T(h)or's GT86 hammer (Europe) - essential track setup

[Tor]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

I noticed this too. A big difference in speed between the speedometer and the Ecutek log file. Do you have any idea why is this happening?

Legislation? I didn't calculate the percentage difference. But since the difference is exponential, and everyone else on the roads seems to drive the same speeds, I can imagine the speedo is required to be programmed to show a certain percentage too high.

[Iceman]

Nordschleife 101: There aren't any 2nd gear corners! Not even with the stock engine.

Originally Posted by nikitopo

I noticed this too. A big difference in speed between the speedometer and the Ecutek log file. Do you have any idea why is this happening?

Originally Posted by Tor

Legislation? I didn't calculate the percentage difference. But since the difference is exponential, and everyone else on the roads seems to drive the same speeds, I can imagine the speedo is required to be programmed to show a certain percentage too high.

Legislation, yes. All cars must show some excess.

The Ecutek reads the correct speed from the ABS sensors. If you enter the hidden menu on the stock radio, you can see this as well

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Nordschleife 101: There aren't any 2nd gear corners! Not even with the stock engine.

Even Fulvio drives Wehrseifen in 2nd.

In case anyone wonders who Fulvio is. He is the most insane Italian BRZ driver I've seen so far. This is how he takes Flugplatz by the way (full throttle) :

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Tor

Even Fulvio drives Wehrseifen in 2nd.

In case anyone wonders who Fulvio is. He is the most insane Italian BRZ driver I've seen so far. This is how he takes Flugplatz by the way (full throttle) :

And he's loosing time there, period. I know him from my '16 trip, great guy!

He lifts the throttle, actually. Too edgy... Causing oversteer.

I've done Flugplatz at 17X this year and it's quite a feeling I think it is possible to go full flatout but it takes more confidence/experience. Some aero wouldn't hurt either. But when I think about how much you can win/lose, at least during TF sessions... Better not to risk it.

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Iceman

And he's loosing time there, period. I know him from my '16 trip, great guy!

He lifts the throttle, actually. Too edgy... Causing oversteer.

I've done Flugplatz at 17X this year and it's quite a feeling I think it is possible to go full flatout but it takes more confidence/experience. Some aero wouldn't hurt either. But when I think about how much you can win/lose, at least during TF sessions... Better not to risk it.

Yes, he lifts a bit. I meant at Quiddelbacher-Höhe just before Flugplatz, where I brake (and hence make 4th gear a viable choice for me), he goes flat out.

Why do you think he looses time, with a corner speed of 70 kmh, it's 30 kmh that can be accelerated in 2nd gear at high rpm instead of 3rd with much less power?

[Roth]

Originally Posted by Tor

Did another 4 laps at the NBR this weekend. First two laps (driven consecutively) my main camera wasn't recording. The second lap was a lot of fun though because I did a lot of overtaking, so that was kind of a shame. Maybe I will end up re-ordering the Sony camera because I'm tired of that troublesome Chinese crap. And the Sony did look a lot better, compared side by side.
...

Man I saw your gt at the ring the past weekend. I was standing by your car for a while, but you didn't show up
I was there 21-22 july. Long trip from Norway (not the first time, but for a weekend run I need a week free from wife and job. Well worth it ). No luck on saturday, I could drive only 2 laps before the waterfall-rain started. Sunday was actually very good for me, happy to see and feel much improvements every single laps.

I was there with my black gt86, and I was in the track when the Megane RS rolled, damn what a crash.

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Roth

Man I saw your gt at the ring the past weekend. I was standing by your car for a while, but you didn't show up
I was there 21-22 july. Long trip from Norway (not the first time, but for a weekend run I need a week free from wife and job. Well worth it ). No luck on saturday, I could drive only 2 laps before the waterfall-rain started. Sunday was actually very good for me, happy to see and feel much improvements every single laps.

I was there with my black gt86, and I was in the track when the Megane RS rolled, damn what a crash.

That's a shame. I was probably in the diner drinking coffee or eating icecream if you were there when the track was closed. Do you have plans to come again? If so, the next time you plan to go you can always shoot me a message here on the forum.

I was on track too as you can see on the video, it must have happened only a few minutes before I arrived. Yes it looked pretty horrific, but to be honest I didn't notice much as I drove by. I was just focused on passing and not hitting any debris. I couldn't even tell what kind of car had rolled over until I saw my own video.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Tor

Yes, he lifts a bit. I meant at Quiddelbacher-Höhe just before Flugplatz, where I brake (and hence make 4th gear a viable choice for me), he goes flat out.

Why do you think he looses time, with a corner speed of 70 kmh, it's 30 kmh that can be accelerated in 2nd gear at high rpm instead of 3rd with much less power?

There are a couple of reasons:

- The difference in acceleration doesn't make up for the time you loose with 2 extra gear changes (1 downshift and 1 upshift right after the corner).
- If you exit in 2nd you have to module the throttle or you can loose the rear, 3rd gear is much safer/stable and you can floor it with confidence. Plus, the exit is not straight so you're forced to shift mid-corner which is not ideal.
- Braking into the corner gets easier if you don't have to shift down to 2nd, you can mess up and unsettle the car.

It all adds up, the result being faster/easier/safer in 3rd.

Of course I understand in your case you are doing lower corner speeds so your approach is a bit different, but keep this "tricks" in mind for the future

[Roth]

Originally Posted by Tor

That's a shame. I was probably in the diner drinking coffee or eating icecream if you were there when the track was closed. Do you have plans to come again? If so, the next time you plan to go you can always shoot me a message here on the forum.

I was on track too as you can see on the video, it must have happened only a few minutes before I arrived. Yes it looked pretty horrific, but to be honest I didn't notice much as I drove by. I was just focused on passing and not hitting any debris. I couldn't even tell what kind of car had rolled over until I saw my own video.

I will definitely message you
Do you live close to the track?
I'm planning a week "ring-holiday" next year in april. I have a baby coming soon, so it will be hard to leave again this autumn.
I'll be in touch, and follow your build

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Roth

I will definitely message you
Do you live close to the track?
I'm planning a week "ring-holiday" next year in april. I have a baby coming soon, so it will be hard to leave again this autumn.
I'll be in touch, and follow your build

Or bring the baby and come in the autumn. Maximum effort to ensure he or she will become a petrolhead.

I live a good hour drive away, so I'm pretty close.

[MCTeeJ]

I like this. Good work sir. Subbed.

[Tor]

I didn't get around to making a post here yet, but 2 weekends ago it was the annual track day at RacePark Meppen with the German Subaru club. I've driven there the previous two years as well and this is really a highlight of the year for me! It's such a great atmosphere and a lot of fun and friendly likeminded people.

It was also a great opportunity to take status on how my car works with the latest modifications. This is a track that not only suits the 86 perfectly, but also a track that I feel really comfortable driving and pushing my limits. This year, I think I found pretty close to the limits of the car as well.

I am no less than thrilled about my switch to the Pedders Supercar coilovers. The balance of the car is now perfect for my taste! It regained the stock "playfulness" but without biting your head off. My engine tuning worked flawlessly as well and the car felt really powerful. The only weak point was, as I was already aware, the tires.

I also had the opportunity to get some individual coaching with a professional German race driver. He started out driving a few rounds in my car with me in the passenger seat. Not only could I see he really enjoyed it, but he also outspokenly praised the car for having great handling and linear power. Or as he said it "it's not quite a slow car any longer".

I could see he babied it quite a bit when driving it. The biggest pad on the shoulder was after it was my turn driving he said "What a shame I drove it so softly. If I had started out driven it the way you did a lot would have become scared".

I do have the coaching on video, but I didn't ask his permission to share it. But this is something I definitely want to repeat on the Nürburgring and I'll ask if I can share the video on that occasion.


Anyway, here are some videos from the other sessions. Driving on the worn Yokohama AD08Rs was a great learning experience, so I played a bit more around with the car rather than focusing on optimal lap time.

Here 4 fun rounds with a lot of sliding around, where the data logging, unfortunately, stopped working. The coolest thing was sliding around the blind left-hander after the start/finish straight in 3rd gear:


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqcfZXGqQlU[/ame]


Here the full last stint which also contained my fastest lap 1:18.9, which is lap 2 of 17 (I suppose few will have the patience to watch the whole video). It was a good improvement over last year (0.8 seconds), considering the tires barely had any grip left. With fresh tires, maybe a high 1:17 possible?


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_kqsh9N6Vc[/ame]


As I wrote already, the used tires was not a disadvantage when it came to practicing car control. And it was actually a lot of fun, felt like 100 more horsepower.

[Tor]

New tires.

Couldn't remember that they had this much profile when new:






Here 2 years 1 months old, 20 - 25000 km (12 - 15k miles) and lots of track:



(They have no grip anymore).

[TeutonicShift89]

Congrats! Yes, when I get new tires it's like I can't help playing with those lovely, deep treads--knowing how quickly the "high places will be made low, and the low places raised up."

What tires are those? Do they do well on the road in the wet? I've done 2 sets of BFG G-Force Sport Comp II A/S and have gotten only 7-8k miles PER SET, and that's with just 1 track day each--and the track day was not even a real track day like what you do, just a driver education course for maybe 2 hrs total of track time per event.

The BFG's are relatively cheap and perform well but if I could get 15k out of a set that would be amazing.