The adventure actually started 2 weeks before OTC when we got the car back from the cage guy. about 4 weeks later than we expected to get the car back. We only had 1 day to test the car at 03/28 event at thunderhill
03/28:
We tried spring rate of 1000lb front and 750 rear, with Dali old style front bar (non adjustable) and no bar in the rear. The car is has oversteering characteristics, which we found surprising since we tried this setup in my car with result of slightly understeering.
Maybe the The RM front splitter is too effective, overpowering the big wing. Both aero, I didn't have in my car when I tried this setup. With OTC only a week away, we decided to swap the setup to Comptech stock setup of 1000lbs front and 600 lbs rear, with Dali newer bar version which is adjustable front and rear.
04/05:
First day of free testing at pahrump. We tested the car with Toyo RA-1, and the car still has oversteering characteristic, so we play with the bar and try to dial the understeer. We got the car handling to wear we want it, so we go back to the hotel and rest.
04/06:
First day of OTC. We mounted the slicks on the car and I went out for the first session. The car understeer heavily! Note to self 1; test and adjut the suspension with the tire you will use on the competition. 2nd session Tom went out, and said the car still understeer, so I dial more rear bar. 3rd session, and I take the car out, but the car understeer even heavier than first session and I failed to improve my time. We then tried to dial the suspension to create more oversteer for Tom in 4th session with me in passenger seat. I noticed even heavier understeer. We struggled all day to get the car setup right and neglected to check the tire. This prove to be very costly, as we found out when we dismounted the tire that the front tire corded badly. What a bonehead! Note to self 2; check the condition of the car after each session. Oh, btw, Tom got called at the end of the day, that his wife is in labor. So Tom catch a ride to Vegas airport and flew back to bay area to be with his wife.
04/07:
Las Vegas. My first time ever in this track. Without Tom's help, I got my hands full working by myself. Today the car still understeer. I tried several things at little increment at a time trying to get the understeer out and at the same time trying to learn the track as much as I can. I suck, could not get a good lap time, and the car still understeer at the end of the day. Note to self 3; get seat time at each track before competing.
04/08:
oing to Buttonwillow and Thunderhill I was very excited. This is the two tracks in OTC schedule that are my strongest. I've only been to Pahrump twice and never to Vegas. Got there in the morning and quickly work on the suspension to try to dial more everster.
First session out, the car feel better. I did my warm up lap, and my first flyer. Had to deal with traffic, until my 4th lap where I finally got my first clean lap. However, I noticed the brake pedal is getting mushy by 3/4 through my fourth lap. At the 2nd corner from the last, it got really mushy. My instict told me to slow down, cool down the brakes. But I thought, it is only 1 more corner, get the lap time, then slow down to cool down the brakes. Since this is my only clear lap so far, I decided to went for it. In to the last corner, the brakes gotten worse. I could nto slowed down enough, went sideways to the corner, and drop the rear wheel into the dirt. It quickly turn the car around and I spun, heading ass first into the inside wall. I cringed and braced myself as the car hit the inside wall ass first. F@#K! Note to self 4; trust your instict and don't get the adrenaline take over your judgment.
Tom arrived back from the bay area to see his car mangled. But he asked me if I got at least 3 laps. I told him I gotten 3 laps, but none of them was my fastest as I was dealing with traffic, and I hit the wall at my first clean lap.
We decided to try and continue OTC. I called Conversion Techniques in Oakland, to see if we can have the car look at and possibly repaired so we an continue and compete in Thunderhill.
We arrived at their shop at 6:30pm, and they quickly go to work. By 10pm, the car is ready. and we headed to Thunderhill. We arrived at 2:30am and have to be awake by 7:00 am.
04/09:
Thunderhill, day 1. We bled the brakes, and I went out the first session, try to get good laps, and good feeling on the car. The car still understeering, so again, I made some adjustments. I'm running out of options and maybe forced to change the spring rate. Tom went out for the second session and came back early. He boiled the brake fluid and went off track as a result. We bled them again, and he went out for the 3rd session. After the session, he told me the car handle great. So I got into the car for my 4th session, and the first lap went very nicely. Starting the second lap, the car develop heavy understeer. Since this is the last session, I just kept going and tried to do my best. Once I finished the session, we jacked up the car and found out that one of the rear sway bar bracket came loose and fell on the track. So we essentially don't have rear bar. No wonder the car pushed so heavily.
We jumped into the tow vehicle and headed to my place in San Francisco to get the spare part. We got back to Thunderhill at 11 pm.
04/09:
Thunderhill day 2. I took the car out in the first session and very happy with the handling. Turn some fast laps comfortably in my first session. We were very happy to finally got the handling sorted out and I am ready to go out in second session to turn some flier. Just before the second session, Tom went out to get gas, and when he cam back, as I climbed into the car, Tom said the check engine light is on. Oh well, my session is up any second, and there is no chance for us to check it. I went out and the car feels fine. However, at the start of my 3rd lap, I lost VTEC, and the car rev limiter kicked in at 7000 rpm. I pitted, we tried to find out the problem. There were 3 codes stored in the ECU. They are, front bank VTEC switch, msifiring on Cyl #4, and TCS no signal. TCS, I was not worried about since we unplugged the computer, and that might triggered the check engine light. However, the misfiring and no VTEC is bad, so we decided to pack it up and head home.
We learned a lot in this adventure. Next year, we definitely come better prepared.
03/28:
We tried spring rate of 1000lb front and 750 rear, with Dali old style front bar (non adjustable) and no bar in the rear. The car is has oversteering characteristics, which we found surprising since we tried this setup in my car with result of slightly understeering.
Maybe the The RM front splitter is too effective, overpowering the big wing. Both aero, I didn't have in my car when I tried this setup. With OTC only a week away, we decided to swap the setup to Comptech stock setup of 1000lbs front and 600 lbs rear, with Dali newer bar version which is adjustable front and rear.
04/05:
First day of free testing at pahrump. We tested the car with Toyo RA-1, and the car still has oversteering characteristic, so we play with the bar and try to dial the understeer. We got the car handling to wear we want it, so we go back to the hotel and rest.
04/06:
First day of OTC. We mounted the slicks on the car and I went out for the first session. The car understeer heavily! Note to self 1; test and adjut the suspension with the tire you will use on the competition. 2nd session Tom went out, and said the car still understeer, so I dial more rear bar. 3rd session, and I take the car out, but the car understeer even heavier than first session and I failed to improve my time. We then tried to dial the suspension to create more oversteer for Tom in 4th session with me in passenger seat. I noticed even heavier understeer. We struggled all day to get the car setup right and neglected to check the tire. This prove to be very costly, as we found out when we dismounted the tire that the front tire corded badly. What a bonehead! Note to self 2; check the condition of the car after each session. Oh, btw, Tom got called at the end of the day, that his wife is in labor. So Tom catch a ride to Vegas airport and flew back to bay area to be with his wife.
04/07:
Las Vegas. My first time ever in this track. Without Tom's help, I got my hands full working by myself. Today the car still understeer. I tried several things at little increment at a time trying to get the understeer out and at the same time trying to learn the track as much as I can. I suck, could not get a good lap time, and the car still understeer at the end of the day. Note to self 3; get seat time at each track before competing.
04/08:
oing to Buttonwillow and Thunderhill I was very excited. This is the two tracks in OTC schedule that are my strongest. I've only been to Pahrump twice and never to Vegas. Got there in the morning and quickly work on the suspension to try to dial more everster.
First session out, the car feel better. I did my warm up lap, and my first flyer. Had to deal with traffic, until my 4th lap where I finally got my first clean lap. However, I noticed the brake pedal is getting mushy by 3/4 through my fourth lap. At the 2nd corner from the last, it got really mushy. My instict told me to slow down, cool down the brakes. But I thought, it is only 1 more corner, get the lap time, then slow down to cool down the brakes. Since this is my only clear lap so far, I decided to went for it. In to the last corner, the brakes gotten worse. I could nto slowed down enough, went sideways to the corner, and drop the rear wheel into the dirt. It quickly turn the car around and I spun, heading ass first into the inside wall. I cringed and braced myself as the car hit the inside wall ass first. F@#K! Note to self 4; trust your instict and don't get the adrenaline take over your judgment.
Tom arrived back from the bay area to see his car mangled. But he asked me if I got at least 3 laps. I told him I gotten 3 laps, but none of them was my fastest as I was dealing with traffic, and I hit the wall at my first clean lap.
We decided to try and continue OTC. I called Conversion Techniques in Oakland, to see if we can have the car look at and possibly repaired so we an continue and compete in Thunderhill.
We arrived at their shop at 6:30pm, and they quickly go to work. By 10pm, the car is ready. and we headed to Thunderhill. We arrived at 2:30am and have to be awake by 7:00 am.
04/09:
Thunderhill, day 1. We bled the brakes, and I went out the first session, try to get good laps, and good feeling on the car. The car still understeering, so again, I made some adjustments. I'm running out of options and maybe forced to change the spring rate. Tom went out for the second session and came back early. He boiled the brake fluid and went off track as a result. We bled them again, and he went out for the 3rd session. After the session, he told me the car handle great. So I got into the car for my 4th session, and the first lap went very nicely. Starting the second lap, the car develop heavy understeer. Since this is the last session, I just kept going and tried to do my best. Once I finished the session, we jacked up the car and found out that one of the rear sway bar bracket came loose and fell on the track. So we essentially don't have rear bar. No wonder the car pushed so heavily.
We jumped into the tow vehicle and headed to my place in San Francisco to get the spare part. We got back to Thunderhill at 11 pm.
04/09:
Thunderhill day 2. I took the car out in the first session and very happy with the handling. Turn some fast laps comfortably in my first session. We were very happy to finally got the handling sorted out and I am ready to go out in second session to turn some flier. Just before the second session, Tom went out to get gas, and when he cam back, as I climbed into the car, Tom said the check engine light is on. Oh well, my session is up any second, and there is no chance for us to check it. I went out and the car feels fine. However, at the start of my 3rd lap, I lost VTEC, and the car rev limiter kicked in at 7000 rpm. I pitted, we tried to find out the problem. There were 3 codes stored in the ECU. They are, front bank VTEC switch, msifiring on Cyl #4, and TCS no signal. TCS, I was not worried about since we unplugged the computer, and that might triggered the check engine light. However, the misfiring and no VTEC is bad, so we decided to pack it up and head home.
We learned a lot in this adventure. Next year, we definitely come better prepared.
