Toffee

iTrader: (3)

Hi all,

This is just a quick one to let everyone know that I am now trying to get myself and my car ready for Time Attack 2011, I will be entering the Club Challenge class which is for road legal cars. Now although this class is for road legal cars, most of the entrants enter using pretty much full on track cars. I will be entering in the car I use for work every day! So it will be a case of Time Attack on Saturday & then off to Asda on Sunday to do the shopping.

I will be using my 2006 STi Spec C for TA, since purchasing the car almost 16 months ago I have added 18" RAYS wheels, AP 6 pot 355mm front brakes, Whiteline ARBs & ALK and also had the Litchfields LM420 S60 kit installed in my car which has taken the power up to 420bhp/400ft lbs of torque.

From where I am now I still have a lot of work to do to get the car through the Time Attack scrutineering, I also need to get the car a lot more "track ready" which will include quite a few more up grades and getting out there and practicing. However as already stated the car will still be a daily driver so the decisions regarding items such as brake pads & fluid, suspension, bucket seat & harness will all be made but bearing in mind the car must still be used as a daily driver

So over the coming months I will be letting you peeps know more information regarding the technical decisions I will be pondering to get me to where I want to be, initially I am looking at getting the car suspension sorted, a spare set of wheels is needed, a set of sticky tyres will be needed for testing which will need to have a good life span, I am looking at getting the racing seat sorted with harness & I will be getting a bit of driver tuition.

I am also going to have to consider making the car more reliable for the hard treatment it will recieve whilst on track, I am in particular looking at cooling the engine oil?

I will add more up dates as and when this project moves forward, however I plan on moving quick so the car is ready fairly soon and the practicing can start ASAP

Fingers crossed,
Lee.

Shaun

Hi Lee,
Great base car for your intended use. Be realistic with your goal and I am sure you will have some great fun.... which is what it should be all about.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on and what you discover during your adventure.

53

iTrader: (41)

Good on you fella although you may need to down grade to Farmfoods for shopping to afford the mods

Car looks awesome in the pic

#the doctor#

great driver this guy, very nice chap too, good luck lee. lets see how long it stays a daily driver

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Lovely car mate. You'll need more power if you're going to be competitive though. Club class has moved on somewhat over the last two years.

Best of luck and more importantly enjoy yourself

wrx9181

iTrader: (2)

Brill mate get stuck in and enjoy it .
Hope all goes well for ya
Good luck
Keep the updates coming
Mick

belliott69

iTrader: (3)

looking foward to this and wish you the best of luck mate.

SkullFudge

Wishing you all the best mate and enjoy

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

looks a good base car

enjoy!!

STI Glenn

Awsome car ,best of luck

wrx287

iTrader: (8)

Cracking car mate May need an extra 100bhp though
Good luck mate

frayz

iTrader: (7)

I think for your first year the car is bang on the money as it is. It has plenty enough power to be useable and more importantly, reliable.
If i were you id look at some Pagid RS29 pads for your APs and maybe a good FMIC to help keep charge temps under control while pushing hard on track.

Then id concentrate on losing weight, stock front seats are 22kg each. Most mid quality glass buckets are about 8kg. A swap to a lightweight battery will lose another 10kg. The rear bench can be unbolted in minutes too.

All this stuff keeps the car 100% useable on the road but optimises what you already have to be a great track toy.

best of luck

Frayz

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

Wow Thanks for the great & positive feedback gents and yes I plan on having fun, it is all to easy for things like this to become an addiction which then loses its fun, so note to self > MUST BE FUN

FRAYZ > Thanks for the pointers I have been using Richard Bulmer (Tracktive Solutions) over the past 6 months to look after the car (+ mapped it) and I have been on the phone to him already about my plans. I will hopefully be drawing/counting on Richards experience for the first step in to Motorsport.

I have just spent 2 hours with someone who sells suspenion and is a reigning Time Attack champion to get some ideas on getting the car set up and an idea on the prices mmm, this aint gonna be cheap

I am pretty happy with the way the discussion went and plan on making my final decision by Friday, I also looked at a new set of wheels and bucket seats whilst I was there so I think I have answered a few questions in one evening.

I will post up my final decisions within the next few nights

Lee.

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

After a lot of phone calls, reading & consideration I have decided to go with Buddy Club suspension, I have opted for the Racing Spec Dampers. I am also getting the D2 toe & camber kit fitted as well. I did consider the AST's, BC ER series, EXE-TC's, Tein & KW Variant 3 alternatives but for me the Buddy Clubs have won the day.

So far I have not heard anyone have a bad experience with them and because Buddy Club UK (otherwise known as Japshop & SPD) are only around the corner from where I live, if I need advice they are on my door step

I met with Paul who runs Buddy Club and his advice was and will be greatly needed & appreciated. Paul drives the Honda Integra in Time Attack and has won numerous championships and the guy really knows his stuff especially when it come to suspension.

I am having the suspension fitted next Tuesday, at the same time we are going to try a set of Ultralite ATEC 11 18x8.5 +35 offset with 235/40/18s, I am hoping these will fit? These wheels are less than 9kg in weight and when you consider there size, weight & price they are an impressive bit of kit.

I have chosen to fit a set of Federal RS-R tyres on this spare set of wheels, the RS-R's are a track day tyre that will work in both wet & dry and also hot & cold temperatures, I believe they last pretty well as well when you compare them to something like R888's or A048's. I will be using these during January > March on track days for a bit of practice.

Cant wait to get the kit fitted on Tuesday, I will post a few pics of the goodies once installed

Lee.

frayz

iTrader: (7)

Good stuff Lee, best of luck

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

getting serious now!!

Suberman

I'm subscribed. Looking forward to it Lee!

Off topic, what size are those G07WTs? 18 x ? Offset? Do you know how heavy they are? I looked through Ray's japan site and the sizes and offset available were quite limited.

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

Hi fella, my wheels are 18x8 +50 offset and as you can see they clear the AP's. Not to sure if this offset will clear standard (fatter) Brembos though?

If you ring Co-Ordsport and ask for Leon (please tell him I told you to ring) he will help you out, from memory they also stock +45 & +35 offset, but they do not do the wheels in 8.5J.

Worth noting that the wheels they sell are no where near the price on the lists advertised, you should be able to get a set for around £850 in Silver or a funny anodised blue colour (looks quite nice though)

Cheers,
Lee.

budd

iTrader: (5)

what safety regs apply to TA ? rollcage, fire system etc ? or can you run with just a FAI seat and harness ?

Suberman

Hi Lee, thanks for the information. I will certainly mention you if i'm ordering. Appreciate it!

18 x 8.5 is what i'm looking for. And they do have that. http://www.rayswheels.co.jp/2009/pro...8&for=domestic But these are the RCF (Rays Cast Flow Forming) range, same like yours i think.

I've not really decided on what wheels to go for. I'm also considering the STI RA-R wheels. But i whatever wheels, i think i'll go for white. I have a hawk Spec C in blue as well.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Just a point to note.
You can only use Toyo 888's in TA I would have thought for practice and getting used to the car you'd be better off with some of them instead of the federals as the car may behave differently. Just a thought

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

just to warn you, my car had white wheels as standard, you had better like cleaning wheels or at least get use to having dirty wheels, never again

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

Its a fair & valid point, but I believe that the R888's have a short life span at peak grip, there almost like a wet compound tyre for the dry, hence they wear out fast.

My thinking is to have a tyre that can grip at its peak for longer to save money on tyres, in April I will use a set of R888's (or whatever tyre is being used in TA 2011 because I dont think it will be Toyo's) for the last practice before the TA round at Oulton (if it is the first round again?)

Cheers,
Lee.

Suberman

Yes, i saw pictures of your car before. No worries, white it shall be.

Adam Kindness

iTrader: (1)

Daz - 888's were the control tyre for 2010. There has been no announcement for 2011 yet.

Shaun

Lee,
Depending on how quick you are, you may need to think about appropriate oil breather systems and baffling the sump etc.

888's are suseptible to "going off", but you can get a lot more out of them if you are driving correctly.

How much have you driven the car on the track prior to the new suspension being fitted, and with proper track tyres on?

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

Good points Shaun, with Richard's help we are just pricing up a high capacity sump & a larger oil cooler, Richard thinks this will suffice

From 1999 > 2005 I started by doing track days on my Yamaha R1, in 2002 I bought an all new Fireblade and it was stripped and built to race from brand new. I raced the bike for three years. During this time I attended the California Supoerbike school and did all 4 levels which was very good.

I have only done a single 1/2 track day in the dry, missed session 1 due to car failing noise test @ 108db > 4750rpm, 2nd session black flagged and in the next two sessions I struggled to get clear laps in because of other peeps getting in the way > all said and done I managed a 2min 1sec around Oulton's long circuit which to some is not too shabby at all.

However as discussed on a couple of other threads all of my settings (DCCD, tyre pressures & rear ARB) where miles out, went to another track day and it was wet for most of the day. However as you do I compared myself to others in "track" cars and I thought I was doing ok. However I think with the car set up properly for the track with some more practice I believe I should be knocking off 4+ seconds from what I did on the first time out

If I manage this I will be doing ok, from here I just need to carry on driving, practicing and getting tuition. Who knows where it will lead to? could get faster, could stick it in to the first wall we will see

See below, new shiney bits

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

I went to SPD today to see my new suspension parts, because of the awful weather and very salty roads we agreed to not fit the suspension today. I didnt want this new kit being covered with salt & grime from new so were going to wait till the snow has disappeared.

I havent collected the Ultralite Atec 11's (18x8.5 ET +35) because were not certain yet that they will fit, once the shocks go on we will try the wheels, we were looking at fitting 245/35/18s on them if they will fit, not to sure about going this low on the profile though, maybe on 255's but I think the 245's will not run well

Anyway, shiney bits

Shaun

Personally I would of had more time in your car with the OE suspension and decent tyre choice on track. The trouble with banging all this new stuff on, you won't have a decent baseline to compare against based on your own experience. Unless you know how the car should react and feel from a sound baseline, you end up taking everyone elses advise and not always achieving what you thought you wanted, or what you thought you would get.

This is a mistake I made a few years ago if I am being honest.

You are obviously far from being a novice.... even if four wheels is not your preferred mode!

Best of luck mate.... it will be interesting to see you progress, which I am sure you will!

Toffee

iTrader: (3)

I know where your coming from, but on my first outing I found that the car handled terribly for me, to carry on making small changes would be expensive in track time and time consuming when you think April 2011 will soon be here.

I think with the changes I am planning this will be the baseline I go from in future, I think these changes are the minimum changes required to make it a comfortable car on track? Once the car grips like I want it too I will then be able to concentrate on becoming a better driver > well thats the plan

After the wheels & tyres go on I will be off to Tracktive for a full service, brake fluid & pads change and hopefully a bucket seat install with 6 point harness > possibly a brake cooling kit as well? after that it will be the basics to get through scrutineering and then no more changes, just drive it the way it is