2022 BRZ, Scargod's Mod's and Track Upgrades

[Scargod]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Your wing is pretty high with a lot of AOA. ...

Agreed! I'm in the process of lowering the wing. Learned it's not very efficient up there in clean air since it's a 3D wing. It is meant to match the airflow of the roofline and at the ends match the cleaner air at the sides of the car.
This (by APR) explains it pretty well. See the 3D airfoil section in this tech article..
Last you will see of the high wing!

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Scargod

Agreed! I'm in the process of lowering the wing. Learned it's not very efficient up there in clean air since it's a 3D wing. It is meant to match the airflow of the roofline and at the ends match the cleaner air at the sides of the car.
This (by APR) explains it pretty well. See the 3D airfoil section in this tech article..
Last you will see of the high wing!

That is a good article. That much riser is also leveraging the car more. A good test when deciding wing height is to tape a bunch of string to the the rear window, if it flows mostly straight behind the car, the airflow is attached. It stays pretty well attached at most speeds most of the way down the back glass. I didn't see it mentioned in the article, but I believe the effective AOA is higher than the wings static AOA due to the airflow path. But I could be wrong on that. I typically run about 3 degrees static measured at the center profile.

Really like you splitter. I ordered a bunch of allumilite but never received it. Though for classing I wouldn't be allowed to run the fences on the ends.

[Scargod]

Installed the Blox "set" of sway bars. They come only with the Teflon lined bushings but the quality is excellent and the price from RCA Garage was great. The powdercoat finish is very good. The only negative is the odd 11mm adjustment holes.
I had to make bushings with my links and ream the holes slightly to get the paint out and bushings in.
Nice front links came with the Cygnus coilovers.
I made rear end links from McMaster-Carr pieces. I ordered M10 x 1.5 lubrication-free High-Load Ball Joint Rod End, with Nylon/PTFE Inserts from McMaster-Carr along with dust covers and high-strength bolts (Alloy Steel Shoulder Screws, 10 mm, 35 mm Shoulder Length, M8 x 1.25 mm Thread). These male to female rod ends are just the right length for my lowered car and the solid rod end Voodoo rear lower control arms (since they have a built in 18mm drop drop).The high-strength precision shoulder bolts and adapter bushings (sleeves) I made make for a perfect 10mm bolt fit into the Blox sway bar's oddball 11mm holes. I have very little slop in my connections before tightening!
I spent $150 and my links are equivalent to name brand links, or better, and they have dust seals.




For those interested, because of the Cygnus Performance high camber/caster plates in the front I have an additional 1.2° of caster and run -3.5° camber in the front and -2.5° in the rear.
The Blox sway bars, with more emphasis on making the rear bar stiffer, has improved handling and lessened understeer.

[Scargod]

Friday, 5-6-2022: Did almost two hours at Thompson Speedway in NE CT.
My best lap was a 1:24.6. 102 or more on the straight.
This is with a new car that still needs some sorting, me being rusty and driving a RWD car on a track for the first time in 26 years.
I was also running my new "Wilwood Superlite 6" BBK on the front. I'm pleased with the brakes, though the BP-20's were smoking. I've ordered Hawk DTC-70's.

I was overdriving the 245x17 888R tires quite a bit till I settled down. I lowered the pressure to 33 PSI hot. It was a 65° day.
I had my first off in six events at Thompson when the car snapped on me at the very end of turn six. I caught it and then it snapped around the other way, doing a complete 360 in grass. I thought for a second I was gonna drive away unscathed when I bumped the wall in the rear. Looked like a NASCAR spin and mow event.
I was almost on empty. Filled the tank with gas and let a little air out of the rear tires. Seemed composed and fine after that...
All I can think of is that someone kicked up dirt on the track from the pothole at the end of the rumble strip. I was hard on the power at that point.
I think I've read that if you up the stiffness of the rear sway bar that you risk reducing the amount of forgiveness when the car oversteers.
Any input is welcome! I'm going to try softening it for my next track day at Palmer Motorsports Park (MA).

[Scargod]

Here are the brackets I made so I could get the wing down where I want it.
The bottom of the wing is now 7.5 inches above the trunk, just in front of the spoiler.
I'll machine this some more and beautify it as I get comfortable with the angle and performance.
I guess that what I'm using is some style of universal trunk bracket made by APR. Because I bought everything used I don't know what the GTC 200 wing was on before I got it.
I made now larger end plates for the wing. I felt like the stock ones were too small and letting air spill over and around them, reducing the wings efficiency. These are 200mm x 300 mm in size.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Scargod

I had my first off in six events at Thompson when the car snapped on me at the very end of turn six. I caught it and then it snapped around the other way, doing a complete 360 in grass.

Once in a while I hear about an 86 "snapping", or having snap oversteer. I don't understand why, though. This car is so predictable, easy to drive at the limit, and friendly to recover when the rear loses traction.
You and I are not of the younger generation, but so often when I hear of younger (i.e. under 35) drivers talking about oversteer, they automatically include the word "snap" in front of it. I don't understand why, though. Maybe they should try driving a 930 Turbo or something.
(old guy thoughts)

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Scargod

Attachment 211744

Why are your splitter supports loose cables?

[Scargod]

Originally Posted by Pat

Why are your splitter supports loose cables?

Seems there are various ways to support a splitter.
When the splitter gets good loading the cables will be tight and the splitter lip is pressed down below level. It's how I designed it, with a little flex. The front edge drops about a half inch and the rear edge rises and bottoms out against the cross brace.
I think a lot of cables have some slack.

As to snapping, I think you have to suddenly lose traction somehow. I know that a radial tire will reach a threshold and then more suddenly "let go" than a bias ply tire will. I've never experience the rear of a car letting go in an uncontrollable fashion as I just experienced. Was like I hit a puddle of water or oil.

[LRNAD90]

Originally Posted by Scargod

In the process of routing my oil cooler hoses I took my washer tank out.
It was almost full and I thought, this is heavy!
It holds almost exactly five quarts, which is 10.4 pounds.


You can laugh, but that weight is in a terrible place. Just like the weight of the battery in my STI that I downsized and relocated.

Have to wonder if a simple siphon to empty the tank would not be easier?

The weight balance is already forward, so not laughing. Would have been cool if the engineers had gone to a transaxle (ala Porsche 944) to get even better balance, but I'm sure this was way beyond the budget for this project, and would have made the sales price to high to be viable.

Call me crazy, but the least they could have done was moved the battery to the trunk, and the washer tank up near the firewall where the battery currently is..

[Scargod]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

Your wing is pretty high with a lot of AOA. That wing can handle being mounted below the roof line a bit. ... but I believe reducing the height should help some.

Thanks for the advice. I think I have it at a good height now. The picture does not truly reflect its height. The turned-up high point of the wing (not including the end plates) is three inches lower than the roof peak.
I also reduced the AOA considerably. I was able to do 115 in fifth gear at Palmer and had a best lap of 1:56. I was very happy with the car's handling. I felt its handling was on par with the best cars in the Advanced/Instructor group. There was one BMW race car, on slicks that cornered better.

[Scargod]

I had an hour and a half on track at Palmer on 5-20 and the BRZ was flawless!
We ran counterclockwise and my best lap was a respectable 1:56. With the aero I managed 115 on the straight. Brakes worked great with the Girodisc two-piece rotors and Hawk DTC 70's up front. I ran PowerStop “Track Day Spec” pads on the rear. I was able to get into the ABS if I tried.
With the 245-17", 888's and all my mods I was able to corner with everyone except a BMW race car with big slicks.

[LRNAD90]

Originally Posted by Scargod

Photo will be replaced today with purchased one. Steven (superridemedia.com) did an awesome job with photography!

That is a Nice Shot!

[Scargod]

I had another great day at Thompson on the fourth.
I did at least 110.5 MPH on the straightaway (up from 102) but then started having issues with the Harry's timer app. I'm going to put my AIM Evo 4s in the car.
I can't say what my best lap was but I know I got a lot faster.
Car's handling is just amazing. Driver needs consistency!
Five BRZ's at the event! The 2017's belong to my track buddies.

[dreamwonder]

Nice! I see we have the same track buddies, was with them at Tamworth the week before.