We also love cars

Let me translate that to race car computers; well data acquisition (brain and sensors $30K)

“our data acq does not have enough capacity for all the channels we are logging. Call M–EC to get a memory upgrade and lets see how long it takes for them to send it to us”

“Called them, they charged $5K to your card and gave us an unlock code”

All the memory is already installed, You pay to unlock features…

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Not covered under Mfg. warranty?

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No. It’s out of warranty now.

That was easy enough to convince me to stay with audio over sports cars. Thank you :rofl:

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Unlike @ErVikingo I went racing on the cheap as a present to myself when I turned 40 in the 1990s. I went for a single seater national championship based on a Van Diemen chassis but with a Ford 1600cc XR2 engine and gearbox (no slicks or wings, just treaded Dunlop tyres). Formula Fords used a 1600cc Kent engine and a proper racing gearbox.

To enter a race one only needs to be within about 10% of the best practice time, not difficult once one is used to the car.

Back then an average race would cost me about £400 for entrance fee and fuel. Over four years I did about ten races a year around England and there was one bad accident (I think I was punted from behind and got spun into the barrier at brands hatch - that cost about £4000 to repair). Single seaters are much cheaper to fix than ‘tin tops’. Here are two photos, the car being scrutinised and a twisted chassis after the crash:

Update - the single seater went round the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in 52 seconds - I have difficulty getting the GT3 round there in 62 seconds! When I bought the GT3 I said to myself that I’d never track it, howver I weakened and have done several UK trackdays, Spa in Belgium and the Nurburgring in Germany.

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I did Formula Fords, then Formula Dodge (they removed the Ford engine and replaced it with a Dodge Neon engine) and practiced down in Argentina in Formula Renault (basically an FF with a Renault engine).

Tons of fun.

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Fnally a warm day to wash the cars.
LpHuntress is wanting to swap her SL550 for my CLK 320 convertible. :thinking:

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Do it

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The first real race car I drove was a Formula Ford at Road America. Great fun.

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Coincidently at Elkhart Lake, WI

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The KINK!

Very good. :slight_smile:

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I have seen many crashes there, especially early Vipers without ABS.

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I believe that.

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I lost my track day virginity at Lime Rock. Big Bend took a long time to get right. (Not sure I ever really did) . A very complicated double apex, compound radius curve as I remember. My little Alfa was a hoot. I should never have sold that car.

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Because my car had no slicks or wings I’d always wanted to drive a formula Renault. In the UK if you go on an ‘experience’ day they always rev limit the car which is useless as as soon as one exits a corner you’re on the rev limit. However, I still wanted to try a Formula Renault and went to a fast track called Thruxton. It was bucketing down and before driving the Renault one had to drive a Formula Ford. The FF was horrible in that weather, really unstable. In the same conditions, the Renault was a dream to drive, presumably because the wings were making a big difference (it was of course on treaded tyres in the wet conditions). A few years ago I renewed my race licence with a view to hiring a Formula Renault on a test day, sharing the cost with a friend who also had a GT3 (he’d won some karting championships and was a great driver. However, he sold the GT3 to fund lessons to become a pilot).

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my weirdest experience at Lime Rock was back in 2009 or 2010. for background, I had never driven Lime Rock before.

I’m winning the vintage 911 championship, as I get to start finish a guy hangs out the flag station and shows me a huge noose. I get all confused, is that a black flag, did i do something wrong. I keep going, next time around I take the checkered. That’s when i learn that, back then, the noose was the last lap flag (white flag in many other series)

Glad I didn’t lift… Got the Klub Sport Championship!

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I grew up in the Litchfield Hills of CT where that track is. many clubs in our area race there all the time. Rode by on bike many many times on long trips up north. Great motorcycle rides in that area.

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I never been to New Jersey but I just learned today that it’s illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey! @RonP does this drive the cost of gas prices up in NJ?

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