Todd's new S2000

[Toddxxx]

Last Friday was mays ARDC private practice at SMSP. The group of usuals is slowly growing and we now have enough people to fill a 4 car garage each month. I really encourage anyone wanting to try SMSP to do it! It's an amazing track!

This practice was the first with the new wing on the car. I decided to test both wings on the day and see how the new wing affected drag/downforce. The morning sessions were run with the old type 1 and around lunch time I swapped over to the new type 7.5.

The morning sessions were the usual. Spent time getting tyre pressures correct and finding my groove in the first session. Second session I got a couple of 48s and high a high 47. Third session I got a 1:47.3 which equaled my PB from the last practice. The 1:47.3 this time around felt like an average lap though compared to last time so I knew I could definitely beat my PB in the afternoon sessions.

On went the wing and man oh man what a difference! Not sure if it was just the wing, the placebo of having a bigger wing and pushing harder or a combination of both but instantly In the fast corners I felt like I could just keep pushing the car! And that's what I did. Each lap I would just brake later, carry more speed, accelerate out earlier and the car kept going. I was finding speed everywhere!

Straight away I got a 1:47.1 followed by a 1:46.4 and at that point I was .1 off achieving my long term SMSP goal. The car felt amazing in the high speed stuff but the slower corners I was suffering from a fair bit of push understeer. Still the car was performing well.

For the next session I went out with the sole purpose of finding that .2 and achieving my goal. Another 1:47.1 then bam I pulled out a great lap and went 1:45.6!! I smashed my goal and my PB! I was ecstatic! Still it felt like the car had more in it though.

The last session was going so well. I pushed my hardest into T1 without touching the brakes and went through at 190km/h! I put in a good 2nd sector and was a whole 1sec up on my 1:45 lap before I lost the rear on the last turn coming onto the straight and spun
A 1:44 wasn't meant to be that day but I know the cars more than capable!

Still by the end of the day I had a new PB and had smashed my 5 year goal at SMSP. The new wing was doing wonders. 15km/h up through T1, 9km/h up in T4, 12km/h up at T7 and 10km/h up at T11. All while not affecting my speeds down the straight. I'd call that a win/win!

Here's the lap!

And some pictures. Thanks to jono for the amazing picture of me heading out for the final session.

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[mlracing]

Awesome, going flat out in turn one takes huge balls !

[eskimo_firefighter]

I am still amazed with how much the wing has improved the cornering speeds of the car.

You're doing extremely well, keep the momentum going!

[Toddxxx]

Awesome, going flat out in turn one takes huge balls !

Haha yeah the first time you go through testing a new speed is a bit scary. After that it's all trust in the car though.

I am still amazed with how much the wing has improved the cornering speeds of the car.

You're doing extremely well, keep the momentum going!

Yeah I was surprised too. Probably more so by no extra drag/speed loss down the straight. Interested to see what it does at Winton in August. Don't really have enough experience there though to make comparisons.
Also keen to see SC set up at Winton!

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[Toddxxx]

Two days after the private practice I was back at SMSP for Rd. 3 of the interclub supersprint which was held on the North circuit. This was my first time doing the North circuit so I didn't really know what to expect/aim for but I was also excited.

In the end it was a pretty average day. I was plagued with traffic issues all day and was clearly grouped wrong on an estimated time and couldn't go up a group for some reason. I got maybe five or six clear laps the whole day, three of which came back to back in session 4 where I did a 1:12.3, 1:11.8 and my best lap of the day, a 1:11.4.

North circuit definitely favours big hp cars as its basically 2 big straights with a couple corners at either end but still I'm hoping to maybe do another day soon and try and get into the 1:10s. I really want to do South circuit now!

Despite the crappy run of events that 1:11.4 was good enough for 2nd in class and the 9th overall fastest lap of the day. It clearly shows I was in the wrong group considering I was ranked midway down group 2 which put me about 25th fastest on estimate. At least next time I'll make sure to be in group 1!

By the end of the day my front pads and rotors were done so I'll have to replace them some time before the next track day as well.

Here's the video of my best lap from the day

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[Toddxxx]

When I first got the car I had the red and black interior scheme that I hated and I got rid of it quite quickly and swapped in an all black interior. In my haste I swapped my immaculate red/black door cards for below average black ones. They had a few scratches and colour imperfections and it has always bothered me. Upon further research which I wish I hadve known at the time you can just swap out the center section of the door card





A friend offered his now unused red/black door cards and I picked them up with the intention of swapping the black centers across. The door cards were in great shape so once swapped I gave them a clean and applied leather moisturiser and sealant to keep them looking great.



The final result is what I wanted and I now have perfect condition door cards again! Now i just have to refresh a couple other interior pieces and I'll be happy with the interior again.



The left over bits from my old black door cards also replaced the pieces I already had from another friends discarded set. These have been set aside for a future project


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[Toddxxx]

New front pads and a fresh set of rotors went in the other week. Decided to stay with Winmax W5 as they are cheap and easy to source. Also my last set lasted 17 track days so they are definitely great value for money!

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[Toddxxx]

With the old wing sold and new wing mounted I stripped the wrap off the bootlid and filled all the excess holes and fixed up a few areas. Also re did the the boot tie downs and now everything is tucked in behind the bumper. Much neater overall



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[Toddxxx]

Finally the long wait is over!

After 2 years of sitting in my wardrobe and collecting dust I brought the haltech ecu and wideband out and got to installing them in preperation for the tune.

Being a platinum series ecu, install was plug n play and super easy. I used a piece of carbon to make a backing plate to attach the ecu and wideband controller too for a neater install. All the wiring and set up of wideband was also easy so the decision to pay for the haltech wideband was a good one.





I also installed new oem spark plugs and got My mate around to help do a valve adjustment and compression check etc. Everything checked out and the motor was healthy and ready to go!



I chose Phil armour at armour motorsport services for the tune as he has a good reputation with hondas having done the jdmyard civic and numerous ipra racecars over the years. I dropped the car off last Thursday and got it back on Tuesday.

Picking it up and driving home the midrange gain was very noticeable. The car accelerates much quicker and the 1st to 2nd gear shift is much more violent now with the car fighting for traction. There's also a noticeable get up even when cruising in 4th or 5th and putting your foot down.



This is what the power curve looks like. This was the haltech base map vs the final tune. Peak power is 148kw. Phil also did an oem Ecu run at first and recorded 135kw so the final figures show a 13kw peak power gain and around 18kw midrange gain. Vtec engagement has been dropped to 4400rpm as well.
All in all everything has turned out pretty much how I expected it to.

We will see how this translates to the track over the next month or so.


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[felixR]

That mid-range bump

[RC_dc2]

New front pads and a fresh set of rotors went in the other week. Decided to stay with Winmax W5 as they are cheap and easy to source. Also my last set lasted 17 track days so they are definitely great value for money!

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Interested in how the w5’s went over all the track days they lasted. I remember reading after you first swapped over to them from the hc800’s I think you started getting brake shudder?

Did that resolve itself or did you still get it happening over the life of the pad?


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[Apu]

Goddamn Todd! Need to find another advantage just to be able to keep you in sight!

[Toddxxx]

That mid-range bump [emoji106]

Goddamn Todd! Need to find another advantage just to be able to keep you in sight!

The bump in power is nice. You can feel the car pulling you out of the corners more. Jury is still out on the tune overall though. At smsp on Friday it didn't make much difference to the lap overall.

Interested in how the w5’s went over all the track days they lasted. I remember reading after you first swapped over to them from the hc800’s I think you started getting brake shudder?

Did that resolve itself or did you still get it happening over the life of the pad?

W5s were perfect all the wya up until I took them out. Even on their last track day when they were at their lowest they still stopped incredibly well.
The shudder when I first installed them was from using them on the street outside their temp range and not bedding them in properly and I warped a set of rotors in a couple days lol. They're a very abrasive pad and don't like being out of their temp range. I swapped in a new set of rotors after that and made sure to bed them in properly and not an issue since.
I went through 2 sets of front rotors to 1 set of pads which isn't bad imo.

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[RC_dc2]

The bump in power is nice. You can feel the car pulling you out of the corners more. Jury is still out on the tune overall though. At smsp on Friday it didn't make much difference to the lap overall.




W5s were perfect all the wya up until I took them out. Even on their last track day when they were at their lowest they still stopped incredibly well.
The shudder when I first installed them was from using them on the street outside their temp range and not bedding them in properly and I warped a set of rotors in a couple days lol. They're a very abrasive pad and don't like being out of their temp range. I swapped in a new set of rotors after that and made sure to bed them in properly and not an issue since.
I went through 2 sets of front rotors to 1 set of pads which isn't bad imo.

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Interesting. I’ve found that the dedicated track pads are more temperamental to bedding in and running to avoid deposits causing shudder. I’m deciding on new pads and rotors again, w5’s were on the list. In my car the pmu club racers weren’t good for shudder and then they crumbled. Hawk dtc-60’s are better for taking the heat, still a bit of shudder on and off but probably the rotors were too heat affected when I installed them.

[Toddxxx]

Interesting. I’ve found that the dedicated track pads are more temperamental to bedding in and running to avoid deposits causing shudder. I’m deciding on new pads and rotors again, w5’s were on the list. In my car the pmu club racers weren’t good for shudder and then they crumbled. Hawk dtc-60’s are better for taking the heat, still a bit of shudder on and off but probably the rotors were too heat affected when I installed them.

Yeah I'm sure it wasn't deposit induced shudder as when I installed the new set then bedded in properly I never had an issue again. I used the Rc09 too and didn't like them either. W5 are far better imo and much better velue for money.

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