More summer cone dodging

It was time to get my mind back on autocrossing since the NorthEast divisional was coming up and Rad was kind enough to lend me his car to run in STR since Bumblestook is bumped to SSM due to the aero. No biggy though, I was still going to use her on street tires for practice so I went to autox with the NNJR to get some valuable seat time.

NNJR PCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

5/6/2012

Later that month, I was running out of events to go to so I sucked it up and went to Nassau Coliseum with the Metro NY PCA. Bad idea! That lot is killer on 1000lb springs.

Metro NY PCA Autox - Nassau Coliseum

5/20/2012

However, between this event and driving Rad's car the previous week. I had decided to ditch the 1000lb springs. They were just too much for street tires so I got a set of 800/700lb springs instead.

800/700lb springs - 5/25/2012

New springs getting installed - 6/9/2012

The next day, I was back autoxing at the Meadowlands with the NNJR PCA. Austin was having lug nuts issues on his S2000 so I offered him a codrive. He sure is one fast driver and killed my times by a good 1 second. Good times!

NNJR PCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ

6/10/2012

Back to the Glen

A week later I was off to The Glen. I usually go in the fall but in 2012, NASA held a HPDE only event in the spring so we were guaranteed tons of track time. It was a no brainer to go! Day 1 was dry and we got some really good track time but we got rain on day 2 that made it interesting as usual with all the guard rails constantly begging for fresh fodder. Luckily I was able to keep my car yellow!

NASA HPDE with NASA @ Watkins Glen - 4/30/2012

NASA HPDE with NASA @ Watkins Glen - 4/30/2012

NASA HPDE with NASA @ Watkins Glen - 4/30/2012

Another succesful track day in the books @ Watkins Glen - 5/1/2012

Since I had a fair bit of downtime between sessions, I also decided to dabble in a little "track video"  project I'd been wanting to do for some time.

"Track Day" - Watkins Glen International

5/1/2012

On the last session, the track was almost completely dry and with lots of people heading out early, we got plenty of wide open track to go full tilt. I usually try to dial back on my last session but really...would you if you saw this much open track in such an awesome car!?

NASA HPDE3/4 Final Session - Watkins Glen International

5/1/2012

NJMP Lightning

After codriving Rad's AP2 at the DC ProSolo and NorthEast Divisionals, it was time for me to take Bumblestook out to have some fun too. First track event of the year with NASA running HPDE3 at NJMP Lightning. This was the first track day after the new diff and final drive, tune and the switch the 255/40/17 NT-01s all around. I wasn't driving her 100% yet since I wanted to get a feel for the new setup but she sure felt good and I got a fair bit of feedback from the guys in my run group that they enjoyed watching me flog her around the track.

NASA HPDE3 - NJMP Lightning - 4/21/2012

NASA HPDE3 - NJMP Lightning - 4/21/2012

NASA HPDE3 - NJMP Lightning

4/21/2012

A few minor mods and the first win of 2012

I had a few extra parts and things on the TODO list that I didn't get around to before the Tobay event. The first was to add 10mm spacers all around. While this does make the wheels more flush, more importantly I had to do something up front since the wheels were hitting my brake ducts.

H&R Wheel Spacers - 3/24/2012

APR Extended studs leave plenty of tread left even with spacers - 3/24/2012

My DIY catch can was working quite well last year but it didn't look quote right in the engine bay so I ordered a catch can from Saikou Michi with the billet tie down. Really great piece that fits nicely next to the stock battery.

Saikou Michi Catch Can - 3/24/2012

Saikou Michi Catch Can - 3/24/2012

The rear bumper tabs were also shaved and relocated to get better tire clearance.

Relocated rear bumper tab - 3/24/2012

And since the engine bay was already looking pretty dapper and to fulfill my need for a bit of rice, some PasswordJDM radiator bracket stays. Actually I wanted black stays from the CR but those actually cost more than the PasswordJDM ones so in this case I was choosing the more frugal option to achieve the same look.

PasswordJDM Radiator Stay - 3/24/2012

The next day it was of the the Meadowlands for an autocross with the MSNE where I was able to take the win in B-class but more importantly was able to get the 2nd fastest time overall with only Don Slevin killing me in his Mustang GT on R-comps. Considering I was on street tire, I'd say I was pretty happy with that result. I also picked up the Zoom H4N audio recorder and was messing with it these events to see if I could capture better audio in my videos by mounting it to my windscreen and putting a dead cat on it. Definitely improvement in audio quality but it's such a pain to sync the audio in post I think I eventually gave up on doing it for regular events.

MSNE Autocross - Meadowlands, NJ - Winning Run

3/25/2012

Final pre-season prep and first event of 2012

With only a few weeks left before the first event of the season, I had to finish up what was left to do. First up, a fresh set of NT01s were mounted on the track wheels.

NT-01 - 3/3/2012

Then it was off to SJF Performance so Steve could get my car aligned at its new ride height.

Aligned and ready for the season - 3/3/2012

The following week was the first event of the season and the first time trying out all the changes over the winter. To recap what was done:

• Haltech Pro Plugin ECU tuned by Evans Tuning
• Puddymod built AP2 diff housing with 4.3 FD and OS Giken LSD
• Moton triple adjustable shocks
• Recaro Pole position seats
• Koyo Radiator, FAL fans and Mugen thermostat
• Mugen hardtop
• Mugen hard rubber front compliance bushings
• Innovative 75A motor/tranny mounts
• Fresh set of 255/40/17 Dunlop Direzza Star Specs all around

The car felt great. It was a chilly, windy day which it always is in early March by the beach but at least the surface was dry and it's always great to get the cobwebs off early.

Metro NY PCA - Tobay Beach - 3/11/2012
Photo Credit: CWong Photography

Metro NY PCA - Tobay Beach - 3/11/2012

Compliance Bushing and Recaros

The day after getting all the cooling stuff installed, I headed over to see Billman to install the new Mugen compliance bushings in the front lower control arms. I had been feeling something weird up front and sure enough when he unbolted the control arm, the old compliance bushing just fell out.

Torn 10 year old compliance bushing -  2/25/2012

Nothing to fear of course because I had already purchased new compliance bushings which strangely Honda doesn't sell separately so I had to get Mugen ones which actually have the exact same OEM stamping on them but it supposed to be made of a harder rubber. They got pressed in and I was good to go. The bolt was seized to so that had to be sawed off and was replaced with a new bolt and anti-seized to death.

Mugen compliance bushing pressed in - 2/25/2012

New Mugen Compliance bushing installed - 2/25/2012

The next day, it was grilling / hanging out / tech meet time at 234. The weather was great for February so I took the opportunity to install the Recaro Pole Positions the I finally was able to get a hold of after my failed attempt to acquire them the previous year. These seats are so comfortable and just fit perfect inside the S2000. It doesn't even block the glove box or hit the door panel.

Received the Recaro Pole Position seats - 2/9/2012

Recaro Pole Position installed - 2/26/2012

Recaro Pole Position installed - 2/26/2012

Recaro Pole Position installed - 2/26/2012

Motor Mounts, Cooling Upgrades and Air Pump Delete

With only 2 weeks left before the first event of the season, it was time to get cracking and finish up what was left to get done on Bumblestook. One thing I had been wanting to get done for some time now was to improve the cooling for summer track days. I ended up convincing JDV to sell me his old Koyo radiator with Integra FAL fan setup. We also replaced the stock thermostat with a Mugen one (yeah, of course we did). I also wanted stiffer motor and tranny mounts so the stock rubber ones were replaced with Innovative 75A mounts. These mounts make a very noticeable difference. No movement anywhere. Intense (massage chair like) vibrations everywhere and anything loose will rattle but who cares right? Because Race Car!

Koyo Radiator with Integra FAL fans - 2/24/2012

Mugen thermostat, Mugen radiator and oil cap,
Innovative 75A Motor/Tranny Mounts - 2/14/2012

Stock radiator out - 2/24/2012

New (to me) radiator in - 2/24/2012

Stock motor mounts were still in good shape - 2/24/2012

Samco radiator hose - 2/24/2012

S2000s have an air pump that sends air towards the cat so that it heats up faster for emissions purposes. I really didn't need this so I got a block off plate and air pump simulator so we could get rid of all these extra pieces and save weight.This stuff eventually fails anyway generating a CEL. Definitely useless for a track car.

Air pump delete kit, Block off plate - 2/24/2012

All the air pump/EGR crap we took out - 2/24/2012

Once it was all done, we finally put the splitter back on after leaving it off for the winter. She was almost ready, just a few more odd ends to sort out.

APR splitter re-installed - 2/24/2012