I have quite a lot of experience driving at the track, and since my Emira is now broken in and has some fresh brake fluid from the dealer, I decided to take it to Laguna Seca.
My car is the V6 with 6MT and the touring suspension and tires (Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar 3).
Having heard that the stock pads don't hold up well, I put in a set of EBC SR11's.
First off, the tires stink. They can't handle the heat on a cool December day. I get maybe 6 laps before grip falls off noticeably and they get greasy. Also, the SR11's completely overpower the tire grip, even before overheating.
You also need to run high temperature fluid. My fresh fluid resulted in a soft pedal, but the brakes worked. The calipers got hot enough that I melted off all my little rubber bleeder nipple covers, and they went from being a bright red to a dull brown.
The car itself is nicely balanced. I found that I could manage under/oversteer just like in a big, fat Elise. You definitely feel the weight of it in the tight turns, but it's remarkably capable coming out of a turn. The Elise has this "hooked" feeling throughout a turn, the Emira is kinda unsettled going in, but once you get on throttle coming out, it feels great. You have to drive it differently, since you have more power and more weight; braking happens earlier, turnin happens earlier due to bigger slip angle, and the difference in engine torque means you need to manage the throttle more, no pinning it to the floorboard.
The heavier car, power steering, and huge wide tires means you can't feel what it's doing as well, but the absolute grip is pretty nice. Due to the lack of feedback, it's easy to overdrive the car.
So, I enjoyed the hell out of it. My laptimes (1:45 ish) aren't bad for a completely stock car on street tires. I get my Elise down to 1:41 on street tires and 1:38 on slicks, but that car's got a proper alignment, great tires, Nitrons. There's lots of potential here, but I'm going to have to do some work.
In track mode, when the weather got cooler, I exceeded the Laguna sound limit. When it was warmer mid-day, the car stayed below 92dB, but once a cold front came in, I blew a 94.9 which sends you packing home.
Interesting note: Track MPG = 3.9, based on miles on odometer divided by miles. The computer said 4.2 mpg. It's hilarious to see 50 miles range remaining on a full tank.
So, before I track it next, at minimum, I'll do the following:
Longer term:
I'd post video, but my stupid Smartycam recorded all the times I was parked in the paddock and turned off for the laps. Go figure.
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My car is the V6 with 6MT and the touring suspension and tires (Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar 3).
Having heard that the stock pads don't hold up well, I put in a set of EBC SR11's.
First off, the tires stink. They can't handle the heat on a cool December day. I get maybe 6 laps before grip falls off noticeably and they get greasy. Also, the SR11's completely overpower the tire grip, even before overheating.
You also need to run high temperature fluid. My fresh fluid resulted in a soft pedal, but the brakes worked. The calipers got hot enough that I melted off all my little rubber bleeder nipple covers, and they went from being a bright red to a dull brown.
The car itself is nicely balanced. I found that I could manage under/oversteer just like in a big, fat Elise. You definitely feel the weight of it in the tight turns, but it's remarkably capable coming out of a turn. The Elise has this "hooked" feeling throughout a turn, the Emira is kinda unsettled going in, but once you get on throttle coming out, it feels great. You have to drive it differently, since you have more power and more weight; braking happens earlier, turnin happens earlier due to bigger slip angle, and the difference in engine torque means you need to manage the throttle more, no pinning it to the floorboard.
The heavier car, power steering, and huge wide tires means you can't feel what it's doing as well, but the absolute grip is pretty nice. Due to the lack of feedback, it's easy to overdrive the car.
So, I enjoyed the hell out of it. My laptimes (1:45 ish) aren't bad for a completely stock car on street tires. I get my Elise down to 1:41 on street tires and 1:38 on slicks, but that car's got a proper alignment, great tires, Nitrons. There's lots of potential here, but I'm going to have to do some work.
In track mode, when the weather got cooler, I exceeded the Laguna sound limit. When it was warmer mid-day, the car stayed below 92dB, but once a cold front came in, I blew a 94.9 which sends you packing home.
Interesting note: Track MPG = 3.9, based on miles on odometer divided by miles. The computer said 4.2 mpg. It's hilarious to see 50 miles range remaining on a full tank.
So, before I track it next, at minimum, I'll do the following:
- Castrol SRF
- More camber
- Proper tires
- Better bleeder nipple covers
Longer term:
- Suspension, the touring one doesn't cut it.
- Some kind of seats + harnesses, so I don't flop around.
I'd post video, but my stupid Smartycam recorded all the times I was parked in the paddock and turned off for the laps. Go figure.
