Tracked the Raptor at VIR

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joehamrva

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At the dmv so apologies ahead of time for spelling and grammar on my phone.

First off, I know I know…but it’s what I drove down there and I figured what the hell let’s see what happens.

So I was at a track day at VIR and decided to see how it handled at the on road limit. Some initial thoughts


On the bright side…

Got to 108 on the back stretch and a 103 on the front straight. If I wanted to stay in it till the last second and completely fry the brakes I probably could have hit the limiter.

Handling was surprisingly good…that being said it has 35s so body rolling and 4 wheel sliding was a thing when I really pushed hard. This was most pronounced when braking and turning at the same time which really pitches the truck hard. When not on the brakes even steering hard it was really predictable. I let my buddy drive too and it’s a lot more nerve racking from the passengers seat lol.

Acceleration felt strong especially at lower speeds although it seemed to be holding back towards the end of the day. Not really sure how to explain it just felt like it didn’t have quite as much *** as it did in the morning. Could be me and not the truck though idk.

It wanted to spin the tires when exiting the tighter corners but when it did it was brief and very controllable. I left it in sport mode with Baja exhaust on most of the time.

Tires obviously got super hot and gummy but they are still in decent shape.

Some interesting things…

So when I hit 108 on the back stretch I was coming up fast on a corner and a Porsche in front of me and about halfway through the slow down it felt like I lost some significant braking power. Mind you this was maxed out for what this thing was designed for so I’m not mad about it but if you are dumb enough to track your truck remember your brakes aren’t bullet proof.

So the weird thing was that after that feeling in the brakes changed. When I got to the front straight the trucks traction control light was blinking non stop down the front straight under full acceleration. This seemed weird since it obviously wasn’t breaking traction at 85-90 mph.

Immediately after the front straight it said “drive mode not available” and kicked me out of sport mode. And the traction control indicator kicked on as it does if you turn off traction control.

I obviously pitted immediately after that and it would not let me select any drive modes and then starting displaying “service advance track”

I let it cool off for a couple of hours and then did some less aggressive laps to see if everything was back to normal and it seems like everything is. No indicators and everything functions fine. Also no problems on the 2hr drive back to Richmond.

In the end I won’t track it again but it was a blast I think this truck is fun no matter what you do with it. I also feel like it helped me calibrate what it can and cannot do on the road. If you do it I would say don’t hammer your brakes too much and remember it isn’t a race car. (Although I have seen plenty of sports cars respond similarly to the track with brake fade and like).

I’ll ask about the service advance track when I take it in soon (sliding back glass switch doesn’t work)
 

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joehamrva

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More pics
 

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Bubbasuwannee

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Nice! These trucks truly are surprising on the road in regards to handling/nimbleness (still a truck of course). They really shine of the pavement, but cool to see someone throw them through the wringer on a road course. I'm sure you got some strange looks...lol.
 

fts

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Haha, very nice and a lot of courage IMHO. How did it do through the uphill S transitions? Were you able to get to 80-85 mph on that section?

Was this a Zone 2 event?
 

Raptorial

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That must have been a sight. I raced VIR with WERA over a decade ago on an R6 and Ducati.

VIR memory: This one wasn't an actual race, but a track day. It was my first time ever on a race track. I got passed on both sides by an F4 and a GSXR600.

They then both collided at the kink in the front straight. All I saw were bodies and dust. That was my first experience at VIR.

Ever try sleeping in over the front straight in the lodge they built? :)
 

Jakenbake

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That must have been a sight. I raced VIR with WERA over a decade ago on an R6 and Ducati.

VIR memory: This one wasn't an actual race, but a track day. It was my first time ever on a race track. I got passed on both sides by an F4 and a GSXR600.

They then both collided at the kink in the front straight. All I saw were bodies and dust. That was my first experience at VIR.

Ever try sleeping in over the front straight in the lodge they built? :)
The lodge is pretty cool, we stayed there when we had an offroad event there
 

Donovan

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This is exciting lol. I dreamed of this once.

VIR is dope and so is Summit. I have had my m3s on there a few times. Makes me wanna book something...

Did you use TRACKDAZE?
 

Syberspace

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Love it... friend was on track with his Gen 2 and turned faster laps than a GT350 in the rain at Mid Ohio. Track is horrible in the rain.
 
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