McLaren McCopy on the Track in Cresson TX

[Blueovalz]

Last weekend I spent a day on a short track testing the car and myself (new track/new car). First feedback is:
1) Looking at posts on the GT40s site brought me very close to a balanced suspension. I'm running a 15/16 bar front, and 3/4" rear. The rear was a little tight, so I moved the link out (one space) to soften the rear bar, which eliminated the slight oversteer concern I had. But even before I did that, the oversteer was very predictable and correctable, which was a joy to me.
2) Calculated brake set-up was off more than I anticipated. I believe part of that error was because the car weighs 200 lbs more than anticipated, and most of that extra weight is above the originally calculated CG. Thus, I had to bias the front brakes more than I would have thought. But it did work out very well, so now the brakes are in good shape. Even at a portly 200lbs heavier, the 12" X .810" rotors, and the Hawk HTC-60 pads, the brakes worked extremely well, but again, I wasn't pushing it a 100%.
3) Front camber of 1.3º appeared to need no change, but the rear was increased from about .7º to about 1.4º to get temps and wear looking good.
4) Drove 100% of the sessions in 3rd gear only, except for one single lap where I shifted to forth accidentally with no clutch (amazing how much easier a 930 shifts when fluid is at track temperature). Again, new car (my first one of this caliber), and new track, so my focus was a proper line, and learning the nuances of the car. Even with using only one gear, it pulls nicely out of the turns and was competitive even with the turbo Porsches and the Z06s out of the exits.


The softer feedback is that the car is a crowd magnet, that surprisingly few drivers recognized it for what I attempted (a Can Am McLaren resemblence), and the joy I had that it didn't break on the first day at the track. Again, I didn't push it too hard, 5700 RPM was the peak registered RPM, with 109 peak MPH, which wasn't too bad considering the short straights. I'm returning this fall, to focus on lap times now that I'm familiar with the course and car at speed. I guess one of the thrills was reviewing my wife's videos. She said mine was the only "Can Am sounding" car out there, and she didn't have to look up to know when I was coming back around the front straight.