Tyres tyres and more tyres !

Ok so after 8 tuning days, an average of 3 stints per day and some 10 laps per stint the photo below shows what my Yokohama A050s look like....

As you can see the tyre shown on the right (which was mounted on the front left of the car) took a real beating and rightfully so as Barbagallo Raceway where I spent most of these heat cycles is mostly right hand corners and extremely unforgiving when it comes to tyres mounted on the left side.

Here is another look at the right hand mounted tyre :

and the left ...

Now, the tyres didn't use to be like that before my last tuning day but unfortunately my laziness at the last tuning day made me forget to check tyre pressures prior to going out and under time attack conditions the underinflated left tyre flexed too much resulting in what can be seen above.

TIP for those using A050s especially on an FF car like mine.
Remember to start with about 160/170kPa cold pressure and bringing the pressure up to no more than 200kPa when the tyre is hot. If you start with anything lower than 140kPa by the time you pressure gets to 180/200kPa the tyre will have flexed causing damage seen above. Do a few laps, come back to the pits and adjust pressure as necessary and you'll have long lasting rubber still capable of very fast times.

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So anyway in my previous posts I mentioned I'd ordered some new tyres from Japan but after checking with a local distributor here in Perth (WHEELS WORLD TYRES and MORE) I concluded that I can have them delivered locally without the need for ordering from Japan and having to worry about international shipment, customs and delivery duration for a mere $50 extra per set !

And so after just a couple of days I have these new babies in my garage !!

The price above also includes fitting and balancing so it's a win/win !

Today I flipped my old A050s over on their rims so that I can use the left on the right and the right on the left for maybe another 1 to 2 events before the new ones go on. I am hoping to have John from WHEELS WORLD do a toe alignment for me as well so I can finally correct that annoying pull to the left.

- Rod

Speed Event Series - Round 8 - Barbagallo Long

After careful consideration of the available events here in WA I've made a decision to join the LF Speed Event Series. 

Unfortunately for me my entry is somewhat late for 2011 and therefore I can only start from Round 8 which is coming this July 23rd and coincidently is held at my favourite track here Barbagallo Raceway (there are 13 rounds in total).

The series is a combination of Super Sprints and Hill Climbs (never done those before) held across 8 venues across Western Australia.

There are a number of classes. For me I'll be entering in the Outright 1B class (0-2000cc closed vehicles) which at the moment hosts 6 other entries of 2 Honda Civics, 3 Ford Escorts and a Suzuki Cappucino. There is a remote possibility that I will have to join the Road Registered 5A class.

- Rod

Consumables and minor fixes

It's been a hell of a year but now the car is slowly beginning to scream for some consumables. The list looks something like this :

- front tyre replacement -> ADVAN A050 (M) - Cost AUD$1000
- front brake pads -> PMU LEVEL MAX700 - Cost AUD$200
- front disc rotors -> DIXCEL - Cost AUD$150

As far as work on the car goes :

- Replace the engine cover gasket to eliminate a minor leak
- Align the suspension to eliminate an increasing pull to the left
- Overhaul the starter motor to eliminate the crunch against the flywheel
- Clean the air filter unit

Nice to haves are as follows :

- An oil catch tank
- A racing lightweight battery
- Complete removal of the air con unit (no gas in it no point having it)
- A roll cage and a complete strip out of the interior
- Still sitting on the idea of an upgraded final drive and an LSD

Lots to do...

- Rod

Personal best - 1'07''78 - video

Here is the video showing yesterday's personal best.



- Rod

Cold, very windy and brilliant !

Just as planned I hit the track at Barbagallo Raceway today.

It was undeniably a very cold and extremely windy day, so much so that when I arrived at the track it was just me and one other car in the pits. Got myself setup very quickly and despite having my stuff blown all over the place I jumped in the car and onto the track.

On my 1st of four stints at 9am and with ambient temps of just 12C, I comfortably slashed my previous best lap record (of 1'08"77) in 3 consecutive laps but with laptimes still remaining above the 1'08s I wasn't quite there yet. Great but where is that elusive 1'07 I said ?? Well I didn't have to wait long ! Being the only car on the track at the time on lap 8 I recorded my new personal best of 1'07''78 !! Followed by an equally impressive lap 10 but just 4/100s slower though. (The difference came down to later (and harder) braking into the last corner on lap 8)

I pushed very hard today and I was on the verge of drifting but I had nothing in my way except the wind so I pushed like there was no tomorrow. I felt the wheels sliding sideways around the 1st corner, the long uphill lefthander and the last corner, tyres squeeling and understeering to the point where I knew I was on the edge! Either I hit the wall or I record my best lap ! Best lap it was !

Here are the times from the stint :

It was very difficult to get the tyres up to their optimum temperatures today. My ideal tyre pressure is usually 200kPa for the front tyres but for some reason today I couldn't reach that and the most I got was 190kPa. I upped the air pressure after returning to the pits but still couldn't get to the ideal level. Tyre temps were much lower also and quickly dropping.

In the remaining 3 short stints I consistenly recorded 1'08s but couldn't get into the 1'07s again. Around 10am the track saw a lot of cars ranging from a few 911s, a couple of Holdens, a Civic and a few open wheelers and the track became dirty. I was done !

Here is what my YH semi-slicks look like now.
The picture shows my front left. I now have slicks :)

Not to worry. I have a pending shipment coming in from Japan with brand new YH A050s (M compound) at a fraction of the cost but I won't see them till maybe end of July beginning of August.

I ended the day by lending my Performance Box to a friend of mine who eventually recorded a very respectable lap time in his Civic and ended his stint in a spectacular fashion drifting his way out of the last corner..Was fun to watch !

So, I'll post a video of this new insanely quick lap in the days to come.

Till then !

- Rod

RAC Tuning Video

It took a while to upload thanks to Australia's ridicolously slow internet speeds but here it is !



- Rod

Some more this time from Japan

And a couple more ...

Shutter bug bites again !

A different point of view

Remember the DC5 vs EVO post ?

Well it turns out the guy who owns the EVO found my video on YouTube and posted his video of how it all looked from his car.

Enjoy !



- Rod