Well it looks like the weather will cooperate this coming Friday 30 Apr 2021. Got rained out last week.
This will be my first time on a track on 4 wheels. I'm more than a bit nervous. I've been on a track a lot on motorcycles but a car is a somewhat different animal. I'm comfortable on a bike. You can see the whole track and there is plenty of room. In the car the track will seem tiny and cramped. 3 wide in the corners on bikes is no big deal. I don't plan on being fast, just fun speed. My plan is to just hold my lines and let the fast guys go around. I know the limits on a bike. Not in the car. I've gone over some of my favorite bike roads out in the middle of nowhere but this time in the car and I'm far more comfortable on the bikes. Of course strictly staying to the speed limits, on the bike the roads seemed smooth and the corners effortless, while the car seems unsettled and scary. It will be an interesting learning curve. I know the lines at High Plains, but the cars more limited visibility and sheer size will be intimidating. Should be fun. I'm nervously looking forward to it.

 

Have a great time and don’t forget your cool down laps.

 

First let me say that the F Type is a car like in the old days that you can pack with your gear, drive to the track, race it, and when you are done load up and drive home. Did that today.
Left at 4:30 AM, drove 100 miles or so, ran it, and then drove home all on the same tank of gas.
The good points were the brakes are awesome. I could have braked far later than my courage would allow.The motor is respectably strong. Only a few could pull me on the straights. (I was running in the “slow” group.) She handles ok too.
The not so good points: She is a heavy porker with crap tires and suspension that is to soft for track work. She would push the front end in the tight hairpin and wallow around quite a bit elsewhere. I probably could have added some air to the tires to help a little but I didn’t. Plus I was pushing my skills as it was.
First session was crap with lap times in the 2.45s. The fast guys were in the 2:10 range. Second session I pushed harder and braked later and improved to 2.26s. Third the traffic was picking up and my focus was slipping and I ran in the 2.28s. I kept the lines reasonably well for never being on 4 wheels before. Clipped the apex markers consistently and didn’t spin or crash. I’m happy with that. I had great fun. Didn’t hurt anything or myself and got home in one piece.

 

I re-read my post and the “not so good” part could be taken wrong. The racing world on a track and the street world are two phenomenally different things. In the real world the F Type is an incredibly good car. It’s fast. It’s comfortable. It’s fun. The race track is a whole nuther animal. On my motorcycles I’ll more than double the suspension settings to stiffen them up for the track. A track prepped F Type would be brutally harsh on the street. So yes she is heavy and my base model non-adjustable suspension feels soft on the track but that’s to be expected. For a heavy street car she did extremely well at the track. With a good driver I’m sure she could have been much faster with lap times comparable to the fast guys.
So don’t let my negative comments make you think the F is bad. On the contrary, she is very very good.

 

If you are still on OEM PZero tires, most of your handling complains are because of that. These pirelli p zero tires are not good enough for a trailer to do city dump runs, less for F-type on a track.

Get MP4S and it will transform your car.

 

I'm reminded of making the transition out of my 2011 Z06 Corvette with the Z07 option.

When I started researching the F-Type, I remember reading complaint after complaint about how loud the cabin is. One reason for getting rid of the Vette was, after a failed 10-year marriage, I'd fallen for a woman whom I actually wanted to hear talk, and Hill Country road trips were no longer going to be enjoyable in that street-legal race car. (As they said, unless your last name ends in "umacher" or "ittipaldi," don't even bother taking that beast anywhere near its limits). As much as the little Jaguar checked every box, I was concerned it was going to be too shouty. It wasn't until my first test drive that I realized the warnings about cabin noise were for people coming from sensible cars.

So, it's always about your basis for comparison/reference.