[Russell]

Yeah, just because they can afford the cars doesn't mean they can drive them. I did a weekend with the Alfa Owners Club at Road America last year. My uncle taught me that the Ferrari drivers are always in the way. They haul ass down the straights but slow WAY down for the turns. Durring one practice session (it was a TT event) I passed a 348 and a F355. Got it all on tape with the incar too. I did use the NOS both times though just to put them away properly. But I was on their asses pretty good before they would wave me past. I wish I could get a chance to DRIVE one of those like I drive my SE-R. Road America is so much fun!

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'96 SE-R No bolt unturned...
'92 E Lots of factory bolts still in place

 

[MaddMatt]

Got to spend a day at the track with Vipers this past Friday. Viper Days comes to VIR once a year for a weekend school. On Friday, they have open track for pretty much anyone interested. $150 for as much as you can stand from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. I got more miles before lunch than I normally do in a weekend school. Did I mention it was the full 3.27 mile VIR course????

Anywho, I was surprised at how slow these things are in the turns. Perhaps the drivers are extreme novices, but there is no way in hell I should pass any Viper. And yet, here I was passing one $60,000 car after another. On the straights, of corse they ruled. Only the race prepared Vipers had anything for me in the uphill esses. Even then, it was a dead heat. Nothing could pull away from me in the twisties!!

On the cool down laps, I recieved much applause from the corner workers....

------------------
Matt
92 SE-R from Heck

"What have you DONE to that thing..." - stranger at Rockingham dragway 5/18/01
"Where's the turbo?" - stranger at the 1st autocross of 2000 where my SE-R debuted
"That thing is a goddamn rocket ship. I'm not lifting for you on the straights anymore!" -Karl Shultz, Rockingham 4/27/01
"What in the hell have you done since I drove it last?" -David Stone, Rockingham 4/27/01

 

[RollcageSR20]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by MaddMatt:
Anywho, I was surprised at how slow these things are in the turns. Perhaps the drivers are extreme novices, but there is no way in hell I should pass any Viper. And yet, here I was passing one $60,000 car after another. On the straights, of corse they ruled. Only the race prepared Vipers had anything for me in the uphill esses. Even then, it was a dead heat. Nothing could pull away from me in the twisties!!
</font>

The drivers were probably rookies. I remember chasing down a Viper at an open-track day at Buttonwillow Raceway. Granted, the Viper was on street tires and I was on race tires, but I had to back off on every corner to keep from rear-ending him, thus causing me to get a not-so-great exit speed coming out of corners, and having the Viper bust out with it's 450hp madness down the straight. He would not point me by even though every corner worker waved the passing flag at him. After a few laps, he eventually let me by (down the front straight, of all places) and I never saw him again. He was really that bad in the corners that he just couldn't catch me down the main straight. I had never seen such horrible lines through corners ("What's an apex?")

--Andrew Phan
1993 NX2000
1998 200SX SE-R