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Mid-Ohio: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly


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The Good: Repaved, and it is fucking AWESOME. The track is just beautiful now, and the surface is nice and sticky.

The Bad: No more concrete patches visible for entry and exit, and the tracks that show the line are more or less invisible.

The Ugly: The new Honda Civic can officially suck my left nut.

 

Today I was there for a customer appreciation thing at the Mid Ohio School, which was basically just a huge marketing ploy to get you and your friends to do the school. Since I was a returning customer who had done their lapping program, I got to do some open lapping in the new TSX A-Spec. Not a bad car. The problem is that fucking everything in the car is electrical. Steering is soft, brakes are soft, the throttle response sucks. The suspension setup in the car is great, they just make it so that you can't feel a damn thing the car wants to tell you.

 

I also got a chance to do some slalom stuff in the new Civic, and let me tell you: it is a complete piece of shit. If anyone ever had to do an emergency maneuver in that pile of crap, they'd most likely die. The power steering is slower than a retarded fat kid, and if you have do do a quick right/left or vice versa, you're shit outta luck because you're gonna be cranking the wheel one way and the power steering will be going the other.

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so, youre about to roll the car over. nice.

 

*waits for the "no waI! teh civic is teh handling r0x0rs!!!" comments*

 

on a related note, blasting through the hocking hills in an awd turbo car is almost as good as sex.

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thanks for the write up. i've gotta get up there and get some laps in before the AMA grand championships in sept. from what i've heard the concrete played havoc on the bikes.
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Guest TRDtuner
Is anybody else planning on going to the Le Mans type race in a couple of weeks?

 

A friend and I were thinking about going. Any tips?

 

Also, WTF is a Paddock pass?

 

 

I am going. The track is amazing....Its real sweet.Yep....Get there early...Earlier better....Best place for you to sit is where the hairpin turn is right in the front where the entrance is......best place to watch is there.....that and where they come off the turns. A Paddock Pass lets you into the Pits. I have been up there several times.

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A paddock pass does not let you into the pits. It allows you free roam of the garage area, but to get to the pits you need a seperate pass that's pretty pricey. The paddock pass is definitely worth it, it's only about 15 bucks.

 

Anyways, I'll be there the whole weekend for the ALMS race. It looks to be a good damn time. Other than the ALMS series, there will be 6 other series racing. I look forward to seeing the World Challenge GT cars the most. My favorite spot for watching is in the esses. This is the best spot for the beginning, because they will be starting the race from the stretch between the keyhole and the esses. I also love Thunder Valley, it really lives up to its name.

 

I've never gotten a chance to drive on the track, but would like to attend the school sometime. All I can say about the updates is that I hope they work out for the best.

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I dunno exactley what time we're heading up there Saturday (there's 3 of us, possibly 5). But, maybe we can meet up in the campground area Saturday night. I know we'll probably be drinking once the racing's done for the day.
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I too have seen the new surface in person but have yet to make it on there...that will all change soon. I've heard conflicting reports about grip though...many have stated that they're slighly slower this year but logic would make you think that the track should be faster. Then again the reports I got were from BMW guys that were on track April 8-9 a whopping 3 days after they finished the surface.

 

What I do know is that the inside curbs (white and red) are now MONSTEROUS and to be avoided where before you could use them pretty easily in most spots. Curbs on turn exit (yellow) are still very usable.

 

Hope to get some first hand experience very soon to report back.

 

Andy

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A paddock pass does not let you into the pits. It allows you free roam of the garage area, but to get to the pits you need a seperate pass that's pretty pricey. The paddock pass is definitely worth it, it's only about 15 bucks.

 

Anyways, I'll be there the whole weekend for the ALMS race. It looks to be a good damn time. Other than the ALMS series, there will be 6 other series racing. I look forward to seeing the World Challenge GT cars the most. My favorite spot for watching is in the esses. This is the best spot for the beginning, because they will be starting the race from the stretch between the keyhole and the esses. I also love Thunder Valley, it really lives up to its name.

 

I've never gotten a chance to drive on the track, but would like to attend the school sometime. All I can say about the updates is that I hope they work out for the best.

for the motor bikes the paddock pass let's you go throughout the garage/pits. just not the hot pit for obvious reasons.

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What exactly is it? Looks sort of like a Porsche?

 

You have a good eye my friend. Still waiting on it's arrival from Seattle...should be here next week then I'll post pictures. It's nothing special really in the grand scheme of things...but a car I've wanted for some time and after 5 months of searching I finally found the right one.

 

Andy

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but logic would make you think that the track should be faster.

Only in th ewet. Keep in mind, M-O had over a decades worth of rubber layed down on it. That made for a damn grippy track...until it got too hot and greasy. Wet laps should be much better now, I'll be much less prone to shitting myself in the keyhole.

 

Did the M-O school actualy teach you the track and turn in points by the concrete patches? Thats messed up. The only patch I ever used to aim was the one I straddled entering the carousel.

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so, youre about to roll the car over. nice.

 

*waits for the "no waI! teh civic is teh handling r0x0rs!!!" comments*

 

on a related note, blasting through the hocking hills in an awd turbo car is almost as good as sex.

 

Does that mean you will be joining us in september?

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You have a good eye my friend. Still waiting on it's arrival from Seattle...should be here next week then I'll post pictures. It's nothing special really in the grand scheme of things...but a car I've wanted for some time and after 5 months of searching I finally found the right one.

 

Andy

 

 

Nice choice on Guards Red :)

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Andy: You're absolutely right about the curbing. Its fucking huge. Probably a good 7 or 8 inches.

 

Eric: The concrete patches were simply a nice reference mark. The back of the carousel and the top of the hill @ the keyhole were nice to have, because they were good reference marks for relatively sharp turns.

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