2004 Season

The Lotus at Mosport: Michael driving, Alison along for the ride
Michael driving, Alison riding at Mosport
I was only able to run the Cobra twice in 2004, once at Mount Tremblant (a magnificent track!) with the BMWCCA and once at Loudon with COMSCC.

Still, I had a number of terrific experiences at the track. Most of the year, I was fortunate to drive a Lotus Esprit Turbo V8 belonging to a friend, Mike Fridman, who owns Michael's Motorsports. Michael repairs, maintains, and modifies Lotus cars and other exotic cars (as well as SAABs).

Drving the Lotus was an awesome experience! This particular Esprit was a special edition Sport 350, with big AP brakes, stiffer suspension, less weight, and a carbon fiber wing.

Excitement at Mosport

All this makes the Lotus great for track use. With 350 hp and a very clean aerodynamic shape, it's very quick in a straight line. We were doing 149 mph at the end of the straight at Mosport! It is also very sweet handling, with smooth, linear, progressive responses, excellent stability, and very predictable behavior in slides.

The Lotus was very much at home at Mosport. I came within two tenths of taking FTD and setting a class record - and I was running in a higher class than I would normally have been.

Had I been able to run it in the proper class, SSU, I'd have won the class by over two seconds. Unfortunately, one of the other Lotuses broke, and Michael very generously offered to let the owner, Steve Smith, drive Michael's V8 in the time trial.

However, COMSCC rules only allow two drivers per car in a given class, so I bumped up a level to STGT, where I was running against James Price in a modified Porsche with even more power. Still, I almost beat him - and he admitted I had him worried!

Disappointment at Watkins Glen

The Lotus broke its ring and pinion on the first day at Watkins Glen (the rough concrete patches in the groove is very hard on diffs). However, before it broke, I had a blast! Watkins Glen is a great course for a car with the power and handling of the Lotus.

Steve's Lotus broke again, too, so we all had a frustrating time. Before it broke, however, both Steve and his co-driver (my main competition in 2003, Gregg Metzger) both had exciting spins in turn 10, fortunately no more serious damage than some scuffed bumper covers.

Good Times at Mont Tremblant

The first time I was able to run the Cobra in 2004 was at Mont Tremblant, with the Boston chapter of the BMW Car Club of America.

This event was something of a milestone, because it was the last event for which I was able to prepare the Cobra in the wonderful little garage/shop at my beloved home, where I had lived for twelve years. Sadly, I had to sell the house in September, and since then the Cobra and I have led a somewhat nomadic life.

Anyway, the BMW club had been very fortunate to get a date at this difficult-to-book track. I had loved the track when we ran there in 2001, and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to instruct for the BMW club, and took my Cobra.

Before the event, however, I had the oil changed and also decided to change the diff lube, which hadn't been changed since Nate and I built the car in 2000. I told the mechanics what lube I wanted in the diff, and even went over to the Ford dealer to pick up a tube of the necessary friction modifier.

Unfortunately, without telling me beforehand, they decided to do me a favor, and put in synthetic gear lube instead of the proper stuff. With no time to have them correct the error, I just had to hope it would be ok.

At the track, the car seemed to have more oversteer than I expected, but since I hadn't driven the car at Mont Tremblant in three years, and hadn't driven the Cobra on the track since the previous fall, I couldn't be sure.

In retrospect, I should have had the synthetic stuff replaced at the earliest opportunity.

Still, I had a great time at Mont Tremblant with the BMW folks. I had two excellent students, and got to drive a terrific and very powerful M3.

More Excitement at Loudon

At Loudon, where power and top speed don't count for as much, the Lotus didn't have as much of an edge. The Lotus was still quick there, but it took me some time to come to terms with its balance. At the limit, it's got more oversteer than I'm used to - although the Cobra was also oversteering more than ever before. More on that later.

At close to 3000 pounds, the Lotus is a relatively heavy car. It has the same size tires as the Cobra, but the Cobra weighs only 2400 pounds. The Lotus has great handling; it's a lot more forgiving and more progressive than the Cobra, but it has less overall grip because it's loading its tires more heavily.

At Loudon, up against light, powerful, and nimble cars such as Mitsubishi Evos and a Subaru WRX Sti, the Lotus was still competitive, but it was clearly going to be tougher to top the SSU class.

This was the first time that I felt confident enough to drive the car close to its limits. When I first started driving it, it seemed very docile and forgiving, but by this time I was driving it harder and getting to the point where it was showing final oversteer. This isn't as comfortable for me as understeer, but it can be quick.

In practice, feeling fresh and able to react quickly to whatever the car did, I gained confidence and explored the car's and my own limits as I had never done before. The car felt fantastic, and the experience was terrific. By the end of the day, I set a time that would have won the class, had I been able to duplicate it the next day in the time trial.

However, the following day I didn't feel well and I wasn't able to drive the car quite as much on the edge. I was beaten by an Evo and - barely - by a WRX Sti, and had to be happy with third in class.

I was also privileged to drive Andrzej Brzezinski's delightful Spec Miata in one event at Loudon. I didn't beat Andrzej or my brother Nate, who also has a Spec Miata, but I had great fun and learned a lot.

Andrzej has a Farringdon data acquisition system installed in his Miata. I found this to be both a great learning tool and a great motivating device. It continuously displays your current relationship to the previous best lap set in the car. So if you do the first turn well, it may show you a -.2, indicating you are two tenths quicker than your previous best. If you blow the next turn, it may show you something like +.4, indicating you are now behind your previous best.

I raved about the Farringdon system so much that Nate and his co-driver, John Spain, bought one for their Miata.

I also drove a number of students' cars, most memorably Jeremy Gay's wicked black 35th Anniversary Edition Camaro, which had lots of power and very good handling. I had the satisfying experience of helping Jeremy improve his times by about five or six seconds - and he eventually beat my best time in his car!

Finally at the last COM event at Loudon, I was able to bring my Cobra. I found to my dismay that the car was still oversteering, confirming my suspicion that the synthetic lube in the diff was undoing the limited slip effect. I went much softer on the rear anti-roll bar, which helped, but the Cobra was never as comfortable as it had been the year before.

Despite the loose diff and tires that were now 18 and 30 months old, with many heat cycles on them, I took home a third place trophy, losing only to two much more powerful cars.

Looking forward to 2005

Over the winter Michael has had an intercooler installed in the Lotus, and a new chip, as well as some other mods that will allow somewhere around 550 or 600 hp. He's also tweaked the suspension a little, with stiffer anti-roll bars and spherical bearings.

Michael's invited me to drive the Lotus again this year. It should be quite an experience!

I may also drive the Cobra at some events, or at events that Michael doesn't bring the Lotus to. That should be fun too! And I'll make sure I get that diff lube replaced.