With only one day of testing this season, it was time for Bumblestook to go to her first big event this year, the Toledo ProSolo. The Poconos event a few week ago was a good test to make sure she was generally working well but I didn't really get a chance to do any suspension tuning so it was unclear how she'd behave on the high grip concrete at Toledo. Before leaving, I swung by SJF Performance to drain out all the pump gas so I could switch to E85.
Some last minute work at SJF Performance - 6/8/2017
My plan was to just run pump gas in Toledo since I didn't have time to get any C85 (my preferred E85 blend) but thankfully Billy told me about a Speedway in Waterville, OH just 15 minutes from the hotel that had E85 at the pump. Unfortunately with pump E85 the ethanol content can vary from 70% all the way to 90% but having a Flex Fuel sensor on the car, the tune can compensate for any amount of ethanol so I took the chance. Turns out this particular station had the same ethanol percentage as C85 and she seemed to run ok so I was happy with that.
Filling up on corn juice - Watterville, OH - 6/8/2017
The next day I arrived on site early to get a good spot in paddock and it started pouring. This is pretty typical of Toledo but I'd rather it rain all day on a Friday than during the competition days in the weekend. Since I had no baseline to go against I just did what I always do when I get on concrete which is to up the rear swaybar setting going from full soft to 5/7 on the new Karcepts rear bar. I used to go full stiff with the Ankeny rear bar but the Karcepts bar can go stiffer than the Ankeny bar so I didn't want to max it out just yet. It eventually stopped raining and we got to do practice starts in the dry which she was able to get done with no problems. Unfortunately Kirk's BSP 240Z destroyed a drive shaft u-joint and sheered the transmission output shaft during their practice starts so to keep class numbers, I took on Kirk as a codriver and Lee took on Mike.
Arrived on site - Toledo ProSolo - 6/9/2017
Saturday morning rolled in and it was time for the first set of competition runs. It did not go well. She was extremely pushy everywhere. It didn't matter if it was under braking, under power or just transitioning. Bumblestook did not drive like an S2000 and I was a bit worried. I needed to make some big shock changes to get her front end to bite better. The Moton tripples have 5 settings for low speed compression and it was set to full stiff in the front. I decided to dial it back 2 clicks and that transformed her completely for the afternoon runs. She started to drive as expected and I was able to regain confidence to push her a bit harder. She was rotating nicely under power with just enough slip angle to slide the rear around but it would still set and the diff could put the power down as needed.
Ready for morning runs - Toledo ProSolo - 6/10/2017
Unfortunately I was still having difficulty getting my timing right and was hitting cones in most of my runs so I found myself at the end of day 1 in 2nd sitting 0.7 seconds back from Lee. I reviewed the video and data of the runs overnight and knew that if I could just stay off the cones I could pick up some time in other sections now that I was more willing to chuck her into a corner and let her stick. I also felt that the front didn't have enough rebound so I added a click of rebound to control the front a bit more.
In grid for day 2 - Toledo ProSolo - 6/11/2017
I needed a good left side run and thankfully being 2nd I was starting off day 2 on the right so I took the first run as a recon run and get the tires and brakes heated up. When I got to the left side I was able to finally get in a clean run by being a bit safe and taking slightly wider lines and still finding 0.8 seconds to take the lead by about 0.1. I went back to the right side and put in a much faster run now that I was in the lead and tried to find her limits more. I was able to find another 0.7 seconds but coned the slalom so no improvement there. Back to my final run on the left, I pushed a little harder but the tires were starting to feel a little greasy and she was sliding a little more. I still managed to find some more time and seal the win with a 0.3 second lead.
Toledo ProSolo - Left Side
Toledo ProSolo - Right Side
I definitely lost some time in the launches. There was so much grip with the concrete and Hoosiers that even launching at 8800rpm I was bogging hard. Not having torque was not helping me here. I think she definitely had a lot more pace out there. I need to work on finding out how much space I need to give to clear the cones especially on right hand turns. The cone troubles are going to bite me hard at nationals if I don't figure it out. The Toda Racing Torquie-Kun header that I had ceramic coated for Lupa will have to be given up to Bumblestook I think as she has a greater need for a better mid-range torque curve so I'll have to find time to get her back on the Dyno. That will probably be the final change for the season.
Toledo ProSolo 2017 - 6/11/2017
I'm really happy with the changes for this year and it was great that I now have a working concrete setup for her. She didn't break and helped me secure the win defending her win at Toledo from last year. Going racing on my birthday was a treat. Winning was icing on the cake. We've got a little more work to do but good job Bumblestook!
I was planning on taking Bumblestook out to today's NNJR SCCA/PCA joint autocross at the Meadowlands but the potentially bad weather forecast made me less inclined to get up at 4:30am just to deal with trailering in the rain so I took Lupa instead. The morning turned out to be great weather and we got to run first heat so all our runs were in the dry.
NNJR SCCA/PCA Joint Autocross - 6/4/2017
For some odd reason, the setup I ran quite well in Warminster was undrivable today. Lupa felt extremely loose and not very confidence inspiring. I lowered rear compression a click and front rebound a click to help soften her up as well as run a 3psi difference from to rear (I usually just run 2psi) and that helped tame her a little but it was still hard to get on the throttle early without the rear kicking out. Her new header is arriving soon so I'll get her alignment checked after we install it since the steering wheel is also a bit crooked after replacing it a few week ago.
NNJR SCCA/PCA Autocross - 6/4/2017
I also got to try the new mount for Solostorm and was happy that it worked well and didn't get in the way of my field of vision. It's basically the same mount I run on Bumblestook but with a suction cup instead of being bolted onto the body. I also figured out what was going on with the shift beeper I installed yesterday. Turns out one of the spade connectors I received wasn't crimped properly. I redid the wiring and voila, nice loud beeps again as we approach redline...such a comforting sound.
To match the rest of the little interior mods I've been doing recently, I also picked up an ebrake cover made with perforated leather with red stitching from redlinegoods.com. I think that completes the "show" mods for the car.
Redlinegoods ebrake cover - 6/3/2017
I also attempted to install the Modifry shift beeper but it doesn't seem to work. I suspect I got one of the wires wrong. I'll troubleshoot it some other time.
No big update today other than finally installing the Science of Speed hood dampers that I got over the winter but have been too lazy to install. These are replacing my rusting PasswordJDM ones that don't open nearly as much
Science of Speed Hood Dampers - 6/3/2017
Less than a week before we head out to Toledo. I've decided we're not going to run her at the NNJR event tomorrow for testing since I don't want to risk having any issues this soon to a big event.
After months of various unrelated issues coming up that have prevented me from bringing Bumblestook out, the stars finally aligned and today I was able to take her out on her 2017 debut after all the work done over the winter.
NEPA SCCA Autocross - Poconos Raceway - 5/27/2017
With only two weeks left before we head out to Toledo, time was quickly running out to get her tested. The summary of changes over the winter are:
Went to 315/30/18 Hoosiers up front to make it 315 all around (Previously I was running 295/315 staggered)
The tires on the front now were my rear tires from Nationals last year so they were covered in OPR from Lincoln
Switched from 10mm to 15mm spacers up front for clearance
Cut more of the front fender out for clearance and added overfenders
Switched to Karcepts front and rear sway bars for increased adjustability
New ATS Spec III Type DD diff was installed
Replaced passenger side front knuckle, wheel bearings and studs
Replaced passenger side axle with the matching spare we used to replace the driver side axle during the ProSolo Finale
Added mount for tablet so I can run SoloStorm this year for datalogging
I wanted to test for clearance, scrub the OPR off and break in the new diff as well as get a general feel for the balance of the car with the new setup. NEPA hosted an autocross today at Poconos Raceway. These are typically very fast courses but for some reason, today's course was particularly tight and slow. When we walked the course, many of us thought it was going to be a disaster. The gates were very tight and the elements felt all over the place and visually confusing. I was personally surprised that it drove better than I expected and all the transitions helped me achieve my goal of getting a baseline balance with her new setup.
The new tablet mount worked perfectly for capturing data
My first 3 runs were spent scrubbing off OPR. The fronts weren't hooking up too well with all that clag on the tire so I took the course at about 80% pace and at least get the diff to work. The new ATS diff feels incredible. The engagement is very smooth and I had no problems getting power to the ground. Also this year I'm trying much lower tire pressures so I started the day off with a target 28/25psi. She was feeling a bit pushy so I kept lower the front pressures until they were 25psi even and I really felt she was ready to dance but still leaving a bit of push which I was ok with at the Poconos. If this was at the Meadowlands I would've raised the rear bar to test but I wasn't about to do that on the road course so I'll leave that for next weekend. Also, since I was testing, I took the opportunity to take different S2000 drivers on ride alongs so they could feel what a BSP S2000 really feels like. The reactions were, as expected, priceless.
Poconos Raceway - 5/27/2017
Unfortunately after our third runs another car had some issues and leaked coolant at the beginning sections of the course so on my final two runs I backed off a bit there to avoid sliding there but I was still able to drop time elsewhere. On my final run, I went solo and put in a good time but the narrow gates and the wider stance put me in cone trouble as all my runs ended up dirty. Overall, I'm super happy with how she performed today. Data showed we pulled a max of 1.6Gs lateral and I didn't even get her to slide yet so there's more. She performed flawlessly, the tires are OPR free and smooth and I had no rubbing anywhere. We've got one more day of testing left before her first big event this year so hopefully I can dial in the suspension a bit more and really make her dance.
Probably one of my favorite things with Bumblestook is the Alcantara Mugen steering wheel. It gives excellent feel and grip and just looks great but it's not legal in STR (well not easily made legal at least). What is legal though is replacing your steering wheel as long as the total weight is no lighter than stock. To get the best of both worlds, I went ahead and ordered an Alcantara wrap with red stitching for the S2000 OEM steering wheel from redlinegoods.com and used their professional installation option. Rather than sending my original wheel in, I opted to just buy a used steering wheel and send that instead so I can keep the original one unmolested.
Alcantara wrapped S2000 OEM steering wheel with red stitching - 5/10/2017
Alcantara wrapped S2000 OEM steering wheel with red stitching - 5/10/2017
The ordering process was very smooth. The wrap itself is made in Europe (Poland I believe) and sent to you via regular mail. If you choose to use their professional installation service, you then send the wrap along with the steering wheel to their professional installer in North Carolina where it gets put together and sent back to you. In addition to the Alcantara wrap I also added the option to thicken the steering wheel slightly. The material they use is nice and dense and feel incredible, not spongy at all.
Airbag disconnected, steering wheel ready to be removed 5/14/2017
To swap steering wheels, you disconnect the battery so the airbags don't go off. Remove the covers on each side of the steering wheel. Using a Torx T30 bit, remove the bolts holding the airbag in place and pull it away from the wheel and then disconnect the cables connecting the airbag and the cruise control switch. Using a 14mm socket, loosen the center bolt but don't remove it all the way. Tug on the wheel firmly towards you free the wheel from the hub then remove the bolt all the way. Reverse this process to install the new wheel.
Since I had to disconnect the battery to install the steering wheel, I figured now would also be a good time to replace the OEM sized battery with a lightweight one. I opted to get a Deka ext14 which is a 12lb battery. This is a solid 14lb reduction in weight from the OEM sized 26lb battery. In order to install it, I got 8" J-hooks since the battery is smaller and replaced the steel OEM battery tie down with an aluminum one for extra weight savings and a cleaner install. Also, since you have to install automotive battery terminals on the Deka in order to use it in a car, I hardwired the battery tender quick connect so it'll be much easier for me to hook Lupa up to the battery tender without using alligator clips.
Deka ext14 battery installed - 5/14/2017
Deka ext14 battery installed - 5/14/2017
Lupa is mostly done with her 2017 modifications. I'm just waiting on one more part that's currently on it's way from Japan :D
Last week I got the opportunity to codrive Rad's STR S2000 because I somehow misplaced my trailer lock keys and wasn't able to bring Bumblestook to the NNJR SCCA event. I always like to find the silver lining in bad situations and driving Rad's car woke me up. For starters, I had a lot of fun which is probably the most important thing but it also made me rethink Lupa's setup.
Philly SCCA Autocross - Warminster, PA 5/6/2017
I really liked the way Rad's car handled and put power down. On balance it was on par with Bumblestook but with less grip all around of course but the balance was comparable. Lupa's slightly down on power but I'm addressing that shortly with some parts from Japan. When we ran last week, Rad remembered that during the Test-n-Tune event on the BFG Rival S 1.5 they found running lower tire pressures to work best and only after we lowered it to that level did the car feel on point. I still run Bridgestone RE-71Rs but because I haven't really been running Lupa much, I hadn't been doing any tire pressure testing. I wanted to see what the sweet spot would be for Lupa. With the itch to try a few things, I made the trek out to Warminster today to do some testing. The day started out with some potential with the sun breaking through the clouds but before my heat started, it started raining making the surface really slick.
Of course it had to rain - 5/6/2017
On my first run, I started with my usual pressures of 29/27 but with the wet conditions, testing was really moot. I was sliding all over the place and even some throttle with the wheel cranked would cause the rear to kick out. By the third run, the rain had stopped and we were in drying conditions. I found by my fourth run that running 27/25 worked really well. Lupa was rotating really well and I was able to get on the power earlier. This would've been a good day to have a codriver as the cool temps made it hard to keep the heat in the tires but Warminster has always scared me a bit especially in bad weather conditions. I've definitely seen my fair share of unwanted excursions into the grass there so I opted to run solo for this event.
I got one run in the dry. It was my last run and Feinberg, who ran in the first heat, mostly in the dry, was in the lead. Looking at the data, I was able to identify corners where I suspected that in the now dry conditions, I'd be able to just lift instead of brake. This mostly worked except towards the finish where I overshot one of the corners making me late for the last set of offsets. Even with mistakes and some fairly conservative driving in areas by the grass, I was able to drop a good chunk of time to take the lead. There was definitely a lot more pace that could've been extracted under more stable conditions but overall, I'm just happy things are coming together nicely and the nut behind the wheel is starting to find some improvement again.
