First track day at Portland International Raceway!

[gtsfe21]

I recently took the Cascade Sports Car Club novice track school and the subsequent track day. What a great time! The classroom was great and having JonB in the passenger seat giving me constant instruction/feedback was priceless. When I started the track day I was somewhat intimidated but, by the 4th session I was starting to feel like I could actualy drive my Viper at the limit. I still have a long way to go but, I am definitely a much much better driver even after just one weekend. JonB was great. He made me feel like a member of the "Viper Family" immediately. He even gave my friend and I rides in his beautiful and amazing ACR at lunch. I recommend any viper owner in the NW to come out and join us next time. The more vipers the better! If you want to be a better driver or even brush up on your skills the track is the place to do it. You will not regret it. Heck JonB even gave me a $50 credit at viperpartsrack! I also wanted to say I drove my Viper 200 miles there, ran it hard all day long and then drove 200 miles straight home with absolutley no issues at ALL! What an amazing car!

I look forward to seeing you at the track!!!!

 

[SoCal Rebell]

I recently took the Cascade Sports Car Club novice track school and the subsequent track day. What a great time! The classroom was great and having JonB in the passenger seat giving me constant instruction/feedback was priceless. When I started the track day I was somewhat intimidated but, by the 4th session I was starting to feel like I could actualy drive my Viper at the limit. I still have a long way to go but, I am definitely a much much better driver even after just one weekend. JonB was great. He made me feel like a member of the "Viper Family" immediately. He even gave my friend and I rides in his beautiful and amazing ACR at lunch. I recommend any viper owner in the NW to come out and join us next time. The more vipers the better! If you want to be a better driver or even brush up on your skills the track is the place to do it. You will not regret it. Heck JonB even gave me a $50 credit at viperpartsrack! I also wanted to say I drove my Viper 200 miles there, ran it hard all day long and then drove 200 miles straight home with absolutley no issues at ALL! What an amazing car!

I look forward to seeing you at the track!!!!

Uh oh, now you're hooked. I ended up doing like $25K in track upgrades to my Viper. It is completely addicting, you become a "track rat". You should make the trip south to Thunderhill Raceway, it's a great track I've driven as far as Texas World Speedway for the Viperdays Nationals.

 

[Richard Koch]

I went to the Cascade HPDE in 2008 with encouragement from Jon B and loved it. That is a great track to learn on. I also got a ride with Jon and it showed just how fast a person could go around that track. Since then I have become a beginning track rat and I am equipping my RT-10 with 6 point harnesses to go with the track wheels and tires which make allow me to run better and have even more fun. I hope to see you there next year as well as the Portland Track day on or around August 1st.

 

[moparracing]

darn, missed this one, have to catch the next one.

 

[DrumrBoy]

Wheels, tires and big brakes.......then stuff that really costs money! ;-)

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Wheels, tires and big brakes.......then stuff that really costs money! ;-)

Yup, first mods where CCW wheels, Hoosier R compounds and the Stoptech Big Brake kit, that alone set me back $8-9K, Make sure you have a 10 quart oilpan with trap door baffles. You guys wanna know fast.......my first ride was with PMUM and scared to crap outta me


At Willow Springs Raceway

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[SoCal Rebell]

I went to the Cascade HPDE in 2008 with encouragement from Jon B and loved it. That is a great track to learn on. I also got a ride with Jon and it showed just how fast a person could go around that track. Since then I have become a beginning track rat and I am equipping my RT-10 with 6 point harnesses to go with the track wheels and tires which make allow me to run better and have even more fun. I hope to see you there next year as well as the Portland Track day on or around August 1st.

1999 RT-10 chrome smooth tubes, new triple pass aluminum radiator, High Flow Cats, Belanger Cat Back exhaust, short shifter, SCT engine controller upgrade, 3.55 gears, New PS2's.
This Black car should be even faster now.

Hey Richard we are set up fairly similar, 2000 Black Viper CCW, Hoosiers, Stoptech 4 wheel big bake setup, steel braided brake lines, Castrol SRF brake fluid, Smooths, Belanger headers, 3" cat backs and Randomtech hi-flow cats, 5 point belts, short shifter, 3.55 gears, lightweight flywheel, track alignment, 10 quart oilpan with trap door baffles, Mopar controller, I just spend a little more time in SoCal.

 

[Richard Koch]

You are right, the mods are very similar. I like the look of your CCW wheels. I am running a set of stock wheels and Kuhmo V-700 tires with 305-18 on the fronts and 335-18 on the rear. I also use the SRF brake fluid, but I still have have stock rotors and calipers. I also want to eventually do headers. I really enjoy the 3:55 gears on the highway too as it allows me to actually use 6th gear. I use my car as a dry weather daily driver and have 83,500 miles on it.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

You are right, the mods are very similar. I like the look of your CCW wheels. I am running a set of stock wheels and Kuhmo V-700 tires with 305-18 on the fronts and 335-18 on the rear. I also use the SRF brake fluid, but I still have have stock rotors and calipers. I also want to eventually do headers. I really enjoy the 3:55 gears on the highway too as it allows me to actually use 6th gear. I use my car as a dry weather daily driver and have 83,500 miles on it.

I have close to 100 track days under my belt, the CCW wheels will be a big improvement because they are MUCH lighter then stock so less rotating mass. The light weight flywheel makes it much easier to match revs on shifts. I run 305-18 on the front also but I went with a 335-17 on the rear, this gives me a better "slip angle". The Stoptech Big brake package makes all the difference in the world, big 14.2" discs up front, 13" in the rear, muck better braking and wear, I use Brakeman 3 pads, without ABS it is a more progressive pad not as grippy, less chance of flat spotting. The one thing I would recommend to you is swap out your 7 qt. oil pan (I'm pretty sure a '99 has a 7 qt. pan) for a 10 quart and add the baffled trap doors, I have seen 3 '97s blow their motors on the track due to oil starvation.

83K is very impressive, no garage queen there

 

[KHitman]

I did that same track day with Jon B as my instructor. Talk about an excellent experience.

 

[Richard Koch]

I have about 10 track days so far, but I now have the bug and I will be running more often next year. They will be opening a new 2 mile road course in Shelton, WA, about an hour from where I live and I am hoping to get to run there a lot next year.

I am not going fast enough yet to need more brakes, but as I get quicker I think that brakes will be a good upgrade. I have been running the EBC Blues on street as well as track. They seem great on track at the speeds I am going and do an acceptable job on the street. I will check in to the baffled oil pan this winter.

I appreciate your information and I hope to get going a lot faster this next year.

I do use my car a lot on dry days and betweeen doing track days and some car shows it get out a lot. I plan to drive to VOI next year wherever it is held. It sounds like it will be in the east, so I will get a ton of miles on next year. Wherever they hold it I plan to return via Colorado and drive up Pikes Peak in my Viper. It is one of my bucket list items I need to check off.

 

[JonB]

THANK YOU FE21, HITMAN, and Rich..... for the kind words....

On behalf of Instructors everywhere, it really makes us feel proud to help you drive a world-class car better, faster, and safer. (Especially while we are sitting inside it!)


2 Proud Trivia Bits - I once had a guy with wife and 2 kids in tow, stop me in the Washington DC terminal. He was animated and excited to introduce me, 'my first driving instructor I told you about ' to his wife and kids! He had NOT forgotten in 4+ years, and his wife even said he was a better driver since, and had helped her. He had since taken another school in VA as well. [ I had NO CLUE who he was, but I said I remembered him. ]

I was on vacation on Rarotonga in 1999........I paddled an outrigger canoe onto a small hotel beach from a smaller day-trip deserted island. As we landed, a guy on the beach shouted, "Hey, Viper Jon!" .......... same story....I had instructed him at PIR a couple years before!

"You never forget your first...driving instructor!"

 

[SoCal Rebell]

THANK YOU FE21, HITMAN, and Rich..... for the kind words....

On behalf of Instructors everywhere, it really makes us feel proud to help you drive a world-class car better, faster, and safer. (Especially while we are sitting inside it!)


2 Proud Trivia Bits - I once had a guy with wife and 2 kids in tow, stop me in the Washington DC terminal. He was animated and excited to introduce me, 'my first driving instructor I told you about ' to his wife and kids! He had NOT forgotten in 4+ years, and his wife even said he was a better driver since, and had helped her. He had since taken another school in VA as well. [ I had NO CLUE who he was, but I said I remembered him. ]

I was on vacation on Rarotonga in 1999........I paddled an outrigger canoe onto a small hotel beach from a smaller day-trip deserted island. As we landed, a guy on the beach shouted, "Hey, Viper Jon!" .......... same story....I had instructed him at PIR a couple years before!

"You never forget your first...driving instructor!"

Hey Jon, 3 days and you finally post on this thread, I remember when you'd be logged on every 3 minutes Being an instructor myself Jon speaks the truth, pupils never forget their first. I've had students from 15 to 80 years old. I have one guy I was the first to instruct that went on to become an SCCA National Champ, kind of a proud feeling.


.

 

[JonB]

But Rich's Vioer has Sara Palin Miles:

I have about 10 track days so far, but I now have the bug and I will be running more often next year. They will be opening a new 2 mile road course in Shelton, WA, about an hour from where I live and I am hoping to get to run there a lot next year.

I am not going fast enough yet to need more brakes, but as I get quicker I think that brakes will be a good upgrade. I have been running the EBC Blues on street as well as track. They seem great on track at the speeds I am going and do an acceptable job on the street. I will check in to the baffled oil pan this winter.

I appreciate your information and I hope to get going a lot faster this next year.

I do use my car a lot on dry days and betweeen doing track days and some car shows it get out a lot. I plan to drive to VOI next year wherever it is held. It sounds like it will be in the east, so I will get a ton of miles on next year. Wherever they hold it I plan to return via Colorado and drive up Pikes Peak in my Viper. It is one of my bucket list items I need to check off.