the lifestory of a DC5S...

[crashprash]

a quick recap of my outing at the Shift Trackday at WP.

The extra camber and lows i added since the last trackday defintely helped as the car felt a bit more stable and wasnt running on the edge of the tyres. I started the day with 38 psi in all four tyres but dropped down to 35 psi by the end of the day which made car a bit more grippy. I took it easy on the first few sessions as i was trying to re-learn the track and the car (considering i hadnt driven it in almost a month lol). I eventually got close to my previous PB of 1:16. However I then coerced Benny (benson) into my car to help me improve. This helped dramatically. He suggested i only use 3rd and 4th for the whole lap as my heel-toe wasnt perfect and i wasnt balancing the brake while blipping the throttle. The key things i took away was to stay flat out until i reach the kink and not lift completely and brake extremely late and down to 3rd for the turn, only tap the brake slightly for turn 3 and again for turn 5 and short shift to 4th and full throttle down 7 running on the edge (almost on the gravel)..brake early for the fish hook and stay in 3rd. I was ok in with the rest of the corners..but the last corner only go down to 3rd. I will put up in-car footage of him coaching me..so u guys can see my noob driving skills.

Anways, the most important thing he said was to not worry about everyone else's laptimes as i this was how I was setting my goals and not to make excuses (ie lack of lsd and bucket seat) and just focus on improving my own driving skills.

I eventually achieved my new PB of 1:14.3. Im very sure I can improve upon this but that will have to wait till Honda nats as i wont be hitting the track again till then and pretty sure that will be my last outing as well.

The car seems to be ok but needs an alignment (might be due to my many spinouts and one off track outing )..I did have a heart in mouth moment when I accidentally stayed on after the session on the track and ended up with the group A boys. I spun out at the fish hook and was facing an evo heading straight at me..he managed to swerve away. I then received a WTF look from Jimmy in the BYP EG as he went past lol.

link to natsoft timing

I used the cms laptimer ios app and here are my times for the day in chronological order of sessions:

Summary:
Best Lap: 6 @ 1:20.0; Max Speed: 153.3 kph; Elapsed: 12:30.9


Laps:
Lap 1 1:47.7
Lap 2 1:34.7
Lap 3 1:43.2
Lap 4 1:22.2
Lap 5 1:24.7
Lap 6 1:20.0

Summary:
Best Lap: 6 @ 1:17.2; Max Speed: 155.4 kph; Elapsed: 12:13.0


Laps:
Lap 1 1:38.2
Lap 2 1:55.2
Lap 3 1:22.8
Lap 4 1:18.8
Lap 5 1:18.8
Lap 6 1:17.2

Summary:
Best Lap: 6 @ 1:17.3; Max Speed: 160.5 kph; Elapsed: 13:09.6


Laps:
Lap 1 1:37.2
Lap 2 1:21.3
Lap 3 1:19.8
Lap 4 1:18.3
Lap 5 1:17.7
Lap 6 1:17.3
Lap 7 1:31.2

Summary:
Best Lap: 7 @ 1:16.7; Max Speed: 156.3 kph; Elapsed: 12:40.4


Laps:
Lap 1 1:33.2
Lap 2 1:18.9
Lap 3 1:27.3
Lap 4 1:25.0
Lap 5 1:17.1
Lap 6 1:21.1
Lap 7 1:16.7 (Weak GPS)

Summary:
Best Lap: 4 @ 1:16.4; Max Speed: 162.6 kph; Elapsed: 7:47.4


Laps:
Lap 1 1:31.8
Lap 2 1:21.5
Lap 3 1:30.9
Lap 4 1:16.4
Lap 5 1:16.8

Summary:
Best Lap: 3 @ 1:16.3; Max Speed: 162.1 kph; Elapsed: 10:27.1


Laps:
Lap 1 1:37.5
Lap 2 1:17.0 (Weak GPS)
Lap 3 1:16.3 (Weak GPS)
Lap 4 1:17.0 (Weak GPS)
Lap 5 1:39.2

Summary:
Best Lap: 5 @ 1:15.8; Max Speed: 161.8 kph; Elapsed: 12:37.6


Laps:
Lap 1 1:28.4
Lap 2 2:18.7
Lap 3 1:21.0 (Weak GPS)
Lap 4 1:15.9 (Weak GPS)
Lap 5 1:15.8
Lap 6 1:20.5

Summary:
Best Lap: 8 @ 1:14.1; Max Speed: 161.6 kph; Elapsed: 14:49.2


Laps:
Lap 1 1:41.1
Lap 2 1:35.2
Lap 3 1:16.7
Lap 4 1:35.6
Lap 5 1:18.0
Lap 6 1:27.3 (Weak GPS)
Lap 7 1:15.6 (Weak GPS)
Lap 8 1:14.1

Felt so good to my PB on the very last lap of the the day

[crashprash]

adjusted my front coilovers to the hardest setting today..weird thing is i was only able to get 28 clicks all the way. i tried going from softest - hardest and vice versa on both sides and i got the same number. Shouldnt it be 16 or 32 clicks? (adjusting inverted struts is such a pain)

[crashprash]

trying out lightpainting


R31 x DC5 shoot by prashr, on Flickr

[crashprash]

^ thanks buddy

[MYDC5R]

This car definately needs a wing....
Looks fricken amazing mate.
Congrats on the PB, hope it continues to go well!

[crashprash]

I think it's time for a T- wing =)

[Perry]

I think it's time for a T- wing =)

[crashprash]

some pics of my car from the latest JDMST EOMM


JDMST EOMM March '12 by prashr, on Flickr


JDMST EOMM March '12 by prashr, on Flickr


JDMST EOMM March '12 by prashr, on Flickr


JDMST EOMM March '12 by prashr, on Flickr

[plAythiNG]

I really cant remember, but im thinking positive toe means it is toeing in, giving you understeer. I prefer to have toe out to have the car oversteer as being FF, thats a problem our cars suffer from.

Since you siad you have chronic oversteer issues this amount of toe in should definitely cure this problem for you.

[crashprash]

Hey Phrash, is it important to take into consideration the weight loading of the driver when getting the alignment done?

Makes sense doesnt it?..if you take into account your weight and the spring rating to see how much it moves.

What does +5.7mm toe mean

Damned if i know! :P..hopefully Tom or Stevan can make sense of the alignment results

[plAythiNG]

What does +5.7mm toe mean

[Norm]

Hey Phrash, is it important to take into consideration the weight loading of the driver when getting the alignment done?

[crashprash]

We all say car too high and he calls us haters this and that. And now he says he is going to lower it. Lolwut!

that was when my car was daily driver..it no longer is..also gonna have to get some wooden planks so that i can make it up my driveway (this is without my front lip on)

Well done Prash, I am sure your PB will continue to tumble. Not too sure about this chronic oversteer though, I wish my car had some of that instead of the chronic understeer.

Thanks Tom!..I think i cured it a bit by loosening the rear swaybar and softening the dampers a bit..but its still there

Anyways headed to jax tyres today and here are the results :


As you can see i have perfect front caster..although the camber is a bit excessive..imo anyway :P. The rear camber is fairly decent as well.
You'll notice the rhd camber is less than lhd. This is to compensate for my weight when im in the car (I weigh approx 70kgs). Suggestions welcome!

The guy had jax recommended I get my car corner weighted to really top it off so my question is where do i get this done? (heasmans?)..whats involved and how much would it cost? Would like to do this before I hit the track next.

Also for those wanting pics, you'll have to wait a bit until i get my front lip on..im going on holiday for a week so will do it when i come back ..The car had a hard time just making it up on to the alignment ramp :P

[ChargeR]

Well done Prash, I am sure your PB will continue to tumble. Not too sure about this chronic oversteer though, I wish my car had some of that instead of the chronic understeer.

[plAythiNG]

We all say car too high and he calls us haters this and that. And now he says he is going to lower it. Lolwut!