First track day in my FE

I finally got the Enterprise out on the track and it sure was a learning experience. I definitely need to figure out why my reverse lockout failed and spun me Session 4. I didn't like that so much, but in hindsight I should have pulled off the first time it went into neutral. I thought I may be doing something wrong in the cockpit.

I don't think any of you will get much out of my driving performance, but I believe the video and audio presentation are top notch. This car can actually sound good on video.

Session 1
https://youtu.be/8aOcszzuFaQ

Session 2
https://youtu.be/viSxzFbXFc4

Session 3
https://youtu.be/hm4hjhwMldw

Session 4
https://youtu.be/OIis9duUIIM

Please don't flame me too bad.

Glad to see you out on track! It could just be the camera angle, but it appears you're sitting extremely high up in the car.

We all have our learning moments. Enjoy your new ride.

How tall are you? Agreed you should be about a foot lower

+1 you look TALL or sitting WAY too high.

Great looking car!

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Originally Posted by Keith Carter

Glad to see you out on track! It could just be the camera angle, but it appears you're sitting extremely high up in the car.

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Yes, I am basically just below the broom stick during the roll over check. I am only 5'11" or so. My seat fitting didn't go so well when I did it last year. When I did the roll over test this year I was hitting the broom stick; so I trimmed the bottom of my seat away. Unfortunately, I did not read the regulation correctly and thought I needed to be two inches below the broom stick. Honestly I felt better being as far as possible from that thing given that it represents the ground during a roll over. That said, I trimmed off wayyyyy too much of my seat and was in danger of not having the 1" padding recommended under my butt. Luckily I shaved off the seat in layers; so I put some layers back with some glue and tape. Not optimal at all, but it was working and my butt was safe.

Then I found some aviator seat pads that I thought would save my hip as I have been known to have issues there. That put me back up about 0.75" and pretty close to where I began. I would love more room around my legs to turn the wheel lock to lock. In that area my battery isn't helping. I chose a small battery, but not nearly as small as others I have seen. Unfortunately there isn't much more to cut out as the upper edge of my battery is nearly poking out thru the seat. Other than those issues I was pretty comfortable in there. I was really worried about my elbows and other pressure points, but I didn't really have issues there.

Just as a point of reference, when having our seat done by Speed Seat, the point of reference in the FE that was used was to have the drivers eyes level with the bodywork from the side. At the height you're at, you may notice quite a bit of head buffeting being that far out in the air.

No comments on the audio? Come on I thought they sounded awesome. That's my wheelhouse; so it had better be.

Session 3 link
https://youtu.be/hm4hjhwMldw

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keith Carter

Just as a point of reference, when having our seat done by Speed Seat, the point of reference in the FE that was used was to have the drivers eyes level with the bodywork from the side. At the height you're at, you may notice quite a bit of head buffeting being that far out in the air.

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That shouldn't be the only reference. In order to get the full safety benefits of a poured seat you need minimum thicknesses and such as well. IIRC for the BSS Bead seats it was about 2" of thickness to get the full impact protection. The poured BSCI foam was less than that but no number is jumping out of my deep memory.

But that thickness doesn't need to be say under your legs or anything. I'm 5-8 so my seat is like 6 inches thick lol. My eyes just barely go over the bodywork on the sides it seems perfect.

You are definitely too high at 5'11 I thought maybe you were super tall. But I understand it's a pain in the ass to make a new seat, probably the thing I spent the most time on.

Oh and the sound is good, did you put a mic elsewhere?

I have a question about the dash, it seems only the red button on mine works (or maybe only the green button can't remember). Should there be an oil pressure read out?

I seem to have oil temp, water temp, fuel pressure, battery voltage and rpm. Most of those I don't care about lol

Oil pressure seems important but I can't find it.

Regarding the green vs red button, is one simply up, and one down? If so I don't care the other button works I just go around in circles, but maybe that's why no oil pressure since the other button doesn't work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jamesbe

Oh and the sound is good, did you put a mic elsewhere?

I have a question about the dash, it seems only the red button on mine works (or maybe only the green button can't remember). Should there be an oil pressure read out?

I seem to have oil temp, water temp, fuel pressure, battery voltage and rpm. Most of those I don't care about lol

Oil pressure seems important but I can't find it.

Regarding the green vs red button, is one simply up, and one down? If so I don't care the other button works I just go around in circles, but maybe that's why no oil pressure since the other button doesn't work.

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I have a mic aimed at the exhaust headers and one up front in between the roll bar and crash box that gets the car bottoming sound really good. The audio recorder is in a foam piece wedged in between frame rails in the cockpit.

I haven't figured out my steering wheel yet; so unfortunately I can't help you there.

The button usage would be found in the C-Dash user manual.

I was going to upload the C-Dash user manual (it's a 1.4MB PDF), but that is too big. So send me an email and I will attach the PDF in a reply.

ferg@veracitydata.com

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jamesbe

But that thickness doesn't need to be say under your legs or anything. I'm 5-8 so my seat is like 6 inches thick lol. My eyes just barely go over the bodywork on the sides it seems perfect.

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The legs can be contained somewhat by the seat but it's not where I'm looking for the thickness of the seat. The overlooked part is under the butt and just forward. Most formula car setups have the butt lower than the knees. Going up and over the extinguisher or something similar. That area in front of the butt and hips where you need protection in a frontal impact often gets forgotten. Couple that spot with many people sitting with their butt nearly on the pan if not on it and you don't have much protection.

Sitting height is one thing...………

I don't know how much or what you've driven in the past...but I sure hope it's something...because an FE is a whole lot of car for a newbie