Mazda Talk Forums

I'll be hitting the Horse Thief Track up near Button Willow on April second for the first time, does anyone with experience have any insightful tips?

Also anyone that is interested.. I'm driving up with a handful of other cars from San Diego. I can send you guys the link if anyone is up for driving the track!

ps- Brian, how often do you go up to the tracks?

I get to the track about once a month.

A good friend does much of the video integration for various track camera setups.....there is a quick clip from years ago when Horsethief Mile had just opened wherein I had a little fun in our street driven RX8. Do a Google search for "Brian Goodwin RX8 HorseThief Mile" and you can still find the YOUTUBE video. At the time they were still working hard to fill in the canyons around this track on a mountainside and if you went of the road you might plunge into a ravine. Now it is all filled.

Scary! Thanks for the tip Brian. Would you say that those are about the correct lines to take in a non-supercharged NC?

yes, same late apex lines and you won't have any problems.

One thing to keep in mind about this track is that it is on the side of a pretty good sized hill, so brakes are very important. You'll also likely spend a LOT of time in 2nd gear depending on your car. It also has lots of shifting, so practice, practice, practice.....

IIRC, the Solstice GXP I ran there a number of years ago was shifting between 2nd and 3rd for each "straight" and turn on the course.

I'm not trying to discourage at all, it was a fun track, and if they've filled things in, it should be a lot let less nail biting!

Ron

Thanks for the tips guys, anything is much appreciated. Quick question on suspension setup before I let the thread die out.. Right now I am running 7kg/5kg coils with 235mm dunlop star specs all around. What do you guys recommend as far as the stiffness setup? I'm familiar with autocross and spirited driving where I normally go full stiffness in the front, and a few clicks from stiff in the rear, however I'm not familiar with more high speed driving. Should I keep the same setup?

Yes, same setup...start stiff front and soft rear. That track in particular is so tight it is just like a big autocross.

I figured as much since it takes a little over a minute to clear as well Oh well, got to start somewhere!

I came back from the track day and noticed I have three dime sized rock chips in my windshield, along with about 15-20 smaller chips in it. Is there any way to prevent rock chips on tracks?

Yes, there is a film that I have tested. Not cheap, but it works. Can't recall the brand name but some google searching should find it.