I have been behind on updating the website and some of you asked for any in car video from Summit Point.

As always right click and save !

HC races: http://jpkofod.lunarpages.com/SummitP.mpg

Recent testing of Radical SR3 Supersport: http://jpkofod.lunarpages.com/SR3.mpg (short clip)

For those of you wondering about the Radical you can read about our recent discussion of one after Karl drove one at VIR https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=991839 .

Quite an amazing machine. The only thing I can compare the car to in terms of acceleration is a fast motor bike (750 or 1000).

Much faster than the smaller 1100 engined Radical I had driven a year ago.

And they are building one in England with an in house designed 2.8 liter V8 that will make 350+ hp (Supersport makes 252)

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
#40 Guident Technologies/HRPWorld.com Integra LS H4

 

Must be nice to be you. Good Stuff!


Sorry I was trying to listen to the sound to figure this one out but where you lifting at all or left foot braking the entry to 10?

 

Nice vid Jon. That was some good stuff. I did not want the vid to end!

 

Trust me I was lifting. Left foot braking in someone else's 75k playtoy is not for me And if I didn't lift I'd still be somewhere in the middle of the apple orchard with the speed that thing enters T10.

You can brake incredibly late in that thing. You basically just take a stab at the brake and get back on the gas. The sequential gearbox also hides some of the sound of lifting. It's lightening quick.

The grip on that car is incredible. It just sticks. I kept trying to find the limit in the carosel where I figured a spin would be less costly. It took a couple of laps to find the limit. It's not like an SRF which you drift through there. This thing sticks until the limit is reached and then breaks loose.

I was out there with Mitch Piper (he was driving the red one) to shake them down for a friend.

I wish I was in the market for one. They are addictive. I've driven some fast cars (F355 Challenge, GT3 Cup and GT3RS) but this thing is one a different planet in terms of grip, stopping power, and balance.

Geezz............gotta start playing the lottery or convince the wife our three kids will do just as well in public school.

Cheers,

Jon

 

public school Own Joo...

 

it's so nice of you to have named one of your kids after me. You shouldn't have, really.

Cool vids, as always.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wish I was in the market for one. They are addictive. I've driven some fast cars (F355 Challenge, GT3 Cup and GT3RS) but this thing is one a different planet in terms of grip, stopping power, and balance.

Geezz............gotta start playing the lottery or convince the wife our three kids will do just as well in public school.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's some pretty good stuff huh Jon? It's got me all crafting schemes by which I can spend nearly $30K on a car I'll use, tops, ten times a year.

The SR3 is the C Sports car I'm pretty sure, so it would be considerably faster than the DSR one I drove

Since you drove it on a big track (unlike me where I drove it on patriot course) could you feel the car get better as you went faster from the downforce? That would take some getting used to.

edit: typo


Modified by krshultz at 7:02 PM 10/7/2004

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">(Supersport makes 252)</TD></TR></TABLE>

Jon I just noticed this. Is that how much the SR3 you drove is making? Thats...a lot. About 80 more HP than the D Sports one I drove.

I'm gonna do it. I don't know how, or when, but I will get one in the next 12 to 18 months. PLEASE somebody buy the H3 car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SJR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it's so nice of you to have named one of your kids after me. You shouldn't have, really.

Cool vids, as always. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well in addtion to being named after you he is also named after current Champ car leader Bourdais and likely WRC champ Loeb. His middle name is Ayrton. Damn he ought to be fast

Cheers,

Jon

 

Karl,

I drove two Radicals about a year ago. One was a C sport version (not an SR3 but with only one seat) which was fast but I think it had less than 200 hp. I did some laps in a previous SR3 but the car was not mine and the owner asked that I not take it over 6000 rpm since it was new. That car also had some initial engine issues so I drove it at 5 or 6/10ths.

The person who asked me to test the SR3 this past week is a very close friend and he had complete confidence in my ability to drive it so even though I didn't drive it like it was mine I got pretty damn close.

I am not that experienced with downforce cars so I can't really decide if it was the wing and underbody aero package or just the phenominal grip provided by the chassis itself, but I kept pushing it harded and harder through T10 and T3 and was absolutely stunned at the grip levels and exit speeds.

As Littleton saw in the video, you hardly need to lift at all in T10......just a quick stab of the brake, a quick downshift into 5th gear and nail it through 10. the first few times you do this the acceleration has you convinced your going to understeer off the track and never even make the apex, but it hits the apex flies through track out.

I venture to guess that the only thing quicker through T10 is a FC or FA. The FC track record is a 1:10. I think the Radical is a 1:12 car in the proper hands. FA is 1:07 .

The car didn't feel bad at slower speeds it's just that you don't expect everything to work so smoothly at such high speeds. Next time we are going to use the telemtry and my cam corder so I'll know exactly how fast the speeds are but sitting that close to the ground it feels like nothing I driven before.

This particular version (there were two cars) costs around 70K and has every option (air jacks, lightweight calipers, carbon fiber underbody aero, headlights, full digital dash etc..).

It's damn impressive when you consider that people are spending 70-100K for Vipers, Porsches, Ferraris and such and this thing will suck the doors off all of them.

I felt like I was driving an LMP car. Nice change from the tank like SRF's I have driven.

Regards,

Jon

 

I find myself giddy with the mere thought of driving the Radical.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am not that experienced with downforce cars so I can't really decide if it was the wing and underbody aero package or just the phenominal grip provided by the chassis itself, but I kept pushing it harded and harder through T10 and T3 and was absolutely stunned at the grip levels and exit speeds.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm inexperienced like you, but I suspect that the downforce was making the car better. I mean, a car that gets *better* as you drive it faster...gotta be aero. I will have to COMPLETELY rewire myself to think that the faster I'm going, the better the car is. Up to a point of course. And don't get it sideways.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The car didn't feel bad at slower speeds it's just that you don't expect everything to work so smoothly at such high speeds.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I only got a taste of this since I was at Patriot but yeah...the faster you're going, the better it works. Same thing again...downforce. Or so I suspect.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This particular version (there were two cars) costs around 70K and has every option (air jacks, lightweight calipers, carbon fiber underbody aero, headlights, full digital dash etc..).</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, new and "loaded" the price gets...um...rather high. But it can be done for less. I'm pretty sure Matt picked up his Pi data aq system for cheap - hell, an entire DA system can be had for less than $2K(new - check out the AIM stuff) including the dash, if you only want the vitals. The stuff is out there...you just have to know where to look. The air jacks are a few thousand dollars by themselves I'm pretty sure.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's damn impressive when you consider that people are spending 70-100K for Vipers, Porsches, Ferraris and such and this thing will suck the doors off all of them.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's even more impressive (with my limited financials anyway) when I consider I've got a $30K+ GS-R sitting in the garage. Granted I spent that money over time, but still, that would buy me a sorted D Sports Radical with a pile of spares. It would be cheaper to run, more fun to drive, and an assload faster. Not to mention easier to sell come time to get out.

Makes me feel like an idiot. But who knew?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I felt like I was driving an LMP car. Nice change from the tank like SRF's I have driven.</TD></TR></TABLE>

And an even nicer change from a sedan based car.

--Karl, who obviously, has been ruined...

 

I think it's both the aero and the chassis itself. One place where I really drove it at the limit was in the carosel where aero is less of an issue and the grip blew me away.

I never got the car sideways more than once and that slight oversteer (step out) after the apex at T10. All that was required was a quick correction.

This is not a car that I think once would want to be sliding around the track. The level of adhesion and grip is so high and the speeds so different than what we are used to in even the most powerful street cars that getting it sideways is "past" a saveble event.

It's kind of like the difference between FM's and FF's which I see sliding all over the track on practice days, but the FC's and FA don't budge at all.

I would likey not get most of the options. The dash isn't that important, headlights are useless, air jacks would not be an option and some other things.

It's funny cause in SRF a lot of guys spend 4-5K for an expensive STACK system and they are never the fast guys. They sit there analyzing all the stuff on their trusty lap tops, but the fast guys never use this stuff. Their "***" tells them all the telemtry they need to know

You bet it's a nice change from a "sedan" based car. I brought my Acura along because other than the two SR3's my car was the only other car at the test day and we had the track to ourselves for 5 hours.

I took the car out first thing and did about a 20 minute stint, then fiddle with the tire temps and pressures. I had planned to do some major suspension testing and fiddle with some other parts of the car.

I never walked back to the Acura until it was time to load it up. I simply wasn't interested in driving the car. There were 5 of us testing the Radicals so there was plenty of opportunity to get in the Acura and do some laps but I was more interested in watching the SR3's blaze by than drive my "sedan".

I think new or used, fully optioned or sparsely optioned they are great cars. My only hesitation is that I only have time to race and wouldn't want to race an SR3. The speeds are insance and at the end of the day I am at that stage in life (38 yrs old with 3 kids) I don't want to take the risks.

I feel totally safe in my "rust bucket" Acura and also safe in a fast production car like a GT1 car or a GT3 Cup car but boy when you are sitting that close to the ground and at those speeds I don't see me racing like we do in H4 with 3 or 4 cars side by side inches off everyones bumper.

Great car nonetheless

Regards,

Jon

 

Just out of curiousity, when are these "test 'n tune" or whatever days? I'd love to come out to Summit sometime and have a whole day with the track practically free of cars.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just out of curiousity, when are these "test 'n tune" or whatever days? I'd love to come out to Summit sometime and have a whole day with the track practically free of cars.</TD></TR></TABLE>

They're whenever you schedule them. Just write a check for $4-$5000 (rental rate varies).

 

I was just invited to shake the car down. The person who owns the two cars rented the track for an afternoon. Price depends on a lot of variables including flaggers (we had none) and EMT support (we had none).

Price can vary from 3K to 6K.

Actually I have been to one or two of these and it's quite boring being on the track by yourself. In this case it wasn't since we were driving SR3's but I was quite bored in the H4 car out there by myself.

Regards,

Jon

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it's quite boring being on the track by yourself. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Definately. I was out for 2 of these this year, and it gets lonely out there

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FLATOUTRACING &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This is not a car that I think once would want to be sliding around the track. The level of adhesion and grip is so high and the speeds so different than what we are used to in even the most powerful street cars that getting it sideways is "past" a saveble event.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I think that sounds about right. As I've said, I was barely driving it, but I too was blown away at the mechanical grip by itself. Nevermind what all the downforce could add. Everything is so twitchy compared to what I'm used to.

With regard to racing them...I dunno. I mean if you're running in wings and things, I have to imagine that those guys don't race like the IT and HC guys do, because most of them if they touch, something bad involving air travel is likely. I've obviously never raced in that group before but have been told (when I went and looked at those S2s) that these guys know if they hit each other it's not so hot. YMMV of course.

I'm unencumbered by marriage and kids so I'm probably just stupid enough to try and race one.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krshultz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Everything is so twitchy compared to what I'm used to.

With regard to racing them...I dunno. I mean if you're running in wings and things, I have to imagine that those guys don't race like the IT and HC guys do, because most of them if they touch, something bad involving air travel is likely. I've obviously never raced in that group before but have been told (when I went and looked at those S2s) that these guys know if they hit each other it's not so hot. YMMV of course.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

We were using special Dunlop race tires with slight tread. They are something akin to an R tire though seemed to have more grip. One of my concerns voiced to the owner is that with real race rubber (slick) I would have reservations about letting joe track day push it to the limit. I think breakaway would be voilent and immediate....beyond most people's ability to save a spin.

Some of the twitchiness you felt may just be the difference between a heavy IT car and a purpose built low weight car. It took me a year to get used to the SRF which seemed twitchy everywhere. I finally got used to it but the first few race weekends I thought I was going off at all the high speed corners.

Any purpose built lightweight race car (Radical, Stohr, and formula car) feels quite different to a heavy sedan. Steering inputs, throttle adjustments, all require very sharp and small inputs and produce noticable results.

A correction in my Acura has me sawing the wheel lock to lock (well actually there is no lock). One a Radical it's like you see in F1. A sharp but small adjustment of the wheel.

As for racing and people being careful I agree about that except on the first lap. Here in the MARRS series I have seen a lot first lap incidents. When I raced in the Skip Barber Series people were just plain nuts. We had incidents on the first lap at 50% of the races that season.

Cheers,

Jon