My new to me NSX at Streets Of Willow video

[illwillem]

Just threw it together with footage from my CountourHD cam, Its pretty difficult to make a static camera interesting but I think it turned out pretty well. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rL5Djrw19w

 

[stuntman]

How many times have you been to the track? 27's at SOW isn't too shabby on street tires.

What size were they F&R?
Were they RT 615 or RT 615K ?
What suspension?
Any other mods?


Awesome to see more NSXs on track!


Billy

 

[illwillem]

Hey, thanks man!

Ive been to the track probably 5-6 times in the past 10 years. I used to do alot of canyon driving, some karting, motorcycle riding. I haven't been on the track in a car in probably 3 or so years, last was with my s2k, and this was the first time i've run SOW counter-clockwise.

The tires are 615rt-k's front: 215/40/17 rear: 255/35/18 (i think):redface:

This was basically a shakedown for my new KW's V3's and alignment. The only other mods on the car are regamaster evo's, SS lines, RBF fluid, MU pads. Dali hotchip, some header that was on the car when I bought it and a titec exhaust. thats it.

I bought the car to get myself back on the track. Its still newish to me but I was VERY happy with how comfortable I felt, it took a while to get that feeling in the s2k. The tires were definitely the weak link that day. I'd heat them up, they'd feel really good for maaayyybe for two laps at 8/10th then in the space of a few turns of i would have cooked them off and they would start to give up pretty quickly. You can see those last too laps (out of 6) as smooth as i felt i was being i was still catching the back end. i had to keep my head and know when to call it quits (which was hard to do because I was having so much fun) lest id fly out of the backside of the bowl.

I do wonder how much of the tire issue was because I was flying totally blind as far as pressures to run with the MR set up. I was trying different things and i think i had a good feeling in them at the end of the day but by then they were greasy and it started to rain so i packed it in and drove home. I somewhat on purpose didn't get any forum input on it, I wanted to see if I could figure it out on my own, which i think i got as close too with these azenis as i could have.

The next purchase is defiantly another set of wheels and some better R rubber for the next track day. It's fun to be out there again giving 15 year newer cars on r-comps a good chase.

Do you have any NSX specific recommendations of tires brand and size? i was sad to not see any other NSX's out there.

 

[RYU]

illwillem - Thanks for sharing. I'm surprised you were the only NSX out there. If it wasn't SOW I would have probably joined you. Rumor is Dali is trying to setup another track day in the late summer at Spring Mountain which you might be interested in. What were the ambient temps at SOW when you went? You said it rained later so it couldn't have been that hot maybe?

 

[illwillem]

It was pretty chilly in the morning, 53 i think was the low. It would heat up to about 65ish from noon on then would cloud over and cool down again, sometimes drizzle. Id absolutely be interested in a dali track day. I just signed up for July 30th at SOW again today.

 

[stuntman]

Hey, thanks man!

Ive been to the track probably 5-6 times in the past 10 years. I used to do alot of canyon driving, some karting, motorcycle riding. I haven't been on the track in a car in probably 3 or so years, last was with my s2k, and this was the first time i've run SOW counter-clockwise.

The tires are 615rt-k's front: 215/40/17 rear: 255/35/18 (i think):redface:

This was basically a shakedown for my new KW's V3's and alignment. The only other mods on the car are regamaster evo's, SS lines, RBF fluid, MU pads. Dali hotchip, some header that was on the car when I bought it and a titec exhaust. thats it.

I bought the car to get myself back on the track. Its still newish to me but I was VERY happy with how comfortable I felt, it took a while to get that feeling in the s2k. The tires were definitely the weak link that day. I'd heat them up, they'd feel really good for maaayyybe for two laps at 8/10th then in the space of a few turns of i would have cooked them off and they would start to give up pretty quickly. You can see those last too laps (out of 6) as smooth as i felt i was being i was still catching the back end. i had to keep my head and know when to call it quits (which was hard to do because I was having so much fun) lest id fly out of the backside of the bowl.

I do wonder how much of the tire issue was because I was flying totally blind as far as pressures to run with the MR set up. I was trying different things and i think i had a good feeling in them at the end of the day but by then they were greasy and it started to rain so i packed it in and drove home. I somewhat on purpose didn't get any forum input on it, I wanted to see if I could figure it out on my own, which i think i got as close too with these azenis as i could have.

The next purchase is defiantly another set of wheels and some better R rubber for the next track day. It's fun to be out there again giving 15 year newer cars on r-comps a good chase.

Do you have any NSX specific recommendations of tires brand and size? i was sad to not see any other NSX's out there.

What HOT pressures were you running?

You looked smooth and the car looked great. How do you like the suspension? At the end of the video, you added a text: "WOAH" in there. The car rotated a little and you un-winded the steering wheel a little but you weren't sideways or IMO had "a moment" by any means. You were making the car 'work' -which is really good thing. With more seat time i'd like to see a little more aggression with the wheel but overall it was VERY good -especially for such little seat time recently.

The RT615 does get greasy VERY quick especially above 70* weather and make very little noise. When in the 50's, the tires keep their grip a lot longer and make noise unless the pressures go above 40psi. The 615K is suppose to have more grip, and last even longer and be more consistent -but i've never personally tried them.


The tried and true setup I like is:

17x7.5 (preferably 17x8) front: 235/40-17
18x9.5 (if available 18x10) rear: 265/35-18 to 275/35-18

Street tires:
Yokohama AD08, StarSpec, Hankook RS3

R-Comp:
Nitto NT01 -hands down.



Billy

 

[illwillem]

Awesome, thanks Billy! Ive been following the Superlap results and that in car footage is phenomenal some of the inputs at that speed make me clench front of my computer screen.

my hot pressures i had to ball park my 'pit crew' (read; little brother) forgot my digital reader on the work bench and I was forced to use the oem plastic hatched gage. They were in the neighborhood if 40-45 PSI (as accurate as that gauge is) after 8-9 laps fronts tending to be a little lower.


Its a little hard to tell i guess in the video but the 'Whoa' was because in that instance i'd lost front and rear grip at once, on the slowest corner on the track, almost like the tires went ice cold, looking back think it may have been some fluid on track- but id already felt like I was at the edge of the tires so i didn't push.
I don't mind getting a little loose (see :23 1:50 3:20 4:54 in the vid) but the HUGE drop to the dirt in some of the corners makes me thing twice about being so brave. I can just imagine railsliding the frame over chunky asphalt edge. I still feel like im just borrowing someone elses baby and am under strict orders to keep it under 8/10th. I'm sure get over it with more seat time.

Thanks again for the tire tips. Im actually in the market for some 17x8 18x10's right now, a dedicated track set. I'm surprised to see that the NTO1's will fit the fronts at 235. Ill give it a try and am sure ill improve. i'll post more videos from the next event. my goal is once a month, maybe more.

Cheers Willem

 

[RYU]

I don't mind getting a little loose (see :23 1:50 3:20 4:54 in the vid) but the HUGE drop to the dirt in some of the corners makes me thing twice about being so brave. I can just imagine railsliding the frame over chunky asphalt edge.

I wish SOW didn't have these and had better run-offs in general. That track is always a bit sketchy for a newb like me.

btw.. i'm using 235 NT05s in the front and they do rub at full lock and surprisingly also rub against the top fender liner on my driver's side during hard compression. I do want to dial in more front camber which should (?) fix the issue. Just fyi if in case you want to go with 235s.

 

[mochanges]

Great video Willem. Glad to see you got the Dali chip installed and running.

I noticed you said you went with the Contour camera, any reason you chose it over a GoPro? I'm trying to decide which one to get before my next track day.

 

[RYU]

Great video Willem. Glad to see you got the Dali chip installed and running.

I noticed you said you went with the Contour camera, any reason you chose it over a GoPro? I'm trying to decide which one to get before my next track day.

A bit OT but I've used both Contour and GoPro since these are the video capture devices of choice from my inner group of friends. I like them both and you can probably find stats on batt life, video quality, & cost. Mounting is the same for both units = good. Video quality is good. However, if for some reason you have to capture sound the Contour is horrible dealing with external wind noise. It's so bad that you might as well put it on mute. It does handle aiming better since it has a dual laser pointer built in to help.

$0.02. Hope that helps.

 

[mochanges]

Thanks! Not to continue the thread jack but I borrowed a friends GoPro for a run at Laguna Seca and I'm hooked. I think I'll get a GoPro.

 

[illwillem]

I rede motorcycles too and the go pro always just seems totally awkward as a big dumb brick just sitting on top of your bike or helmet. the contour is light small low profile and actually uses better chip technology. Plus I use it for airsofting mounted on the front of my gun and this is the only one that'll work like that. The audio as mentioned SUCKS even when worn as intended. people wrap them in socks and tape, I guess a good fix is to use a water proof case all the time to kill the wind noise. The new version is coming out (or is out) and it supposedly fixes all of the old contours faults. i'm going to grab one of those too.

link to the contour plus---- http://contour.com/camera/contour_plus

I got this 'kit' and you seriously cannot beat the price for everything involved---- http://store.contour.com/contour-1080p-motorsports-kit-p33.aspx

eitherway make sure to get a micro SD card too the 2gb one it come with is to small to be of ANY use.

 

[stuntman]

Awesome, thanks Billy! Ive been following the Superlap results and that in car footage is phenomenal some of the inputs at that speed make me clench front of my computer screen.

my hot pressures i had to ball park my 'pit crew' (read; little brother) forgot my digital reader on the work bench and I was forced to use the oem plastic hatched gage. They were in the neighborhood if 40-45 PSI (as accurate as that gauge is) after 8-9 laps fronts tending to be a little lower.


Its a little hard to tell i guess in the video but the 'Whoa' was because in that instance i'd lost front and rear grip at once, on the slowest corner on the track, almost like the tires went ice cold, looking back think it may have been some fluid on track- but id already felt like I was at the edge of the tires so i didn't push.
I don't mind getting a little loose (see :23 1:50 3:20 4:54 in the vid) but the HUGE drop to the dirt in some of the corners makes me thing twice about being so brave. I can just imagine railsliding the frame over chunky asphalt edge. I still feel like im just borrowing someone elses baby and am under strict orders to keep it under 8/10th. I'm sure get over it with more seat time.

Ive found that anything over 38psi in the NSX start to lose grip in street and R-comp tires on most tire combinations for the NSX (especially the 615). Anything over 40psi and the tires lose significant grip, especially the rear.

IMO, Run 36-38psi HOT all around (no pressure stagger F-R) and don't let them get over 40. I think that was your biggest issue handling.

As far as the 'woa' is concerned, it still wasn't big and when you're driving the car at the limit, you'll have a 4-wheel slide going on in most corners from turn-in to track-out. Keep it up and stay out there!

 

[NSXMitch]

IllWill -

"...for my new KW's V3's and alignment...."
How do you like the KWs? How do they ride on the street?

Care to share your alignment specs..?

 

[illwillem]

KW's are amazing. I live in LA so street driving around here in anything other than a cushy car is not fun. That being said I have had A LOT of other coilovers on various other cars that rode a ton worse than this does now. I'd say 9/10 on comfort.

As far as the track performance is concerned they couldn't be better I had set the rebound and dampening for some light canyoun driving and only adjusted it once during the day to get alittle more bite from the fronts (again, though, all my specs are relative because I was ball parking tire pressures) As far as alignment i had a long talk with Darren about how I like my cars to feel and the type of driving I do. I cant say enough good things about West end Alignment. we went with a very neutral and safe set up along with a corner balance. because it was my first outing with the car I have the specs written down in my file and will post them up later.