The Itty Bitty NOVA VW Committee

[Senor_Taylor]

Already, update on the car. Just a warning, this is going to be 100% bragging because I'm really proud.

Did DE1 with it again at VIR this past weekend and it was an absolute riot. My instructor drove a Mk3 Jetta race car and had no clue what my driving experience was. I lined up about mid pack for the first session expecting the corvettes, Camaros, and Porsches to run away from me. I ended up getting point bys from everyone and going up to the front of the pack and having open track for the whole session until I caught up to the stragglers in the rear near the end. My instructor was a little incredulous and asked me how many times I've done this before. This ended up being the theme of the weekend. My instructor and I ended up just being buddies riding around together bouncing ideas off of each other about how we thought we could hurl this commuter on all seasons around the track the fastest. I picked up a lot of time every session and my instructor had nothing but good things to say. The car continually surprised me with how well it stuck to the track despite the tires letting out one loud screech around the entire track.

A girl driving a WRX made a stink in class about not getting enough point bys, so I just happened to grid right behind her in a later session. We got the green flag at the start stand and I was on her tail by the exit of one, all the way through the uphill esses and oak tree, to which I got a point by on the back straight, and my instructor and I are certain she flipped me the bird.

My instructor gave me the green light to turn up the aggression by the end of the first session and that was a good feeling. He let me get the car sideways on occasion, trail brake, and generally do things he said he wouldn't let other DE1 drivers do. Again, inflating the ego. On Sunday, we decided to really ring the car out and I started trying to compress brake zone, cut out some braking zones, and push trail braking further. I ended up realized the previous advice I received to stand on the pedal and let the ABS kick in was REALLY killing me in braking zone, so I started to threshold brake and was able to start braking a full marker later with comfort. This is where I picked up a lot of time. By the second session on Sunday, a guy in a 2018 Camaro came up to me and asked "Do you want to grid in front of me? I can't keep up with you", then followed by asking me what mods I had done because there was no way the car was stock. I pointed out that I was stock and on all seasons and he replied with "You HAVE to be shitting me. How is that possible?". Again, inflating the ego. I started gridding first after that and didn't give another point by all day if I remember correctly.

I did go off twice on Sunday, both due to ABS kicking in and destroying my braking zone (before I realized what was happening), but after correcting that, we really started to experiment and picked up some more time. I think I got to the point where I hit 118 mph in the uphill esses, which was a good accomplishment for me on street tires. South bend got interesting at that speed as the rear end liked to kick out and i learned to use that to get the car rotated properly. Anyway, I'm rambling at this point, so I'll just post the video. I picked a lap I thought was good and timed it and ran a 2:24, which I would say is damn good for all seasons.



I lost the windshield due to a rock from the pace car, have destroyed my all seasons, and on the way home at 10PM, my horn decided to start honking uncontrollably when I turn the wheel sharp to the left. GTI is a great car on track, but the build quality is lacking.