phoenixR34

I started this thread in the Arizona forum, but I figured I'd post it here as some TT drivers might find it interesting.. or not. If a lot of info is coming up quick (ie. How did he do all that stuff today??), it's because I'm moving it from the other thread.

I've been driving in the NASA Time Trial series since it started in Arizona and have driven in about every class with a bunch of different cars. For NASA Arizona, our primary track is Phoenix International Raceway. PIR is a 1.5 mile roval course with ten turns. There are some tight corners and some really fast corners since it uses the NASCAR oval as part of the layout.

The only class I haven't participated in is TTC, or Time Trial C, which has a track record that so far no one has been close too. There's probably a reason for that, as the TTC record of 1:10.48 is held by the undefeated TTC national champion Greg Greenbaum, in a Dodge SRT4. Greg holds the TTC record at every track he's driven and as I said, has won the NASA Nationals in TTC since the National Champ event started two years ago.

Mid-fall I put my plan together to make a top TTC car. After reviewing about 20 different cars and reading the rulebook a million times, somehow I landed on the S2000 and thought that would be the best car for the job. In 2007 the S2000 started out in TTD*, which gave me plenty of room to move the S2000 up into C and do the mods I wanted.

The benchmark is simple, as the current TTC leader is a national champion. Unfortunately, in 2008 the S2000 got a bump to TTD**, which meant I had 7 less points for modifications.. so now I have to beat a national champion by doing *less* modifications.

I found a the perfect car for this: A white, mint condition 2003 with 19K miles. lol.



The goal is a 1:10.479, as that will beat the current TTC record of 1:10.48. I've never driven an S2000 at PIR and so far no one has really been close to that time, but no one has given an honest effort towards the TTC build either.

Currently I have 25 points of modifications available. And currently, the car has the following modifications:

• Bilstein PSS9 Coilovers (9 points)
• Tananbe Front Sway Bar (2 Points)
• AP2 Wheels (0 Points)
• 225 Front, 255 Rear Azenis Tires (1 Point)

12 Points total. According to the NASA rulebook, 2810lbs is the minimum weight the AP1 S2000 can use for TTC. I have to find a way to get down to that weight (with driver) without cutting the car apart, hopefully.

The Azenis aren't going to be around long, so I'll get my 1 point back from that (255 width). In this thread, I'll cover the other modifications I make to ideally build it for TTC and hopefully, beat that 1:10.48.

phoenixR34

I picked up a Buddy Club Spec IV exhaust. This exhaust weighs ~17lbs, whereas the stock exhaust weighs around 40.. so this was a good way to shave 20-30lbs and only get penalized 1 point towards my classing.

The exhaust sounds and fits great. It only took about 20 minutes to install and it's barely louder than stock. Up till about 5500rpm you can hear it, but at higher RPMS it's just the stock intake sound. Here are some pics...





As the car sits, it has a total of 12 classing points.

phoenixR34

The rules allow for any alignment using the factory adjustments. If I add different control arms, toe rods, camber arms etc., they get a points assessment. However, you're allowed to slot crossmembers and suspension parts to get more camber and not get penalized.

The amount of factory adjustment is one reason I chose the S2000 over other cars, like the 350Z. The Z has no camber adjustment, you can't slot the holes and control arms are +4 points.



From my experience with FR cars, ideally I'm going to need between -2.5 and -4 degree of camber up front. My previous E36 worked well and had even tire wear with -2.5deg. My 240SX worked well with -3.7deg. Both of those cars were Macpherson strut design up front so they didn't experience much if any camber increase under load. For now on the S2000 I just maxed out the camber bolts on all four corners.

After each bolt was tight, I used red paint to mark the bolts so A. I can check to see if the bolts move at all after the first few track sessions (in which case I'll have to change my torque settings), and B. so I know that the bolt has been torqued down already.

Touch up paint for marking bolts..



The car has been corner balanced already, so I marked the coilover sleeves. These things *always* come loose, so it's good to have a quick way to check.


I'll post the final alignment specs when I do the toe adjustment.

phoenixR34

Alignment finished... Excuse the camera phone pic..



Specs

Camber

RF: -2.7

phoenixR34

Tires and brake pads arrived!

Hoosier A6 - P225/45ZR17 front, P245/40ZR17 rear


Hawk Blue pads, front and rear

phoenixR34

Well today was a busy day. I've basically come to a fork in the road with my TTC buildup.. it's either A. run the Bilstein PSS9s, take the 7 points and have less room for mods. or B. change to a shock without the reservoir (3 points), run whatever aero I want and have some points to burn on other stuff - 255 width tires, engine mods, etc. Removing the reservoir frees up four points. So I opted to ditch the PSS9s and go to something else, some KSport coilovers.

I've been using KSports for a couple years now. I had a set on my previous 240SXs, including trying all three versions for my Time Attack 240SX: The Kontrol Pro, which is the entry level coilover, the GT Pro, which is inverted and IMO much more suited for track use, and ultimately the Circuit Pro, a prototype remote reservoir double adjustable setup. We had those specially made for the 240SX to try out and they worked really well.

In addition I've been driving KSports DC5 Integra Type R time attack car for two years now, so naturally I'm a little loyal to KSport products. Bottom line, I race to win.. if their products didn't produce, I wouldn't use them. I've used Cusco (Zero2R), Tein (HE, RA), Buddy Club, Bilstein and even Moton.. Aside from Moton, which is in an entirely different league, the KSports hang right with everyone else. As a matter of fact, I've gone *faster* on KSports than anything else. Plus the ability to get service and spare parts since they're a local company is a big bonus.

Anyways, enough talk.. here are some pics.

At KSport getting ready to install the coilovers


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The Type R waiting for its new engine. For those of you not in the know, I blew it up at the Redline Time Attack @ Laguna Seca in November. The car is filthy from the Friday rain sessions and the oil smoke billowing out the exhaust. We were running the "middle" Limited FWD class and were four seconds up on second place througout practice.. actually, we were a second or two up on the fastest Unlimited FWD car as well.. then this happened.


Here are some videos from Laguna in the Type R:

First time I ever drove the Type R. It was all stock except for coilovers and an exhaust: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eh9oXONDeNw

Laguna Seca Practice (9min): http://youtube.com/watch?v=243PbhioX_8

The infamous "blow up" video. It's REALLY good: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JSNF-qYR3Zw


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Back to S2000 stuff...

I got the Bilsteins off in about an hour.. here they are next to the KSports


KSports up close. Out of the box they are 10kg front, 7kg rear. I changed the springs out to 12kg front, 10kg rear. Just by driving it on the street, I think I'm going to end up with something closer to 16kg front, 14kg rears. They're gonna have to be sent off and be revalved before doing that though.


After working on the car for 4-5 hours.. setting the ride height, corner balancing, fixing an ABS sensor, a stripped nut.. ugh, I almost forgot to take pics of them on the car. Here's a rear shock on the car..


Now I just have to finish setting the ride height, corner balancing and have it aligned again.. even though I just did all that last week. Welcome to motorsports..

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I decided to take some random pics of the undercarriage while the car was on the lift. S2000 suspension is really fun to look at from the bottom! Everything is packaged nicely.. really nice engineering work!

Rear


Middle


Front


When I was laying on the ground doing the front picture, I noticed oil all over the bottom of the pan.. I hate oil leaks. Turns out the previous owner installed one of those oil "spicket" things that make it easier to drain oil. Well yeah, because half of it leaks out naturally while driving! lol. This will be coming off at the next oil change.

phoenixR34

TTC Mods List as of 2/15

Hoosier A6 Tires - 245/40R17 front, 225/45R17 rear
Hawk Blue brake pads
KSport coilovers, 12kgF, 10kgR
Buddy Club Exhaust
Tanabe Front Sway Bar

TTC Points so far

Tires - 10
Coilovers - 5
Sway Bar - 2
Exhaust - 1

18 (of 25)

Hobbs5313

Thanks for sharing. Keep it coming.

SlipAngle79

Yes, great post, I am considering some NASA events this year so its nice to see what I can/can't do if I run TTC.

Did you go with the KSport PRO's?

I suppose you or the previous owner replaced all of the bumpers/lights with AP2 stuff, but your exhaust and wheels were AP1?

altiain

You may want to reread the NASA Time Trial rules while you're doing your buildup. TTC max tire width is 255, not 245.

Best of luck with your build!