This amateur racing driver has 21 recorded laps across 7 vehicles on LapMeta, averaging 3 laps per car. This balanced ratio suggests methodical track day participation where each platform receives meaningful attention while maintaining diversity enabling comparative understanding. Over three laps per vehicle allows progression beyond initial familiarization—first lap establishes basic characteristics, middle laps build confidence approaching limits, final laps reveal nuanced behaviors.
The 7-vehicle portfolio with over three laps per car enables meaningful comparative assessment revealing genuine performance characteristics while maintaining manageable variety for comprehensive automotive education. With 21 laps across 7 vehicles averaging 3 laps each, this driver demonstrates balanced approach combining selective platform development with portfolio diversity supporting comprehensive comparative vehicle dynamics understanding through systematic evaluation.
9-10-2025
First track day with the GRC with 1,300 miles driving into Sonoma!
It's a stable and "safe" car that can be made to slide or rotate with specific inputs, but it doesn't want to do it. On a low grip surface, it'd be a lot of fun but on an ideal grip surface I find I'm mainly managing understeer.
On numerous corners throughout the day my friends with GRCs and I would get power steering cuts when managing abrupt transitions (such as catching a car in a slide) - a clunk and the steering goes heavy.
My car is a premium plus with the additional radiators for coolant and the automatic transmission. Annecdontally it helps a little bit on the coolant and engine oil side (~20F cooler for coolant and 10F cooler for engine oil). This resulted in most of my sessions with a coolant temp of 180F and engine oil temp of 260F. I'm not concerned about either of those. The transmission stayed around 240F - which is a bit warm for ATF according to various articles.
Since I was in the same run group with two manual GRC's we could compare a few things, including straight line performance. Indeed the automatic, despite the bump in torque/power, is slower than the pre-facelift manual cars in a straight line. To me, this validates certain tests I've seen that show the automatic - while very capable and works great on track for either manual shifting or full auto - does not give much of an overall advantage for lap times compared to the manual cars (when driven by a good driver).
Lastly the car is incredibly thirsty - I consumed over 1/4 of a tank per session.
Current setup:
- Apex SM-10RS 18x9" ET23 Wheel - 5x114.3mm / 60.1mm - Satin Bronze
- Falken RT660 (2022 clearance) - 245/40 R18
- CSG CP Brake Pads
- Castrol SRF Brake Fluid
- SPC Camber Bolts
- Alignment: -2.7F with 0 toe all around. Rear camber is -1.8 left / -2.4 right (non-adjustable)