DarkSunrise FR-S

[TWMPerformance]

Great action pics! Wheels look super

Renato
Team TWM Performance

[DarkSunrise]

Couple of pictures taken by some friends from my last track weekend.

[YouShallKnow]

Did you ever dyno your car again?

[ap5512]

Originally Posted by YouShallKnow

Did you ever dyno your car again?

I second this..

Interested because I've got the oft + ofh coming in tomorrow and hoping the gains are not as disappointing.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by YouShallKnow

Did you ever dyno your car again?

Originally Posted by ap5512

I second this..

Interested because I've got the oft + ofh coming in tomorrow and hoping the gains are not as disappointing.

Not yet. I'm still figuring out a small exhaust leak between my header and overpipe. I think the power is there though.

During my last track day, an S2000 only pulled about 1/2 a car length on me on the straight, maybe less.

To unscientifically compare against another FR-S:
- My "stage 2" FR-S went from 82 --> 121 mph on the front straight (39 mph delta).
- Friend's "stage 1" FR-S only went from 86 --> 121 mph (35 mph delta).

His FR-S was putting down 185 whp, so I should be making a bit more than that. I will re-dyno before spring though.

[DarkSunrise]

Some pictures from a recent track day:




An out-of-town friend came to visit. He blew his engine/transmission on his track car and missed going out there, so I took him out for a few sessions in my car. He has a deposit down on a Porsche GT3 RS, so I'm hoping he'll return the favor when he gets his new car

The FR-S has been running well at the track, but I'm not too happy with the rate at which I'm going through consumables. I put in Project Mu HC+800 pads about a month ago. After 4 track days, they were pretty much done.



I also wasn't too impressed with their hot bite, so I decided it was time to step up to Carbotech XP10's. Hopefully these will bite a little harder, resist fade, and last longer.

My tires (Nitto NT05) have seen better days too, so I bought BFG Rivals (225/45/17) to replace them. The NT05's were pretty decent when hot, but Tirerack was having a closeout sale on 2013-stock Rivals, so I decided to switch things up.

I'll post up impressions of the XP10's and Rivals after I've had a chance to track with them.

[nocwage]

If you're chewing through pads like that you should consider a big brake kit of some kind, the upfront cost is more but you'll likely need to buy fewer pads, and swapping them when you do is WAAAYYYYY easier.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by nocwage

If you're chewing through pads like that you should consider a big brake kit of some kind, the upfront cost is more but you'll likely need to buy fewer pads, and swapping them when you do is WAAAYYYYY easier.

Thanks. Yeah the thought has crossed my mind, but I'm going to try the XP10's first. Trying to stay away from BBK if possible. If the problem persists, I'll have to think about a BBK - maybe Stoptech. I know AZP has a pretty killer deal on that kit.

By the way, is swapping pads really that easy with a BBK? The stock brakes already seem pretty easy (one 14mm bolt).

[DarkSunrise]

Swapped to Carbotech XP10's upfront. Install was a breeze, no issues putting the pads in even with shims (unlike PMU HC+800 which were too thick and dragged on the rotors).

I've only just bedded them in, but first impressions are excellent. Very impressive stopping power when hot. I left the old PMU HC+800 pads in the rear, and I was constantly locking up the front tires at 50% pedal. Given how hard the XP10's bite, I will need to upgrade my rear pads to balance out my brakes.

Only downside so far is they screech like a city bus coming to a light stop.

I've got a track day coming up this weekend. Looking forward to how these pads do!

[DarkSunrise]

Some thoughts from my last track day:

1) Balance - I really loved the car's balance having swapped my worn front tires to the rear. It's not like a stockish FR-S suspension has a lot of understeer to begin with, but this pushed the needle more towards being neutral. I settled on cold pressures of 34 psi front, 32 psi rear. Was able to rotate the car with enough brakes on entry or throttle on exit. Very fun to play with and it never felt like the car would bite (which let me experiment with trail-braking deeper into corners).

2) Carbotech XP10 brakes - I loved these pads on the track. For the first time, I had nearly full confidence in my brakes. The hot bite was significantly better than any other pad I had used in the past (Stoptech, PMU HC+800). I only felt what I think was a touch of fade after 5+ laps going at a pretty hard pace, trail-braking often. I would highly recommend these. I'm going to pick up a set of these pads for the rear - I could tell my brake bias has moved forward with XP10's in the front only.

3) Coil packs - For the first time, I got repeated P0351 error codes. I'd seen them sporadically in the past, but this time the code would not stay off. I don't think it's a coincidence that this was probably the hottest track day I'd ever done, about 95-99 degrees ambient. Once I triggered the CEL, I could re-trigger it by going above 7000 RPM. Will replace the coil packs (probably heat shield them) and see if that works. Really wish I had ceramic coated my overpipe in hindsight.

4) Knock/FLKC - The last time I went to the track, I was seeing a fair amount of FLKC (knock) later in the day. Same story this time, except in the last session (hottest ambient temps, IATs hovering around 110 F), FLKC was much reduced. I suspect either (A) the tweaks to the tune I had done (reducing ignition timing when IATs > 104 F) were kicking in on the last session, or (B) my attempts to keep RPMs below 7000 due to the coil packs were keeping temps in check. I'm going to make more aggressive tweaks to the IAT timing compensation table and see if that helps for the next track day. Peak oil temp was 238 F. Peak coolant temp was 207 F.

5) Advanced Group - This was my first time running in the full advanced group. I was worried about being a rolling chicane, but actually the speeds were pretty comparable to the advanced-intermediate group I normally run with. The only cars that absolutely destroyed me were a 991 GT3 and C7 Z06. Interestingly the car most even to mine was a caged/gutted SVT Focus on R888's with track suspension and LSD - we ran near dead-even most of the day, probably within a half second of each other. Most of the guys in the group were actually slower, so I just gridded early and hardly saw any traffic. I also think I witnessed the infamous "limp mode" on the C7 Z06. Pretty obvious when he's passing you like you're standing still most of the day, and suddenly you can keep him in your rearview for a few laps. I didn't get to talk to him afterwards, but I would guess he got an overheat warning and backed off on the straights.

[Icanfaptothis86]

How do you like your TC105?

And subquestion did you paint them black ?

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Icanfaptothis86

How do you like your TC105?

And subquestion did you paint them black ?

I like the WedsSports TC105N's a lot. They're fairly light at ~15 lbs/each and have been pretty strong in my experience. You can see some of the testing WedsSport does on their wheels in this video:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-v1Pyd4bPg"]Weds Sport Japan (English) - YouTube[/ame]

The only downside is they are significantly more expensive than some other flowform cast wheels. For example, my other set of wheels (TSW Nurburgring) were almost 50% cheaper. The TSW's are also only 3 lbs/wheel heavier, which is pretty negligible to be honest.

If you don't mind paying a bit more for the WedsSport name though, they're good wheels.

The black wheels in my pictures are TSW's. The silver wheels are WedsSports.

[DarkSunrise]

Quick update after another fun track weekend:

1) Back to stage 1 - I pulled the JDL catless header and overpipe. My wife wasn't thrilled about the sound and catless smell, so I decided to take them off. Miss the 6000+ RPM pull to redline and the SOUND (oh God the sound), but the car feels surprisingly strong with OFT stage 1. I was running moderately rich before. My latest data logs show I'm running about dead-on AFR with OFT stage 1. Leaner is more power to an extent.

Link to some track datalogs:
http://www.datazap.me/u/darksunrise/...5?log=2&data=1

2) HPDE Advanced Group pt 2 - Ran advanced group again at my last track event. This time the group was much faster and my left arm got plenty of exercise I loved it though. Learned so much watching other people's lines and seeing where they found speed in corners. Ran some of my fastest laps just following the fast guys through corners. Top speed on the straight was about 120 mph with OFT stage 1, compared to 121 mph with OFT stage 2.

3) Possible Club Trials - I always enjoy meeting new people at the track. This weekend was no exception. One of the guys I met invited me to do club trials. Seems like something fun to try, so that could be the next step for me.

4) Steering Clunk - After the past 2 track days, I'm starting to hear a clunking/tapping noise when I turn the steering full lock at a stop. Not sure what it is, but I'm guessing it may be the stock endlinks binding up.

5) CEL fixed - Looks like replacing the coilpack fixed my P0351 CEL. Didn't have any more issues at the track, although the weather was about 20 degrees cooler.

BTW still loving the car! It's nowhere near the fastest or lightest out there (especially in advanced HPDE), but for how I use it I feel it's great.

[DarkSunrise]

Picture of the RR Racing stage 2 BBK installed on my FR-S. Wheels are 17x8 +42 WedsSport TC105N.



Also did a test fit on 17x9 +42 Apex ARC-8 wheels.




As mentioned by others, no problems fitting these brakes with either wheels. Good clearance all around.

I've only done street driving so far, but the brakes feel great. Very stiff pedal within the first ~0.5-1" of travel. If anyone is experiencing a soft/mushy pedal with these, try bleeding the brakes again. That solved the issue for me. Cold bite on the street is fine. I'm on the BP-20 pads and they squeal less than my previous Carbotech XP10's.

Track day coming up tomorrow - I think these are going to be very good.