Sandown 15/02/2012

So yesterday was the VSSC round 2 with the HSV Owners Club at Sandown. My first time down at Sandown and was a bit of a mixed day. After having my 30th birthday party the night before it was safe to say I was feeling a bit under the weather that morning. A few changes had been made to the car since last time I had it out so it was going to be an interesting day. Started off with the drivers briefing and me getting my medal from the last win at VSSC Round 1 at Phillip Island.

The day seemed a bit unorganised, so by 2pm we had only done 1 x 3 lap 'get to know the circuit' session and 1 x 6 lap session. Spent them working out braking points and getting to know the corners (not that there was too many of them!!). Was defiantly one of the roughest surface circuits I have ever been on. In the first real session I got a 1.35 which was done with some messy laps. Next session I went out on I got stuck out the back and spent the whole session getting past everyone, and as usual just as I got past them all the session ended. Still managed to record a 1.33.9 with traffic which wasn't too bad considering, but defiantly a lot more to come off it. Went to line up for the next session and on my way to the start area I was pulled aside by an official and told my exhaust was too loud for the day and I wouldn't be allowed back on!! So a whole day of waiting around, 2 real sessions and my day was done. Wasn't too happy considering my exhaust really isn't that loud and there was clearly other louder cars...

So that's it...best time of the day of 1.33.9 with only a couple of sessions and some traffic. Was good enough for a win in my class in the VSSC, but I think that is mainly due to a lack of good competition there in my class. At least I got some good feedback on how the car is feeling and what needs to be done. Since having the car down at TruTrack it now feels a lot more settled and more even. Braking is better too from it, and seems a lot harder to lock up a wheel now. With the rear swaybar removed it is understeeing pretty badly, so a new one will be ordered in the next few days and as per TruTrack's recommendation I will be swapping the front one back to a standard unit. Also the shift linkage needs to be replaced as the bushes are stuffed and it's really hard to grab gears (meaning a lot were missed on the day). The new wheel and tyre combo was really good, although with the new lower ride height the rears are scrubbing a fair bit, so something will need to be done there. Also seems like I will need to get a new muffler made up for Sandown.

Best time: 1.32.5

edit...Just checked the results again and they didn't record my last session. So I am going with what my RaceChrono says and that's a best of 1.32.5 on the day.

Car back from getting the suspension setup...

Well picked up the Civic from TruTrack yesterday, and they basically just spent the day going through fixing up and lubricating various bits and pieces and created a bit of a list of things that need to be done.  These were the major ones:
 - Steering rack is from a power steering model which has been blocked up, he said this will stuff up pretty quickly so need to replace for a manual one
 - Rear suspension, not enough travel on them (which is why it picks up a wheel when cornering). Basically all Jap stuff is like that, and I really need to get something with some more travel.
 - Control arm rubbers need to be changed to urethane (all the car ones really)
 - Rear swaybar (was an Integra one I adapted) was stopping the control arms moving up and down, therefore limiting suspension travel: Swaybar has been removed completely.

In the end he didn't end up corner balance they car, he suggested I change the bushes to urethane before he does as when they are done, it will change it all again. But he did even the suspension and ended up lowering it another 1cm...which also means that once again I can't get my door open on the trailer (time for another block to lift the car up again)!! Also got me 4.5deg front camber (last guy who did it said could only get 2.75deg max, he said he has no idea why they other guy couldn't get it, was easy) and 2deg at the rear.

So yeah, a few things to do over the next few months. I won't worry about the suspension for a while though, but already trying to source a new steering rack and the bushes which I will get my mechanic to install next time I am down there, along with a new shift linkage I need to get done. Also he suggested I drop back to a stock front swaybar and a 21mm - 22mm rear swaybar. So might look at doing that.

Another thing he suggested was for my brake setup, remove the stock prop valve and just have my adjustable in there and have the lines going straight to the wheels. So yeah, lots to think about.

But big props to TruTrack, they picked up things a few mechanics missed and got me the camber I wanted that others said couldn't be done. Very helpful guys too and spend the time running through everything with you and asking what you want.

No pics of what was done, but here is one just for the sake of it...

GoPro Cage Mount & RaceChrono

The new GoPro rollcage mount arrived the other day. Got it mounted up and seems to work really well and gives a nice solid mount. Better position now too, gives a bit of a view of the driver and road over just the road view I had before when I had it mounted to the windscreen.

Also what arrived the other day is my RaceChrono unit. Been meaning to pick one of these up for a while, have a few friends running the free software version of this on an old phone they have. As I didn't have any old phones around I tried a few other android based lap timing programs with little luck. So decided to take the plunge and get the whole unit. This should give me some very valuable on the run feedback about how I am going on the track, and now I can concentrate a bit more about playing around with different lines and knocking a bit more time off.

2nd Day, 2nd Post - Don't expect this to continue

So a few days ago I picked up my new wheels, 949 Racing 6UL 15x8", which due to the shop being low in stock and no new stock arriving for a while, were mismatched in colour. So decided to get out a can of spraypaint and DIY paint them. Went for a nice Violet shade for something different!!

So yesterday I got my new Dunlop D03G 205/50 15 fitted up to the new wheels, unlike my old wheels which were a set of OZ Racing 15x6.5 with 225/50 15 tyres fitted, this combo works much more nicely and I no longer have a huge tyre bulge over the edge of the rim causing a lot of roll and pretty bad turn in and mid corner stability (tyre was way too wide for the rim).

Another added bonus is that with this wheel / tyre combo I have shaved 3kg off per corner, so 12kg in total. Pretty handy saving there. Can't wait to get these out on the track and see how they go.

Next on the list is to get the car's suspension professionally setup and corner weighted, so looking at booking something in over the next week before Sandown on the 15th of April.

The First Post

Ok, started this up to basically document and track the progress of my little 1988 Honda Civic Racecar that I use casually for club sprint days. No offiical racing, although in the future it might be a possibility.

So this is basically how the car started off...a completely stock silver 1988 Honda Civic GL with a dodgy motor. The car was bought with the intention to pull it apart straight away and build up something as a track only (non-street registered).

The build process was very long for various reasons, lost motivation mid way and it sat around for a while, but finally it is now up and running and starting to put down some times at various tracks. Over the course of several years it's had a engine conversion to a B16A which was torn down and fully rebuilt with a Toda pistons and eagle rods in the block, and the head rebuilt with a Skunk2 Stage2 setup. Intake has been replaced with Jenvey ITB's and an Autronic running the show.

It's had a complete respray inside, outside and engine bay, with just a fibreglass hood, EF9 rear wing and Chargespeed lip for the exterior. While inside everything that wasn't useful has been removed (which was basically everything) and a rollcage has been installed.

So this is basically how it looks now, few little updates and changes since the pics have been taken but this is largely what it looks like.

So far my PB's are:

Winton: 1.44 - I would like to get into the mid - high 30's, that time was recorded when I first ran the car, so still had / do have a lot to learn

Phillip Island: 1.57.28         - I would like to get into the 1.54's here

This blog will be updated not overly often, just when I trackday comes up or changes have been made. Basically to record how I went on the day and the changes different parts have made.