VENOM V
11-17-2013, 10:31 PM
Ok, where to start? What an eventful day, so much to talk about. This was the first time I've ever tracked at Laguna Seca, the legendary track that the Gen V Viper holds the track record at. I went there with a group of friends, including Bushido in his bad ass Gen IV ACR. I drove on my tired, chunked Corsas, but they gripped surprisingly well.
It was my best friend Mike's birthday, so I thought I'd give him the present of his lifetime. Mike is an experienced track rat, has owned and tracked a few Ferraris and most recently a Porsche Cup car. I've seen him drive and I trust him, so off we went. We ran in the two advanced groups C and D with Hooked on Driving, so we had 9 sessions between the two of us. I rode with him on every one of his sessions, so I was in the car tracking pretty much morning until evening. Exhausting, but what a rush and a great way to learn the track quickly.
Hitting the Track
Laguna Seca had a 90 dB limit and I was promptly meatballed for exceeding it at 94.9 dB, which means you get a lecture and have to sit the rest of the session out. This was after short shifting into fourth and bogging it past the sound booth, on advice of Graham Henckel. Even Bushido exceeded it in his Gen IV, whereas in the past he had never had any issues. It was foggy at times, and the sound reflects off of the fog and adds a few dB to the reading. So this meant that for the rest of the day, I had to bog it in fourth gear at partial throttle from before turn 5 to after turn 6. Yuck, what a pisser!
Let's dive right in to a video. Ignore the MPH, it's goofed up because my OBD connection disconnected. This was not my fastest lap, but definitely the most entertaining! I got loose in turn three and had some tank-slappin' fun. More on that later. Another friend Scott rode along on this session and about pooped in his pants, LOL...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gouRZ2SLkJU&feature=youtu.be
Traction and Stability Control
This is the third time I've tracked the Viper, so I'm getting to know it pretty well. I drive it with the dampers in Race Mode and the ESC in Sport Mode, which has both Traction Control and Stability Control in reduced mode. It is absolutely amazing up to it's very high limits, it just sticks like glue and the power is amazing. When I fishtailed in the video above, I tried to ease into the throttle to transfer weight to the rear tires and bring it under control. However, the traction control kicks in and prevents throttle, so my back end stayed light and I believe this prolonged the fishtailing. So I believe I'm ready to put the ESC in Track Mode, which turns Traction Control off but leaves Stability Control in reduced mode. Then I can use the throttle to toss the car around, and more effectively control the car when it gets sideways. If any track rats would like to comment on that, please do. I'm going back to Spring Mountain for a private lesson at Ron Fellows School in March. Two days of private instruction in Viper with the school director. Part of the agenda will be to do some skid pad exercises in the Viper and will be sure to work on car control when the tail end steps out.
Turn 1 - The Kink
Turn 1 at Seca is more of a kinked straight. Randy Pobst hits 140 MPH in the Viper TA at turn 1. It is a blind, cresting hill with a slight kink to the left. In most cars, you drive it like any straight, wide open throttle. But with the Viper, the acceleration is so explosive that you had better have the perfect line to do that. My OBD interface to my lap timer became disconnected, so the MPH recorded is way off. I am deep in 4th going about 130MPH at turn 1, and the back end makes small steps as you crest the hill. After experiencing that a few times, I decided not to push it, so no way am I going to attempt 140MPH like Randy. He is the man. If I can eventually get the carbon aero package, I should have no issues with going wide open with the correct line. Instead I maintain a very light acceleration to keep weight and grip on the rear tires. But I have to say, it takes balls to keep your foot in the pedal when the back end makes these small side-steps. If you lift at 130MPH as the car crests the hill, you WILL go out of control and will likely total your car into the wall. I'm not sure if I'll return to Seca without the aero package, and am impatiently waiting for Mopar to bring their price down to earth so I can purchase it.
The infamous Cork Screw
The Cork Screw is a blind drop over a hill into the abyss- very intimidating until you learn the line, then an absolute blast when you master it. In my first couple of sessions, I could see the other cars would gain on me, so I kept at it and followed the line of some very fast cars. In the end, I learned that you can haul ass as soon as the suspension compresses at the bottom of the Cork Screw, and you can really push it hard through the next few corners - fun, highly technical track!
Lap Times
Here's the pisser- Harry's Lap Timer errored out all day, with messages like "an unknown video error occurred." In fact, I could not get it to even record lap times for my final two sessions. I recorded several 1.42s and 1.43s earlier in the day when I was still learning the line. But in the final sessions when I became comfortable on the track, no data. I would guess that I was running 1.40s, but who knows. I felt pleased with the pace I was running. I was bogging at partial throttle past the sound booth, that surely slowed me down, so I'd like to return to Seca if they ever have another 105 dB day. Rumor is that there may be no more, because the auto manufacturers are buying up all of the high-dB days. On a high-dB day and if I had the carbon aero package, I'm hopeful that I could dip below 1:40. Much respect for Randy Pobst, running any car in the 1:33s and 1:34s like he has with Vettes and Vipers is a remarkable driving feat. It takes big balls to do that.
The Viper as a Track Car
I've tracked Corvettes quite a bit and also my Camaro 1LE, which has 560 HP, coilovers and 315 R-compounds all the way around. The Viper is clearly faster and more precise than the Camaro. Like the Corvettes, the Camaro is more forgiving at the limit. If I fishtailed in the Camaro like I did in the Viper, it would be trivial to bring it back to straight. With the Viper, you need to know proper car control techniques to drive it near it's limit- it is not as easy to recover from a goof. However, it is wicked fast. I believe that at the end of the day, there was one black highly modified Z06 that was turning faster laps, but not much else could keep up. The Viper is a beast on the track, blistering fast.
However, would I recommend tracking the Viper to a track newbie? I would say that the Viper is the ideal track car for someone that already has tracking experience, and for that person I cannot imagine a more rewarding experience. But for a newbie, I think you should develop basic car control skills at a school before taking the Viper near it's limits on the track. I took the Ron Fellows ZR1 School- Just the short, 2-day school, before tracking the Viper for the first time. I view that as the bare minimum. Not just some random instructor at a HPDE day, a real driving school like Ron Fellows, Bondaurant or Skip Barber.
Final Thoughts
My theory is that there's a reason that the Viper has such amazingly high limits and owns so many track records. I think most auto manufacturers tame their cars' handling a little at the limit, preferring easy to control understeer for example to superior turn-in. But the Viper engineering team made no such compromise. It's all about performance. The trade-off is that the Viper requires more driver's skill to control it if you step over it's limits.
All that said, I think the Viper is the perfect car for me and I cannot wait to track it again when the weather clears up. Hanging out with Bushido and my friends at the track, watching my friend Mike toss the Viper around in turn 2, scaring Scott half to death with my turn-3 fishtail, LOL. Good times. But the Gen V Viper is not a one-trick pony. I tracked it on Thursday, then spent the weekend taking my lady to the Blackhawk Auto Museum and enjoyed just driving around town. It's a true GT car, but no question it's more of a raw race car than a cream puff. Just the way I like it. It is a track enthusiast's supercar.
It was my best friend Mike's birthday, so I thought I'd give him the present of his lifetime. Mike is an experienced track rat, has owned and tracked a few Ferraris and most recently a Porsche Cup car. I've seen him drive and I trust him, so off we went. We ran in the two advanced groups C and D with Hooked on Driving, so we had 9 sessions between the two of us. I rode with him on every one of his sessions, so I was in the car tracking pretty much morning until evening. Exhausting, but what a rush and a great way to learn the track quickly.
Hitting the Track
Laguna Seca had a 90 dB limit and I was promptly meatballed for exceeding it at 94.9 dB, which means you get a lecture and have to sit the rest of the session out. This was after short shifting into fourth and bogging it past the sound booth, on advice of Graham Henckel. Even Bushido exceeded it in his Gen IV, whereas in the past he had never had any issues. It was foggy at times, and the sound reflects off of the fog and adds a few dB to the reading. So this meant that for the rest of the day, I had to bog it in fourth gear at partial throttle from before turn 5 to after turn 6. Yuck, what a pisser!
Let's dive right in to a video. Ignore the MPH, it's goofed up because my OBD connection disconnected. This was not my fastest lap, but definitely the most entertaining! I got loose in turn three and had some tank-slappin' fun. More on that later. Another friend Scott rode along on this session and about pooped in his pants, LOL...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gouRZ2SLkJU&feature=youtu.be
Traction and Stability Control
This is the third time I've tracked the Viper, so I'm getting to know it pretty well. I drive it with the dampers in Race Mode and the ESC in Sport Mode, which has both Traction Control and Stability Control in reduced mode. It is absolutely amazing up to it's very high limits, it just sticks like glue and the power is amazing. When I fishtailed in the video above, I tried to ease into the throttle to transfer weight to the rear tires and bring it under control. However, the traction control kicks in and prevents throttle, so my back end stayed light and I believe this prolonged the fishtailing. So I believe I'm ready to put the ESC in Track Mode, which turns Traction Control off but leaves Stability Control in reduced mode. Then I can use the throttle to toss the car around, and more effectively control the car when it gets sideways. If any track rats would like to comment on that, please do. I'm going back to Spring Mountain for a private lesson at Ron Fellows School in March. Two days of private instruction in Viper with the school director. Part of the agenda will be to do some skid pad exercises in the Viper and will be sure to work on car control when the tail end steps out.
Turn 1 - The Kink
Turn 1 at Seca is more of a kinked straight. Randy Pobst hits 140 MPH in the Viper TA at turn 1. It is a blind, cresting hill with a slight kink to the left. In most cars, you drive it like any straight, wide open throttle. But with the Viper, the acceleration is so explosive that you had better have the perfect line to do that. My OBD interface to my lap timer became disconnected, so the MPH recorded is way off. I am deep in 4th going about 130MPH at turn 1, and the back end makes small steps as you crest the hill. After experiencing that a few times, I decided not to push it, so no way am I going to attempt 140MPH like Randy. He is the man. If I can eventually get the carbon aero package, I should have no issues with going wide open with the correct line. Instead I maintain a very light acceleration to keep weight and grip on the rear tires. But I have to say, it takes balls to keep your foot in the pedal when the back end makes these small side-steps. If you lift at 130MPH as the car crests the hill, you WILL go out of control and will likely total your car into the wall. I'm not sure if I'll return to Seca without the aero package, and am impatiently waiting for Mopar to bring their price down to earth so I can purchase it.
The infamous Cork Screw
The Cork Screw is a blind drop over a hill into the abyss- very intimidating until you learn the line, then an absolute blast when you master it. In my first couple of sessions, I could see the other cars would gain on me, so I kept at it and followed the line of some very fast cars. In the end, I learned that you can haul ass as soon as the suspension compresses at the bottom of the Cork Screw, and you can really push it hard through the next few corners - fun, highly technical track!
Lap Times
Here's the pisser- Harry's Lap Timer errored out all day, with messages like "an unknown video error occurred." In fact, I could not get it to even record lap times for my final two sessions. I recorded several 1.42s and 1.43s earlier in the day when I was still learning the line. But in the final sessions when I became comfortable on the track, no data. I would guess that I was running 1.40s, but who knows. I felt pleased with the pace I was running. I was bogging at partial throttle past the sound booth, that surely slowed me down, so I'd like to return to Seca if they ever have another 105 dB day. Rumor is that there may be no more, because the auto manufacturers are buying up all of the high-dB days. On a high-dB day and if I had the carbon aero package, I'm hopeful that I could dip below 1:40. Much respect for Randy Pobst, running any car in the 1:33s and 1:34s like he has with Vettes and Vipers is a remarkable driving feat. It takes big balls to do that.
The Viper as a Track Car
I've tracked Corvettes quite a bit and also my Camaro 1LE, which has 560 HP, coilovers and 315 R-compounds all the way around. The Viper is clearly faster and more precise than the Camaro. Like the Corvettes, the Camaro is more forgiving at the limit. If I fishtailed in the Camaro like I did in the Viper, it would be trivial to bring it back to straight. With the Viper, you need to know proper car control techniques to drive it near it's limit- it is not as easy to recover from a goof. However, it is wicked fast. I believe that at the end of the day, there was one black highly modified Z06 that was turning faster laps, but not much else could keep up. The Viper is a beast on the track, blistering fast.
However, would I recommend tracking the Viper to a track newbie? I would say that the Viper is the ideal track car for someone that already has tracking experience, and for that person I cannot imagine a more rewarding experience. But for a newbie, I think you should develop basic car control skills at a school before taking the Viper near it's limits on the track. I took the Ron Fellows ZR1 School- Just the short, 2-day school, before tracking the Viper for the first time. I view that as the bare minimum. Not just some random instructor at a HPDE day, a real driving school like Ron Fellows, Bondaurant or Skip Barber.
Final Thoughts
My theory is that there's a reason that the Viper has such amazingly high limits and owns so many track records. I think most auto manufacturers tame their cars' handling a little at the limit, preferring easy to control understeer for example to superior turn-in. But the Viper engineering team made no such compromise. It's all about performance. The trade-off is that the Viper requires more driver's skill to control it if you step over it's limits.
All that said, I think the Viper is the perfect car for me and I cannot wait to track it again when the weather clears up. Hanging out with Bushido and my friends at the track, watching my friend Mike toss the Viper around in turn 2, scaring Scott half to death with my turn-3 fishtail, LOL. Good times. But the Gen V Viper is not a one-trick pony. I tracked it on Thursday, then spent the weekend taking my lady to the Blackhawk Auto Museum and enjoyed just driving around town. It's a true GT car, but no question it's more of a raw race car than a cream puff. Just the way I like it. It is a track enthusiast's supercar.