AlwaysInBoost

I think I'm getting tired of doing HPDE's. I never thought in a million years I'd say those dirty words, but after last weekend thats how I feel.

I did an open track at the Thunderbolt course @ NJMP on Friday in my procharged z06. This was my 7th event in the car and I was running in HPDE3. I am not 'racing' the car, but I am driving as fast as I feel comfortable doing in a street car. I would say I'm about 7-8/10ths out there. I'm sure the car can be driven faster/better, but even at that reduced pace its still very fast. With all the power i have it seems almost too easy to drive, there isn't any real challange.

I was straight up BORED for the second half of the day. Braking at the same spots, hitting the same apexs, tracking out to the same spots and doing it all over and over again lap after lap just seemed dull and not exciting like it used to. Isn't the definition of Insanity doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result... thats how I feel. I was hoping this feeling would go away in a couple days and I would be ready to go again, but I'm sad to say it has not gone away.

What do you track junkies think the cure is? Was it the track? last month I did Monticello (22 turns & 4.1miles) and don't remember feeling this way afterwards. Should I sell the car and get something more challanging to drive like a Maita? WOuld I really have more fun doing the same things in a slower car?

flycastinguy

I'm not there yet, but I've often wondered about the guys that run the same track over and over again in the same car. It would have to get boring after a while. Maybe a new track or two would keep things fresh. I've made it a goal to try one new track a year, although I didn't make it this year.

MySR71

Are you keeping track of your lap times (data system)? Maybe having a goal of a particular lap time would keep things interesting and give you something to strive for.

JimbeauZ06

If it's not challenging you're not going fast enough!
Or maybe you're just a much better driver than I am.

Seriously though, maybe you're afraid to push the car to the point where it is a challenge, and I get that. Maybe a different car would change that if it was something you could really push.

Plus I know a guy who just put an LS3 in a Miata!!

BrianCunningham

Time to step up to time trials

Kubs

I feel it is harder to push the car when there is no goal in mind. I try to drive hard all the time but if its a time trial or something where I am competing I seem to get faster every time I drive during the day. May be start doing some TT or other form of competition.

Falcon

Sounds to me like you're ready for wheel to wheel racing.

A few years ago, I went through the same thing as you and was ready to quit, since all I was doing was burning hydrocarbons.

Then I had to make a fateful decision, was I going to chuck it all and retire to the golf course, or step it up a notch?

I stepped it up a notch and bought a race care and haven't looked back. When I get tired/bored with this, then it will be the golf course for sure.

Jaymz

I agree.. it's time to go racing (or even Time Trials).. As HPDE's for me are boring unless I find a friend that we can run with about the same speeds..

brkntrxn

To echo the others, start timing your laps or start doing Time Trials to make it more interesting.

Another question/suggestion: Are you out there running with anyone else? It is WAY more fun to find someone that is right at your speed or faster and run nose-to-tail around the track. I have much more fun when I am out running in a pack of my friends than when I am out there by myself.

0Randy@DRM

Randy

clubracer6

I agree - time to go wheel to wheel! I have access to free track time or really cheap track time quite often and I just don't do it. It's fun for a session or two, but then get boring if you're not screwing around with other cars... Even time trials get boring.

It's the high speed game of chess that gets me excited. Coming into a corner side by side and not grabbing your brakes until you see the car next to you grab his.

davidfarmer

"lapping" bores me to death. I enjoy instructing, up to a point, and usually only drive if I'm taking someone out to show them how it's done. I miss the wheel-to-wheels stuff, as Jody says, but burning up hardware just doesn't do it for me either.

Jason

Competition is the answer.

wtknght1

Yep, time for some equal competition!!!!

To be honest though, if you're driving correctly, HP driving should actually be boring, because you're doing the same things, at the same places, at the same speeds, lap after lap after lap...with your lap times slowly reducing because of fuel burn off! But, that's the essence of great driving - to be able to do that over and over again...at great speeds.

That was one of my biggest advantages when I finally started W2W racing. I'd already done 10 years of DE stuff...had 35K track miles on 30 different circuits around the country, and knew I could be at least as consistent as anyone out there. Racing and car setup is a whole 'nuther' story, but the consistency in driving (if you can do it) will pay off with wins!

Go get yourself a T1 car or something that's comparable to your other competitors and see how you do. If you don't want that, then another option for you is to start making changes/adjustments to your car to see if it improves it or not (and I'm not talking about just adding more power). Change the shocks, camber, ride height...look at data...do time trials...whatever. There is nothing quite like W2W racing though...

LV Vette

WOW, I was just thinking of going to HPDE from drag racing (which I still love), because I’m tired of breaking things. I was also wondering if one could try a road-racing track without any special training. All I want to do is go out there and drive fast, not anything crazy.

AlwaysInBoost

thanks for all the suggestions. Seeing how competitive the sport is, and reading some of the $ figures people are thowing around, I know don't have the free time, budget or desire to race w2w... a time trial might be an option though.

i don't have any datalogging equipment other then EFILive, which doesn't record anything except engine data.

I started doing HPDE's as a way for me to safely find the limits of my car & my driving. After a few years I'm pretty sure I know where those limits are. I'm not saying I've mastered any of the tracks I've been on, I'm just saying it I don't want to risk ending my life or wadding up my car to try and go any faster then I already am. That means I'm left with driving at my pace around the track lap after lap, which gets boring. Passing other cars is fun and so is playing cat and mouse, which I do, but it just doesn't have the 'thrill' it use to when I first started.

I love a challanging course, so maybe the key is to always do a different track. Like someone posted above, my goal is also to do one new track a year. It was Monticello this year, which I loved, next year I was going to try the Glen. Thunderbolt is supposed to be the more techincal track of the two @ NJMP, but the thought of going back doesn't sound appealing at all. I'm so bored with it already after only 3 times there I haven't even watched my incar videos from Friday. Come to think of it, with the exception of Monticello, almost all the tracks I've done this year (pocono long & north, lightning & thunderbolt) have been pretty boring. Maybe The Glen, Summit & VIR will spice things up again.

John Shiels

W2W is great IMHO but only if you can make a somewhat serious effort like mid pack at least. That is time and money or if you don't have the time it is tons of money when you pay someone else to do it all.

Yes for me HPDE does get boring unless you are chasing or being chased. I have been off 2 years so even going to see people once at the track was great. Bump up to a faster group It is not much fun killing a guy in a stock car next to you.

Over the years I enjoyed tweaking the car with different mods and seeing the results or lack of them by the lap times. Not sure what is a great lap time for the many new tracks that have sprung up but are you running as fast as the fastest? Any times on the Pocono courses with all that power?

I would be happy to see my car in one piece and drive up and down the driveway at this point. Edith always go with me 95% of the time and that makes it fun plus she tows and I sleep. Few years ago there was some good running with different clubs like Ferrari or Viper clubs it is amusing to wipe them out and when they ask what is in the car and I say H&C 346 they are sick.

Different frack and meeting different people is always fun too. I also wanted to do a new track or two each year but it is time consuming to travel far. I went to VIR twice and came back broken each time Once torque tube then a tranny.

argonaut

Since W-to-W doesn't sound like an option:

Try a new car - I went from a Mustang to the Vette this year. Its a big change and a lot of fun figuring out/learning the differences.

Clubs - getting to know folks and seeing them at events is a big part of the fun for me.

Do a little AX. With your pwr that would be an enormous challenge.

VIR and WGI are for sure cures. You can get lost on VIR and the darn track is so technical that it could take yrs to get right (if ever).

Run with a mate - swapping lead back and forth is a blast

Hill Climb (although for the most part you need a full cage I believe)

If all else fails try rally/off road. I watched an interview with Ken Block. He is an accomplished driver on or off the track. He was asked about doing closed circuits and explained how he'd get bored and much prefered rally driving because its always a different course with widely varying conditions. Makes sense to me. Perhaps someday I'll try it, it looks like a blast.

95jersey

Here's how it works (for me)...

I have been doing HPDE for about 9 years and 120+ days.

The first 6-7 years were a no brainer, as you are constantly getting faster, purchasing better equipment which makes it more exciting, changing to sticky tires, brakes, HP...

If I simply got bored, I went to a different track, moved up a level, ran with different groups, then upgraded power, brakes, started to trailer...also, I started doing time trials. Like stated above, do a couple of time trials and for the first several times...you will be SHAKING in your boots...and if you actually win, it is thrilling for sure.

I'd say about 2-3 years ago, I started to get boored, as I won or placed well in most of the TT's I entered ...then I decided to buy a C6Z06, and at the same time, a new track opened up 40 minutes from my house (NJMP). This got me back into HPDE in a hardcore way (temporarily). I must have done 20 track days at NJMP over the past 2 years and learning the C6Z, and exploring it's limits (even though I came from a heavily modded C5Z) was an AWESOME experience to say the least.

I again modded the car and that helped keep things less boring. I also started instructing the past 2 years, which has given me a new perspective on driving and I have enjoyed passing along my knowledge to others and watching them improve and be SO thankful. It is a rewarding experience (most of the time).

Here I am now getting bored again, BUT after much investigation, W2W even in a budget car is going to cost SIGNIFICANTLY more than HPDE and I am not willing to spend the savings to go that far...

So for me, it is going to be quality and not quantity (single days only and limited events at premier facilties). Trust me even after 9 years, after sitting through every winter without track days, you WILL want to get back out there once or twice (don't kid yourself).

Also, not to sound cheap, but not paying as an instructor helps, as if I sit out a couple sessions on days I instruct, I don't feel like I need to run out there to "have fun".

BTW...I ran in a Miata (my buddy) a couple times this year and outside doing it for nostalga, it was any more fun or challenging (if not less fun) than a vette. I think the power and dynamics of the vette make it more challenging to go fast. Holding the throttle flat through 90% of the track without incident actually takes away one of the most challenging parts of driving on a road course (throttle steering)

WANT TO TRY SOMETHING REALLY FUN!!!! Ride dirt bieks...

Go hardcore dirt bike riding on my 52hp (only 198lb) Yamaha YZ 250 through beautiful forests. This thing is so fast that leaning all your weight over the handle bars only keeps the front end coming up a foot or two!!!

Jim 47

I am no longer a "track junkie", but I'll give you my observations on the subject.

It must be something in the air in the southeastern PA/northern DE area. because I have recently and significenty reduced my HPDE activity. I got started in the early 1990's and have been instructing for the past 11 years, but as you have expressed I was completely bored with the driving part of our sport. The instructing part is another thing, and I still go to several HPDE's each year to instruct, because I get real pleasure out of helping a novice or a beginning driver to get the right things in his/her head, learn the basic do's and dont's, and watch that driver transfigure themselves into a safer and more competent drivers. So, the teaching is still fun but the driving part is not fun any more, so I made a change. I sold my Z06 and now drive a A6 Audi 4.2 which I have had on the Pocono and Watkins Glen tracks. I'm sort of a rolling road block, so I'm usually taking a student out with the HPDE 2's of 3's. I don't run with the Red's or Black's (4's and instructors) for student demo rides, simply because it's too embarassing. A 4500 lb car with only 350 HP just can't keep up with those Vettes.

You're at a crossroads. Choosing a new direction seems to be a logical thing to do, since continued similar activity will most likely be BORING. You have received several suggestions to experiment, get more involved, get into real racing, set performance goals, and the like. These are all good suggestions, and if your lifestyle, time constrants, and family life will permit any of these will probably put new life and interest into this form of mototsport.

What I find most enjoyable about the HPDE's that I attend are the People, Track Buddies, and most of all the instructing. Yep, it's always a crapshoot as to what problems you are going to inherit for the weekend, but nomater how good or difficult the student is, there ALWAYS is some form of progress, and a feeling of accomplishment. So, if you don't have the time, money or inclination for a more concentrated form of or sport, then try instructing. I guarantee, there is never a dull moment. You absolutely will NOT be bored.

Jim Helm