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BigSmoke
Posts: 844
Location: Indonesia Occupation: Following Those Damn Trains Age: V$: Broke |
#158166 2019-09-29 06:36 |
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Aerodynamic Building Blocks
Since I've come back to my home sweet home in Japan, it's time to get back to business!
First off, picking up where I left on the S15 project and finally doing the aero works! And it's also the time to start the final half of my competitive racing schedules this year! Well let's jump to the update to see all the actions happening shall we?  [17 Sep 2019] After landing in Japan the previous day and having a deep sleep from jet lag and tiredness, i woke up realizing I almost forgot to register for my next competitive event, which is the 4th round of JAF Tsukuba Circuit Trial Series. This round and the final round at November is hosted by Team Magnus Auto Club (TMAC), the same organizer and auto club that hosted the JAF Eastern Kanto Circuit Trial Championship, together with JASC, a subsidiary of JAF. The 1st and 3rd round was hosted by Victory Circle Club (VICIC) and the 2nd round, which I missed due to myself being in USA for the first time, was hosted by Brains Sports Club (B-Sports).
Since it's been a while since I've entered any competitive events since the start of summer, and because surely there are a lot of new readers here, let me explain the format of the competition quickly. Well there's a complete guide and rules for it, which you can download here, but it's in Japanese, and unless you're actually fluent in Japanese you might find difficulty on translating it, even with electronic translation device. As the event title might suggest, it's a time attack event, with the format of 2x15 minutes of one-shot shootout, where you'll be given 3 laps to run around the track. That means 1 lap to get out from the pits and do a warm-up, 1 lap to score your time, and another 1 lap to get back to the pits. As you can see, this means there are only two chances to set your time in the day. One mistake could mean a great shake-up in the championship standings. Obviously, the best between the two times you've scored will be selected as your final time for the event. The event splits participants into three classes: B, PN, and AE, with B and PN class separated into several sub-categories as follows: - B1: <=1600cc road-legal cars, e.g. EK9, EF, EG6, MX-5 NA and NB, Cappucino, Caterham Seven 160, Honda Beat, old Alto Works Based on the classification above, my Silver Queen, which is an Evo 3 with a stroker kit, automatically classified into the B6 class. And oh, to be classified in the final standings and receiving the championship award, you have to at least enter 3 from the 5 rounds held along the year. I've entered 1st and 3rd round and missed the 2nd round as I've said, so to qualify for the final standings I can simply enter the 4th round and miss the final round. But because I'm currently standing in 6th for the B6 classification and 8th for the overall classification, I feel like there's still a chance to bring myself to top 5, so I decided to enter both rounds. Additionally, there's an extra award for those who attended all rounds without skipping any single one, but since I've missed the 2nd round that means I'm not eliglible for said award.
Oh yah, this round is a rather unique one as it's held on Monday at September 23 rather than Sunday at 22. Not only September 23 is a work holiday in Japan (though can't remember why), there are a hell lot of events happening at Sunday in Tsukuba there's simply no room for the Circuit Trial to be included in the same day. Turns out TMAC and JASC had another collab with another auto club and event organizer, SCCN, at Sunday, resulting in a huge swell of race events being held for the day. Alongside the usual Tsukuba Touring Car Championship and Super FJ champhinship that ran together with TCTS before summer, SCCN-sanctioned events are also joining the fun. Specifically there are Fs-Cup, AE86 N2 Cup, Z Challenge, Production FR Cup, March Cup, GT86 Cup, Caterham Super Seven Cup and even Legends Racing, which is usually more prominent in USA and Finland. After sorting all my personal and car documents needed to register, I register for the race and paid V$205 for it. It's been a long while since I hit my own home turf, so while this might have an effect to my lap times later, I can't wait to return to the track once again. And this might be start of the final events I could attend with Silver Queen........ Later that day, the GP Sports G-Sonic Evo kit I ordered for the S15 has arrived! As you might guess from the last update, this is so far the most costly purchase I've done in my whole life, and yes, it almost made my cry tears of blood, both from the unbelievable price (even for those outside Japan!) and the fact that I've drained my wallet again. But eh, at least finally I could se my car the way I wanted it to be. Time to whip out the duct tapes, glues and rivets! After several hours of screwing and unscrewing, as well as avoiding gluing and/or riveting my own hands, finally the bodykit has been fitted properly to the car. While it hasn't yet to be graced with fitting wheels and spacers, I can tell you this would worth all the money I've cranked out to get it.  Speaking of which, despite its aggressive looks, this kit was more popular as a drift car kit. GP Sports supplied their bodykit to Team Toyo Tires for some time in D1GP for Masato Kawabata's S15 and his teammate's 180SX, and of course Masato got this very exact kit. It was used for some seasons before Masato and his teammate eventually switched to use Nissan GT-Rs with two different Rocket Bunny bodykit sets. The G-Sonic Evo kit also once appeared in Initial D, driven by Hiroya Okuyama from Team Spiral and coloured in Purple. Yup, he's Ryuji Ikeda's teammate (the one with red 350Z)
 With a clear image of how is the car going to look like, I went back to my laptop to order some more things to complete the aero setup and some light cosmetic upgrades, as well as a spacer to widen the wheel track to match the bodykit width, and of course for more grip and drivability, and better exhaust system. As I order some of them, I also did a video call with Soju and 11K(11000rpm) to ask for some aero works insight, since 11K has the exact bodykit installed on his S15, and his S15 is also intended for track use. After hours of video call and browsing, here's what I ended up with.
First off, the rear spoiler, one of the most crucial thing in time attack races. With the guidance of 11K, I picked up the SARD GT Wing Fuji Spec-M with the widest width (1710mm) and medium height. Not only it look sturdy and strong, it's wide enough to match the bodykit and yes, this is that SARD who used to field a Toyota Supra in JGTC(now Super GT as you might already know it).It's cheap too at V$1100, roughly 70-75% cheaper than Voltex wings which I initially looking forward to buy, and of course much cheaper compared if you design that wing yourself  11K also recommended me to grab carbon fiber bonnet from Varis, which shaped exactly like the stock bonnet. He said the stock bonnet is already aerodynamic enough, so no need to go bonkers design-wise. Price is relatively handsome at V$892.Moving on to the side mirrors, which I'd like to call it an aero upgrade as well. That's because it's the famous Craft Square side mirrors, which is shaped like aero-oriented mirrors in F1 and GT racecars. I'm not going bonkers over the mirror lens itself, so I just bought the base one for a nice V$492. Ah yes, to prevent the bonnet to pop up prematurely as I run my laps, I also ordered Cusco hood locks for V$58. For the spacer itself, I ordered a set of Eibach Type 2 Pro spacers for a grand total of V$286, which can be set to various widths and easy to install. As for the exhaust, I bought Apexi GT Spec pipe and N1 Evo muffler for V$384 and V$601 respectively, for increased engine power, decreasing back pressure and y'know, augmenting that sweet and sonorous RB26 engine sound  And finally, all of this is topped with Momo Mod 69 steering wheel, the same as the one I used in my Silver Queen, for V$183, as well as a set of smoked LED taillights from Behrman for V$384. To be honest, I don't really like the OEM ones, so I think a change is required. And oh, all of these stuffs will arrive in four days.[21 Sep 2019] More parts for the S15 has arrived! Completely drowning in excitement, I unpacked everything and installed them one by one. Seeing your vehicle slowly taking shape as you desired is like expecting and watching someone delivering their newborn baby: Unless you hate babies and kids for some inexplicable reasons (well, there are some who actually did), it's always an exciting and dramatic moment as it goes, and when everything is said and done, it turns into a heartwarming moment as you welcome them to the world.
Or if you don't get or for some reason dislike the baby euphemism above, let's say it's like creating a sculpture or similar forms of art: You plan it, design it and build it to show your identity and speak your opinions to the world, and you should be proud of it. Of course at times people would disagree with it or outright just loathe over it, but it's your build in the end, and unless if you actually did something wrong in the process, nothing should stop you from expressing yourself on the blacktop. And in my opinion it's true what some say, and I think I've said it once back then: Cars are a moving, dynamic form of arts that can be enjoyed in various ways. After hours of hand scuffic, more screwing and unscrewing, assembling and keeping track of nuts, bolts, and my tools, and even more riveting and glueing, as well as accidentally gluing my hand in the process which requires me to dip my hand in soap and then boiling water to unbind the glue, here's the final result! Take note that the new parts aren't painted yet, since I'm going to re-wrap the car when everything has been finished. But for now, look at it, ain't it a handsome boy to you?  
 After installing everything I also learned how to insulate the car's interior properly and then set up to do so using duct tapes, glues and some pipes lying around in the garage. With my car being stripped to the core inside, this means most of the cables and some other things are left exposed inside the car, and thus there are some possibilities of these electrocuting me, causing fire inside the car, or otherwise harming or injuring me. In road cars this is usually solved with covering the interior with carpets and leathers as you can see everyday, but here obviously all these luxuries has been removed for weight reduction. So the viable solution usually done to solve the problem is to insulate these cables and stuff with basically anything you have that isn't an electricity conductor.
 [23 Sep 2019] It's both paycheck time and RACEDAY! After ensuring that I receive my weekly V$940 as usual, I get myself a cold shower, chenge into my t-shirt, get a quick brekkie, pack my race suit, spare undies, t-shirt and helmet in and set off to Tsukuba Circuit at 7.30am, since even though it's a holiday I'm sure the usual Monday rush hour still exists. The driver's briefing will be held at 9am at the track's conference hall, and the first session runs at 10.30am, with the second session following at 1pm. Weather is rather cold but sunny overall, with a tiny chance of rain according to the weather report I listened to along the trip to the circuit.
08.30 After a bit of traffic jam, which panicked me a bit, finally I arrived at the entrance gate. I grabbed my race number, which is still the same since it's my favourite number, and the timer beacons. With only half an hour to spare before both the driver's briefing started and parc ferme conditions stated (which means you can't even touch your car for a while), I quickly searched for a parking spot, stick the race numbers, install the beacons and went straight to the locker room to empty my bladder first in the toilet, then change into my race undies and suit. I've said this multiple times but since it's been a while, I'll say it again: Having the nature calling you mid-race isn't a great experience and would seriously affect your driving!
 09.00 After some small chatter with fellow competitors and notifying the marshalls that our cars are ready to put into parc ferme condition, we went off to the conference hall for the drivers briefing session. Based on what I gather from our banters, some decided to keep their car as-is, some decided to try improving it a bit, and some might as well switch cars for next year just like what I'm currently planning to do. Y'know, gotta stay competitive after all.
As I've said previously, the format of the day will be 2x1 minute of one-shot shootout. For the running order, I'll start in 9th overall. As per usual, there will be 2-3 cars hitting the track together, and once their hot lap is finished, the next group of cars hits the track as the previous group returns to the pits. There are 30 cars today: 8 from B6 class including myself, 9 from B5 class, 5 from B1 class, 3 from B4 class, 2 from B2 class, and the B3, PN1 and PN2 yields 1 car each. Finally for the first time I can spot a B3 class car here, but unsurprisingly lack of interest means there's still no AE class car entering the competition foray. The rest of drivers briefing were filled with standard rules over the time attack event as well as flag rules, and ended with optional Q&A session between racers and stewards. 10.00 With the drivers briefing over, parc ferme condition lifted and the track is actually still used for a motorbike trackday, I and fellow racers discussed a lot of things. I also had some banter with those who owns or used to own Evo IV, V and VI for some advices regarding my future car, Turns out everyone supported my decision to switch into Evo V! Despite this though, they also lamented the fact that the Silver Queen would be gone at the next season. At this point I realized that my Silver Queen has took a unique presence and status amongst fellow drivers and enthusiasts.
I didn't expect to make such an impact when I started my foray into track days and time attack racing, but well, look at this now I'm quite proud for myself and Silver Queen. And with our driving session closing in, we headed to our own cars and waiting for the signal to enter the pitlane.10.35 My turn to run has come, and I headed to the pit lane as I wait for the 'go' signal and the previous group to finish their run.
 As the previous group ran past us at T1, pit lights went green and here we go! I quickly headed to T1 and start my warm-up sequence along the track. Weather is nice, wind is calm, lots of rubber on the track and I'm in quite calm and good mood.
  As I approach the final corner, I do what I usually do: Take a deep breath, pray, breathe out, regulate my breathe rate and step on it. Let's jump into the competition once more!
 START!!  As I did my first run, I tried to memorize how I usually attack every corner on the track. The run felt quite smooth though, so I'm quite confident enough that I could get a great time for the first run. Air and track temperature are also relatively lukewarm, and combined with calm wind, this could mean most of everyone's best times would be scored at the first session. But for now, let's see what fate has in store.
   As I approach the back straight, as usual I gave everything I've got. I'm expecting this run to end up in the 59 seconds territory as I usually do.
  And across the line! It's been a while since I did a competitive run and I'm glad I'm still able to keep myself in shape, at least from my own view. And of course, it's not over yet since there's one more run to be done later in the day. With this in mind, I went back to the pits quickly to avoid myself interrupting the next group.
  10.50 With everyone completing their 1st runs, it's break time. There are still a hell lot of time to be spent, with the track action curently only consisting of regular trackday, this time for cars. I spent the time by going to bathroom to emtpy my bladder and cool my face and hands down, then to the track canteen to catch up with fellow racers, media crew and enthusiasts to enjoy early lunch whilst doing some car spotting from afar. Someone used a Porsche 996 today! It's a bit of pity the owner of said Porsche didn't enter the time attack event, but it's also a blessing at the same time because if he actually did, he'd just stomp over everyone on the track
Of course I continued our talks about plans for next year and our regular car life whislt we enjoy our lunch. And to loosen up our muscles, we decided to give massage to each other while we're at it And of course some of the media boys and all the enthusiasts didn't miss this moment, dangit might as well scream 'MOM I'M ON TV!' at this moment Even though I realize I'm slowly creeping into pro racing territory, I'm still an amateur racer at heart and I still love the amateur racing atmosphere: The off-track scene is much more friendly with next to no pressure, and you're pretty much still free to do anything you want. Before we prepare to do the second run I went back to the bathroom to do one more call of nature befor egoing back inside my Silver Queen.13.05 With the second session starting, I rolled to the pitlane and waiting for the other group to end their run. After lunchtime the wind was getting significantly stronger, strong enough to cool everyone on the track down but fortunatey not strong enough to flew anyone's cap off. Nevertheless this might create a major offset to everyone's lap times.
 As the previous group ended their run and went past T1, pit lights went green and it's go time! As I did my warm-up, I realized I didn't know which direction did the wind blow. I can only hope the wind will work on my favor but that might be unlikely. And oh, weather's still sunny thankfully.
 As I approach the back straight, what I feared became reality, which in turn became both good and bad news: The wind blows at the opposite direction of the back straight. The good news is this means the wind would do favors to absolutely nobody. The bad news is this also means there could be a huge shakeup at the second run results. And as usual I prayed as I go and regulate my breathing rate.
 START!!  Even though the wind didn't directly hit the car's front at anywhere other than the back straight, the effect is quite noticeable as I try to drive around along my run. Well at least it's not strong enough to fly dust into the track.....or so I thought. Nevertheless my entire run is faily smooth so far. Because I know this run would be screwed by nature factors, I just drive as hard as I could.
  As I approach the back straight, I kept on pushing the car and just shouting "Push!Push!Push!" as my Silver Queen sails against the blowing wind.
  And across the line! I took a deep breath and sighed as I enter T1 again. Even though the result could be screwed up, at least I've had fun after a long time not running competitively. And I'm still sure I could stay in at least Top 8 after the decent lap at the frist run. I quickly return to the pits to avoid lagging the next running group.
   13.30 With everyone finished their final runs and returning to paddock, I uninstalled the timer beacons and return it to the stewards,then went to the bathroom to have one last call of nature and a cooling shower, and finally went back to the locker room to change back into my dry undies and grab my dry t-shirt. I still have my race suit worn, just the top being tied to my waist. The rest of the day was filled by watching yet another bike trackday, but not gonna lie, I wanted to join the ranks of those riders at one time. And of course, more massage between fellow racers ensues
 15.00 After waiting for a while to allow the results to be finalized, let's see how I did in this round!
My guess of everyone's best being scored at first run turned to be true! As for myself, I scored 59.454 seconds at my first run, then down to 59.683 at the second run. That's almost 0.25 seconds off due to the wind at the second run. But the good thing is, the first run time is enough to secure me 5th place in class and also 5th place overall! I'm quite glad after a long time of not running competitively, I'm still being able to hang on Top 5 Now I;m stting 5th in the B6 classification with 26 points and in 7th overall with 24 points, tying myself with 6th place.And not only that, I'm also awarded with two medals and various memorabilias from TMAC and JASC, as well as V$500 for finishing 5th in B6 class and V$800 for finishing 5th overall. i can bring the medals and memorabilias home straigt away, whereas the monetary rewards will be transferred to my account the next day. With the podium celebration over, I immediately went back to my crib and have a long rest. [24 Sep 2019] After receiving all the monetary rewards, I planned to continue shopping for the S15.....only to remember that the shopping list for Kaede the vert is much shorter and it's almost finished anyway. All it needs is a coilover and better brakes, but with all the experience I gained along this year, I figured out that I can replace the coilovers with just a set of springs as I did with the Meme Machine X110. As for the brakes, a quick call with AJ(RocketBunnyS13) reveals that R33 brakes is the cheapest way to go to improve the brakes.
And so the shopping spree continues. I picked the same Cusco springs as the Meme Machine used for a grand total of V$204, and grabbed a full set of R33 brakes, including the handbrake drum, for V$750. It's a bit rusty actually but fortunately it's just surface rust, so sanding them should be a good solution. Everything should come at my doorstep in 4 days. And oh, for October there's no time attack events held in Tsukuba or Nikko that I could attend. Well there's one event in Nikko, which is TEC-ART'S Circuit Festival at October 13th, but it looks like it's only open for AE85, AE86 and S-Chassis drivers. Nevertheless if you have any of these feel free to come there as they open track day session, time attack session and multiclass drift competition. As for events in Tsukuba, there's one event that I would like to attend: the K-1 Sports Tsukuba 50 Minutes endurance race at October 14th. As you can see from the title, it's not really long as opposed to other endurance races held in Tsukuba, and there are two options for teams to enter: 2 drivers driving a car each, 2 drivers driving a car in turns, or simply a driver driving a single car. Given that I'm currently broke and severely lacking in crew, I'll pick the last option. The event will see a 2x10 minute qualifying session to determine the grid, then followed by (obviously) 50 minute of racing action. And another reason why I'd like to enter this race is refuelling and tyre change during the race is prohibited, therefore cutting a lot of costs of crew and equipment. The race itself would be divided into five classes: - GT1: >=2000cc cars with slick/competition tyres Based on the explanation above, my Silver Queen would most likely eliglible to enter GT2 class in this race. Now tell me, should I get a crew to help me out, and should I enter the event after all? [28 Sep 2019] The parts I've ordered for Kaede has arrived! But before I go on to install everything, I noticed I still have some sticker papers laying around, so I decided it's the perfect time to slap another sticker to another of my car, and quickly fire up the printer. You'll see the result in a minute. After printing the sticker, I went off to install the new brakes and springs.
After yet another hours of scuffing my hands and knuckles, sanding rusts from the brakes, almost trapping my fingers in the suspension setup, and almost failed to bleed the brakes properly (don't worry, I did it in the end), finally Kaede's list of upgrades has been completed. And during the spring instalation I also re-adjusted the cambers to suit the now-lower ride height. I need to re-asses Kaede sometime, but for now, enjoy the final result!  
  And yes, the sticker features someone named Kaede. Here's the sticker design if you can't see it properly. And oh, you can grab it for free if you like it, and check out more sticker designs I've made over here!
 And finally, a bit of reminder, my Foxbody is still for sale over here. And actually lots of my stuff as well. I'm not sure if anyone would buy them but I'll just list them anyways:
- S15 stock front bumper, V$300Drop a comment here if you're interested on one or more of these! Whew boi finally another update done and dusted! Let's see how much cash I've still got in my wallet: That's all my updates for now, thank you for stopping by and see you soon!
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