VIR 1.5" off the ground

[Porschefile]

I know many of you guys are familiar with VIR so thought you might like to see what it looks like in a Formula Mazda. Esses are flat at ~135mph once the tires are warm, and it runs effortless low 2:00's (2:04-5 anyway, quicker than that takes fresh tires and some skills!) Happy tracking!

[Transfer]

3:20-3:30 made me a believer.
GT3 -->

That

is

awesome

[yandy]

That looks like a heck of allot of fun!

[Porschefile]

Originally Posted by Transfer

3:20-3:30 made me a believer.
GT3 -->

That

is

awesome

Yep, even very fast well-driven street cars can't match it (and it cost me less than the mods on my M3!). The only downsides are that it absolutely wears you out to drive, between the extreme cornering forces and no power steering, and it is finicky until the engine is warm since it is carbureted.

[askjeeves]

that looks like a blast. any good sources to read up on formula mazdas or similar open wheelers?

[Porschefile]

Originally Posted by askjeeves

that looks like a blast. any good sources to read up on formula mazdas or similar open wheelers?

www.apexspeed.com rocks. That's where I learned about them, and where I bought mine. They have subforums for each major SCCA open wheel class.

[SneakyDeeky]

sweet video. thanks for sharing

[jbraslins]

So jealous. Any interest in renting your FM out for a session or a day at VIR?

[Porschefile]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by jbraslins

So jealous. Any interest in renting your FM out for a session or a day at VIR?

Maybe some time, probably not for quite awhile though. It wouldn't be that cheap, mainly since the dogring trans is subject to tons of wear from new drivers. The car is pretty bullet proof other than transmission.

A friend of mine that also races these said annual gearbox maintenance is somewhere in the $1k range for experienced drivers, and more like 2-3x that for new-to-dogring guys.

[AMPowerJ]

Very cool!

[klammer]

That was awesome!

[RingMeister01]

Sign me up! Open wheel, ftw.

[Jaypod]

looks like a blast! Enjoy

[Porschefile]

Thanks all. Hope to see some M3's out at the DE's I do between racing. I run pretty much all of Rezoom's DE's since I instruct with them and they allow me plenty of open wheel safety and run time (very few other cars in instructor group).

[jbraslins]

Never ran with Rezoom. How many groups do they typically run? How many cars per group?

Thanks.

[Haywood]

Guys, if you haven't driven at VIR, I urge you to take a trip there. I've been on the course a few times with 2 different cars. It's one of the most physically and demanding tracks you can drive on. An amazing experience. There's a reason why C&D does their Lightning Lap test on this course!

That being said, what an awesome video! You go around Oak Tree, which is a double apex, like it's nothing!

[Porschefile]

Originally Posted by jbraslins

Never ran with Rezoom. How many groups do they typically run? How many cars per group?

Thanks.

Either 3 or 4 run groups, depending on how many people sign up. If it is lots of people signed up (which isn't that many anyway since they cut off signups at some point anyway) then there are 4 (novice, int, adv, instructor). If it is few people then adv and instructor are combined.

Lots of track time, typically 2-3 hours per day. Instructors can run any group they want at any time, with or without a student. And it isn't unusual for all groups to get combined after lunch, for open track for all that want it. Their events are laid back, and I pretty much exclusively run with them.

The cars that sign up with Rezoom are crazy. Lots of Porsches, some lambo/ferrari, etc., and several open wheels from time to time. Last Barber event we had 3 formula mazdas, a formula enterprise, and a radical. It was a blast.

[Porschefile]

Originally Posted by Haywood

Guys, if you haven't driven at VIR, I urge you to take a trip there. I've been on the course a few times with 2 different cars. It's one of the most physically and demanding tracks you can drive on. An amazing experience. There's a reason why C&D does their Lightning Lap test on this course!

That being said, what an awesome video! You go around Oak Tree, which is a double apex, like it's nothing!

For sure, I love VIR! Thanks, this car turns when you want and how you want, it rocks! It really doesn't have that much top end due to the large wings, but it sure does corner well. I was only doing a few MPH higher peak speed than my modded E92 M3 at Barber, but my lap was still 15 sec quicker.

[gottagofast13]

Looks like a lot of fun. That's definitely proof that there is no substitute for a purpose-built racecar.

I had a lot of fun racing an SCCA ITS E30 for years and I'm now on the hunt for the next racecar. I'd like to do an open wheel car but our fields for open wheels classes are tiny in the midwest. Those FMs are so cool and amazing bang for the buck.