Hi all,

Hauled the FC up to Thunderhill Raceway here in Northern California for a test day with Northern California Racing Club.. I spent most of last week scrambling to get the car finished, but we managed to do that on Monday night, and loaded Tuesday..

Wednesday dawned bright and early, with the promise of a bone dry 95 degrees in the shade, of which there really isn't any at T-hill Being an old vet of this place, I brought my 10x10 ez up tent to hang out under, really helps make the day bearable.. Towing the car is much nicer than driving up with all my gear.. I can get everything ready to go in the comfort of my cool and well lit garage, rather than scrambling to do it at the track (tire change, pad change, air pressure, etc).. Plus I can leave all my tools in the 'burb and not have to unpack stuff that I don't need but have, just in case..

Unfortunately, one thing I didn't count on was problems mounting the front swaybar... It turns out our handy radiator mounts just push everything too far back, and the radiator is now interfering with the front swaybar placement.. Not sure what I can do about it either, short of either redesigning the radiator and it's mount (maybe go to a 26x16, or even a 24x16 and weld brackets directly to the radiator.), or spacing the swaybar down (requiring spacers, as well as shortened end links..

Anyway, I decided to run it without any swaybars (leaving just the rear is a great recipe for oversteer ).. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad.. As the pics here show, I have a significant amount of body roll, and you could definitely feel the lack in transition, not nearly as smooth as it should be.. Steady state corners, once the car took a set, were fine..

Didn't take any lap times (left the damn timer at home), but it should have been in the mid 2:20s, with plenty of time left to gain..

Car ran great otherwise, water temps 210 max, 190 normal, 210-220 oil temps, 75 psi oil pressure.. Voltage was great, and I ran it all the way to 7500 rpm ( I know, I know, but I just couldn't help it, it drove up there no problem, and pulled easily from 4K on up..) Definitely have more brakes than I'm using, I need to find the limit with this car.. Already I know they're tons better than the brakes on the TA..

Video soon, I'll have to try and run some vid caps this weekend.. In the meantime, to whet your appetite..





PaulC

 

that had to be fun

 

hey can u list all the mods youve done to that car?

 

Hey, Silkworm. I like your number your sporting on your FC! It's my favourite one - 28!

Nice pics by the way.

 

I love that track.. It is one of my favorites. Hot isn't the word.........It's so hot out there, I can see the Devil sweating in the shade. I have seen bikes on kick stands fall over from the melting asfault in the paddock.

I have to take my car out there and try it one of these days. I do track daze w/ my Gixx. I know you can get way below 2 minutes on the LONG track (I run an average of 1:20's on my bike). There are a few negative turns...so the front swaybar could have lowered your lap times......

Hey...that white Porsche is entering the straight-away incorrectly....not a good sign.

 

What size tires are you running? And what tire pressure are you using? I've been trying to find that sweet spot, but have had no luck.

 

Where is your window net? Is it not required for the test sessions?

 

Silk,

Congratulations on a successful maiden voyage. Work out the bugs and get it ready for competition. No sense trying to sort/fix a car during a race weekend.

You might find yourself a bit lacking in rubber compared to the front-running guys. Where are the 7" rims???

Anyway, glad you finally got her done. Update the website so we can all enjoy.

Well done.

 

Thanks for the complements guys

Tires are Toyo Proxes RA-1s, running around 42/37 hot pressures.. First session we came in and they were around 48/42, which was definitely way too much according to our temp probes, the centers were 6+ degrees hotter than the sides and all 4 wheels.. We kept backing the pressures down, to 42/37, and got it to within 2*, but the outsides were still cooler than the centers.. Again, hot pressures.

Yeah, I'm hurting on tires right now, I just can't afford 15x7s yet, the 205s set me back over 600 bucks.. I figure they'll do just fine as rains (I got them unshaved as well).. Later this summer I'll pick up the Kosei K1s and get a fresh set of 225s on there.

I don't think I'm going to get it down to much lower than 2:10s on the Toyos, and if I switch to Hoosiers, 2:07s.. Sub 2s is FAST! very very fast..

These test days don't require window nets or anything, street cars mostly. Window net, cutoff switch, 4:88s, and fire system are my big things left to do for race prep.

Racing starts next year.. I'll run a few more open test days, sorting the car out, as well as a few auto-x's, but mostly because I need to build cash again.. Amazing how much this stuff costs.

What's done to the car?? That's a big list but let me quickly break it down..

Suspension: Koni SA strut inserts/shocks, MazdaComp coilover kit, 400/275 #/in springs F/R, delrin bushings, toe elim bushings, manual steering rack, camber caster plates/camber adjusting rod

Brakes: Stock 4 piston, no ABS, Carbotech panther plus pads, brake bias adjuster

Engine: Stock, no smog, all port and VDI wired open, RB Header, NGK plugs, Magnecore wires, RB dual alternator pulley, RB crank pulley, OMP disabled (&premix), TB Mod, Oil Press/Temp block, SS oil cooler lines, Griffin Radiator, stock oil cooler

Safety: 8 point SCCA legal cage, Kirkey seat

And on and on and on

PaulC

 

Kick ***. I want to be a racecar driver when I grow up. No wait, I want to be a racecar drive way before I grow up.

 

thats cool! do they let you cut the radiator brackets? on our cars we like to stand the radiator up a little more vertically, its gives more room with a 13b and you have to for the 20b. if you want an extra set of baloney slicers pm me ive got some that im never going to use

mike

 

SWEET! I was waiting for the pics ever since I saw your avitar change. Can't wait to get mine on the track....

Bring on the Vid's!

 

Radiator has to remain in the same plane as the stock radiator.. I forget if the rules will allow removal of the stock brackets or not, but I left them there.. It'll be easier to just get a smaller radiator and mount it in the stock location I think

Thanks for the offer, I'm all set on stock wheels, I need some 15x7s now..

PaulC

 

TTT, just in case some people haven't seen it