Kind of disappointing how little time I’ve had to get on here. I’m midway through first semester at this point, into term papers and midterms…Ryan made a trip to the hospital on Friday with his wife and came back with a new daughter. It’s all quite heavy.
But still, amongst all this I took the 86 out one more time yesterday to a surprise solo event at Race City Speedway. I really only have a pair of r-compounds left, so I ran on my dead drift wheels and tires. Very loose set up. Of the twenty some cars out, I got dusted by an S2k, STi, and 911 not too disappointing. I’d forgotten what it was like to play on the road course. The speed is incredible. Enough to make me wonder what the excitement of drifting really is. Entering turn 6 in fourth gear, braking late, downshifting and turning in… this was real fun. I guess what it comes down to is that I just love driving, and I’ll do whatever I can. It was definitely nice to have a clock again, and to have some big boys remind me of a great challenge.
And another note… I’ve been auto-xing on big fat rubber, with the fastest times in mind. Putting my little car and skinnier 185’s really does liven things up. On the fat 13’s the car feels a lot bigger and less responsive. At this point, I’m trying to decide if it’s worth buying some narrow 14″ R-compounds for auto-x next year, or if I’ll just be too slow to make it any fun. Maybe 205/60 13 is a reasonable compromise, and maybe the 14’s will just be a good test of my driving. It’s really a lot of funny on skinny rubber. Now I understand why all the guys in Japan run 185 or 195 width.