First track day on the new setup: radiator hose spin at Autobahn
This weekend was the first day out at a track with all the new stuff- delrin bushings, swaybars f/r, p1 tires, mk60 abs, and probably a few things I’m forgetting. It was a super hot day at Autobahn CC with Revmatch. Probably 90 by early morning and pushing 100 by mid day.
First session out I have a failure a couple minutes in. We had just finished warmup on a full course yellow and coming into T13 I had a lower radiator hose blow off. The coolant immediately hit my rear tires and caused an instant spin. I saw that I still had oil pressure and my low coolant warning was on. After a few minutes I got the car started and drove along the grass back to the pits since I had oil and Idling the motor without coolant for a minute is no big deal. Once I found the offending hose it was no big deal to get it back on. I hadn’t removed that hose for anything recently. Though I had replaced the coolant with distilled water and water wetter recently. My theory is that I didn’t screw down the pressure cap on the surge tank enough and I got a flash boil when the coolant couldn’t hold pressure. In any case I managed to find some hose water to get it topped off again. Engine seems fine. It’s a 90k+ LS, but much less dramatic than the video made it seem, and that it seemed at the time.
After that fun, session 2 was pretty uneventful. Mediocre times with the heat. I didn’t expect much today, but it feels like there is a lot more time in the car. I’d guess at least a mid 1:34 if I nail T4 and T5.
Session 3 went mostly okay. The brakes were starting to feel a little warm. Towards the end of the session I was chasing what looked like a c8 z07 package for a bit. It was pushing me to keep up and I ran a few low 1:36 and then a new PB at 1:35.64. That’s only like 3/10ths faster, but faster is faster. Just as I hit T1 I get ice mode on my ABS. I try and steer the car into the corner, where I have a longer line to brake, but it’s not slowing and I go off. Immediately release the brakes and allow the wheels to roll so I can turn along the way and drive out of it. The car was acting weird with the brakes the rest of the lap so I just head in. No sense in tempting fate more so I pack it up and miss the other 2 sessions that day. I don’t want to risk myself or others.
After I asked around a bit about it. A wonky wheel speed sensor is the most likely issue. Supposedly I should be able to see the logs in INPA. I’ll have to give it a look and start poking at it. Hopefully it’s something stupid like a plug not fully seated. I’m still on the stock front hubs though and have a replacement set for them ready to go. More to come.
