project:BDR 2006 Evo STU build thread
Jan 21, 2014, 10:55 AM
#423
Yes, to a degree
We improved the angle of the flange for the mounting holes, to align better with the end-link positions. So if you flipped them, the extreme soft #5 position may need a spacer for the end-link, which may come in the complete kit anyways. Probably not a concern as most people won't need to run a 150% softer bar.
Should have the latest version FSB adjustable brackets in next week. The optional end-link hardware kit is still undergoing testing, since our season is just starting up again.
Rick
We improved the angle of the flange for the mounting holes, to align better with the end-link positions. So if you flipped them, the extreme soft #5 position may need a spacer for the end-link, which may come in the complete kit anyways. Probably not a concern as most people won't need to run a 150% softer bar.Should have the latest version FSB adjustable brackets in next week. The optional end-link hardware kit is still undergoing testing, since our season is just starting up again.
Rick
You will probably be done with testing before my seasons gets started. We're getting another load of the white fluffy stuff today.
Jan 22, 2014, 10:15 AM
#427
Back on topic: I'm also keeping an eye on the adjustable FSB brackets. I love my Ciro camber/caster plates, and I'd expect the adjustable FSB brackets to be equally top-notch.
Last edited by Construct; Dec 31, 2014 at 07:34 PM.
Apr 7, 2014, 09:30 PM
#428
Goodbye 2013!
There were really two me’s in 2013:
* Local events: pretty inconsistent. Usually ~1 second off Josh on a 60 second course.
* National events: .4 off Josh at Dover (after leading day 1), .6 off Josh at the DC Pro (coning away a .4 improvement on the stupidest cone ever).
WTF? My operational theory is that I am doing a very poor job looking ahead. When I can take 12 coursewalks, that’s not as big a deal and I get by on memorization, but when I only get 2 or 3, it’s a problem. I made progress on not divebombing, and being slow in the slow stuff, but my exit->entry transitions, especially on elements in the 90 degree range, need a lot of work. That will be the focus this year.
Welcome 2014!
Build thread has been pretty quiet. The whole having-a-kid thing is a pretty big deal
2014 is going to be mostly local. I’m doing the DC Pro, and hoping to go to the Wilmington Tour since it was so deep in STU last year, but not confirmed.
The list of pretty much everything left that’s worth doing
* 2 piece rotors: Girodisc: about 7 lbs savings, $750 new
* Remove spoiler, about 7 lbs, $free to do it the cheezy way, $more to do it the right way
* Hotchkis rear bar: 5 lbs savings, $220 new
* Aluminum catback: ~20 lbs savings, $800ish
* Transmission swap to 5-speed: 22 lbs savings, something like $3k all told
As of right now though, my favorite option for 2014 is to leave the car the hell alone. I am definitely at the “diminishing returns” part of the build, where the remaining parts are all expensive, not a big deal, or both, and not as important as things like an Evo school, another set of 17x9.5s for tire testing, etc.
OK, I did have one other idea…
Inspired by this
This...
Thoughts? I love me some TME, but I’m also bad at Photoshop
Event #1: WDCR Test n Tune day @ Fedex, 3-22-2014
From last year
After taking 8 months off I signed up for a test and tune to figure out how to drive again. If there’s one issue with the Dunlops, it’s heat, and even on a 60 degree day it was rearing its ugly head. I was taking substantial breaks in between runs and even with 2 hours to run as many times as I could, I ended up only doing ~13 runs. It was still helpful - I played with the shocks a little, and the tires, for really the first time in a while.
I ended up taking out some front compression, and adding some rear rebound, and it definitely felt faster, though I wasn’t running data or video. I ended up getting too low on gas to continue (despite starting with a half tank) and called it quits before recording anything.
There were no results posted, but my best time was a 51.1 compared to Brian Karwan’s 50.4 (STR) so I knew I had plenty of work to do.
Event #1: WDCR Test n Tune @ Fedex, 4-6-2014
This was a normal autox event with 4 runs, but the first event of the year never counts for region points.
Having liked the shock experiments from the previous event, I decided to try another click of rebound in the rear. The car is definitely edgier this way, but still pretty driveable. I need to catch up to it, but I think with more time on the setup it will end up faster.
Shane and Josh left STU, but two more folks have taken their place in a 2007 STi in addition to the folks from last year who are returning, so the class should be plenty competitive this year in the area.
I ended up 1st in STU by seven tenths, and 12th in PAX out of 214. Almost everyone ahead of me is someone who has won or trophied deep at nationals so that is kind of encouraging, but at the same time, we were missing some folks who usually show up, and there are a lot of very fast people in DSP who coned out or missed runs. DSP is going to be ridiculous locally. I did end up getting raw timed by Brian Karwan in STR, but by two tenths instead of seven so that’s progress compared to the previous event. Also, he is fast.
What was really encouraging for me was that the car feels a lot faster with the new settings and if I had been remotely consistent, there was a ton of time out there:
Data breakdown
This compares run 2 (67.5 +1) to run 4 (67.2 clean). Run 3 was pretty much the same as run 2, with an extra mistake, and run 1 was slow.
Run 2:
Run 4:
Start/Section 1
Not much line choice here. Launch, wiggle, patience sweeper, throttle, wiggle, hard on the brakes into the showcase. I got a much better launch on run 4 - an additional 7 mph. At the end of section 1, run 4 is 4 tenths faster. I had originally assumed this section was the same across all 4 runs, but it wasn’t - a good launch on an uphill course that starts with a pretty straight element is worth more than I thought.
Section 2: showcase #1 into uphill eyebrows
Shane was taking video from the outside. Here’s the car moving through this section on run 4:
(In case you can't tell, I recently discovered Instagiffer after giving up on gifsoup and all the various web video to gif converters. Instagiffer is free, as far as I can tell has no adware/spyware, and does the job just fine.)
I think I was probably a little too close to the eyebrows at entry, but it’s hard not to be with the severe offset. You can also see in the gif that I didn’t do a very good job backsiding the cone at the sweeper exit. Looking at the video again, you can see me stop and open up the steering wheel as I realize I’m driving towards the cone instead of getting on the backside of it. (Mental note: LOOK AHEAD!)
This was a huge difference - on run 4, I was only able to get to 41 mph between the sweeper and the first eyebrow. On run 2, I was able to backside it better, and got to 46 mph between the sweeper and the first eyebrow. In just this section, run 2 was SEVEN tenths faster, making up the launch and adding another three tenths. Yikes!
To clarify this, here’s where I was when I unwound the wheel straight in run 2. Plenty of time before the offsets begin.
Here’s where I was when I finally got the wheel straight in run 4. I’m on top of the offset already.
Section 3: Downhill offsets into showcase #2
On run #2 I was pretty patient entering the downhill offsets, and possibly even (gasp) looking ahead On run 4, perhaps sensing that I had dorked up the previous section, I got on the gas a lot earlier. On run 4, I enter the downhill section at 37 mph, versus run 2’s entirely-too-hesitant 33 mph. But, this screws up run 4 a little too - I get a little late on the offsets.
About 2/3 of the way through this section, run 2 is up .2 - but then run 4 takes the braking zone a little deeper, but not too deep, and makes up the .2. So this section is a wash between the two runs. But run 2 is still three tenths ahead.
Section 4: Uphill slalom and offsets
Run 2 enters the slalom much better and is carrying 43 mph in the middle of it. Run 4 enters the slalom badly (I think I overshot the braking zone) and is only doing 37 mph here.
Run 2 takes the first offset better, and halfway through, has put another 3 tenths on run 4. But then run 2 tries to carry too much speed. By the last offset, there is a bit of a tail wag (video reference) and run 2 has to get WAYY off the gas, slowing all the way down to 31 mph. Run 4 is pretty tidy through this stuff, and enters the last sweeper at 40 mph.
Run 2 started with promise but lost it; run 4 had a mediocre slalom, but really strong offsets. Sector 4 is a wash.
Section 5: Sweeper, kink, finish
Run 4 is patient dropping into the downhill chute - run 2 less so. Run 4 also gives it up enough to be able to stay on the gas alll the way to the finish but run 2 isn’t patient enough. Run 4 carries about 6 mph more through the finish. This is where run 4 goes back up and finishes two tenths faster.
TL;DR version:
* Hard launch was worth .4 on run 4. Sorry clutch.
* Not looking ahead into uphill offsets cost .7 on run 4
* Sections 3 and 4 were a wash due to inconsistency - some parts run 2 was better, some parts run 4 was better
* Section 5 - run 4 was much better by being patient before the fast parts.
This is a very good sign but I still need to fix the bad habits.
I think the next event is the DC Pro. The ZIIs have 106 runs on them so they should still be okay but they are slowly getting up there in runs. No setup changes planned, just going to take lots of walks and do lots of looking ahead.
There were really two me’s in 2013:
* Local events: pretty inconsistent. Usually ~1 second off Josh on a 60 second course.
* National events: .4 off Josh at Dover (after leading day 1), .6 off Josh at the DC Pro (coning away a .4 improvement on the stupidest cone ever).
WTF? My operational theory is that I am doing a very poor job looking ahead. When I can take 12 coursewalks, that’s not as big a deal and I get by on memorization, but when I only get 2 or 3, it’s a problem. I made progress on not divebombing, and being slow in the slow stuff, but my exit->entry transitions, especially on elements in the 90 degree range, need a lot of work. That will be the focus this year.
Welcome 2014!
Build thread has been pretty quiet. The whole having-a-kid thing is a pretty big deal
2014 is going to be mostly local. I’m doing the DC Pro, and hoping to go to the Wilmington Tour since it was so deep in STU last year, but not confirmed.
The list of pretty much everything left that’s worth doing
* 2 piece rotors: Girodisc: about 7 lbs savings, $750 new
* Remove spoiler, about 7 lbs, $free to do it the cheezy way, $more to do it the right way
* Hotchkis rear bar: 5 lbs savings, $220 new
* Aluminum catback: ~20 lbs savings, $800ish
* Transmission swap to 5-speed: 22 lbs savings, something like $3k all told
As of right now though, my favorite option for 2014 is to leave the car the hell alone. I am definitely at the “diminishing returns” part of the build, where the remaining parts are all expensive, not a big deal, or both, and not as important as things like an Evo school, another set of 17x9.5s for tire testing, etc.
OK, I did have one other idea…
Inspired by this
This...
Thoughts? I love me some TME, but I’m also bad at Photoshop
Event #1: WDCR Test n Tune day @ Fedex, 3-22-2014
From last year
I was pretty happy with the car’s balance, but I still really need to do a test and tune day where I can really fiddle with shocks and pressures on the same course. Next year, I hope? Maybe late this season if I get lucky.
I ended up taking out some front compression, and adding some rear rebound, and it definitely felt faster, though I wasn’t running data or video. I ended up getting too low on gas to continue (despite starting with a half tank) and called it quits before recording anything.
There were no results posted, but my best time was a 51.1 compared to Brian Karwan’s 50.4 (STR) so I knew I had plenty of work to do.
Event #1: WDCR Test n Tune @ Fedex, 4-6-2014
This was a normal autox event with 4 runs, but the first event of the year never counts for region points.
Having liked the shock experiments from the previous event, I decided to try another click of rebound in the rear. The car is definitely edgier this way, but still pretty driveable. I need to catch up to it, but I think with more time on the setup it will end up faster.
Shane and Josh left STU, but two more folks have taken their place in a 2007 STi in addition to the folks from last year who are returning, so the class should be plenty competitive this year in the area.
I ended up 1st in STU by seven tenths, and 12th in PAX out of 214. Almost everyone ahead of me is someone who has won or trophied deep at nationals so that is kind of encouraging, but at the same time, we were missing some folks who usually show up, and there are a lot of very fast people in DSP who coned out or missed runs. DSP is going to be ridiculous locally. I did end up getting raw timed by Brian Karwan in STR, but by two tenths instead of seven so that’s progress compared to the previous event. Also, he is fast.
What was really encouraging for me was that the car feels a lot faster with the new settings and if I had been remotely consistent, there was a ton of time out there:
Data breakdown
This compares run 2 (67.5 +1) to run 4 (67.2 clean). Run 3 was pretty much the same as run 2, with an extra mistake, and run 1 was slow.
Run 2:
Run 4:
Start/Section 1
Not much line choice here. Launch, wiggle, patience sweeper, throttle, wiggle, hard on the brakes into the showcase. I got a much better launch on run 4 - an additional 7 mph. At the end of section 1, run 4 is 4 tenths faster. I had originally assumed this section was the same across all 4 runs, but it wasn’t - a good launch on an uphill course that starts with a pretty straight element is worth more than I thought.
Section 2: showcase #1 into uphill eyebrows
Shane was taking video from the outside. Here’s the car moving through this section on run 4:
(In case you can't tell, I recently discovered Instagiffer after giving up on gifsoup and all the various web video to gif converters. Instagiffer is free, as far as I can tell has no adware/spyware, and does the job just fine.)
I think I was probably a little too close to the eyebrows at entry, but it’s hard not to be with the severe offset. You can also see in the gif that I didn’t do a very good job backsiding the cone at the sweeper exit. Looking at the video again, you can see me stop and open up the steering wheel as I realize I’m driving towards the cone instead of getting on the backside of it. (Mental note: LOOK AHEAD!)
This was a huge difference - on run 4, I was only able to get to 41 mph between the sweeper and the first eyebrow. On run 2, I was able to backside it better, and got to 46 mph between the sweeper and the first eyebrow. In just this section, run 2 was SEVEN tenths faster, making up the launch and adding another three tenths. Yikes!
To clarify this, here’s where I was when I unwound the wheel straight in run 2. Plenty of time before the offsets begin.
Here’s where I was when I finally got the wheel straight in run 4. I’m on top of the offset already.
Section 3: Downhill offsets into showcase #2
On run #2 I was pretty patient entering the downhill offsets, and possibly even (gasp) looking ahead
On run 4, perhaps sensing that I had dorked up the previous section, I got on the gas a lot earlier. On run 4, I enter the downhill section at 37 mph, versus run 2’s entirely-too-hesitant 33 mph. But, this screws up run 4 a little too - I get a little late on the offsets. About 2/3 of the way through this section, run 2 is up .2 - but then run 4 takes the braking zone a little deeper, but not too deep, and makes up the .2. So this section is a wash between the two runs. But run 2 is still three tenths ahead.
Section 4: Uphill slalom and offsets
Run 2 enters the slalom much better and is carrying 43 mph in the middle of it. Run 4 enters the slalom badly (I think I overshot the braking zone) and is only doing 37 mph here.
Run 2 takes the first offset better, and halfway through, has put another 3 tenths on run 4. But then run 2 tries to carry too much speed. By the last offset, there is a bit of a tail wag (video reference) and run 2 has to get WAYY off the gas, slowing all the way down to 31 mph. Run 4 is pretty tidy through this stuff, and enters the last sweeper at 40 mph.
Run 2 started with promise but lost it; run 4 had a mediocre slalom, but really strong offsets. Sector 4 is a wash.
Section 5: Sweeper, kink, finish
Run 4 is patient dropping into the downhill chute - run 2 less so. Run 4 also gives it up enough to be able to stay on the gas alll the way to the finish but run 2 isn’t patient enough. Run 4 carries about 6 mph more through the finish. This is where run 4 goes back up and finishes two tenths faster.
TL;DR version:
* Hard launch was worth .4 on run 4. Sorry clutch.
* Not looking ahead into uphill offsets cost .7 on run 4
* Sections 3 and 4 were a wash due to inconsistency - some parts run 2 was better, some parts run 4 was better
* Section 5 - run 4 was much better by being patient before the fast parts.
This is a very good sign but I still need to fix the bad habits.
I think the next event is the DC Pro. The ZIIs have 106 runs on them so they should still be okay but they are slowly getting up there in runs. No setup changes planned, just going to take lots of walks and do lots of looking ahead.
May 13, 2014, 01:26 PM
#430
Tire selection
As mentioned earlier, my Dunlop Z2’s are getting up there in runs. The tires I really want are the Z2 Star Spec, but they won’t be out until the season is pretty much over. I was looking for something to help fill the gap, to keep the Z2s available for concrete - another set of Z2, a set of the BFG Rivals, or a set of the Yoko AD08Rs. The AD08R is the one we know the least about, and Josh had tested the BFG vs the Z2 last year and found the BFG a tick quicker / easier to drive on, so I decided to look for a used set of Rivals since I didn’t need to put that many runs on them, just enough to keep the Z2’s fresh enough to do a concrete event here and there.
Jeff Hurst (2013 STX national champ in a field of 50something) had a set for sale with about 50 runs on them, so I was able to pick those up. My 17x9 SSRs have been sitting unused so I mounted the Rivals to those. I thought about moving the Z2s to the 17x9 wheels so that I could put the Rivals on the 17x9.5s (figuring the Z2 probably had the stiffer sidewall of the two and could get by with less wheel) but since this was an experiment, and I didn’t know if it was going to go well, I did the easy thing which was to mount them to the tire-less SSRs. That way, if I needed to go back to the Dunlops I wouldn’t be giving anything up.
Event 3: 2014 DC ProSolo, 4-26-2014
No Fast and Furious vinyl this year. Maybe next year for Fast 7
Since running a new brand of tires for the first time at a Pro is not necessarily a good idea, I brought the Dunlops with me just in case the BFG’s sucked. I already have the Z2’s fairly well figured out at Fedex, so the plan was to run the Dunlops on Sunday if the BFGs weren’t cutting it on Saturday. I would have tossed any contingency, but whatever.
The courses didn’t have any slaloms, just sweepers and the occasional offset. There were 2-3 digs on each side to pull out of, all serious patience sections where adding just a hair too much gas would cost you big in the following element. The 2013 course had three really slow corners (33 mph, 33 mph, 26 mph) and this year’s course had one long low-speed skidpad element (low 30s) followed by two very slow 90 degree turns (also low 30s/high 20s). So it was probably overall tighter than 2013. Yay digs!
Saturday AM
Alright.. been a year or so since I did one of these. Can I remember how a Pro works?
… sort of. My first 60 foots: 2.018, 1.917, 1.915, 1.918. The car was hopping pretty badly through the start chute. Asking around, it sounds like I’m not the only person who has experienced this going from Z2’s to Rivals - apparently the longitudinal grip on the Z2s is better. For comparison, my 60 foots from Saturday morning at the 2013 DC pro: 1.744, 1.806, 1.737, 1.82. Same uphill start, and apparently it fluctuates a little year to year - but that is a LOT of time. The car was probably still hopping at the 60 foot mark so it may be even worse than the times indicate (I know there were some folks who felt that last year’s lights were short, but even if the 60 foots were the same, the launches were definitely not the same).
The car felt surprisingly good, especially since I hadn’t made any setup changes for the BFG’s. The car was getting through the tight sections without being too pushy, which was key to setting up all of the fast sections. It was a little too nervous in the relatively fast transitions through the crossover, so after the heat was over I took a little compression out of the rear. But overall I was pretty happy with things.
After heat 1, I was .15 behind David, in 2nd, with a ~.9 gap to 3rd. It looked like the BFGs were going to be in the mix so I was pretty sure I would stick with them for the whole event. I mean, it is a serious effort to put all those BFG stickers on the car.
Saturday PM
Looking at the data from heat 1, I had two things to fix - both patience sections where I needed to stay off the gas just a little bit longer in order to line up the fast sections. One on each course.
On the right, I wasn’t able to do much. My 4th right-side run was a little faster until the last hard braking zone, where I didn’t get the car slowed up enough and had to let off. Similar story on the left. I was able to drop .224 on my 3rd left side run. My 4th started out better, but I blew the braking zone, trying to push it a little later, and it washed the improvements away.
The time I dropped on the left was enough to close a bit of the gap. At the end of Saturday,David had a 63.968 vs my 64.021, a gap of .053. A smaller gap than before, but it all comes down to Sunday.
By the time we left impound, it was almost dark...
The things I needed to fix were pretty obvious. My launches were still terrible - 60 foots:
2.004, 1.959, 1.948, 1.992.
And I needed to enter the double gates better so that I could get on the gas earlier.
Sunday AM
Alright, a small gap to make up and I knew exactly where the time was. Let’s go.
First run on the right. I was so focused on fixing the launch, I forgot that I had to brake and turn at the end of the launch chute. ProSolo is hard Too much to remember. I was super late entering the first sweeper and it was a no-help by four tenths. David did pretty much the same thing, slower by 4 tenths. RT .709, 60 foot 2.128 Brutal.
First run on the left. This went okay, but I coned somewhere, and it was .1 slower anyway. David moved to the right, and he also no-helped. RT .771, 60 foot 1.949.
One run remaining on each course. SRS BSNS.
Last run on the right. Launch sucked, again. But I was staying ahead and being aggressive in the right spots. Or so I thought. I came across the line - PJ announced an improvement of .076 - enough to take the lead - ahhh… “but throws it away with a cone”. David had improved by .020 on the left, so if I had gotten that run, I would have been up by a whopping .003 going into final runs. Doh! It looks like I hit the last two hittable cones on the course, both with the back of the car. RT .634, 60 foot 1.918.
Last run. The gap at this point is .073 - less than a tenth. Hell, that’s the difference between a good launch and a bad one. I know what I need to do - let’s do it.
I had a decent, not great, launch - 60 foot doesn’t really reflect it, but it was one of the few times I wasn’t hopping like crazy (RT .535, 60 foot 1.963). The run went really well, I flogged it into the finish and turned the stereo up. PJ announced that I had dropped time, and so had David, and…
“Wampler’s improvement puts him over [ButtDyno] for the class lead…”
… 2nd place, by .042.
That 31.688 ended up being the fast time in STU on the left, but I ended up sitting on my Saturday morning 32.239 run on the right.
I was a little disappointed, knowing I had coned it away, but still felt pretty good overall. I knew with that small a gap, I was almost a sure thing to make the Super Challenge, which was my main goal coming into the event. And hey, I did get a free tire from BFG.
STU didn’t do particularly well in the Pro Index at this event. Among other things that you wouldn’t necessarily expect at a Pro, STS beat STX and was only .4 off us in STU. As a point of comparison, I was 1.8 seconds faster than Ian Baker in 2013 at the DC Pro, and this year I was only .3 faster. I feel like I drove about the same :shrug: Ian is incredibly fast, but usually the Pro format gives more of a helping hand to us porky boost buggies. All that steady-state I guess?
Super Challenge
I had only made one other Super Challenge - 2010 when I won STX at the DC pro. I was hoping to win a round this time
As the Ladies challenge was starting, Jeff Hurst and I were talking, since he had just sold me the BFGs and commented that he guessed they worked out okay. I asked if the grid sheets for the challenge were up, and he said they were but that he hadn’t seen them yet. “For all I know, I could be paired up against you.” I went over to the grid sheets, and sure enough…
I started out on the right, as I had all weekend. I was mentally prepping myself for the staggered lights since I was going to start about 4 tenths late, and a lot of people red light in that situation.
The right side run went okay - but I hit a cone. My heart sank, until it was announced that we had BOTH hit cones. Jeff was ahead after running the slightly shorter left course, but only by .15 - so I was excited that not only was I still alive, but I was actually in a good spot going onto the left course.
… and that excitement caused me to red light. Badly. I started the launch about when I usually do, but I ended up doing the launch a lot faster. I didn’t even look back at the lights after the 3rd yellow. I noticed at the top of the course that I was noticeably ahead, and I came across the finish first, thinking YEAH! only to find out that I had red lit. Blah. When someone told me I had red lit, I assumed that was the reason I was so far ahead - Jeff must have known I had red lit and was just trying to warm tires or something. It turned out he had made a mistake early on, and really was behind, and had no idea I red lit. So if I had just taken it easy at the tree, I would have been in great shape. For the most part, I had been dropping the handbrake late on the 2nd light and starting to go on the 3rd light, but with all the irrational exuberance I rushed it.
Video of most of the super challenge (STU Evo content starting at 19:00 or so)
Waiting around two hours, just to ****** defeat from the jaws of victory, kind of sucks But it’s all valuable experience. Wilmington isn’t going to work out schedule wise so it looks like the Toledo Pro for me.
Tire notes
I’m very unlikely to run the BFG’s at a Pro again. On course, they felt about as good as the Dunlops, but they kind of suck at launching. I think for regular events at Fedex they should be good to go though, and with a higher heat tolerance than the Z2s, I don’t have to worry about the summer months as much.
Here’s a gif comparison.
Launch in 2013 with Z2s: drama free.
Launch in 2014 with BFGs: struggle to keep the car straight.
Data writeup
Being a Pro, the heats are all at different times, and none of the data lines up quite enough to be useful here. So, punting on this.
Overall
The really good news is - I improved on Sunday for the first time in a while, instead of improving raw time and chucking it away with cones. It wasn’t enough but I was relatively happy with that part.
Perry Bennett (http://autoxpix.com) took some great shots - here is one.
There’s a Fedex event this weekend - I’ll probably keep trying to dial the car in on the BFGs.
As mentioned earlier, my Dunlop Z2’s are getting up there in runs. The tires I really want are the Z2 Star Spec, but they won’t be out until the season is pretty much over. I was looking for something to help fill the gap, to keep the Z2s available for concrete - another set of Z2, a set of the BFG Rivals, or a set of the Yoko AD08Rs. The AD08R is the one we know the least about, and Josh had tested the BFG vs the Z2 last year and found the BFG a tick quicker / easier to drive on, so I decided to look for a used set of Rivals since I didn’t need to put that many runs on them, just enough to keep the Z2’s fresh enough to do a concrete event here and there.
Jeff Hurst (2013 STX national champ in a field of 50something) had a set for sale with about 50 runs on them, so I was able to pick those up. My 17x9 SSRs have been sitting unused so I mounted the Rivals to those. I thought about moving the Z2s to the 17x9 wheels so that I could put the Rivals on the 17x9.5s (figuring the Z2 probably had the stiffer sidewall of the two and could get by with less wheel) but since this was an experiment, and I didn’t know if it was going to go well, I did the easy thing which was to mount them to the tire-less SSRs. That way, if I needed to go back to the Dunlops I wouldn’t be giving anything up.
Event 3: 2014 DC ProSolo, 4-26-2014
No Fast and Furious vinyl this year. Maybe next year for Fast 7
Since running a new brand of tires for the first time at a Pro is not necessarily a good idea, I brought the Dunlops with me just in case the BFG’s sucked. I already have the Z2’s fairly well figured out at Fedex, so the plan was to run the Dunlops on Sunday if the BFGs weren’t cutting it on Saturday. I would have tossed any contingency, but whatever.
The courses didn’t have any slaloms, just sweepers and the occasional offset. There were 2-3 digs on each side to pull out of, all serious patience sections where adding just a hair too much gas would cost you big in the following element. The 2013 course had three really slow corners (33 mph, 33 mph, 26 mph) and this year’s course had one long low-speed skidpad element (low 30s) followed by two very slow 90 degree turns (also low 30s/high 20s). So it was probably overall tighter than 2013. Yay digs!
Saturday AM
Alright.. been a year or so since I did one of these. Can I remember how a Pro works?
… sort of. My first 60 foots: 2.018, 1.917, 1.915, 1.918. The car was hopping pretty badly through the start chute. Asking around, it sounds like I’m not the only person who has experienced this going from Z2’s to Rivals - apparently the longitudinal grip on the Z2s is better. For comparison, my 60 foots from Saturday morning at the 2013 DC pro: 1.744, 1.806, 1.737, 1.82. Same uphill start, and apparently it fluctuates a little year to year - but that is a LOT of time. The car was probably still hopping at the 60 foot mark so it may be even worse than the times indicate (I know there were some folks who felt that last year’s lights were short, but even if the 60 foots were the same, the launches were definitely not the same).
The car felt surprisingly good, especially since I hadn’t made any setup changes for the BFG’s. The car was getting through the tight sections without being too pushy, which was key to setting up all of the fast sections. It was a little too nervous in the relatively fast transitions through the crossover, so after the heat was over I took a little compression out of the rear. But overall I was pretty happy with things.
After heat 1, I was .15 behind David, in 2nd, with a ~.9 gap to 3rd. It looked like the BFGs were going to be in the mix so I was pretty sure I would stick with them for the whole event. I mean, it is a serious effort to put all those BFG stickers on the car.
Saturday PM
Looking at the data from heat 1, I had two things to fix - both patience sections where I needed to stay off the gas just a little bit longer in order to line up the fast sections. One on each course.
On the right, I wasn’t able to do much. My 4th right-side run was a little faster until the last hard braking zone, where I didn’t get the car slowed up enough and had to let off. Similar story on the left. I was able to drop .224 on my 3rd left side run. My 4th started out better, but I blew the braking zone, trying to push it a little later, and it washed the improvements away.
The time I dropped on the left was enough to close a bit of the gap. At the end of Saturday,David had a 63.968 vs my 64.021, a gap of .053. A smaller gap than before, but it all comes down to Sunday.
By the time we left impound, it was almost dark...
The things I needed to fix were pretty obvious. My launches were still terrible - 60 foots:
2.004, 1.959, 1.948, 1.992.
And I needed to enter the double gates better so that I could get on the gas earlier.
Sunday AM
Alright, a small gap to make up and I knew exactly where the time was. Let’s go.
First run on the right. I was so focused on fixing the launch, I forgot that I had to brake and turn at the end of the launch chute. ProSolo is hard
Too much to remember. I was super late entering the first sweeper and it was a no-help by four tenths. David did pretty much the same thing, slower by 4 tenths. RT .709, 60 foot 2.128 Brutal.First run on the left. This went okay, but I coned somewhere, and it was .1 slower anyway. David moved to the right, and he also no-helped. RT .771, 60 foot 1.949.
One run remaining on each course. SRS BSNS.
Last run on the right. Launch sucked, again. But I was staying ahead and being aggressive in the right spots. Or so I thought. I came across the line - PJ announced an improvement of .076 - enough to take the lead - ahhh… “but throws it away with a cone”. David had improved by .020 on the left, so if I had gotten that run, I would have been up by a whopping .003 going into final runs. Doh! It looks like I hit the last two hittable cones on the course, both with the back of the car. RT .634, 60 foot 1.918.
Last run. The gap at this point is .073 - less than a tenth. Hell, that’s the difference between a good launch and a bad one. I know what I need to do - let’s do it.
I had a decent, not great, launch - 60 foot doesn’t really reflect it, but it was one of the few times I wasn’t hopping like crazy (RT .535, 60 foot 1.963). The run went really well, I flogged it into the finish and turned the stereo up. PJ announced that I had dropped time, and so had David, and…
“Wampler’s improvement puts him over [ButtDyno] for the class lead…”
… 2nd place, by .042.
That 31.688 ended up being the fast time in STU on the left, but I ended up sitting on my Saturday morning 32.239 run on the right.
I was a little disappointed, knowing I had coned it away, but still felt pretty good overall. I knew with that small a gap, I was almost a sure thing to make the Super Challenge, which was my main goal coming into the event. And hey, I did get a free tire from BFG.
STU didn’t do particularly well in the Pro Index at this event. Among other things that you wouldn’t necessarily expect at a Pro, STS beat STX and was only .4 off us in STU. As a point of comparison, I was 1.8 seconds faster than Ian Baker in 2013 at the DC Pro, and this year I was only .3 faster. I feel like I drove about the same :shrug: Ian is incredibly fast, but usually the Pro format gives more of a helping hand to us porky boost buggies. All that steady-state I guess?
Super Challenge
I had only made one other Super Challenge - 2010 when I won STX at the DC pro. I was hoping to win a round this time
As the Ladies challenge was starting, Jeff Hurst and I were talking, since he had just sold me the BFGs and commented that he guessed they worked out okay. I asked if the grid sheets for the challenge were up, and he said they were but that he hadn’t seen them yet. “For all I know, I could be paired up against you.” I went over to the grid sheets, and sure enough…
I started out on the right, as I had all weekend. I was mentally prepping myself for the staggered lights since I was going to start about 4 tenths late, and a lot of people red light in that situation.
The right side run went okay - but I hit a cone. My heart sank, until it was announced that we had BOTH hit cones. Jeff was ahead after running the slightly shorter left course, but only by .15 - so I was excited that not only was I still alive, but I was actually in a good spot going onto the left course.
… and that excitement caused me to red light. Badly. I started the launch about when I usually do, but I ended up doing the launch a lot faster. I didn’t even look back at the lights after the 3rd yellow. I noticed at the top of the course that I was noticeably ahead, and I came across the finish first, thinking YEAH! only to find out that I had red lit. Blah. When someone told me I had red lit, I assumed that was the reason I was so far ahead - Jeff must have known I had red lit and was just trying to warm tires or something. It turned out he had made a mistake early on, and really was behind, and had no idea I red lit. So if I had just taken it easy at the tree, I would have been in great shape. For the most part, I had been dropping the handbrake late on the 2nd light and starting to go on the 3rd light, but with all the irrational exuberance I rushed it.
Video of most of the super challenge (STU Evo content starting at 19:00 or so)
Originally Posted by ”piknockout”
Rule #1 of the challenge: don’t redlight.
But it’s all valuable experience. Wilmington isn’t going to work out schedule wise so it looks like the Toledo Pro for me.Tire notes
I’m very unlikely to run the BFG’s at a Pro again. On course, they felt about as good as the Dunlops, but they kind of suck at launching. I think for regular events at Fedex they should be good to go though, and with a higher heat tolerance than the Z2s, I don’t have to worry about the summer months as much.
Here’s a gif comparison.
Launch in 2013 with Z2s: drama free.
Launch in 2014 with BFGs: struggle to keep the car straight.
Data writeup
Being a Pro, the heats are all at different times, and none of the data lines up quite enough to be useful here. So, punting on this.
Overall
The really good news is - I improved on Sunday for the first time in a while, instead of improving raw time and chucking it away with cones. It wasn’t enough but I was relatively happy with that part.
Perry Bennett (http://autoxpix.com) took some great shots - here is one.
There’s a Fedex event this weekend - I’ll probably keep trying to dial the car in on the BFGs.
May 13, 2014, 02:01 PM
#431
Evolving Member
Hopping? ooh, I'd be careful with that. For us that usually just means we've let the clutch out too fast, and honestly, concerning mechanical sympathy, I would suggest erring on the side of too slow/clutch slippage than excessive hopping.
So what are the outcomes if you don't get it right... wheel hop, clutch slip, losing traction, or bogging? lol, or all-of-the-above!
May 13, 2014, 02:39 PM
#432
Hopping? ooh, I'd be careful with that. For us that usually just means we've let the clutch out too fast, and honestly, concerning mechanical sympathy, I would suggest erring on the side of too slow/clutch slippage than excessive hopping.
So what are the outcomes if you don't get it right... wheel hop, clutch slip, losing traction, or bogging? lol, or all-of-the-above!
So what are the outcomes if you don't get it right... wheel hop, clutch slip, losing traction, or bogging? lol, or all-of-the-above!
May 14, 2014, 05:31 AM
#433
Hopping? ooh, I'd be careful with that. For us that usually just means we've let the clutch out too fast, and honestly, concerning mechanical sympathy, I would suggest erring on the side of too slow/clutch slippage than excessive hopping.
So what are the outcomes if you don't get it right... wheel hop, clutch slip, losing traction, or bogging? lol, or all-of-the-above!
So what are the outcomes if you don't get it right... wheel hop, clutch slip, losing traction, or bogging? lol, or all-of-the-above!
