Well, just got home from Waterford a couple hours ago...I forgot just how fun it was to call in sick and go run around a racetrack! I had the new ride out there for the first time, and let me say it is soooooo nice finally having a car meant to be used on the track! The brakes are awesome...my instructor had to yell at me to use them more (I was having flashbacks of burning the brakes off the cavalier and fading them bad with the RSX), but the harder I used them, the better they worked. Brembo has my vote!

It took some getting used to this RWD thing...but now I really like it. Lift the throttle right before turn-in, and sure enough the car points to the apex like a compass! Guys tell me they can do this with FWD, but personally, I always had to use the brakes. The throttle is actually used for something now instead of just making the front tires go up in smoke!

Everyone there was checking out my car, since most of them never saw the Track model before. I was checking out this one guy's Civic with Hoosiers: he was running 1:26's!!!! And the track temp was 95 degrees! One hell of a driver and a nice guy.

If any of you out there have not done an HDPE event yet....GET OUT THERE! I have learned so much today that it's staggering (and I thought I knew a lot before). I know I'll be sleeping good tonight: Right after I scrub the brake dust off the wheels (damn Brembos work great, but not so easy on the cleaning!).

 

I may have to check this track out, I've been hearing nothing but good things about it...How is it comparable to the Gingerman Raceway??

 

Well, I can't tell you firsthand, cause I've never been to Gingerman, but:

I hear that Gingerman is where you go to learn how to spin...very wide open with little to hit. Gingerman is 1.8mi or so, Waterford is only 1.4mi. It seems each is challenging in its own respect: Gingerman has higher speeds but less turns. Waterford really makes you concentrate on your cornering/braking. I like this track because a 4cyl engine can be every bit as lethal as a V8...it really favors the cars with big, sticky tires and big brakes.

There aren't any "tricky" corners, just watch the negative elevation change into Gulch turn (aptly named) and get your braking done on flat ground. Also, Hilltop turn is off-camber on the outside...as long as you stay on-line, you won't have to ever worry about that. Skeet-house turn is also difficult because it is so tight and you come in on it really fast: most people spin either here or on Gulch. The track map on the website doesn't seem accurate; this track seems much smaller in real life. The big thing with Waterford is that it can get hairy if you leave the track, there are lots of big, nasty things you can hit during an agricultural excursion...you really want to avoid a spin on this track. It also doesn't help that the track-out points are lined with "gators" that are waaaaay too aggressive: the skid marks and paint on the concrete walls (from WHRRI events) serve as grim reminders to not drive on them.

I think if you have a handle on Gingerman, then Waterford will be a perfect next step in driving evolution.

I love Waterford because it is a demanding track in that all the corners blend into one another and you have to be smooth. But if you get the line down, you can go insanely fast without a lot of horsepower. My instructor prefers Grattan because it is even more challenging with off-camber, negative-elevation, decreasing radius, blind corners. I hope to get comfortable enough with the Z to make that event this fall...it sounds like a blast!

 

Good review. What event did you go to? I still need to get on that track.
However all stories about going off track and the bad things that have happened,
have kept me away from that track. Gingerman is a great track, with
a couple of straights and some techincal sections. The track is wide open with lots of run
off, which is nice because its easy to spin there. I was there this past weekend (sat and then on
mon). Grattan is a awsome track. If anyone is interested my firends (wormtech)are putting
on a event July 24, take a look in the events forum for a thread.

archmanz im next time when you head out there (Waterford), I would love to go.

edit: I suck at this whole grammar thing

 

Wow, I'm so honored to have started a post that spawned a sequel!

About off track excursions at Waterford - I haven't been to the other tracks mentioned so I can't do a direct comparison, but I felt pretty safe driving here. The "big bend" turn before the back straight has a high pucker factor because you're taking it flat out (well in a Miata anyway) and the wall seems like it's three feet away. But actually I think you'd have to do something drastic to upset the car there.

The real turn that concerned me is the first one at the end of the front straight. There is a slight elevation dropoff right as you want to brake so the car is all unsettled. I was a wuss at first so I didn't have a problem. Then, when I started putting things together, I had a screaming lap which resulted in a higher speed down the front straight which unfortunately didn't result in me properly adjusting my braking zone, almost big oops!

What I did like about Waterford is that the amount of curves packed into 1.4 miles keeps the speeds down. So if you do exit you at least wouldn't be going as fast as somewhere else. For example, I think I was struggling to hit 90 at the end of the back straight (stock Miata, slow driver).

All in all, I really recommend that track - especially if you're close.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Markus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wow, I'm so honored to have started a post that spawned a sequel!</TD></TR></TABLE>

See what ya started, now??!!
Yeah, it's pretty hard to go off the track you're first time out there. It's always best to start slow, and you're right in that you're really not going that fast on a short track anyway...well, enough to maybe wreck your day (busted plastic). I'm quite certain that no one has gotten seriously injured at an HDPE event there.

The instructors put a lot of emphasis on Big Bend, but I never really found it that scary. If you remember to brake in a straight line, it would be really hard to upset the car enough to crash...well maybe if you overcooked the corner and slid off I suppose. Gulch is the one that concerns me the most: I've seen a few guys go in because they were coming down the front straight faster than expected, didn't brake soon enough, and dragged the brakes down the hill in an attempt to make the corner.

BTW: a stock Miata doing 90MPH on the back straight isn't a slow driver...you must have been carrying quite some speed through Big Bend!

Canuckr: I'm planning on making the next event in July. Markus posted the website in the other thread, so check there. You'll have to get your car inspected beforehand. I usually sign up a week or 2 in advance, that way I know for sure that I'm going. Send me an email or I'll let you know when I sign up. Have fun!

 

One other thing we were warned about and I almost witnessed at Waterford in regard to the Swamp Thing sequence of turns - people sometimes drop two wheels off the right side, try to get back on the track too quick and got shot across into the pit wall on the left side of the track. I saw a 993 Porsche create quite a dust cloud doing this. Luckily for him, a) no one was behind him when he shot across the track and b) he ended up on the pit entrance lane vs. the walls on either side.

Swamp 1 & 2 are a fun sequence to whip around and it really does seem swampy in the inside - I remember trying to look thru the cattails and other weeds for the apex pylon my first couple laps!

I have weddings pretty much every weekend in July or I'd really try to make it back up there....

 

Well, hope to see ya in August then!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by archman350Z &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, hope to see ya in August then!</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.waterfordhills.com Open Track, August 14th... hint hint.