Woke up super early Sunday to head up to Ayer to support Tommy and Nguyen for an SCCA autocross event.


The FD hasn't seen this pavement in quite a while!



Great company for a hot day at Devens - (L to R) John, Erica, Tommy, Nguyen, and Alex


Nguyen's S2000 sitting pretty in the staging lane with a new J's Racing bumper, canards, front diffuser, and 57xtreme's

That was a lot of fun - great job gentlemen! You guys are getting really good behind the wheel - great inputs, braking and turn in points, and car control (especially staying on top of that MR Tommy - I thought it would be a handful, but you made it look easy)! You guys will only get better with more seat time - keep up the great work! Tony and I will have you guys out on a road course in no time


So that about wrapped up this past weekend (with rock climbing with my brother-in-law/future brother-in-law, crashing my sisters bridal shower, and a great friends and family smore-B-Q Saturday night). Another great weekend for the record books!


Many thanks to Brian for your help getting my wheels and tires down to Bellingham (Heidi really appreciates it too!), I hope you had fun; thanks Rob for your help setting up the suspension and for your pointers, feels good so far; very nice to meet you Evan, I look forward to seeing your EP3 and making it out to a SoHonda Garage meet; and many many thanks to Seamus for your help with the wheels/tires, fenders, and fitment, you definitely saved the day for me!



Cheers!

 

It seems as if our cars are basically twins.

 

Just about - lookin' good!

I'd say give it a couple months and we'll be more like fraternal twins than identical

 

Fraternal sounds about right!

 

so what alignment specs did you use?

 

The set up I had in mind:
Where we ended:
Rob sets up all of FOs Spec Miatas, so I'm sure he knows his way around setting up an FR car for track use. The wheels put us in a bit of a corner with trying to get to what I had initially intended, but it has felt pretty solid so far. Best part: no rubbing!

I'll have more feedback after this weekend. I would have love to have gotten a probe-style pyrometer before Thompson to see how that cambers working my tire temps, but I've got some work to do with my driving before I start tweaking the suspension trackside to balance out the car. Maybe for my next event.


Cheers!

 

is there any reason you all decided to go with that setup? that's generally considered too much camber and not enough caster. the inside of your tires will probably be too hot and you won't utilize the outside of the tire at all. i run about 2.0* front and 1.5* rear and (but about 6* of caster) and it feels great, and it may be slightly too much camber if anything.
i think any more would be substantially more "twitchy," which no one wants in a 350whp FD.

you and i appear to have about the same power.

also, while FR, spec miatas are quite different from 350whp FDs.

 

Love the TE37s! Wish they came in wide sizes with a bit more friendly offsets.

 

We had initially set it up to where I wanted it, but the wheels were not going to fit with -1.2* camber all around. What we ended up with is as conservative as we could get to fit the wheels and tires. Not an ideal situation, we'll see how it feels this Sunday.


That makes two of us! The TE37 comes in a 18x9.5 +35 or +40 offset, and the TE37SL comes in a 18x9.5 +35/+40, 18x10 +40, and 18x11 +35 offset. How wide were you thinking?



Special thanks to my beautiful wife for designing my number plates and picking them up from the print shop today <3




Cheers!

 

Sub'd.

I can't wait to see this with the aero on up front and the fenders painted.

Your friends' S2000 (both Voltex and J's Racing kitted) are super cool too!

 

Thanks - I'm really looking forward to it all coming together too

I know my friends appreciate the compliment - they do have some beautiful cars



We had a great weekend at Thompson - the support friends and family were second to none as always, car ran strong, had a great rapport with my instructor, suspension dynamics felt awesome, "kept the rubber side down", shaved 9.44 seconds off my laptime goal, and I'm signed for solo!


Off to work (life's going to slow down right quick but it will afford me more of these great weekends ) - more to come shortly



Cheers!

 

Good to know. Guess I never seriously looked into them before, as most fitments Ive seen were in a +22 or +18. Mind letting me know where you ordered yours from?

 

I ordered them from RS. Looks like you'll need to have them shipped, so Evasive Motorsports also wouldn't be a bad option for you

 

Last minute prep work before running Thompson with COM had me in the garage for most of Saturday with minor things here and there.

The main thing I wanted to tackle was protecting my latest investment (trust me, I already know: there is zero monetary ROI on all of these purchases, I use the term investment loosely here) with wheel armour. I spent all that money and waited all that long for them to come in, the least I could do is put in some elbow grease up front and keep them looking good as long as they're under my fenders! Having a long love affair with black wheels has come with the the cost of the finishes needing above average maintenance, upkeep, and care. Having a set of HP+ brake pads (which are well on their way out after this past track day - more on that to come shortly) that leave quite a trademark dust trail hasn't made it easier.

I tripped over a really helpful video when I was researching my next set of wheels that I knew would be beneficial once I found that set

Check it out and take care of those wheels!


That dusty bronze overlay is from less than 75 miles of light highway driving - why do I love black wheels so much?!




My cliffnotes:

Step 1: fill up a wash bucket with soap and water, fill up a rinse bucket with water and a grit guard to prevent damage, hose down the front and back of the wheels



Step 2: spray the wheels, front and back, with a low acidity wheel cleaner. I've had great results with Sonax. Rotate the wheel every minute or so to make sure the cleaner gets to all of the wheel. Note that the green will turn purple as it eats the grime and brake dust. Wash the wheel cleaner off after about five minutes



Step 3: scrub the wheels all fronts first then backs with a soft wash mitt, dropping the mitt in the rinse bucket, running along the grit guard, then back in the wash bucket to repeat.



Step 4: rinse the soap off



Step 5: dry the wheels off with a clean microfiber towel. Looks good, but not done yet!



Step 6: apply Gtechniq's Panel Wipe to the wheels to get all the remaining contaminants off. Spray on a clean microfiber cloth and wipe down the front and back of the wheels. I wore clean rubber gloves in step 6, 7, and 8 to prevent getting any fingerprints on the wheels



Step 7: apply Gtechniq's Wheel Armour using the applicator pads provided. Apply it to the front and back of the wheels, and wipe away with a clean microfiber towel


Step 8: set the wheels in a shaded, non-dusty area to cure for at least three hours



It's a pretty straightforward, albeit time consuming, process, but well worth the effort. Let me know if you have any questions along the way!

 

need less info about OCD cleaning of expensive wheels, more info about driving on the race track.

 

^ Agreed, let's see the damn thing on track already!

 

also more info about why you used street brake pads at a track day with a powerful FD with sticky tires.

 

I am all about the OCD - there's a lot more where that came from!



My wife brought out the big guns for the event (5D with a 70-200 f2.8), but she's in the middle of her busy season (wedding photographer), so the full edits are on the back burner. I'll have them all up with a few videos eventually.

Will this suffice for now? A badass picture my friend Jared snapped coming out of T8



I agree that I could use a bit more pad on a bigger track, but my brake set up was more than good enough for Thompson (135mph on the front straight into T1, hard braking between brake points 5 and 4 with no fade throughout the day)



Cheers!

 

fd looks very nice in that pic. CF fenders, lip spoiler, and the volks really come together and make it look pissed.

oh, and everyone loves a little exhaust fire!

post more pics and video!

 

I'm going to buck the trend and say bring on the OCD posts, like the wheel detailing one above. To be honest, posts like that are some of my favorites.

 

your car is great and all..... but I must say I have never seen a more cost effective use of pvc pipe. Cool playstation rig!

 

Thanks


I'll keep the granularity and OCD coming!


Thanks. I can't take credit for the sim-racer set up - that's all Tony and Tommy. I'll see if I can find a write up for reference. I would love to build myself one eventually.




My beautiful wife Heidi edited the Thompson track pictures last night - thank you sweetheart! She'll have a blog post on her professional page shortly.

I wasn't sure what to make of the layout from videos and pictures before hitting the track, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. Worth the trip for any track rat! Brian and I arrived with ample enough time to walk the track with a gentleman who had run the course five times prior - time well invested! I had taken some pictures (surprise!) of my walkthrough to share things you wouldn't notice from videos (bumps, camber, track degradation, potential pooling areas), but have misplaced my point and shoot for the time being. They'll be up soon.

 

Entering what is becoming the most dangerous section of the course - turns 9 through 11b. This was my favorite section - a smooth run here rewarded you with great speed on the front straight into turn 1. I had made it a point to track my speed here before cresting 11b every lap as a gauge for how well I ran it and to start thinking about what I'll need for a braking point approaching 1.



My friend Pete hot on my trail



Time for an education! Pete, who is an instructor with many years of experience, passed me and slowed down to my pace so I can see a proper FR line


It took me a little while to realize his bravery and skill were mixed with R-comps (note - for those that don't know, an R-comp tire can make a world of difference compared to a street tire, even one as sticky as mine. I ran a set of V710s for a full autocross season in 2006 - the FD felt like a whole other monster! I've got a lot of work behind the wheel to get in before I get another set).

I backed off his pace once I realized I couldn't place my car where he was. I did, however, set my fastest lap behind him - thanks for the tow bud!




Scott and I bringing her in safely

 

Tony and I were in different run groups, so I didn't get to see him out on track or in the pits much for most of the day. It looked like he had a great day, though, clocking a 1:27


Bringing it home safely - job well done sir!



Pete and Paddy's S2000 - you'll be seeing a lot more of them this fall! I took off some time in October to head down to VIR with them for trackside support while they run SCCA's Charge Of the Headlight Brigade 13 hour enduro. Anyone else planning on going?




The gang's all here (not all pictured though)! We have figured out a hell of a set up for autocrosses and track days. It was a little hectic with two cars and Tony and I in different run groups, but everything ran smoothly. You guys were on top of everything!


Much thanks to my wife for your patience and support while I spent countless hours in the garage, Brian for your help getting my wheels and suspension squared away and getting me set up at the track, Hunter for your help giving me a hand out in the garage, Jarred for lending me your gear (and for giving me the EDFC! That will make my track life a little bit easier), Mark for your continued garage support, Tony and Tommy for your help and motivation in getting my car ready (can't wait for our next event!), my mom and mother-in-law for coming out and showing your support (I hope it made you feel a little bit better with what I do for fun), Nguyen, Alex for what I know will be great footage, John, Andrew, Mrs. Le, Emily and everyone else for their trackside support! Although I had a lot of fun out on track, your trackside support was definitely the best part of the day!


Cheers!

 

Here's my wife's blog post from the trackday: Thompson Motor Speedway // Our X 7