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Hey all;
On Saturday I had a great time playing at Thunderhill Park in Willows, CA. This track is 1 hour North of Sacramento, CA. Over the last 3 years, I have been there several times as a student - this time, on account of acquiring my SCCA regional racing license in August, I got to be one of the 30 or so volunteer instructors.
Also attending as 1st time novice students were Laurie, my girlfriend, and Luke, my bro from Seattle. Laurie drove my 1998 green 900 SET 5 spd, and Luke brought his 1995 9000 Aero 5spd. Justin V also showed up w/ his s.o. and 1988 gold 9kt, forming a Saab cheer squad! As is usually the case, these Saabs were the only ones at the whole event of 100+ cars.
The students' cars I rode in were as varied as the skill levels of the drivers! Most were 1st timers and most cars were stock...the list included: 300ZX, A4 1.8Tq, Scooby 2.5RS, Integra Type R, Integra w/ racing susp, '90 Civic Hatchback, Aero, SET. The Aero, SET, and A4 had the most pulling power on the straights, although the Audi had some nasty pinging and/or misfiring going on at full boost (probably an aggressive chip w/ stock turbo).
The SET was great. Power wise, it is stock w/ just a K&N drop-in filter and Saab sport exhaust. Handling is smoothed out w/ Abbott springs and control arm bushings, and the SAS rear bar. Just had its 65k service, so everything ran great. It did develop a soft brake pedal after a couple sessions, despite a recent flush w/ Valvoline Synthetic DOT 4 brake fluid...haven't sorted that out yet - I will take suggestions! Saab rotors w/ Abbott-cut slots and Kevlar pads from KVR never faded (but hey, a novice was driving). The SO2's don't show any wear, and they stuck like glue (as expected for that kind of $$$). They are 215/45/17 on Saab 9-5 Aero wheels.
The Aero also did great. Luke has set up the car with SAS front and rear sway bars, and Koni adjustable shocks, with stock springs. Power wise it is stock...just some aftermarket middle exhaust pipe I think. The car handles beautifully, and is very controllable at the limit. After a few sessions on the Firehawk rubber/stock wheels, we swapped them out for my Hoosier R3S03 205/50/16 wheels/tires from my SPG...wow, HANG ON!! He noticed that late in the sessions, the max boost was dropping into the yellow, probably some heat soak and subsequent timing adjustment by the Trionic-5. Still, he was hitting over 100mph on the straight, enough to hang with any other car out there. Unfortunately he developed the same soft brake pedal that the SET got. What is going on here? He commented that he doesn't miss his Porsche 928 *except for the rock-solid brakes*. After the last session of the day, he parked the car and noticed a puddle of coolant under the right front...the water pump-to-radiator hose had split. We made it home fine, and the hose was only $29 from the dealer - no biggie.
As for instructing, that was quite an experience. I was never quite scared, but I got pretty darn *nervous* you might say. And I kept all my drivers on the track...no easy feat. The most common mistake: charging the corners too hard. Followed closely by: not using the whole track on the exit. Repeat after me...Slow in, fast out!
Happy Saabin'
posted by 63.207.93.1...
Link to the driving school web page -
, Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:31:28
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