1.5T capacity, very light (!) and super low (!).
In fact it weighs only 12.5kg and its minimum height is just 8.5cm !!
After trying it out it clears my front bumper by just 1cm !!!
The profile of my tyre is higher than this jack !
Anyway a real bargain !
It's time to flush my RacingGear DOT 4.2 brake fluid, a brand I've been using for over 2.5 years with a newly acquired and relatively unknown (to me) CASTROL Response Super DOT 4.
This should improve the overall brake pedal feel and performance and hopefully perform a little bit better than RG as CASTROL's dry and wet boiling points are higher than those of RG's.
I've also been pondering whether I should continue using MOTUL 300V. MOTUL'sprice of $109.99/4L bottle is a little bit of a deciding factor when compared to MOBIL1 which goes at $94.95/5L bottle. Mobil1 is no MOTUL by any stretch of imagination but it is recommended by Honda mechanics in Japan especially for DC5s.
The other remaining fluid to be replaced is my MT transmission's one which at the moment has OMEGA 690 in it. I REALLY like this gear oil especially when it comes to extreme circuit performance. My only option at the moment is shipping it from Japan but I am not yet sure whether it's allowable for shipment to Australia (dangerous, flammable goods and all...). What other options do I have ? A friend suggested REDLINE ...
Today was WASCC's last tuning day for the month. I wasn't originally planning on going but when I woke up this morning somehow I had this urge to drive and so I packed my gear as fast as I could and drove out there !
When I reached Barbagallo circuit I was greeted with very strong and gusty winds. After purchasing my session pass for a mere $60 I grabbed a pit and started preparing.
There were only a handful of cars, 10 tops so it wasn't too crowded but the wind was such a nuisance !!
I went out on a track around 10am and did about 5 laps before returning back into the pit lane and adjusting my tyre pressure. From 220kPa all around I went down to 180kPa for the front and 190kPa for the rear (thanks Ryo for your advice here !)
Immediately after that I recorded a couple of 1'12''s and 1'11"s laps (wohooo !!). I was definitely very excited but I felt there was much more to be had. Firstly I still had more than 3/4s of the tank so was carrying extra weight around plus my rear damper was too stiff for my liking resulting in some minor fishtailing. I decided to give the car a short rest before heading out for my final stint around 11:30am.
My final stint was perfect. I changed the rear damper setting down a notch and waited for a clean track to give this new setup a go. It didn't disappoint ! I recorded my new best lap of 1'10''20 !!! What's even more interesting is that after reviewing the data in CircuitTools my best lap was also my virtual best which meant I drove every sector of the track to its maximum !
Needles to say, I still feel there are about 2 seconds to be slashed off of that time. Maybe I am not pushing hard enough ?! I'm pretty sure I got the racing line just the way I like it, my time is lost in my slightly early braking into the 1st corner, back hairpin and the last corner. Will work on that later and maybe that's where the sub 1'10''s are hiding ?
A word about my newly fitted Project Mu's HC-CS pads !
An interesting pad ! It grips to its full potential much later than Level700s, but nevertheless feels very comfortable and the feedback from the pedal is very good. It's very street friendly but after a few hot laps at Barbagallo I am seeing a bit of excessive burning on the edges which makes me think it can't handle high temperatures of a hard-on-brakes circuit like Barbagallo. I have mixed feelings about this pad. I might go back to Level700s perhaps ? Time will tell I suppose.
And lastly, here is what my tyres looked like in the end :)
No video this time, couldn't be bothered.
Oh and on the way there I got caught for speeding ! F*king WA speed cameras ! Revenue raising bulls*hit !
My practice day started at 9am and ended at 4pm.
Everyone was pretty much free to go out there between those times for a mere $60 per day with the exception of 2 x 1hr slots dedicated to CAMS logged cars.
I went out on my ADVAN NEOVA AD08s to try to learn the circuit and record a few lap times. As soon as I set the start/finish line in the PerformanceBox I tried to record a few decent lap times. The weather was warm, around 27C and my first few laps yielded 1'17''s. I came back into the pits and adjusted my tyre pressures and suspension settings and went out there again. Towards 11am I was consistently recording 1'16''s but I felt I was making some mistakes in a few places and there was more room for improvement.
After lunch I swapped out my NEOVAs for ADVAN A050s semi-slicks.
Having never driven with semi-slicks I was anxious to see what they felt like but also worried about potential fender clearance issues arising. Needles to say there were no clearance issues, no rubbing and no scrubbing. A perfect setup ! I was very relieved ! My purchase of wheels and tyres was spot on !
And as far as semi-slicks were concerned .. A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!!!
I dont know why I waited this long to drive with semi-slicks ! Well I do actually !
Anyway, amazing grip, stopping power and ease of handling. I will never go out to a track without them !
In the mid afternoon after getting used to the feel of semi-slicks I waited for a clear track and pushed for my best lap. I was able to record a 1'13''88! It's a start and there is much more room for improvement but that's in weeks/months to come. Let's say my goal is to drop below 1'10s and the rest is a bonus !
A word about other cars which attended on the day. A real mixed bag of australian, american and japanese cars. A dodge, a number of race bred Ford escorts, a lot of Holdens/Fords, a few skylines, an EVO, one or 2 WRXs, a few open wheelers. A large variety although compared to Japan not many german and italian cars and boy do I miss seeing those Porsche GT3s !
As far as drivers were concerned, a lot of talent, guys and girls with experience who knew their race craft. A few dodgy and right down dangerous individuals but you get that sometimes and it's best to stay away from cars driven by them.
So without further ado, here are a couple of laps recorded during the day.
Time to change my brake pads, change my transmission fluid and prepare for my next competition event which is on October 29th, Perth Time Attack Battle !
Hidden away in the thick bushland of Western Australia, I give you BARBAGALLO RACEWAY !
Even as the sun started to rise cars started lining up in the pits. A typical australian morning.
So what do I think about the track and facilities ?
First of all let me say I don't agree with the track being rated in the media as a third world facility. It is not! Having said that, on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), the facilities i.e. pits, paddock, restaurants, toilets etc only deserve a 3. The owners should try to keep the paddock stone and pebble free as much as possible. It is annoying when you're using slick rubber and have to pick up crap along the way. The pits are covered so it's a plus. Toilet facilities are shockingly 3rd world country though ! Restaurants non existant except for a canteen which although serves its purpose could have a lot more choice and not look like it's someone's shed converted into a diner. Fuel bowser ok but who wants to pay over $2 for 100RON ? It's a race track, if organisers want more participants they should aim to keep the costs lower to entice people ! I didn't see any tyre shops anywhere either so forget about any tyre related work.
Now let's move on to the track itself. The length of this circuit is about 200m over that of Tsukuba 2000. The track is bumpy in places but the surface isn't too bad. It actually has a very nice, technically challenging layout, I personally really liked it and i'll go over each and every corner in a second. It is also a very hard track on brakes ! There were marshall posts all around but there were no marshalls in them ! (What were they thinking ???) This partically surprised me as slower cars which were being lapped were not shown blue flags to let them know of the cars behind. On a plus side, they allowed only 14 cars on the track at a time which was good and access from the pits was controlled by green/red lights. I'd give this track a 5 for safety/organisation, a 7 for layout/technicality.
So let's review this track corner by corner.
Main straight (4th gear through the start/finish line) towards the first corner which is a late apex hairpin. On entry it is a little bumpy especially on the left side and the run-off has a lot to be desired (nothing but sand with a scary ditch seperating the track and the sandpit). You can take that corner in 3rd and move straight into the S'es which are great fun ! They very much remind me of the S'es at Suzuka but shorter! Half way through the S'es you change to 4th and run towards an uphill right hand kink which is fast but if you miss the late apex you could end up cutting through the inside of the next corner. That next corner is a wide uphill left hander followed by a blind, uphill right hand kink which I found particularly scary. 1 you can't see beyond the hill, 2 if you carry too much speed you'll be forced to the outside and end up hitting the ripple strip which I presume would be hard to recover from (it looked v. rough !). As you make your way through that corner you'll be going downhill towards a bottom hairpin which is pretty much the same as the 1st corner except the entry is downhill and the exit is uphill, again with a late apex.
As you exit you race towards the hill on the back straight and as you reach the peak presumably in 4th, 5th momentarily the car feels very light due to minimal downforce at that point before you start going downhill again at 180km/h+. Love that part of the circuit and the sheer downforce greatly helps with the braking and negotiating the last corner which is a 90 degree one. As you exit you're on the main straight.
My favourite sections are the S'es, the right hand kink on the exit from S'es, back hairpin and the top of the hill on the back straight !
[All comparisons are against the likes of Tsukuba, Fuji, Suzuka and Ebisu circuits in Japan]
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I'll include an in-car lap, a few words about my best lap for the day and some spectator side videos.
For those of you who follow my blog(s), this will be my 1st visit to a track since returning back from Japan. It feels like I haven't driven on a circuit for ages ! At least 3 months come to think of it ! I am itching to drive again !!
The car is now officially ready !
It has been an uphill battle though !
When attempting to lower my suspension, the C-wrench broke and I was forced to borrow a new one from a good friend of mine who happened to have the same suspension as mine. When it came down to lowering though it wasn't as easy as it looked when the guys at SEEKER did it. It was very tough to get the bottom ring loosened to begin with, not to mention access to the ring in the rear was very limited. Anyway I persevered and got it done.
Secondly, regulations at Barbagallo require that a fire extinguisher is fitted in every car. Together with my dad we put in some late hours last night and fabricated a steel bracket which we attached to the front bolts of the passenger's seat. Bending steel isn't easy especially with limited tools but we got it done and the result can be seen below. When I find some time later this month I'll paint it but for now it will do.
Thirdly, I needed to attach a couple of labels around the car, mainly showing where the tow hooks are and the battery.
And lastly, seatbelt harness and gauges went in and we're done !
After that I took the car for a test drive with the new A050s to check for any scrapping of the guard. Surprisingly there were no issues under either heavy braking or cornering anywhere except the rear right side.
To be honest I can't think of why there is an issue on that side. Both left and right rears are the same height and most of my corners were right handers so if anything it should have been the left side which exhibited this issue. Anyway time will tell and if on saturday the tyre degrades too much I'd look into it further upon return.
Looking forward to my first lap time at Barbagallo to see how it compares to others'.
See yas there !
