We missed the 1st event due to timing and budget but we were back in action this past weekend at Homestead/Miami speedway. New this year was....a lot. We finally ripped the ACT clutch out and put a Exedy Twin SD in, rebuilt the tranny with Evo 8 3rd and 4th gears as well as a JDM 5th gear, new syncros, springs, yada, Rebuilt the rear diff and put in Weir's 12 plate kit, tried Ferodo's DS 1.11 pads, hoosier full slicks, two different ACD maps - Gruppe and ACD-Tuning, as well as put the fuel system back to the stock housing and 98 octane instead of e85, new fluids, VC gasket, plugs, and Spark Tech's non-CDI COP. The track also changed this time around and included the NASCAR turn 3/4 banking coming onto the straight. Talk about pucker moments .

So, the good:

- the clutch is awesome, I dunno why I waited so long to get the twin. The tranny is even better as the gears are slightly shorter and the 5th is WAY shorter. No more of this shift fall on it's face syndrome, stays right where you want it. A little stiff through the gears but that'll ease up.

- The rear diff is superb especially with either tune. You do get the click click the second you turn the wheel at any slow speeds though, using AMSOIL throughout. We'll keep beating on it throughout the season but I can tell my times are going to drop with how much more pointed it is on corner exit.

- The AP kit is still kicking ****, however the pads are SUPER LOUD. We'll have to play with that to be sure what's really making the noise, those of you whom have the AP kit and Ferodo pads chime in and leme know if you get the same symptoms as you see in the video. Stopping power isn't an issue at all, I was outbreaking the vettes both days, super super happy with it still as I posted earlier.

- Sparktech's CoP i'm going to call one of those highly recommended upgrades, because it's so much smoother, responsive, etc. It's one of those parts that just makes sense to do at any stage. We had to turn the boost down slightly as it peaked quicker and made a little more power on the dyno. The leads are a little long but easily zip tied out of the way.

With all of that I knew this weekend was gonna be catchup so I took it easy Saturday and turned it up a bit on Sunday. We qualified 5th on Saturday and 4th Sunday, however on Sunday T&S was all kinds of ****ed up, had the civics gridded first, i think everyone was at least one off position . Also this weekend the Thunder field was mostly ALL from out of town. Two vettes from the NE region, 2 SCCA T1 vettes, Mr. Dean Martin and two of his badass mustangs, a GT3 with what seemed a zillion HP, and the rest. The only local I had with me was on sunday in ST1 were the Silver M3 driven by GTS national champ Mueller, and scotty in his black ST1 vette. We all jumped into SU this weekend too as most of the out of town people didn't have forms. I got down to a 1:33 on Saturday and even further into 1:30 on Sunday as my ***** grew a bit bigger for the banking. Deff need a GT wing for that kind of turn, i'm still on stock.

Saturday Thunder race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ob5u...o9YcnJnmGUnEE=

Sunday Thunder race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyMOR...t92ta4tzU99no=

The not good/sorta bad,

Coming off of e85 and now running Sunoco 98 I've got what pretty much everybody is calling the bug fogger/anti draft car. Every time I get off of full throttle or downshift/blip the throttle I was throwing a huge cloud of smoke out the back. On saturday it started out kinda blue/white then moved to a brown color. I remember when I rand 93 and first started tracking it would throw fire, then when I used higher octane it would just throw some smoke out without igniting. Car isn't down on power at all. I'm hoping it's just burning off whatever 2 years of e85 did. AFR ~11.8. It didn't do this on the dyno, only at the track. Thoughts?

Small oil leak issue. For some reason I now have oil coming out of the oil cap and going about everywhere. I tried modifying the metal clip to push it in harder and even found an o-ring to put around the inner part but it still threw some oil out. Not a lot, dipstick still shows right at full. But enough to get all over that area, drip down onto everything etc. I also noticed the vent hose on the right is now wet with oil, when it never really was before. Again it didn't do this on the dyno, only at the track.

 

Do you have the Kiggly HLA?

 

Negative, pretty much stock everything.

 

That would help with the oil cap issue. Have you tried just a new oil cap entirely?

I know you did a lot of changing at once, but did you change anything else to cure any oversteer the upgraded rear diff created?

 

Ya ima try a cap first. Didn't touch the suspension at all, still neutral. The oversteer is totally controllable with your right foot.

 

Good stuff sir. i like the vids car is doing well it shows

 

nice videos, good luck for this year !!!

 

Cool videos, glad I remembered to watch them when I got home. What kind of power/weight do you have? You were closing easily on those vettes in the corners but when they hit the roval they just took off.

 

Nice driving. What kind of speed were you running through the Nascar turns?

I just hit the track with the AP kit as well, Hawk DTC70's. Sounded about like your video all weekend. My friend in the paddock started calling me squeaky. I didn't care, that AP kit is worth every dime.

I also did the Weir 12-plate last year. Yes it absolutely transforms the car when you roll throttle off apex. Being able to rotate on throttle is such a nice upgrade.

 

Thanks guys. Ya squeeks for sure, fine at first, but now it's starting to make me think of what I can do to stop it. Top speed I think I was coming into turn 1 at 140-145ish.

Power to weight wise right at 8.70, but I couldn't full throttle the first half of the nascar turn like the others cause the rear felt like it was stepping out. Most everyone else that was ahead of me then had a huge rear wing to assist with that, so that's next

 

Nice to hear some more racing stories. Good luck this year!

I was making vroom, vroom noises in the car tonight pretending to be racing. You bastards in those warm climates.

 

ok I'm not alone...

 

Hi Guys,
I'm glad our Essex/AP Racing brake system is killin' it for you guys out there! The DS1.11 pads are indeed noisy. They unfortunately squeal like a stuck pig pretty much all the time, hot or cold, bedded or unbedded. Fortunately however, they actually work extremely well, unlike a lot of the quieter alternatives. The noise is a little bit of trade off, but they will serve you well in terms of performance.

I haven't gotten as much noise feedback on the Ferodo DSUNO's, but they could be a less noisy option. Balrok, do you have a set of those on hand (I think you might)?

 

My Hawk DTC60s are squeeky as well with DBA5000 rotors and stock Brembos. I really need to save up for the AP BBK kit. I just did the Weir 12-plate, and have my first event next month. I'm pretty stoked as the little driving I've done with it has shown a dramatic difference.

 

Yes indeed, I was part of the first batch, and they were pretty loud too. If you look at my youtube channel it's used in both of the Oct races. Again there's nothing wrong with them, best stopping power I've ever had period. It's likely due to the sheer amount of metallic content in the pads. My buddy was joking with me saying he knew exactly which turns I was at from across the track with the pitch/duration of the squeel . The caliper/brackets/rotor and everything else look like i'm not trying hard enough