Thanks... Car is definitely getting better.

Lots of setup changes lately.

 

Lots of changes to the car lately.

The car has been getting better as I make minor alignment tweaks and learn how the new Hankook RS-3s like to be set up (pressure). At the latest SCCA event I managed to finish fourth on index out of 200 drivers (best ever index with this car).



Two complaints my co-driver and I have had are:

1. The car is very prone to rear-wheel lockup when braking for corners and
2. The car tends to be really loose on certain left hand corners.

I picked up a set of el-cheapo Autozone brake pads to replace the rear Hawk HPS pads, hoping that it will reduce the rear brake initial bite. We'll try it next weekend and see if it works.

The second problem, I decided to tackle a couple days ago. I tore into the rear suspension and noticed that the rear swaybar, which I had disconnected from the right rear hub a few events ago, was hitting the drive axle. I thought I was being really clever by only disconnecting the left side. Not so much. In a left turn, the driver's side of the car is unloaded and the right side is compressed, and when the drive axle hits the sway bar, it gives an effective infinite spring rate at the right rear. Not so great for handling. So I fixed that.

Finally, my gas gauge only worked properly between 3/4 tank and full so I replaced the fuel level sender. When I did, I noticed the fuel sock on the pump was completely crudded up. This probably explains why the car fuel starves heavily on left turns. I ordered a new fuel sock... hoping now I can run less than 3/4 tank of gas.

The last time the car was on the scales, it was right at 2500 lbs. With the new 15x7.5 Keizers (still waiting on them to arrive), I'll drop 6-7lbs per corner. If I can drop another 5 gallons of gas, that's another 30lbs. I'd really like the car to be under 2450 at nationals in a month.

Nationals should be a tuning challenge. The site has a lot of grip, so I know the car will "tighten up" there. We run the rear bar disconnected locally due to our low-grip lot, so I can always hook it back up at Nats and that's the plan. I'm also planning to pick up a set of slightly stiffer rear springs just in case the rear bar isn't enough.

There isn't much chance of a win at Nats this year, but lots of good data will be gathered for sure. Can't wait!

 

Congratulations on your local fourth PAX. Big accomplishment.

 

car is really cool!

i think the new fuel sock will help a lot.

the brake thing is an FC trait, we have all kinds of failed experiments, from swiss cheese brake pads, to making the stock proportioning valve adjustable etc etc. i think the best solution was running stock rear pads and grippy fronts...

 

From SportCar "Who Will Win" article, STSL and STS page 32.
"........The wildcard here is John Vitamvas, who is developing a second generation RX-7."

Them Civics and Miatas are shaking in there boots

 

I don't think many people are scared of the car this year but if I can keep improving it, I think it can be a contender.

 

John,

Hope the left hand corner and braking issues are fixed once and for all. Any estimate on when your Keizers *should* be arriving?

Btw, in recent pictures of your car, I've noticed that it doesn't seem to be picking up in the inside front wheel as much in corners. Were you able to get your coilovers adjusted for more droop travel? Or did this issue improve once you fixed your binding swaybars?

--Chike

 

The inside wheel pickup was an issue with the front control arms binding up (poly bushing problem) so once I fixed that the car actually gained some droop travel. There still isn't much. I also softened the whole car quite a bit and it works lots better.

Keizers should have been here already, not sure what the issue is. I'm going to shoot them another call shortly.

JV

 

Keizers will be here tomorrow, and I'll have them on for the event Sunday.

 

That's awesome. Hopefully you'll be even closer to Baker on Sunday -- he definitely seems to be a good 'benchmark' as SportsCar picked him to win Nats.

 

*presses play for 'eye of the tiger'
http://jalopnik.com/5565400/mini-tau...rocky-iv-spoof

 

Until we ditch FedEx and find a lot that has some grip, I don't think the car will ever be that fast locally. If my underpowered RWD car has issues with putting down power, that's a bad sign.

FWD and AWD (plus karts) will keep dominating as long as we're on low grip.

 

any plans to corner balance the car once you finish playing with spring rates?

 

I corner balanced it earlier in the year, but I've made a lot of changes since then. I'll do it if I can get ahold of a set of scales before nationals.

Not sure why my camera blurred the one picture, but here's the car with the new wheels. a half inch wider and about 5lbs lighter per corner than the 7" wide wheels I was using!

 

The wheels looks great John! I'm keen to see how much faster the car is becoming with these changes.

 

So are those wheels the only 15" option to get to 7.5" wide?
What did the set cost?

 

Without trying to buy something "JDM y0"... yes.

You don't want to know what they cost. I'll put it this way, the set is more than twice what I paid for the entire car.

 

Inspiring build, and nice videos. Good luck at nats.

Also, the cars looks 2x better with the new wheels!

 

So what brand tires and tire size are you going to run on these rims?
Have you ever had a problem with spinning the inside rear tire coming out of a corner? If so what adjustments would fix it?

 

225/45/15 Hankook RS-3.

I haven't had any problems with inside wheel spin. But I run the rear bar disconnected and the front bar is very stiff, so that will certainly help.

 

what happened last weekend?

the results show you guys didn't finish your runs...

 

Nothing happened to the car. The heat my co-driver and I were in was drenched to start, then started to dry out (and by dry out I mean it stopped being a deluge and became just light rain). We took two runs each and it became a deluge again, at which point we decided to call it quits. He and I each put up decent runs and played with some shock and tire settings, found a good rain setup, and then decided to call it quits. It was so wet it just wasn't any fun.

With the latest changes the car is much more fun and easy to drive, even with almost no traction. It was very predictable, no rear brake lockup and no tricky handling.

There is one more event down in Waldorf before nats... I'll try to get down there for more tuning.

John

 

So it sounds like the rear brakes you put on are working good. Great to hear. It would be great to see some video of your car doing it's thing.

 

There is also a CDC event in Winchester VA this Saturday too if you want to get some extra seat time in. I'll be there in the corolla.

and a mercedes club autocross in Winchester on Sunday

 

How is the site? Is it reasonably large or is it one of these little postage stamp lots? Not worth it to me unless I can get the car up to speed...