Honda Nationals - 20/04/2013

So the week after the VSSC R2 at Sandown it was the Honda Nationals. Like Sandown, not much really happened to the car. Basically ran it as it was.

Winton is a track I still really am not used to. Felt like I was doing all I could, but the times just didn't reflect how I was feeling in the car. Previous best was 1.43.2 which wasn't that great and ended up walking away with a 1.42.2. It's a second off, but really I think I am still at least 2 seconds off where I should be, and about 4 seconds off where I want to be.

Think more time and a better setup is needed here...But there were also a few things on the day that held me back a little. Upon arriving at Winton I realised my rear tyres were basically bald...not great for traction. Then combined with a fairly averagely run day (but not bad for first go and the amount of first timers on the track), but this meant that a lot of oil was spilt on the track, not a good thing on a good day, but even worse when running tyres with no tread. The amount of red flags happening that day meant getting a good run was impossible, I didn't get one session that didn't get a black flag, and then finally on my last run where I had a bit of free air ahead of me, my tyres told me they had enough by sending me flying mid sweeper shooting me over the grass, then back over the track and into the dirt.

But being at a Honda specific day was great fun and it was great to see all the awesome Honda's there. It has given me a bit more motivation to get a good car setup for next year and get some more practice at Winton so I can get a much better time!!

Also mid day I noticed a hairline crack in my front rotor...the main reason why I didn't want drilled rotors, but didn't have much choice when I was purchasing. As I was loading it up on the trailer and strapping the car down I heard a massive bang...check the straps and all looked ok...so went home...but more on that in the next post...

Best time: 1.42.2 (new PB)

Very late, but Sandown 14/04/2013

So it's been a long time since this has been updated...so here come a few updates for a few track days I have done since.

So for this day, not much really happened to the car...basically ran it as it was run at Phillip Island but finally got a cover sorted out so no more water into the engine as before!!

Was a good day, about a year since I last ran at Sandown and was never really fully happy with my times and never felt I had a good day there. So was trying to get a good improvement over my last time of 1.32.5. Car felt good and drove well...still a few things as per the Phillip Island post that I need to address, but everything worked as it should.

Ended up with a time of 1.29.5

Nice and short this one....

Updates & Phillip Island 10/02/2013

First track day for the year and first round of the VSSC for 2013!!

So I finished last year on a pretty good note, ended up taking out the VSSC Class E - under 1600cc modified class and got a nice little trophy for that. Car was feeling good, a little too much understeer, but was very predictable and times were getting lower and lower each time I went out and taking off big chunks each time. The aim for this year is to progress higher in the overall standings which I finished 17th last year, with very slow times at the start of the year. Aiming for a top 10 this year.

So 2013, started it off by finally changing my front control arms to a new pair with some polyurethane bushings that I installed in them. Pretty easy task, except due to my lower control arm brace, to do this the whole sump had to be removed. Due to me forgetting it was a 2 piece design it was a 10hr remove / refit of the sump and a 1hr change of the arms...wasn't happy but at least it got done. Sump isn't sealing up 100%now though, few drips of oil but will get under and fix that up later. Did a service too which was way over due, and also addressed some of the minor issues the scrutineers have bought up and got them all fixed up. My fuel surge tank is now all inclosed in along with all the fuel lines and other minor issues sorted out too.

Went out for a photoshoot with BP22183 (check him out - http://bp22183.blogspot.com.au/) Got some great shots and through those shots GripShiftSlide got onto me asking for some details and to meet up for some shots. Ended up meeting with them down at Phillip Island, so check it out the feature at some stage - http://gripshiftslide.com/

So headed down to Phillip Island, hit the track for the first warmup session and the car felt like crap...so came back off and found out that overnight while the car was loaded on the trailer and hooked up to the car that it rained a little which with my bonnet vents it basically funnelled all the water straight to my spark plug chambers so they were basically swimming in water. So ripped up a towel and soaked up all the water, luckly nothing got into the engine and I managed to get it all sorted dry. Went out for the second session and the car was miss-firing up high, around 7-8k rpm. Came back in again after a lap and found there were a few more drops of water on my spark plug leads, let them dry off good and the 3rd session the car was feeling great again. Posted a 1.57 straight up, with cold tyres and brakes, so knew there was plenty more left. Car was feeling good, the understeer had almost dissapeared and it was acting very neutral, as the track had just been resurfaced I thought it was feeling pretty slippery, but that could have just been the car being pretty cold and also the fact I didn't have time for anther wheel alignment so that would have been out. After that 3rd session I got in another 2 sessions with a 1.55 in the 4th and a 1.54.46 in the 5th, smashing my new PB by a second!!

So all up it was a good day, as usual more things to address, all minor though. Need to create a cover for the engine when not in use so water does not get down into the spark plug chambers, want to lower temps in the engine bay still so going to heat wrap the manifold and exhaust, the last bushings to replace are the rear trailing arms and the front strut bushings so they are on order. Also as I am down to the 1.54's I will start collecting my aero additions, as this is the stage I always said that I would do aero upgrades. J's Racing wing has arrived, just waiting on Special Projects splitter, diffuser and side skirts. The tyres are also getting low, so think I will replace them now, so the next round at Sandown I can wear them in ready for the Honda Nationals in April.

So thats it, hopefully next time the car is out it will be a bit quicker again, always learning new lines and driving techniques so I think another couple of seconds off are possible with the car how it is now, and once aero is added it should take off another chuck hopefully.

Best time: 1.54.46

Phillip Island 11/11/12

Well it was a good outing at Phillip Island this time. Great weather for it, midday it got a bit too hot and the tyres went off a bit, but by the next session after it had cooled down enough to continue the good times.

Like the last Winton day, I started things off pretty slow getting used to the car. The stiffer rear swaybar setting felt a bit better this time, but it could still do with being a bit stiffer. Ran the tyres at 30psi front and 28psi rear, these felt pretty good overall. Managed to beat my previous PB by .5sec straight off, and just got a feel for the suspension and tested put some lines during the rest of the day. I have a lot more confidence in this new suspension and predicting how the car will handle, an example of this is the first corner where I used to come in at 140km/h an with the new setup I was going in at 170-180km/h.

By the end of the day I had knocked 2.5aec off my PB and ended up with a 1.55.4 for the day. The exciting part too was if I did the last 3 corners better as I had done on a previous lap there was another .5sec, and the RaceChrono says there is another 1.1sec in there if all my best sectors are combined. So next up is trying to work on some consistency and try to get that 'ideal' lap time closer to my actual lap time.

Things to work on and note was turn in, car felt great mid corner and perfect on the exit, but turn in felt a bit washy...probably my driving is the cause, but a few things I can do to the car to help I think. Cars desperate for new bushings all round, so will get onto that, and I think stepping up to 16" wheels with some 45 series rubber will help out with less tyre sidewall roll, and mid corner stability.

Getting close to the times I was after, at which time I will step the car up with some aero mods all round, then later proceed with a 2ltr engine build.

Best time: 1.55.4

Few little tweaks

Few track days coming up so thought I better make a few tweaks to the car.

Started with the handling, I have adjusted the rear swaybar to make it a little stiffer. This should help reduce the understeer, and if not then I will look into aero mods and increasing front track. I want to get all my aero onto the car before I play around with track, so hopefully early next year I will have the aero completed.

Next up is my intake. As I am running ITB's the location of these in B series engines are pretty bad as they are at the back of the engine. So this means it is constantly sucking in the hot air that is generated from the radiator, exhaust, and block. To help with this I decided it was time for some hood venting. First up I grabbed a NASA vent to get some cool air under the good, nice easy install and a few air diverters to make sure the air goes to the right place. Then I concentrated on getting the hot air out, so off to bunnings and $5 later I had 2 louvred panels, once again with the fibreglass bonnet install was easy and they seem to have done the trick...we will see the results next time but hopefully there will be a few extra kw's for me.

Winton 01/09/2012

Long time, no update!! Well a few things have happened since last time so here it goes.

Had an offer on my Zeal Super Functions that I was running on the ED that was too good to pass up so ended up selling them off. Picked up a set of KW Version 3 Coilovers which are 3 way adjustable and heard some great stuff about. So ordered away so I would get them in time for a Winton day I had coming up. As usual got stuck up in customs and the date was getting closer and closer...with 3 days left they arrived and I made a special trip back from Geelong where I was working to install...and this is where the fun begins!!

So they don't come with any top hats, but you are meant to be able to use your stock ones on the KW's. So take off a top hat and it doesn't fit. They had made the shaft in the middle too big, 12mm instead of the 10mm standard. So this meant the 14mm with 2mm sidewall tubing in the top hats would not fit over it. So searched for some 14mm tubing with 1mm sidewalls so it would fit with no luck at all for 14mm. So ended up going 16mm with a 1.8mm wall, but this also meant I needed to get the 16mm tube to fit in the 14mm hole in the bushes!! Front's weren't too bad as I used the softer stock bushes, but at the rears using aftermarket bushes it was a bitch!! Took about 3hrs work out and put together 2 setups. So in the end got them on and installed the night before I headed up to Winton. Adjusted heights when I got up there and was ready to roll.

Besides the suspension my new Wilwood caliper and brake pads arrived. So stripped off the busted caliper where the piston pushed through and installed the new one with the new pads on the front. In went a fresh batch of Motul brake fluid and the brakes were back to feeling how they used to. Will repair the old caliper with some spare parts I bough and keep it as a spare from now on.

On top of this I have made up a new custom dash to hold my gauges, still haven't installed 2 oil & pressure gauges into the oil line but they are now in the holder in the dash which I am happy about. Also while I was at it I had up a spacer for my rear vision mirror so I could see more than a rollcage bar when I looked into it. A new fixed holder for my RaceChrono which places it nicely in my view without being in the way. Also managed to roll my rear guards finally...so no more scrubbing, but getting a bit from the front now!!

So Winton came around (01/09/2012), got done pretty bad at scruteenering and was left with a list of small things to do. Metal valve caps, box in my fuel surge tank & lines, new fixing for battery, plus a few other small additional things. Nothing too serious though. So started off, spent the first session slowly getting a feel for the suspension, running in the brake pads and warming things up. 1.47 for that session. Next one pushed it a little more but was a bit scared of oversteer as I had been getting quite a bit previously, 1.46.7 for that session. Next session out 1.46.7 again, was playing around with higher tyre pressures and nothing had been working and was still being very hesitant with pushing it. Next session out dropped the pressures down and decided to just go for it, car felt great, brakes were solid and progressive, and suspension had a lot more roll but a lot more grip. Car had gone from snap oversteer to mega understeer. Came out with a 1.44.2 - equal to my PB and 2.5 seconds quicker than I had gone all day. Went out for the final session dropped the tyre pressures down to 34psi rear and 28psi front and saw nothing but green on the RaceChrono, walked away with another 1sec off with a 1.43.2. Wanted to be in 1.41 - 1.42 mark but I was still knocking off major chunks of time off at the end, so confident I can get into it next time.

The time was good enough for me to once again take the win in my class for the Victorian Super Sprint Championship, which also means that I have taken the win overall in my class as that was the last round. Over the course of the championship I managed to place 17th overall with some average lap times and some excellent competition, so looking forward to next year and hopefully moving up that overall place closer to the top 10 mark.

So in the end, with some major understeer issues (couldn't even get it to lift off oversteer in a fast long corner with some violent lifting off!!) I was pretty happy with the result. My rear swaybar is adjustable, so had stiffened that up and next step will be to soften up the front if I am still understeering. Trying to avoid stiffening up the rear to prevent the rear wheel lifting up and causing loss of grip and snap oversteer like before.

Best time: 1.43.2 (new pb)

Next plans...well I am broke now so not much, just play with tyre pressures, stop the understeer and get to know the car. Been changing suspension setups so much I have not done more than 1 day on the same settings. So time to get used to the car.

DA6, EK9, & a stuffed Wilwood caliper for the ED6

Alright...been a while and a lot has happened. Liberty is still dead and awaiting a block rebuild, as soon as I have it back it will be sold off and something a bit more legit will be purchased for towing.

On the 9th of June I had Sandown, 3rd round of the VSSC and I had my first go in the civic with the new rear swaybar setup. It was a very wet day, so with my time of 1.32 from last time I was there, it didn't look like I had any chance of getting anywhere near that. So my first run out involved my rear end sliding everywhere and about 5 spins...managed a best of 1.52!! So came back in and checked tyre pressure and due to the cold they just weren't getting up to temp. So pumped some more air in and went out again in an even wetter session and came back with a 1.42.

Next session was about the same with traffic in the way, but the last session the rain stopped and the track started drying up. Watching the RaceChrono I could see I was destroying my sector times of the previous laps and putting down some half decent times on the still damp track. Coming into the first corner on the 2nd last lap I struggled to pull the car up, seemed alright through the rest of the lap, but coming in on the final lap I almost overshot the corner and ended up in the kitty litter...brakes were gone...and as more proof of this whenever I looked in my rear view mirror when I braked all I could see were puffs of white smoke. So pulled it up in the pits and jumped out to have a look and there was fluid everywhere on the front passenger wheel.

Apon getting home and giving it a closer inspection it looks like the pads wore striaght out and the piston has pushed out of the caliper. So time for a caliper rebuild and some new pads. I think I will grab a new caliper too just so I can have a spare. Ended up with a 1.34 for the day which got me the win in my class and overall considering the conditions I was happy with that. Although I still think I should be in the high 1.20's, which after some practice and learning the car a bit more I should get there.

Onto other news, a few car changes have happened lately. My old E30 323i that was kinda a spare car but was always broken down is now officially gone. Had an issue causing the alternator to conatsntly go, so ended up trading that for a DA6 Integra Xsi. Nice solid car with a strong B16a engine. Will be selling that off asap though.

Also managed to buy myself an EK9 CTR!! This will be my road weekend car that I will just enjoy. Won't go overboard in modifying, already has some Buddyclub coilovers, Cusco braces all round, ITR gearbox with 4.7 final drive, titanium twin loop muffler, and Fujitsubo headers. Got a set of 16" JDM ITR wheels coming for it and that's how it will stay for a while. Just enjoying having a nice fun road car again!!