Some fun from the weekend...

[SoundGuyDave]

Previous personal best was a 1:40.9, and at a track that is DECIDEDLY unfriendly to high-horse, rear-stick-axle-driven pony cars. If you have one of those delicate German/Bavarian machines, or the AWD Swedish/Japanese shoeboxes, then you are right at home here.

Since the last outing, I pulled a little over 120lbs out of the car (scaled at 3475, with a minimum weight of 3450), got it corner-weighted, and learned a couple of throttle tricks. That all paid off to the tune of nearly 2.5 seconds! I did a little experiment in turns 4-6 with leaving it in 4th, hanging 3rd, and doing the upshift/downshift. Still analyzing the data.

STILL wound up a bridesmaid. But not by much. The season finale at Putnam Park is next month, which is a Mustang-friendly track (lots of sweepers!!!), and I'm chomping at the bit to reclaim my honor!

BIG props to Sam Strano for the suspension gear and great advice, Eric Brooks for a tune that just never goes flat until the limiter kicks in, and Ford, for one seriously kick-ass mill and chassis!

 

[1SickRedfire]

Nice video!

 

[Sleeper_08]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Did I notice the back end getting a little squirrelly under hard braking at the end of the straight?

 

[Philostang]

Fun? Hell man, you weren't even backwards once in that session. Just imagine what you could have done without the full weight of your rear window... (to be continued).

Seriously, congratulations on the new personal best! You know (at least for myself) I could care less about 1st or 2nd, but a new personal best is pretty awesome! That's a win. Besides, the differential was just ridiculous (I think the other guy beat us to the sling-shot method of tying your transponder down). We're definitely going to have a sit down and go over the video and data for the weekend.

And for what it's worth, Hoosiers are not frigid ladies...you just have to be man enough to make the ole' girls squeal.

Best,
-j

 

[topbliss]

nice vid Dave.......

 

[ArizonaGT]

in for later

 

[Vapour Trails]

What did you mean when you said 'what did the aero and slipstream pick up'?

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Sleep: You sure did. I used to have the "wiggle," then did the AST/Hypercoil thing and it went away. Then I learned how to push THAT setup, and it came back... But at 1.1G braking, and not at .6!! I think the wiggle is just an artifact of the chassis design, and honestly, it's not really that bothersome, at least at this point.

Philo: Thanks for the props, man! I'm not at all hung up on the 1st/2nd thing, but by .002 seconds, it's still just killing me!

Vapor: Just a joke about the huge "wake" we leave behind in the air... I was hinting that my slipstream sucked up the S2000 and the two scoobies, like a passing truck sucks up a newspaper on the ground. BTW, in that session, a .001 second span of time covered the best laps from me, the yellow WRX AND the blue S2000....

 

[Cookiemonster]

i wonder what kind of tires those cars were running...

 

[SoundGuyDave]

No need to wonder... The bulk are on Hoosiers, R6 for the heavier cars, but the S2000s run A6; most of the rest are on Continental cup tires, with a few on Hankook and other brands, but we're ALL on R compounds of some flavor.

 

[Sam Strano]

And A6's are a lot quicker than R6's are... if you really need time, switch.... Not as durable but if it's cool you'll get decent life.

 

[Philostang]

Uh-oh...now you did it Sam...looks like someone may be in for a new set of tires for next month. Game on, eh Dave!

 

[Sam Strano]

I'm just saying....

 

[SoundGuyDave]

I'd LOVE to try some A6s, bu they're 13 point tires, where the R6 is only a 10 point tire... I don't have the 3 points to spare!

Even worn-out R6 tires are pretty grippy. I was getting consistent 1.25G cornerning loads, on R6s with 20 or so heat cycles, on a slick, greasy track:

Although I DID get the bit of excess rotation occasionally!

For better or worse, I'm pretty well built around the R6 tire. Sam, any thought on how the A6 would hold up to longer tracks, like Road America? I would think they would grease up before the end of two laps... Even the lightweight S2000s were complaining of the tire going away after a couple laps at a 2-miler. I could just imagine them on a 4-mile track...

 

[Eric Brooks]

Awesome vid Dave

 

[Ken04]

beautiful man, very nicely done.

 

[Sleeper_08]

Dave

I love the pics. Amazing amount of body roll!

Just out of curiousity what size R6s are you running and what size rims are they on?

 

[SoundGuyDave]

My buddy's girlfriend snapped them. If I had known, I would have spent more time doing my hair...

That body roll is WITH Strano's adjustable sways front and rear, AND on 350lb/in front springs, and 300lb/in rears, so the car's pretty stiff. You may have noticed that I bounce off the berms, rather than ride over them. I was also surprised by the amount of body roll, but I won't even consider running stiffer springs unless Sam chimes in and recommends it... Yes, I know that the dampers are a big part of the equation, but the whole package just f-n rocks. Sam was 100% right on the money about what it would take to match the suspension to my driving style, intended usage, and track types that I run. I can't say enough about his bars, or his customer service. Between the adjustability of the bars and the dampers (AST ROCKS!!!), I'm actually able to run square tire pressures, and have the car set up perfectly for my likes... Slightly tight in, neutral mid-corner, and slightly loose out. Nirvana, especially on higher-speed corners. Slow, tight corners are still wrecked by sheer mass, unfortunately...

I'm running 275/35-18 on 18x9.5 (+35mm) wheels. R6 for dry track, and Dunlop Direzza Star Spec for wet conditions and street driving, all in the same size.

I can say with certainty, that I am still learning to explore the edges of the envelope with the new suspension and R compounds, and I bet I could find another half-second or so in that lap. With the right hardware, and driver skill (still working on that!), this is truly an amazing chassis... Seat time above all else, though! It's taken me almost a full season to get really comfortable and TRUST the grip, but now that the trust is growing, I'm seeing my lap times plummet downwards. Yes, since July, last visit to that track, I've pulled 125lbs out of the car, and corner-balanced it, but that is NOT the reason that the times plummeted by 2.5 seconds! 0.5-1.0 seconds, yeah, I could see that, but the rest is me deciding to put on my big-girl panties and go drive the damn thing. I can't WAIT for Putnam next month!!! Smoother track, more elevation changes, and the best part: SWEEPERS AND CAROUSELS!!!! That WRX doesn't stand a chance! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

 

[Sleeper_08]

My buddy's girlfriend snapped them. If I had known, I would have spent more time doing my hair...

That body roll is WITH Strano's adjustable sways front and rear, AND on 350lb/in front springs, and 300lb/in rears, so the car's pretty stiff. You may have noticed that I bounce off the berms, rather than ride over them. I was also surprised by the amount of body roll, but I won't even consider running stiffer springs unless Sam chimes in and recommends it... Yes, I know that the dampers are a big part of the equation, but the whole package just f-n rocks. Sam was 100% right on the money about what it would take to match the suspension to my driving style, intended usage, and track types that I run. I can't say enough about his bars, or his customer service. Between the adjustability of the bars and the dampers (AST ROCKS!!!), I'm actually able to run square tire pressures, and have the car set up perfectly for my likes... Slightly tight in, neutral mid-corner, and slightly loose out. Nirvana, especially on higher-speed corners. Slow, tight corners are still wrecked by sheer mass, unfortunately...

I'm running 275/35-18 on 18x9.5 (+35mm) wheels. R6 for dry track, and Dunlop Direzza Star Spec for wet conditions and street driving, all in the same size.

I can say with certainty, that I am still learning to explore the edges of the envelope with the new suspension and R compounds, and I bet I could find another half-second or so in that lap. With the right hardware, and driver skill (still working on that!), this is truly an amazing chassis... Seat time above all else, though! It's taken me almost a full season to get really comfortable and TRUST the grip, but now that the trust is growing, I'm seeing my lap times plummet downwards. Yes, since July, last visit to that track, I've pulled 125lbs out of the car, and corner-balanced it, but that is NOT the reason that the times plummeted by 2.5 seconds! 0.5-1.0 seconds, yeah, I could see that, but the rest is me deciding to put on my big-girl panties and go drive the damn thing. I can't WAIT for Putnam next month!!! Smoother track, more elevation changes, and the best part: SWEEPERS AND CAROUSELS!!!! That WRX doesn't stand a chance! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Dave

It sounds like you are having way too much fun.

How do you find the ground clearance on the street with the Dunlops, as per Tire Rack, they are 25.6 " diameter which reduces your ground clearance almost 3/4 inch from the stock 27" dia?

It is also interesting to note that, again per Tire Rack, the Hoosier's weigh 24 lb versus 32 for the Dunlop's - a significant difference in unsprung and rotational mass.

 

[Philostang]

Dave can chime in on the street ride quality from his lowering springs...I'm looking forward to this.

I run the same size tires, and I've not really noticed any trouble with ride height around town (Chicago). Of course, I'm not daily driving the thing, so that might help. I have about a 1" drop from Vogtland springs, and it comes to about 4" of clearance from rockers to the ground. I like it just fine. Dave frequents different streets, so maybe he's had different luck?

Best,
-j