Open Tracking the MM today. Which gear?

[Vortech347]

I'm going out to Miller Motorsports Park today to run the MM on the East road race course.

They set up a few random cone "s" to keep the speed down a bit. In our 01' cobra I was going 40-90mph. I'm thinkin the MM will likely be 35-75mph.

To help with braking and to avoid up/down shifting I'm thinking about just locking her in 2nd. Will this be OKAY for the trans? I usually do it anyway when I'm driving spirited through canyons. This will only be a 1 lap at a time type thing.

[Dr Caleb]

I vote 'no'.

It's an automatic. Take the O/D off, and let 'er rip! Heat the brakes up. Let the tires squeal. She'll love you for it!

And unless the track has a lot of hard corners, you should be able to keep up with the Mustangs.

[ImpalaSlayer]

i dont see why it would hurt it. im no trans expert though.

[ImpalaSlayer]

I vote 'no'.

It's an automatic. Take the O/D off, and let 'er rip! Heat the brakes up. Let the tires squeal. She'll love you for it!

And unless the track has a lot of hard corners, you should be able to keep up with the Mustangs.


his time would suck if he left it in Drive. the trans would be shifting like crazy. not to mention it wouldnt be very fun

[ctrlraven]

I vote no also.

[Dr Caleb]

his time would suck if he left it in Drive. the trans would be shifting like crazy. not to mention it wouldnt be very fun

/scratches head

I would think his time would suck if he was always bogging the engine in 2nd gear. (Because with the 4R70w, once you put it in 2nd, there is no 1st, and no 3rd)

The trans shifting is what it's made to do, and I've always had a blast on road courses doing it that way.

[RR|Suki]

his time would suck if he left it in Drive. the trans would be shifting like crazy. not to mention it wouldnt be very fun

that's incorrect, if you are putting pedal to it there should be no searching, I run very tight auto-x courses in D with OD off.
That being said when you put the car in 2 the OD band is engaged, not matter if you turn OD off or not. Racing with the OD band engaged is a good way to burn it up... so yeah.

[Vortech347]

I'll try a few of the laps with just OD off but if it drives like ass Its going into 2nd. 35-75mph is just fine for the powerband in 2nd gear. I doubt it would drop below 3500. Also if its not slipping why would it burn up the OD band? road race/open track is ALOT different than auto-x. Its not an ON/OFF affair with the gas pedal.

[RR|Suki]

I'll try a few of the laps with just OD off but if it drives like ass Its going into 2nd. 35-75mph is just fine for the powerband in 2nd gear. I doubt it would drop below 3500. Also if its not slipping why would it burn up the OD band?

I'm not a trans expert, as I understand it the band they gave us is garbage and is just not suited to abuse. I dunno, I do know that I now have a carbon fiber one now... the other one is in heaven :lol:

[RR|Suki]

auto-x for me isn't an on/off anything, I wouldn't move an inch in a parking lot with more than 1/3 throttle ;)

[Vortech347]

Well this is for us slower N/A folks. Now my fox is another story. That car I can't floor it during anything unless its got slicks on. :)

[Fourth Horseman]

Oh man, I'm jealous! How much is it costing you to get to run around the track?

[Vortech347]

Its just 20 bucks... wide open wends.

[Seneca]

I vote drive. O/D off Ask Darrin From BC auto

[Vortech347]

Did one lap with OD off. It was hell. Car bucked, hesitated, and drove like complete ass.

It would upshift holding around a corner then I'd floor it and wait for a 2 gear kickdown.

Leaving it in 2nd worked AWESOME. Most of my corner speeds were 45-50mph with 2 of the straight sections I'd tap the rev limiter at around 83mph. Having that gear helping the car slow down was awesome.

I managed to drift the car through 2 of the longer sweeps. Also the front BFG's surprised me... I thought I would push like crazy but they were great on a road track vs auto-x. Once they got warmed up the nitto's would actually start to give and would cause a little bit of oversteer. The only thing the MM did not do exceptional was a quick direction change at 45-50mph through the cone "S"'s they had setup. Totally due to the huge ass 255/55 tires. It would snap oversteer like a whip. Some 40/45's all around and metco suspension upgrades would make an MM SICK to road race. A good friend was there taking high res professional photo's and when he gets em done i'll post em. I got incar video but the sound came out horrible.

Oh yea, NEED BIGGER BRAKES. Hot lapping that car over and over again would be scary. Luckly we were doing 1 lap at a time. Everytime coming into the pits I could smell the brakes BAD. I'm betting my fluid boiled too.

[a_d_a_m]

Thanks for posting your review. I have wanted to open track my car and am waiting for a good deal on the price.

And yes! Pictures!

[Dr Caleb]

It's a hoot, isn't it!



Oh yea, NEED BIGGER BRAKES. Hot lapping that car over and over again would be scary. Luckly we were doing 1 lap at a time. Everytime coming into the pits I could smell the brakes BAD. I'm betting my fluid boiled too.

First time I road raced it, it was stock. I thought that I was hurting them too, but unless the pedal is getting spongy, you are doing fine. It's surprising how hot the brakes and wheels really get, without any lasting effect. We have some pretty tough cars, stock.

I've since upgraded to Wilwoods, SS lines and DOT3 synthetic fluid, and that only increases the heat from the wheels. :) My Sony handycam shows very bright rotors, when I switch to 'night shot' infrared.