Sixty-third track day. Right back to Thunderhill West this weekend for Ongrid/Sena birthday bash. 
This event is always fun each year. Hard to miss out. Even if there is a lot of traffic. Few moments of clean lapping but fairly traffic heavy. To be expected for this event.

After my front tires being corded out of the nowhere last weekend. Put my first set of Nankang AR-1 on and got an alignment. Had 1/8 and -1/8 toe on each side... Explains the cording. Ha. Back to normal toe and camber now.

The AR-1 shares the same peak grip characteristic as the RE71RS. There is a level of grip that is very apparent when mid corner. Only lasts the first two days or so on RE71. Never noticed this feeling on ECF/RS4/V730/NT01/ECS/PS4 tires. The AR-1 grip felt really good. Last few sessions of the day it was fairly hot (75*) and could feel them getting a little unhappy with all the heat after half a session. Not bad tho. Drove to the track on them and probably wasnt the best but I am all about arrive and drive life. Also, a real pain to put 4 tires in the E46 with half cage. Ran them at 34-35 all day.

Was thinking I might set a PB today with fresh, fast rubber but didn't quite get there. Best lap was a 1.25.21. About half a second slower than my PB. Was .7 seconds faster than any lap last weekend. My optimal the first few sessions were in the 1.24.1 zone. Heat after session two also made it hard to improve much further.

Rode shotgun with a few M car buds who have a little less experience to fill up the day. (E92/F82) Also gave both of them a ride along in my car later in sessions 4 and 5. Funny watching them realize how much faster you can take several of the corners. Gave them some good insight for their next West day.

Next event for me will be SpeedSF on 4/20 at West. This time with the F80 on brand new 295 RE71RS. Will be the first time running the Nitrons and RE71 at West with F80.

Thunderhill West 4/5/25 hosted by Ongrid. Red - Advanced group. (Open Passing).

3:52 - Tailing Jacks Supra
7:52 - Best lap of the day 1.25.21
22:28 - Miata and I tailed each other a good bit all day
23:18 - Chase the farting Cayman
25:46 - Hyundai needs to learn how to point-by... (Heard the same thing from others)
26:30 - Nearly blow Dorito dealing with dingdong
29:33 - Coolant hitting the warning red dot for the first time today. OBD said 215
38:09 - Pit for gap, so much traffic...
55:23 - Brandon ride along
57:05 - T1 exit. Right on the edge of drift. Just gliding over the ground
57:32 - 1M clone - photoshoot on the grass
1:02:56 - Cool move bro
1:09:04 - Carsten ride along
1:15:11 - Pcar burble gunshot tune
1:16:11 - Miata T7 off 1
1:17:45 - Miata T7 off 2

00:00 Catalyst Overview
00:06 Session 1
19:50 Session 2
35:12 Session 3
55:23 Session 4 (Brandon ride along)
1:09:04 Session 5 (Carsten ride along)

Suspension:
- TC Kline D/A coilovers 550/700
- Ground Control camber plates
- Bimmerworld sway bar links
- Hotchkis front sway bar
- Rogue Engineering strut bar

Brakes:
- AP Racing 9660 front bbk
- Stoptech slotted rear rotors
- Raybestos ST45/ST43 pads
- ECS brake lines
- Bimmerworld brass brake bushings

Wheels:
- Apex EC-7 18x10et25 wheels
- Nankang AR-1 265 (Day 1)

Engine:
- Beisan VANOS
- BE/ARP rod bearings
- Radium oil catch can
- Eventuri carbon intake
- DO88 radiator

Chassis:
- 3350lbs full tank
- RTD REVO1 reverse lockout shifter
- OMP WRC-R XL bucket seat
- Brey Krause seat mounts
- SCHROTH Flexi 6-point harness
- Autopower roll bar
- Rogue Engineering transmission bushings
- Powerflex diff/rtab/subframe bushings
- Turner subframe reinforcement
- DIY rear seat delete
- Full interior
- Garmin Catalyst lap timer