SCCA SWTC Track Day - Results added

[Duke]

both myself and my Bspec midget were able to run all cars within a half a second of each of the cars (my laps were significantly faster than the midgets, but you get the point)

Excellent! I'm glad you've got the cars so well balanced. As I said, I wasn't trying to criticize, I just found this information in the rulebook today, and thought I'd share it.

I ran the Tsukuba preaseason exhibition race tonight. I posted 5 very consistent laps, but I never even got near 5th place. With the tuner cars including an Ruf CTR, Mine's Evo, a built Skyline, and the RX-7 drift monster, I didn't stand a chance. Especially not in the only FWD car in the grid. I'll PM you my results shortly.

Didn't the IS300 have to decrease engine size to comply ? I though it originaly had a 3.0 flat 6 >?

I don't believe it is a 3-litre car, but Boom will tell us for sure. It's a straight six, I think, not a flat six.

 

[bleurabbit7]

Ran some practice laps. Been getting about the same times. I feel I can improve.

T1 14:3
T2 32.3

 

[quattro_bro]

I finally got both cars up to race-ready specifications and had a chance to run some warm-up laps at Tsukuba. The splits on my fast lap are:

T1: 14.017
T2: 31.865

It's been a while since I competitively tuned a FF, but I think I've got my Pro to where it feels good--at least at Tsukuba.

Keeping two cars in sync, I really wish you could save settings like you could in GT3, but manually recording settings forces you to keep a pen and paper around--handy for making other notes as well, but a practice I had gotten out of.

A few more laps for good measure and I think I'm ready to run my race.

 

[bleurabbit7]

You can save settings. Under A, B, C up at the top of the setting screen. Your last setup is save anyways.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

You can save settings. Under A, B, C up at the top of the setting screen. Your last setup is save anyways.

Yes, but once he switches to his race car he has to reinput the settings. I agree with my racing teammate that our FWD Volvos may be a little overmatched.

 

[Luxy]

Ran some more practice last night, and knocked by best lap down to:

13.8
31.7

And took off 0.4 at the line.

After that, I was running pretty consistently in the 31.9 range at T2, and figured there was no time like the present

Here's the grid I got:

1: Nismo Skyline GT-R R-Tune (R34) '99
2: RUF BTR '86
3: Opera Performance S2000 '04
4: Mine's Lancer Evolution Vi '00
5: Spoon S2000 '00
6: Mazda Mazda 6 5-Door '03

Lap #1
T1: 19.580
T2: 38.233
- Had a slight touch passing the Spoon into the final hairpin. I out-braked him, and he turned into me , touching my left rear quarter panel.

Lap #2
- The Evo braked early for turn 1, and I over-braked and went way off-line to avoid rear-ending him. I should have anticipated this better and passed him under braking
T1: 14.670
- Again, had to come offline underbraking for the first hairpin to avoid rear-ending the dumb evo. I wasn't close enough to try a pass this time. I just touched his rear bumper.
- Once more, had to over-brake in the dunlop corner to avoid that Evo ... he's really ruining this lap. But I get a good run on him through T2.
T2: 33.111
- I out-braked the Evo into the final hairpin cleanly The Opera S2000 is a few seconds ahead of me, so now I've got a clear track ...

Lap #3
T1: 14.233
T2: 32.445

Lap #4
T1: 14.181
T2: 32.323

Lap #5
T1: 14.103
T2: 32.124

And here's how it finished:

1: +0'00.000 Nismo Skyline GT-R R-Tune (R34) '99
2: +0'00.383 RUF BTR '86
3: +0'00.925 Opera Performance S2000 '04
4: +0'06.417 Mazda Mazda 6 5-Door '03
5: +0'09.263 Spoon S2000 '00
6: +0'11.482 Mine's Lancer Evolution Vi '00

I'm a bit disappointed, overall. Even the laps without traffic were about a second off what my practice times were. Aside from the results, though, it was a lot of fun! It makes you nervous knowing that you've only got one shot, and this is it

 

[bleurabbit7]

Man, traffic must suck. You knocked out 2 places so props to you. Nice racing pics. I'll probably do mine tomorrow.

 

[quattro_bro]

I was able to run my race last night, but a t-storm in the area knocked out the cable (internet connection) so I was unable to post or PM times to YLG. I'll update with more details from home.

I got the same grid as Luxy and had a similar experience to the one he described. Pins and needles around the Spoon and Evo through the first two laps and then pretty much clear track. The only exception was when the Spoon "sidled up" for a second near the end of the long straight in lap 3. "He's a real sidler!"
I outbraked him into the final corner, so it was not an issue. Never saw him again.

I, too, found that even my clean laps were a second or so off from my practice laps. I was a bit concerned, but I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. It goes without saying, but it is a very different ride when your tires start off cold and then gradually wear away.

 

[Duke]

Dang! I ran very smooth and consistent laps and I was never remotely near being able to make a move on anybody. My T1 (14.403") and T2 (32.844") times are very consistent with yours - maybe half a second slower by T2 - but I must be losing big time in the last third of the track, because I finished up 19.low" out of first. So I'm about 2.5xx" slower per lap, meaning I'm 2 seconds slower on the back straight and last turn!

I'm not the fastest driver by any means, I admit. I don't know if it's an acceleration issue, or what, but I ran good laps and I didn't get anywhere like that far into the field.

 

[TwinTurboJay]

I think my biggest problem is throttle modulation. I have always used teh drivers aids, but in this series I have turned them all off, I love driving this way, but it will take some getting used to !

 

[bogitiman]

Nice write up Luxy, and cool pictures to go along with it!

I have been practicing on Tsukuba with my Civic and I am loveing the combo. This Civic is a fun car especisly with some more power, but not too much. I think this setup is at, or very close, to the sweet spot of the car.

I am haveing some problems with my suspension tuning, but it is comeing along. The car understeers a litle bit and that is what I am trying to eliminate.

Here are my splits at the end of my 45 min practice:
T1 14.129
T2 32.058

I will problebly run the race tommorw night, good luck to all that have not raced yet!

 

[Luxy]

Man, traffic most suck. You knocked out 2 places so props to you. Nice racing pics. I'll probably do mine tomorrow.

Yah, but the traffic makes it way more interesting Most of my OLR experience has been hot-laps, or multi-lappers where you pass the AI on the first two corners. I'm really liking the realism of this series (one race only, having to deal with traffic). Oh, and thanks re: the props and the pics Good luck on your race, bleu 👍

I got the same grid as Luxy and had a similar experience to the one he described. Pins and needles around the Spoon and Evo through the first two laps and then pretty much clear track.

I, too, found that even my clean laps were a second or so off from my practice laps. I was a bit concerned, but I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. It goes without saying, but it is a very different ride when your tires start off cold and then gradually wear away.

I'll second what you said about cold tires I'm glad I'm not the only one who's times suffered a bit in the race Sounds like we'll be pretty close

Dang! I ran very smooth and consistent laps and I was never remotely near being able to make a move on anybody. My T1 (14.403") and T2 (32.844") times are very consistent with yours - maybe half a second slower by T2 - but I must be losing big time in the last third of the track, because I finished up 19.low" out of first. So I'm about 2.5xx" slower per lap, meaning I'm 2 seconds slower on the back straight and last turn!

I'm not the fastest driver by any means, I admit. I don't know if it's an acceleration issue, or what, but I ran good laps and I didn't get anywhere like that far into the field.

Maybe you had a faster car at the front of the field, Duke? I think it'd be tough to lose 2 seconds on the last two corners without some pretty obvious mistakes, which you'd have noticed if you made 'em

I think my biggest problem is throttle modulation. I have always used teh drivers aids, but in this series I have turned them all off, I love driving this way, but it will take some getting used to !

One thing that I found in practice is that short-shifting helps a lot to control the understeer and wheelspin. For me, turn 1 and both hairpins 'should' have been second gear (i.e. I could switch down, and not be hitting the rev limiter), but I was much faster taking them in 3rd. Second gear was all just spinny, spinny, spinny I tuned 3rd gear so that I was mid-way through the revs coming out of turn 1 and the first hairpin, and a little lower in 3rd coming out of the final hairpin.

Nice write up Luxy, and cool pictures to go along with it!

Thanks Good luck with your race 👍

 

[h0ss]

I ran some practice laps on the last few days and got to a point where I just couldn't pick up an additional half-second anywhere, so I decided to run my race last night.

Ouch. Cold tires played hell with my lap times. My first lap was several seconds behind my hotlap during practice. After that, I turned in lap times that were all within a half second or so of my practice laps, but nowhere near my hotlap.

I found that I was a lot more tense driving the "real" race than my practice laps, which probably accounted for some part of my scores.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the results on this race. I anticipate being at the back of the pack, but what I'm looking for is how far behind I am.

I think that this race series will help me become a faster driver. By driving the same car week after week, I'll get very accustomed to its characteristics, and so I'll be able to just focus on the tracks and my general technique, as opposed to pursuing the percentage treadmill. I'm already controlling my VW a lot more reliably than when the series began, and by the end of the summer, I should have a few concrete improvements in my general driving habits that will help me go faster.

 

[bleurabbit7]

Ran some more practice laps. Improving my T times. SO I figured I'd run my race.

OUCH

Times were 1-2 seconds slower. Not happy with overall time.

Line-up

+0:00.000 NISMO R34 Skyline GT-R R-Tune
+0:00.602 RUF BTR
+0:00.887 Opera Performance S2000
+0:06.066 Spoon S2000
+0:13.043 Ford Focus ST170
+0:13.143 Mine's Lancer EVO VI

Lap 1
T1 0:19.851
T2 0:38.348

Lap 2
T1 0:14.600
T2 0:33.126

Lap 3
T1 0:14.793
T2 0:33.018
S2000 passed EVO at end of straight. Tapped EVO braking for hairpin after T2.

Lap 4
T1 0:14.500
T2 0:33.106
Out braked EVO at hairpin after T2. Sloppy right bend made EVO along side. Bastard was pushing me off course. EVO taking 5th.

Lap 5
T1 0:14.611
T2 0:32.852
EVO braking wide due to pushing. I ducked inside and reclaimed my position.




The EVO needs to share the track.

 

[quattro_bro]

My first lap was several seconds behind my hotlap during practice.

Your first lap began at a much slower speed than the 95-100 mph you were starting your laps at in practice.
I was shocked (for a brief moment) when I saw my first lap time as well.

 

[quattro_bro]

I'll second what you said about cold tires I'm glad I'm not the only one who's times suffered a bit in the race Sounds like we'll be pretty close

Assuming the race winner ran the same time (which is unlikely, but humor me for the moment), we would have finished right on top of each other.

One thing that I found in practice is that short-shifting helps a lot to control the understeer and wheelspin. For me, turn 1 and both hairpins 'should' have been second gear (i.e. I could switch down, and not be hitting the rev limiter), but I was much faster taking them in 3rd. Second gear was all just spinny, spinny, spinny I tuned 3rd gear so that I was mid-way through the revs coming out of turn 1 and the first hairpin, and a little lower in 3rd coming out of the final hairpin.

I'm running an AT, so this technique is a little harder to master, but there will definitely need to be some more time spent fine-tuning the individual gears once the season is in full swing. I may even have to give the ol' MT a try.

 

[bleurabbit7]

If you're not use to MT, it'll be difficult. People I know who tried MT often forget to shift. Once you learn it, it can play to your advantage.

 

[Luxy]

Thinking more about the gearing stuff, staying a gear higher helped me have better traction, but it also helped by eliminating 6 shifts per lap (i.e. 4th-3rd-4th in those three corners, rather than 4th-3rd-2nd-3rd-4th). Any advantage from the extra power or torque in 2nd gear are offset by the time you lose from all those extra shifts.

I run MT ... does holding the shift button stop the automatic transmission from changing gears, like it did in GT3?

 

[yourlocalgod]

just an FYI on the auto tranny, a neat trick to keep it in gear longer is hold R2 (shift up button) it wont shift out of the gear until you release R2. you still get the benifit of the extra few hundred RPM's and it will still downshift by itself.

 

[bleurabbit7]

Added a couple of pics to my read up.

 

[quattro_bro]

... does holding the shift button stop the automatic transmission from changing gears, like it did in GT3?

Yes, but it is a bit tricky holding the R2 button while cranking the wheel in a hairpin corner. I occasionally did this (to avoid a downshift) with my DS2 in GT3, but it's a different story with the DFP.

just an FYI on the auto tranny, a neat trick to keep it in gear longer is hold R2 (shift up button) it wont shift out of the gear until you release R2. you still get the benifit of the extra few hundred RPM's and it will still downshift by itself.

Indeed, I use this one all the time--EVERY single upshift in the race, as a matter of fact. I don't think there's any way an AT could be competitive in this series without maxing out the gears using this technique--at least not with the Protege.

 

[boombexus]

I don't believe it is a 3-litre car, but Boom will tell us for sure. It's a straight six, I think, not a flat six.

Oopsie. Don't know how I missed this.

But yes, the IS300 is indeed a 3.0L In-line/Staright 6 that is horribly underpowered especially when taking into consideration of the 2JZ-GE's potential.

 

[bogitiman]

Wow now this was a fun race I have to admit,more fun than I expected! The Civic felt realy powerful out of the corners and braked awsome.

Here is the line up that I had:
NISMO Skyline GT-R R-tune (R34) '99
RUF BTR '86
Opera Performance S2000 '04
Mine's Lancer Evolution VI '00
Spoon S2000 '00
Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP) '04

First Lap
I was chasing down the Spoon S2000 and on the last hairpin I out braked him, and took the inside line to pass.
T1 19.785
T2 38.534

Second Lap
Had the LanEvo in sight and surprisingly, I was gaining on him through the corners and short straits. I out braked him on the last hairpin, just like the S2000, and passed him. went on to set the fastest lap of the race!
T1 14.624
T2 32.916


Third Lap
The first lap with no traffic had the whole course to myself and set the best T2 of the race. In the front of the pack the Opera S2000 tried to pass the RUF in the first corner but got shut down.
T1 14.562
T2 32.755

Forth Lap
Another lap with no traffic and this lap was the best T1 of the race. The Spoon S2000 passed the LanEvo very agresivly on the first corner.

Final Lap
Lots of action on the final lap. In the first coner the RUF passes the GT-R for the lead, in much of the same fashion as the S2000 did to the LanEvo. The Spoon S2000 was breathing down my neck the hole lap. On the last hairpin I slowed down too much. Alowing the short gap between me and the S2000 to become even shorter. On the last corner the S2000 smacked into my inside rear and proceeded to ride the inside of me to pass at the end of the corner! Stupid AI!!!
Lost forth by .403 of a second, and finished Fifth.

The Final Standing
RUF BTR '86 - 0'00.000
NISMO Skyline GT-R R-tune (R34) '99 - 0'02.004
Opera Performance S2000 '04 - 0'02.262
Spoon S2000 '00 - 0'09.955
Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP) '04 - 0'10.352
Mine's Lancer Evolution VI '00 - 0'13.097​

 

[Duke]

I've got to be doing something wrong. My T times are right in line with everybody else's - in fact, faster than bogitiman just posted above - and I never was within striking distance of anybody.

It's all got to be in the last two straights and hairpin. Sheesh!

 

[bleurabbit7]

Maybe you had a different line-up. The EVO is easy to beat once you figure out his line (because it destroys yours). I guess e'll have to wait til the results are posted to see if and where you're losing time.

 

[quattro_bro]

I've got to be doing something wrong. My T times are right in line with everybody else's - in fact, faster than bogitiman just posted above - and I never was within striking distance of anybody.

It's all got to be in the last two straights and hairpin. Sheesh!

Duke, if these are 'legal' questions for discussion, what are your speeds at the following points?
Coming out of the final hairpin?
At the end of the long straight?
At the end of the lap (S/F line)?

I've been seeing some pretty consistent speeds at these points (except for the lap that I was drafting the #3 car down the long straight! ), although I'll have to post from home to tell you what they were exactly.

 

[Duke]

I hope I have a replay of the whole race. I know I have one from the fast lap I saved to chase, which is about 1 second faster than my in-race laps (consistent with what you guys have found). I'll post that up when I can fire up the PS2 at home. Thanks!

 

[DeuceOfClub]

Golf Power !!!

1st lap:
T1: 19.739
T2: 38.095

2nd lap:
T1: 14.670
T2: 32.806

3rd lap:
T1: 14.306
T2: 32.335

4th lap:
T1: 14.563
T2: 32.562

5th lap:
T1: 14.563 (same as lap #4)
T2: 32.752

I was in 4th place from lap #2 but completely screwed the last lap (after T1) and gave my position to the Spoon on the last turn.

Final standing:

+ 00.000 RUF BTR
+ 02.067 NISMO Skyline
+ 02.443 Opera S2000
+ 08.720 Spoon S2000
+ 09.232 Golf GTI
+ 12.404 Mine’s LanEvo VI

Golf Power !!!




BTW, Thank you yourlocalgod for organizing a fun series.
So far I’m enjoying it very much. 👍 👍 👍

 

[bleurabbit7]

Nice times Deuce. I tested the Golf before I chose my vehicle and it felt like a lard ass.

 

[DeuceOfClub]

Nice times Deuce. I tested the Golf before I chose my vehicle and it felt like a lard ass.

Thx, I‘m disappointed since my hot laps were way faster.
sub 14.000 and sub 32.000