Todd's new S2000

[iwearmoccos]

Thanks guys! Happy with how it all turned out

That's great and all, but haven't you had two track days recently?!?!?!?!?!??!?!
Updates please.

[Toddxxx]

That's great and all, but haven't you had two track days recently?!?!?!?!?!??!?!
Updates please.

Soon.jpeg

[Toddxxx]

31/03/17 ARDC PRACTICE DAY SMSP

Finally back at SMSP after almost a year and a half! (Since my last dry GP circuit day) so I was super excited.
I just got my CAMS L2S license so I’m now able to attend the ARDC practice days, which make track days a lot easier and cheaper compared to Wakefield. I really should have got my license sooner!

No changes to the car since the last track day bar the addition of the carbon bonnet. I was still a bit worried about the aerocatchs failing if air got stuck under the bonnet so after installing I went and did a couple of runs on the highway just to make sure the bonnet didn't move around or get any lift (I would rather test this at 120km/h on the freeway than at 200km/h+ down the main straight for the first time). Test was successful though and the bonnet stayed put so the car was packed and I was good to go!

Living 5mins away from SMSP is definitely a massive bonus when it comes to track days. I still get a decent sleep in and still make it to the track on time. Way better than having to drive 2 hours to Wakefield!

So anyway I met my friend at the track and we set up, signed on and got ready to race.

SESSION 1

Being that it was my first time back in so long I was just going to get into it slowly. I had my tyre pressures set and just wanted to head out and get my lines and brake points back in check.
One thing I really worked on in this session/throughout the day was T2 and starting to double apex it. Previously I had done the beginner line and would take it wide and single apex it late on the way out of the turn. I've now started double apexing it (well trying) and it's a much different line to what I'm used to.
Due to some patchy rain during the night there were a couple damp spots on the track so the first session I took it easy and built up speed down the straight each lap to test the bonnet. No issues by the last lap and 210km/h so the bonnet passed the structural test ��
There was a small stream of running water across the track on the exit of T5 that made things fun exiting that turn (did spin on my second lap haha)
After a few laps I came back in and reset my tyre pressures as they had risen a bit above my usual settings.
I think I got a 2:01 or something for this session.

SESSION 2

It was now mid morning so probably the best session of the day to set a PB. The damp patches had dried up minus the water on T5 which was a bit of a shame as it prevented me from being able to push through that turn and drift out wide like I usually do. Instead I had to stay off the power and hug the inside curb all the way round. This affected my speed up and over the crest as I'm usually shifting to 4th there but now I was barely making it to redline of 3rd.
The car also felt a bit sketchy through T1 not only this session but all day. You will se win the video that quite a few adjustments had to be made mid corner where usually I just point and power through.
Despite this I still put some good laps together and got a couple 1:54/1:53 lap times and finally on the last lap of the session I got a PB lap of 1:52.06.
My previous best was a 1:52.5x so even though I was slower through the second sector (due to the T5 issue I was still half a second up overall).
I came back in and Checked tyre pressure and once again they had risen 2-3 psi above my usual specs so not only had I PB'd with a slow sector 2 I had also done it on higher than usual tyre pressure. I just wish I had both these things working with me to see what I could've got in an ideal situation. (Next time!)

SESSION 3

High off the PB last session and fixing the tyre pressure I was confident I could go that little bit faster this session. It was lunch time though and the temps had risen so there was that to contend with.
I went out hoping that T5 had dried up, it hadn't ��
Being a low point on the inside of the turn the water just runs down the hill and across the track which meant it was pretty wet all day.
Again I just pushed on and got 4 1:52/1:53 laps this sessions. None could better the 1:52.06 though. 3 of those laps however had better sector 1 times than the PB but on all of them I lost a bit of time in the last sector so I guess that's here I really need to work on.

SESSION 4

The day had gotten even hotter, we were now in the mid twenties. Same old wet T5.
Was a bit slower this session with a couple 1:54 and a bit of traffic.
Decided to come in early and just try and wait till the afternoon to go for another PB lap.

SESSION 5

Was getting later now so the temps were dropping. Was early afternoon now and I didn't know if this would be our last session or not. Decided to just go for it. Straight away I did 2 back to back 1:53 laps and was pushing for that 1:51 when I came onto the last turn and the rear slid out a little. I caught it and kept on the throttle but then the car gripped and kicked back the other way and sent me out onto the gravel/grass. Due to the rain it was a muddy mess and the car got covered!
I came in to see if there was any damage and there wasn't any. No point going back out as my tyres, brakes and everything else on the car was covered in sludge.
Turns out there was one more session after this one but I packed up and went home early as I had work that night and wanted to give the car a hose down first.

As stated earlier despite a few hinderances (wet track, tyre pressure) I was still able to get a PB by half a second.
I didn't do an alignment before this day but the new specs since installing the arms has changed the car drastically at SMSP. With the added camber and castor in the front. Turn in and cornering at high speeds has become so much easier and the steering feel is much lighter now with smaller movements of the wheel required. This could have also led to the T1 sketchiness but that could have been caused by any number of things.

My mate jono who I did the track day with decided to take some pics over the lunch break so here's a few by him mixed with a couple that I took myself

















And of course the PB lap

[Toddxxx]

Try not to go off the track when it's got a wet outfield lol

Mud everywhere and on everything! -__-











This came out of the front bar under tray alone



Wondered why I couldn't brake too well after going off. Rotor face was covered in mud as well initially.



Finally got the car all clean and removed most of the mud with a pressure blaster. Here's hoping I never go off in this type of situation again!!!

[s1 s2]

I logged in just to say, thanks for the update OP!

[Toddxxx]

10/04/17 VELOCITY TRACK DAY WAKEFIELD

Back at Wakefield again for another private track day. This was my first time attending a velocity event so lots of new faces around.

I was toying with the idea of what tyres to run but eventually just stayed with the rs3 as the weather forecast was rain 
And rain it did! The way to goulburn was pretty good and i was hoping that the rain would hold off till later but it started coming down pretty hard once we got close to the track.

From the get go I really wasn't that keen for this day for some reason. The rain forecast put a bit of a dampener on it I think.
I was so lazy with prep. No alignment, no spanner check, no oil change/service.
In the morning I forgot my keys for the car so had to go back up and down to my apartment a few times. Then I realised I left my phone and lap timer and gps at home so by the time I got to the track I already wanted to go home haha

I was placed in the fastest group for the day so we headed out first as the rain was still falling pretty heavily.

SESSION 1

Checked my tyre psi before heading out and it was 26 cold so what I usually set it to. Weird because I remember putting air in the tyres after my last track day? Anyway I didn't bother with them and just went out.
It was wet. I was sliding everywhere. I spun a few times. Visibility wasn't that good.
That was the first session.

SESSION 2

Checked the tyre psi again after coming in and it hadn't even risen 1psi haha
Still didn't bother with it and went back out again
The track was wetter this time around. Again I slid everywhere and spun out a couple times. Scary moment coming down the straight 3/4 throttle and I hit some water and the rear kicked out close to the wall. I wasn't enjoying this and decided to just go home around 11.30. I'd rather have wasted my time and a little amount of money than end up in the wall or something. (Turns out 1 car did end up in the wall later on in the day)

So that was that. Later on in the afternoon the sun came out for a bit and the track dried up and there was a couple sessions of dry time but I just wasn't feeling it that day and was already back home by that stage.
No videos as I didn't even bother to set my go pro up. I think I got a 1:39 on natsoft in the rain from like 3 laps in the second session haha

PROS:
- ???

CONS:
- weather
- my attitude haha

And a few pics from the day

[iwearmoccos]

I've never been so depressed after reading a track day update!!

[Toddxxx]

I've never been so depressed after reading a track day update!!

Hahaha read the other one on smsp then or check back tomorrow maybe and I'll have my latest one up

[Toddxxx]

21/04/17 ARDC PRACTICE SMSP

After the disappointing Wakefield day I was keen to get back out sooner rather than later. Luckily the April ARDC practice day was only a week later so I serviced the car and did a spanner check and was good to do.
This would be my fourth track day on the current alignment. It's probably way out of spec now but the car still feels good so I just left it.

Even though I live 5mins form the track I still managed to be late haha. Turning up just before the drivers briefing had its benefits though as I was put in the second L2S group which only ended up having 7 cars all day so sessions were amazing with lots of track room!
This particular practice also had superkarts so while we received less sessions over the day it was cool watching them cut laps/sharing a garage with a couple guys and seeing the work done on them.

SESSION 1

I had the car all set up and tyre pressures set to 26psi cold before heading out.
Conditions were perfect this morning so I was really hoping to get straight out there and push for a new SMSP PB. My optimum at the last day was 1:51.xx that was my goal.
I also wanted to test a couple things in this session particularly the last couple of corners where I take the 'time attack' line and cut across the ripple strip and make use of the inside corner concrete. This is a good way to keep speed up but can be quite bumpy if not performed properly and can cost you time so I wanted to see the difference by not cutting the corner and opting for the smoother line around the track.
So I headed out and got the tyres up to temp and worked my way into it. As mentioned before my group had very few cars in it so track space was excellent and you could just concentrate on yourself and not worry about passing or being passed etc.
I took the normal line through the last couple turns and the laps felt nice and smooth and fast so when I came in I wasn't that surprised to see a 1:52.12 on my lap timer. That was only .1 off my PB from last time and it was only session 1.
I checked tyre pressure and they were around 32PSI so I stopped them back down to 30 and went over my data.
Surprisingly while only being .1 off my PB my last sectors were very different.
Compared to last time where I used the 'time attack' line I was 8-10km/h slower through the last two turns and onto the the straight this time and that translated to me being 4-5km/h slower by the time I hit T1 at the end of the straight. So while following the track is smoother and less risky it is actually the slower way around that section of the track hence why all the pros cut the corner.
So there's some good information for you time attackers!

SESSION 2

With such a good session 1 I was super excited for session 2 and now that I knew that my usual line through sector 3 was the faster line I knew I could PB!
Again traffic was minimal in this session. I think one car passed me while I was doing a cool down lap mid session and that was it.
I went out and just focused on my lines and was really trying to push myself through T1 and through the middle sector. This was evident as my S1 times continued to fall and my apex speeds crept up.
My biggest gains however were in the middle sector where I got a bunch of 35.xx sector times whereas I'm usually in the 36.xx bracket so that was awesome. I didn't really change anything through this sector so maybe just braking later and pushing harder around the hill and lifting less helped a lot.
Whatever It was it worked as I recorded a 1:51.91 and then a 1:51.49. New PB!!!
The 35.7 sector 2 time from this new PB lap would end up being my fastest sector for the day so i really need to look over that lap and look at the data to see what I did as it was almost half a second faster than the sector 2 I did later on in the day on an even faster lap.
The car felt great in this session and really responded to how I drove compared to last time where the car moved around a lot and felt quite twitchy through the steering wheel.
When I came back in tyre pressure was again back up at 32PSI so I decided to leave it at this and see how it went in the next session.

SESSION 3

High off the new PB and finally being in the 51s I just went out this session and tried to do more of the same. Again there was minimal traffic and I could just focus on me.
I did a couple of fast laps to start the session but after 3 laps I had to do a cool down lap as my oil temps had risen and started setting off my warning alarm on the defi. My alarm is set at 125 degrees which isn't overly hot but I like to stay on the safe side. I've noticed that since I've started doing more days at SMSP that the alarm goes off more often. It's not usually an issue at Wakefield with the track being shorter/slower and a lot less load on the engine.
With my focus now shifting to doing more SMSP days I'll have to address this issue soon aka it's finally time for an oil cooler.
Anyway back to the session. After the cool down lap I usually get 1/2 more laps in before the alarm goes off again.
The first lap was good until I hit the last turn and bumped the ripple strip too much and bounced around and lost a lot of speed (what I was talking about earlier about if you get it wrong). This ruined the lap which turned out to be a 1:52 so I pushed onto the next lap and all felt good but my alarm started going off again towards the end. Checking my timer over the start/finish line I saw a 1:51.8 and in that moment I decided to just go for one more lap. I tried to smooth everything out and brake later and accelerate more and fully committed to not braking and pushing more than ever around the hill and it paid off because as I finished that lap with the alarm blaring it showed a 1:51.1 lap time! I was ecstatic!
That last lap recorded my fastest sector 1 and 3 times of the day but my sector 2 was just a bit slower than a previous lap unfortunately. My optimum ended up being 1:50.8 so that's now the next goal!

SESSION 4

I dropped the tyre pressure back down to 30 after the last session and was ready to head out for the last session of the day.
For this session they combined the two L2S groups so there was a lot more cars compared to all my previous sessions. This meant more traffic to navigate through so I did a couple slower laps as I passed/got passed. Again my oil temps rose and I had to do a cool down lap mid session to get them back in check before I could go at it again. The car this session felt sluggish though and wasn't as responsive as my previous sessions. I also spun twice which hadn't happened all day.
I had a couple fun battles though so it wasn't all bad.
When I came back in I checked tyre pressure again and the tyres were sitting at 29/30 psi all round. I'm thinking that I couldn't get enough heat into them this session so they never came up to optimum but I'm also thinking that the car felt much better at 31/32 psi so I think for the next track day I will aim for that and see how things go.



PROS:
- Car felt great!
- PB
- Collected a lot of data and important information
- Excellent grouping
- Fun day

CONS:
- Oil temps are high. Time for an oil cooler

There were quite a few photographers around the track for this track day. Here is a couple of photos I found.









And new PB lap

[toocivic]

Always quality updates Todd! Car looks so good...

[Toddxxx]

Always quality updates Todd! Car looks so good...

thanks man


Few more pics from the track day

Hunting GTRs!



And the next lap

[Toddxxx]

Last year at Honda nationals (July) I bought a used set of Yokohama A050 off a friend for dirt cheap. They were 255/40/17 so they were perfect for going on the S2000 for track days.



The tyres had 3 track days use on them already so with how quickly the softs wear they maybe had 2 or 3 more days left in them. That was perfect for me as I wanted to run them once at SMSP and once at Wakefield to compare a proper semi slick tyre to the extreme summer road tyres that people always refer to as semi slicks.

With having done so many SMSP days lately, getting a new PB and more importantly putting out consistent laps on the RS3 tyres I felt it would be a good time to throw the semis on, do my SMSP day and do some comparison testing.

So in between the last ARDC practice day and the one that was held on Friday I took the wheels and tyres off the car, packed them into the civic with the A050 and took them to the local tyre shop to get them swapped over. Surprisingly 8 tyres (4 on rims and 4 off) fit in the back of a hatch fairly easily.



While i was at the tyre shop i had the TPMS sensors finally removed, the rays valves put back in and the wheels re balanced.
With the 255 A050 on the rims i was surprised that the sidewalls actually sit in from the lip of the wheel a bit leaving it exposed whereas the RS3 sit flush with the lip.
Different designs i guess.



So how did the semis go at the track? Friends will obviously already know but ill try and get the track day recap written up and posted tomorrow

[Shakeel]

Video please!

[Toddxxx]

Video please!

Soon my friend. I have been very busy

[Toddxxx]

love the process man, keeping the passion of tracklife alive !

thanks man


05/05/17 ARDC PRACTICE SMSP

As mentioned in the previous post I had the semis swapped across and on the car. Did a quick check over and was good to go. No service or alignment still so 2nd day on the same oil and 5th day on the same alignment. Will get an alignment for my next day as it's out of spec for sure. But again an easy prep on the car. I love how reliable it is
Tried the 'get to the track late and be placed in the second group' trick again and it worked as I was put in the second L2S group however they evenly split the groups this time with both groups having about 15 cars.
Being that it was my first time on semis I was a bit unsure on what pressures to run etc so I had asked around and found that 30 was the general consensus. Yokohama also state 28-30 as the ideal range for the A050. With this in mind I set pressures to 25 cold and just waited for my session to be called.

SESSION 1

First session had a bit of a slow start. Everyone sort of bunched up on the outlap so I used an extra lap to pass a few cars and start a hot lap. As I got around to the hairpin I saw a massive cloud of dust go up back across the track at T3 and then as I exited the hairpin I saw the red flags flashing and knew a car had gone off.
Turns out it was another s2000 that went off at the exit of T3 and had narrowly avoided the wall.
He had forgotten his tow hooks so the retrieval took a long time. By the time we got back out I was once again on a hot lap and coming into the hairpin when the session was called.
So no full lap in session 1
Bit bummed but when I was looking over the data my S1/S2 times were faster by 2 seconds so I knew once I got that last sector in I'd definitely be faster than my PB.
Best lap was a 1:56.16. That was with the first two sectors of a hot lap and the last sector of my initial out lap so not bad.
I checked the tyre pressures and the fronts had risen to 30 and the rears to 31 so I dropped them a bit all round as I hadn't really pushed hard in that session so I knew they'd rise again once I did.

SESSION 2

Session two took a while to come around. Quite a few offs and break downs at this practice day so sessions were being pushed back constantly all morning. We got our session in just before lunch at 12:30 so not really optimum track conditions but what can you do?
I was just trying to get one clean lap in in this session. That's all I really wanted so I just cruised around and found some space on the track and got into it. On my first clean lap I went straight to 1:49.0 but then encountered traffic halfway through the next lap so I had to make my way around them and try again.
This took a couple laps as I couldn't get a couple cars in a straight line but would then destroy them from turn 3 to the hairpin. Finally right at the end of the session I got a good clean lap minus a slight oversteer on the last turn and crossed the line at 1:47.89!!
I couldn't believe it! 3.5 seconds knocked off already but I wanted more!
I couldn't believe how much extra grip I had everywhere! T1 I was 11km/h faster, T4/5/6 I was 13km/h faster each turn. The car just stuck to the ground. I was experiencing a bit of inner wheel spin through T2 and the hairpin and the last turn. Mid corner I'd be trying to power out as the car was still rotating and the inner rear wheel would lift too much and the diff would unload and just start free spinning the wheel. This mean I had to get off the accelerator and back on it and not power out as quickly as I'd like. I never experience this with the street tyres so it just shows how much more grip is there.
Tyre pressures had risen to 31 all round so I just left them as this would be he hottest part of the day.

SESSION 3

Session 3 wasn't great. Again a bit of traffic issues at the start of the session but after making my way through the masses i got a couple good clean laps in. I got a 1:49.xx and two 1:48.xx laps in a row so not too bad but also no PB. After coming in and looking at the data i was pushing more through sector 1 and 3 but sector 2 was letting me down. I think i was braking too much through T6 and then backing off a little around the hill when i could've been pushing it a lot harder so i made a note to myself to push through that turn next session and not back off at all. I was actually faster km/h wise through T5 but this was pushing me out wider on the exit across the south circuit entry pit lane. Usually this is no issue on the RS3 and i keep on across the cement and continue on with the lap. However the A050 didnt seem to like the transition as much and again the car would become unsettled and the diff would open and the car would rev out.

SESSION 4

Went out this session and tried to just tidy up parts of the track i felt like i could gain time. Mainly T5 where i tried not to push out as wide on the exit and around the hill where i held the accelerator down and tried not to lift as much. It was working as i went 1:48.xx then 1:47.5 so new PB already. I decided to do a cool down lap and give it one more shot. First sector was good but not my best (previous 1:48 lap i went .3 faster) i was opening the diff so much! I had to lift and try to accelerate twice before the car hooked up again so time lost there. I made it back in the middle sector though where i cleaned up the lines and went faster around the hill. Coming into the last turn the lap felt pretty good but then i messed it up and got the car too unbalanced across the ripple strip and the outside surface transition and proceeded to over steer and correct the slide through the whole turn. I almost pulled out of the lap but decided to keep going and boy im glad i did! 1:47.23.
Somehow despite that last corner mess up i somehow did a best sector 3 for the day. I was 12km/h through that whole turn which might explain the over steer but either way i was happy with the time. 4 seconds faster than my previous street tyre best lap on second hand semis is no joke!

SESSION 5

After getting that PB last session but knowing i could've gone faster after messing up the last corner i really wanted to try and get a 1:46 this session.
As they always do the two L2S groups were combined for the last session as numbers had dropped throughout the day. Due to this I headed out near the front of the group to try and get some space early. I got a 1:49.xx and a 1:48.xx lap in before the session was red flagged as another car had gone off. We only got 5mins into our session so they staged us up to go back out but i decided to call it a day and head home rather than head back out for maybe one more lap. I had my new semi PB so i was happy with the day.

PROS:
- Semis are amazing!
- 4secs faster than street tryes
- Faster everywhere and lots more confidence
- Fun day

CONS:
- Cooked the last corner on PB lap so could've been even faster
- Inner wheel lifting and opening diff on tighter corners
- Semis dont seem as smooth over track transitions
- Think ive ruined myself for street tyres now :P



And new PB lap