Before Mont Tremblant we did some more significant work on the suspension.
This was one of the events I looked forward to most of all this year. I'd run many laps on the computer at a simulation of Mont Tremblant, and I knew what a fantastic track it is.
Here's a note I wrote just before we left for Canada for the COMSCC event in late August:
We were extremely competitive at Loudon, despite having poor brakes and a squishy front end which delivered major push on corner exit. St. Jovite is more of a power circuit, so we don't expect to win. It will be tough to compete with the guys with 350 hp and more (i.e. everyone else in our class!) with 225 hp.
However, yesterday we finished a major rework of the front suspension, with new upper and lower control arms and a bump steer kit. We can now dial in our desired caster and camber in a few moments. Also we got rid of the bump steer almost completely.
We tried it out on the road in the evening and it felt terrific. With the old rubber Mustang bushings gone (in their place are urethane bushings in the the new tubular lower control arms) the car responds very crisply to steering inputs. With zero bump steer, the car is far more stable and confidence-inspiring.
On the way back, Nate drove and I rode along in the passenger seat. We were going up a very winding and bumpy hill from Sharon to South Strafford, a road Nate knows well because he drives it every day.
I realize the passenger seat goes 20 mph faster than the driver's seat, but I have never been so terrified in a car in my life. I've never ever closed my eyes before in a car out of fear, but I did then! When I asked him about it later, he said, "I never even squealed the tires." He said he knew he was going fast, but it felt very easy.
I can't wait to try it on the track!
Here's a report I wrote to Doug Arnao after the event:
We had a great time!
The Mont Tremblant circuit is fantastic. The renovations have made it very different from the old circuit, even though the layout hasn't changed except for the last turn. But now it is smooth, with almost no banking, and wide, with nice FIA-style curbs everywhere you might touch an apex or an exit point. It's fast, challenging, beautiful, with a wonderful rhythm. You must really get up there if you can, Doug. I think you will absolutely love it.
It's also very intimidating, with lots of fast corners that have their apex past a blind brow, so you have to commit to the corner before you can see the apex, never mind the exit. It takes time to work up to the limit, and neither of us felt we got anything near the maximum out of the car.
Despite this, I took home a 2nd place trophy. I was lucky because it rained all morning on Friday, the day of the time trials, stopping only a little while before the time trials began. I drew a late starting position, and got to run when the track was dry in places (but not everywhere), while the others in my class all had to run earlier when the track was wetter. Still, it felt great to get 2nd place.
[Later I found out that the fellow who won the class had gotten a rerun, so he set his time at the very end of the day when the track was almost totally dry. Still, he beat me by only just over a second. Had he run at his scheduled time, I undoubtedly would have won.]
I was only a second off the time of the winner; if I'd been a bit braver in some of the fast but still somewhat wet corners, I could have won. But I didn't want to risk crashing the car. In the morning Nate had an almighty spin exiting the kink between turns 7 and 8. This is quite a fast section, near redline in 3rd, and he hit a puddle just as he got hard on the throttle. The car snapped around with no warning and headed for the guardrail. He came to a stop after about 3 full spins, about a foot from the guardrail.
This put the fear of God in both of us, so we were even more careful after that.
We ran our street tires on Thursday (the practice day), planning to run the race tires on Friday for morning practice and the time trials in the afternoon. The street tires are great for learning because they squeal a lot when you push them, so it's easy to tell when you're on the limit.
Unfortunately due to the rain, we didn't get to try the race tires in the dry. Still, even in the dry + damp conditions that I ran my time trial in, I could feel that they had much more grip, and the car was even more forgiving.
With the FFR control arms (with their urethane bushings) in front, keeping the camber where it should be, and with the bump steer dialed out, the car's handling is simply fantastic. Steering is precise and crisp, and the car is extremely forgiving. On my third and final lap in the time trail, I was pushing a little harder in the slower corners, and the tail stepped out a bit. It was soooo smooth and progressive, it was awesome. The car is simply delicious to drive.
I can't wait to try it at Loudon later this month!
Thank you, Doug!!