Nice writeup Dale, glad you had a good time.

I actually was there for two days, but got no more track time than Dale. First, the driver (ahem) spun the car the first day, leading to a backfire, leading to a blown top/bottom intake seal on the FAST intake, leading to an afternoon of R & R intake, RTV patchwork, chasing lost fasteners, etc. Then my alternator started frying while I was sitting in the staging lane waiting for the 4th session on the second day. Since my track car is also my ride home, I called it a day. The alternator never did give up entirely, although it made some pretty funky voltage swings, and smelled like an electrical fire by the time I got home. Dale followed me most of the way home to make sure I'd be OK - thanks again Dale.

The track itself really is nice. Talking to the chief driving instructor for the NW Audi club, it apparently was designed by the same person or people who did Thunderhill. Facilities at the track are indeed sparse, but at least there is a real town (Shelton WA) 5 minutes away with gas, food, hotels, car parts stores, etc. Unlike my other favorite track, Oregon Raceway Park.

Thanks Ron. I never did get around to doing a real build thread the first time around, but I've recently been struck with a serious case of upgradeitis, and will start a thread on that soon.

The trick is to bait GW into going to ORP and give him a Costco list in advance. :unibrow:

Fact is his rig is bigger than the Tall Winds Motel in Morrow. :D

Since you've driven both tracks and I've ridden ORP both directions and only watched on-board video of The Ridge.........how do they compare with a steering wheel in your hand?

I think ORP is more technical still than RMP, perhaps even more so going counter-clockwise. I've run two complete days CCW at ORP, and still never felt completely in rhythm all the way around. And there is more "pucker factor" at ORP, like the turn 16-15-14 sequence running CCW, or cresting the hill after the uphill straight going CW. There is more blind stuff, more off-camber, etc. And the half-pipe is a unique experience.

RMP is faster - I get to 130+ on the front straight before hitting the shift light and breathing the throttle for a few hundred feet, and max out in 3rd two other places. It's still pretty technical, and there are parts of it that are very satisfying lap after lap when you get in rhythm, like the 1-2-3 sequence, or the 8a-8b-9-10 sequence. Turns are a bit more "connected" at RMP, where you have to treat them as a sequence and not apex to apex. It also feels wider, and is generally more of a big car "horsepower" track.

Both are a ton of fun, and very different than the wide/fast/flat environment of PIR.

Sounds like we need to plan some parties in the GW rig :) Seriously, GW, no need to drive all the way to T'hill or Laguna for a great track. Now, the company you have to keep, that's another story ... :)

Bastards

Guilty.

So did Heino move to a new(er) building?? I see your post says you're the EFI guy for him...

He needed an EFI guy! He struggled doing my buddies 8 stack FAST EZ EFI install!! LOL


And to be totally honest about NW Track days.... they're just not the same as running Sonoma -- Laguna Secca.... or getting out of the PNWet in the winter and hitting a nice dry sunny day track event in Kalleeeforneea. But I will make an event with you guys soon.

Totally get it about the Cali tracks. I'm hoping to get there myself starting next year. My company (Autodesk) is based in S.F. And I did Skip Barber at Laguna.

Steve Heino and I went in together building a new facility to house his business, with a corner for my stuff too. It's a great building, and biz is booming since he moved there late last year.

I've done the tuning for Steve 1-2 days a week for years now. I don't really get paid for it, just enjoy using my background to help make customer cars run better. Your buddy with the Inglese was not an ideal case - the Inglese/FAST marriage was clearly a problem of left hand/right hand not talking, with install problems from day 1. And I've commented here before on the limitations of EZ/EFI and similar self tuning systems - they work within the narrow range of assumptions built into the tuning algorithms, but outside that range, you better be able to plug in the laptop and fix things, or you're screwed. If I'd had recourse to do that on that IR install, it would have run 500% better, 500% sooner. Just sayin'

BTW, the newer Holley Terminator, HP, Dominator systems all have excellent self tuning with recourse to manual/laptop, and I'm a big fan of those right now. That's the direction I'd go for most retrofit EFI these days.

Simplistically from the 2-wheeled perspective ORP running CW is like making love, it's adrenaline inducing and flows nicely, running CCW is like one night stand sex, scary yet great fun that makes you want more........but too risky to have on a weekly basis. :D

Realistically ORP is more fun and more challenging than Laguna, it just doesn't have the history. T-Hill is it's own, it's such a great blend of technical with good speed, accommodations and culture it's hard to argue.

Thank you, than you very much!

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...t._Schultz.jpg
I know nothing!

Hmm - I'm 53 and a confirmed family man. I'm glad to know that I can still have one night stand sex with a little trip to Grass Valley, OR :)

Dale, are we derailing your thread a bit? Back to regularly scheduled programming ...