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I'll just disconnect it if I'm going to let it sit for months, it's not like the NB ECU has much to learn. Emissions flags notwithstanding of course.
This battery is used, unknown manufacturing or even purchase date. It's been through repeated freezing east coast winters as it came with the Dirty NA, and at least 2 savage NorCal summers so it's seen some ****. I charged it up and then its been sitting on my workbench for the better part of 2 years and it's only self discharged 0.1v. According to my tester it's still within 10% of it's original factory rated cranking amps.
All that and it's still holding up better than the Optima. Hahaha! If it dies in a year I'll replace it with another PC680 and I won't even be mad.
It gets lighter every time I step on the brakes and every time I wash it. Microgram strategy bro!
Originally Posted by Midtenn
Did you check the ambient temps before deciding if that was enough pad material?
I did. These XP8s are my "winter pads" and even though it got into the 80s in the afternoon, there was enough wind to offset so they did just fine. I don't have ducts so I really have to pay attention to these things.
The event went well and the car held up just fine. It was great seeing @afm , @Scaxx and another friend with the ND who also drove down from Oregon. Even @gesso popped in for the afternoon to hang out and say hi, which is rad considering he's dealing with a sub-month old at this point. He also unloaded a pile of whatsit off the trailer into my driveway before heading home, but that's a story for another time.
AFM got the passenger seat in his K Integra post lunch and I was able to do a ride along in the afternoon and that car RIPS. It also made me rather motion sick and I ended up skipping my last session lest I barf in my helmet. I REGRET NOTHING! I also rode along in the ND in the afternoon and man, I gotta say, that car has some scoot. The ND1 RF was completely stock other than rims and tires (6ULs and D3s) and it was totally competent in the novice group. I had a lot of fun in that ride, even though I was still feeling quite sick.
I still had a great time and it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves, I can't wait to get out there and do it again.
My car is ...weird. I seem to have sorted out many of the little issues that have plagued it for some time but I just don't feel like I'm able to keep up.
It seems to have plenty enough power (for a Miata? lol?) but being out there with a bunch of newer BMWs, 86s, and various other things with ABS and TC is a little annoying. Everyone has 2x (or 3x) my power, significantly more rubber, ABS and some with TC. I was in the lower intermediate group (the only group with space when I registered late) and I felt like I unable to keep up with traffic. I tried to be generous with the point-bys because ain't nobody came to the track to follow me around, but it felt bad to even be in that position. I can't out brake anything with ABS so I was trying to give other people plenty of space, but without the power to catch them there is no way I was getting by anyone. Plus the car just felt bad? It felt like a fight the whole time. I was at the point where I was just trying to follow other people and mimic their lines (maybe they know something I don't know?) and I couldn't hang. I know I brake too much and too early which costs me a ton of speed, but the car doesn't inspire the confidence to do otherwise. Riding along in the ND was a lot of fun but also made me super sad. I was unable to do a lot of the things he was doing. I also know the car isn't geared ideally (6+3.63) but that can't account for everything. The car has all the "right" parts but its just not right? Hard to explain, I lack the vocabulary.
I will also say that I may be the problem here. I have no ego, it just may be that I can't drive. I'm also super rusty. I'm not the most prolific track driver and I think I only have 3-4 trackdays over the last ~4 years, 2-3 of those without the turbo so its not like I'm getting a lot of consistent practice. In fact, I'm starting to think the turbo may have actually hurt me, allowing me to just power through things to make up for lack of skill.
What I should have done was stuff AFM or Scaxx in the car and have them do a session and tell me what they see, but I didn't think of that at the time. We had a little brainstorm and there was some discussion of alignment. AFM pointed out that it looked like I had minimal to no camber in the front, and I know its been at least ~7-8 years since it was last aligned. I'm more than happy to blame the car so I squeaked in to get an alignment yesterday. I poked a few brains and as always, general consensus is the 949 Supermiata Dual Duty is a good starting point.
~40min into the alignment appointment, they decided the Dual Duty numbers posed a "liability issue" and it was "too far outside factory tolerance" so they pulled it off the rack. At least they didn't charge me for it? For reference, direct from the website with edits for my imperial brain:
NA/NB 89-05
4.133" - 4.921" front pinch weld height
0.118" - 0.197" rake, rear higher Front camber: -2.5° Caster: +3.5 ~ 4.0° Front total toe: 0 Rear camber : -2.0°
Rear total toe: + 1/8", (.12")
Post track day I was at 4.75" front and 4.5" rear, on the dot, to the pinch welds, and L/R is symmetrical. Clearly I wasn't too drunk when I set this up and maybe the rear settled? I adjusted the rear up 5 turns on the Xidas which should give me another ~0.3" in the rear putting me at 4.8". I may need to give it 1 more turn to get within that 0.118" to 0.197" rage for F/R rake.
They were nice enough to give me a printout of the current alignment with the 4.75F and 4.8R:
At least the front caster looks ok? Toe is wack, not enough enough camber everywhere, and the rear is particularly bad. There is some serious room for improvement here. Is it enough to make me hate life? I don't know, I don't have enough direct personal experience here.
I feel like I'm opening a hornets nets posting this, but that's just how she goes. Without the appropriate DPE I need to get to a baseline and work from there, so that's what I'm doing. For reference, here's the modz list for suspension, because I can't blame anyone for not keeping track of this stuff with all my babbling:
15x8 6UL
225 RS4
Gen2 Xidas 700/400 with duals and coaxial hats
Racing Beat #54103 1.125" dia front sway bar (it might be a 1.25, easy enough to measure)
MSM rear bar
Supermiata endlinks
Stock rubber bushings
Stock NB LBJs
Stock NB TREs
Depowered rack
Ride height is 4.75F and 4.8R. I'll pop the rear up a little more for additional rake but I won't be lowering the car any further any time soon. I have a set of Energy Suspension poly bushings, Sadfab poly bronze retrofit and new OE alignment bolts waiting in the wings to be installed, but those things can wait for now.
I'll continue to plug away at it and see if I can find a "racecar friendly" alignment shop here in town.
I don't know why its so hard for me to get signed up for these things. I always have fun, I don't know what the problem is. /boggle
I actually joined SCCA and was going to sign up for the SCCA RallyCross event at the Thunderhill dirt course later this month, but it turns out that's like, the ONE weekend I'm required to work all year. To be clear, I was going to take the Dirty NA, but now I'm on the mailing list for SCCA things so that might help with visibility? Unknown. I just know I want to do this stuff more often.
I will also say that I may be the problem here. I have no ego, it just may be that I can't drive. I'm also super rusty. I'm not the most prolific track driver and I think I only have 3-4 trackdays over the last ~4 years, 2-3 of those without the turbo so its not like I'm getting a lot of consistent practice. In fact, I'm starting to think the turbo may have actually hurt me, allowing me to just power through things to make up for lack of skill.
I suspect that while the (mis)alignment isn't doing you any favors, it's probably not the root of the problem.
There are people who are natural talents at driving cars on track, who can jump in anything with zero practice and be fast. It sounds like you're not one of them, and I get how frustrating that can be because I'm not either.
In my experience, 1 track day a year isn't even close to enough make any progress on the skills in this hobby. Back when that was all the track time I could manage I would get faster as the event went on, but then it was over and the year+ wait til the next one meant that I lost all of that developed skill. I did a bunch of things to try to figure out how to get faster, but by far the most useful one was going to the track more often (a lot more often). The good news is that this is fun, the bad news is that it's not exactly a cheap solution.
Just like shooting sports things, its a skill that needs to be developed and the only way you do that is over time, there are no shortcuts. I've got literally decades of regular experience with that under my belt and I can comfortably say that yes, I can shoot. Am I an expert? Hell no. I used to shoot rimfire and centerfire, rifle and handgun, silhouette, bullseye and falling plate competitively (local club level) and I was pretty good, but I know I'm not at that level anymore because I'm out of practice. I haven't been at that level since there was a Bush in office (I'll let you guess which one ) I also used to teach and coach shooting sports things, which in a way IS a shortcut. It does help to get the mechanics down but in the end, its the student that still has to line up the sights and make it happen.
From what you said above, I think there are probably other steps to take first:
Start with getting the car nailed. Fix alignment, fix any other deferred maintenance it might have, start a spreadsheet tracking hours and come up with a schedule for replacing stuff in the future. Any track day you have to go home early because the car is broken is wasted money, and any day where you're distracted by worrying about whether or not the car will work is wasted opportunity. It doesn't need to be fast, but it does need to be absolutely dependable. Consistent is also really important.
Next I'd suggest coming up with an in-car timing system, I like the AIM Solo, but the phone-based ones are better than nothing. Being able to compare how you did today to how you did previously is hugely beneficial in terms of learning. It's also beneficial in terms of motivation, because you can look back and see improvements over time.
Then I'd say to go do a bunch of track days, one a month if you can manage it. Thunderhill is close and relatively cheap, but it gets beastly hot in the summer -- maybe think about a coolshirt system for tolerating that?
You'll probably see some big gains initially just with seat time, from being able to build on and reinforce your skills. After a little while it'll plateau a bit, and that's when having some outside coaching is useful.
Coaching is expensive (think $800-$1000/day) and most coaches are going to be data/video-based, they aren't going to want to ride in the passenger seat.
Acting like G hasn't done the next 10 years in preventative maintenance already
I do agree with Ian on a laptimer if you want to improve some stuff. That's helped me a lot. Looking at video helps too cause you're like, "Wow, I'm slow as **** there!"
Sad I didnt get to come up and meet more of the degenerates from here. Was stuck ***** deep in a certain blue shitbox until too late. Plus the 4hr drive Im gonna broken record what Ian and Stewart said. Get video and some data so we can bench race your laps and fight about who's advice is right. A coach would be a good idea as well. Im a cheap ***** and would do it for free if we find ourselves at the same days.
I know this is super last minute and far away for you but Eric and Sonny are going to a car clinic day at Streets of Willow this Friday. Sonny will be doing drills for the first 3 sessions, then instruction for the rest of the day. Should be neat. Unfortunately I'm not going - someone has to stay here and ship stuff.
Start with getting the car nailed. Fix alignment, fix any other deferred maintenance
That is where I'm at right now and I actually feel pretty good about it. The car once again feels reliable. Battery and ignition issues were long overdue items that I now consider "resolved" and those where kinda-sorta the only things I had left. The massive blow-by issue with the other motor was me just trolling myself (5q oil + valve cover with no baffles) and other than that, I have very few other complaints at the moment. Oil pan on this motor looks "wet" so I need to get under it and visually inspect the FMS and RMS. Because again, troll me didn't replace the RMS when I put this motor in so its probably the RMS. If the trans comes out it'll get a new clutch just out of spite. None of the items here are going to be weekend-enders (the main seals generally don't straight disintegrate, just weep) so I think I'm in the clear at the moment.
As far as reliability mods go, the absolutely massive TSE radiator and SPM reroute means the car cools better than I do at this point. Hopefully I don't end up eating those words this summer Depowered steering rack is something else that can't overheat or explode so that's a win. I also have an MS3 PNP Pro to go in the car, but that's not a reliability mod It will be nice to control the VVT on this motor but it clearly runs at the moment. I feel like oil temp gauge and maybe an oil cooler would be a good idea, knowing Thunderhill during the summer. I've got a TSE kit somewhere in the garage. Maybe thats more longevity than reliability?
Originally Posted by codrus
Next I'd suggest coming up with an in-car timing system, I like the AIM Solo, but the phone-based ones are better than nothing. Being able to compare how you did today to how you did previously is hugely beneficial in terms of learning. It's also beneficial in terms of motivation, because you can look back and see improvements over time.
I actually have a full, registered version of RaceChrono on my phone and a 10hz bluetooth GPS that works with it, I just didn't get it out this last weekend. I have timing data from a couple of sessions I did back in late 2021 but I don't know how it compares. I just know I'm slow.
Originally Posted by codrus
Then I'd say to go do a bunch of track days, one a month if you can manage it. Thunderhill is close and relatively cheap,
That would be ideal. I told myself I'd buy a new set of tires and kill them this year, but I'm not following though and its already May.
Originally Posted by codrus
but it gets beastly hot in the summer -- maybe think about a coolshirt system for tolerating that?
Funny you should mention that. I now own a Coolshirt and its an amazing device. The shirt is new and I grabbed a lightly loved DIY cooler & pump setup to complete the ensemble. Its magic, I just need to figure out how to mount it.
Originally Posted by codrus
You'll probably see some big gains initially just with seat time, from being able to build on and reinforce your skills. After a little while it'll plateau a bit, and that's when having some outside coaching is useful. Coaching is expensive (think $800-$1000/day) and most coaches are going to be data/video-based, they aren't going to want to ride in the passenger seat.
Ahh, true enough. I just meant like, signing up for an instructor at an HPDE rather than actual professional coaching. I just need someone to sit in the passenger seat and flip me off or throw empty Coors Light cans at me when I screw up. I nominate @aidandj
Originally Posted by Scaxx
Acting like G hasn't done the next 10 years in preventative maintenance already
THERE IS ALWAYS MORE. I CAN DO MORE THINGS.
Originally Posted by Scaxx
I do agree with Ian on a laptimer if you want to improve some stuff. That's helped me a lot. Looking at video helps too cause you're like, "Wow, I'm slow as **** there!"
Someday I'll actually remember to setup the timer app AND the GPS AND the GoPro AND the GoPro won't crash AND I'll get RaceRender working. Those are things, right?
But I agree, data be good. It would be nice to see what I'm doing well and where I suck.
Thanks dudes, as always I appreciate the constructive feedback
Ahh, true enough. I just meant like, signing up for an instructor at an HPDE rather than actual professional coaching.
I don't know how much faith I'd put in the advice of a random HPDE instructor, in many orgs they're really just there to keep newbies from killing themselves. If you can bring Aidan down here a few times that's different.
Someday I'll actually remember to setup the timer app AND the GPS AND the GoPro AND the GoPro won't crash AND I'll get RaceRender working. Those are things, right?
Yeah, there's a high workload with stuff like that. This is one of the things I love the most about my AIM setup -- it's always mounted in the car, it runs off the car's electrical system (so no batteries to charge), it's always on, and it automatically starts/stops recording (both data and video) based on when you're driving the car. All you need to do is make sure that there's an SD card in the camera with enough free space on it. Even so, I manage to fail on the last one occasionally.
04-29-2022, 11:39 AM
1
) I also used to teach and coach shooting sports things, which in a way IS a shortcut. It does help to get the mechanics down but in the end, its the student that still has to line up the sights and make it happen.
Im gonna broken record what Ian and Stewart said. Get video and some data so we can bench race your laps and fight about who's advice is right. A coach would be a good idea as well. Im a cheap ***** and would do it for free if we find ourselves at the same days.
Depowered steering rack is something else that can't overheat or explode so that's a win. I also have an MS3 PNP Pro to go in the car, but that's not a reliability mod 
