When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
After a lot of work in the off season between truck and car, I finally got to take the car out to play at Summit Point. My first TT is next week at VIR which is about 4 hours away so I wanted to make sure I took the car out to make sure everything went back together properly and to break in a set of Hoosiers I won at the end of last season.
I'm happy to report the car performed flawlessly. Everything worked as it should. The chassis felt very stiff. I can't say I was any faster but the car is a lot heavier now then it was before in TTC trim due to the cage and extra ballast I have to run in TT5. It was a cold one today. Morning temps were 30 and the day warmed up to about 39. My previous best on Maxxis RC1s in TTC trim was 1:23.76 here and I was able to get a 1:24.0 today with a lot more weight and less then ideal conditions. Last season I did 1:21.3 on R7s and I was able to get a 1:21.75 today. While I didn't go faster, the car doesn't feel hurt by the extra weight and it has the potential to be a lot faster then before with the new suspension and with me knocking some rust off. All I all, considering the temps, winter break, and first time on all the new components, I couldn't be happier with the results.
I am also happy to report the new long bed Tundra worked out great fantastic as a tow rig. Smooth, quiet, and comfortable, unlike the big lifted one I had before. Also, the 8ft bed with a cab is a great feature for a track truck. Everything with back there in a locked area with plenty of room to spare which was nice. The new trailer setup with the Mac straps and flat deck are working out for me much better then the open center trailer using T hooks that I had before. I can get the car off and parked in7 min taking my time. It took be about 12 min to take the car out of the garage, load it, strap, fold up all the straps, and drive away today.
Anyway, onto some new pictures and quick hot lap during my break in session on the R7s.
A buddy recently bought a Cayman to replace his Z06 and his Quickjack BL5000 system wasn't long enough to reach the jacking points on the Cayman. He only wanted $600 for it so it was hard to pass up. I made a couple small mods to it to make it work easier on my car. I replaced the plastic feet with furniture pads so it slide on my floor easier and also to make it just slightly lower to make it get under my car easier. The rubber blocks were just a touch too tall so I replaced them with wood and now everything works very easily with the car.
The system is defiantly cool but not work the $1300 or so they go for new. The S2000 is really easy to jack up already and it doesn't take me more then a few minutes with a jack and jack stands but for $600 this thing is a decent luxury. This is a 12v version so I can take it to the track if I want but I won't be doing that.
Last week I was supposed to do my first TT event of the year with NASA at VIR. The weather was very iffy looking so I ended up cancelling. I was also the only car registered in TT5. I'm glad I cancelled because it ended up snowing. The next event is 3 weeks at Summit, hopefully the weather will work out better there will be more cars in class.
I spent this morning cleaning up the car from the last event a bit and replacing my 17" Longacre mirror with this multi pane unit I got from amazon. Its cheap and works much better.
I was looking to upgrade my GoPro 4 Black for track use and stumbled upon the Garmin VIRB 30. All the reviews were favorable so I decided to give it a shot. A couple of stand out features to me were the build in sensors and 10hz GPS receiver and the ability to hook up to the OBD2 via bluetooth. While the S2000 OBD2 is pretty slow it is decent enough for video overlays.
Another feature I liked about the VIRB30 was that it has an physical toggle switch that turns on and starts recording. When geared up in the car, it is sometimes hard to reach around and turn the GoPro on and then hit the record button. I've had a few sessions where I wasn't recording when I thought I was.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying this camera out in 2 weeks at Summit Point. I did a quick 0-60 test video just to try out a few different templates. It came out pretty good and I think this setup is going to be a really nice track camera. The Garmin software is pretty quick and easy and lets you do lap times, best lap, track diagram, and all kinds of other sensor data and OBD data.
For $400 bucks, I think this is a great solution that is better then the GoPro and much cheaper then a SmartyCam.
Your thread is probably my favorite in the build section. I share your ideals for a well thought out and taken care of street driven TT car. You are doing things exactly as I would and its cool to see because Im also a NFR AP2, so its like looking in the future. Keep up the thread and I hope to meet you at an event someday.
Your thread is probably my favorite in the build section. I share your ideals for a well thought out and taken care of street driven TT car. You are doing things exactly as I would and its cool to see because Im also a NFR AP2, so its like looking in the future. Keep up the thread and I hope to meet you at an event someday.
Thanks! While my car has a roll cage in it, you can't even tell at this point. I won't be using it much on the street because of fear of making contact with the cage in an accident without a helmet on, I still play with it here and there on the road and it is alot of fun.
Wish I could but I really only have time for 1 track weekend a month and Ive already promised and registered for the SCCA TT Nationals at CMP a week after it and Gridlife Rd2 in MI a couple weeks after that. I am shooting for the NASA-SE VIR event that I think is being shared with NASA-MA if youre going to be at that one.
This past weekend was my first TT of the year with NASA Mid-Atlantic at Summit Point. The event went great and the car performed excellent. I love how this car is so carefree to track. All I did was keep the oil topped off all weekend and nothing else. The car is a TT5 car but there were only 2 cars including me registered in that class. To win Hoosiers, you need at least 5 cars in class. I switched to TT4 which is a significantly faster class and was able to win 1st place both days. I also now have a new personal best of 1:20.7 on R7s and 1:23.2 on RC1's which I believe to be the new S2000 NA track record here.
03-13-2018, 03:24 PM
