[warrenw]

Hi guys!
Went to the track again. This time just for a day.

As you may remember I left my car at the track in one of the pits, so I took the high speed rail down. Since it's fast, I left the morning of. Thankfully I am a 9 minute walk from the station, so woke up at 5:30 for the 5:50 departure.





It was shaping up to be a super clear day.



I VPN'd in to watch the latest season of DTS, which, is just to get in the mood for the next season. I can't stand how dramatic they make everything and it's literally just people saying "I must win at all costs" over and over and over and over and over and over and



370 kilometers in 2 hours and 20 minutes.



My friends picked me up from the train station, they were staying nearby.



As a thank-you I bought them McDonalds breakfast. Nothing like a brick of saturated fat sitting in your gut for your first drive of the day.



Good news, my car started.







I spent some time warming up the car and waiting for my session to start.









My s2000 friend had some issues with his diff mounts, vibrating around when turning so he did a replacement in the pit.





One of the guys brings a truck to replace tires for everyone, he doesn't charge but I guess you can still pay him out of generosity.





Lunchtime.



The sun really came out and started warming everything up, unfortunately it was a bit windy but that didn't stop anything.











During the week a bird got into the pit and poo'd everywhere, so... There was a bit of washing going on.



No track mishaps, got all my sessions in, felt great.



And with that it was time to put the car away, until next weekend at least.



Had a massive improvement over two weeks ago. I was 7 whole seconds off my PB two weeks ago, now I'm 2 seconds off my PB. Hopefully next week I'll be at my PB or better. I felt a huge boost of confidence today that I hope to continue that next week. I'll be doing the full weekend next week as well so lots of back to back seat time.

Got dropped off at the train and headed home!

[warrenw]

Received this today.

[warrenw]

Another track weekend in the books!

It's really convenient to take the train down there, as I'm an 8 minute walk to the train station



It's only about 2hr 25min or so.







Made it around 11:30pm, then off to the hotel to sleep.



Next morning, bright and early, time to hit the track!





And yes you see a camper in the background, some dude (actually i've seen 3 so far) bought a camper and sleeps at the track. Lol.





For some reason my instrument cluster was being......weird......







Another guy went off the day before getting out of the way of someone on a flying lap, and bent a wheel, so had to get it fixed and reinstalled that evening to be able to drive the next day.





Siiiick GT3 showed up. In Korea, it looks like only the 992 GT3 will be offered. 992 GT3RS will not be offered due to the wing size being larger than the width of the car. So, GT3's are selling like hotcakes.













It was a pretty quiet turnout the entire weekend, which was GREAT for empty track space.







It was also great weather!!





Unfortunately, a Veloster crashed out on his outlap of the first session in turn 4 so it was immediately red flagged for the entire session I was in, so instead of 4 sessions on Saturday I only did 3 sessions. And no, they don't provide makeup sessions unfortunately.





Velosters are known for snap oversteer which is what happened here.

So we went to lunch.





I'd say I'm wearing pretty evenly for being -3* rear, -4* front!



*some* people take laptimes to the Nth degree so our Lotus friend regularly cleans the tire gunk from the inside of his wheels for that extra .00001 seconds.







I'm happy with the setup so far.









I'm back into the 29's, which is where I was end of the season last year, it only took like 4 days to get there lol







The best part of any day is dinner.







Then off to bed to prepare for the next day!

Next morning was nice and clear.



Not a cloud in the sky.



Can't start the day without breakfast.



On Sundays, there's two sessions in my group in the morning (5 total vs 4) so I ran two sessions - my friend in his DCT M2 did a lead/follow type thing and it's really fun driving close to someone else to compare their line with yours. Ended up overdriving a bit and locked up at the end of T1 after 7 hot laps or so, so had to bring it back a bit and do a couple cool down laps.

Lunch was great.





Back at the track, I don't know this guy but something with his transmission linkage or cable broke or snapped so... They made a makeshift lift.



Not sure I would do it that way but whatevs!

Really like how the car is sitting.



Alas, the weekend came to and end and it was time to put away the car.



I forgot to mention earlier, it's amazing what car companies are coming out with nowadays. This is a Kia Carnival van (limousine) only four seats total and the two back seats are... incredibly comfortable.



Then back to the station to go home!



Qualifying was at like 1am so I missed it, so I caught up on the train.



All in all great weekend. It started to get quite warm (comparatively) at 16C or so towards the end of the day, so my balaclava was soaked with sweat and you could feel it in the tires as well. My tires were getting up to 75-80C during a 20 minute session, so it definitely got hot!

I have a new set of tires sitting in the pit so next week I'll get those switched out.

[warrenw]

Here are a few additional pictures.

[(K)]

Your time to the station is starting to improve just like your lap times. Soon you'll be able to cut it down to 5 minutes flat from home to the train!

I enjoy your posts, not sure what you do for work but I'm glad it affords you so much time time for the track. Envious!

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by (K)

Your time to the station is starting to improve just like your lap times. Soon you'll be able to cut it down to 5 minutes flat from home to the train!

I enjoy your posts, not sure what you do for work but I'm glad it affords you so much time time for the track. Envious!

I have a regular 8-5, track days are only on the weekends!

And apart from consumables such as tires and pads (pads I'm still on my first set because this isn't a heavy brake circuit) the days themselves are fairly cheap, 200,000 KRW which is about $150.

I normally wouldn't go this often, but the season ends in two weeks, then after that it's maybe one weekend every other month so I'm trying to take advantage of it. My wife is very patient.

[SheWentToJared]

Wow I really enjoyed viewing and reading, awesome thread

[warrenw]

So I had a less than stellar track weekend.

I only had time on Sunday to go to the track, so I left my house late Saturday night to catch the train.



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I rode with a friend so I mimicked his tickets, he bought "first class" so I did the same, I don't think the seats were much better honestly, other than there's a single row which is good for traveling alone I guess.



Made it to Mokpo, got to the hotel, crashed, then woke up the next morning.

Up until now, weather forecast was saying rain starting late afternoon. But I woke up to this weather forecast -



But I looked out the window, where was the rain?? Why so early??



So I call a friend to pick me up to go to the track, I jump in the shower really fast and when I got out...



Where did this come from??

5 minutes later my friend shows up and it starts to deluge! To the point of lightning and everything!

What the heck!

We get to the track, I head over to the pit garage to get my car....



And it just continues to rain...



It rained all the way through lunch.



As you can see, puddles on the ground...



Then it got really windy, super cold, so we all huddled around...



We took turns next to the space heater...



So some of you might be thinking, well why even go???

Well, the rule is if you sign up, you have to go. You have until Wednesday PM to cancel, and if you don't cancel and no-show, you get banned from driving there for the rest of the season. So I basically went to make sure I don't get banned.

At least my ceramic coating was working though.



The rain ended up stopping but the track didn't dry out by the time the day ended. It remained damp, and I drove two of the five sessions but to me, it was just a waste of gas.

My tires came though, so I'll be replacing them next weekend.



Then I went home.

[spak888]

I remember reading your build saga randomly when you first started because 1. Funny name for a car (I'm korean) and 2. I just picked up a BMW E90 and was browsing the forums. Fast forward to today and I just picked up my own m2c and I'm back on your thread. Pretty awesome you're still at it. Keep it up!

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by spak888

I remember reading your build saga randomly when you first started because 1. Funny name for a car (I'm korean) and 2. I just picked up a BMW E90 and was browsing the forums. Fast forward to today and I just picked up my own m2c and I'm back on your thread. Pretty awesome you're still at it. Keep it up!

Awesome!!

Thanks! Yeah I'm not sure how much longer I'll be in the M2C honestly - especially as I'm really enjoying time at the track, I want to get into something that I can focus more on the driving line, entry exit points, etc. and it's really hard to do with a manual. Thinking about trying to switch to an A90. But my wife might freak out so... Who knows!

[WedgeSalad]

How's your front splitter holding up? I am considering the same one but for the OG M2

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

How's your front splitter holding up? I am considering the same one but for the OG M2

Rock solid!

Glad I got it over CF because it's been durable and has taken a beating on the underside.

There are many points of connection so it's pretty sturdy on there.

[warrenw]

Last weekend I finished the final track day of the winter season. It's bittersweet.

This time I didn't take the train though. I met my friend and we drove down in his GT3RS, because we couldn't find a single car carrier for him.





We thought we'd leave late to let traffic die down. Buuuut... There's always traffic.



4 hours. Totally doable in a GT3RS right?



After about an hour we swapped seats and I gave it a go, and decided that maybe my next car should be a GT3RS. I think for the "german engineered" cars, it's the most stable and planted car on the road. Taking into account the average speed zones I graciously slowed down for, we did the 4 hour drive in 2 hours and 57 minutes.



Next morning, off to the track!



After the first session I decided, well it's the final weekend so might as well throw on the new tires I bought. I was surprised the tires I had lasted the 5 track weekends. There's a guy who will change your tires trackside.







But after changing I realized maybe I had waited too long.



Then it was time for lunch.



Unfortunately our McLaren friend was having issues (kind of like the F1 team at the moment) so he wasn't able to drive much Saturday and ended up sitting out Sunday.





Finished the first day and felt pretty good about it, was grooving, so that called for a quick break then head to dinner.







If you haven't tried it, there's this "new" style of cooking beef ribs that's aging them for idk like 20 days then they put it in a basket and burn straw around it and then cook it at your table. It's pretty good.





Also, onions are good.





Next day, issues with the RS. Front tire puncture from debris on track, so we lifted it up to check it out.
Something about Korea, I guess it's similar in the states, but you can get roadside assistance. We didn't have the wrench or the lug for the center lock wheels so we patched it while it was still on the car. We called roadside assistance and they were like 15 minutes out, so we started attempting to patch it ourselves. It was hard! RIGHT as we finished the roadside assistance guy showed up, took a picture of our handiwork, submitted it for his payment from the insurance company, then left. LOL.



First session out for the GTR ended up with a broken front diff. Out and down for the remainder of the day.





Lunch.



Started to hit PB's.



My detailer will have fun lol





This mustang was pretty fast.





It started to feel weird as people were packing to see garages once full of tools and parts start to empty out...



Another PB



And with that it was time to pack everything up - put everything in the cars and leave.











Everything empty......



And time to take the train back home.









As we rode the train, we kept getting pictures from other friends who were driving of our car carrier. There's really only one way back up to Seoul so you're bound to run into your carrier at some point!







Upon arriving at the station, we beat the carrier by about an hour and a half so had some time to kill. Burger time.



Jumped in a cab and headed towards the meetup point with the truck.





And with that I drove home and...it's over! It's over.



Maybe my wife is happy about it since I went every weekend for like 6 weeks haha

Anyway. Final thoughts?

I was a little bit disappointed in myself that it took so long to finally start driving my times down. When I got to the track the first time, it's like I forgot half of everything I knew after being away for 8 months. Muscle memory and everything was gone. I was 6 seconds slower than before, and it took a couple weekends to get down to within a second of my PB. Then it wasn't until this final weekend that I was consistently beating my prior PB every session. Maybe I'd do even better if I was going back this weekend, but who knows, not sure the next time I'll be back because the openings are sporadic. Might be in a month, two months, even three. We'll see!

I know that the limiting factor is me, not the car. The car has more in it, I KNOW that. The question is if I want to explore my personal limits with this car, or another car. I am really questioning if I want to keep doing the full boat deal of, well what I consider to be a hard car to drive (manual) vs a DCT or auto. I feel like if I switch then I can focus on the actual driving part. I'm not saying I'd want to get a DCT to get those extra few seconds - that in itself is a crutch. But I am saying I'm curious about getting a DCT so I can explore focusing on the technique, by taking certain elements out of the equation mainly, clutch/shift etc. I'm considering converting back to stock, selling the manual, getting a DCT and swapping parts over. Part of me would want to try a different platform, but the issue comes down to money. Cars and racing is already an expensive hobby to have, so how can I do this as cheaply as possible with no additional cost? I think the best way is to maybe just change out the car itself and swap over.

Or, I'll do nothing and keep the car. Who knows! I have time to think about it.

Thanks for reading.

[///Mobbin]

Originally Posted by warrenw

I know that the limiting factor is me, not the car. The car has more in it, I KNOW that. The question is if I want to explore my personal limits with this car, or another car. I am really questioning if I want to keep doing the full boat deal of, well what I consider to be a hard car to drive (manual) vs a DCT or auto. I feel like if I switch then I can focus on the actual driving part. I'm not saying I'd want to get a DCT to get those extra few seconds - that in itself is a crutch. But I am saying I'm curious about getting a DCT so I can explore focusing on the technique, by taking certain elements out of the equation mainly, clutch/shift etc. I'm considering converting back to stock, selling the manual, getting a DCT and swapping parts over. Part of me would want to try a different platform, but the issue comes down to money. Cars and racing is already an expensive hobby to have, so how can I do this as cheaply as possible with no additional cost? I think the best way is to maybe just change out the car itself and swap over.

Or, I'll do nothing and keep the car. Who knows! I have time to think about it.

In my track journey I've gone PDK->Manual->DCT->Manual->Manual->DCT (over 12 years) and I definitely appreciated the ability to isolate and focus on the driving vs driving + manual early in the journey, massively helped with learning to drive and getting to and over the limit. Now I'm in a DCT track car and still enjoy it on track but really miss having a manual on the street, so likely going to pick up a manual street car at some point. That said I'm confident I could also apply my skills to a manual on track now. Definitely something to say about limiting your focus to learn.

Thanks again for all the sharing, fun to watch.

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by ///Mobbin

In my track journey I've gone PDK->Manual->DCT->Manual->Manual->DCT (over 12 years) and I definitely appreciated the ability to isolate and focus on the driving vs driving + manual early in the journey, massively helped with learning to drive and getting to and over the limit. Now I'm in a DCT track car and still enjoy it on track but really miss having a manual on the street, so likely going to pick up a manual street car at some point. That said I'm confident I could also apply my skills to a manual on track now. Definitely something to say about limiting your focus to learn.

Thanks again for all the sharing, fun to watch.

Hey boss thanks for the comment. I don't have a DD anymore, well I mean technically I do (wife's M340i) which I use rarely but other than that, it's the subway! I've had several people say that manual is so much more fun on the street but...no street driving for me anymore!

I'm really leaning towards maybe picking up a DCT. I was considering changing platforms all together but honestly, I want to do this with no money out of pocket and I think changing the underlying car is the way to do it.

The only people who have said just continue with the manual have been manual diehards. Lol. Many people on the track were telling me it's not even a question, you should just do it!

The only real downside I see is that I've had this car since new, and getting into another car would have a "history" that I'm unaware of.

[CoffeeLife]

Just buy a DCT and keep the manual too ;D

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by CoffeeLife

Just buy a DCT and keep the manual too ;D

then I have to buy more parts lol