Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Im planning to head out for some lapping at Calabogie motorsports park. I will be in the green group. Great facility and track.
​​​​​​
If anyone wants to join me drop a line, would be fun to be there as a group.

My last experience was exceptional and the track and staff were great to help improve my driver skill.

Prep is minimal, make sure you have an approved helmet or rent one. No vehicle inspections, just a self declaration that there are no leaks and your tires and brakes are up to the task of the day.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...41e0ba2f85.jpg

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

I didn't even know Calabogie had a race facility. I was working on developing the Peaks Resort ski hill back in 2011. Is it new?

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

I think it's 5-8 years old. Great facility even has track side lodging for rent

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

If I wasn't now living across the country, I'd check it out.
Good luck and have fun.

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Hey, did you make it up to the track? I made it up to a full day "High Performance Driving Experience" there this summer with my Iroc and had a blast! The car handled it like a champ and was pretty quick for a street prepped car. Would definitely recommend it to any car guy..

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Sure did, also hit mosport at the end of the year. Was quite the experience learning it in the rain. Made it out safe and sound. Would love to plan something for next year. Would make for some great runs and bs sessions at lunch.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...d9090f5280.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...11e2004272.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...255b901a99.jpg

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

You ever drive at Shannonville? Not as exciting of a track as Calabogie or Mosport, but it's a lot cheaper. Some of their lapping sessions are as cheap as $30.

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Haven't been yet but I'd like to check it out this year. Trying to get my driving budget laid out. Would definitely help to cut overhead. My big headache right now is trying to dial in my setup so I'm not chewing through tires.

I put in some strut mounts and dialed in an aggressive alignment. I'm excited to get back out and see how a fresh set lives.

I'm still on stock suspension, my rainy day at Mosport really opened my eyes to how little it takes to upset the car. Going to work on braking earlier and trail braking less, trying to allow the car more time to recover before turning in. Makes a lot of sense everyone is trying to tweak roll centers. I find corning at the limit ends up with too much load on the outside front. Then of course is the body roll... Lol

Fun to see what the car can do. Surprising what they are capable of. I can only imagine the limit once some bolt ons start finding their way on the car

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Sounds like you're pretty serious!

Any plans to upgrade your suspension? These cars are really loose in stock form so lowering the center of gravity and adding subframe connectors make a huge difference. I see you've got a hard top so that's a plus.

When I got my T/A, the suspension was all original. I drove it like that for a season before upgrading it. I did lowering springs (Vogtland), KYB shocks/struts, tubular rear lower control arms, LCARB's, adjustable panhard bar, Jeg's SFC's, UMI wonder bar and a few other bits.

I got an alignment similar to what the autocross guys run and it handles night and day better than the way it did stock. Body roll is now negligible and the rear end is more compliant. A lot less dive with hard braking as well.

Is your car a real Players Challenge car? I'd almost be afraid to track it!

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Yes it's a real 92 r7u. It's been painted twice and previous owner woke up the 305 with porting, cam, etc. It is far from being a perfect specimen, has 170k Km on it. I figure it's best to enjoy it. I did do a strut brace and sfcs to help keep the body alive. At Mosport I met a guy who used to race them. Said they would tear across the b pillar, where the fender meets the firewall and at the trans tunnel shifter opening from fatigue of repeated cornering stress.

I don't want to cut up the car but for sure some bolt ons to improve suspension is on the list. I'm nothing special at the track but I really enjoy it. Great people and lots to learn. I have my alignment set to the rr recommendations that were floating on here. Basically - 1.75 camber and max caster, 1/16 toe out.

I hear you on brake dive. I need to work on braking earlier and let the car recover before cornering.

I did replace the rad with a wizard setup from hawks, as I ran into overheating last fall. Going to focus on getting seats and a harness in the car. Will try to improve this year and If I find a chunk of time I'll probably bolt a cage in, then start improving the capabilities of the car.

I really have been focused on reliability more than capability. Want to help keep costs down so I can get more seat time.

​​​Hopefully we can get some members together for a day. Would be a blast to mob the track and surprise all the Porsche owners lol

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

Sounds like you and I have very similar goals with our cars!

My car is far from track ready though. I still need to address my cooling, brakes, rear end and motor before I hit the track. The previous owner swapped in a tired L05 350 and it falls flat on it's face above 4500rpm. I don't have space to work on the car right now (just moved to Kingston a few months ago), but once I do I'll probably look at a Blueprint crate engine.

Are you only the second owner of your car? Do you know why they never raced it?

Re: Hpde Calabogie Oct 20-21
 

I'm the third I think, prev owner did all the work and had it the longest. The last years for the players challenge allowed for drivers to reuse cars from the previous 1-2 seasons. In 92 they only made 32, and of that I think much fewer were raced.

I've had good luck so far with the stock rear end. The 1LE brakes work well. I've found as long as I let them cool down at the end of a session, I don't have much issues with fade. I'm going to switch to carbotech pads this year. Things may change but ill look into it then. I'm thinking about mounting some plastic scoops under the front a arms to help with heat if problems come up. I've read reviews that there are better pads, but like the non-corrosive dust idea.

Is your car carbed? Might just need a tune up. Plugs, wires, hoses, clean the carb/tb etc