Cadillac Owners Forum banner

Anyone in So Cal interested in a Streets of Willow track/HPDE day? Jan 8 or 9, $105.

3K views 36 replies 10 participants last post by  drift06v 
#1 ·
I'm thinking about going to this event that was advertised to me, anyone interested or any thoughts? I've never been on a track with a car and this seemed like a good way to start. It's about 80 miles north of LA.

"Extremespeedtrackevents.com will be at Willow Springs Streets of Willow - January 8-9th for a track day, all drivers will have a special track day price of only $105.00 (DISCOUNT CODE IS sow5) for a whole day of fun. Any Questions contact Chris Willard at chris@extremespeedtrackevents. com (co founder of REDLINE Time Attacks and now new owner of EXTREMESPEEDTRACKEVENTS.COM) or register at www.extremespeedtrackevents.com
Free on track help for beginner
Must register before Dec 15th for discount"
 
#2 ·
Sounds fun, good price. Lets get a big V group to go! We need a west coast V day...
 
#3 ·
Sounds like a blast. I'll find out my schedule on Monday, if I'm in the states in January, I'm in.
 
#6 ·
I've been to Lime Rock, (quite a few years ago) but I mostly autocross my car now. I also have a go kart that I run every now and then. These track days are solo 2, so there is no door to door unless someone waives you by on the straight. They will probably be a few different groups and we'll go out and run in single file with an instructor.

If some of the guys are part of the club, they may go out by themselves. It's a good experience and a lot of fun.
 
#5 ·
That's a really good rate.
 
#8 ·
I'm in.

It's almost a 500 mile drive, so I'll be heading up on Friday and staying Friday and Saturday night and driving back on Sunday.

If your driving up from San Diego, PM me.
 
#11 ·
I will be heading there from South OC (dana point)

WHat day is everyone doing?
 
#12 ·
I registered to race on Saturday. I may go up the night before since I'm coming from San Diego. For some reason I had it in my mine that the race track was near Mammoth. What a relief it's not an 8 hour drive.
 
#14 ·
Friend of mine has an RS4. Been working him all week trying to get him to go.
 
#17 ·
I'm in for both days too.
 
#18 ·
Im in for Saturday, my car will be done....
 
#20 ·
What a blast. Even though I only made 2 of the 5 runs because my day was cut short by a coolant leak, I still had a great time. I had originally registered as an intermediate driver since I do have road racing experience at a few tracks. But after talking to a few people I decided to drop down to beginner instead. That turned out to be the correct choice. The Streets of Willow is a very technical track and I would have never figured out the correct line on my own.

The first session was a lead and follow and we took turns following and instructor. We broke up into three groups. Each person peeled off and went to the back after following the instructor for one lap. We did this for the whole session. It’s an excellent way to learn the line at a slower speed.
For the second session I decided to get an instructor. Very nice guy. I talked to him for about ½ hour before we got into the car. So I didn’t get lectured about doing things they tell you not to do. (turning and braking, and shifting gears mid turn) I trail brake and I’ll down shift mid turn if necessary. I heel toe very well.

First turn off the front straight (going CCW) is a double apex turn and you’re coming down from 4th to 3rd and catching 2nd just past the early apex. The car felt good there all day and much better mid-session. All the suspension mods enabled me rotate the car and catch a late second apex to get set up for the next set of turns. I was as fast as the smaller cars through the first half of the track most of the session.

I never felt comfortable after the back straight. I couldn’t get the car off banking on down to apex with any speed. I didn’t have a good line through the S’s and was not quick there all day. I just couldn’t get a flow on that section of the track.

During the first 4 laps, I was able to enter the front straight full throttle in 3rd gear and carry it all the way through the turn. After the tire pressures came up I had to enter in second and feather the throttle through the turn. (There was another thread about TPM’s in track tires. Originally I thought it wouldn’t make a big difference, but it would have been nice to get warning when the pressure went past 40)

I had a lot of fun trying to run down the Evo in front of me. I was a little quicker but I couldn’t get by. I ended up trying to take a run at him on the back straight and dropped the front wheel of the track. Unfortunately there was about a 6 in drop off. I thought I ripped the fascia off. When I came into the pits the fascia was fine but I was leaking antifreeze. Since I was 300 miles from home, I let the car cool down and headed home.

All and all a very fun day. Met a bunch of guys who had Evo’s. We were pretty close to each other in times for the second session. Drift06v was there and he was quicker than us all in the first session. Looking forward to doing it again. I should be able to get another 8-10 seconds out the car with the correct setup.
 
#21 ·
That sounds like a fantastic time!!! Wow.
 
#22 ·
I wasn’t very quick, but I felt in control of the car and thought I knew what I needed to do to go quicker. The QA1’s felt good. On the street I run 8 in the front and 6 in the rear. There is a little bit of a sloppy rebound at that setting. At the track I ran 12 and 10 and that felt real good until the front tire pressures got above 40. Then entering the front straight I started to get a little pitching since I was feathering the throttle and was in 2nd gear.

BigJim had these shocks before me and he mentioned the sloppy rebound. He said it wasn’t that big of a deal. He’s obviously a better driver than I am because I was a little un-nerved. My car is setup for power on oversteer , so that combined with the feathering made the car start oscillating.

The pit wall was looming, so I got out of it most of the time.

I think if I would have got the front tire pressures down below 40 and entered that turn in 3rd the problem would have went away. The instructor noticed it too. At one point he put his hands on the dash right before the stability control came on. (I was trying to get a run on the Evo, he was much quicker through the turn, but I reeled him in at the end of the straight)

All in all I’m very happy with the QA1’s, Ground Control and the 600/650 springs settings. (Suggested by Pisnuoff) I also used the CG-Lock to secure the seat belt. That also felt much better.

I love to be able to analyze the problem, make changes and hopefully go faster.
 
#23 ·
thanks for coming out!!! i thought there was going to be 4 ctsv's there but it was just us. i ended up falling off the track also(its on youtube under "tracking streets of willow") and bent my right front rim. also ended up with a 1.33.8 fastest time, not too bad for all stock. hope to see you and more at the next event!!!
 
#24 ·
Wow. You are quick. I'm going to see the guys in the Evo's (also all modified) on the 30th at Qualcomm. I don't think they were be any faster. My car seem to be ok. I may eventually have to replace the radiator.

Not sure I'm up for Big Willow on the 5th since speeds there will be approaching 140. A mistake there and you write off your car.

I'm sure I'll catch up with you later at one of the other events. You other guys from San Diego need to make the trip....

It was a blast.

ps. I still have the race setup and tires on the car. It's on rails. I need to switch back to the softer settings and the all season tires before I get myself in trouble.
 
#27 ·
Just put the All season tires back on and reset the QA1's to the street setting. One of the rears was set at 2 instead of 10. That could have been causing the oscillation.
 
#30 ·
Maybe. The only oscillation I had was in the back and that was because my washers were really too small for their use as top mounts. The fronts were solid except for the slow rebound. And cranking them up on the track helped that a bit...
 
#28 ·
Great info in this thread, man I love track day threads!

I will be installing my used QA1s within a few months and will hopefully be hitting the track in April or May and just wanted to know if you think it would be wrong to adjust the shocks all the way up (on all four corners) for the track. What is the reason that you run the rears a bit softer than the fronts? Is it so the rear will squat down ever-so-slightly coming out of turns, for added grip? Or is it because you have better high speed stability with the softer rear settings?

Also, a question for any of you guys who know aero (maybe AAIIIC): I now have the heat extractor hood, which should, in theory, reduce lift on the front end at high speeds (which should be like adding downforce to the front end). Do you guys think I might have problems with the rear end getting light now? Should I spring for a big airfoil like V-Sam has? He swears by that big wing.
 
#31 ·
Get some ideas here but play for them on your own. It's easy adjustability. At NHMS I forgot to reset them as I left. I pulled over and within 2 minutes I had reached under each corner and reset them to a softer setting.

Make sure to have the dial facing INWARD. If you have them facing the wheels you won't be able to reach in there. Facing inward, you can get under there, even with a lowered V...
 
#29 ·
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top