Third track Day:

Homestead, without ABS and traction control was not fun, plenty of tire locking.
I tried to drive without the vacuum pump on the brake booster, which gives a lot more control over the brake, but the pedal is just too hard. My foot started hurting after my second session.

Fourth and Fifth Track day: Sebring.

Before the weekend:
- The clock spring was replaced with a new unit, and using the tech stream software, the steering angle was recalibrate. ABS light is gone and the traction control are working again.
- The engine developed the infamous cricket noise at idle. I need to see if using better gas solve the annoyance.

On the track the ABS and traction control are fully operative and that is awesome!
After a few laps my brake pads were running low and I destroyed my stock rotors, luckily I was able to find some 2 piece floating DBA 5000 series T3. After putting the new pads and the new rotors, the weekend ended up nicely with a trouble free experience.
The cricket noise did not seem to affect performance and the noise is stable even after 2 full track days.

https://youtu.be/JwZk64E97Ko

Any laptimes? Did you hang out with Emmanuel and Raul?

Our Saturday hangout plans didn't happen since we had to tow a car home. But it was awesome meeting Barbara and hanging out for a while. Hopefully, you come out to June with whatever car you have then.

Nice looking car, have fun with it.

I see potential here

after deciding to keep the car for a little longer.
I decided to upgrade a few things

- apex spring kit : caliper and disks with CL6E pads
- spiegel braided lines front and back
- whittling bushing: rear frame and differential
- under body JDM aero plates, mostly for protection of the under carriage against debris at the track.
- RaceComp Engineering Tarmac 2 (KW V3CS) with 500 lbs springs
- Raceseng back plates with 2" drop
- Ground control front camber plate with truss brace.
- Apex Alignment to make sure everything play nice.
- Cusco gas pedal for easier heel and toe.
- oil pressure gauge for peace of mind.
- removed the air box resonator, for cleaner engine bay.
- installed perrin throttle body duct (may cost me point in my class, so I may put the poem tube back on).
- installed fire extinguisher mount on the roll cage.
- installed go pro mount on the roll cage
- installed ram mount for mobile phone in the double din area (iphone or OFT)
- bought open flash tablet and added the latest 93 octane flash, mainly to benefit from the latest firmware.


The Raceseng 2" drop plate helped keeping camber to +-3, even with a massive lowering of the car, so I did not need any lower control arm, which would cost me additional point in my potential running class NASA PTD.

The car weight 2540 lbs as of today, without driver and with only one seat. I did not corner balance the car yet, I'll wait a few track days to have everything settle before.

I did all the work myself after TR3 became unresponsive on me. I have to say that after working on the car myself I realized a lot of little things did not receive the love they should have. So I took my time and put all the wiring away nicely, zip tie things neatly, add all rivets missing and that sort of things that a shop will not do for you... I assume.

Anyways, i am anxious to get back on track and see how the car behave with the new setup.


TO DO :
- oil change motul 300v 0W20 or thicker / DONE
- magnetic oil plug / DONE
- transmission oil change
- liquid coolant change.
- Kill switch wiring.
- JDL ULE header with power coating (bought with recent group buy on the forum)
- E85 kit, either open flash tablet, but most likely moto-east system for peace of mind and be able to see the actual octane levels.
- super pro full bushing kit, including all control arms bushing, front and back, pricey but one of the few no point upgrade in NASA PTD class.

Man I wish I had a shop like Apex Alignment in my area to get a good alignment. Looking forward to seeing this car this year.

track day 6 at homestead
 

Back on the track after new suspension install and fresh alignment.

Everything went very smoothly. It was a very hot day, but oil (motul 300v 0W20 and HKS filter) stayed in check always under 255F even under the most intense driving, oil Pressure stable at +-50.See my post in this thread about oil

My aluminum floor is so much better than the raw chassis, and my NACA duct provided me with much needed air flow under that hot day at the track.

The tarmac2 suspensions were very comfy, even with the 500lbs springs. I left them alone on default setting recommended by RCA: 9 from full stiff on rebound and compression. I 'll play with adjustment once I get everything sorted out but even as is, they did a great job.

My biggest problem was the new brake pads not wearing the rotor evenly. They are CL RC6E and I may have to change them for something more forgiving in term of bedding, even thought I was doing the pedal dance each time. See my post in this thread.

Overall the car is still a joy to drive so I will definitely be keeping it a bit longer.


FYI: TR3 Motorsports disappeared on me, they don't return my email or messages, very deceiving after all the time spent over there. I am sorry to report that I can no longer recommend that shop. They still have parts I am trying to get back.. we'll see how this ends up.

Glad to see you're enjoying the car...remember when I warned you about TR3 Motorsports way, way back...what douches

Subscribed!

quick update,


CAGE FIX

I fixed my cage to be able to run with NASA.

TR3 Motorsports who initially built my roll cage, did not do a good job building the cage. The main hoop diagonal had a bent, so I had to remove the diagonal and the horizontal bars where the harness tie to.

Also a bunch of weld were not full 360 degree. The welder did not think about the accessibility of some weld and simply didn't bother welding the hard to reach areas.

A shame considering I had spent good money painting the whole car interior. But that's what happen when you don't do your own research and you deal with unscrupulous providers in south florida.

Thankfully, John at WOT-TECH in fort lauderdale, took the challenge and work his ass off to reach some pretty tough weld location. They are not pretty but they are now fully 360 degree weld and will pass NASA standards. He also installed a new diagonal bar, straight this time.

He also added the necessary piece to add a window net with the quick release front.

Now time to paint the thing...again..

DOORS / WINDOWS
Ok so when TR3 Motorsport build the car they gutted my doors fully, because they said the roll cage would not allow for the window to remain in place. I had asked them to do their best to keep the windows but I just had no time to overlook the project well enough...

Anyways I decided that I wanted the windows back and I happen to find a set of doors for sale at a local wrecker, so I went for it.

It took quite some work and trial, but after a few hours, make small cuts here and there, I was able to get the driver door fit the daytona bars. As you can see my bars are not protruding too far outside the car, that is why it was possible. On the passenger side, I only had to trim the door plastic trim, as the daytona bars are not protruding at all. Shame on TR3 for gutting my door in the first place...

For the window switches, I simply zip tied them to the door reinforcement bar, and they are accessible through the speaker opening. not as good as stock but perfectly fine for my use.

I am pretty happy to get the windows back. I have an open trailer and I was not a fan of the lexan windows in terms of security and also water intrusion.

Nice work. I have NASCAR bars in my cage, and I just bolt in my OEM glass windows when I am not racing. They are held in by 2 bolts each, and I can remove them both in under 5 minutes.