Lupa did pretty well this year putting down some miles. Despite not really racing her past early this season, she did go to Lincoln and we drove up to Vermont and New Hampshire to catch some Fall foliage a few weeks ago.
Driving up Route-100 in Vermont - 10/2/2016
Before tucking her away for the end of the season I wanted to make sure she gets a good once over. I took her over to SJF Performance where we change the engine oil and diff fluid. Glad to report the diff fluid still shows up as nice and clean. I then got her aligned because I wasn't sure if the alignment shifted after competition miles on concrete.
Alignment - SJF Performance - 10/15/2016
The alignment slipped a little bit but overall still in good shape. The rear camber bolts were starting to get a bit hard to adjust so we replaced the rear driver side bolt, nut and washer and will do the same passenger side next time. I also somehow gained camber in the rear despite the ride height not changing. Not sure what's causing that other than me having fresh tires but we couldn't get it less than -2.3 so the final alignment settings were:
Front:
-3.3 camber
5.6 caster
0 toe
Rear:
-2.3 camber
0.06 per side toe in (1/8" total)
I also installed the Science of Speed hood dampers, new PIAA wiper blades (18" driver, 20" passenger) and removed the Valentine One radar detector wiring since frankly I never use it. I also replaced the USB cable going from the head unit to my phone with a flat one so I could route it better and replaced the phone holder with a RAM mount X-Grip version.
Before we left for Nationals, the Hyperblack Advan RSII 17x9 +63 wheels I had ordered for Lupa finally arrived. Since Clyde would be making a long trip, I didn't put the wheels on until we got back. I ordered a fresh set of 255/40/17 Bridgestone RE-01Rs that I had SJF Performance mount on these wheels upon our arrival. I think it's really put the finishing touches on Lupa. I think Lupa can still look low key with these wheels on and with a weight of only 15.6lbs, they are also highly functional.
Clyde drove Lupa to Lincoln from NJ and arrived on Labor Day. We had some Test and Tune time scheduled the following day and I also invited James to codrive with Clyde for Nationals. James would fly in with his dad on Tuesday. It was the first ever trip to Nationals for all three.
Clyde and James at the Practice Course Lincoln, NE - 9/6/2016
We went straight to work tweaking the car for concrete. From my experience doing the practice course and what I felt during the ProSolo, the car would have to be set up with some slight push in order to work effectively on the competition surface. They did 3 hours of testing on Tuesday and on Wednesday, it started off with quite a bit of rain that ended up in drying conditions so they were able to get a feel for the car in all conditions. They did 2 more hours on of practice on Wednesday for a total of 5 hours.
More practice - 9/7/2016
Next day was day 1 of competition. STR would be competing on the West course. James coned his first run but was subsequently able to find more time on his next two runs. Clyde coned his first run, set a time on his second but lost it on his 3rd run for a DNF.
SCCA Solo Nationals Photo by: Perry Bennett
On day 2 they ran on the East course where James put out the same performance as the day before with a cone on his first run and finding more time with each subsequent run finishing up in mid-pack in the very large and competitive STR class. Clyde went for broke, spun his first run getting a DNF, coned twice on his second run and then finally setting a clean run on his last run. Luckily for STR, they all managed to get their runs in before the intense rain that would wreak all kinds of havoc with Nationals this year.
Overall, we really didn't have any expectations for Nats. Both Clyde and James were new to the car and she hadn't undergone nearly the same kind of development as the rest of STR. That being said, Lupa finishing mid-pack out of 64 drivers was beyond what I could've asked for. More importantly the guys had fun at their first nationals and I expect both will be back again next year.
For the first time, Bumblestook and Lupa were racing at the same event. Clyde's trying to get the rust off his driving as quickly as possible and today's course had a great balance of speed and technicality to help him further explore the limits of the car.
NNJR PCA - 8/21/2016
We got rained on quite a bit just before morning runs and Clyde was surprised at how well the Bridgestone RE71Rs respond even in very wet conditions. Thankfully though, the sun immediately came out and we only had to endure 2 runs in the wet before things dried up and he was able to get runs at full grip conditions again. Considering his reference for competition grade street tires is about 3 years old now, he's still trying to wrap his head around how effective the new generation tires are at maintaining grip. I think he's getting more confidence in the car and I'm glad the way I've set her up is meshing well with Clyde's driving style.
NNJR PCA - 8/21/2016
Clyde also did a pretty crazy thing and picked up a limited edition Evasive Motorsports spec Black/Red Recaro Pole Position driver seat that I had been eyeing for Lupa as a gift. It has a black velour headrest, black jersey sides, a red suede center and classic double red stitching I'll have to agree that this will definitely help make driving the car a lot easier and it looks absolutely badass. I dare say it's better than the Mugen S1R bucket seat.
Evasive Motorsports Spec
Black/Red Recaro Pole Position
Two weekends ago Clyde came out for his first autocross after 3 years. He sold both his S2000s back in 2013 and I only usually get to see him during winter karting events where he usually kills us in lap times. He took his STi to that event but I seized the opportunity to offer him Lupa to run at Nationals this year if he was willing to drive her all the way to Lincoln. I didn't think he'd go for it at first but a few days later he reached out to me and he was able to register for Nats just before the deadline. There's still some logistical issues that may prevent him from going but it would be awesome to see both Lupa and Bumblestook at Nats this year.
Lupa on loan to Clyde - 8/12/2016
I handed off the keys to Clyde last Friday so he could attend some events this past weekend. Unfortunately he probably picked the worst weekend to get back into it as soaring heat and intense humidity made driving difficult. He went to the MSNE Autocross on 8/13/2016 to get used to her and was able to keep finding time with every run despite overheating the tires (he forgot his tire sprayer).
MSNE Autocross 8-13-2016 Photo by: Vincent Valentine
He ended up mid-pack but I'm confident he can get up to speed within the next 2 events. Jumping feet first into one of the most hotly contested classes in Solo after 3 years of hiatus is no easy task. Still, it's good seeing him back out there in a S2000.
Today 175 drivers showed up for the first NNJR SCCA autocross for the 2016 racing season. This is a new record for attendees at a local event for the club and they did a fantastic job getting us all 5 runs and still be out by 4pm so first and foremost, kudos to the region for being so efficient. The day started out with the 2015 awards getting handed out. Hez picked up his NNJR SCCA 2015 Pro Class Champion trophy driving Bumblestook so big congrats to Hez. I think if he had driven Bumblestook all year he might have been in the running for driver of the year.
Hezron Laluces - NNJR SCCA 2015 Pro Class Champion
Since Hez had to leave early, he ran in heat 3 instead of heat 4 with the rest of STR. This unfortunately meant I had to try and tune the suspension for him without actually driving the car. To make matters worse, I got Lupa washed after the Metro NY PCA event two weeks ago and forgot to tell them not to put tire shine on my race tires. Needless to say this made for a rather exciting first run with a massive (seemingly never ending) spin almost right out of the gate.
NNJR SCCA Autox - 3/26/2016
After a couple of runs, the tire shine had scuffed off the tread, heat was in the tires, and we were able to start to tune the suspension. Based on Hez's feedback, I ended up decreasing rear compression by 1 click, increasing rear rebound by 1 click and we settled for a final tire pressure of 29 psi front, 27 psi rear hot. This allowed better power delivery to the rear coming out of a corner and Hez put in his fast time on his last run. Unfortunately, because I was turning knobs, he really only had his last run to get a decent time in. If he had started on this setup, I think he might have easily been able to find more time out there.
NNJR SCCA Autox - 3/26/2016
When I drove the car in heat 4, she was good to go and I made no further changes. I think we're definitely very close to where she needs to be. She has very good turn in response, transition speed was good and stable but there's still a slight bit of nervousness in high speed sweepers mid corner so I may try to dial down the rear bar next event. Overall I'm very happy with how she's responding to the off season changes but I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't disappointed in my driving.
To be a fast driver you have to commit to every corner without hesitation and I was truly struggling with that today. For various reasons I've been too spoiled driving Bumblestook on Hoosiers that I've become very uncomfortable with the slip angle of street tires. On top of that I find myself second guessing every brake and turn in point causing me to instinctively get off throttle and lose time left and right. I'll have to fix this ASAP if I intend to at least try to be competitive this year.
Overall, I'd say Lupa has good pace but I just can't drive her to that pace. Hopefully I can shake this lack of confidence soon. In the meantime, I'm sure Hez will be able to put up a fight at the next event.
I wasn't expecting to run Lupa until next weekend but Mark reminded me that the Metro NY Porsche Club was running this weekend at Tobay Beach and with a forecast of 60F and sunny, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Despite losing an hour of sleep due to the daylight savings time change, Mark and I were up before sunrise to get there just as the sun was rising over Ocean Parkway. We didn't really have to get there that early but from past experience, everyone is always a bit sluggish during the first event of the season so we always give ourselves some buffer to avoid having to rush.
Metro NY PCA - Tobay Beach - 3/13/2016
Tobay Beach isn't a particularly large lot so the course was the usual slalom/offsets up, turnaround sweeper followed by a slalom/offsets back. The Porsche club always finds a way to make this particularly difficult though with narrow gates and 30% smaller cones that has always messed up visuals for me. Since I don't get to drive that much anymore, I find determining how far I am from the cones difficult even with normal sized cones so the smaller cones present an even greater challenge for me. I think I got one clean run the entire day haha. I wasn't concerned about that though since my main objective for today was to start working on a baseline setting to make her feel well balanced and predictable.
Porsche club baby cones - 3/13/2016
Without knowing how Lupa would respond to the new shock valving, I set all the knobs to the middle setting, front bar at 5/6 and rear bar at full soft, tire pressures 30psi all around and did my first few runs. It took a few runs to get heat in the tires enough to actually start making changes. At first, the front wasn't biting much so I lowered front compression significantly and increased the rebound a little to get the nose down and I was able to get the turn in I wanted. In the turnaround sweeper, I noticed the balance was slightly off so I raised the rear bar to 2/7 and that was enough to get her the work well getting power down through the sweeper without much drama. The rear was also bouncing back a bit too quickly so I dialed the rebound up a bit in the rear too which made the damping just right.
In grid getting ready to run - 3/13/2016
Tobay isn't really the kind of lot you want to be doing lots of suspension tuning on since the grip level doesn't really mirror any location we'd run a big event on but I'm generally happy with the baseline I set up from today. She's neutral in the sweepers allowing you to get fairly aggressive while powering through it and still being easy to catch if you push the go pedal a bit too hard. I need to tweak turn in and transition speed. She's decently quick and even with my rusty driving, she was putting down respectable times so she has pace but I have a few more suspension adjustments I want to try next week at the Meadowlands and then I think we can have a usable starting point for the season.
MetroNY PCA - Tobay Beach, NY - 3/13/2016
The weather was perfect...in fact the best first season even I've been to in the 10 years I've been in this sport. The sun was up, the temps were cool and there wasn't an overwhelming breeze from the ocean that usually plagues us year after year. I don't think I could've picked a better way to start the season. Most importantly, it just felt great to be out there again pushing our cars to the limit, having fun and seeing friends that I haven't seen all winter. Hopefully we can finish dialing her in during the next few events and be ready for the first big race in DC in May.
We completed the final work to get Lupa race ready for the season today. SJF Performance's newer Hunter HawkEye alignment machine was installed and calibrated yesterday so it was time to head over and get Lupa aligned.
First alignment in 2016 - SJF Performance - 3/6/2016
Last year when we aligned her, we had all sorts of problems trying to hit my desired alignment targets. I suspected it was due to some issue with the shocks and sure enough with the fresh shocks in place, we had no such issues anymore.
First alignment in 2016 - SJF Performance - 3/6/2016
Maxing out the front camber, SJF was able to get -3.3 degrees of camber with 0 toe up front. Last year, I ran -2.4 degree in the rear which I felt was too much but the super low ride height made it impossible to get it lower. This year, with a slightly higher ride height, we were able to dial it back down to -2.1 to get better forward traction. To balance this out, I also opted to increase rear toe in from 1/16" (0.06) to 1/8" (0.12) total. SJF was also able to max out the front caster again with a perfectly matched wheel based left and right.
Alignment perfect - SJF Performance - 3/6/2016
Wheelbase - SJF Performance - 3/6/2016
To finish it all off, we also flushed and replaced the engine, transmission and diff fluids. It's now 2 weeks left before the first test event of the year and she's at 100% ready for me to fine tune the suspension settings now that I know everything is fully up to snuff.
After putting another 250 miles on Lupa, I felt it was time to adjust the ride height before getting the alignment done. With the temps a very comfortable 60F in February, I took a nice relaxing drive up the Taconic to see Rad so we could make quick work out of making the changes. The front was definitely a bit too low causing some rubbing on relatively mild bumps and the rear too high. Actually, I'd say it was closer to stock height in the rear.
Adjusting the ride height - 2/28/2016
I'm a strong believer that the Honda designers for the S2000 got the suspension geometry perfect and from my own experience, having an excessively low ride without shortened dampers wasn't going to make the car handle better. As a happy compromise between lower center of gravity while giving enough travel to let the shocks do work, an even more important fact now that the Motons are revalved softer, my goal was to keep the drop to about 1" from stock height. For today this meant dropping the rear about 1" and raising the front about half an inch. With these freshly maintained and oiled shock bodies, this took no time at all and we measured the ride height from top of fender to ground to be:
Front: 25 3/8"
Rear: 25 3/16"
The goal wasn't to get it perfectly even but rather to get it close to target ride height before the alignment since I'll probably get her corner balanced mid-season and that'll change the ride height again anyway. For now at least the rake will be more ideal once I put on the square 255 setup again.
After receiving the "old" Moton Club Sports back from ANZE Suspension a few weeks ago, I didn't expect we'd be able to install it until March due to the weather but we got a nice preview of Spring weather today so Hez and I took the opportunity to pop them in.
Ready to install the Motons - 2/21/2016
It only took us 2 hours taking our sweet time this go around since we weren't wasting time trying to adjust spring perches or figure out where to mount the external reservoirs. Needless to say, the installation went along smoothly and we set all the dampers to their middle settings for now.
Motons reinstalled - 2/21/2016
Front reservoirs remounted a bit more cleanly this time - 2/21/2016
Fresh shock body installed - 2/21/2016
I put about 200 miles on her today and I'm glad to report that the valving changes and the much needed reduction in nitrogen pressure made a world of difference. She responds very positively to undulating surfaces without any nervousness and I can definitely feel the reduction of excess spring rate now that the nitrogen pressures are back to more normal value for these springs.
Rear shocks reinstalled - 2/21/2016
I reset the spring perches back to the height they were at when we removed them late last year but for some reason the rear now sits a bit high. I'm going to let the springs settle a bit and adjust the height before I take her in for an alignment. Hopefully we get another break in the weather soon we get her alignment sorted before the first test day in March.
In the beginning of December last year, Hez and I pulled out the Motons from Lupa so I could have them sent out for a rebuild/revalve. I dropped them off at ANZE Suspension in Glencove Rd in Long Island later that month where after a quick inspection, we determine that two of the shock bodies would have to be replaced to damage on the threads along with a new upper spring retainer that had gotten deformed from when I had the springs without the helpers. This would require ordering new bodies from Moton in Holland and with the holidays under way, I was just hoping I could get them back in time before the racing season started.
Amazingly the guys at ANZE were able to secure me brand new replacement shock bodies and have it all rebuilt and revalved based on discussions we had around changes I wanted in a month.
Shock Dyno - Front Full Range - 2/5/2016
Shock Dyno - Front match - 2/5/2016
Shock Dyno - Rear Full Range - 2/5/2016
Shock Dyno - Rear Match - 2/5/2016
After I got them back to the garage, I mated them back up with the springs and helpers and set the collar height to what they were right after we took them off. It's so nice having clean, fresh shocks where every collar moves smoothly again and all the pieces fit together just right. All that's left to do is to find a weekend to put these back on and get realigned before the first event in March so we can begin retuning the suspension.
Shocks and springs all back together again - 2/5/2016
