95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

I bad with these terms....care to do some MS paint for me?

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

I'm no good making a pic to show it. Basically turn earlier. If you're gonna hit a cone, hit it with the back of the car, not the front. Once you get the right speed and rythym of slalom (offset, chicane, etc.) you should be hitting cones equally with the front vs back of the car. This video has 2 amazing slalom runs with good backside examples at 2:44, 17:06, and 17:08. All these drivers are similar skills, and the cars similar in setup. The difference between them all is car position and timing of the turn-in. All are good runs, but those 2 are excellent!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ikWMPk1Y4

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

Nick, do it like this guy.

Note the slaloms

Note where he places the back wheel and "slings" it around the cones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7YGVEMlHPs

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Ok, I have my first SCCA race tomorrow but I have a big problem.

I was driving around on Thursday and as I drove away from a stop light I felt something happen in the front end of the car. There was no noise, just a feeling. But when I got going straight my steering wheel was cocked to the left a little bit. The car didn't pull to the left, the steering was just off center. At first I thought I had a flat tire, but it turned out to be fine.

I got the car home safely and noticed the driver side front was sitting lower than normal by about 0.5". I first checked all the bushings, bolts, end links, tie rods, control arms, etc but nothing was loose or broken. I drove it around a little bit and checked the ride height again, and didn't notice the DS front sitting as low as I though it was when in my driveway. I thought there was a chance the coilover had come loose and settled, so to be safe, yesterday I reset the preload and ride height, and while the car sits evenly, it still has the steering wheel cocked to the left.

I even checked the tightness of the bolts that hold the bushings for the steering rack, and they were tight as well. The car seems to drive normally otherwise, so I'm kind of out of ideas. How in the world does the steering center get knocked out of place when I'm just driving normally on the street? More to the point, is it safe to race tomorrow on the Hoosiers?

On an unrelated note, I'm looking to buy a spare set of injectors to send out and get rebuilt/cleaned and Carson (Cardana24) has a set, but some of the plastic has broken off them, and I'm not sure if they are worth buying. Here's his description of what broke, and some pictures.

"They are still on the rail with the fpr and dampner still attached. All electrical connections look good. On three of the injectors the little plastic ring on the very bottom of the injector just below the o ring has pieces broken off. I doubt this effects anything, but I thought I should tell you."







I've never had to deal with injectors before, so I'm not sure what a new/good one is supposed to look like. Can anyone tell me if these would be safe to use or if they should be trashed?

Thanks everybody!

98SEBlackMax

iTrader: (9)

Hate to say it but a steering wheel changing its center point while driving is the sign of something more serious. On the track hot worn tires can cause some steering wheel changes, but thats due to the tires.

Check the camber plates on both sides or if you are using eccentric bolts for camber adjustment check to see if something slipped or changed. Also check those pieces with the three bolts in them that hold the front LCA bushing. Sometimes those bolts can get loose or that large nut can back out causing a pull on the steering wheel. Compare both sides and make sure the nut is threaded on about an equal distance on both sides. Check the tie rods and make sure the jam nuts are tight.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Yeah, I had a feeling this was a serious problem

I hit all the bolts in the LCA area with an impact yesterday and they were all tight. The camber plates appear to be in the same position as they were before (we put on orange marks when it got aligned). The tie rods were tight too. What do you mean by eccentric bolts?

98SEBlackMax

iTrader: (9)

Those are the odd shaped bolts people use to get a little more negative camber from the front struts. I didn't think you were using them but had to ask anyways.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

hmm....I'm at a loss.

May swing by the event tomorrow and see you and Gabe run. I have no life these days.

Was tempted to enter the e30, but wasn't sure if I was going to get my power loss issue figured out in time.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Please do, I want someone there to be a witness for when my wheel flies off my car at 40 mph. Bring your GoPro!

My group (EP!) runs in the morning in the first heat IIRC, which I think starts at 9, so get there early!

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

oy....9am....we'll see. I haven't gotten to sleep past 7 in 2 weeks now

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

late to the party, but when that type of thing happened to me, it was because something was loose in the front end. I was using eccentric bolts (some people call them crash bolts) on the lower strut mount. As Joe mentioned, they're used to adjust camber on an otherwise stock setup.
THESE THINGS ARE CRAP. DON'T USE THESE.

So yeah. whiel I was going around a turn, there was enough force on the suspension to cause the lower strut mount bolts to slip, and that FUBARd my whole alignment.

I've also seen the same thing happen with bad steering rack bushings. the bushings eventually go to crap and fall apart, leaving the steering rack fairly loose against the firewall. then it slides left to right, causing you to have about 1/8 to 1/4turn of play in the wheel. your actual alignment might not change, but your steering center keeps moving because the rack moves side to side. replace the steering rack bushings and get a front end alignment and call it a day.

If they're 10 years old like everyone's are, then it's time to change them before you get your next alignment. even if they're not BAS, they're not too expensive and they'll help your steering feel. just a PITA to install.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Hi Matt, thanks for chiming in!

No, I don't have camber bolts, so that isn't the problem.

When I had the car on a lift I noticed what looked like evidence of the rack shifting (some area around a bushing looked cleaner than the areas around it), but I went around and tightened all the rack bolts and they were all tight. I had the rack replaced about two years ago, and for some reason I thought I had new bushings installed with it, but now that I think about it, I'm not so sure. We don't have any options for stiffer rack bushings, so we?

I've made sure the DS coilover is set at the same height as the PS, so I know ride height isn't the problem. I think I'm going to replace the rack bushings and see what happens. Thanks for the help everybody!!

EDIT: I noticed my ES sway bar bushing looked a little squished when I was adjusting the coilover, and the bracket that is holding it in appears to be installed backwards, or from the PS side. Can anyone tell me if this looks normal?

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Well as you might have been reading, my car started acting funny in the few days leading up to this event. As if I wasn't nervous enough about running on R-comps for the first time, I had to worry about a wheel falling off my car while I ran. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea to run, but I got lucky and didn't die, so I'm happy.

It was drizzling the morning of the race, but it stopped not long after I arrived and started to dry off. Unfortunately, my class (EP!) was scheduled to run in the first heat of the AM session, so I was stuck running in the wettest conditions of the day (but then again so was my direct "competition"). Prior to the event, it looked like I would be the only one running in EP, which greatly improved my chances of winning the class Unfortunately, two BMWs decided to join me. One was an E36 M3 (which is in the results as a 320) and I didn't get to see the other car, but I'm pretty sure it was also an M3. I'm not sure what you have to do to an M3 to bring it up to EP, but I'm sure it isn't good (for me).





I was rushing around all morning getting the Hoosiers on the car and adjusting the DS coilover and didn't have time to air up all my tires before I ran, so for the first run I ran with the rear Hoosiers at like 20 psi and the front at 35. Between that, the tires being cold, and the type of asphalt on part of the course, I had a chance to meet up with Mr. Lift-off Oversteer about 20 seconds into the run. This was fun indeed.

This was by far the longest course I have ever run on, and according to others, was about 20% more wide open than most of the other courses at FedEx. It took something like 15 minutes to walk, and I only got to walk once before running. By the fourth and final run of the day I was feeling pretty confidant in the tires and my car's ability to not lose a wheel and hit some pretty fast speeds (at least 60+ mph a few times).

So I ran the Hoosiers at 35 psi (cold) all around and left the front camber at my street setting of -1.7*. I wished for more front grip in some sections, more power in others, but mostly I wanted better bite from my brakes. Joe at 2J Racing said that probably has something to do with how far the pistons in the Wilwoods are extended while at rest. He thinks my rotors are too thin for the caliper. These are the 12.6" (6th gen??) 2-piece rotors. What do you think, do these look too thin?





Well here are the results. I lost to that E36 M3 (I believe he was just on Direzzas ) by just over a second, but I think I can make a lot of that back with a corner balancing, more camber and a little more power. But who knows. You may notice that the class I wanted to be in (DSP) was won by an E46 330 that beat me by something like 4.5 seconds!!! So I probably shouldn't complain about being in EP.

Here's a video of the first run where the rear end tried to come around:


And a video of final run #4:


I just can't believe how much fun these Hoosiers are to run on! My car did things I never thought it could do and probably could have carried more speed through one or two sections had I known what to do with all the grip. I can't wait for the next race I get to use them!

If anyone has any tips on driving technique, I would love to hear it. Thanks for reading!

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

And because I'm bored here are some pictures my friend took from the second BMW event







Brian, what were you saying about clipping cones with the rear tire??

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

The caliper pistons don't look like an issue to me. Brake effort/piston pressure doesn't change as pads wear, provided your M/C is fine and your fluid level is fully.

The Wilwoods tend to "look" farther out than you're used to seeing because they don't have the outer dust seals like other calipers. But imagine that half of the piston is covered by a dustboot (as it would be in other calipers) and it doesn't look as far out.

I don't think those rotors have THAT many miles on them since I owned them that they'd suddenly be "too thin" and I never had any braking problems when I ran them. Have you re-bled them? Are you using the HPS or the BP-10 pads?

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Hmm, I didn't think about it like that. But I assume there is a minimum thickness Wilwood recommends for rotors to work properly with the Superlite caliper. I'm just not sure what it is.

Keep in mind we did have to mill down the rotors to get the rust off.

Regarding pads, I honestly have no idea. They are whatever Albert gave me. It sounded like he had another set lying around as well. I think he said they are Wilwood pads.

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

I didn't mean literally

ImJustMe555

Keep in mind that the Superlite calipers come in 2 different widths too so there are 2 different pad thicknesses depending on whether you have the regular size calipers or the narrow calipers.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

I didn't know that! How can I tell which model I have?

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

measure how wide the slot for the rotor is, perhaps? I think these are the standard width ones - the narrow ones are for vintage cars and such that have thinner (or non-vented) rotors, IIRC.

get a caliper (the measuring tool, not brake part!) and measure the rotor thickness. Compare to a stock 6th gen rotor and see how much wear you have on them.



Probably the Wilwood BP-10s I gave him. They had like 2k miles on them when I gave them to him, and also gave him some Hawk HPS that had maybe 10-20k miles on them and had tons of life left. The HPS and BP-10 really felt almost identical to me.

ImJustMe555

They both can use the same size rotors both in diameter and width. The total caliper width is smaller with smaller pistons (width wise). They're designed to fit better under rims that don't have the offset and backspacing to fit the regular calipers. The only way I can think of to figure out witch caliper you have is to tell you to match what yours look like with the 8 versions of Superlite's that they have.

http://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/CaliperListLanding.aspx

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Well it was another hot day in Waldorf at the big lot and it was a packed event. There were a couple odd cars out that day, including some old BMW convertible that looked like an old British roadster and a late model supercharged Jaguar that my buddy brought along.

It was a short (~32 second) course that was pretty straight-forward except for two turns that I just couldn't seem to master. This was my first race since installing a new/used trans with a Quaife differential and my new 2.5" catback exhaust (G35 sedan muffler). I could really feel the diff pulling me out of corners, and I think the car sounds pretty damn good with the G35 muffler. There's very little rasp and with the Cattman headers really does sound like a lightly-modded G35 coupe, it's very cool.

I also finally upgraded my old camera for a newer Canon that impressed me with it's great zoom while taking videos and the on board effects and overall quality.

This was the third BMW race of the season, and is the third time I've come in second place. It was also the second time I've been handily beaten by an S2000 (but not the same driver, so I'm still in first place in terms of season points). This S2000 had remote reservoir Moton shocks, I/E and very sticky tires. I believe he's competitive in SCCA races, and was only 0.3 second off the FTD. I was able to hold back my buddy in his heavily modded RX8 on Direzzas by 0.2 second. My buddy in his heavily modded E46 M3 beat me by 0.5, which is better than the last time when he got me by a full second, but that was on a longer course too.

I should probably note that my current Michelin PS2s are on the wear bars and really didn't take well to the heat. Since it was such a short course we all got 5 runs, but due to timing equipment problems I got two more on top of that. In spite of my unhappy, melting tires, my best run was still my last. I tried to take everything as smoothly as I could, and I guess it paid off. I still didn't really hit the two tough corners correctly though.

Earlier in the week I bit the bullet and bought a set of 245/45/17 Michelin Super Sports to replace my 235 PS2s, but I haven't had them installed yet. I have high hopes for these new tires!

Here are the results, on the bottom left of the page.

And some pics with the new camera:







Here's a video of my seventh and final run of the day (with the new camera)


And here's an outside view with the GoPro on one of my other runs


I didn't realize how much quality Photobucket saps from the videos. I should probably be using YouTube....

After seeing how well these S2000s can do, it really has me reconsidering my next car purchase. My short list is a 1998-2000 BMW M Coupe (with the S52 motor), an E36 M3 or an S2000. My understanding is that the rear suspension of the M Coupe just is too primitive to put the power down effectively, so while it may be a blast to drive, it isn't really competitive in SCCA racing. The E36 is better, but it sounds like the S2000 is just one of the best cars to have for SCCA auto-x. What do you guys think?

I forgot to mention that I also replaced my destroyed ES FSB and crossmember bushings and steering rack bushings with new ones in an attempt to correct my off-center steering wheel to no avail. Check out the pics in my build thread!

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

Jesus....32 second runs? who the hell is designing courses these days? That Waldorf lot has tons of space and there is no reason that runs over 50-60 seconds can't be easily built. I'm starting to be happy that I decided not to run BMWCCA this year, because that course in the vids would have really pissed me off with its shortness and simplicity....drive all the way out there for 2:30 of seat time. Was there a huge turnout or something, or was part of the normal lot not available?

I looked back at some of my vids from past Waldorf events and they all seem to be at least 50 seconds, with 5 or 6 runs; and even in those I thought there was more room to safely add some length and features.

Like this one, which was the "typical" NCC setup in the last few seasons (also similar to the setup that AI usually runs there).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq29X...0&feature=plcp

IDK, maybe I'm just getting spoiled by getting a dozen 80-90 second runs these days, lol.....or my memory is bad.

If anything, if I run some Solo events during the rallycross summer break I'll do it in the SlowE30 instead of the WRX, so the runs will be a bit longer for me than for you, haha...

--

as to your question about next car....depends on what you want. I love S2000s, but don't think I would much enjoy autocrossing one, just screaming around in first gear all day. Personally, I would find something "unusual" and build it up as an autocross-only machine in one of the prepared classes (something odd, like a Scirocco, or some other car that nobody would expect to be fast). We all can appreciate how cool it is to go fast in a Maxima/i30 for that very reason. But take it from me, once you have something "typical" for a class (like a WRX), it's either WIN or it loses the coolness factor. Then again, I think the build is half the fun. And there's nothing you can do to an S2K or M3 that hasn't already been done by a hundred other people. Then it just comes down to how perfect (or expensive) your build is + how good a driver you are.

Now that I think about it, if I wanted to autocross seriously again, I'd be thinking hard about a FRS/BR-Z. Especially since that car would be great as a DD as well.

That all said, you know my opinion on what your "next racecar" should be. Something that doesn't need race tires

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

Auto-x becomes alot more fun with a dedicated car vs trying to balance the DD needs. I'm still stuck in the FWD world myself but if I were buying right now there are 2 great Honda's available...

http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/for...e/posts#429100

http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/for...57/scope/posts

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

I don't ever remember getting more than 5 runs at Waldorf unless re-runs were involved. And I don't remember anything over 50 seconds there either. Maybe my memory is bad though.... If you want to sign up for any SCCA events you need to do it NOW, because they got moved around due to scheduling conflicts at the lot and are all crammed into a short period of time.

I talked to the course designer at the event yesterday at he said it was because the lot was actually smaller than usual because of a dog show going on in the stadium.

Yeah, my FTD at the SCCA event yesterday was 60.8, and there were plenty of cars doing it around the 70 second mark. The FTD of the day was around 55.5. I'll make a post about it later.

While this second event didn't quite have the speed as the first, it was still just so much better than anything else. It all comes down to the FedEx lot being something like double the size of the full Waldorf lot. Not only does it take longer to do, but you're generally going much faster the entire time compared to even a good design at Waldorf. It's quite awesome, especially on Hoosiers!

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Results are here

It was a warm day and the lot was packed with cars as I pulled up with my loaded down car with the steering wheel still cocked 15* to the left for no apparent reason.

This time the gods shone down upon me to reveal I was the lone entrant in EP, so with any luck, I might come away with a podium finish

I did my normal prepping and got ready, but when I went to check the tire pressure of the Hoosiers, I found one to be at 10 psi, while the rest were around 35. I filled it up and didn't notice it losing any air throughout the day, but I think I will need to get it checked for leaks. For this event I ran the tires at 40f/35r cold. I'm not very good at determining what pressure to run, so any advice would be appreciated. I also set all F&R shocks at full stiff, which seemed to work pretty well.

This course design didn't have the high speed sections like the first, but it was still faster than anything else I've been on, so I was still very happy. I never quite "nailed it", but overall I felt pretty good about my times. Keep in mind that since I knew I was the only car in the class, I did all my runs with my 230 pound friend in the car, so I probably could have gone a little faster without him.

My best time was a 60.8, and FTD was a Corvette Grand Sport at 55.4.

There were some interesting cars here, so I decided to take a couple pictures.









This is the shifter in a Cobra....it doesn't look like a lot of fun



And of course....







I've started hosting my videos on YouTube instead of Photobucket, so enjoy the HD quality!

Here's a video of my second (and not fastest) run with the GoPro



And my third and fastest run



I was starting to get more comfortable throwing the car around on the Hoosiers, and MAN, are these things fun. All the frustration I felt at the last event on my bald PS2s vanished with the Hoosiers. They/the car did exactly what I wanted it to do, and it was a great feeling! The only thing that's still bugging me is the braking performance, but I'm working on that. I wish I were better at trail braking, since the rear end doesn't rotate quite enough yet, but that will come with time I hope.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

AI is just easier during the rallycross summer break than WDCR, honestly. WDCR is such a cluster**** I don't really want to deal with it. I'm not going to sign up for anything far in advance, especially with a new baby due in August. And to be perfectly honest, if I cant get into any of the big events I kind of don't really care. I'll go take the GT6 and tool around with CDC or something or run the e30 with NCC.

btw, did I mention that your car looks fantastic with those wheels?

Btw, did you see that Jason picked up a rallycross beater? 1983 Sentra

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Well I got some things installed and some things fixed before this event. After replacing all of the 3 year old ES bushings in the suspension, I noticed the ES motor mounts looked a little dry/cracked, and decided it might be a good idea to replace them since I wasn't sure if they were 3 or 6+ years old. It turned out they were fine on the inside, but it's still nice to know I've got new ones in there. I think I also installed the RSTB before this event...and didn't notice a damn thing.

We also finished up installing the oil and power steering coolers. I can't monitor oil pressure or temp, but so far there are no leaks and I've got 6 quarts of oil capacity! We also did a quick alignment to straighten up my steering wheel that had been cocked to the left 15* for like 2 months. So far it has stayed straight, and we couldn't find a reason why it had gone off center. I'm still running only -1.7* camber on the street and track But fear not, I will be getting corner balanced and a proper alignment in about a week

As with every other event since the first, I've been the only one in the EP class, which is somewhat frustrating, since it's tough to compare how I'm doing to other people. Here are the results.

And a quick little video showing the course. It's nothing special, and keep the volume low since it's still picking up a lot of wind noise. That has been solved by the 7/8 event with a nice little mic

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

It was a double-header weekend, and man was I beat by the end of it. Again, I was the only one in EP, so I had some fun and let my buddy drive my car for a run while I drove his BMW 330i. Going from my Hoosiers to his summer tires was eye opening, and all I could get from that car was understeer since I was still in the R-comp mindset. I was suddenly less interested in BMWs after driving his car. He however, had a blast driving my car on the Hoosiers I also took two buddies for a ride along on the last run, which I could really feel slowing down the car. I think my only run I did alone was the second, which also happened to be my fastest. No matter. On to the results and video!

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Well, due to lack of competition, I think I've locked down 1st place for EP for the season. Sure was a boring season though.....

We in the DC region, along with pretty much everyone else, has been dealing with searing heat for the last week, and had temperatures over 100* at this event. Thank god my run group was in the morning session. Either way, my two best purchases so far this year have been and . I've also gotten really good at finding and standing in the little bit of shade created by the signs on the lampposts while working on the course

Well I got some new toys installed before this race that I was eager to test out. I've been chasing an annoying vibration/hesitation for over a year now and have replaced damn near everything on the car to get rid of it, but to no avail. One thing that I had been meaning to do was to replace my injectors. A few weeks ago we used a stethoscope to listen to the injectors and found one that sounded much different than the rest. I got some injectors from a junkyard, had them tested at RC Engineering (where I was kindly told that they were in perfect shape and didn't need to be cleaned, so I was able to save some money) and we installed them. Sure enough, that one injector was fouled up pretty bad inside and the car idled and ran a little smoother after they were in. Unfortunately, the vibration/hesitation is still there. When we had the trans out a while back we noticed the rear crank position sensor had a hairline crack in it, so I think I'm going to replace both of them and hope for the best.

I also installed a brand-new 12.9" 2-piece Wilwood front BBK with slotted rotors and Carbotech AX-6 pads, which replaced that used 12.6" BlehmCo kit I had before. I wasn't happy with various parts of the old kit, so getting a brand new one was just the easier thing to do. We installed it the day before the race and I did my best to break in the pads properly, but I don't think they were quite ready by the time the race started because there was still a little "mush" in the pedal. After the race they felt a little firmer, so I'm hoping that with a little more driving they will really get settled in. As such, I wasn't completely comfortable with the brakes during the race and probably held back a little bit in some sections.

With the 100*+ ambient temperatures (likely higher since FedEx field is more or less a square mile of just parking lots, I recorded intake temperatures as high as 151*. This is just more evidence that this car needs a CAI....which is currently about 75% of the way ready, just not installed yet. I will be monitoring intake temps after the install to really see if it makes a difference. But I think if it can get the intake temp down to ambient temps, that should restore a lot of lost power. I can't imagine the engine likes air that hot.

Results

Oh, did I mention these new brake pads dust a lot?



And that's Darius and the 240sx



I finally got an external mic for the GoPro, and it is AWESOME!!! I put it right next to the intake, so now all you hear is engine noise instead of annoying wind noise. I hope you enjoy them now as much as I do

Run #1


Run #3


More mods and races to come

Run #4 In-car view

skatin_foo15

That looks like entirely too much fun. Looks like you made good times, and picked good lines. Sucks you dont have more competition in your class.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

Sub'd

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

Once you get those brakes better bed you can really get more aggressive with deeper threshold braking. I think I see at least 1.5sec time your leaving out there - those video's look calm and conservative IMHO. Don't try to bed the fronts with regular driving or autox runs; jack the front up, remove tires, and bed em like racers do. You can monitor rotor temps perfectly and cool em faster.

As for power, yes every +10deg is like 1% power loss on NA. Basic CAI and/or shielding can make a huge difference. Make sure your design is thought out and doesn't introduce any negative air pressures or lengthy runs as you'll lose responsiveness. If you really want to get nuts I'm happy to share my design plans for a SCCA legal frozen air intake system for the 4th gen. Estimated power gains at your 155deg IM temps would be 9% or about 17whp
http://www.designengineering.com/con...get-more-power

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

Okay, I give...have a link? I bedded my XP8s the way CarboTech says to do it, but I am always up for something new.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

What is this method of bedding pads you speak of? I was always under the impression that running the car in gear while the wheels are off the ground isn't good for the axles/bearings.

As for the CAI, it's an off the shelf Cattman. I was thinking about building a 3.5" setup with a "cold box" pulling air from the fender area, but it was looking like too much work and when I saw a Cattman CAI come up for sale, I grabbed it. I will be keen to see what happens to my throttle response with it. I don't mind if I lose a few HP up top, since I'm rarely above 6000 rpm when auto-xing, but I don't think I can tolerate less response. If it doesn't satisfy me, I will go back to the drawing board to work out a 3.5" SRI and sealed box that pulls air from the fender. But for that to not have restrictions like any other CAI, I would think the hole into the fender would need to be at least 4", which is pretty damn big. I dunno yet.

I would love to see your design for a CAI. Have you used the Cryo setup yet? I've always been curious about something like that.

BTW, I just added an in-car video from the last event!

So you did 1-2 laps with medium braking, 2-4 laps of hard braking, then you pulled off the track and let them cool down for at least half an hour? So basically your first session on the track was just to bed in the pads?

I like how their instructions say you must bed them in on a racetrack and not the street. I can see that making sense for the XP pads, but if the AX pads aren't for road course use, then WTF are they talking about?

ImJustMe555

From what I've seen the Cryo setups seem to work pretty well. Smax also makes some good Cryo parts. Personally I would prefer Smax's intercooler and Ice tube over DEI's intercooler sprayer and CryO2 air intake, but I'd prefer DEI's fuel chilling system and adjustable timer switch more than Smax's equivalents. So pretty much if I put a Cryo setup on my car I'd mix and match parts.

Here's a link to Smax's web page so you can compare and contrast the parts: http://www.speedmaxperformance.com/

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

The bedding proceedure doesn't change - just that you can do it on a lift or in a garage. Place jack stands under the control arms or similar to prevent overdrooping of the suspension and there won't be any wear on the axles. Combined with an I/R pyrometer you can get pretty exact on the rotor temps and the correct operating range without danger of brake fade while driving.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

No, I did it on the street...but you know where I live and how those curves are. After warming them up with a few short stops (from 35-40) in my driveway, I went out to the main road and those roads that run behind my development and did some medium to hard stops from 70-ish and released before ABS engagement, then some more stops with ABS kicking in. I probably put 15 miles of hard driving on them and then let them cool down overnight.

Then at the track, my first few laps were very easy (we were still clustered).

You can see from the pad surface that there was no glazing or bad wear. They hardly wore on the track, but they did do a great job cleaning the rotor surface!

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Well this is what my transmission sounds like:



So it's coming out before Saturday, when I'm scheduled for an all-day track event at Summit Point on the Shenandoah Circuit, then on Sunday there's another SCCA auto-x.

But I did get the rear 12.3" BBK installed and it's very effective, I can't wait to try it out with the XP-8 pads!



For more info and pics, check out my build thread!

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

I'll keep this one short since I'm not posting up a video.

This was the last event I ran my PS2 tires at, and they were useless. They were past the wear bars, and after 2-3 events on the Hoosiers, I wasn't used to their lack of grip, so my first run was filled with the sounds of unhappy tire squeal. I remembered how to drive on them by the fourth run, but it was no use, since I was completely trounced by the S2000 CR (who is consistently one of the fastest cars at the SCCA events) and an Evo by four and five seconds, respectively. Ugh. Thankfully the car has improved quite a bit since then, so hopefully it will do better this weekend.

Results are here

I came in third out of five, but the two people I beat had to run in the rain while it was still dry when I got to run. Not a great showing on my part, but there is just no catching this S2000.