Bought it Friday tracked it Sunday!! NC Miata battle video inside...

[Rocky]

Great thread! I just joined to comment I'm also in Texas and I've been to h2r a few times. I'll be going out there again in a few weeks after I've done some maintenance work on my car (change rear brake pads, flush fluid, oil change, etc). I ran a 1:36 my third time out there in my modified civic si but I have a lot of time to make up. I wasn't able to time myself when I was out there with a friend a few months ago but I'm now taking turns 6 and 9 flat out. Here's a video of me taking those turns flat out. I wasn't used to carrying so much speed so I go off at the end

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR0pTNgjZH4"]Harris Hill Road 5/25/2012 - YouTube[/ame]

What camera are you using? I have a go pro.

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by Rocky

Great thread! I just joined to comment I'm also in Texas and I've been to h2r a few times. I'll be going out there again in a few weeks after I've done some maintenance work on my car (change rear brake pads, flush fluid, oil change, etc). I ran a 1:36 my third time out there in my modified civic si but I have a lot of time to make up. I wasn't able to time myself when I was out there with a friend a few months ago but I'm now taking turns 6 and 9 flat out. Here's a video of me taking those turns flat out. I wasn't used to carrying so much speed so I go off at the end

What camera are you using? I have a go pro.

Go pro Hero HD2 but i think i did not position it right it had to much glare. My last video i mounted it to the side window and it was fine. BTW love civic si's so planted in corners and you can go flat out everywhere. I always go flat out on 6 and 9 i spun out once on my c63 when going flat out through 6 though lol.

[Rocky]

Cool, I have the gopro Hero HD. Have you tried changing the exposure settings to SPt (Spot meter)? It works much better than the default setting when you're inside a car looking outside where it's much brighter.

I've gone flat out on turn 1 but I don't do that anymore ever since I went off. The pucker factor is too high and I end up too far to the right at track out. FYI my car is pretty heavily modded - intake/header/exhaust/tune and suspension. I'm working on the driver mod now

What brake pads are you going to try next?

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by Rocky

Cool, I have the gopro Hero HD. Have you tried changing the exposure settings to SPt (Spot meter)? It works much better than the default setting when you're inside a car looking outside where it's much brighter.

I've gone flat out on turn 1 but I don't do that anymore ever since I went off. The pucker factor is too high and I end up too far to the right at track out. FYI my car is pretty heavily modded - intake/header/exhaust/tune and suspension. I'm working on the driver mod now

What brake pads are you going to try next?

Thinking on trying some Ferrodo DS2500's with SS lines and AP fluid. Im waiting on essex to release the AP front brake kit for a bit more endurance. What pads you rocking in the Civic?

[Rocky]

I've been pretty easy on the brakes since I'm running HP+ with ATE super blue right now but in the future, I'm gonna get a dedicated set of rotors and pads (hawk DTC-60's or carbotech XP12's). I used a set of DD stoptech street pads at h2r once to see how they'd hold up and they literally crumbled. I ran HP+ at TWS when I first started tracking and was still stock and they were good.

What other mods do you have planned for your car? Seems like you've covered so much already

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by Rocky

I've been pretty easy on the brakes since I'm running HP+ with ATE super blue right now but in the future, I'm gonna get a dedicated set of rotors and pads (hawk DTC-60's or carbotech XP12's). I used a set of DD stoptech street pads at h2r once to see how they'd hold up and they literally crumbled. I ran HP+ at TWS when I first started tracking and was still stock and they were good.

What other mods do you have planned for your car? Seems like you've covered so much already

Well here is the setup so far and whats on order and planned.

-Suspension-
-Cusco Front & Rear Member Braces
-Cusco Adjustable Rear Control Arms
-Cusco Front & Rear Strut Bars
-Cusco Thicker Rear Sway Bar
-Perrin Sway Bar End Links
-KW V3 Coilovers
-Vorschlag Camber Plates

-Interior-
-Status Ring GT-X

-Engine-
-TRD Filter
-Agency Power Catback

-Brakes-
-Stock System Fading pretty badly because of rubber lines and fluid.

-Track Wheels & Tires-
-Hankook RS3'S 245/40/17
-Wheels 17X8 +45 Rpf1's

-Street Wheels & Tires -
-Hankook V12 Evo 225/40/18 F 245/35/18 R
-Work Ultimate's 18X8.5 F 18X9.5 R


On order:

-Five AD Lip (Thinking about canceling its been almost 2 months)
-Toyota Emblems

Coming Soon:

-Cusco Cage with harness bar
-Takata 6 point harness or Schroth not sure yet
-Headers (Waiting to see what other options are available)
-Mid Pipe (Waiting to see other options)
-Intake (Waiting to see other options)
-Pads, fluid, Rear Rotors, SSlines, Front AP kit (Ordering soon)
-APR WING (When Released)
-Some mild aero
-Weight Reduction
-ECU Tuning (Waiting on Cobb)
-Pulley
-Clutch + Lightweight Flywheel (Waiting for mine to start dying)
-Quick release steering wheel + hub

[Racecomp Engineering]

I've held back on asking this since it always starts a fight but I just have to....

Why did you choose the Cusco cage? You have a really good serious track build going on here so why not go with a real custom cage? It will be exponentially safer.

No disrespect intended....just my opinion that it's worth it to avoid the Cusco cage for a track car.

- Andrew

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

I've held back on asking this since it always starts a fight but I just have to....

Why did you choose the Cusco cage? You have a really good serious track build going on here so why not go with a real custom cage? It will be exponentially safer.

No disrespect intended....just my opinion that it's worth it to avoid the Cusco cage for a track car.

- Andrew

Well the reason is that i want something i can remove in the future, ive seen a s2k roll over with a cusco cage and it held perfectly even with the a pillars bent the driver walked out without a scratch. The track i race has a very good run off area so i should be fine, im going with a 9 point version of their steel cage. Id love to get a weld in but im afraid of ruining the car when i try to sell it later down the road.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by pcasso87

Well the reason is that i want something i can remove in the future, ive seen a s2k roll over with a cusco cage and it held perfectly even with the a pillars bent the driver walked out without a scratch. The track i race has a very good run off area so i should be fine, im going with a 9 point version of their steel cage. Id love to get a weld in but im afraid of ruining the car when i try to sell it later down the road.

Make sure you "bolt" it in correctly.

http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/...r-cut-corners/

It's the connecting points on their cage what I'm worried about. If they break at that point the bars become spears and it wouldn't take much to break to them. The Kirkey and Autopower cages use a slip fit design which is superior in strength and doesn't create a "spearing" probability.

I think the S2k you're referring to is the one where he rolled down a big hill. The rollbar (which is all he had) did the job. However if he had the cage he could have been in danger how the front bars (not shown in this pic) are only hold on by small welds and bolts. As you can see a great deal of the force was transferred to the windshield pillars and you can clearly see how stout they are on an S2k. I think this S2k owner was smart by ONLY using the roll bar, not the full "cage" and having it bolted in correctly. If was putting roll over protection in my FRS, I would either be doing just a 4pt roll bar or a full custom cage.




And yes, I know that the internet is full of pictures where the Cusco bar/cage worked but few of those were anything significant (like the mustang where the bolt-in failed).

Let me end by saying, I'm just sharing perspective as this is a safety device and deserves extra attention, however I think you've spent so much money modifying your FRS that you should be putting in a full cage and just turning this thing into a race car. You're already going down that slippery slope anyway. It's time to get your SCCA or NASA license, choose a class and go for it. You have the resources, you love the speed... Oh yeah. You need to be racing.

Just sayin'


And more rolling funzies.

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

Make sure you "bolt" it in correctly.

http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/...r-cut-corners/

It's the connecting points on their cage what I'm worried about. If they break at that point the bars become spears and it wouldn't take much to break to them. The Kirkey and Autopower cages use a slip fit design which is superior in strength and doesn't create a "spearing" probability.

I think the S2k you're referring to is the one where he rolled down a big hill. The rollbar (which is all he had) did the job. However if he had the cage he could have been in danger how the front bars (not shown in this pic) are only hold on by small welds and bolts. As you can see a great deal of the force was transferred to the windshield pillars and you can clearly see how stout they are on an S2k. I think this S2k owner was smart by ONLY using the roll bar, not the full "cage" and having it bolted in correctly. If was putting roll over protection in my FRS, I would either be doing just a 4pt roll bar or a full custom cage.




And yes, I know that the internet is full of pictures where the Cusco bar/cage worked but few of those were anything significant (like the mustang where the bolt-in failed).

Let me end by saying, I'm just sharing perspective as this is a safety device and deserves extra attention, however I think you've spent so much money modifying your FRS that you should be putting in a full cage and just turning this thing into a race car. You're already going down that slippery slope anyway. It's time to get your SCCA or NASA license, choose a class and go for it. You have the resources, you love the speed... Oh yeah. You need to be racing.

Just sayin'


And more rolling funzies.

I may go custom, i got quoted for a 9 point chromoly cage 1300 + paint which costs the same as the cusco one so dont know might do it.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by pcasso87

I may go custom, i got quoted for a 9 point chromoly cage 1300 + paint which costs the same as the cusco one so dont know might do it.

$1300 for custom!


Usually that's a $2500-5k gig!

[track_warrior]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

$1300 for custom!


Usually that's a $2500-5k gig!

Yep cages in texas are not that expensive to get done, i got quoted in several places and they all quoted me around 1200-2.5k

Place i am thinking about getting it done: http://www.noribilt.com/ not a scca cage just something light for safety.

[Racecomp Engineering]

I agree with rice_classic. I'd prefer an autopower roll bar to the cusco monkey bars.

- andrew

[track_warrior]

A little update guys,

Im currently working on getting a custom cage in the car, hopefully i can have one that does not go through the dash since i still want it to be semi street capable for when i hit some twisty mountain roads. Im in the quest of finding a keys racing D shaped steering wheel plus a quick release and hub. Still debating on 6 point harness brand im between sabelt, takata, and schroth might have to let my puppies decide on this one (and im not kidding i actually make them decide for me sometimes lol). Voltex Wing or APR will be coming shortly as well.

Stuff on the way:

AP Crank Pulley
Motiv Test Pipe
SS lines
Down Force Aero


So far i ordered some new goodies:

Downforce CF front lip and side skirts (Not my car but same lip)


AP fluid and Ferodo pads and i am waiting on the ss lines. No more spongy brakes and this will do for me until essex releases the ap bbk


Did some cosmetic cleaning up by installing new Toyota emblems. IMO looks much better than the scion emblem and the removal of the FR-S symbol makes it look more sporty as well.







Installed a Braile 9 pound battery to replace the heavy stocker. Only problem was there is no braket available for this car as of yet so im either going to custom fab or stick to zipties until some one releases something. Stocker weighs 30 pounds and the braile weighs 9 pounds so do the math and the car lost 21 pounds without having to go to the gym lol. Now if only it was that easy to lose real life weight!!