Track Day 12 - Laguna Seca
So for the 12th track day, Boh came full circle to Laguna Seca. Laguna Seca was the third track I'd ever done, and the first track where Boh had gotten to ride as a passenger out on the track. That day inspired her a lot to get into track cars, and while she'd later go on to say things like "I don't know if I'll get as into this as I am into disc golf..." she can't deny now that she absolutely loves to do track days. Plus just a day after she said that I caught her trying to find podcasts about chicks racing cars, so she's all about it!
The only change done to the car for this track day was swapping her out to Hankook Ventus RS-4 tires from her original tires which were Federal 595RS-RRs. Not a lot of love out there for the Federals, but the RS4's are renowned for exceptional grip for their endurance level wear. Boh had gotten one track day in prior to Laguna on the tires and loved them, so nothing all that new to note there.
Boh managed to put down a personal best of 2:00:11. She was a bit perturbed she didn't break the 2 minute mark, and attributes a lot of her lap time struggles to having to assist point by passes as her car was much slower on the straights and uphill than the other far faster cars such as C8 Corvettes, some Ferarrai's and a wide variety of Posrche GT cars. Comparing her turn 2 speeds to mine, I was actually 2mph slower than her despite running 15 seconds a lap faster!
I definitely think a 2.5 swap is in the not so distant future for this Miata, as it will let the car hang a bit better in the straights while maintaining her amazing cornering speeds. Boh though still has plenty of seat time improvement to be made, but considering she hasn't even quite hit a year yet of even knowing how to drive a manual tonow heel toeing into turn 2 at Laguna Seca... I'd say she's doing just fine!
Modifications wise, I think some fender flares are in order for this car. The RS4 in 245 is much wider than even the already quite chonky Federals were in 245, and occasionally contact the OEM fenders despite them being rolled. Supposedly going down to a smaller tire will actually increase the lap times you can get out of these cars, but eh it is a lot of fun with the chonky tires and it gives Boh gobs of grip out there. I also think it's time to swap out the rather spindly OEM sway bars for something a bit nicer to keep the car flat. While Boh isn't complaining about it, I think it'll help with the fender hitting issues along with in general improve handling. Plus, it's not all that expensive, with both flares and sway bars coming in at $500 or so to do tops.
Below is the one session of video with Boh driving around Laguna Seca.