Have you seen this site before?

http://www.rallysport.ca/index.htm

Check out their gallery, and while your there drool over the HotBits! Soon coming to a DSM near you! :cool:

What cha gotta do to the 7?

I`d offer you up my pads surreal, but I think their OEM.

http://www.turnfast.com/index.shtml
http://www.wincom.net/trog/autocross/
http://www.martincheck.com/

Few sites I turned up in my research.

[surreal]

thanks for the pad offer ... im STILL looking for pads ... best ive founds so far are the hawk hps pads, which would be fine if they didnt take 2-3wks to order :rolleyes:
ive talked to sfs and he doesnt carry any awd pads. canadianperformance is mia too it seems.

the search continues but im starting to give up hope; my current pads start to fade after one good stop!
one place said that thermoquiets were the best pad ever made for these cars! :whoa: thanks for the info on those snortin, they would probably be a great pad for daily driving but it sounds like they might not be enough for the track :(
btw what kind of rex do you have? love those cars ...

[Snortin93]

I've got 2 1983 first gen Rx-7's. One is now only a parts car; too many years out east getting eaten by the rust bug. However, it's got all the BPU parts on it, so I'm slowly stipping it and putting the good stuff on the other one. My daughter had it on the track this spring and had no problems with it, but I want to swap the struts, springs and shocks and get an alignment before venturing out. It could use some upgraded brake pads & brake fluid too while I'm at it..... :rolleyes:

[surreal]

nice! i hardly ever see any of those little guys around anymore. sounds like youve got your hands full with the 7 tho! seems like theres just always something that could/should be done eh?

[Snortin93]

A wise man once said "it is a foolish man that owns three project/tuner cars...". And here I've got 3 1/2, and one of them is my daily driver. No wonder nothing ever gets done on any of them! :mad:

Steve, if you can't get yours ready in time, we should just go and watch Phil smoke some of his precious rubber.

[surreal]

you cant have too many project cars ... as long as your daily driver isnt one of them!

pfffft, watch? much more fun to be down there breaking my own car! i still have a week to somehow get pads ... i think fast eddie can get kvr pads so maybe ill end up with those if he can get em to me fast enough. (btw his website was taken down but he can still get parts i think).
but yeah if i cant get my car ready in time id at least like to check out the action so i know what im missing. :angry:

[Snortin93]

Get it done then! My car sounds awesome from inside my helmet as I'm blasting down the front straight. I had one guy tell me it sounded as nice as the 360 Modena that I was chasing. So I'd love to hear what one really sounds like from the stands. 220 km/hr in 4th gear at the end of the front straight is a beautiful sound! ;)

I'll be there watching anyways, but I definitely would love to see the Stealth/Talon tango!

[Snortin93]

Have you seen this site before?

http://www.rallysport.ca/index.htm

Check out their gallery, and while your there drool over the HotBits! Soon coming to a DSM near you! :cool:

What cha gotta do to the 7?

I`d offer you up my pads surreal, but I think their OEM.

http://www.turnfast.com/index.shtml
http://www.wincom.net/trog/autocross/
http://www.martincheck.com/

Few sites I turned up in my research.I spent 1 morning reading the turnfast.com website. Excellent read. Too bad I was supposed to be working!

Phil, when are you coming to town, and have you found a trailer yet?

[surreal]

Get it done then! My car sounds awesome from inside my helmet as I'm blasting down the front straight. I had one guy tell me it sounded as nice as the 360 Modena that I was chasing. So I'd love to hear what one really sounds like from the stands. 220 km/hr in 4th gear at the end of the front straight is a beautiful sound! ;)

I'll be there watching anyways, but I definitely would love to see the Stealth/Talon tango!

cant git er done if i dont have the parts! thats all thats holding me back :(
screaming up to the top of fourth sounds super fun ... needing an extra 2km straight of track to slow back down doesnt haha

[Snortin93]

Ya, you've got more than 500m in the tall grass to slow you down if you miss turn one. Many have done the off-road excursion. :o It's going from 220 km/hr to 80 km/hr lap after lap that really does our brakes in. On the backstretch you can hit close to 200 km/hr if you can get thru the chicane smoothly, before you have to brake big time, and then shift to second to get thru the carousel, which leads back to the front straight and over 1/2 km of full throttle acceleration..... :D

[surreal]

haha all that nice damp dirt n grass will cool my brakes nicely. i think fast eddie might be able to come through and get me some brake pads in time so i may actually be able to make it! (thanks for suggesting him!) 500m of wot whiplash here i come!
ok, now its your turn to bust ass and get the 7 out there! haha

[pkieley]

I`m coming down on Wednesday, should get in around 2pm and go straight to Jay Pringles for the classroom and right to the track for 4:30pm.

I`m staying at Port o Call on McNight.(It`s close to the track and Top Gun Coaters where I have to drop off my cromoly control arms. :cool: )

Still no trailer so I`m driving the Talon down.(slightly worried about the clutch which took a shitkicking at the last autox)
The trailer has to aluminum which are about $6500 retail. :whoa:

Do you happen to know what Husky/Mohawk have 94 Octane?

[surreal]

Do you happen to know what Husky/Mohawk have 94 Octane?

i always go to the one on 16th ave and edmonton tr. there is a list somewhere on another forum ... ill see if i can pull it up.

[surreal]

NorthWest
14th Street C/W Calgary
418 - 14th Street NW
CALGARY, AB
403-270-2696

NorthEast
Auto Square Calgary
401 - 16th Avenue NE
CALGARY, AB
403-277-0758

SouthWest
Macleod Trail Husky Market
4201 Macleod Trail South
CALGARY, AB
403-243-4262

Bow Trail Husky
3824 Bow Trail SW
CALGARY, AB
403-242-2424

SouthEast
Husky Sundance
75 Sun Valley Blvd. SE
CALGARY, AB
403-571-2886

Southill Mohawk Calgary
8200 26 Street SE
CALGARY, AB
403-279-3400

[pkieley]

What a freaking blast! I didn't realise it was going to be so fast! :eek:

The longest frontstraight in Canada (and the 2nd in NA), wind her up to 220kph if you dare, double downshift(learn heel-toe quick!) then turns 123 bang bang bang! Accelerate out of turn 3 and a tap of the brakes for four. Get on the gas and keep on it for turn 5: a sweeping right(this is where a good set of sway bars would be nice!) with a slight rise to slow if you get in trouble. Tap the brakes again for six then the important chicane is coming at you very quick. Got to find a good line through here to carry speed onto the backstraight! The backstraight is nothing to sneeze at either, 150+ with a slight crest in the braking zone making you a bit light. Holy shit there's concrete walls all around.:whoa: Got to learn how to trail brake(and squeese a downshift in) in a few milliseconds! Whew! made turn 9.:bigup: Nother downshift/brake and I'm trying to get my turn radius and hold it for the hairpin of 10...all the while trying not to bleed off speed and end up with a long radius for turn 11, the most important. Still turning and hard on the gas. Pinned back against my seat and grabbing my short-ass gears like crazy! Ah, but the sound of the wastegate blowing through my straight 3" and bouncing off the barriers has me grinning and hooting like a blithering idiot.:D Wonder if I can get a LOA from work for all of next summer!?

Car was working great(straight line anway). Filled up with the 94 and saw 3 counts of knock max at 18lbs. Winter mods are going to be some high end brakes and suspension goodies...and a cage!!!

Promised myself that once I got back from Calgary that I would go back to work on the Stealth and I have. Almost finished stripping and sanding the engine bay and will probably paint next set off. Already got the oil and water pump in...now just have to install struts,springs,ball joints,steering rack, tie rod ends,output shaft,input spool,timing belt,defroster vents,plugs,wires,gut rear cat...etc,etc,etc.

[Snortin93]

I know exactly how you feel!!! Sorry I couldn't make it there for Thursday night, family committments kept me away. That cement wall at the end of the back straight is something else, isn't it? My second instructor showed me another line thru there that I found worked better than the standard one; greatly decreased the amount of understeer and allowed me to carry more speed. When I took DSM Power for a ride along, I scared the crap out of him, just as the instructor did to me the first time cuz you head right at the wall, pray your brakes are still working, and at the last minute turn.

I knew you'd be wearing that smile for days!! :bigup:

[surreal]

sigh, i knew this would happen :(
i wanted to go soooo bad! it was looking like id be able to make it, but there was a mix-up with my brake pads and they ended up in ontario. my car is still sitting on jackstands waiting for brakes .... sigh

[Snortin93]

Well, we've got all winter to get it together. Hopefully we can get a few Stealths on the track at the same time. That would be sweet!
Just reading Phil's description got me itching to go out again.

[surreal]

well, thats a good way of looking at it. its true though, the stealth will be much more complete next season and will probably be more fun anyway. ah well. on the plus side, i just got my brake pads ... so now i get to install them in sub-zero temperatures :eek: man it gets cold at night!
props to fast eddie tho, hes been a big help in helping me find some brake pads, the shipping mixup was unfortunate but not his fault at all.
if anything, at least this gave me a good kick in the pants to get stuff done on the stealth. got so many things done that i should have a long time ago.

i love the idea of getting a bunch of stealth guys out on the track all at the same time. that would be awesome (except that id probably be the slowest guy there haha). maybe the next ab meet should involve a trackday!

[pkieley]

i love the idea of getting a bunch of stealth guys out on the track all at the same time. that would be awesome (except that id probably be the slowest guy there haha). maybe the next ab meet should involve a trackday![/QUOTE]

This sounds like a great idea. Count me in. It's a great track and we should take advantage of it.

Don't worry about be the fastest or slowest: Once you get out on the track it's all good!

Just don't forget that you need to do a drivers course before your allowed on the track.

[Snortin93]

Don't matter if you're fast or slow, as long as your smiling, your winning! :D I'm definitely in for next year. For now, I'm driving the Stealth south to San Francisco. Catch ya at the end of the month! :p

[surreal]

hmm, well i spose its a good point that if we wanted to get a bunch of stealths out to the track theyd all have to have taken the course haha. maybe i can convince some people to take the course with me next year so we can get a good group of stealths out to the track. i still think that would be insanely fun.

and yes i dont mind being the slowest ... besides, i dont know if id have the guts to throw my poor car towards a wall! gak ill be the guy trying to heel-toe to first and take turns at 20km/h if they are anywhere near a wall :whoa:
the more i think about it the more i think this could be a pretty fun (although perhaps somewhat expensive) hobby/pastime. roadcourses look like so much fun but for some reason i never realized that 'normal' people could sign up and actually go out and do that sorta thing :D

btw snortin, i hate you for fleeing south! haha its freaking freezing at night now.