Bumpy?
Patchy?
Smooth?
Recently Sealed?

Thanks,
Scott, who hates trying to guess at a set-up for a track he's never been to.

 

Yes. It is also asphalt with concrete pads at the apexes.

 

Hum... Well, it's kinda gravely in 1... oh, that's if you go straight, not right... and there's a great big hole between 5 and 6... oh, that's if you go off... *sigh*

To answer your question, it's pavement in good shape. Some corners have concrete "lanes" in them that are nice for grip. They paved about half of it several years ago IIRC.

Maybe I can't answer your question really...

 

Let me elaborate:

Some spots are bumpy (T1 and T10) while other spots are very smooth (T4). There are concrete patches in T1, T3, T5, T6 and T10. The carousel (T6, T6alooks like someone went over it with a cheese grater.

Hope that helps.

 

OK, let me try to be more specific.
Is it bumpy enough that it's the type of track where you'd run softer spring rates (AKA: "Sebringesque")?

 

I haven't driven Sebring... Bet Rice could tell you what to do ... he'd be *real* helpful...

 

I think the only reason Sebring would be bumpier is because it is longer. Summit is a bumpy mess. It is a great track and a lot of fun, but it kills tires. I would expect a new concrete patch on turn six soon, it is getting pretty bad.

 

Bring a spare left front . . .

 

I feel like I'm on a damn carnival ride at the apex of 1.

 

Bumpy is kindof an understatement.


The only real bad thing about Summit is the transitioning from concrete to asphalt with a loaded suspension. There are a few spots you have to watch.

Also in T4 (arguably the hairiest corner at SP) the curbing is about the same size as that on the inside of Oak Tree. You really don't want to clip this too hard here.

 

TELL THAT to PAT!

Andy - who swears he was sitting on the "airborne" side of Pat's car through T4...

 

I seemed to have just recently gotten into the practice of hitting that curb pretty hard. A habit I need to break quickly... I don't like that feeling.

the only curbs I'm really comfotable with are track-out in 3 and track-out in 10... and I don't do it wih regularity.

 

surface at summit sucks.....bring extra left front.........

 

Track out at 10 is a blast. You can put all 4 off on the gator strips. It's a bumpy *** ride, and you better be back on pavement by the end of the strip.

Turn 3 track out isn't so bad either. If you track all the way out, you'll put 2 off, but don't lift and don't add any extra steering, just drop 2 off, and go, go, go!

DISCLAIMER: If you end up taking the Porkchop line and smacking the trees on the inside of 3 or the wall at 10, I had nothing to do with it. You were probably actually crazy enough to take advice over the internet.

Warren

 

the key to going fast in 3 is to drag the header collector on the far left of the apexi marker


Yack - who is in the grass at the apexi of 3

 

If you track out in 3 and have sticky tires you will pick up enough rocks to start you very own pebble collection! Ahh I love the sound of rocks bouncing around your wheel well.

 

turn 3 and 10 rule for "trackout-ness". ask Warren about track out on 3. you can go 4 wheels off at the gravel trap as long as you stay FTTF and keep the wheel straight. this is both "fast" and has the added advantage of throwing about 25 lbs of gravel directly into the windshield of the guy who has a really nice paint job and has been trying to pass you all over the last two laps...

one other thought about Summit (one of my "home" tracks); it is SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER treacherous in the rain. it is like driving on an icy road in the rain. an icy road that had a Mobil One tanker truck overturn two weeks before and had no rain until the hour before you got there.

Todd
PS did i mention it is slippery in the rain? the kind of "oh sh@# I wish I was driving an Audi Quattro S-4" slippery is what i'm talking about.

PPS i don't know why. especially in T1, T2, T3, after the carosel, oh sh@# just about everywhere!!!!

 

Slippery Point. Ah yes. Far less treacherous than it used to be. That is a scary thought!

I think you could actually pull off a 360 degree spin lasting no less than 10 seconds at turn 1/2

Of course, I got to motor around with Quattro and scare the living bejesus out of lots of people when it was wet. The advantage was so huge it was just silly.

I still need to make "arrangements" for my rain tires.

Warren

 

Not a problem is you have the right rain tires. Believe it or not I actually pray for rain on race day.

 

What Audi did you do this in? When I had my URQ, I only got to track it once (at a BMWCCA DE at the Jefferson circuit), but it really could do some amazing things.

 

A 13-second S4.

 

Started off in a Santorin Blue A4. Then moved on up to a yellow S4 sedan.

Here's little clip of turn 10. Note that I'm on the other side of the curbing at trackout. Also listen to the screeching tires at the end of the clip. That would be a 944 trying to catch me He ended up harmlessly looping the car.

http://vertigo.weirdness.net/~wwang/Warren_T10.mov

I forgot who gave me this clip. Chris Busse maybe? Well, thanks whoever you are

URQ's are amazing cars, especially considering their age. I have a friend back in Dallas that transplanted an S4 (first gen) engine into his URQ.

Warren


[Modified by Warren, 6:38 PM 6/7/2002]

 

I found a video that should help you.

This is a bumper-cam video. You get an excellent view of the pavement around the whole track:
Bumpercam

For reference the video starts at turn 9. The bridge is just before 10. The only left's are 3, 5 and 7.

 

SP will eat left front tires. Other than that, nothing really stands out as a problem. But then I race on street suspension, so I don't notice a lot of rough spots.

As mentioned, a large portion of the track was repaved two (three?) years ago, so many of the "famous" bumps are gone.

 

You can track out on the curbing of 9, but not anything near what you can do for 10.