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924RACR

Boy, a long, busy, exhausting, exciting weekend!

First off, the new shocks (Bilsteins) were GREAT! Car was just sweet on the handling, right where I wanted it. Also running with the Michelins, first time. Probably didn't have enough camber in them, but that will be fixed. I am also now running with the Racer's Edge rear spherical bearings.

The suspension was just great all weekend, very balanced, predictable. Dialed the rear swaybar back to full soft at the beginning of the weekend, as it was rather moist on track, but didn't feel a need to stiffen it up when it dried out. I really have never had a problem running this car in the wet with the same setup as in the dry, it's just so well balanced. The car held to the track much better, nice and smooth, though I think I have a bent rim or two I might have to get straightened. It handled the curbs fairly well, less disturbance than with the old Konis, IMO. What was particularly noticeable was that when I did kick the tail out, it was so much smoother and predictable, and I was much more able to work with it sideways than before. My tail slides and drifting were much smoother, more planned and predictable. This was most likely due to replacing the rubber bushings in the trailing arms with the Racer's Edge spherical bearing inserts.

The motor was making great power too, finally really pulling strong (except maybe in 5th, it's rather tall), except that in trying to find the sweet spot for the mixture I ended up leaning it out a bit too much, and kinda cooked the motor! Parked it before it did too much, damage, I think. I'll be running a compression test and tearing it down for a headgasket and maybe some rod bearings before I use it again, though. It should be OK, but we'll make sure. The good news was that this occurred about halfway through Sunday afternoon's race, so I was able to make half-way, technically completing the race (the difference between finishing many laps down vs. a DNF, did not finish).

As far as how did I compete? Well, there was only one other car in my class, an SSB BMW Z3 (with the 1.8L). On Saturday, he beat me as expected. However, I was only 2 seconds behind him in lap times, better than I'd expected. On Sunday, his clutch gave out at the very end of qualifying, and so he was unable to race, and I inherited the win and trophy by default, even though I did not make full race distance. If I had not even made halfway, I don't think I could even have been credited with the win!

More to the point, speeds appeared to be picking up noticeably. Comparing against other cars in other classes, I was 4-5sec behind the GTS2 front-runners (BMW 325 and 944), which was decent, and I was running within a second of the PS2 Spec Miatas (which are usually a mid-pack ITA car). This would seem to indicate that I'm approaching my goal of being a mid-pack ITA car. We'll have to wait and see when I get another chance to run against more ITA cars. Looks promising though.

Not too much else to relate, I ended up running fairly solo; first race I held off a Spec Miata for a bit, then slowly pulled away. In the second race, I pulled away from both him and a 944 (existing race car, but new driver), and was working up on a faster Spec Miata, until my motor decided it was done racing for the day.

I don't know that I'll have any video to upload; it was not particularly exciting in-cockpit, as I wasn't running particularly close to anyone.
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

924RACR · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 1:46 am Post subject:

Oh, I forgot to mention, again for reference purposes... coming through the last kink on the back straight I was turning in the range of 110-112mph indicated. I think that's fairly close to correct, as my tire size is close to stock (205/50/15). Also remember that this is while I'm going through the corner at the limit, wide-open. I estimate I was going into the braking zone after that, for the hairpin, at about 112-115 before I hit the brakes (the car doesn't accelerate too well at that speed!), slowing down to about 35-40mph for the turn.

I think I kinda cooked my brakes too.

Entry speed onto the back straight was probably about 70mph, maybe a little higher. That's about all I can relate for corner speeds. Gonna have to put a some brake cooling ducts on it now, I think, now that I'm going fast!!!
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Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

Neil924 · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 4225 Location: Canada

Cool, sounds $fun$! Hope you do the "cooking" of things in the kitchen instead of on the track next time. It also sounds like you have your car tuned up to the maximum, nice speeds. As soon as you have your brake cooling and lean mixtures fixed, I'm sure you will be strong for the entire race. Good luck.

wdb · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 2024

924RACR , you mentioned 5 th gear , I thought you had swaped a 4 speed into the track car , what about the LSD unit ? oh and the lexan hatch, feel any lighter ?

924RACR · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 10:27 pm Post subject:

Yeah, it was kinda surprising, first time in 4 years I've actually had any issues with the motor... of course, given that it's the same motor I've used for the past 4 years, it's not so surprising! LOL

I'm back to using a 5-speed, though I still need the correct 924 5-speed. The LSD is still sitting in my basement; waiting to get my hands on the correct trans and an R+P first, then I'll build a trans.

The rules I am currently running under do not allow me to do a lexan hatch or glass hood, both of which are collecting dust in my attic. That may well change as we figure out where we're going with the rules; however, the parts might instead go on the red turbo...
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

jjadczak · Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Accokeek, MD

Sounds like an exciting weekend. Did you over rev the motor or did it just pack it in? So your michelins worked well? Did you purchase them shaved? or did you get them with full tread? Are you running negative rear camber ? Looking forward to any pics, etc. on your site.

Jeremy

924RACR · Posted: Wed May 14, 2003 12:51 am Post subject:

Did not overrev (well... maybe a few times), but got it really really hot (270 deg oil temp), and decided to park it. Michelins were new, unshaved, scrubbed them in myself.

2 deg neg camber, but probably not enough, going back up to 2.5, same as the Hoosiers... Denny corded his not running enough camber, corded the outer edge only, otherwise they were fine. Try running the same camber as Hoosiers, 2.5-3deg camber.
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Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

chilippr · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 18

Vaughan - Will be heading to Beaver Run for an SCCA National (FV) on the 19th of June. Since this will be our first time there, any tips on paddock layout and prefered locations would be appreciated.
chilippr

924RACR · Posted: Tue May 20, 2003 3:59 am Post subject:

Well, drainage when wet can be a bit iffy at the end of the paddock, furthest from the entrance (the west end, as I recall). There's a triangle-shaped area of the pavement, as the paddock road swings around, near the control tower, not far from the tower or the restrooms, that will serve you well. However the biggest mention I can make is that it gets a bit confused in the paddock, as no paddock areas are marked; it's open-season, set up where you like. No marked spaces, so plenty of confusion IMO. I recommend getting there on the early side to be sure you can get a decent spot.

Hope that helps...
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

chilippr · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 18

Thanks for the advice!
chilippr