AIDAN | Scion FR-S

SLOW = FAST

Throughout the weekend, I set high, but attainable goals for improvement. On my first session out, I lapped a 2:25 without one-on-one instruction from Jeremy. With that, I made my goal to drop five seconds by the end of the weekend. Lap after lap, I felt like I was getting faster with instruction. However, I felt disappointed with the actual changes in lap time, until my last session of the day. That final run, I felt a little slower than usual, but actually set my fastest lap for the day, 2:19. BAM! It clicked that I didn’t have the instructor in my car for that run, which meant my car was nearly 200-pounds lighter than on previous mid-day runs with the instructor. Although this six-second drop meant that I had already met my goals, Jeremy quickly reminded me that I still had a lot of work to do.

SET ‘EM HIGHER

[pullquote]HIS INSTRUCTION… CHANGED MY PERCEPTION OF THE VEHICLE’S LIMITS[/pullquote]On Sunday, I set a goal to drop another two seconds off my lap time. Fortunately, my first session out on Sunday matched my last session on Saturday. During instruction, Jeremy drove the first lap or two to show me the racing line and then he would communicate with me using hand signals as I drove the second half of the session. At the end of each session, Jeremy asked me which areas I thought I needed to improve at. This was an easy question to answer because almost any response proved correct. Jeremy then addressed each of the areas I presented and moved on to other areas of the track. Paying attention to his instruction really opened my eyes up to my mistakes and completely changed my perception of the vehicle’s limits. In the final session, I successfully realized my two-second goal of 2:17 with Jeremy in the car. Next time, I hope to be closer to the front of the HPDE 3 pack. I had a blast and the one-on-one instruction made an already rewarding experience even more fun.

THE NEXT STEP

My previous track outing in the D’GARAGE FR-S left me wanting a more balanced vehicle, something that the factory suspension couldn’t deliver due to a lack of adjustability. To address this deficiency, I turned to KW Suspension’s Variant 3 coilover system. KW offers a full line of suspensions ranging from its ST offering for street use to its Clubsport 3-way for track use. Every coilover system from KW comes with a spring and shock tuned to work as a system. Under the guidance of DG-Spec in Long Beach, CA, I utilized the KW’s to dial out any unwanted oversteer. The camber adjustment and ride height adjustability helped me achieve a much improved corner balance. With the vehicle now 1.25-inches lower and fine-tuned for the track, the FR-S handled exceptionally well.

When racing on the track, most factory seats do not provide enough bolstering to hold the driver in place. To this end, Takata supplied us with a complete setup consisting of its Race LE bucket seats, Race 6 six-point harnesses, shoulder pads, tow straps and necessary brackets. In order to securely fasten the harnesses, we turned to Cipher Auto for its FR-S/BRZ harness bar. These cockpit upgrades helped the driver focus more on driving and less on sliding around in the seat.