Kenny_Stang

Thanks, also posted some info/feedback in the Vendor forum, will update with impressions after my track day (hopefully with brake cooling added!)

Midnightdennis

That's one badass wing

Kenny_Stang

Thanks! Its the 1500mm Voltex Type 7 GT wing.

Kenny_Stang

Been a few weeks since I've made an update, there's been a couple of track days in between and some modifications to the car.

First things first, since I talked about my brake issues previously, specifically the short life span of pads and rotors, I decided to add some brake cooling to the car. The only issue is that because I have an oil cooler and the Supercharger water pump in the traditional brake vent holes, I needed a different solution. After seeing someone post about these "air guides" from Honed, I decided to give them a shot and combine them with some modification to the dust shields to allow air to reach the inner portion of the rotor.

The Honed Air Guide kits are very comprehensive, they come with everything you need to mount the scoops to the A arm and with some tweaking aim them to direct air at the center of the rotor







Here is a view of the "modifications" I made to the dust shield to allow the air to hit the center of the rotor





I actually cut a little too much, but its hard to gauge where exactly to stop.

Had a group meet at a local restaurant, this was our "Thanksgiving" meet and we had a decent turn out.



The day after the meet was a "sick day" track day held on a Friday running the always fun 3.1 CCW configuartion at MotorSports Ranch. I love these days as the attendance is usually lighter so traffic is a non-issue and instead of 20 minute sessions, get to run 30 minute sessions.



As always, had a blast but couldn't quite get the perfect run in so my personal best in this configuration remains from when I set it in October.

Next track day was this past Saturday (December 2nd) running the 1.7 CW configuration. This is the one configuartion I have the least experience with, only my 3rd time running it, and it had been 10 months since my previous attempt. Was really looking to learn the line and hoping to get within 1 second of my PB in the CCW direction (1:29:8)

I love taking photos at the track, the sun rising in the background usually makes for some great pictures





Also Robert Kirby from Lightspeed Images was out there and he took this awesome shot coming out of Rattlesnake



I did manage to set a new personal best (1:31:4), and got very close to my goal of 1 second from by PB in the CCW direction. Here's video of that lap, unforunately this was take on my iPhone running Harry's Lap Timer and due to the known issue with the garbage Optical Image Stabilization on the newer iPhones the video isn't the best.


With the end of the year and the Holidays upon us, will be taking a small break. My next track day will be Janurary 13th, so will be doing some small changes on the car during the down time. Hoping to keep learning myself and the car, and just having a blast at the track.

Kenny_Stang

I've missed a bunch of updates, so going to try and get this all caught up, so be patient with me.

Got the new Hankook Ventus TD tires mounted up. These are the C30 "Hard" compound, which are supposed to handle heat great, but aren't the best in cold or rainy conditions.


First event with the new tires was on January 13th with Apex Driving Academy on the MSR-C 1.7 CCW. The temps were very cold (below freezing to start the day) and topped out in the low 40's. I struggled getting heat into the tires, and overall didn't have confidence in their performance.



My next event was a private AutoX on January 28th at Mineral Wells using the "MineralRing" layout, which more mimics a track event than a traditional AutoX.



Let a buddy take the car for a spin, so got some video of it running

One of my goals for 2018 was to visit a few more of the local tracks, and in February got the opportunity to go out to Eagles Canyon for a private event (Bachelor Party). Really enjoyed the track, it's very different from MSR-C, but enjoyable none the less. Unfortunately we had intermittent rain throughout the day and with it being my first time out there I didn't get 100% comfortable out there. Definitley would like to do a few more events at ECR.



On the last session of the day they let us run Clockwise on the "small" ECR course, which was really cool. Unfortunately by this point my front brakes were pretty shot, so I only did a few laps before calling it a day. One of the guys was out there taking pictures and got this one which came out pretty good.


In preperation for my next event (NASA at MSR-C) I needed to add some roll bar padding and replace the brake pads that had gotten toasted at ECR.


Any time I do pads, I go ahead and do a brake fluid flush.


For the roll bar padding, I picked up some Longacre Racing padding. It comes with self adhesive on the padding, but it was pretty weak so I reinforced it with some black zipties.



As I mentioned before my next event was running with NASA at MSR-C. This was my second time going to a NASA event, and I always enjoy it. You don't get as much track time as you do with some other organizations, but it's really fun to spectate and watch some of the races out there.



I was able to get my check ride on the first day and get moved up to HPDE3. I also had some issues later on the first day, the sensor located in the brake fluid reservoir which tells the ECU and ABS system how much brake fluid is in the system came unplugged. This led to the ABS system disbaling itself and when I hit the brakes going into Big Bend I went for a bit of a ride.


It took a little while to figure out what the issue was, and then driving the car arround for a few miles to get the ABS system to reset. Luckily that was the only issue, and the rest of the weekend was enjoyable.



My last event was this past weekend, running with Apex again on my favorite configuration at MSR-C, the 1.3 CCW. The forecast was pretty gloomy for the day, the meteorologist had predicted rain all day with some occasional strong storms. Fortunately only had one "rainy" session, and afterwards the track quickly dried out and got some great sessions in.



I managed to get within a second of my personal best in the first session of the day (1:12.65) and using the AIM Solo and analyzing data in the Advanced Classroom sessions worked that time down to a new PB of 1:09.955.



Don't have any mods planned at this time, just more track time. Hoping to do two events in May (Track Night in America May 8th and Apex on May 19th) and maybe Hallett with NASA in June.

Cpt. Spock

looking good man, our "driving season" here in ohio is just starting, so i am jealous you're already out enjoying the car. I watched the spin out video, butt pucker moment for sure lol

Kenny_Stang

Kenny_Stang

Been over a month since my last update, so need to get caught up.

After my last event did a Track Night in America (TNIA) on May 8th.



Even though the TNIA events are usually half the seat time of a regular HPDE, I still enjoy the format and have met a bunch of cool people at these events. There was a photographer at the event, and he managed to get some great pics of the car.





I was also able to set a new personal best with a 1:27:205


After the TNIA I did another event with Apex Driving Academy on the 1.3 on May 19th.




The day started great and I managed to match my personal best on the 1.3 (1:09) but due to what has become a recurring issue, had to end the day early due to a cracked rotor.



Something that I had been thinking for a while now was upgrading the braking system with one of the tried and tested BBK solutions available for the S2000. I am aware that a BBK will not necessarily help me stop sooner, but the main selling point is consistency and a significant cost savings on consumables (replacing rotor rings every 12 - 18 months rather than every 3, and longer life of pads).

After doing some research and reaching out to vendors, I decided to go with the Stoptech ST40 Big Brake Kit from THMotorsports. I placed the order on a Monday and had the kit in my hands 3 days later, I've been very happy with the quality and timeliness of THMotorsports.



I also discovered while I was researching that I was going to have to buy some wheel spacers as well, or buy larger wheels. After printing out the brake template from Stoptech it appeared that I would need a 12mm spacer, so I decided to get 15mm spacers from H&R.



One of the interesting parts of the Stoptech BBK installation is that they ask that you wash each rotor with warm water and soap, to remove the coating that is applied at the factory to keep the rotors rust free.



Here is a good comparison of the size difference between the two calipers, and you can see what 2 years of regular tracking the car did to the OEM calipers (they used to be bright red).





Here's a comparison in the size of the brake pads, which are much larger and thicker (difficult to tell in pictures).





Here is what the final product looks like





During the long Memorial Day weekend I also completed a few other items, changed the diff gear oil to Redline 75w140, changed the transmission to Redline MT90, and installed a Miata NC front sway bar in the rear. Also during the install flushed and bled the entire brake system with Motul RBF600.

I am hoping to make it to one more event in June before taking a break during the hottest months (temperatures are already getting over 100*F here in Texas).

Cpt. Spock

Kenny_Stang

Thanks! I've been running Honda MTF in the transmission, but as the weather warms up and later in a session the shifter gets notchier and I've read good things about Redline working better under hot conditions. We'll see if that holds true. For the pads, I'm going to run with the included Stoptech Sport Pads for the at least the first event, and see how they perform. Ideally I would have put on the Powerstop Track Day spec pads, but unfortunately they don't currently make them in the correct pad shape to run them on the Stoptech BBK. If the Sport Pads aren't cutting it, I'll try something else... maybe Carbotech XP10/GLoc R10.