Saturday

Woke up to rain. Got to the track and finished unpacking and it was still raining for the warmup. Even though I was on Hoosiers, I decided to head out just to make updates were all installed correctly. I switched back to TTA mode, meaning I reinstalled my AMS FMIC, AMS LICP, AMS MBC and brand new Buschur UICP (finally dumping the stock UICP for good and all it's troubles staying attached I hoped). I ran just 2 laps of fun in the rain and literally slid through the last turn and into pit lane - but everything shook down just fine.
I went out in the first timed session, and planned to hammer it right away while the temps were still cool. It was a good plan, but I took it a step too far and blew through the first turn on my 2nd full lap. Just a scenic trip through the grass; no harm no foul other than a DQ for the session. Everything mostly felt good except the car liked to understeer out of some corners which seems to be a theme my last few events. It was bad enough in some turns that it was literally hopping while fighting for grip. If you check out the vids below you should be able to see this.
Anyways, in the final 3 sessions I put down faster and faster times and ended up with a 1:32.1 which snagged me first of 4 in class and broke the TTA class record.

In the last session I got a soft brake pedal so I figured my already this pads were shot. As soon as the session was over I tore into the brakes. I had put in an older replacement set to hopefully get me through the weekend; but they only lasted 1 day as they were down past the middle wear marker on the RF. Having a new set of DTC60's; I popped them in and rotated the tires to get ready for Sunday. I'm not a big fan of doing maintenance at the track, but this isn't a bad job and the temps weren't bad at all. Much better than how the day began with all the rain!


Here's some vid from Sat on the regular course. This is of an earlier session with some more lap traffic which I think makes things more entertaining:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQkNJD2MIpE

Sunday we got to run the new config which adds about a 1/3 mile to the track in the form of another carousel turn and a longer backstraight that starts uphill. It took a bit to get used to it as their's really 2 carousel turns and some off-camber downhill stuff - the longer straight...well it's straight! Carousel turns can be difficult to get a handle on, especially if your car doesn't handle well. I think mine handles pretty well, but it seems to be disliking corner exits more and more over the past month; understeering like I mentioned above. It's probably a combination of a few things including the fact my JIC coilovers have 35+ days on them now and likely need refreshed. I also have the camber plates maxed out up front which only nets me about -2.5 of camber. And lastly I've been running a higher class - TTA. Even though I'm not fully utilizing my points allotment yet, I am running more horsepower which in turn seems to make the corner exit understeer that much more pronounced.
Anyways, I dealt with it the best I could in the carousels and came away with a best of 1:40.6. This time I flip-flopped with a TTA Corvette from Sat and finished 2nd of 5.

Here's some vid from Sun on the new longer course. This is of my first hot session so my lines aren't the best in the new section. I moved the mic and the car just sounds loud now! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM7h_lQh6i8

Old Course vs New Course:
Just to give you an idea of the changes and how they affect the Evo vs others:

• 1.8 miles vs 2.2 miles
• Top speed on backstraight of 110mph vs 125mph

Anyone that's competitively tracked an Evo knows that we fall victim to straight-line speed to things like Corvettes! I think the longer backstraight definitely brought this sad fact into play with my finishing order. The longer straight combined with basically 2 additional carousel type turns made for a new course that doesn't seem to flow quite as well. Then again; based on my results over the weekend maybe I'm biased! haha.

All-in-All a good weekend. I had the 3rd fastest time of TT both days. The new Buschur UICP worked just freakin great - thanks guys. The AMS tuned performed very very well as always. Also thanks to AMSOIL, Hawk and Forgeline. My oil temps rose pretty high but I think that's because I re-routed my RF brake cooling duct and stole some of the airflow to the oil cooler; so I have that the fix before the next event. I also have some extra 'mod' pts to use in TTA to maximize the car. I've got a few ideas but not sure how fast I'll implement them...stay tuned!

 

nice job bro

 

JUST curious... is the understeer post apex? on corner exit? possibly the rear diff starting to slip, rather than locking and rotating? Just something else to put in your head.

 

It's corner exit under power mostly. It's whenever I get on the power under lateral load, which normally is post apex; yes. It happens in 3rd gear turns and in longer 4th gear turns too. Only happens when I'm pushing close to 10/10ths.

Not sure if the rear diff is slipping - but I plan to upgrade it either way. Trying to work out a time and place to get all that done asap actually. I've been talking to both Shep and TRE for a bit...

I tend to blame it more on lack of front camber and possibly worn out suspension. But hey; it could be all 3. Car has close to 60 track days on it now after all.

 

Congrats Nathan! Well done

 

Yes.. Congrats!! Sorry I forgot that part.

 

I'm pretty stunned you've been doing all this without any rear diff upgrade - but corner exit under power is exactly what that set up will fix. If your budget allows you might also want to consider the cusco 1.5 type RS, it needs to be shimmed properly etc though

 

Well done Nathan. See you in a couple weeks at Autobahn. Should be fun!

 

Looks like you're having a lot of fun. The TRE Rear diff (I did the MAXX Lock 1.5 way) made an impressive difference in corner-exit understeer. I'm sure you'll absolutely adore the upgrade.

For my track alignment, I'm running -3.0 deg front -1.5 deg rear camber, 0 toe front and 1/16th toe in rear.. but I'm not decided on my ride height. Are you open to sharing your specs? Have you experimented at all with your alignment? Sounds like I can learn from you quite a bit. I've worked my way to HPDE 3 and am really barely competent enough to start really pushing my car to the limit.

Also, mind if I ask what type of camera setup you're using?

Vids are great! Hopefully I can get some recording at my next day 9/17 at Monticello, NY.

 

Yeah, it's either the TRE or Shep's diff. Both have good products. Just happens that TRE is shutdown right now for a few weeks of vacation I guess.

If you wanna see my mods and setup, here's the full list:
http://boomn29.blogspot.com/p/car-setup.html

 

I went to Shep\'s, but it was an easy decision... 40 minute drive, and no shipping charges or downtime (minus bringing the diff there and back).

Also interested in your camera setup. BTW, one request.. either change camera angle, or move the suction cup on the dash, there are spots that it blocks the view of the entire track ahead.

 

Camera is the cheapest Panasonic I could find at BestBuy with an external mic about 2 yrs ago. I think it's a ZR800 and records to the mini-dv tapes.

Request for traqmate re-mount noted! It's on my list...

 

Excellent writeup! Good stuff. Best of luck the rest of the season!

Im glad the pipe worked out great for you Nate. It was a pleasure to work with you. Looking forward to working with you in the future.

 

congrats!!!

 

Yeah, thanks for the UICP. I had so many problems with the stocker this year when I was running TTB. Thanks to jumping up a class to TTA recently I had the pts to officially upgrade all that piping and the Buschur UICP worked w/o issues.

Well, except for the idiotic UPS policies and me having to be at my house during the day to officially sign for the item.... idiotic policy.