2/23 - My first Trackday in the 348 :)

[sameerrao]

Took my 348 to the track day event organized by Driver Source and Houston FCA. About 17 cars attended. After a brief 45 minute chalk talk, we were let loose in our cars on the racetrack. The MSR track is quite technical but not intimidating - a good recipe to have fun without the consequences.

It was an excellent day with temps in the 60s - good for keeping the engines and tires cool. From a picture standpoint it was all grey skies - a bit gloomy.

I accomplished two firsts - first experience driving on a race track of any kind and first F-car drive on a track. The MSR Houston is what one would call a medium speed technical track. It has a Carousel (180 degree corner like the Parabolica in Monza), two double apex corners, two straights and a couple of neat chicanes and a blind corner that apexes over the rise over a hill. I think the top speed would be 130-145 mph in a Stradale with no corner dropping below 40 mph. In the 348 I was doing about 110mph before I backed off

Owing to my total lack of experience with track and limited experience with the car, I took it quite easy taking time to build up speed. Even then it was easy to drive the 348. It made me look like a better driver than I truly am.

I spent most of the time learning the line, continuously improving with each session. My weakness is in shifting gears smoothly. So to avoid traumatizing the gearbox with klutzy moves I was using just two gears - 3rd and 4th throughout. I was running with a very well driven 308 who was using gears 2-5. With the relaxed torque of the 348 motor and better lines I could keep up with him pretty easily.

My lap times were at 2'08'' range in the morning and then dropped to 2'05'' towards the end - all timed with a wristwatch. I believe I left a few seconds on the table as I was braking quite a bit early before all corners and was rarely ever squealing the tires in the corners. This pace seemed quite comfortable and easy to achieve every lap. The faster drivers - Jeff in the Stradale and Piers in the GT3 seemed to be about 10 secs quicker than me. Fortunately, they divided us into two packs - experienced and amateur to make it safer for all.

My favorite parts:
- Fantastic steering feel - I really could sense what the front wheels were doing and the weighting was perfect. If you have driven a go kart, you will feel the same with the 348. 8)
- Tackling the double apex corners - what a thrill! With the steering feel, it seemed easy to nail the apexes
- Strong brakes - didn't face any fade issues at all
- Long throttle pedal made it real easy to smoothly meter the throttle on the exit. It made me feel like a professional driver even though I was a rank amateur.
- The car seemed unfazed by the race track work - water/oil temps was in normal range even though I was shifting at close to 7k rpms
- The El Cheapo tires installed on my car by the previous owner - Fuzion ZRi - seemed to hold up very well with the pace I was doing. I wonder how much better it would be with PS2 or PZeros?

Overall, I had a blast.

On with the pictures ...

The drive to the track


Paddock shots




Pit lane




Track shots











Overheads




Panning




Driving the 348 is so easy - you can do it in your sleep


And No Arman - I didn't take any videos. Hope the pictures of the Red M3 compensates. It was really going well - it had some nice track oriented rubber on.

Some of the pics were taken by friend. It was her first time shooting with an SLR - I think she did a swell job. I had coached her on what settings to use to make sure we got some keepers.

[Z3uS]

Congratulations for the trackday! It must be pretty awesome, spceially in a Ferrari

Nice pics as well

[ViperASR]

:good: glad to see your enjoying your F car experience and driving it the way it should be driven. The track day looked like a ton of fun! Nice pics, and nice cars 0X

[sameerrao]

Thanks

[RC45]

Nice - let me know ahead of time next time and we'll set you up with in car video and telemetry.

Reviewing telemetry results in between sesisons can help greatly.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by sameerrao The faster drivers - Jeff in the Stradale and Piers in the GT3 seemed to be about 10 secs quicker than me.

that's prolly because u didn't use the secret weapon

[ZfrkS62]

great to hear sameer 8) I've always wnated to drive in a track day, but i kind of want a car that won't get in the way

[ARMAN]

Originally Posted by sameerrao And No Arman - I didn't take any videos. Hope the pictures of the Red M3 compensates. It was really going well - it had some nice track oriented rubber on..

LOL how did you know I will start bitchin badass looking M3 thanx

Thats great that you decided to take her on the track I think you didnt plan to do so when you bought it if i remember correctly saved all the pics

[TopGearNL]

Nice write up Sameer! The pics are great!

Too bad no vids but no worries..

Seems like you had a good day with your baby and thanks for sharing the experience :good:

[pzgren]

sounds really nice, after reading this i really like to go out and drive a few rounds around a track....

thx for the report and pics

[silentm]

wow awesome! looks like you had a really great time i can't wait for my first "track day" at the NS :evil:

awesome 427 and M3

[sameerrao]

RC45 - Great suggestion. I will hook up with you next time this event happens

Max Power - LOL - secret weapon was off wolfing down some frankfurters I suspect. He will be employed next time

Zman - I am sure that all the skills you have honed taking the Yoda to and beyond its limits at the autocross and drives will definitely help by the time you get a nice sports car. 8)
When I was on the track, I felt that I was the bottleneck. The car had more performance in it but wasnt extracting it. Anyway that's what is fun about a nice car - you always will improve your abilities

Arman - Good to hear the poison tip umbrella toting assassin is not headed my way. Regarding using the 348 as a track car, I mentioned then that my use of the car is primarily for the normal road driving. Occasional track days would be also in the program. It isn't going to be a track oriented car - i.e. stripped with slicks, etc.

Silentm - Your first trackday at the N'schliefe - would be awesome. Though I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to tackle the green hell on my first track attempt.

I would take a smaller, easier track to get comfortable with my car and aspects of braking, cornering, etc before taking on the original N'ring with so many corners to remember and lots of crazy drivers on it. Maybe you could try the modern h'ring or N'ring first

Dani - I believe I did something like 20-25 laps in total. The car took it like a champ The 348 has like 11+ quarts (1 qt = 0.9 litres) of motor oil in it and powerful radiator fans - so keeping the engine cool on the track should be no problem even in hot weather. There are a few people who use it extensively on the track because the mechanicals are simple and pretty strong for track work.

Frikkin addicting though is driving on the track. I want to go again

[yo_spc]

Fantastic meeting and shots!
Perhaps you have already explain it (sorry if it is the case... ops: ) but your 348 didn't have the back grid on the lights. Is your model a true 348 America or you have taken it of?

[sameerrao]

It has been removed by the previous owner.

Only the 348 Series Speciale model comes without the rear grille as standard and is the best looking 348 IMO.

[sameerrao]

LOL!