♦ ♦ ChargeR's DC5R Blog ♦ ♦

[m0nty]

I'm keen to hear about the Winton result. That's where we can see measured improvements since Tom hasn't been to EC before.

[03DC5R]

car looks awesome man! how was the torque steer/tramlining on the track? did those offset bushings help?

[air23box]

Thanks fellow, although I think it will take a little more than the mods I have to get to your time! Need more crazy driving .

You are doing a really awesome job already Tom.....I am still thinking if I have a chance to run the Mugen N1 coils.....will that affect my time at all........but feel so left our seeing some of you guys in super lap...I keep thinking if I am still there I will be there for sure......anyway..there is always next time and Tom hang in there.....I will be back to join you soon.......

[maracer]

Well done Tom.
You are sure leading the way >

[ChargeR]

Well done Tom.
You are sure leading the way >

Thanks Mario . I wouldn't advise anyone to follow in my footsteps though, it is a path of poverty and uncertainty .

You are doing a really awesome job already Tom.....I am still thinking if I have a chance to run the Mugen N1 coils.....will that affect my time at all........but feel so left our seeing some of you guys in super lap...I keep thinking if I am still there I will be there for sure......anyway..there is always next time and Tom hang in there.....I will be back to join you soon.......

Thanks Eddy. I am still hoping to get your time one day soon to force you to come back in an FD2R to defend it .

I'm keen to hear about the Winton result. That's where we can see measured improvements since Tom hasn't been to EC before.

No joy fellow, I finally got a chance to put together my impressions today and Winton was not a successful venture. Was great to catch up again mate, and hopefully we will get to share a track soon!

Gotta love every time you passed our garage in pit lane. Show off!

I was warming up my car or something guy.

Mean street car!... love it.

Didn't get much of a chance to see/hear it over superlap.

Was great to see your backyard EG doing so well Jimmy, and thanks for the comment . Will see you at the track sometime soon I am sure!

was nice meeting you last weekend tom!
i was the short (compared to you) fat, asian that was scoffing down a chicken burger
and helped you unload some junk outta your trunk on the sunday..

the gf likes your R better than mine
but then again.. so do i

Haha of course I remember Mark. Was good to put a face to a forum nickname, and I am sure you and your GF would change her tune after an 8 hour drive from Sydey to Melbourne in my car . Thanks for the compliment though.

Nice to meet you on friday Tom, (early-ish morning photography guy here) sorry that I couldn't stick around and have a chat about wheels, etc. I was in such a rush to get photos all day haha. I've got a few pictures of your car in my thread on jdmst if you want to see them.

Car seemed to go well on the track!

No worries Andrew, was good to meet the man that can pick a wheel simply from looking at a blurry photo of the barrel . I checked out your thread on JDMST and I am very impressed with your photos . Hope you and your mates had as good a road trip as I did.

[ChargeR]

Road Tripping

So as many of you would know, given you are reading this blag and how much I have slutted myself out on the internet, last weekend I along with some stalwart companions trekked up to Sydney for Superlap at Eastern Creek with a side trip to Winton on the way back down to Victoria. A successful trip by any account, and one filled with awesome moments, plenty of track time, and catching up with heaps of cool kids. What follows is a short run down of my experiences on track and hopefully my impressions of the myriad of new modifications I had made to my car. I had stealthily acquired myself a Kpro ecu about a week and a half previous to this trip, and had done a little ghetto street tuning but I wasn't completely happy with the tune. I had intended to get the car on a dyno but the lone dyno in Launceston was broken on the day I had it booked in. Oh well. I had no choice but to run with what I had and hope it would work acceptably, I left work on the Wednesday and drove directly to the Spirit of Tasmania dock in Devonport and drove my car onto the boat, leaving some titanium on the ground in various places, for the first leg of the journey. Arriving in Melbourne the following day after a rollicking good time on the boat with the caravan crowd I met up with a fellow road tripper and began the long journey north.

Superlap at Eastern Creek

Friday comes and I am not feeling too bad, the car had driven fine on the way up and it seemed like nothing was going to fall off. I arrived at the track, scrutineered my car and stuck some stickers all over it, checked my oil and set my tyre pressures to 35 psi at all four corners. I was ready. I was using my street tyres, 255/40 on 17x10 at the front and 225/45 on 17x9 at the back, a little wider wheels than my track setup, but not excessive. Otherwise the car was exactly as I would usually run it at Winton except my front dampers were set on full soft and the rears were 1 turn (of 7) from full soft because that is what I set them to for the drive up and I was too lazy to change them. Full soft isn't that soft anyway, it is just nice. I also took this opportunity to do some Kpro tunings, setting the onboard datalogging to record at 25Hz so I could keep an eye on my tune.

A track map for reference.



Session one I took it very easy, cruised around and tried to follow Keiren (05dc5S) in his 350Z to get a feel for the track. I had only been to Eastern Creek once before and I didn't do very well that time so I really had no idea where I should be on the track. The car felt really good though, with great power and grip, the brakes were a little shifty though with a little bit of sponginess in the initial travel when I first got on the brakes. 4th gear was a bit notchy to get into also which is a problem that I have been noticing a bit on track, so it may be gearbox rebuild o'clock one day soon. I came off the track and bled the front and rear tyres down to about 40 psi, a pressure that seemed to work pretty well on the AD07s I had previously used.

In session 2 I had started to feel a bit more confident in the car and started to get up to speed through turns 1, 4 and 5 where I had previously been taking it very easy. This netted my best time for Friday, 1.55.055 as bolded below. I was pretty pleased to have knocked 5 seconds off my previous best time at EC with minimal effort. Session 3 for the day was ruined by me forgetting to add a bit of fuel beforehand, so I had to come in after getting fuel starvation in turn 3 on my second lap and by the time I had had added a bit of fuel the session was coming to a close.

After this I was done for the day so I concentrated on sifting about trying to find free stuff as well as sledging my opponents and anyone else who stood too close. I then left the track and went back to Q_ball and Perry's house, who were kind enough to sponsor my Superlap attempt by providing floor space to sleep on as well as beer and entertainment. Nothing suss.

Day 1: Friday

2:08.0680
2:02.3230
2:03.3350
1:57.7840
1:59.0190
1:55.9580
1:55.0550
1:55.8750
2:14.7540
2:03.4350

Day 2: Saturday

1:58.3070
1:59.9360
1:57.9430
1:55.1260
1:55.2980
1:54.9470
2:27.8550

Day 2 began with rocking up at the track late and trying to score another WTAC window banner because mine had come off on the freeway and nearly smacked into Q_ball's jazz. A bit more air in the tyres and a bit more oil in the car, which seems to strangely burn more oil on the highway than on the track. My goal for the day was to carry a bit more speed through turns 1 and 8 as well as braking more consistently and aggressively into turns 2 and 4. In session 1 I found a bit of free space on the track and got a few consecutive laps in and started to get my time down a bit. I had at least remembered to put the timer that I borrowed from TeMp in the car today so I had some idea of how I was going. Of course the sessions always end too quickly, something that was a theme of the weekend but on my last lap of the session I managed to get down just a bit quicker than the day before into a 1:54.9. A high 54 but a 54 nonetheless .

Sadly some poor fellow met a wall at the start of the second session for the day so it was red flagged after only one lap and with that my Superlap attempt was over. I couldn't have been happier with the way the car handled and performed and I was only slightly disappointed in my driving. I can't wait to get back to see how much more time is left in it . With my sessions over I thought it best to start driving back down to Winton in the interest of getting more than a few hours sleep before the track day with EXE the next day, so myself and my fellow Victorians said goodbye to fair Sydney, I hope we meet again soon. Here are some pics from Superlap stolen without permission from my honda mates Ying, Mugsee and Q_baller:

[ChargeR]

EXE at Winton

After arriving in Benalla and getting a surprisingly good nights sleep we woke and made our way to the track, stopping off for a traditional hashbrown and mcmuffin on the way. My lady friend had kindly driven to the track to drop off my Hoosier R6s so I quickly fitted them up, checked my front pad wear, and bled the front brakes a bit with the help of itr_224. Everything was ready and I even passed scrutineering somehow. Note for all the following comments that I consider the old start/finish as where the turn numbering starts, so turn 1 is the right hander after the small hill crest, not the S as the V8 supercars would define it as. I have included a track map below for reference.

Session 1 began and I was a little nervous so I took Mugsee with me for a few tips and moral support. And ballast. No amazing times in this session but I was quickly discovering that the increased power was nice but that I also would have to change my braking points and style a little to get the best from the car. Where I could previously just lift a little and turn I felt that I was having to brake, which was a little disconcerting. Particularly at turns 2 and 3 (the long left hand sweeper) where previously I would just lift a little and turn in, now I felt like I had to brake and it was spooky. Best lap for the session was a 1:41.3 which I believe is the fastest I have gone with a passenger.

Session 2 I went out solo and the car immediately felt a lot more crisp in acceleration and cornering, sorry Mugsee :P. After an easy 1:49 warmup lap I had some clear track so I started to ramp up the pace a little, lap 2 was okay with some really dodgy bits particularly around the back of the track, and resulted in me beating my previous best time ever so slightly with a 1:39.74. I wish I had some in car video and/or GPS datalogging to really get an idea of what I did wrong on this lap because as it turned out it was my one and only chance to get a good lap in on the day. Going past the start/finish for this lap I was pretty pleased with how the lap had gone but felt that there were definitely some areas where I could carry a bit more speed With this in the forefront of my little mind I pitched the car unto turn one much too fast, the rear of the car stepped out and I was too slow to catch it so I put both feet in and just let it slide to a halt . I re-entered the track and drove around doing a bit of a cooldown lap since the lap was ruined in any case. After letting some faster cars past I started to get back into it but the car felt a bit odd and I spent the remainder of the session waving people by.

Coming off the track I got out to check my tyre pressures and discovered that my half spin off the track had consequences. I had stripped the rubber down to the canvas off an inch wide band on the outer of my front left tyre as pictured below. Not impressed. I suspect that as the car span I let the wheel free spin slightly and as a result the steering went to full lock left, which is a big no-no in my car. The tyres will not clear beyond about 1/2 to 2/3 of full lock before they hit steel at the back of the wheel well. Sharp steel. Bugger.

So my PB chasing was over for the day, I decided to sit out a session to let the wheels cool so I wouldn't burn my sensitive little fingers and then fit my street tyres back on for a few happy laps. Daz decided to join me, foolish man, in my third session in the hopes of learning something I think. He would be sorely disappointed when he realised that I don't really know what I am doing . I managed to get round in a 1:42.83 with much maniacal laughter and sliding of the car. My fastest street tyred time at Winton to date, so I feel like at the very least the car was much faster on the day, even if I didn't manage to drive it well. I decided to retire for the day after this, I didn't want to tempt fate and a track day that one drives home from is always a good one. I drove back to Melbourne and then back to Tasmania on the boat a contented man.

Winton Session 1

1:54.1450
1:46.6920
1:41.6470
1:42.3030
1:50.2790
1:41.3250

Winton Session 2

1:49.0050
1:39.7370
1:57.9140
1:52.7350
1:48.7300
1:49.3290

Winton Session 3

1:52.7720
1:43.2180
2:48.1940
1:42.8270
1:46.1550

Womp womp womp



Track map

[ChargeR]

General Impressions

What follows is a few of my general thoughts on the modifications I had made to the car, with so many changes at once though and with no back to back times take my comments with a grain of salt.

255/225 Dunlop Direzza Z1s on 17x10/9 staggered wheels

The level of grip that these tyres offered was just amazing for a street tyre, better than the AD07s I had used previously in similar sizes, although this is possibly mostly down to the wider wheels and that the Z1s were new whilst the AD07s were very second hand. I would still attribute at least some of the time I gained over my previous AD07 time at Winton to the great grip from these tyres. Wear has been acceptable, with some slight scalloping wear on the inner shoulder probably from a combination of my excessive camber, slightly suspicious front alignment and damping, along with me spinning the wheels out of a few corners consistently.

Todd's Caster Tops

My final alignment the day before I left for Superlap netted my around 6 degrees of positive caster on both sides of the car, significantly more than my previous 1.5ish. The change to the car was very noticable, with tracking on the highway much improved; I didn't need to hold the steering wheel in a death grip to stop it from changing lanes by itself as I did previously. Directional stability on track was also improved, I spent much less time fighting the wheel under brakes and tracking out of the corner. This was particularly noticable coming into the S at Winton, and area that was previously very spooky. Unfortunately I didn't get enough time on my Hoosiers at Winton to give an accurate comparison and given that I changed other aspects of the suspensionat the same time any impressions may be innacurate I feel. I will state however that the car on the Dunlop Z1s handled better than I could have hoped, with great turn in, nice controllable oversteer on demand and pretty good grip on corner exit. I could slide the car to my hearts content through turns 3-4 at Eastern Creek.

Kpro + Toda Header

These two parts literally transformed the car under power. Whereas previously I could basically go full throttle and have a nap on corner exits, the car actually sorta went slightly fast now. A prime example is the S at Winton where previously I would be full throttle before the first apex and then hold it all the way to exit, now full throttle all the way was not an option. This is with a smashed 60mm exhaust and a street tune done by me over the space of a week of evenings after work, in between prepping other aspects of the car. I can't wait to see what it will do once I get a real exhaust and tune it properly.

28kg/mm rear springs and 26mm front sway bar

These gave me slightly higher roll stiffness but honestly I couldn't really tell the difference. I believe a lot of the change was masked by the fact that I had my dampers set a lot softer than my last track outing, which gave the sensation of lot more initial roll as I turned in. A disconcerting feeling at first and something that I need to get used to, although at my next track day I will probably bump up the dampers a little. Balance of the car on the limit seemed relatively unchanged, perhaps a bit more oversteer on the street tyres but I am still plagued by more understeer than I would like on the Hoosiers.


Plans for the future

So the experiences of last weekend place me in a dilemma. I need two new front tyres, and my whole car configuration was basically setup around those tyres. Do I replace them with the exact same size, and finally get a proper comparison with my added power and suspension changes? Or do I abandon my dreams of cheater tyre dominance and revert to something more pedestrian, like A050s or RE11S, and thus have no idea of what I could have achieve on Hoosier R6s, which I still believe are a superior tyre? My final alternative, and the leading candidate at the moment, is to go smaller in my track tyre sizes and I will outline some of my reasons below.

Tyres

The current leading tyre configuration in my mind is to swap the two good 245/40R17 Hoosier R6s I have onto my 17x9.5 +15 SSR Type Cs for the front, and purchase 2 x 225/45R17 R6s to mount on the 17x8.5 +30 for the rear. Here are the relative advantages and disadvantages of such a setup as I see them, feel free to comment:

Pros:

Lighter; unsprung mass at both the front and rear, reduced rotational inertia and resulting better acceleration and more responsive suspension

Cheaper; 225/45R17s are significantly cheaper than 275/40s

Better gearing; the smaller diameter of the 245/40 will be advantageous particularly at Winton where there are a number of corners where 3rd gear is used on the exit and 4th gear is the highest gear reached on the following straight. The number of gearchanges has not changed but the in gear acceleration has, so it is feasible that higher speed at the end of the straight will result.

More alignment freedom; the 275s limited alignment because I could only comfortably reduce front camber to around -4.5 before I would run the risk of hitting the guards.

Little or no interference with the chassis and guards; hopefully avoiding any more destroyed $500 tyres.

More low; always desirable despite what anyone says

Cons:

Less section and tread width

Less heat capacity in the tyre

The two 245/40 Hoosiers I am retaining have already been used a handful of times and thus have seen a few heat cycles. So they won't offer as much grip as when new possibly exacerbating my understeer with new tyres on the rear.

Will look goofy and less flush :P

Suspension

Despite all the changes I have made I still want more. It is an obsession of mine. There are a number of effects that I want; a little more turn in and mid corner oversteer, more low, more speed. Although it is possible that the simple change from the big baloon 275/40s at the front to the more reasonable 245/40 would go some distance toward achieving the handling I desire. There may be some effect of the larger tyre height that I am not anticipating which causes the car to understeer a bit more. An effect that isn't present on my street tyres which are nearly exactly the same diameter front and rear. Here are some of my thoughts on how to achieve this,:

A larger rear swaybar. More rear roll stiffness, all other things being equal, should make the rear end a bit more lively with the added bonus that I can lower the car more and the car will look cooler from a low rear angle.

Rear adjustable upper control arms. Reducing rear camber would probably net the same effect, although I am wary of going too little and possibly affecting the nice progressive oversteer I already have. My rear tyres already wear the outside more than the inside on track, but I am still yet to get accurate tyre temperature data.

Datalogging

This is something that should be a priority. It has become clear to me that although I might not be satisfied completely with my suspension configuration, I am a lot less satisfied with my loose and inconsistent driving. Something that I feel can be solved with more time spent practicing and analysing data, rather than time spent pulling the car apart and putting it back together . I am thinking a relatively affordable GPS style datalogger but something with room to grow if I decide to log more car/performance quantities.

ANY COMMENTS, CRITICISM OR IDEAS ARE VERY WELCOME!

[ChargeR]

Also thanks so much to Q ball, Perry, Ying, Mugsee, the EXE crew and all the rest of the cool kids I had a chance to hang out with on the trip. The road trip would have been crap without you.

[lil_foy]

No worries Andrew, was good to meet the man that can pick a wheel simply from looking at a blurry photo of the barrel . I checked out your thread on JDMST and I am very impressed with your photos . Hope you and your mates had as good a road trip as I did.

Eyes of a hawk!
Thanks, i'm pretty happy with how most came out, still alot of improvments to be made since it was my 3rd time panning at the track!
Our roadtrip was amazing, putty road in the porsche was interesting :P

Just read your full write-up of the few days, love to see this kinda stuff, people don't usually go into that much depth.

[Didz]

Nice write up Tom. Was shit to see what happened to the tyre but at least that was the only mishap!
I am keen to see how you go with the tyre choices. 245 semis to go on ur front instead of 275 would be interesting considering u went from 205 re55s to 275 r6 which netted u the massive pb in the first place.
Good luck on the future endeavors, I am sure no matter which way you go, it will be well thought out. There is indeed method in ur madness!

[ChargeR]

Eyes of a hawk!
Thanks, i'm pretty happy with how most came out, still alot of improvments to be made since it was my 3rd time panning at the track!
Our roadtrip was amazing, putty road in the porsche was interesting :P

Just read your full write-up of the few days, love to see this kinda stuff, people don't usually go into that much depth.

Internet skills of a hawk more likely . Thanks for bothering to read my ramblings.

Nice write up Tom. Was shit to see what happened to the tyre but at least that was the only mishap!
I am keen to see how you go with the tyre choices. 245 semis to go on ur front instead of 275 would be interesting considering u went from 205 re55s to 275 r6 which netted u the massive pb in the first place.
Good luck on the future endeavors, I am sure no matter which way you go, it will be well thought out. There is indeed method in ur madness!

Thanks mate, yeah at least it was only a tyre . You make a good point, and if going to a 245/40 front tyre had the sole effect of sacrificing 30mm of section width then I wouldn't do it, but I feel that the other positives will outweigh the reduced width. We will see.

And there is always method to the madness.

[ChargeR]

Oh I have had this for a while too but haven't put it on yet because it is mint and I don't want to mess it up. Will probably throw it on and potentially get the Amuse R1 repaired soon. Thanks to Jonnie R!

J's Racing A-SPL

[dr.k20z1]

BALLER! why arent you on msn much tommy

[danielj]

nice!! what's wrong with the amooose?