redpriest HPDE journal

[redpriest]

Right at 173k miles I got a check engine light -


Low pressure fuel sensor implausible blah blah blah. I ordered the replacement part and even though I realized there were two different versions for this fuel pressure sensor, I got the updated version which requires an adapter. I have the original on the car.

I need a pretty beefy size socket wrench so I took the new part to the store to get a wrench, and well, lol. They don't match.



Ordered a set of 23mm - 30mm wrenches while I wait for the adapter and o-ring to arrive which I should have ordered as well in the first place.

[redpriest]

Well I replaced the sensor, and the SES wouldn't go away until I did 100 miles of driving on it - what a PITA. Fortunately for me though, it means I don't have to worry about the fuel pump, a fuel leak, or the fuel filter being bad.

Although, in the long run, I think I'm going to have to do some of these things anyway - fuel filter + fuel injectors seem like a Good Idea (tm) to work on.

I'm doing a full weekend at Chuckwalla Feb 20-21 so ideally I would like my car to not flip out on me before I go.

Things I plan on doing - putting my exhaust back on, getting intake/pulley replacements (I'm running stock intake/stock pulley right now), and getting these uprights installed.

I have these Nankang AR-1s I'm going to take with me that have a ton of laps from Thunderhill on them, but I think they'll be roasted after two days. I thought about getting a new set of Yokohama A052s or Falken FT660s before going, but I've already spent a crapload of money for this event so maybe next track day.

I plan on running B2 Bimmer Challenge this year. With the weight reduction I've taken and plan on taking (-300 lbs) and mod plan I'll be at 16 points.

Unfortunately without aero, diff, and tires I don't think I'll be particularly competitive in this class at the start but points are points.

Zebulon is making a 6" splitter for me. Bimmer Challenge doesn't have any rules for how large your splitter can be so MOAR DOWNFORCE.

Mod plans not realized yet:

a) Zebulon aero
b) Differential (have not figured out final specs for this yet)
c) 3-way MCS
d) Antigravity battery (still running stock atm, lmao)
e) Fenders
f) Potentially even more weight reduction out of the car (door cards, carpets, headliner, some dash components) - but within the 300 lbs limit.

I've thought about supercharging, but I think if I do that I am going to want to replace main bearings before I do. This would definitely put me in B1 and I would need to do slicks + more weight reduction to make me even remotely competitive.

[fanatic1]

Originally Posted by redpriest

Well I replaced the sensor, and the SES wouldn't go away until I did 100 miles of driving on it - what a PITA. Fortunately for me though, it means I don't have to worry about the fuel pump, a fuel leak, or the fuel filter being bad.

Although, in the long run, I think I'm going to have to do some of these things anyway - fuel filter + fuel injectors seem like a Good Idea (tm) to work on.

I'm doing a full weekend at Chuckwalla Feb 20-21 so ideally I would like my car to not flip out on me before I go.

Things I plan on doing - putting my exhaust back on, getting intake/pulley replacements (I'm running stock intake/stock pulley right now), and getting these uprights installed.

I have these Nankang AR-1s I'm going to take with me that have a ton of laps from Thunderhill on them, but I think they'll be roasted after two days. I thought about getting a new set of Yokohama A052s or Falken FT660s before going, but I've already spent a crapload of money for this event so maybe next track day.

I plan on running B2 Bimmer Challenge this year. With the weight reduction I've taken and plan on taking (-300 lbs) and mod plan I'll be at 16 points.

Unfortunately without aero, diff, and tires I don't think I'll be particularly competitive in this class at the start but points are points.

Zebulon is making a 6" splitter for me. Bimmer Challenge doesn't have any rules for how large your splitter can be so MOAR DOWNFORCE.

Mod plans not realized yet:

a) Zebulon aero
b) Differential (have not figured out final specs for this yet)
c) 3-way MCS
d) Antigravity battery (still running stock atm, lmao)
e) Fenders
f) Potentially even more weight reduction out of the car (door cards, carpets, headliner, some dash components) - but within the 300 lbs limit.

I've thought about supercharging, but I think if I do that I am going to want to replace main bearings before I do. This would definitely put me in B1 and I would need to do slicks + more weight reduction to make me even remotely competitive.

Will look for you at Chuck on Saturday - Priest wearing red?

indeed, B1 is ridiculously fast.

Running B3 with MCS 1w, BBK and 200tw cheater Goodyear - 10 points.

[fsmtnbiker]

See you both there on the 20th! I'm unfortunately B1 this year also... Hopefully I have something for Charbel.

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by fsmtnbiker

See you both there on the 20th! I'm unfortunately B1 this year also... Hopefully I have something for Charbel.

I'm gonna say no lol

[fsmtnbiker]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

I'm gonna say no lol

Time will tell. At Chuck, probably not. At BW 13CW, I think I'll keep him honest.

[fanatic1]

Originally Posted by fsmtnbiker

Time will tell. At Chuck, probably not. At BW 13CW, I think I'll keep him honest.

Didn’t he run a 46 at BW13CW last year? Good lord

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by fsmtnbiker

Time will tell. At Chuck, probably not. At BW 13CW, I think I'll keep him honest.

I think a combo of supercharging and ridiculous weight reduction is needed to keep him honest. Plus new slicks every track day haha.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by fanatic1

Will look for you at Chuck on Saturday - Priest wearing red?

indeed, B1 is ridiculously fast.

Running B3 with MCS 1w, BBK and 200tw cheater Goodyear - 10 points.

Nah, just middle aged Asian dude now, lol.

I've thought about the Goodyear tires too since I can get them for far cheaper than the other options thanks to USAA discount.

[fsmtnbiker]

Originally Posted by redpriest

I think a combo of supercharging and ridiculous weight reduction is needed to keep him honest. Plus new slicks every track day haha.

Well I have the supercharger and some of the weight reduction, and currently a new set of A7's sitting here so.....

I'm really excited to try out some 100TW Goodyear SC3R's. The feedback I've seen on them is amazing.

I drove on the SC3 last summer, they are comparable to RE71s but not on the pace of A052, RT660, or CR1s. Great with heat though, super nice for learning a new track and getting to just run lap after lap.

[redpriest]

Got some new toys for the weekend:







My Aim Solo DL can only hold about 5 min of charge these days, and the ability to analyze all my laps historically as well as derive CAN data makes it a must have for me. I wanted to play around with the Garmin to see how it does, and the instant review, if it's all that it's cracked up to be, sounds promising.

My old helmet is SA2010 and expired, so I needed something new. Sprang for the GP3 Carbon Fiber helmet.

[redpriest]

One of the things I had an issue with my AR-1s is that I needed a 3mm spacer at a minimum to clear the strut. Now, with the uprights installed, I don't need a spacer at all:

[tsk94]

Originally Posted by redpriest

One of the things I had an issue with my AR-1s is that I needed a 3mm spacer at a minimum to clear the strut. Now, with the uprights installed, I don't need a spacer at all:

How much did the uprights push it outward?

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by tsk94

How much did the uprights push it outward?

At least 5mm, somewhere between 5-10mm

[tlrid3r]

Originally Posted by redpriest

At least 5mm, somewhere between 5-10mm

According to Strom it moved the strut inward 5mm. The wheel hub stays on original spot.

Adding a few more pics.

[redpriest]

So Chuckwalla was interesting. This track is 510+ miles from my house, so driving here in a stripped out E92 with medieval torture chairs is always pure joy. I had work meetings in the afternoon so I couldn't completely escape, so long story short, got to the track and cabins at around 1 am. This is actually not bad though, so theoretically I had plenty of time the next day to get everything set up.

This wasn't the case however, I had new toys I had to put in the car and configure, figure out which suspension settings I wanted to run, swap the new set of 265/35-18 Yokohama A052s I bought, bleed the air out. I missed the initial first few minutes of the first session and unfortunately compromised the laps of a couple of my friends as I was also setting a hot lap. It just wasn't a very good start - I had bled to 28 cold, but this wasn't enough, as by the time I had run 4 laps my tires were 40 PSI balloons and I was sliding all over the place. Car was exceptionally difficult to drive. Car would turn in and keep turning in.

I had a set up of 10 rebound and 6 compression going in for both front and rear and this turned out to be a mistake. Since my tire pressures were way over the mark, I figured I would just drop pressure and aim for 34 hot and see how it went before I started messing with suspension.

Of course, this didn't really help, and the 2nd session ended early due to a car blowing their motor on track and spewing oil all over the racing line. We were able to go back out after about 20 minutes, but the nature of the oil explosion by where it was meant that you just couldn't get faster times.

3rd session, I had neglected to fill up on fuel before start so after about 3 laps ... I had to come back in to refuel. By the time I was done and back out on track ... session was done. Argh! Only had myself to blame for that.

By this time the wind started picking up real bad. 30+ knot winds. The entire track turned into a sandstorm, and during the 4th session I spun out on track - just had no grip. Entire day I was fighting oversteer and had 100% success rate ... until this moment, lol:

It got so bad by the end of the session they had to black flag us all to bring us in. Look at this corner!! You can't see a thing:

[redpriest]

Remember how I said my seats were medieval torture devices? I picked up these "motorsport safe" foam memory pads from Wine Country Motorsports and it was honestly the best thing I've ever bought. I did the entire 9 hour drive and did 2 track days and had zero pain. For an old man with tailbone injuries from car accident, this was amazing.



https://winecountrymotorsports.com/p...7b1286dd6a353d

They have two versions, one is smaller and "only" $70. SOOOOO worth it, I wish I had known about it sooner.

[redpriest]

Saturday's best lap was not faster than my previous time set in November, which was very disappointing. Also, since I'm trying to compete in B2 (my car is more like B3 atm), I am going to have to drop some weight to meet my target goal of 3300 lbs. Car is 3420 with 3/4 a tank right now, so there's a lot of progress that needs to happen.

The car was just all over the place, I had no grip in the rear at all. For all the amazing things I had heard about A052 I knew I probably just had the suspension set up wrong. I went up to 10 clicks of compression on the rear, for the 4th session. Now I was understeering everywhere! I didn't really put too much thought into this since there was sand all over the track, so I figured on Sunday I'd reset and try to do a better job of set up.

In the morning, I went to a stiffer all around set up of 15 rebound/8 compression in the front, 14 rebound/9 compression in the rear. Car felt much better, I could push through turns without the car constantly stepping out, this was more like it!

This was the first day I really started messing around with the Garmin Catalyst and paying attention to the suggestions it gave me - which paid off with massive drops in time. People say that CW is slower than CCW for Chuckwalla.

By the end of the day when it was the *hottest* and my tires were oldest, I was able to PB. In fact, each session was a PB. I was over 4 seconds faster than the last time I did CW so I was ecstatic. Mission accomplished!

Still a lot of work to do, as 1:59 still isn't that competitive with people in B3 doing 1:57s, but this is down to weight and driver mod in all likelihood. We're getting there.

[roastbeef]

sounds silly, but i always bring my knee pad to the track. swapping pads is so much more comfortable.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

sounds silly, but i always bring my knee pad to the track. swapping pads is so much more comfortable.

No, not silly at all. I need to do this. I've been using the tire tote coasters to sit on and it's not a solution at all.

[redpriest]

I've been very remiss in updating this thread, I've posted some of the things I've done in the main track thread, but I figure I'll touch on the high points of the 2021 track season so far:

1) I've completely upgraded several parts of the car
- SPL toe arms, we discovered that the eccentric bolt had completely deformed the stock arms to the point I had dynamic toe on the rear in corners.
- Front subframe torn around the sway bar mounts. I had to replace the entire thing, which I was able to barely do in time for a track day
- Complete Zebulon aero package
- Zebulon Motorsport Consulting splitter with with endfence inserts, diffusers, rub blocks, mounts
- Zebulon Motorsport Consulting front tunneled endfence set (pos #1)
- Zebulon Motorsport Consulting 3D rear wing w/endplates
-Zebulon Motorsport Consulting side skirt "ankle cutter" set
- New driftflo built Drexler GT light differential with 3.62 final drive
- Epic DCT tune
- 3 way MCS suspension

All of these upgrades have been transformative of the car, but other issues have resulted me in not enjoying each track day.

At Sonoma, I managed to cord the A052 tires that I had only used at one track day prior - Streets of Willow. I guess Streets really tore up the tire. I didn't even realize I had corded the tire during the hot lap, it was only in the slow speed corners that I realized something was wrong because I was slippery there.

At the next track day, my DCT finally managed to explode in the first session and I lost the higher odd gears at Thunderhill. Now you might think this wasn't such a big deal, but 5th gear is pretty important with the increased final drive. As a result, the car was down while I sourced a new transmission and upgraded it with some Fall Line parts (pan and side gasket).

Since the car was down I refreshed the E46 M3 with new AP Racing Radi-CAL 9668 caliper fronts and fancy Radi-CAL rears. I should be good to go right?? Unfortunately, I had transmission problems all day. I could not confidently downshift from 4th to 3rd, every time I would bounce off the gate, like something was misaligned. At the end of the track day, the throwout bearing in the clutch exploded right as I was loading the car onto the trailer.

I took a break during the summer months as I had the kids in my care, so no track days at all throughout July/August. I didn't spend those summer months idle though...

First came the 991.2 Turbo S. What a machine. It's shockingly fast in straight lines and a comfortable GT cruiser.



Then came the 991.2 GT3 RS. I bought it, and then tracked it the next day - more to say on this later:



And finally the 718 Boxster GTS:

[roastbeef]

can i get some closer pics of the zebulon splitter/tunnel and side skirts?