Sparky589
Drag Racing Champion
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
Well at long last, after countless hours (and quite a few bucks) spent modifying my Golf, I felt it was time to finally see what it could do. With a bigger turbo, brakes, intercooler, sticky tires, and fully worked over suspension I made the decision to enroll in the beginners class with NCRC up at Thunder Hill raceway.
I was originally hoping to head up with two friends, once of which had recently bought a Veloser N performance to hit up the track with me. Unfortunately however, neither one could make it for the day, and so at 6 A.M last Saturday I piled into the Golf to head on out for the two hour drive to the track. Arriving about 15 minutes late (decided to stop for gas before heading in) I quickly found my spot and dropped by for the first of three classes on offer by the NCRC. On track instruction was to be conducted with two 20-minute guided sessions following an instructor car, the first of which focusing on following the basic racing line and the second being centered around passing. The pace was set between 45-60 MPH, allowing us to get a decent feel for things while we were out there. At no point where we receiving actual in-car instruction by the staff.
Now for the record this was my first time ever on a racetrack. I've never done autocross, no carting experience at all to speak of, and the closest thing to motorsport that I've done is about a baker’s dozen passes down the quarter mile. Still, my driving instructor did actually pull me aside after the first set of laps to compliment me on how well I followed the line, something I think the few hundred hours of time spent playing Forza had somewhat prepared me for.
Things were coming around smoothly, that is up until the second round of on track instruction. We were practicing passing, when during an attempted overtake on the very last lap of the session the whole car jumped and I lost power.
For a moment I thought it was all over. In that horrible second I thought I had popped my turbo over 200 miles away from my garage on a faraway racetrack. I hadn't even made it to the proper "open" runs and my car was already limping back to the pits. Collecting myself, I noted that the CEL was still thankfully off, meaning the most likely culprit was a blown-off charge pipe. Thankfully I had made certain to come prepared, having brought a jack, stands, and all the sockets I might need to work on the car. Throwing it up on the stands confirmed my suspicions, as the boost-side charge pipe on the intercooler had blown clear off. But despite all my preparation, I hadn't thought to bring any hose clamps, and a quick once over of the engine bay meant that the one I had on there was most likely still left stranded out on the track itself.
Fortunately this is where the incredible staff of the NCRC came into play. I explained my plight to one of the staffers, who promptly got on the walkie-talkie and started asking around to see if anyone could find me one. Finally a mechanic who specializes in building spec-miatas from his garage on the track offered to help, and lo and behold the very last hose clamp he had on hand was the perfect size to get the charge pipe into place. I was back in the game, and with the hose clamp tightened down as hard as I could make it I was ready to see how this little TSI would handle itself on track without a leash. Questions remained of course, especially as ambient temps crested 98 degrees. Would the car keep itself cool, or just overheat instantly? What about the transmission? Nobody I could find had experience tracking with the 09g slushbox, and part of me was afraid it wouldn't be up to the task of track duty. Either way the call for the beginner’s group to collect at the pit lane rang out.
I was originally hoping to head up with two friends, once of which had recently bought a Veloser N performance to hit up the track with me. Unfortunately however, neither one could make it for the day, and so at 6 A.M last Saturday I piled into the Golf to head on out for the two hour drive to the track. Arriving about 15 minutes late (decided to stop for gas before heading in) I quickly found my spot and dropped by for the first of three classes on offer by the NCRC. On track instruction was to be conducted with two 20-minute guided sessions following an instructor car, the first of which focusing on following the basic racing line and the second being centered around passing. The pace was set between 45-60 MPH, allowing us to get a decent feel for things while we were out there. At no point where we receiving actual in-car instruction by the staff.
Now for the record this was my first time ever on a racetrack. I've never done autocross, no carting experience at all to speak of, and the closest thing to motorsport that I've done is about a baker’s dozen passes down the quarter mile. Still, my driving instructor did actually pull me aside after the first set of laps to compliment me on how well I followed the line, something I think the few hundred hours of time spent playing Forza had somewhat prepared me for.
Things were coming around smoothly, that is up until the second round of on track instruction. We were practicing passing, when during an attempted overtake on the very last lap of the session the whole car jumped and I lost power.For a moment I thought it was all over. In that horrible second I thought I had popped my turbo over 200 miles away from my garage on a faraway racetrack. I hadn't even made it to the proper "open" runs and my car was already limping back to the pits. Collecting myself, I noted that the CEL was still thankfully off, meaning the most likely culprit was a blown-off charge pipe. Thankfully I had made certain to come prepared, having brought a jack, stands, and all the sockets I might need to work on the car. Throwing it up on the stands confirmed my suspicions, as the boost-side charge pipe on the intercooler had blown clear off. But despite all my preparation, I hadn't thought to bring any hose clamps, and a quick once over of the engine bay meant that the one I had on there was most likely still left stranded out on the track itself.
Fortunately this is where the incredible staff of the NCRC came into play. I explained my plight to one of the staffers, who promptly got on the walkie-talkie and started asking around to see if anyone could find me one. Finally a mechanic who specializes in building spec-miatas from his garage on the track offered to help, and lo and behold the very last hose clamp he had on hand was the perfect size to get the charge pipe into place. I was back in the game, and with the hose clamp tightened down as hard as I could make it I was ready to see how this little TSI would handle itself on track without a leash. Questions remained of course, especially as ambient temps crested 98 degrees. Would the car keep itself cool, or just overheat instantly? What about the transmission? Nobody I could find had experience tracking with the 09g slushbox, and part of me was afraid it wouldn't be up to the task of track duty. Either way the call for the beginner’s group to collect at the pit lane rang out.
