Fastivus at Summit Point: October 2022
I was finally was able to run somewhere other than VIR that agreed with my schedule!
Fastivus was friggin awesome! My dad tagged along and rode along with me most of the day. There was a really awesome mix of VW/Audis present. I was originally a bit sad that it got moved from Shenandoah to the Jefferson circuit at Summit Point... but honestly I'm glad now because that track is a ton of fun as well. I had been on the Shenandoah circuit a few years ago in the Mazda2. Jefferson was not quite as technical so I was feeling really comfortable on it in my 3rd (last) session. I managed to run a 1:26 with my dad in the passenger seat.
As far as changes to the car go since last time on track:
DO88 intercooler: Absolutely worth it. Notice the lap times in the video? No real discernible difference even 4 laps in. Unfortunately I was an idiot and didn't have my Simos logger going... I was kind of focused on getting my dad sorted out to ride along and just focusing on learning a new track. I DID get temp data from session 2 but no video (well kind of... it's just my dad's reaction from the passenger seat).
DS3.12 fronts now paired with DS1.11 rears (previously DS2500 rear): Way better. After a lap or two in and stuff gets up to temp they just plain work. My pedal did get a bit softer in the second session but never degraded further after that regardless of how hard I pushed the car. With my dad riding along in sessions 2 + 3 I was still giving ample room and braking early.
H&R 26mm rear sway bar - was very helpful in letting the rear step out a bit. Can definitely feel the car “lean” hard onto the outside front tire while turning though. Still on stock FSB for this event.
It was my dad's first time on track (just as a passenger though) and loved it! Was great spending time with him and meeting a bunch of VW enthusiasts. Lots of cool and unique stuff... I was taking some detailed pics of the GTI TCR car... interesting things to note: DSG but no cooler required, has a factory radiator, obviously has the relocated intercooler, but the key takeaway is DUCTING to keep it cool. It has basically a loosely fitting fan with zero shrouding on the backside of the radiator. Eliminate all restrictions in the cooling path while it's moving at speed. Spoke with Dave at New German Performance quite a bit about it... very very cool car.
Oil and coolant temperatures were never even remotely a problem. The Jefferson circuit is pretty small and is nowhere near as stressful on the car as the 4000 and 3000ft straights at VIR. I never saw more than 250F oil temps or 208F coolant temps. The intercooler worked great, maintaining ~20F over ambient, or almost half the temp rise vs the OEM intercooler.
