My S2000 Weekend/Track day warrior

[eskimo_firefighter]

02/10/2016 - Sunday PIARC Super Sprints - Phillip Island GP Circuit

With the diff all fixed and with the new Z221's mounted I was keen to see how the new setup would perform.



The current Phillip island PB is a 1:48.2466.

New changes coming into this day compared to the last Phillip Island day includes:

- OEM Torsen to Cusco 1.5Way LSD
- K&N Short Ram to OEM Airbox
- Nitto NT01 to Hankook Z221
- Whiteline FSB to OEM front Sway bar

Overall Impressions of the new setup.

As stated in the previous post I had kept the Whiteline FSB incase this setup was not ideal as there was a possibility of this new setup to cause the rear end to rotate a lot.

And rotate it did..

The day was well run with plenty of track time. However this new setup was tricky to control to say the least. This is due to the OEM front FSB which pretty much increases front end grip and the LSD wanting to rotate the rear when power is applied as it locks more aggressively. The LSD is great as I can really feel what the rear end is doing which makes catching the oversteer more fun and easier.

On throttle the car wanted to rotate and at high speed the cars rear end would snap away at times, it took a lot of work to control it but it was plenty of fun.

I had adjusted the angle of attack of the Voltex rear wing for more down force which helped stabilise the car at high speeds however it created more drag which affected acceleration and top speed which the video will show.

The fastest lap time of the day was a 1:50.2643 - far off the current PB of 1:48.2466.

Looking closely in this video, at the end of the lap before entering the main straight I was up by -0.5 in sector time, however as I was entering it showed +0.4 in sector time and gradually kept increasing. I believe this is due to the increased drag of increasing the angle of attack of the wing slowing the car down. The car doesn't have much power so the changes of the rear wing angle is pronounced.

I had done 31 laps through out the day which is heaps for PI, it was great feeling to know that the car had completed a full track day once again. But the cars suspension needs some tweaking to dial out the oversteer.

Options I have in mind:
- Increase rear end grip by removing the rear sway bar. This is common on the internet for cars that experience oversteer but it will create some body roll.

- Reinstall the Whiteline Front Sway bar. This would revert the car back to the previous setup which I am used to and is much safer to drive at the limit. I am leaning towards this option. I am hoping now that I have new tyres the push understeer from the LSD won't be too bad.

- Dial in more rear toe in. Not certain if this alone with fix the issue. This can also be done in conjunction to reinstalling the Whiteline FSB but isn't required.

Impressions of the Z221's.

It is too early to tell as the setup isn't finalised yet but I am hoping that within the next track day or two they will start to grip more so.

Laptimes for the day:

2:32.0862 2:06.0117 1:58.6715
1:54.8064 2:10.0410 1:53.2018
1:51.3606 1:51.2460 2:16.1424
1:53.6263 1:54.5405 1:54.7435
2:13.7701 1:55.4995 1:51.4785
1:52.1964 2:10.7397 1:50.2643
1:51.2377 2:00.9461 2:17.2134
1:52.3465 1:51.1981 1:50.8447
2:09.6620 2:21.1550 1:53.1939
2:00.8161 2:03.2826 1:51.5007 1:50.9557

Current PB



Today's data


S2000 and S14 chilling

[stephen8512]

awesome vid!

[felixR]

awesome vid!

This!

It makes me want to go out and drive haha.

[Grant@Honed]

Great driving Pete!

[eskimo_firefighter]

Thanks guys!

Honed Developments - S2000 Air Guide Kit

Very fortunate to receive one of the first few sets of the Honed Air Guide Kit for the S2000, big thanks to Tom and Grant for this!

The idea behind this Air Guide Kit is to redirect airflow from under the car towards the brakes. Luckily enough the S2000 has 3 holes in the OEM dust shield which leads directly in the middle of the rotor, providing air to the center of the rotor which should decrease the operating temperature of the brakes.

The install was easy, it was just the matter of jacking up the car. Mounting the brackets to the lower control arm and bolt the diversion plate to bracket. It is a simple yet effective modification.

I am hoping to see a increased life of pads + rotors and consistent brake pedal feel for increased driver confidence.







Whiteline 30mm Front Sway Bar Reinstalled

After experiencing a heap of oversteer at Phillip Island, I figured it would be a good idea to revert back to the setup I'm comfortable with.

08/10/2016 Winton Track day - Swinburne Auto Club.

With hope that this would be my first full day at Winton without issues, I was keen to see how the LSD would feel here.

CUSCO 1.5way Impressions at Winton.
All the issues that I had with the OEM torsen was no longer there. The differential was no longer opening up and single spinning allow me to put the power down earlier. The rear felt really solid and there was a lot off feedback on what the rear was doing.The new LSD required a new driving style as it locks up more aggressively, getting on the power early was possible but if not careful can cause oversteer which can slow the car down.

Impressions of the Hankook Z221's

The tyres were bedded in really nicely at Winton thanks to the warm weather and the track surface. Consistent tyre with heaps of grip!

Impressions of the Honed Air Guides

The day was quite hot and with many consecutive hot laps, the brakes held up really well with consistent pedal feel all round. It seems like the air guides are doing its job, I will be documenting the longevity of the rotors + pads with hope that the life of them is prolonged.

The best time of the day was a 1:34.1200!

Getting into the 33's is proving to be quite a task. Although its really nice to see the consistency the 1:33 would be so so good. If I keep at it, I'll definitely get there! The past 3 Winton track days have all been within the low 34's. 34.04 (EXE-crew), 34.07 (H nationals) and the 34.12 from today, so its getting a bit ridiculous, haha. PB of 1:34.04 still stands!

Racechrono Data of today.


Natsoft Laptimes for the day (28 laps)

1:36.8570 4:57.2120 1:37.1870 1:37.5990 1:52.6580
1:36.5560 1:36.6680 1:37.9680 1:34.9790 2:06.9370
1:48.6690 1:35.0200 1:34.1200 1:44.6470 1:35.9810
1:44.1460 1:35.8700 1:46.9000 1:34.9710 5:54.0810
1:47.5790 1:34.1520 1:42.3830 1:34.6300 1:49.9420
1:34.4900 1:43.1730 1:35.6030

If that optimal PB of 1:33.22 is for real, the potential is there. One thing to note for the future is to be smooth as possible and avoid any dramatic oversteer which will slow the car down. Brake slightly later into the double right handers (sector 3), and avoid oversteer. According to the data that is where most of the time can be made. -0.5 of it roughly. Otherwise everywhere else I'm happy with.


Courtesy of Steur Imagery for the photo.


Waiting in the bar featuring Tony's S2000.

[Toddxxx]

Heat wrap those bushings!

[KVZT]

Hey Eskimo,

I recently went for a hills run with the Whiteline swaybar installed.. Coming in hot under hard braking before the corner, the rear end felt like it had a mind of its own so to say.
Do you think a GT wing + wider, grippier tyres will solve this? Totally killed my confidence levels that day.. Also not sure if it had any affect but this was also after I removed my aggressively angled duckbill wing from the car (Viva Garage). Cheers man.

[eskimo_firefighter]

Heat wrap those bushings!

Sounds like a good idea. I'll look into this when I'm not so lazy.

Hey Eskimo,

I recently went for a hills run with the Whiteline swaybar installed.. Coming in hot under hard braking before the corner, the rear end felt like it had a mind of its own so to say.
Do you think a GT wing + wider, grippier tyres will solve this? Totally killed my confidence levels that day.. Also not sure if it had any affect but this was also after I removed my aggressively angled duckbill wing from the car (Viva Garage). Cheers man.

Hey mate. I would look into your alignment before you resort to the GT wing + grippier tyres. A bit of toe in may help stabalise the rear end under hard braking and turn in. I only felt the GT wings benefits at very high speeds on the track.

You can even look at changing your rear toe arms to correct the rear bumpsteer. I posted the results on the S2000's rear suspension geometry that Honed Developments measured on that in this blog.

Drive safe! I hope you aren't pushing the car too hard on your hill runs because the S2000 can be quite sketchy at times. The track is a much safer and better place to push the cars limits.

[KVZT]

Hey mate. I would look into your alignment before you resort to the GT wing + grippier tyres. A bit of toe in may help stabalise the rear end under hard braking and turn in. I only felt the GT wings benefits at very high speeds on the track.

You can even look at changing your rear toe arms to correct the rear bumpsteer. I posted the results on the S2000's rear suspension geometry that Honed Developments measured on that in this blog.

Drive safe! I hope you aren't pushing the car too hard on your hill runs because the S2000 can be quite sketchy at times. The track is a much safer and better place to push the cars limits.

Hey, cheers for the response!

I run the 'UK Spec' recommended alignment setup so there is indeed a bit of toe in on the rears. However I have a fair bit of negative camber on the rears also (about -4deg), and visually have a bit much of a negative rake. Not really sure how detrimental this is to handling at the moment, but with the toe in on the rear and a bit more positive front castor definitely feels much more stable entering and going through corners compared to when I first purchased the vehicle. Pic related.





Have just had a read of your write up of the rear bumpsteer kit, looks really promising considering how much of an impact it has in reducing the severe toe changes; will defs look into purchasing a set myself also.

In regards to the hill run, on viewing a friend's go pro footage from the day, at the section of road which I braked entering the corner, there was a large patch of loose gravel on the road you can hear on the video as he drove over. He was in an EK Civic so I'm sure it wouldn't have affected him as much; I'm assuming this may be the culprit of the rear end feeling funnier than usual under braking.

And definitely! Safety is key. I never exceed my own or my cars limits on the street, and definitely don't go all out on open roads.

[eskimo_firefighter]

Hey, cheers for the response!

I run the 'UK Spec' recommended alignment setup so there is indeed a bit of toe in on the rears. However I have a fair bit of negative camber on the rears also (about -4deg), and visually have a bit much of a negative rake. Not really sure how detrimental this is to handling at the moment, but with the toe in on the rear and a bit more positive front castor definitely feels much more stable entering and going through corners compared to when I first purchased the vehicle. Pic related.





Have just had a read of your write up of the rear bumpsteer kit, looks really promising considering how much of an impact it has in reducing the severe toe changes; will defs look into purchasing a set myself also.

In regards to the hill run, on viewing a friend's go pro footage from the day, at the section of road which I braked entering the corner, there was a large patch of loose gravel on the road you can hear on the video as he drove over. He was in an EK Civic so I'm sure it wouldn't have affected him as much; I'm assuming this may be the culprit of the rear end feeling funnier than usual under braking.

And definitely! Safety is key. I never exceed my own or my cars limits on the street, and definitely don't go all out on open roads.

No worries, the rear toe arms to correct the bumpsteer behavior is a worthwhile modification. If you need more clarity visit honeddevelopments.com, they did an excellent write up on this which probably makes more sense than my write up.

Ride height is definitely a factor on why your car is handling as it is, it is worth trialing out different ride heights. -4.0 is too much camber for the rear so I would say its worth trying out less camber from -2.5 to -3.0 for more straight line stability under hard braking.

Also play with your damper settings if you haven't been because this has helped a lot with my setup.

Not sure how much toe in the UK spec has, but at least 1mm toe in each side really helps with stability.

[eskimo_firefighter]

23/10/2016 - Wakefield Park Raceway - Nugget Nationals.

Being an internstate track day, I done a thorough check on the car. All fluids were changed, from engine oil (castrol edge 5w30), Gearbox (OEM Honda), Brake fluid (ATE Super Blue Racing) and the diff fluid (Motul 90PA).

Distance from Home to Wakefield Park was 670Km and so the drive was about 6-7 hours each way.

Made it to Wakefield without any issues. Big thanks to Rhys and Ying for bringing up the CE28N's!


The weather was about 17 degrees and sunny with pretty much clear blue skies, so the weather was great for PB's!

The last time I went here was last year in November, with a PB set of 1:09.3.

The first few sessions was spent relearning the track, the track is far more difficult than I had remembered. It's a nice little track with nice flowy corners which is hard to link up. The key I believe is to be smooth and steady which im not particularly good at. Basically the whole day I was diving in corners too late and powering out too aggressively.

The Cusco 1.5way LSD really helps here as I remembered having issue putting the power down properly with the OEM torsen. The car handled excellent but still needs some tweaking.

As Wakefield is a track I rarely visit, I think Some notes would be beneficial.



T1-T2: Ignore the first kink from T1, no need to apex that. Stick far wide and left and brake on a straight line and late apex into T2, do not overspeed or things can get a little hairy.

T4-T5: To avoid understeer, flick the car for the car to rotate slightly.

T6: Don't lift, drive over the ripple strips.

T8-T9: Deceiving corner, brake earlier than you think, apex T8 and go wide and get the car straight as possible for T9 and power out asap.

T10: Just go HAM.

T11: Dont go HAM and take it easy on throttle on corner exit, easy to lose huge chunks of time oversteering.

Unfortunately Racechrono wasn't being at all accurate today, so it's not worth saving the data in this blog. Sucks because data like this can really help me for next time.

The car was faultless all day, the car had done a massive 66 laps and thats excluding the 5+ untimed laps from the first session. A total of 70+ laps was completed!

A new PB was set of 1:07.9640!!! On the very last lap of the day! Stoked with the result.

Laptimes for the day:

1:30.9060 1:11.0540 1:09.0170 1:08.7960 1:08.5860 1:12.2470 1:11.8920 1:10.0400 1:09.1430 1:09.3650
1:30.6200 1:13.7580 1:09.9020 1:10.2590 1:09.6120 1:22.8870 1:29.5900 1:12.3290 1:11.7770
1:08.9280 1:08.6220 1:08.8020 1:26.0060 1:15.3000 1:09.1350 1:08.8540 1:14.1170 1:16.4930 1:13.8380
1:10.6390 1:28.4950 1:11.5970 1:08.4280 1:27.3250 1:08.5560 1:08.6090 1:12.1570 1:11.7720
1:09.2090 1:17.0500 1:09.3010 1:25.9890 1:28.1670 1:09.5100 1:10.3260 1:08.2750 1:09.1130
1:32.2530 1:08.9110 1:12.2200 1:09.2670 1:13.5180 1:16.4310 1:12.8580 1:28.2320 1:09.7330
1:08.3420 1:09.2070 1:10.2480 1:10.5490 1:08.2310 1:07.9640

Unfortunately the Gopro didn't record the PB lap. But here is a video of 3 consecutive 1:08's.

With some of the Melbourne crew. Rhys is his Civjet EK4 and Ying in the little Echo that could.


2016 Recap
Its been a great year for me and this S2000. The car now deserves a big break, with this being the last track day of the year for my S2000, I am happy to see how far its come. This S2000 has been a big ball of fun, reliable and has taught me so much on driving.

2016 Results:
Winton: 1:34.0420
Phillip Island: 1:48.2466
Wakefield Park: 1:07.9640

The plan for 2017, is to keep refining the cars suspension/handling, driving and just have fun really. Slow to no updates for a while.

[felixR]

Well done on a great 2016!

I've enjoyed reading your posts and watching your in car videos.

Hope to catch up soon.

[chaumeh]

My S2000 Weekend/Track day warrior

Likewise!

Thanks for continuing to update your thread over the year(s) Pete, very informative and entertaining each time you post.

I love your philosophy with this car. Very admirable.

Good to catch up with you earlier this year in Melbourne and look forward to your 2017 adventures and PB's!

[Shakeel]

You just can't fark'n love this enough. Bring on 2017!!

[plAythiNG]

you are a beast bro!