Hi-Kick Racing

Happy New Year!

2012-01-11T00:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Sorry for my late update.
I haven't been karting since the last time I went. I did however, replace my missing GPS transponder. The same one I used on the Miata to do all of my lap timing. As you know, the 'reasonably priced data logging solution' is very handy. I can probably get by with it by keeping it in my suit pocket, but I will probably buy another cheap symbian phone that I wouldn't mind breaking and figure out a way to mount it on my kart. Does anyone know of good Andriod based apps that will support 10hz?

I've been busy studying for my second attempt at the bar exam. That, and work. At the risk of not having a job after the exams, I asked for substantial time off of work. We'll see. At this point, my bar exam is way more important than my job.

Since I don't have any racing related posts to make, here is a fun video with various clips from the Isle of Man TT.

I'd hate to be the guy at 1:30

Track Day Report - 12/03/11 - Calspeed Karting

2011-12-12T23:32:00.000-08:00

I have a plathora of hobbies. I'm not always into all of them, but I take all of them seriously. My two other big hobbies are martial arts and practical shooting competitions. They all have something in common with driving. I think you'll all know what I'm talking about. I love the focus. I love the never-ending search for perfection. And I sure as hell know that before you reach this type of zen-feeling, you need to be proficient in the basics of the craft. This past event, I felt that. Not the actual, euphoric feeling of enlightenment, but the feeling that I'm beginning on my way to that feeling.

After some problems with my storage unit, I finally got in and hauled my kart out to the track. Calspeed again. I am growing to love that track.

Because I have no idea what I am doing, I did not get the damage from my last event fixed. So the first hour or so, Stu fixed my kart. Oh boy I'm glad here is there to help. I probably would have given up on karting altogether by now if it were not for him. Furthermore, knowing that I'll be out at the track again no matter what I do, except of course, completely destroy my kart, is priceless.

Boy was it windy. And cold. I did 4 sessions that day. Tom, a cool guy that drives with us, took my kart out to see how it does. He said it handled well; so no excuses for me!

For the first few sessions I was still spooked from the last crash. I tried my best to not look at the walls. Last thing I need is destroying my kart again. Stu commented: you're still spinning? Yes, I did spin a couple of times. That prompted me to clean up my driving. I did the same thing I did to improve my autocross times; slow down.

"X" does not mark the target for you to aim at,
but to avoid and look out for unpredictable behavior!

One of the things that kept me from driving faster was dealing with other karts. My friend Chris who has written on this blog tells me that is 80% of the fun. Not for me, at least not yet. When I hear a kart behind me or see it in my prehiperal vision, I lose concentration. Worse, when a kart actually passes me, I tend to focus on it, remembering details like "oh thats a TAG." "oh, that is a shifter."

One of the sessions, a shifter guy spun out on his warm-up lap. I think I could have totally avoided it, but being the newbie I am, I spun behind him. After I pulled my kart behind the tire wall and helped him pull his, he said "Sorry about that." After a few seconds, he added "Can you give me a push?" I did, and there I stood until I could be picked up by the track staff.

Anyways, I finally got to go on the novice session. Less karts. I caught up to a lot more people, even some guys in a TAG. I was finally able to focus on my driving. I worked on looking ahead, and tried to adjust braking, turn-in, and acelleration points on one or two corners at a time. It felt great. I started to get that feeling of being in the groove. I did not start losing concentration at the straights, and when I did encounter other karts, I found myself able to focus much better. In particular, I worked on the entry to turns 1-2, which are two minor left handers leading up to the 'Kornakuva' turn. (who names these turns?) I worked it up to the point where my foot is still on the gas until the entry to turn 3. Stu and a bunch of friends I drive with said I looked much better. Its good to end the track day on a good note.

The biggest lesson I got was to not fixate and look ahead, no matter what.

Gear Review - Aisics Matflex Wrestling Shoes

2011-12-05T00:57:00.000-08:00

I used to wear converses when I drove the old Miata. With my kart, I was going to stick to these cheap wal-mart shoes I bought which had a fairly thin sole. When I crashed last week, I thought about that choice again and bought these shoes, which I believe are a bit safer.

I wanted something with a bit more ankle support and maintained great feedback. Dedicated karting shoes may have been the best choice, but my past experiences with racing dedicated shoes have not been that great. They'd fall apart after some hard use (for instance, running around the paddock). Maybe it is because racing apparel manufacturers don't have much expertise in making shoes. Who knows.

I read online that wrestling shoes lasts longer and has great feedback. So off to the store I went. My shoes cost me about 50 dollars.

Three things: the shoe is very well ventilation. My last event was very windy and cold. My feet got somewhat cold, but that didn't seem to affect my driving that much. Secondly, some parts of the shoe seem to be able to give me some abrasion protection, but the vent mesh probably won't hold up that well if I slide a lot on the wrong side of my feet. However, if I do end up somehow sliding on my feet, it will probably be on the beefier parts of the shoe. Lastly, the ankle support is only so-so. Much better than the shoes I was using before, but it is only a mid-top.

One more thing. The sole of my shoe has these bumps, which I thought was for gripping the wrestling mat. It bothered me a bit at first, but I got used to it. I had no problems walking and running around the asphalt. I wore them all day, including the drive to and from the track.

The build quality is great. Aisics probably knows how to make shoes better than most racing equipment manufacturers do. And it shows. I believe it when they say these will last longer.

It also has these flaps that secure by velcro that help you sort out the laces. This is helpful as it keeps the laces out of the way so they don't get caught on your pedals.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. If you want to save some money at the expense of a little bit of abrasion resistance, get a pair of these shoes.

Track Day Report - 11/25/2011 - Calspeed Karting

2011-12-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

This is what I get for posting late. I don't remember that much about this day, and I've already gone to another practice session since then. I'll have to post back-to-back reports now.

That day, we went to the Auto Club Speedway's karting circuit. A course layout is here. This was more of a horsepower track, and it was important to know which part of the track was grippy and which was not. Track times changed a lot depending on the air and surface conditions.

I spent this day getting comfortable with driving the kart, and getting over the fear, much like the day before. More importantly, spent this time trying to at least vaguely understand where the limits of the kart is. Looking back, every minute of seat time was very valuable because I needed every bit of it to help me get more comfortable with the kart.

The memorable part of the day was when I crashed, crashed decently hard by karting standards. It happened on the exit of turn 9, the "silk." This corner has a lot of runoff space, and it can actually be taken at full throttle in my kart. Well, I tried that, and thought I had nailed it. I expected to use every inch of available space. I noticed I might have misjudged it, and right when I glanced at the wall, my front left wheel just barely touched it. The kart bounced off and it spun me so that I was pointing to the left, which changed the direction of my momentum. I plowed into the tire wall hard. My upper crotch went right into the steering wheel.

The damage? Front left spindle bent (again), bearings inside front left spindle broken, left side tie rod broken, rod end broken, steering shaft bent. We also discovered that the rear axle was bent at the next event. I have no idea how the axle damage happened.

Lesson learned: never never never look at anywhere but where you want to be.

Little bit bruised at Fontana

2011-11-25T18:29:00.001-08:00

I'm posting from my phone. Here is a sneak preview for my next update:

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T02:14:00.000-08:00

Happy thanksgiving! The picture above is my lead-up meals to thanksgiving. Meals, at lunch, at work, at the cafeteria in my building. Isn't that awesome? By the way, the super turkey meal in the middle features gourmet cranberry sauce and delicious gravy. With a drink and apple pie for under 9 bucks! On top of that, I ate Korean food with my wife the night I ate the delicious turkey meal. The next day, my friend came over from San Diego with his family so we had unlimited Korean BBQ. I think its time to watch my cholesterol.

Actually, I've been steadily gaining weight since after bar exam. I started running again, but it isn't cutting it.
When I used to have kickboxing matches coming up and the kickboxing club to be an example to, I was in much better shape. Now that I'm a working man, I find it both hard to find the time or to have the motivation to be in good shape.

I think it is time to diet. And for the first time in my life, to diet not to make weight or to get ready for an upcoming match, but just to stay healthy. That'll also help me in my racing ventures. I'm still in fairly good shape and being on the track doesn't beat me up that much, but that can't last if I keep this up.

My next practice session is at Fontana this Friday. I'm going to continue my goal of simply learning to drive the kart. I'll try to put in 50 laps, but that may be much harder at Calspeed than it was at Apex. I can't wait :)

Don't buy that shit! - Track day report - 11/19/11 - First time out @ Apex

2011-11-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't been in a Kart for over 4 years, and when I was in one I had very limited exposure to it. I haven't been in any sort of track for almost a full year. 90% of my seat time comes from a Miata, and the other 9% is probably from indoor karting. So I was in for 'a real something' when I went out for my first session.

First things first. Stu Hayner held my hand through everything. He installed everything on my kart, fixed my carb, fixed my brakes, hooked me up with a set of used tires, and when he found out both of my motors were KPV junior motors, he even took off one of the motors off of his other karts and put it on mine. I'm probably forgetting something. Most importantly, he gave me tons and tons of advice. One thing that was stressed to me repeatedly was "Don't buy anything!" That still rings in my ear. I really don't need to buy anything. Robert sold me everything I needed, trailer, safety equipment included. (thanks Robert!)

Before we get into details; here are stats:
"off's" - 4 or 5 times (lol)
"off's" that caused other "off's" - once (included in above figure)
Broken parts - 1
Time behind Stu's pace: 7 seconds (In a 43-45 second course. lol!)

I also found out my kart is good at shoveling up gravel, and how good gravel is for slowing down a kart.

I got there around 10AM, and by 11AM I was already out on the track. I got about 60 laps in. Kart seemed to handle pretty well, with a hint of understeer. Stu was worried it might handle badly, because many of the components were from other karts, and because my steering shaft was bent. It didn't matter though, there is nothing much wrong about driving with a bent steering shaft, and I'm not good enough to notice subtle differences in handling. Or at least I think.

Turns out the kart handled just fine. Slightly understeery, but thats good for a newbie like me.
The whole day was spent learning to drive the kart. Took me many laps to figure out that I need to go fast enough for the kart to even get around the corner. Took me many more laps to figure out that leaning out helps the kart turn. Took me many more laps to figure out I can't turn my head enough with the neck brace I got. And it took me many laps to figure out that noise and surge in acceleration in a particular left hander was my leg flinging out and pushing on the throttle cable (lol!)

Some memorable events. I spun (completely due to driver error-forgot to put enough heat into the tires) on a left hander and was pointed the other way. I saw two, three more people spin out trying to avoid me. Oops. Bad spot to lose it. Another idiot error: I was trying to push it a bit and felt that I was going a wee bit too fast. Momentarily, I thought "what if..?" and looked at that "what if" spot. Off I went right into that spot, which happened to be a barrier after a gravel pit. Scooped up a bunch of gravel and went right into the barrier. Thank goodness for movable barriers. No noticeable damage in any of my "offs," except I think I chipped my brake rotors a bit more.

I learned a lot. A challenge for me is getting over the fear and trusting my kart. You know those sections on a racetrack with lots of kinks and bends that lead into a slow corner with a hard braking zone, which series of turns can be taken flat-out if you do it properly? There was one of those at Apex, which you probably know of, and it took me the third session to get the guts enough to try it flat-out. I felt each time my kart would fly off the track. Each time before the braking zone my kart would start a four wheel drift. Kinda scary for a newbie like me. But the kart will do it over and over again, as long as I ask properly. Much of the high-speed corners can be taken with a simple lift of the throttle or a small jab at the brakes. I always braked early and hard for them, like I was in a car. Not only was it sometimes even harder to get around the corner that way, it killed my exit speed since my.. erm.. entry speed was so very very low. No wonder I'm 7 seconds off.

However, in the beginning of the day I told myself I'll do a 50. I couldn't figure out how to use the Mychron 2 unit that my kart came with, but I finally figured out that one of the digits that looked messed up was supposed to say "5," and that is when I figured out that I was hovering around 50.2 - 50.5s. At least that is somewhat consistent, by Jerry standards. (I'd stay within 0.5 seconds each lap on the Miata also.)

Can you tell if my eyes are open or closed?

I have so much to learn. And the learning curve is steep. I'm so thankful that I am getting help. Stu, thank you very much and I very appreciate all of the help.

What a blast. It was so good to get time off work. If I can practice at least once a month until March, I think I will be ready for my first race. I know one thing for sure; This old kart is 100% sufficient for me. I am not going to buy anything!

Beginning of a new phase of my life

2011-11-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, so lets look at my situation.
I got married. I started a job, albeit temporary. I have income. All of these things are very new to me.
I also bought a kart. Not that new to me, but I only have 1 race under my belt and I never got to learn as much as I wanted about karting.

In about 45 minutes, I will also find out if I'm a California attorney when I check my bar exam results. During the two or three months I studied, I spent my time doing shooting competitions and toying with the idea of starting a business. My excuse was that I needed time off; I really have a hard time functioning without something other than studying to do. So, in a way, I don't feel like I deserve to pass. Also, based on the calculations I did after taking the bar exam, I figured out that I have a greater chance of not passing. This gives me a feeling of preparedness for the results.

But I'll be lying if I say I don't hope I pass. Everyone tells me "you never know." A bunch of my classmates and attorneys I know told me they were sure they did not pass, but they did. I'm not one to get nervous and question my performance; I generally know when I did well and when I did not, but of course, I have indeed surprised myself by excelling at something I was sure I was going to fail in. This happened exclusively at law school.

Either way, this weekend I'll start a new phase of my motorsports life also. Please read the following:

My kart package came with almost everything I need to run. Lots of spares, lots of tuning parts, tools, etc. Even came with old fuel still in the can. I'll probably put it in my car and buy a new can.
The kart was set up for its previous owner, who was of similar weight but much taller than me. I'm hoping I wouldn't have to do much to get it handling.

I live in a 1 bedroom with no garage. Kart stays in a storage unit. I can do little things here and there, but I can't do a major overhaul.

The only thing the kart needed was a brake overhaul, since the seals had rotted away, and getting the motor mounted and ready to go. I probably need tires as well; the ones on the kart seem to be very hard and thus hard to drive on.

Stu H., yes, that Stu who used to race SCCA pro GT cars, offered his help. I'm so grateful for someone like that has offered his help. I think I'll be able to go drive this weekend.

My friend Chris Cullen told me I should make it a goal to put in 50 laps every time I go to the track. So that is a goal this weekend.

This weekend's goals:
Get kart handling reasonably.
Learn to tune the carburator
Put in 50 laps.

No specific goals today, as I want to just spend my time familiarizing myself with the kart.
I'm really excited!

Revival of the blog?

2011-10-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
As you know, ever since I sold the Brokecore LOHP car I haven't been on this blog in a long time. What has happened then?

Continuing to persue my dream, I've moved to California.

Bad news is that I still don't have a permenant job.

Good news is that I do have temporary income.

Even better news is that I may get back into Karting. If I do, I will be reviving this journal. It will be much less focused on development and technology, but about driving. I hope you all continue to read my journal, and thanks for keeping the readership alive; I guess my tech posts are doing some good across the world.

The Ending - GIR Track Day Report 3/26/11

2011-06-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

The Brokecore car and Luis' turbo Miata

Well, before I knew it I got there. 59.3 at Gainesville International Raceway's test course. Wow. An eye-opener for me.

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my long absence. A lot of things happened since. I was at first busy preparing for and taking my final final examinations at law school. Yes I passed all my classes. I did pretty well this semester in this class, so I'm happy. Bunch of my classmates are pissed at me because they felt that they studied harder yet I beat them. Call it the 3L effect; a third year law student in his final semester is generally very keen on studying smart, studying just enough while slacking off and getting the grades he wants. Besides, they usually only have 3 classes or something like that. I was no exception. 3 classes and a clinic.

So I graduated, and my sister came to visit and met her sister-in-law for the first time. At the time, I was also in a hurry to move from one house to another. Oh, and I'm very sorry to say this, but I was also in a hurry to sell my car; after this summer, I will probably have to relocate. After all that, I have been studying for the California bar exam, pondering about my future, exploring career options. I don't have a job yet so if anyone can help me with that, I'll be forever grateful!

Yes, so this will be my last entry in my blog. Thank you everyone for the support, encouragement, and readership. I am truly thankful for it and I am very happy that you all made it possible for me to do my first successful blog. I had such a fun run at this and learned a lot from the experience. Thank you for my supporters; Airtab® and One Greek Store.

Well, time to get on with the track report. Thank goodness I took notes right after the event.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This day, my student organization, Asian Pacific American Law Student Association was putting together a big conference. I'd been part of the conference effort from the get-go. Furthermore, I had personally invited a speaker to talk about a very cool topic at the event, so I really should have been there. Unfortunately I had already signed up, and although the guys who put on the event usually let me cancel, I had a feeling that this was my last true opportunity to do the road course. So, I compromised; I was going to do the first half of the day (till noon) and the rest of the event would be done by someone else. Hey, Luis, thanks a lot for the help! After I left, Luis' brother Lou drove his 240sx for the remainder of the day.

My day only lasted from around 10:40am to 12:00pm. Oh wells, I'm happy because I still achieved my time goal.

Tire pressures:
I ran 36psi and 31psi cold for the first feeler session, then bled them down to the same. Therefore, 36/31psi hot after the 1st session.

Changes in car:
NB tophats with cut NA bumpstops
15x8 wheels wrapped in 225 RS-3s
1.8L miata front brakes
fresh front brake pads

First Session
I was trying to get used to the new tires. The difference in feel wasn't shocking, but it was quite different. The steering response was just a tad bit slower than the azenis. The tires also understeered a little bit compared to the Azenis. I think the tires were a bit more forgiving, but I didn't get to drive consistently enough on the new tires to really feel out how it was compared to my old tires. They start to make noise a bit earlier than azenis, which helped me figure out the braking a little bit. I needed to adjust my driving quite a bit.

Second Session
Air temps were already rising. By this time I realized these tires don't fade. Awesome! In fact, throughout the first session the tires just got grippier. My splitter loosened up and ran at an angle not so optimal though, because I didn't tighten some things very well. I think it happened after the first session, when I had to drive through grass in the paddock the splitter got caught on something. So the car was more understeery.

I got to analyse the driving a bit in this session.

-Right after turn 1, where the first skidpad turn starts, I can immediately get on the gas and accelerate at full throttle until I can see the corner exit, then I have to ease off. Point-and-shoot. Wow!
-It is much easier to get on the correct line for turn 3.
-I can get on the gas immediately after the first apex for the double apex left hander, which I've been calling turns 5-6.
-The chicane dive-bombing hasn't changed much

The increasing radius turn was an eye opener. As soon as I get the car turned around (I do it as tight and quickly as possible), I can get on full throttle. From there I never have to lift, and my stupid viscous tLSD action only kicked in once or twice, when my splitter was still properly mounted. Talk about lack of power and excess grip. In all the sessions I ran I was trying to figure out a way to carry more speed into that turn but I couldn't.

The car handled much better, even with the increased understeer. There is barely any post apex snap oversteer, and it behaves much more predictably to bumpy surfaces and going over curbs.

I only got to do two sessions. First session out I finally broke the 60 second mark @ 59.8, and on my second session I got a 59.3. I was having trouble putting together all the elements of a fast lap.

Things to work on if I did another event
Get turns 5-6 dialed in; I tihnk I am lifting much more than necessary. I also want to try jumping onto the right side curbing before turning in. However, Grant told me its more important to jump on the inside curbing. Last time I got on the outside curbing I almost spun, but maybe with the new suspension I'll be able to use the extra road. (stupid idea?)

Well, once again thank you very much! I will be back on track at a future point of my life, but now I've moved onto less time-consuming hobbies while I get my life together. Thanks Grant! Drew, Kevin, David, all the Lemons guys! Eric, for supporting me with fab equipment. Thanks everyone on IMV boards, other local guys who recognized me and my car. Thanks to everyone at clubroadster.net and miata.net. Thanks Carl for buying the car, I'm glad another motorhead owns it now! And thank you readers everywhere in the world!

Updates are coming!

2011-04-25T01:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone.
I've been busy writing papers and studying for my LAST LAW SCHOOL FINAL EXAMS!
Yes, possibly the last set of academic exams I will have to take, ever!

I will post up some updates, for example my last track day report, after finals. Then if I have time I have a bundle of stuff I want to test and experiment with, so there will be another stream of good posts!

Thanks for being patient.

APRIL FOOLS!

2011-03-31T23:46:00.000-07:00

APRIL FOOLS!

Of course, my original post is untrue. My car does not have all those cool mods, I made no money on this blog, and of course I don't have substantial savings. I'm what you call "Judgement-proof" right now. Also, I haven't been notified of any sort of intellectual property infringement.

Gotcha!

Click on photo to see original April fools post. You shoulda seen my facebook. People were even talking about NSX performance. Oh man I love pranks.

Flow visualization Techniques - Vortex Generators Part 2

2011-03-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

We know that a typical hardtop will see flow separation a few inches below the roofline. I wanted to see what the Airtab® vortex generators did to help delay separation. One simple flow visualization technique is tufts testing. I did the testing on the rear surface of my car. My wife really didn't want to help, but she did. Bless her.

Tufts testing is really easy. Stick on a bunch of strings onto the surfaces that you want to test at. Now, a lot of people use yarn. Yarn might be good enough for these purposes but it really isn't ideal because it is too heavy. A good choice is a lightweight monafilament string, such as fishing line. The compromise you have to find is visibility, weight, and cross section of the string. I think a florescent colored fishing line would work well.

I just used very lightweight nylon strings for this experiment. The strings should be 4-5 inches, not too long and not too close together to tangle themselves. I used varying lengths from 4-20 inches just to see what it does.

What you are shooting for is turbulent but attached airflow. This means a gyration of 20-30 degrees or so is acceptable. What you don't want to see is strings circling, moving irratically, which is an indicator of detached flow.

Hard to see, but this photo is from a higher quality HD video. The video shows the movement of the tufts pretty well.

Previously seen photo of the VGs

Surprising results. Flow stays attached all the way to the bottom of the hardtop; at about the bottom 2-3 inches it separates a little bit, then reattaches on the trunklid. It shows attached flow all the way to the end of the spoiler. Sucess! Looks like the Airtab® Vortex Generators are doing a great job.

Another interesting thing to note is that air seems to leak out to the side edges, under the spoiler. It affects the flow on the quarter panels. Interesting. No doubt I'm losing out on some lift there.

Some other interesting, lo-cost flow visualization methods. Pictures tell a thousand words:

This was done by Jeff at Slick Auto using a high velocity air gun. The model is Guardair 80LJ. There is a piece of 5' cotton string taped on. Thanks for the tips Jeff!

Technical Advisors:
Andrew Brilliant, well-known aerodynamicist in the motorsports industry.
Unnamed engineer who worked on developing the Airtab® VGs. www.airtab.com
Jeff @ Slickauto www.slickauto.com

1.8L Brake Upgrade

2011-03-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

There are many articles out there on how to change out the 1.6l brakes to the 1.8l brakes. So I won't go over it step-by-step. I did, however, take a bunch of pictures to put things into perspective.

Link to a very good step-by-step: Miataturbo how-to

Things you need: All you need are rotors and caliper brackets from each corner of the wheel. I got a pretty killer deal for it in Tampa.

I only did the front swap because I didn't have enough money to do the rear brakes. Data shows that my braking improved a little bit, but not much. Given the same pedal pressure, I think the rear brake upgrade will help a lot.

I didn't think the pictures on the Miataturbo website shows the difference for most people, even though it is a more accurate picture. So here are mine:

Game day

2011-03-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

Its 3AM, and I just got done bedding in my brakes and fixing my splitter. I didn't get around to finishing my wing mounts, but I will still have my spoiler and splitter on the track tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day.

I finally have competitive wheels and tires. Its time to make a serious run at my first target: breaking the 1 minute mark at Gainesville International. I don't know if I will get there, but I am going to make a very serious run for it.

I have to go to a conference in the afternoon, so I will only have 2-3 hours of track time. I am splitting my day with Luis' brother. Alls well, since the fastest part of the day is in the morning.

Aside from the wheels and tires, I also added some extra travel in my suspension with NB tophats. I am very looking forward to the day. Wish me good luck!

Choosing rental kart venues

2011-02-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

Driving is like a drug. Since my track event on the 5th got canceled, I just had to find something to replace the experience. After researching some options, I decided to go to Ocala Grand Prix to try out their rental karts and check out the track. I chose OGP based on my experience at Miramar Speed Circuit in San Diego. I used to frequent this track chasing laptimes.

MSC is a 1/4 mile indoor circuit. Its a real tricky circuit. The karts are Sodi karts with crash bodywork, with some sort of 4 stroke motor that probably puts out 4-5 hp. They were plenty fun. The karts were beat up though, so some karts are slightly faster than another kart. As with most rental karts, these karts understeer a little bit. But that doesn't matter. With karts, its very easy to use weight transfer to modify the behavior of the kart. If you live in San Diego, I highly recommend it. The last time I went, they still had two-for-tuesdays, where you pay 23 dollars or so for a 20 minute session. Its a good deal and you can really work on your driving there, hassle free.

Why am I talking about Miramar? To put it into perspective. Ocala GP had the same Sodi karts, but better maintained and not as beat up. Furtermore, they ran 4 stroke 9hp motors! Thats about twice the horsepower. And of course, the 3/5ths mile track is much bigger than the indoor track. It is also plenty wide so you can choose between several different lines. Lastly, the surface is much smoother and the tires are slightly grippier. This was pretty serious for rentals. Now, for the most important part. The cost: 14 dollars for a 10 minute session. I spent 42 dollars to do three 10 minute sessions. Lets put that into perspective, based on other experiences I've had:

1. Miramar Speed Circuit 23 dollars for 20 minutes.

10 minute cost: $11.50 (On Tuesdays)

Kart: 4-5hp Sodi rentals

Track: 1/4 mile indoor, pretty good for an indoor track.

I go to this track almost every time I visit San Diego.

2. Moran Raceway 225 dollars for 50 minutes

(I can't remember the exact costs and time)

10 minute cost: $45

Kart: ~20hp HPV kart of unknown brand

Track: Probably the best karting circuit in the country, with elevation changes and blind corners

Unfortunately, this circuit shut down a few years back.

3. Ocala Grand Prix

10 minute cost: $14

Kart: 9hp Sodi rentals

Track: 0.6mi outdoor, no elevation changes

All three of these places are or were very good deals, and I would pay to go gladly. In my opinion, Miramar tests your technical driving skills, as well as forcing you to move your hands quickly. It was also great for wheel-to-wheel practice, because the track is often crowded. Moran had every element imaginable. But I really liked Ocala GP. I had a lot of fun there. In my opinion, the track tests your car control abilities more than anything else.

I almost always choose things for value. In other words, what gets me the most seat time for an acceptable quality. Sure, the HPV kart is the quickest and most fun, but if I do that, I can only go a few times a year. I can go to an indoor place, but most indoor places (Miramar Speed Circuit being the exception) offer too little seat time for too much money. A place like Ocala offers reasonably fast and fun karts that run pretty consistently kart-to-kart. Perfect.

Dustin about to head out

When choosing a kart rental venue, take these things into consideration. I place heavy emphasis on seat time and seat time quality. OGP had a great seat time to price ratio, especially given the speed of the karts.

We arrived around 6:30pm. Another thing I like about this track is that it is open late, until 8:00pm. Thats pretty awesome for north central Florida, where everything closes early and frustrates the hell out of me. It also makes me wonder: do people actually want money around here? It is well lit also. After signing in a waiver, borrowing neck braces free of charge, we went straight to the paddock area. They also have rental helmets but we brought our own.

We went on a Wednesday and the track was pretty empty. There would be 3-4 karts on the entire track. I think up to 8 are allowed. I also later realized, even with a full grid, there is plenty of room to drive at your best and get a clean lap in, while you get to draft people in front of you. I also brought my data logging equipment.

I spent the first session learning what the track looks like and got used to the kart. Getting used to the kart was easy; they drove very similar to the Miramar karts. I figured out the lines to most of the circuit, and had a general idea of how to drive it. Also, I figured out where I could go flat out without lifting. I think my friend Dustin spent time getting used to the kart.

My second session, I really started working on hitting all my apexes and pushing things a bit more. I figured out that I don't have to brake most of the track. The grid was full, so I got to spend some time trying to pass people. That was a somewhat novel experience for me. I haven't had to pass people on wide open outdoor tracks very much. I got my fastest time here: 41.9 seconds.

Me striking a very corny pose

My third and last session, I was alone on the track so I really got to work on my driving. There is a turn that is very critical which leads to a long straight where you want to carry as much speed as you can. To do this, you had to pitch the kart around and increase your slip angle, and "four-wheel-drift" out of that corner. It was tricky but I got the hang of it. I have to check my data to see how much it had helped, though. My best time here was a 42.1, but I was much more consistent throughout.

Analysis

My fastest time was not the result of drafting; it happened at a clean lap I got in with no traffic. The northeastern most turn is critical; you don't need to brake going in to the turn prior to that. Just lift, and be very smooth, get around the corner starting out wide, and get on the gas as early as possible. Every time I went around this I applied Bonilla's "focus on the slowest part of the turn" principle.

But the most critical turn is what I believe is a right hander called the "oak." This is the turn that you make after you make the above turn, the left after that. Pitch the kart in, get on the power early, neutral drift all the way out.

The big left hander is flat out in the rental karts. Hit the apex so you have more room to accelerate out. Use the entire width of the track.

Anyways, the track record is in the 38's, and on this track the hotter it is the faster it gets. The karts see over 1.5Gs of lateral acceleration, spiking close to 2Gs sometimes. All in all, if you haven't been I highly recommend you try out options similar to the above ones. If you are local, be sure to check out OGP! Wear long sleeves or a jacket, and jeans for safety.

Current State of the Broke-Core LOHP Miata project

2011-02-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

Whew. I've had so much to post nowadays. I have many planned posts but I haven't gotten to them yet. I now have two interviews pending, both of which I haven't written questions for. I have the beginner how-to-guides that I promised, also which I haven't written anything for. I was also a participant in an endurance race recently, and I haven't made a post about that yet either. I have very near-term projects happening soon; I'll have to get to them as they happen. I also have more testing to do to gather more data for the vortex generators I tested previously.

Anyways, lets recap whats been going on with the project and a short update on my life.

First of all, as you may have gathered, my winter job plans got canceled. So I had a lot of time to work on my car. As a result of that, you read that I finished my aerodynamic projects that I had planned, with the exception of the undertray.

Project goal recap
I don't know if I've ever made a post about this, but my goal, with sub-goals I've made such as my failed project OLDAZENIS, was to be the first sub 130hp car to attain a laptime of 59 seconds, without spending more than the overall value of my car. Also, all of the mods must be able to be performed by the average enthusiast, or else the professional labor must be added into the cost. And finally, power mods are discouraged as I need to keep the car sub-130 crank horsepower. I am nearing the conclusion of that project, with the following planned mods. Wheels and tires included.

Right now, Grant's low time in my car is 61.3 seconds. My fast time is 62.1 seconds. Can I make it? Lets see.

Major upgrades

I got new wheels! I've been hunting for a good deal and a local enthusiast forwarded me a killer deal. The wheels are going to be wearing Hankook R-S3 tires, which I chose for excellent grip and wear characteristics. Even when it comes to tires, we gotta keep it Hi-Kick right? With this new wheel and tire setup I should come pretty close to my goal. A bit about the wheels and tires; the wheels are 1st generation 949 Racing 6UL wheels. The wheel is 8 inches wide, which is an inch wider than my previous wheel. That means whatever tire is going on there, it will have a better contact patch than if it were going on 7 inch wide wheels, as long as the wheel width is not greater than the tire width. The tires will be 225mm wide. Although a 9 inch wheel is more ideal for that tire width, I want to have the option of going back to a 205mm wide tire in the future, so these wheels will do. Incidently, either my R-package 14x6" hollow spoke wheels or the Konig Rewind 15x7" wheels will be up for sale.

My previous wheels are, despite being an inch narrower than the 6ULs, about 3 pounds heavier. Also, although the RT-615s were 205mm wide, they are a pretty heavy tire. But so are the R-S3s, especially since they are 20mm wider than the Azenis. I am hoping the new package is similar or lighter in weight so my painfully low horsepower car will not have any acceleration penalties.

I have also purchased a 2D wing. By 2D, I mean that the airfoil profile does not change throughout the entire width of the airfoil. There are a lot of "crap" wings out there without any substantial development, but I think some of them can work well. Even if they are really bad, as it is an actual airfoil and not just a panel, it should produce less drag and more downwards lift than my spoiler. Plus, they will work much better with the Airtab® Vortex Generators. I am really looking forward to the design.

Help fund my project! Stuff for sale
I also have a lot of excess materials up for sale. I also have another spoiler design that I ended up not putting on my car for sale. It actually works better than the one I have now, and will look much better on a car with a flat trunklid. I'm thinking F-body mustangs can really use the rig. If anyone is interested, please email me at the email address I have on the "about this blog" section on the right sidebar.

Please help me fund my project! As a gesture of gratitude for you reading this blog and parts, financial, and information support you readers give me, I keep no secrets and any projects I do will be published here. You can help by making a donation of 4-5 dollars or more. I will send you a waterproof vinyl decal. Please check the "donate to Hi-Kick Racing" section. I may be selling T-shirts in the future also, with FAST=CHEAP slogans on the shirts. Details can be found here: Hi-Kick Racing Gear

Personal life
As for me, my last semester ended with some mixed feelings. I felt I didn't study all that hard, and on the class I did study hard for (mergers) I felt that I bombed the test. Turns out I'd answered an entire question wrong and applied the wrong analysis. I had been working hard to get good grades because my grades from my first two years were below average. I was worried about this semester. Winter job got canceled, and though I gained a mentor from my California trip, I hadn't gotten any further in getting a job. But a few days go, grades came out. I did just as well as my previous best grades, and I scored slightly above average on mergers!

I have also been working on some business ideas. It'll be on the web, and it is for car enthusiasts, so I hope you all stay tuned. The service will be free or near-free, and I don't actually expect to make that much money from it.

Summary and budget
Modifications (some came with the car)
1992 Mazda Miata with hardtop
- Fuji Racing 8.4lb flywheel
- RX-7 AFM with hack inlet mod and resistor tuning
- Mazdaspeed comp exhaust
- No power steering (not sure if it was removed or didn't come with one)
- Automatic transmission radiator
- Cat converter removed, test pipe in its place.
- Hard dog hard core rollbar, double diagonal with harness bar
- Ebay coilovers (Toyota Celica labeled 2" coilovers)
- Bilstein R-package Shocks (mild machining work included)
- 1999 Mazda Miata front sway bar with heim joint endlinks
Aero:
- Splitter and Spoiler
Tires
- 15x8 6UL wheels
- 225/45/15 Hankook R-S3 tires

Weight loss:
Passenger seat removed
Sparco Sprint seat with custom seat mount
AC removed, Cruise control removed
Soft top removed
Factory undertray removed
Rear sway bar removed
Slight rear bumper cutout
Rear bumper cut out

Soon to be added
Replacing spoiler with rear airfoil
NB tophats for more suspension travel
1.8l brake upgrade

Total cost of mods added: $ 1335. After airfoil, tires, the price will be close to 1600. This is presuming my excess material from projects are being sold. I have about 400 dollars left to spend. Not really, but I won't spend any more than 400 dollars and try to achieve my goal. Some other options I have is adding headers, offset upper control arm bushings, and better bumpstops.

Testing
Some of the testings I've completed, but have not posted about are as follows:
-Tufts testing with Vortex Generators and Rear spoiler
Some of the testing I am planning to do are as follows:
-Intake temperature measurements utilizing airflow from high pressure zone at the trailing edge of the hood
-Tufts testing with and without spoiler, with spoiler at different angles
-Tufts testing with airfoil

Please follow me on twitter!

Better vs. Worse. - Happy Lunar New Year!

2011-02-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

Its lunar new years. Being from Korea, and married to a Vietnamese woman, I celebrate lunar new years. I'm at the in-laws right now. I went to temple, ate good food, and had a relaxing time with the family.

A week before today, I had forgotten about lunar new years. I was just worried about my brake pads arriving on time for the track day today. When my wife reminded me of the family occasion, I was instantly depressed. I'd been looking forward to the track day for the last month. I also wanted to see how close to my target time I could get. I also heard today that Randy Pobst, the World Challenge driver, was at the event also. Double depression.

I needed to get my fix in. I did some research and decided to go Karting next week. Turns out Ocala has a pretty well-used half mile track with 9hp rentals. Not bad! Good compromise between paying 200+ dollars for a piston port kart and going to GRRC. Depression gone.

For those who have been waiting for the track day report, with results with my new mods and such, I apologize. But here are some videos for you to watch instead. My driving and Grant's driving compared. Grant isn't driving to his full potential, and the video isn't from my fastest session either.

Twitter!

2011-02-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

I realized that I can share my momentarily entertaining rants with the world! Please follow:

http://twitter.com/#!/hikickracing

Bike Drifting Done the Right Way

2011-01-26T19:43:00.000-08:00

Recently Icon made this car vs bike drift video. Cool! Its pretty good, and I highly respect the skills of both operators in their incredible machines.

Wait, incredible machines. Professional film crew. Angle gimmicks... this is cool, but is it THAT cool?

Is there a "Hi-Kick" alternative? Hell yes. We don't need your fancy pants literbike supersports or your super LS powered drift machines, expensive video equipment and expensive editing.

For much less, much more awesome 2 wheel sideways action. Enjoy!

New wheel/tire package - 6ULs and Hankook R-S3s

2011-01-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I recently mounted my new tires onto my new used wheels. Off went the R1Rs that were on there and on went the R-S3s. The tires are Hankook R-S3 tires in 225/45/15. The new tire/wheel package isn't any heavier than my old one, despite being 30mm wider and the wheel being an inch wider. This is mainly due to the new wheel being so light, and the Azenis being an old, heavier tire for its size.

Total diameter for the old Azenis/Konig package is 58.6cm. Diameter for the new RS3/6UL package is 58.35cm. Thats a 0.4% gearing advantage. The tread is almost gone on the Azenis though. My math shows that with tread gone, the tires should be at about 579.7cm, so the felt (if any) gearing advantage from the last time I drove the car should be gone. Also, mass of the wheel goes up 1.76%. That doesn't mean that toque loss is 1.76%, since the entire rotating mass is not going up 1.7%. Either way, the advantage of added grip should be pretty immense. Based on what I read on forums, the tires should not rub at my ride height.

Azenis RT-615, Toyo R1R, Hankook R-S3 comparison

949 Racing 6UL mk1 15x8" et36 -12.8lbs
Konig Rewind 15x7" et40 - 14.5lbs
Hankook R-S3 225/45/15 - 21.8lbs
Toyo R1R 225/45/15, 50% tread left - 20lbs
Falken Azenis RT-615 205/50/15 - 19.5lbs

RT-615 - 205/50/15, Diameter 58.6cm
R1R - 225/45/15 but they seem to run a bit wider than R-S3. Diameter 58.35cm
R-S3 - 225/45/15 Diameter 58.35cm

New wheel/tire package weight - 34.6lbs

Old wheel/tire package weight - 34lbs

Part weight database has been updated. I can't wait to see what these tires will do. I hope I get very close to my target time. The R1Rs are sold, going on a GRM 2011 challenge car.

Do Vortex Generators actually work? - YES!

2011-01-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've been toying around with the idea of Vortex Generators for a long time. I finally got around to testing them in both "lab" and "track" conditions. I've found some interesting findings, but the verdict is that they are worth it.

There are a lot of VG designs out there. Delta wing, bent aluminum, dimple designs.. But I was reading up a low-velocity low-drag VG design patented in the 80's. Well expired patent, of course. From what I read, that particular design seemed ideal for low drag, low velocity applications such as it would be for cars. Ever since I read that, I wondered how I could fab up a set without spending too much money or time. I couldn't think of a solution.

I didn't have to. Few months back, I found a company called Airtab® who makes that design and sells them for a good price. Installation is a breeze too. Good price point, good value; sounds like something this blog can use, eh?

Its always a risk sending your product out so some web blogger to test your product. Especially for a smallish blog like this one; it might seem that there isn't much to gain, but a lot to lose. And a non-professional enthusiast may make mistakes with installation, testing, etc and many things can go wrong. Bad news travels fast right? So I very much appreciated when Mr. Jack Latimer from Airtab, LLC sent me a bunch of his Vortex Generators for me to try out.

First Test

The test rig

Lets cut to the chase. I first did a "lab test" using a differential manometer. This manometer works by measuring the air pressure differences at its two nodes. I mounted one 3.5 inches away where the spoiler edge meets the trunklid, and another node at the rooftop. Now, I have no idea if the rooftop is an accurate representation of ambient pressures or whatever pressure that acts with the spoiler pressure to generate negative lift, so I won't be able to calculate accurate lift figures. But it would conclusively tell me the differences between the two tests. So, in short, it is perfect for comparisons.

My first test was a failure. I mounted them 2.5 inches apart (thats 6.5 inches apart from center-to-center), about 13 inches from the rear edge of the roof--at the maximum manufacture recommended parameters. The test results weren't that great. I found out position of the VGs are pretty critical. Aerodynamics gets pretty complicated in this area; separation points differ depending on the shape of the surfaces and that dictates where the VGs should be mounted. Although the first test showed that the VGs were not working, I've seen this particular design work from different tests on the internet (link), so I wasn't convinced. I had to do another test with adjusted mounting positions.

Unfortunately I had to return the manometer before I could do another test. School was starting soon too, I was running out of time. I decided to do the second testing on the track.

Second Test
At the last track event, I ran two consecutive sessions on the same aero settings, one with and one without four Airtab® VGs installed much closer to the rear edge of the roof, about 2.5" apart between the VGs. The VGs are supposed to be installed 0.75" apart, but I just wanted to do a quick and dirty test. I placed them in the center 2 feet of the roof, and ignored the edges since my spoiler probably generates the most pressure in that area.

Picture of the rear aerodynamic layout in the second test

Because I don't drive at pro-level, it was really hard to analyze the data from my amateur-level DAQ setup. Fortunately, temperatures, fuel levels, tire wear were all at a similar level because I didn't waste much time between sessions. Unfortunately, and probably because of my inconsistent driving, maximum velocity of both sessions and best laptimes are equal. What to do? After staring at my charts for a long time, I decided to look at a sector laptimes for turns 2 and 3. These turns are constant radius, and I am fairly consistent here, and I take the same line every time I go through it. Perfect.

Sector times, Averaged

Session with no VGs: 13.22
Session with Airtab® VGs: 13.15
Samples were from six runs each with and without the Airtabs®, with one or two outliers removed from when I was doing warm-up and cool-down laps or when I made a big driving mistake.

The 0.07 second difference in this section means there was an appreciable amount of lateral force generated. Calculations based on this data show that the increase in lateral force, or grip, was 1%. I got the answer of the question I've been asking for months; They work!

Conclusions - They work!
If anyone is curious, my best time with VGs installed was 1:02.1, and without was 1:02.8, with driving lines, and tire pressure adjustment variables included. Inconclusive, but I do have one conclusion from this: My best use of the VGs was not necessarily to make an huge difference in available traction through radically increased downforce levels. Yes, the Airtab® Vortex Generators made the car faster, but it also allowed me to adjust the car's balance to inspire more confidence to drive more consistently. More consistency = more improvement!

This may not sound like much but it really adds up; remember, this is just one part of the course, and I only used 4 of them at less-than-optimal spacing. And if you do, say, 20 laps, you've gotten almost 2 seconds in turns 2, and 3 alone, and even more ahead when you count time saved everywhere else.

If you think about how little you have to spend to get these parts, its hard to convince yourself that you should not get these. Remember, the Airtabs® are to be installed 4 inches apart from center-to-center.

Closing Notes

Installation is very simple. Plot out your mounting points, mark them (I use painter's tape), remove backing and stick them on. They can be painted also.

Note the modified airflow to the rear foil
on this hillclimb truck with Airtab VGs
installed

Remember the original intent of the Airtab® vortex generators. They are supposed to reduce drag. I'm sure they are doing exactly that on my car for a certain extent, but a car with a spoiler is not the best platform to test that on. These VGs are used on commercial trucks, consumers seeking to improve fuel economies on their cars, and other race cars to improve drag profiles of their cars. Furthermore, they can be mounted on the undertray for cars with less-than-ideal underbellies to help airflow stay attached; the effect of that would be to decrease the pressures under the undertray as well as help accelerate airflow at the diffuser.

Links:
For more information on Airtab® vortex generators, please click the logo below or here: www.airtab.com
To buy Airtb® vortex generators, please go here: www.buyairtab.com

Articles and related posts:
US Patent Number 5,058,837 - Low Drag Vortex Generators
White paper on VG effects on a Lancer Evolution
Autospeed article on VG effect on fuel economy
Paper on VG effects on drag reduction on a Honda

Photo Credits:
Airtab® logo is a registered trademark of Aeroserve Technologies, LTD.
The hillclimb truck is a picture of Mike Ryan MotorSports truck at the 2005 Pikes Peak Hillclimb

Hi-Kick Racing Sponsors for this season!

2011-01-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

I've recently been fortunate enough to receive contributions from two great companies. Since I'm a hobbyist and I am not a business venture, I have the luxury of being able to "say no" and solicit all of my sponsors. This means the companies that contribute to this blog have personally communicated with me and create great products that I recommend.

Small but very appreciated contributors: One Greek Store and Airtab® LLC. www.onegreekstore.com www.buyairtab.com

I'll mention them in other posts, but recently two companies have given me contributions for my blog. First is One Greek Store; they made the kick-ass shirts that I wore today. I will post more pictures of them sometime. Second is Airtab, LLC. They make low-speed vortex generators I tested today. I solicit sponsors only if their products are in line with the Hi-Kick Racing philosophy of good quality and great value at a decent price point. I highly recommend the services of One Greek Store for all your apparel logo needs and Airtabs to source your VGs.

Please visit the websites for contact information. O.G.S. makes durable T-shirt logos for a really kick-ass price ;)

Track Day Report - Gainesville Test Course - 01/08/11

2011-01-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

What a day! After some mishaps early on in the morning, I have gathered some good results. I got there late, at around 9:00am. Fortunately they hadn't started the drivers meeting or anything yet.

Conditions: 52 degrees at 10am, 65 degrees at 12:30pm.

Changes from previous event:
Tires a bit more worn
Hi-Kick Racing design front splitter and rear spoiler (Both 7")
Airtab® Vortex Generators
Passenger seat was still removed

Session 1

Spoiler at the third highest setting and tire pressures at my 36f and 31r, I went out. Two bad things happened here. I a lot of oversteer due to lack of rear downforce, and I was putting my brakes through hell. Months before, I had replaced my Hawk Black pads to Axxis ULT pads, which were rated "track worthy." The brakes got spongy after a lap or two, and I could smell fumes from outside the car. I did a few more laps and I pit back in.

Fastest Time: No laptimes were recorded because I messed up the settings on my laptimer.

I went home and changed the pads back to my worn down Hawk Blacks in a hurry. They had about 20% of life left in them. Took me an hour to drive, change, and drive back. I arrived at noon, and asked Grant to drive my car.

Session 2

I adjusted the spoiler to its second highest setting. No other changes were made. I went right back out and did a few more laps than the last session. Handling balance was a bit better, but I was still loose around transitions and kept scrubbing off speed with the end kicking out. Two problematic areas were the transition between turns 2 and 3, corner exit at turn 4+5, and after the second apex on the chicane at turn 7. I decided to pit in after a short cool-down run before I boiled my brake fluid.

Fastest Time: 1:02.8
Average Time: 1:03.3

Session 3 - Vortex Generators (Airtabs®)

I taped four vortex generators in the middle of the rear edge of my roof. Both had the same laptimes. Its hard to quantify the exact effect but comparing the best sector times between the VG run and the non-VG run (session 2) in the constant radius turns (turns 2 and 3), the VG installed car seems have slightly higher average lateral acceleration. My driving in this session with the VGs is also much more consistent. Furthermore, the car felt more stable. Objectively speaking, it could be just because I was more used to the car, but I really think it was the VGs that made the difference. I didn't adjust my driving very much in this run and I drove much cleaner. I will make a separate post about my experiences with the Airtab® vortex generators.

Fastest Time: 1:02.8
Average Time: 1:03

Grant's run

Grant driving my car

Because I missed out on a lot of track time changing my brakes, I asked Grant to do a short stint. I dropped the rear tire pressures about 1.5 lbs. He says he can go faster with a few more laps and even faster with a better driving position. Grant barely fits in my car.
Benchmark time was 0.4 seconds faster today than his last record of 1:01.8. His time was 1:01.46

Session 4

With VGs installed, spoiler at second highest setting (man, I need to number the positions), and rear pressures the same as when grant drove the car, I did a 1:02.1. Woohoo! Personal record. Some of its due to better driving, some of it is due to lower temperatures (should be about 5 degrees lower than my previous record) and some of it is due to the aero mods I put on my car. The tires have been aging each event, but I guess the changes to the car and driving made up for it.

Driving Notes

Even if I dive-bomb into the chicanes, turning in early and hitting the initial right-side apex allows me to bleed off speed and properly later-apex the left side apex. Mimicking grant's driving, I accelerated off of that apex into turn 9, but I have to make sure I am positioned correctly on the far left side of the track in order to make it into turn 9 without coming out too wide. Smooth inputs with steering and throttle are critical in order to not oversteer in turn 9 entry. This is even more applicable because my car is more neutral.

With aero mods, I can get on the gas way earlier than usual; carefully dialing in throttle allows very good acceleration off of turn 9. Trail-braking into turn 1 and 4 works very well also.

Conclusions

I can say with good definiteness that the front and rear aero mods and the Airtabs® had a net positive effect on the performance of the car. Top speed of today was 1.5 miles higher than my past top speed, even with a lot of fuel in the car. Even if I account for the cooler temperatures, this is pretty good. This means that putting down more power with the increased aerodynamic grip on the exit of turn 9 overcame the drag penalties of my splitter. Vmax: 75mph!

Some more pictures from the event. Pictures seem to be of all Mazdas today!

By the way, I attended the 24 hours of Lemons in PBIR as a crew member. I'm still working on the report; stay tuned!

Aerodynamic Modifications to the car

2011-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

The LOHP Miata (AKA Brokecore car) received aero mods this winter. It was a long overdue project that I finally got around commencing. I haven't track tested this yet, but I will make an update on it after my track event this weekend.

So what did I make? I made a splitter and spoiler on my car. I went through two spoiler designs because of aesthetic reasons. Ironically, the uglier one worked better. I still have that one if anyone wants it, but your car will look like the Corellian Corvette from Star Wars.

I tested them on the freeway up to 80mph, which is about 7mph faster than my maximum velocity at my home track. They held up fine. The splitter scrapes every once in a while when I drive around town, and the spoiler flutters a bit around the edges but it won't affect the durability at all.

Here is the picture of the modified car:

Links

Front Splitter build

Rear Spoiler build
Test Results

Laptime improvements will be at the next track report.

Aero Test Results (Splitter, Spoiler)

2011-01-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

Test Results

I got a lot of funny looks that day.

I tested the splitter and spoiler at speeds up to 80mph. The alumalite is known to hold up to 160mph if braced correctly. I am confident that it will hold up to my car's current maximum speed. I noticed my car was a bit lower in the front without the spoiler installed, and there was definitely much more front end grip at speed.

Splitter extends 7" from the R-package lip. Splitter is 4 inches off the ground. Measured about 6" away from the centerline of the splitter at 1.5" behind the leading edge.

Spoiler is 7 inches tall at its longest (vertical) point, and smaller around the center due to the curvature of the trunklid. I measured 3 inches away from the hinge edge right in the middle. The other note was taped up to the center of the rooftop.

Test Tools

I used Grant's differential manometer. This type of manometer simply measures pressure differentials from two different spots. The two nodes were mounted on opposite sides of the splitter, right at the same spot. It is a very useful tool; if you want to do some aero mods I recommend that you get it. Not that expensive. One thing to note is that this is probably best used to compare one readout to another. The results are only going to be good for a ballpark figure.

Results and Test Method

I took 25 samples, ditched the readings from when there were other cars around me, and ditched outliers (there weren't much), and averaged out the results. Temperatures were around 58-61 degrees.

Splitter: It created about 0.165 psi at 70mph, and about 0.222 psi at 80mph.

Spoiler: About 0.120 psi at 70mph, 0.145 psi at 80mph

Analysis

Grant's 5-6" splitter on his SRT-8 made about 0.177 psi at 80mph. His splitter sits 1 inch higher than mine. Splitter height seems to have a very drastic effect on net lift generated.

A very approximate figure, using the entire area of the splitter is 73lbs of negative lift (downforce) at 70mph, and about 93lbs of negative lift at 80mph. The lift generated around the sides are significantly lower than the lift generated in the center, so the figure might be a little bit optimistic. Next time I will measure at more points. I think in reality, I think it will be close to 50lbs of negative lift. That is about 2% increase in traction, overall, ignoring the dynamics of my car, at 70 miles per hour.

The splitter actually curves in, so the effective area of the splitter will be greater than the spoiler, at least in theory. The ends of the splitter are not sealed to the trunklid, the trunklid is curved, and lastly the splitter is only 48" wide. I actually have no idea what kind of downforce levels to expect here. To further complicate things, the airflow at the rooftop might not have been a good representation of the ambient pressure. I'm just going to call it 55% of the splitter and throw out 30lbs of negative lift at 70mph on the splitter.

Significant, but my cornering speeds at my home track is about 35-55mph, so I will have to see how much it will help with my laptimes. There is a real chance that it might not at all, because of the drag penalties of the spoiler I will be running.

Aero Mod: Rear Spoiler

2011-01-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Once again, pictures tell everything. Only thing different is the need of a blind riveting tool.

Things needed:

Long door hinge. Get one as long as the one pictured. $9
10 feet of 1/16" steel cable $1.20
2 Cable crimps $3
8 four hole cabinet corners $5
6 two hole cabinet corners, the same one used on the splitter - $5
3 feet of flat aluminum rod, 1/8" thick. - $8
4'x7" lexan, 0.93" - you may have to buy an entire 48x36" panel. (I have some leftovers for sale) - $60

Total cost: 91 dollars

Same tools needed as the splitter, but you also need a blind riveting tool. I used a swivel head riveting tool from harbor freight; it comes with all necessary rivets.

I don't have to say much about this build; Just find center points for everything and mark them! The tricky part is cutting the lexan and hinge to conform to the trunklid. Take a piece of cardboard and trim it out until it conforms to the trunklid. Find center points for the cardboard, lexan, and the trunklid. When you cut the lexan, the cut won't be perfect so you have to keep trimming and fitting.

To align the spoiler, I measured from leading trunk edge to center, then from lead trunk edge to the ends of the trunk and then drew a straight line between the ends. To find the correct distance from the rear trunk edge to the spoiler, you have to play around with the lexan at different angles to see what works. I ended up about 1.25" away from the rear trunk edge.

Everything on the trunklid gets riveted. Everything on the lexan gets bolted. Two two-hole corners need to be mounted onto the trunklid to snug the cable against; but not through it. Run the wires as I did in the picture.

Also, one side (and only one side, as pictured) of the long hinges need to be cut in 3 to 4 places for it to conform to the trunklid. Aligning it to the curved edge of the bottom of the lexan panel is difficult, but doable using duct tape. After you do the cuts, tape it to the lexan, drill the holes, then bolt it on.

For adjusting, first use the aluminum flat rods to reposition the spoiler through the holes you drill onto the rod, and then reposition the cable on the trunklid to keep the ends of the spoiler braced. Note I only needed two points on the trunklid for the cable to tense against; the flex in the spoiler allows me to use each poitn on the trunk for three different positions on the aluminum rod.

The excess holes are from another design I was experimenting with. Be careful; the steel cable merely rests on the posts on the trunklid and does not get routed through the holes.

Aero Mod: Splitter

2011-01-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Building the front splitter

Material you need:

Cabinet corners x8 - $5 for pack of 20
Aluminum angle iron, 4 feet x1 - $8
Aluminum flat rod, 0.75 inches to an inch wide, 1/8th inch thick, 4 feet long x1 - $8
1/16 steel cable, 4 feet x1 - $0.50
2 cable crimps and 4 wire rope clips, the ones with a nut on them. - $5
5mm bolts long enough to clear the splitter with washers installed, and nylock nuts, and washers x14 - $20
2 bolts, out of the bolts that bolt up the factory undtray to the subframe - $1.50
Alumalite or Alumacorr, 62 inches by 24 inches - $100-120 for a sheet of 4x8' from a local sign store.

Total cost: 148 - 168 dollars.

Tools:

Jigsaw or Reciprating saw
Drill with 1/4 drill bit and another bit that is smaller
Tape measurer
Straight edge
Sharpie or other marker

The splitter is pretty straightforward. Pictures tell a lot of the story so please look at the pictures as you read on. The splitter is mounted at 6 places, with 4 mounts doing the bulk of the work.

Steps

1. Cut the alumalite into appropriate size. It shold be cut to the length of the splitter and the width of the car. The splitter should extend under the bumper.

2. Remove the bumper, and trace out the outline on the alumalite. Mark center points and draw lines. Don't worry about marking the splitter up. You can remove the blue protective film and the marks will be gone. I left 5-6 inches in the centerpoint of where the lip would be, and left that much space all around. Draw the line so it will extend out to the width of the car. A tip is to take a tape measurer and put it against the front of the alumalite straight edge, and measure various spots. You will have to measure and mark horizontally first to make sure you are taking the measurements symmetrically. I marked every 6 inches out from the center point. Use the dots to trace a curve with your hand. Actually, while I drew on both sides, you only need to do it in one half.

3. Cut the splitter leading edge, on one side. Use the cut piece of alumalite (try not to mess it up) to trace and cut the other side. You also have to cut the rear corners out to make a mushroom shaped piece. Make sure it will not rub on your tires at full lock.

3. Find the two holes where the factory undertray mounts to. There are two on the subframe, right in front of the oil pan (might be behind, can't remember) that are in symmetrical locations. Measure from there to about 4 inches into where the splitter would begin. Cut the flat aluminum rod to that length. Drill two holes to the subframe mounting point and the other end down the centerline of the rod.

4. Using the rod as a template, mark the mounting holes on the alumalite and drill through it. The plastic core will gunk up the tip of the drill bit and give you a hard time before it drills through the aluminum sheet on the other side. After you drill through the first sheet and the plastic, clean out the drill bit tip. Be careful not to hurt your hands; unplug the drill when you do that.

5. There are two brackets where the radiator mounts to, that goes vertically. My radiator is repositioned, so it worked. With the stock mounting location, I am not sure if it will work. If it causes a problem, find another place to mount. It should be solid, stiff steel. You only need enough space to fit an open end wrench. Take the aluminum angle iron, use a clean end to press it up against the top of the radiator mount to find vertical and perpendicular. Draw a line, then mark two spots spaced as far apart as feasible and then drill a hole through the spots.

6. At this point, mount the splitter to the subframe using the two aluminum flat rods you drilled earlier. Be sure to use a washer to help distribute loads; the aluminum sheet gets pushed in easily. This should be enough to hold the splitter up where you can work on the other mounting points.

7. Sit in front of the car, and measure how long the angle iron needs to be from the radiator mount to the splitter. I used my knees to hold up the splitter a bit to make sure it is horizontal to the ground. Using the above holes on the radiator mount as a template, drill holes into the aluminum angle on one plane. Mount the angle iron. How you mount it is irellevant, just make sure that both angle irons are mounted the same way.

8. Take four of the cabinet corners and check if a 5mm bolt will go through it; it should be real tight. Some might not fit, if not, try another one. Take the corners and line it up to the angle iron, so that each one reaches outward from the angle iron in a 90 degree angle. Mark holes on the angle iron and the splitter, then drill. Mount using bolts and washers. These are the main braces. Three holes in each angle iron, and four holes total on the splitter. The nuts on the radiator support should be torqued tight.

9. After that, look for tabs where the radiator inlet would be on the bumper. These are steel tabs that are horizontal. Carefully and slowly bend them down, about 100 degrees.

10. Reinstall the bumper. After that, about 1/2 inch behind the leading edge of the splitter, mark two lines 10 inches apart. Take 4 cabinet corners and line them up so that one end of the corner is linear to the airstream (that is front to back). Two corners should be used at each point. Use the corners to mark holes for drilling (4 holes total) and drill. Mount the corners also, using washers, bolts and nuts.

11. Take the steel cable and secure each end to the corners and the tabs. Tighten them real good, and crimp the bottom end and clip the top end. 2 clips for each cable end. Clips go on top because it disturbs less air, and you do need the clips because the cables will eventually stretch with prolonged use and the tabs may bend further. When each of them happen, you need to loosen the clips and tighten the cable some more.

Thats it! You can find edging for the alumalite at home depot or lowe's; they will be good for protecting the splitter when it scrapes, and give a more professional touch. I left mine exposed. Drive very slowly over bumps and go up driveways at an angle!

The most expensive part of the build is the alumalite itself. I had to buy a 4x8' piece. A 4x8 piece should leave you enough material to do an undertray, if you leave the exhaust pipe part exposed.

Decals coming

2011-01-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone.

I just got the equipment to make some weatherproof decals. They will be available for a donation of about 5 dollars. I will take requests for more Hi-Kick Racing decal designs if you have any good ideas! My email can be found in the "About this blog" page listed in the right column of this website.

So far, the decals are as follows:

They are about 4 inches tall and 11 inches wide. The finish is non-gloss. They aren't the best of quality but its best I can do with home equipment. The donation will help cover costs of the equipment I bought, which in turn helps me fund my hobby because I can now make magnetic logos for my contributors. Thank you for reading and thank you for your support! Please email me with any questions.

(note: there is a black border around the first decal as well)

Cheap Phone Mount

2010-12-26T19:38:00.000-08:00

I was at wal-mart and I found this:

Believe it or not, Wal-mart generally chooses products that are decent quality for the price. In business school, we were repeatedly lectured on how strict their selection processes are, and it was a prime example of buyer's power and how far involved in your business they can be.

So this should be a decent piece; however, the size of the suction cup is very small. I am not sure how it will hold up on the track. If someone tries it out, please let me know. I am broke from all the holiday spending so I will not be testing this piece. Furthermore, I already have two good working phone suction mounts.

UPDATE: A local enthusiast told me that the suction cups on these things are too small to provide the stability you want. If you buy this and you are really penny-pinching, I recommend this: Drill two holes on the dash, and loop a zip-tie through it to hold it down on the dash. It is semi-permanent but the lap timer holder will double as a cell phone holder. Another option is to get heavy duty velcro and see if there are any suitable places to mount the holder.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas readers!

My blog readership is growing every month. I truly appreciate all you readers. I enjoy writing on this blog more and more.

I hope your holidays go well! I am currently with the in-laws for Christmas dinner.

Coming soon:

1. Aerodynamics projects and finished items.

2. How to start your own track hobby.

3. Simple fabrication tips - tools of the trade.

Drive safe and see you again soon.

*Above picture is not mine. From www.medgadget.com via google

Strapping In - Spec Racer Ford Documentary

2010-12-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

This is a good video on who, what, when and why of club racing. Specifically spec racer ford. Also, it happens to be my arbitrary goal; I want to be able to afford SRF some years down the line.

Professional Videographer Ryan Boyce did this for his senior project while he was at college. Great footage, sincere dialogue, and good pictures. I like how this video is done from an amatuer (club) racer's perspective. Everyday people like you and me! Anyways, it doesn't get too technical but it does talk about why and how people get into racing.

Ryan's youtube channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BebalonesIC Please check out his other work.

Also, stay tuned: there is a guest entry in the works!

Life, November 2010

2010-11-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

Left to right: Yours truly, and classmates Kevin and Nguyen

On a side note, I got married recently. I still have the family ceremonies to do, and that is planned for after I pass the bar exam. But as of this week, I am a married man! Wow. I did not see that coming. No one else did either. I'm getting the full law school experience; J.D., wife, what else? I can't wait until I see what life has in store for me.

Last weekend, I went to a bar association conference. I also had a job interview. Good results! I found someone to mentor me, and I met a lot of great people. But most importantly, I will be in California this winter working a temp job at a law firm. I am going to do my best and see if that will take me elsewhere! I know this sounds cheap, but seeing Ferraris and McLarens as I drive to my interview really drives me to work harder. I don't plan on living in vanity, and I'll probably never own a Ferrari to drive around, but I do plan on having enough money to raise my family and go wheel to wheel racing.

J.W. Mariott

Wish me luck!

Tuning the RX-7 AFM - Resistor Trick

2010-11-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

A bit of searching on the forums revealed an old but simple and effective to tune the RX-7 AFM. The RX-7 AFM runs too lean, even though it still performs better than the stock AFM. This is especially true for the lower RPM's. It would help to adjust add more fuel at all RPMs. This isn't optimum but a good compromise between simplicity and price. Thanks DVCN for the information. Basically, you will be soldering in a resistor which would adjust the AFM throughout the entire RPM range.

Stuff needed:
1. RX-7 AFM
2. 25ohm resistor (Actually, anything between 20-25ohms) - Less than a few bucks at Radioshack
3. Soldering equipment
4. Sealant (RTV works great)

Air to fuel ratio
I'll do a short write up about what Air-to-fuel ratios are. There is a certain optimum Air-to-fuel ratio in each engine. Theoretically, the most optimum ratio is called "Stoichiometric mixture," which is approximated as 14.7 parts air and 1 part fuel, with numbers representing mass. The AFR is generally expressed in this manner. When someone says "AFR at 15" it means 15 parts air, 1 part fuel. Maximum torque usually occurs a bit under Stoic mixture. According to my co-driver Brian, who is also a mechanical engineer, this is due to the fact that air and fuel does not optimally mix. That is partly why electronic fuel injection is better than carburation, and direct injection is better than regular injection, and why all these different injection methods have been developed. Some of these injection methods attempt to create a condition where maximum torque occurs closer to the Stoic mixture. This makes the car more fuel efficient and more powerful.

Generally, a leaner burn is good for fuel economy because less energy is lost to heat. Slightly richer mixes result in more torque and cooler burn, preventing knock. Air-fuel mixtures are usually measured with an O2 sensor. A wideband O2 sensor is crucial for this kind of tuning, not that you need one to do what I did. Anyways, a 16+ year old miata engine is far from having any sort of fancy injection technology and optimum torque occurs a bit below 13:1.

People adjust this a little bit by adjusting the spring tension of the flapper door in the AFM. Looser spring means more fuel, as the door opens more and the AFM sends a signal to the computer that more air is coming in. Of course, in reality the same amount of air comes in regardless of the flapper door angle, but it does mean that the door opens up a bit more. Usually people tune by adjusting the spring 5-7 clicks looser. I don't know how much AFR is adjusted this way, but I do know that it is less optimum than this trick. Furthermore, the spring method messes with the idle, and you have to take further steps to make the idle behave.

The Resistor Trick
DVCN, who came up with this method of tuning. He found out that adding a resistor to the circuit on the AFM adjusts the mixture. He measured the following on the wideband:

20 ohms: 15's below 2k, 13's in the midrange going to 12.7 at 7000rpms.
25 ohms: Just slightly richer everywhere, going to 12.3:1 at 7000 rpms.
100 ohms: In the 11's at 7k.

I chose to use a 22.5ohm resistor. If you have 50 ohm resistors lyring around, you can run it parallel and you'll get 25 ohms. DVCN stated that 25ohms felt the best. I picked 22.5 because I just wanted the best top end I can get and I thought something richer than 12.7 but leaner than 12.3 would be more ideal for top end. I may be completely wrong on this.

Instructions
Anyways, here are the instructions. I did this with the AFM removed, with good lighting.

First: Open up the black cover on the RX-7 AFM. I used a screwdriver to pry out the cover. Try to be careful not to nick the plastic too much.
Second: Clear the way. The connection you want to work with is the third one from the right, with the AFM's inlet to the right of you. Bend the fourth one out of the way a bit so you can get the soldering equipment in there.

Third: Bend the resistor to the shape you think you will be using. Cut the connection appropriately. Clean the area if there are any visible impurities.

Fourth: Carefully solder the area. You don't need excess lead on the contacts. Make sure it doesn't overflow and touch other contacts.

Fifth: Seal the cover. I gobbed on blue RTV onto the cover edges and then placed it back. I gobbed on some more RTV around the edges afterwards. It will dry to a nice rubbery seal. Finished! Do a test run and see if you like it. I did not have to adjust idle at all; it sits okay at 850-1200 rpms. Funky because my car has power steering and AC removed, yours could be more stable.

Results? Added 1+mph on my maximum speed on my home track. Note that the second fastest speed I recorded were done on cooler temperatures. Between my mods, I accelerated faster than a 1.8l miata with a bone-stock engine.

Sway bar short endlinks

2010-11-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Total Price: 19 dollars.

End link prices are pretty high. I don't really understand why. I guess when the endlink uses exotic-ish lining on the heim joints to reduce noise might get expensive. Some people build from parts they got from McMaster-Carr. Everything I find on McMaster-Carr that I found elsewhere, M-C had the higher price. Of course, McMaster-Carr does sell a huge variety of products in a single catalog that makes it easy for you to browse. Furthermore, their customer service is excellent, and shipping is fast. So if you need high-end rod ends quickly, say for your formula car's pushrod end, it would make sense to go with them. Otherwise, keep searching! Or just go with what I found.

I bought short endlinks from ISC racing before. Good price. I broke that endlink when I crashed into a curb over the summer, so I went on hunting for a replacement one.

QA-1 Racing, the guys who make the springs I have on my car, are also rod end manufacturers. Total cost is 19 dollars for two short endlinks. Check out their website. For the Miata, you want the 10mm right hand thread MCF rod ends, male and female. Two of each. You can get two jam nuts from a local hardware store for about 50 cents. You will have to source the spacers elsewhere though. I just found some spare nuts and threaded the rod end mounting bolts through it. Sure beats spending 70 dollars on a set.

QA-1 has a minimum order of 25 dollars. But if you get both front and back sets it should clear the minimum order. They also have prompt customer service. When I asked for part weights and other specifications, I got a reply the next day with the information I wanted.

My car is really noisy to begin with, so I might not be noticing it, but I didn't notice any additional noise. Tolerances are pretty acceptable to me, measured totally scientifically by taking the rod ends and bolts and moving them around by hand. They also survived use at the local road course, and both me and my co-driver went off course that day.

Link to company: QA-1 Motorsports

RaceChrono - Reasonably priced data logging solution

2010-11-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have been timing my laps and analyzing my driving and car tuning through a GPS data logger. There are so many options out there, ranging from an enthusiast level logger such as the Performance box, to full-fledged expandable professional solutions like the Race-Technology DL-1. Prices range from 400 dollars to many thousands of dollars. Some of these products are very solid and capable. Others are kind of crap. For example, MaxQdata sells a product called "TraQr." It is priced at nearly 300 dollars. As far as I know, the unit is nothing more than an off the shelf GPS logger that is available for much less. In fact, if I recall correctly, the MaxQ unit even looks similar to an off the shelf unit with a different logo on it. And there are those units out there where you can pay a hundred dollars or more than this solution I am about to propose, for simplicity (usually these are standalone units) and a bit of added capability.

My advice is this. Do some research before you plop down cash on any data logger. A lot of research. I wouldn't have found out about this solution if I hadn't done so.

I have been running a 5hz data logger for about a year now. Recently, I switched over to a 10hz logger. Some of the things I can do with this rig are as follows: lap timing, lateral and longitutional acceleration (G-forces), lap comparison with a lap from any session, traveled route. If I spent a bit more money and had an OBD-II car, I can do even more.

So what is the cost of all this? As low as 80 dollars to a maximum of 120 dollars. Yes and it is reliable. Yes it is light weight. Yes, it can be a live timer. Yes, there is a lot of community support. All possible thanks to these guys:

(Image is a link)

Racechrono is a very capable, free, data analysis and lap timer software. It is being constantly updated and best of all, it is free! It supports Windows Mobile and Symbian operating systems on phones. Of course, there is also version for your personal computer. I won't go too much into details, but I have some screen shots on the bottom. You can also read about it on the RaceChrono website.

Items needed
So what do you need for live timing and data logging? There are several different ways to do this, but this is probably the most cost effective way.

1. A Smartphone or a PDA

Samsung Blackjack. Old, but gets the job done.

You need a smartphone that either runs on Windows Mobile 5.0+ or Nokia S60 2d ed.+ with bluetooth support. This part can be really cheap. My first phone for this rig was an old Samsung Blackjack. It cost me 50 dollars for a good condition used phone with several chargers, car chargers, extra battery, and audio output adaptor. Slim, light, got the job done. But If you are going to run the 10hz GPS receiver, I recommend a phone that runs on Symbian. This is because the 10hz receiver seems to have some issues logging at 10hz unless you set the baudrate manually through the Racechrono software, and this trick doesn't work on Windows Mobile phones. I currently run a Nokia 5340. It feels like it works much better with RaceChrono. Having a large, touch screen makes it a lot easier to use in the cockpit. I also recommend a phone with SD card support. I hate using cables to upload data. I used this website to look up phone specifications: Phonescoop

2. GPS Receiver
There are many options out there. I recommend the QSTARZ BT-Q818X for 5hz, and QSTARZ BT-Q818XT for 10hz. This is because these units are cheap and hassle free. Other units need to be set to 5hz through special software on your computer. These units have an external switch that selects the rate (Off-1hz-10hz). The price differences between the X and XT model is very small; just go ahead and get the 10hz model. If not, you have an option of getting other bluetooth receiver-only models (like the ones I mentioned) or getting one that internally logs. There is no point on getting the latter unless you want to manually export the NMEA data and upload it to your device later.

Qstarz BT-Q818XT

Note: when you shop for the receivers, do some research to find out if the update rates are actually what they claim to be. Often times they are 3-4hz units that interpolates internally to 5hz, or it updates at a certain rate but its ability to log it doesn't match the update rate. There may be other issues as well. The units I recommended work just fine.

3. Securing the receiver
I used to use blue painter's tape. I got tired of that so I went out and bought heavy duty velcro from wal-mart. The adhesive is can be very strong, and so is the velcro. One patch at about 22mm diameter is plenty enough to hold it in place. I used two. Minor problem is that the rubber backing on the BT-Q818XT doesn't work with the adhesive. I simply peeled the backing off using my finger nail. Its tough but it will come off.

Setup
1. Download the Racechrono file from the website
2. Download it to your phone. I used my SD card to do this.
3. Run the file using your phone's file explorer application.
4. In the RaceChrono menu, go to Settings -> GPS Receiver -> Baudrate and set the baudrate to 115200.

How to record a track
1. Start a new session. Write your session title, Driver, and then go into the Track option.
2. Select on "Create new" and write a track name.
3. Select "start" on the bottom left.
4. Drive a full lap. Don't forget to do a outlap, warm up, and a cool-down lap!

How to set start/finish line
There are two ways to do this. In-car, and after your laps. Don't do the in-car method. It is stupid and you will get off your line as you lose concentration. After you do your laps, park your car at the pits. Make sure your session is paused: if not, click on "pause" at the bottom. Browse traps -> add new -> start/finish line. Either use the directional buttons or if you have a touch screen, drag the screen left and right. You can zoom in for more accuracy. Hit "OK" at the place you want. If you are doing an autocross walk, you can set start and finish seperately as well.

How to set splits
Follow the same procedure above, except if you already have a track plotted out, you don't have to have the timer running (resume session). Add splits as desired.

Live timing
Very simple, as you start the session just hit "start" or "resume" and then hit "switch to live timer." If your phone has an accelerometer, it will recognize the position of the phone by itself and orient the display landscape or portrait. If not, you can go into the menu and set it up manually.

Overall impression
I really like it. My old 5hz unit would (probably through interpolation) match the Performance box times when I ran them together. The 10hz unit must be even more accurate. The 10hz logger is apparently an actual native 10hz that really logs at that rate. Amazing for the price! The Racechrono software is very capable and very complete; it is just as good as high-end systems are. Furthermore, you can expand it with a bluetooth OBD2 reader and log even more parameters. You can find out how to at the Racechrono website. Racechrono for your PC can import and export data to many different formats, including format that is compatible with Racelogic and other data analysis software. This adds so much versatility to this system. And it is so affordable. If you are a professional team that needs to log shock position at 100hz, have steering and brake position sensors, and need 20hz+ GPS log rate, this unit is obviously not for you. But if you are an enthusiast, club racer, or autocrosser, this system will carry you a long way.

Teaser

Also free, made using 5hz data.

BT-Q818XT can be found at amazon for a good price. Phones can be found on ebay, newegg, etc.

Various photos, screen shots. Last photo courtesey of RaceChrono. Click for bigger picture.

RaceChrono Logo provided by RaceChrono
Samsung Blackjack photo is a Samsung publicity photo.

Gainesville Test Track Day Report - 10/30/10

2010-11-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

My co-driver setting tire pressure before the event

Enjoyable weekend again. I had a co-driver today also, who fortunately didn't flip my car or destroy my transmission. His name is Brian, and I think you'll be seeing him on this forum more often.

Unfortunately, I do not think I will ever achieve Project OLDAZENIS.

I was only able to turn in a time of 1:02.49. No improvement since the last event. This is with me figuring out more parts of the course and benefiting from the added horsepower from the RX-7 AFM and a further 30lbs of weight savings. I had at least wanted to get in the 1:01.XX range, but the course was run in reverse for the second half of the day and I did not get to work on my driving.

But I have some good news. I had put together an endlink for really cheap. It is by far much cheaper than the other endlinks available on the market. It held up fine.

The RX-7 AFM gave me measurable gains. The previous Vmax (maximum velocity anywhere on the track) was at approximitely 72.6 ish, with my benchmark driver Grant driving the car. My previous Vmax is very close, but I believe it was a bit lower. Today, with temps in the low to mid 80's, my new Vmax was 73.6. This is probably partially for the 30lbs ish weight loss from removal of the passenger seat. To offset this influence, I was running almost a full tank of gas when I recorded this. Gasoline is approx 6lbs per gallon.

I also learned to squeeze out some more speed out of the course:
The insides of various have more grip. It might be cambered less. It might also be more abrasive, but I have yet to verify that. I am getting better at feeling out how much grip I have left on the rear wheels, helping me accelerate out of corners.

And finally, my driving continues to improve. I have to be smoother and keep better car control. This is just going to take practice. Every time my rear end slips out a bit I am losing speed. So if I do a very good lap, and then have the back end kick out or the car veer off line a bit, that lap will be wasted. I will keep shooting for consistency. I did have much more fast laps than last time, so my consistency must be improving.

Tire aging and grip
My driving keeps improving on this circuit. Because of this I find it difficult to gauge how fast my tires are wearing, and heat cycling because my driving is changing. My lines are changing, which makes the peak cornering areas different in each corner. Also, compared to my previous sessions, I am spending more time closer to the limit. However, the peak G forces are a bit higher on my old runs. Therefore, I conclude that my driving is getting better, and my tires are losing their grip. That is the only explanation I can come up with to explain the fact that my laptime has not improved, since I am driving better and my car is faster.

Results
Best time: 1:02.5
Temperatures about low 80's.

Changes in the car since last event
Custom RX-7 AFM mod
Passenger seat removed
Rear sway bar completely removed

Effect of removed passenger seat
With the passenger seat removed, the car cornered to the right much faster. Peak Gs are noticeably different, and I can feel it as I am driving also.

Driving improvements
I am being more consistent with my lines and hitting all of the apexes. However, I still come out too wide while entering turn 9. I should be closer to the inside. If I can be smooth consistently going into turn 4, I can hug the inside of the turn instead of being pushed out. No doubt faster. Please check out the videos at the bottom of this post.


My co-driver being chased down by a vintage formula Ford

Link to videos:
Jerry Lee 2nd session
Brian Inacay 2nd session

Link to pictures from this event

Dimitry James Photography

2010-10-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Many years back, when I still lived in San Diego I met this nice gentleman in Qualcomm stadium. He was out there taking photos of the cars out there while they were autocrossing.

Dimitry is from Switzerland. He is often traveling in and out of the U.S. taking photos of cars, and if I recall correctly, pursuing his education as well. He is a very nice guy, very easy to get to know!

I personally really dig his photographs. He always finds interesting backdrops to shoot them at. Here are some samples.

The man himself!

He says his style is shorts and flip-flops. Much like myself. However, as you can tell his style is much more refined than my... "style." Please check out his photoblog!

His website: Dimitry James Photography Blog

S4 RX-7 Air Flow Meter and Adaptor Part 1.

2010-10-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, please remember. Do the projects in my blog at your own risk. If something happens to you, it is your fault. Don't try this unless you agree with the disclaimer at the top of my blog!

Oct 30th is my next track day. The weather is improving and it is a good chance to shoot for my 60 second goal. Unfortunately, my tires are wearing down also. I still need to do everyhing I can to bring down my laptimes. This time, I'm going to take some more drastic measures. I only have a couple of days. Need more power!

Check out my new intake setup. My RX-7 AFM is finally installed. Stock 1.6L airflow meter flows at about 165 CFM. At 7000 rpm, the stock 1.6L motor requires about 178 CFM.* The stock AFM is only good to about 6000 rpms. This is probably the biggest restriction in the intake system. The most cheapest and simplest way to remedy this situation is to go with an RX-7 AFM. If you got the money though, buy a good ECU and go with a MAP setup so you can do away with an AFM altogether. One thing to note: this will work for a stock 1.6L AFM also.

Which Air-Flow Meter?
The AFM out of the Series 4 ("s4") FC RX-7 (1986-1988) is the one you want. This AFM comes off of 13b rotory engines. This unit is compatible with the miata AFM. It is basically the same AFM with different dimensions. All you have to do is calibrate it a bit.

As you can see from the picture, the intake to the AFM is rectangular. It is also bigger than the hole in the stock AFM. Therefore, you cannot use the stock airbox, nor can you simply mount an aftermarket air filter on it. There are many adaptors out there that will work.

Choosing an adaptor
Many web-based vendors well cheap, simple mounting-plate type adaptors as pictured here. You can find these for less than 10 dollars on E-bay, and sometimes on Amazon. The problem with these is that the abrupt round-to-square transition is not very good for airflow. You want air to enter the AFM as laminar and fast as possible. You want the flow to stay attached to the surfaces of the intake tract as long as possible.

These are cast or machined units. Most of them are made from aluminum, but I think a few of them are made of steel or some sort of plastic. HKS, Bonez, Weapon-R are some brand-names that make this and I believe a few users on a Rx-7 forum make and sell this adaptor. Some of these companies used to sell theirs for under 30 dollars in the early 2000's. They are around 50-60 dollars now. Wow, 50 bucks for a mass produced adaptor of this sort? That disqualifies these units from our consideration. Lets make a Hi-Kick version of it. The adaptor I made has the tapered surface and should be plenty strong enough. Furthermore, the adaptor I chose is longer, and because of this the tapering is more gradual. It might even flow better!

Instructions

Okay, we're splitting peas here. The gains you get from having a tapered surface probably is not super-significant. And we're not going racing, where every gram of advantage counts. So why care? Because taper features apparently cost 40-50 more dollars, so we're going to come up with a solution and kick the problem in the head.

There are many ways to do this, but here are the specific parts I used.

1. Spectre Air Sensor Adaptor, Part 8141 or 81413 ($10-13)
2. Sheet of rubber, RTV sealant, or a usable OEM gasket on the AFM. ($5-8)
3. AFM off of a 86-88 RX-7 ($20-50)
4. JB-Stik or other putty-type expoxy that bonds to metal as well as plastic ($5-7)
5.Air Filter - From an S2000 or Honda Prelude. Prelude Part numbers: ($9-20, more in the $10 rage for the Prelude part)

Fram CA6543
Purolator AF4486
Honda 17220-PK2-661

STP CA6543
6. 3" Rubber or silicone coupler (PN: Spectre 8771) ($3-5)

Tools and other stuff you need

1. Dremel with a grinding wheel
2. Sandpaper
3. Drill and 1/4" bit

The Spectre kit can be found on autozone or advance auto parts in the rice section. Everything else is available at your local parts store. The Prelude air filter is half the price of the S2000 filter.

Step 1. Line up the AFM, plastic plate, and the aluminum adaptor. Get the edges of the adaptor to line up with the opening in the inlet side of the AFM. Clamp it down. The holes on the adaptor plate of this particular kit line up perfectly with the AFM's holes. Mark the holes using a permanent marker, and then drill the holes using a 1/4" bit. This way, you have some room to move the items around since the holes are bigger than the holes in the AFM.

Step 2. Take the plastic plate that comes with the Spectre kit, and dremel or file down the opening so it will more closely match the opening on the AFM. Have the plate bolted in, along with the adaptor tube when you do this so it won't shift when you dremel the plastic plate. Resulting shape should be a rectangle with rounded edges.

Step 3. Sand down the plastic surface of the plate and the inner surfaces of the aluminum adaptor, on the areas that you will apply putty to. Wash it off with water and mild soap, rinse, and make sure it is completely dry before going to the next step.
Optional step: Cut off the rubber plug that the Sepctre kit somes with.

Step 4. You can skip the sealant part of this step, but I took RTV and made a ring around the adaptor tubing, taking care to not to use excessive sealant lest it seeped into the surfaces where we are about to put epoxy on.

Optional step: before you start epoxying the entire thing, plug the hole made by the removal of the rubber plug.
Take the adaptor tube and mount it on the plastic plate, and bolt it in as how it would be when the kit is installed. Care to line it up properly. Don't mix up up and down, since the dremelwork will not be perfect. Mix up your epoxy and start filling the area left on the edges of the circle. Do one edge at a time, since you only have 5 minutes or so before the epoxy gets too hard. Be sure to press it in well so it will fill all the crevices and rough surfaces from the sanding.

Follow this diagram that I've attached, but it should be more elongated and gradual. You want a both convex and concave shape for it (I think there is a word for such shapes). Basically, you want the air to follow it up, over, and into the AFM without seperation. Try to get the surface as smooth as possible and the curvature as symmetrical as possible. Try to get the surface of the epoxy as smooth as possible with minimum bumps. Here is how to make sure the surface leading up to the AFM is flat: gob in excessive epoxy, then use a straight edge and press down, using the AFM inlet itself as a brace. Try to get the putty as smooth as possible with the least amount of bumps. It is kind of hard to do with your fingers. Matthew Wilson gave me this tip. Wet your fingertips with water, and it will allow your finger to move over the surface without gripping at it too much. It is also useful when making the edges of the epoxy more filleted. Remember: the smoother it is, the less sanding you will have to do.

Example of bad putty-work ;-)

Step 5. Let it cure for a few hours. Sand the surface of the epoxy with fine grit sandpaper until you are satisfied with the finish.

Step 6. If the gasket in your AFM is toast, use Silicone RTV to seal it properly by tracing the edges on the AFM where it is supposed to seal.

Step 7. Assemble. Self-explanatory. In order to use the Honda OEM filters, you have to use a flexible coupler since both the filter and adaptor opening is solid and inflexible.

Tada! Your adaptor is complete. J-B stik putty is pretty tough and resists vibration, so it should be good for this application. This should flow pretty well, though it might be a bit heavy side (maybe an ounce or two). Now that the adaptor is complete, you can mount any type of filter on it that has a 3" opening. Looks kinda cool doesn't it?

Enjoy!

Dog doesn't care about this new AFM set-up

Next up is an article on how to tweak the RX-7 AFM to run more optimally on your 1.6L engine, and how to mount it on the car.

* Flow data from www.solomiata.com, maintained by www.flyinmiata.com.

Related links: Tuning the RX-7 AFM

A small piece of my achievement.

2010-10-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

A poorly made part of my undergrad university's website, but I guess my face has been on there for a while. Funny thing is that I never took an ME course from there.

SDSU Mechanical Engineering

Pictured are teammates Phillip Weary, Joshua Baker, Tyler Hendricks, Scott Przybylski, Jerome Tuason, and yours truly. (left to right)

Goals goals goals. Project OLD-AZENIS (but not 215 old)

2010-09-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Wow. It has been months since my car has roared in its 1.6 liter rage. I haven't done any of the projects that I said I was going to do. Its gotten a few more rust spots on the surface and I haven't washed it in a long time.

On the other hand, I've been doing better at school. Dean's list baby! My grades still aren't that great but now I can say I'm a dean's list student and am an editor on two journals. Pimp! I still don't feel like I am very good at school. If you hear me talk about this it is usually because I am in disbelief and not because I want to boast about it. Besides, that is like walking around telling everyone that you are a nerd. I haven't changed at all you suckas.

We all need goals. I think my problem with this motorsports hobby is that I haven't had a goal in recent years. I have less drive to do these projects and things just haven't been happening. So tonight, I propose the following goals:

1. Pass the minute mark at Gainesville test track on Falken Old-AZENIS. I'm about 2.5 seconds away. My benchmark driver is a bit less than a second faster. I don't have many more mods to do in the near future.

2. Organize either - a Miata-only track event before I graduate law school OR

Start a graduate school track day club before I graduate from law school.

How will I reach these goals?

The good: My camber settings are always eyeballed. Properly tuning them should solve a lot of problems. Also, I still haven't done my RX-7 MAF swap and air intake fabrication. With these two I think I can get within the target time without an issue.

The bad: I'm going to have to downgrade my front brake pads because I can't afford another set of Hawk blacks. Old-Azenis are discontinued and mine are about 40% worn; I have probably less than 3 events to do this on.

The Ugly: Trying to balance school and time. I will also be having a co-driver next event so that is even less seat time to achieve my goal in.

Short-term project Old Azenis begins here!

Update: E-bay Coilovers and NB Bilstein shocks

2010-09-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

One of the readers, Rod, has sent me an update about installing E-bay coilovers on NB (1999 - 2005) Bilstein shocks. Thank you Rod and I apologize for my super-lag in making these posts!

Rod: I bought the Celica-labeled coilovers from miragepower on Ebay. I had no intent to use the springs from the kit. The kit that arrived contained four 2.5" sleeves, which are the rear sleeves off of the kit Jerry received in this post. I had no plans of using the springs that were provided.

I wanted to run stiffer springs and adjustable spring perches on my 99 Miata which already has NB bilstein HD shocks. The NB Bilstein HD spring perch is contoured to fit a spring so resting a coilover sleeve on them was impossible. Additionally, there is a tab on the shock body that matches a keyway in the spring perch to secure it. This tab prevents a sleeve from resting on the Bilstein circlip.

The NA sleeves do not have a keyway for the tab on the shock body, so tabs were cut off. Once the tabs were off we could see that the "Celica" sleeves are indeed a perfect fit for the Bilsteins and sit properly on the circlip. Turns out I didn't need those NA perches after all!

My setup is 2.5" diameter Eibach Racing Springs, 6" 525lb in front & 7" 325lb in the rear. With the front perches set about halfway up the sleeve they just snug the springs against the top hats. The resultant ride height is 12.75" hub center-to-fender. At the rear I have the perches about 4 threads up from the bottom of the sleeves and the ride height is approximately 13.25". I expect the car to settle and will adjust the perches after a few days.

Unlike Jerry's experience, there is only 1 circlip on the NB Bilstein HD shock. My sleeves are sitting on that circlip. On an NB Miata using NB Bilsteins, there is no need to machine another groove in the shock body. My ride height will be far too low if I use the bottom range of the adjustment.

In the end, I only used a few parts from the eBay kit: the perches, sleeves, the rubber "donuts" between the springs and lower perches, and the washer for the top of the shaft. No need for the set screws, o-rings, or any other parts.

Thanks for your posts, blog, and many helpful emails. I have ended up with exactly the setup I wanted and spent less than $200 rather than $400 for a comparable Ground Control-type kit.

Thank you for the kind words and the contribution Rod!

Link to main E-bay Coilover post with links to related posts

We went up the river and came back one short

2010-09-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sub-title: I love consumer electronics but hate seeing people get "Sucka'd"

My blog really aims to save enthusiasts money by persuading them to try alternate solutions instead of dropping a lot of money on something that can be had for much cheaper. I've stressed before that so many things in the racing and motorsports world are overpriced. A little bit of ingenuity and willingness to experiment can save you a lot of money, which in turn you can spend on more seat time!

Another way of expressing the above sentiment is saying "willingness to risk throwing away your money." If you are familiar with automotive technologies you can really hedge that risk by wasting immense amounts of time doing research. This is really bad especially if you and your parents spend thousands and thousands of dollars (and borrowed dollars) to put yourself through graduate school and you don't pay attention to the oh-so-expensive lecture because you are doing said research.

That is why I love it when I lose something or something gets destroyed. This past weekend I went to the springs to float around on my tube, relax, and toss out a fishing lure from it. It was my feeble attempt to combine a girlfriend activity and my kayak fishing past-time. I decided to take my cell phone with me; I had a habit of doing that in my kayak adventures for emergency situations. I double-bagged it in zip-loc bags.

Well, the bags failed and my phone is toast. It sat in water for a few hours. I dehydrated it and everything, but it doesn't work at all. My phone numbers are gone, but my track data is saved on my hard drive and my memory card. Crap. I have important phone numbers in my phone that I am sure is not on my SIM card. But I do really need a new phone.

I found out that the software I use to log my data now supports cell phone internal accelerometers. And I've found a bunch of low-cost 10hz GPS receiver options, including some dedicated standalone options. Nice! So I guess my phone will have bluetooth and an internal accelerometer. Once I put all this together, I will make a post on how YOU can save money also!

I'd like to make a statement here; when I feature products, I do not plan on mentioning any company names except for the ones of the products I am featuring. For example, with this data-logging post I will not mention companies that re-badge existing receivers and tack on a hefty price, or companies that make comparable pro-grade hardware and software that low-level consumers like us do not need. Whether in the hands of a sucka or a serious professional, those products have their own place in the market and I appreciate any additional market entity because competition breeds better and cheaper products. Plus, I will be in need of a career after one more year; not a good time to be pissing off manufacturers :)

Qstarz releases 10hz GPS receiver

2010-08-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention that I lost my GPS receiver my last track event? After writing my last track report, which was way too long ago, I could not find my GPS receiver. I know I have not made an entry about my super-cheap data logging setup but no doubt some of you already do the same thing I do. I will make a separate entry about it later. Remember, I am committed to saving us poor student enthusiasts as much money as possible.

Anyways, my lost receiver is a Qstarz BT-Q818X. It logged at 5hz; good enough for my needs but 5hz is some really rough timing (interpolates to 1/10ths) and nowhere near enough to do any serious suspension tuning. Not like I will be doing any serious suspension tuning. Turns out that there is a new model out so I would have bought another one anyways!

Apparently this is old news but Qstarz have been listening to this small market where poor racers are too cheap to spend 500+ dollars on a real data logger. Qstarz released a 10hz version of their 818X. It is called the BT-Q818XT. XT for Extreme? Just like my old one, it had an external switch that changes it into 10hz mode, so you won't have to get into its settings. This means that this gadget is completely "plug-and-play." Switch to 10hz (which also turns it on), start your timer/datalogging software, and drive! Take that Pbox!

The battery on my old one lasted over 30 hours on standby mode, and even after a track day I would find it still turned on after a day of forgetting to turn it off.

So, reader, if you are like me and already use a near-free data logging system, then go and buy the new receiver! If you don't and don't know how, go do your research or wait for my post explaining how to use this gadget for data logging. I will be buying this as soon as I get money for next month. About 80 dollars on Amazon.com.

Official product link

Gettin' back to the swing of things.

2010-08-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately this summer I really did not get to do many things on the track. I beat up my car while commuting over these stupid brick roads in downtown Orlando and put on about two thousand miles. Needless to say, the car needs work. Here is a to-do list before school starts

1. Replace headlight lamp

2. Replace valve cover gasket

3. If needed, replace spark plugs

4. Secure front lip (one side is falling off)

5. Complete front air dam, even if it looks ghetto. My original plan was to make a very professional lookin' fiberglass piece. I have all this material sitting around not getting used.

My little cousin is visiting from Korea. My uncle is giving me some money for showing him around, so I may be able to order some stuff needed for me to get going on the air dam project.

Back in Gainesville - What do YOU want in life?

2010-07-31T01:35:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I am back in Gainesville. Although I liked being in the city, I missed my nice house, clean garage, and quiet neighborhood right on top of law school. I had such a fulfilling experience in Orlando. I saved up the money I needed to save up, met judges, attorneys, businesspeople, made new friends, got my kickboxing training on, and most of all gained work experience. The only thing missing is motorsports. I did not get to do any of such! I had originally wanted to rent a kart but life caught up to me and couldn't spare the time or money.

I did read a racing related book: Perry McCarthy's Flat Out, Flat Broke; Formula One The Hard Way. This is an autobiography of Perry McCarthy's racing life. He has a nack of making thing happen and his networking skills were no doubt important in making his career possible. It was a very inspiring book and it fueled my desire to network, so it actually helped me get out there and meet even more people. In my typical do-or-die fashion when it comes to finding jobs, I left my resume everywhere and shook hands with as many people as I could. My father said face time is key in success, and I adhered to it the best I could. We will see what happens as the years go by. A couple of attorneys even asked me to give them a call when it is time for me to graduate!

I know the title sounds grand but what I want in my life in the short term is actually pretty simple. I don't have grand, all-encompassing long term goals. I am constantly thinking about these things, too. It is what fuels my life: If I have something I want I can't stop thinking about it until I get it. A girl, a car, a new pet, a job, you name it. And boy will I get it. If you remember, I wanted a koi fish pond. That dream hasn't changed and my koi fish are doing fine in their 30 gallon plastic tub. When I move them to a pond, I hope they grow to be behemoths.

This time, I am thinking about what car to get when I get my first job. This is what I want in life. My needs are very simple; cheap, seat time, reliable. I've decided to add two more criteria, which shall surface in my writing as you read on. My first car was a Ford Focus that I wrecked several months into driving. I didn't know anything about cars so that doesn't count in what I am about to explain. Subsequently, I've owned a Miata, a truck, two motorcycles, and another Miata. I never owned more than one; the vehicle was my daily driver/rider. My first Miata was a 99 which I drove 2006. Truck was a 90, which I owned in 2008. My first motorcycle was designed in 1986, and my second bike was designed in 89. My current Miata is a 92 and has no air-conditioning, power steering, and has stiff springs and a race seat. Do you see a trend? Although, most of the year I get to drive my girlfriend's car which is quite comfortable.

So I'm sick and tired of driving uncomfortable, old and beat up cars. But I can't bring myself to make the horrible investment of buying a newer car. I've thought about buying a Hyundai Genesis; RWD, 3000 lbs, 200 horsepower and an LSD for 24k! I've thought about buying an E36 M3. Or a used NSX--my friend Walter got me to fall in love with these cars when he showed me his when I was twenty years old. All great, awesome cars. But still, how will I feel when I bend a control arm hitting a curb on the track? How much will it cost? I can't bring myself to drive a nice car like that. Besides, I've really wanted to start taking my girlfriend and the dog on a camping trip somewhere remote; what better than a 4x4 to do that? This is the Josh Neubauer influence.

Besides, nothing really beats karting in terms of experience vs money ratio. My first day on a racing kart was on a KPP (Komer Piston Port, formerly HPV) kart at the old Moran kart circuit. It was an amazing circuit with elevation changes, and I got to do it for 50 minutes. I almost cried. I am not kidding when I say this was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, right up there with when I got 4th place in my MMA tournament. Impressions like that don't go away easily, and in the back of my head I can still smell the strong stench of burnt castor oil and feel the two stroke engine rattling my body. Oh and the sensation of the tires scraping the tarmac. It felt so direct and how can one forget that. If I can find the time to race my kart once or twice a year, it would keep me very happy.

So instead of doing schoolwork, I spent hours researching what SUV to buy. I finally figured out the perfect balance of all the things I need. I wanted a car less than 10 years old for once which has a real audio system and air conditioning. Also, it had to be a real 4x4, that can "go anywhere" as Josh says. A Jeep rubicon might have done it but that is too expensive and gets absolutely horrible gas mileage. I do not understand why that doesn't come in diesel! I've thought of Samurais and Trackers but those are too old.

But I found it; 1999-2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara, the last japanese SUV that is imported to America that is was properly designed to go off-road. I really don't need that much in creature comforts and with a locker and a set of appropriate tires, this little SUV should "go anywhere" including work and grocery stores. I'll probably get a winch, portable tools, some lights and a roof rack to turn my urban attack vehicle into a capable camp-mobile. Plus, it will have no problem hauling my kart trailer, even if I load two karts on it.

Okay, enough ranting. So I can make these dreams come true, I am in the process of trying out for a journal in law school. Having been on an academic journal really boosts your resume. I've been procrastinating a bit but I am going back to writing this case-comment for the write-on competition. I've been working on this paper all week.

All of these things will come true and please keep track of me as I make this happen!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes I am going to continue developing my Miata.

Photo Credits: Photo 1: owned by Josh Neubauer in one of his 4 wheeling trips; I'm actually not even in the picture nor was I there for the trip. Photo 2: my very first day on a racing kart at Moran Raceway. This may sound cheesey but it was absolutely the drive of my LIFE. Photo 3: 2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara. Photo 4: A lucky photo of me proving that I actually used to race a kart. For a hilariously short period of time. I will be back though! Yes that is me.

Gainesville Test Track Day Report - 6/12/10 - From soft to stiff, compliant to responsive

2010-07-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am new-york bound this weekend to see my girlfriend and my dear friend Nick. I can't remember how many times I have been to New York City, but no more touristy stuff. Just food, old friends, and girlfriend is enough. I was sitting at the airport pissed-off at delays and bad Jetblue customer service. I thought this was a perfect time to get some work done, look at my track data, and write my report. So here goes!
Some mixed feelings with this track day. First and foremost, the e-bay coilovers held up fine. Nothing broken and although I have not taken measurements yet, the ride height looks the same. I event went off the asphalt this day and it survived it just fine. I think the perches and sleeves work well although how it will do with 100+ mph incidents remains to be seen.

Conditions
It got very hot starting from very early in the morning. 80's throughout the morning and 90's past 11AM. In car temps must have been over 105 when the car wasn't moving. Very humid also. It reminded me of when I was living in Thailand.

Changes from my last event
Tire pressures: 36 front, 32 rear, later changed to 31 and 37.
Random eyebaleld toe-out settings
Max front camber (probably 2.5+ degrees)
Front ride height: 5"
Rear ride height: 5.5"
No corner balancing
(alignment and ride height set with 180lbs ballast in driver's seat)

Mobile 1 GL4 synthetic transmission fluid
Mobile 1 5w30 oil (I used to run 0w30)

Session 1
I immediately notice how much the car likes to oversteer. The oversteer hurt speed everywhere. The car would turn-in at much faster speeds but would not stay stable. On corner exit it punished me every time I got on the throttle. This session I managed to put two wheels off coming out of turn three. I spun out another time after turn-in at turn one. Not enough rear grip. Embarrased, I cut the session short and came back into the paddock area. I detached the rear sway bar and went right back out.

Session 1.5
Much better. The car was drivable again and I started adapting to the newly set-up car. The biggest thing I noticed was that the car was harder to drive. Not only was it faster in all of the corners and was more responsive, it was much less forgiving. I knew this would happen but experiencing it firsthand was something. By less forgiving, I mean that the envelope of "optimal" is a lot narrower. It felt like the tires had a smaller range of acceptable slip angle. I can't quite wrap my head around it but I hypothesize that the added grip is from a better contact patch resulting from better camber control, and the edginess is from decreased tire compliance from the higher spring rate. This session was spent trying to get used to the thinner performance envelopes. Tough! Even though I do not think I was driving as well as my later sessions, I logged my best time this session of 1:02.5 due to optimal temperatures.

Session 2
I am figuring out some new lines with the car's setup. The drive out of turn 3 completely depends on how smooth you were throughout turn 2. As hypothesized earlier, turns 5-6 became a double apex corner with this better handling setup. Fast time 1:02.7. I am starting to get more consistent. I am no doubt just driving better than I did last time.

I took a bit of a break after the third session to cool off and hydrate. I brought my awning. Thank goodness. Shade helps so much. Plus, it makes you instantly more popular on the track. I did get to meet some new people that day, but I was able to stay focused. I'm really a pretty social guy, but usually at the track I try and force myself to be a track loner so I can concentrate on driving.

Session 3
Last session, I spotted another Miata on track and I followed him a couple of laps. The car had more body roll than mine but it was definately not stock. I was curious on how it drove. The owner was a nice man named Mike. I offered Mike a drive in my car in exchange of the same in his. Some people get selfish about their tires and car. Not me; it was always beneficial to gather more data about different cars and different setup, especially if you have some way to log your data. Plus, if you are dealing with a better driver, you can learn a lot about how your car can be driven also. To my relief, Mike wasn't selfish either.

Mike's Miata is the same 1.6L Miata, with some sort of handling package installed. I had originally thought the car oversteered too much from watching him drive. However, I was pleasantly surprised. First, the power steering was nice. It made steering the car a lot more pleasant to drive, albeit at the expense of steering feedback. Second, due to the lower spring rates, the chassis and suspension reacted slower as wheels go through their travel motions. This gives you much more time to figure out what the car is doing and anticipate what is about to happen and react timely. The car did not oversteer and it was very neutral. It was comparable to my FM spring setup.

This car had front and rear sway bars. I think running adjustable front and rear bars with lower spring rates is really the answer, instead of eliminating the rear bar and running higher spring rates like most Miata guys do. My car is in the latter camp. It is hard to tell from data if that is better or not since my car's exhaust and lighter flywheel makes it accelerate faster, so I will have to wait to drive Mike's car again to use my butt-data-logger.

Session 4 and 5
I am beginning to experiment with different lines going into the turn 7-9 complex. This time I am entering the corner much faster; the new setup allows me to shift the weight of the car around and make the left turn right at the geometrical apex. I still can't figure out if coming in fast and barely making the lines is faster, or if coming in slow acellerating earlier is faster in this section. Data says coming in slower is 0.1 seconds faster than when I dive-bomb it. Unfortunately, in this session someone had kicked up dirt right after that apex so I could never tell if it were faster. It seems that I am losing 1-2 mph worth of acceleration from hitting the dirt.

On session 4 I went off-course. I think I almost flipped my car coming out of turn 3. At one of the laps, I had a very good drive out of turn 3. I was not used to all the speed and got two wheels off the track, maybe three. I flew back on, sliding. I thought to myself, "I might just flip this car in a few moments" as I was correcting the oversteer, thinking that I was going to end up in the grass on the other side at a bad angle. I didn't. The ebay sleeve/perches survived that. I think I must have been doing 50 mph at the time.

Conclusion
I was kind of disappointed because my lap times kind of sucked. This is partly because of the hot weather. Still, I felt that I learned a lot more than I usually do from this track day. Maybe that is why I have a much longer entry. Stiff cars are faster but harder to drive. I felt that in my bones today. Being smooth pays off, and you should experiment with different lines and always use real data to make judgments on which is faster.

Notes on fitness
I am a pretty fit guy. I have stamina stacked up somewhere from my fight training days, and I still excercise a lot despite school. This summer, I have had two jobs and I barely get to train. So basically my fitness levels have dropped. I found myself taking longer breaks. I found the heat from the sun, firewall, transmission tunnel distracting quite a bit. This bothers me; I want to develop a mental toughness and get back into shape so that I can drive hard. Just like fighting, I think practicing hard driving under adverse, fatigued conditions is what makes you faster when you are not tired.

Air temperature
Fastest time 1:02.5. Only 0.2 seconds faster than my previous record. I think this shows how much impact air temperature has on laptimes. Data says I probably would have gone a full second and a bit more faster if the air temps were the same. 2% faster in all the corners, and the better handling balance allowed me to get a much better drive out of the corner. My rudimentary math shows that on this track, temperatures of 10 degrees differences nets about a second difference. Of course, if it gets really cold I think grip levels change also so the curve is probably not flat.

I am on my plane now. It has been an annoying and agitating night with multiple delays. Getting yanked around here and there. I kept getting told that it was weather, but when I pressed the issue I discovered it was due to maintenance. This poor girl in front of me swapped tickets just like I did for another faster flight; except she believed the weather excuse and paid 40 dollars to do so. Turns out that staffing the second flight was contingent on the first flight. Wow! Airline staff could have figured out. Basically, this girl gave Jetblue 40 dollars so she can be late anyways. Caveat Emptor! Experience definitely counts in the airline business. Delta, while as ghetto as Jetblue, runs its flights much smoother. I don't understand why I keep flying Jetblue, it is really not worth the 30 dollar savings over Delta.

This is a picture of me and my friend Josh Neubauer in Grand Central Station. Josh has a Toyota 4x4 that he uses to do rock crawling; his truck has been featured in off-road magazines. Josh currently is a cake specialist at Culinary Institute (the school Anthony Bourdain went to). It was very nice to see him again. Maybe we'll do an entry about off roading sometime! Josh has made all sorts of cakes from Jeep wheel and tire to a Chinese dragon. He still owes me a Miata cake, but hopefully it will be a Formula Ford cake or something cooler by the time he gets around to it!

Note: Sorry, my report is over a month late. With the multiple jobs that I have been working I simply could not find the time to do this. Plus, I have been kickboxing-crazy. Every spare moment I had I spent at the gym. I am getting better and better, training with very good fighters. Every day something is bruised and I'm trying very hard not to fall asleep at work. I usually fail. Please forgive me, the head coach is a legendary former world champion! You wouldn't pass up this opportunity either. Back-dated on July 16th, post made on around July 9th

Track day report pending

2010-06-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I am writing this post to let you know that I haven't forgotten about my track day report from my recent June event. I have finished typing it, I am just waiting until I can get home and upload a video. Unfortunately I don't have much footage because my camera mounting location was off (washed out video) and my digital camera broken. I am returning the camera for a new one and I still have a footage of me driving someones car. The entry was delayed because of my trip to New York and my busy work schedule. I will replace this post with the entry once I make it.

Photo by Josh Neubauer @ Red Bull Air Races

Slight change in plans..

2010-06-07T00:28:00.000-07:00

I have some big changes in my life that is coming up. Therefore, I have to prioritize my time and money. I will not be able to work on my aero projects for a while. Have no fear, the changes that are coming up are good changes. I will make a post about it someday.

I gathered some useful bits about setting ride heights while I was wrenching on my car the other night. This is useful especially if you run E-bay coilovers. I hope it saves you some time.

On a side note, I finally got my first A in law school. In fact, I got three of them this semester. What a weird feeling. I went from being on the bottom third of my class to the top third. I feel all elite, and I can be one of those bastards complaining about a B and how I'm ENTITLED to an A. I hope I keep this up.. please wish me luck!

"Sea of cones" by Stephen Chiang

2010-06-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Sea of Cones : A Documentary About Autocross from Stephen Chiang on Vimeo.

Check out this great video on what autocross is all about. Most of these people are my old friends when I was in San Diego. Great video! I hope this motivates you to go to Autocross!

Falken Azenis RT-615k Review

2010-05-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

First of all, I would like to introduce a new contributor. My dear friend Chris Cullen. Chris showed up at Southern California's autocross scenery a few years back and surprised everybody by how fast he was at his first try. He was the champion in SK2 (street tire stock class) in 2007. He has also competed with the LAKC club in the TAG karts. If I remember correctly, Chris was in top three in the competitive TAG field at his first race. He has won many of the races there and consistently places top.

Chris has very good car control as well, and is very comfortable being on the edge of traction. Because of his heightened sense of driving feel, he is especially suited to do driving impression reviews. Please welcome Chris Cullen. Here is his first entry!

Chris: So, on May 2nd, 2010, I drove at Streets of Willow Springs in Rosamond, CA. The weather was warm, about 83 degrees ferenheit, with low humidity and somewhat strong winds. I don't think the winds played too much a part in having an advantageous tailwind going down the straighaways. I acheived a 1.36:684 lap time on the CW configuration. The car is a 1992 Mazda Miata with light modifications consisting of Bilstein HD shocks, a larger front sway bar, and a spec miata exhaust. I also run a roll bar.

The tires were: Falken Azenis RT-615K, 195/60/14

The tires have good turn-in qualities, and in transitions too. They started to get greasy after about 6 hard laps on them, but that could have been a result of my overdriving. They seemed to have pretty good braking abilities, and I only locked-up the tires a couple of times the whole day. Overall lateral grip is better then the existing RT-615s. The lap was about 2.2 seconds faster than my last visit to the track. I can't say the improvement because of the tires alone. The track was made faster, the weather was 30 degrees cooler, and I now have the Bilsteins installed too. I used to have leaking stock shocks. I estimate that about one second was a result of the tires.

Jerry's notes: The new Azenis RT-615k looks exactly the same as the old RT-615, and I read that it has the same construction. The only difference is the compound. That is what I read.

Photo credits: Chris' photo was taken by his father I believe. Owned by Christopher Cullen
Tire photo is a falken tire stock photo, cropped.

Going faster with Gerardo Bonilla: a very anticipated interview!

2010-05-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

So I got to work early when theoffice is empty like every new extern should. I was groggy and like everyoneelse going to work, not exactly looking forward to it. Well, maybe not everyone else, as you will see here. I still do enjoymy job. I open my inbox and there was an email regarding something that I wasnearly forgetting about. It was Gerardo Bonilla, the professional race cardriver. I was very excited, and went on to spend some time reading the interview instead of working. He had emailed me very late at night from god-knows-where at some hotelroom. As you will see from this interview, professional drivers at Gerardo Bonilla'slevel are very busy people. What a guy! Mind you, my readership isn't anythinglike a magazine or anything so I really appreciate that he did this interview.

I talk about this interview in thispost: Upcoming Interview!

To recap, Gerardo Bonilla is a pastIMSA Lites, Star Mazda, and Skip Barber champion. He has been with theBP-Mazda's LMP2 entry in 2008, and recently drove an LMPC car at Long Beach. Recently he has driven in the Rolex 24 hour race and is a coach for the US Formula 2000 series.Personally, he stuck me as someone sincere, professional, and well-spoken. Youwill also notice he is a good writer!

I would like to thank those of youat TrackHQ.com, Miata.net for helping me prepare questions, and my friendChris Yang for giving me guidance on what to ask.

This interview was prepared inearly 2010, so some of the recent events such as his LMPC seat are not accountedfor. I hope you enjoy reading this and feel free to discuss through comments on this post.

Interview May 19th 2010

Hi-kick Racing: Please tell us a briefly about your personal background; perhaps about your home in Puerto Rico, your upbringing, etc.
Bonilla: I had a very normal upbringing. I was born in Puerto Rico, but our family moved to the States shortly thereafter. Although I am stronger at speaking English than Spanish, I love my Puerto Rican heritage, especially the music and food! I enjoyed my big wheel as a kid, then biking, and absolutely loved go-karts, despite rarely getting to drive them. I was into music early on, playing piano from the 3rd grade for a few years, then the trombone starting in the 6th grade.

Hi-kick Racing: For you, it is probably hard to call racing just a hobby. Do you have any hobbies?
Bonilla: Music performance is a huge hobby for me. I play the trombone for churches and the occasional concert. In 2008 and 2009 I played in a broadway style concert at Epcot to help raise money for an arts charity. I also enjoy photography, computers, financial markets, and live theatre.

Hi-kick Racing: I heard your car caught fire late 2009 season! Tell us about it, and how did it feel?
Bonilla: It was my scariest moment in racing. Somehow, the cockpit floor filled with fuel during the pace lap of a 1-hour vintage race at Sebring. On the first lap of the race, the fuel found a spark and exploded in my face. I could not see anything other than bright red flames. The heat was instantly trying to penetrate the weak points in the safety gear, such as under the helmet, into the gloves, etc. I could not breathe or see, but got out in about eight seconds. Those eight seconds felt like thirty! In that moment I wasn’t sure if I’d get to live a normal life ever again, but once I was out, I was just so happy that I wear all my safety gear so religiously!

Hi-kick Racing: Most of us have repetitive days that get boring. What about you? Tell us about your typical day.
Bonilla: A typical day for me is either at my home office or at the racetrack. At home I am either studying to complete a bachelors degree I started in 1993, stopped mid-way for an eleven-year break, then returned in 2009. Any of you who work and go to school at the same time know what that’s like! I also spend a lot of time managing my driver and coaching business doing many of the same things a self-employed person does, from booking travel, booking clients, phone calls, emails, inputting expenses for taxes, and more. This year I started an online coaching program that can be done from my home office. I always include a little time for family life. At the track, I do a lot more coaching than driving these days, so a typical day as a coach follows the practice schedule. I’ll brief the drivers, observe practice, then things get really busy during debriefs with data, video, and further discussion. It’s usually not boring, but there are tradeoffs to this lifestyle.

Hi-kick Racing: Do you think about racing when you are "off-season?"
Bonilla: Absolutely! Off-season only applies to the actual races. My job is very busy in the winter, especially when working on securing a drive for the following year. But there is a fair amount of testing and racing schools that keep me busy as a coach. Studying in real school insures I’m always busy regardless of how much racing work I do.

Hi-kick Racing: You probably travel a lot as a professional driver. Including these places and places you traveled for pleasure, what was your favorite place?
Bonilla: My favorite place is any place I can bring my girlfriend along. Besides that, Puerto Rico has a profound effect on me, as does New York City, which is somewhat like visiting a different planet.

Hi-kick Racing: Thank you. Now could I ask you some questions about your racing career?

Hi-kick Racing: How did you know that this was what you wanted to do?
Bonilla: Knowing I wanted to be a race driver was not an instant decision. It was gradual over a period of years. I knew I would like to be a driver, but to actually decide you want to be one, I had to be convinced it made sense. When I got my first paycheck coaching, I knew I could make a business of it, and that’s when it really took off. I sacrificed everything to race full-time. It worked, up to a point. You don’t measure success in dollars earned like normal careers.

Hi-kick Racing: Have you ever questioned yourself since then?
Bonilla: I’ve questioned what I do hundreds of times, but the answer has always been the same. Once the answer changes, I’ll do something else.

Hi-kick Racing: What was your favorite moment in your career?
Bonilla: Favorite moment? That’s hard! Winning the Skip Barber National in 2005 was very special. Winning the first Star Mazda race in 2006 was very special. The moment I was told I would drive the Lola Mazda LMP2 car in 2008 was VERY special!

Hi-kick Racing: Would you tell us your worst?
Bonilla: Crashing the Lola Mazda at Road Atlanta during the morning warmup before the race in 2008, taking our team out of the race. It makes you stronger, but it was the low point of my career.

Hi-kick Racing: What was your greatest asset in financially advancing your racing career? (Note: I mistyped financially.. embarrassing!)
Bonilla: Not sure exactly “finically”, if you meant finally or financially. Either way, the greatest asset was people. Networking, helping, and getting to know great people made the biggest difference. It’s a lot like starting a new business.

Hi-kick Racing: Any tips for aspiring drivers?
Bonilla: Go to college. Any degree is good, but a business degree is a good move. Very few professional drivers are pure drivers earning a nice income for life on driving alone. If you want to race for a long time, you must learn to make it a real business. You can learn about business in school and perhaps non-traditional education like internships or mentoring. Other than that, be prepared to make great sacrifices to make yourself fast and prepared. Be around racing as much as you can. Say “thank you” a lot! Be a good person to others, no matter what.

Hi-kick Racing: How much of your talent do you think you were born with, and how much of it do you feel that you have developed?
Bonilla: I was born with a halfway decent brain that enjoys processing enormous amounts of information. I was born with very good eyes, ears, and a small enough body to fit in the cars I love. But learning to make the car go fast, I thank my instructors at Skip Barber and elsewhere for teaching me.

Hi-kick Racing: A little bit about racing and the mental aspect of it

Hi-kick Racing: In Kickboxing, whatever happens in the ring is "your fault." For example, a ref might not see an opponent’s dirty techniques. You might take a low blow and become demoralized. In the end, shit happens and that is just the way it is. I feel like racing is very similar to kickboxing in that aspect. How does this effect you? Is it ever demoralizing?
Bonilla: In racing, it’s a little different. Only about half of what happens is your fault. We categorize it into “Things within your control” and “Things outside your control.” In racing, there are thousands of things that happen outside your control, from the car breaking, to a driver taking you out, the weather, or an official penalizing you on a judgment call. You learn early to blow off the stuff outside your control so there is minimal demoralization. If you can learn to focus on what is within your control, your performance will improve significantly.

Hi-kick Racing: Do pro drivers have a lot of driving secrets?
Bonilla: Yes, but they also love to tell you how fast they are, so if you ask the right way, you can learn a lot of their secrets. They will only hold back the really good information that cost them a lot of time and money to obtain.

Hi-kick Racing: What do you do to get ready before a race day?
Bonilla: Simulation software like iRacing, regular exercise (running, biking, weights), eating proper foods, lots of sleep, studying video and data from previous events, discussions with engineers, drivers and coaches, and lots and lots of laughing! A positive attitude is extremely important.

Hi-kick Racing: What do you eat for breakfast on the day of? Throughout the day?
Bonilla: Breakfast varies with what’s available, but I like to get some eggs, wheat toast, plain oatmeal, fresh fruit, and quality cereals. Throughout the day I keep things mixed up. No fried or fatty foods, but I’ll eat pasta, chicken, rice, beans, potatoes, assorted green veggies, fish, salads, really most anything, even a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich! If it’s close to a race, I might just eat spaghetti and fresh fruit. Plenty of water, of course.

Hi-kick Racing: Professional drivers seem to be able to keep their cool no matter what is going on around them. How do you keep your calm and focus?
Bonilla: Keeping calm and focus is a matter of training and experience. Unfamiliarity makes you nervous, so the more you have prepared for a race and the more years of experience you have overall, the calmer you remain. There are other methods. Proper sleep and food is critical. Having an association keyword to remind yourself of a past performance that went especially well is also effective. Having a coach is also helpful to keep your mind in a good place.

Hi-kick Racing: Do you do any fitness training? If so, I’m curious on what you do and what you feel best helps a driver.
Bonilla: There are many opinions about this. I keep things simple; running, biking, weights, flexibility. I’ve also added yoga recently, to keep my balance and core strength strong. The important thing in my opinion is that you do something regularly! Playing other sports helps too. I’m also a big fan of stretching and flexibility, although not everyone agrees with me. Stamina and heat resistance are also very important.

Hi-kick Racing: I noticed you provide coaching services, and it is a hugely curious topic among enthusiasts.

Hi-kick Racing: Professional athletes, for example, in football golf, or baseball, often receive coaching. In the professional level, how do you feel coaching effects a driver's improvement? What about at the youth and amateur level?
Bonilla: Coaching is effective for all levels, from beginner to pro. A professional driver simply cannot consider all the possibilities and options for improvement. Pride makes us blind to many areas of improvement. An unbiased coach will make you aware of things you would never have considered. They are worth their weight in gold. If I could afford one, I would have a coach every single time I drive professionally. At the youth and amateur level, a good coach adjusts his or her feedback for the level and personality of the driver.

Hi-kick Racing: Do you think car control at a high level is something that can be taught?
Bonilla: Yes, absolutely yes. The difference between drivers is how long it will take them to learn, and the ultimate level of achievement (some are not capable of processing the data for the highest degrees of difficulty). Driver and coach must both have patience and unrelenting desire (and funding!) for the driver to reach his or her goals.

Hi-kick Racing: Now onto the "serious" topic. Racing technique.

Hi-kick Racing: I heard drivers breaking down corners differently. How do you break down yours?
Bonilla: In simple terms, braking, entry, apex, exit, throttle. There is some overlap on those terms. Within those terms, I consider what is happening with the driver, with the track, and with the car as separate influencers that could be causing problems and require corrections.

Hi-kick Racing: You once told me and other amateur drivers in a course walk that you focus on the slowest part of a corner, and when you get to that point you minimize the time you spend on it. Could you please elaborate on it?
Bonilla: It’s important to determine where the slowest part of the corner is so you can base your entry and exit around it. It’s not necessarily to minimize the time you spend on it, but to spend all the time before and after it at faster speeds. In a perfect world, there is one ideal best possible exit speed. That helps you to find the slowest point of the corner, then you can arrange your braking and entry to bring you to this point, for overall efficiency.

Hi-kick Racing: How did you develop this method?
Bonilla: My brain is always thinking about efficiency. I enjoy thinking about what the tires are doing every second in the corner, so I just wanted to understand what to do in simpler terms for my own benefit, and for the benefit of those I coach. It occurred to me drivers waste a lot of time mid-corner at the same exact speed until they accelerate. The math of a driving line has one point that is sharpest, or tightest, so why not think of that as the slowest part of the corner? I didn’t think of this until I had a lot of experience in a Skip Barber car. I reached a point where I was so relaxed in the car I could think completely outside the cockpit, and “watch” myself from above as I drove the car, making changes to what I do, thinking about what the tires are doing.

Hi-kick Racing: We would like to know about your lifestyle. A lifestyle of a professional driver.

Hi-kick Racing: What do you do outside racing that balances your life?
Bonilla: Family, school, hobbies, eating and sleeping. There’s not much time for anything else, but that’s okay.

Hi-kick Racing: If a child, spouse, or parent sincerely asked you to hang up your driving shoes, would you?
Bonilla: I would first ask them if they are sure. If yes, then I would stop. Racing is nothing compared to family. Some drivers would say otherwise, but that’s fine. I am completely at peace with this.

Hi-kick Racing: Do you get a lot of speeding tickets?
Bonilla: When I first got my license, I got a few! But, the longer I was racing, the more relaxed and mellow I became on the street. The tickets dropped way down, thankfully! There’s just no point in going fast on the street. Do it at the track, where it’s much safer. Street cars are like tin foil compared to race cars.

Hi-kick Racing: Do regular sports cars do anything for you? (I'm talking about cars like a Porsche Boxter, Miata, etc.)
Bonilla: Oh yes! I’m a huge Miata fan, and still autocross it when time allows. A regular car has to be very lightweight to get my attention. Sadly, manufacturers have built heavier and heavier cars over the years. But as fuel economy becomes more important, I’m starting to see some cars start to get lighter again. For now, I love the Mazda Miata, Porsche Cayman, and Acura NSX. Those three are very special cars for the road. There are lots of other great cars, of course, but the light ones win in my book.

Bonilla: I am sorry I took such a long time to reply! I had fun writing it! It’s just hard to set aside time when work, school, and family all want my time. Thanks again, Gerardo.

Wegreatly appreciate your time Gerardo, thank you so much for taking the time todo this! I think we are all your fans now! I wish you the most success in your career.

Please check out his website by clicking on the banner below. Be sure to check out the coaching section!

Photo caption and credits (Order, from top)

1. Photo of Gerardo Bonilla - photo by Craig Anderson of Mishael Abott's team in Formula Atlantic.

2. In a pro Formula Mazda (Star Mazda) in Montreal, 2006. Note F1 cars to his left. A rough day for Bonilla and many other FM drivers. Story here.

3. Bonilla wins in Sebring, 2006. Bonilla lists Sebring as a track that is very special to him. Photo by Eric McCombs.

4. Bonilla coaching Conor Daly, 2009 Anderson Racing driver.

5. Bonilla at an autograph booth as a B-K motorsports driver (BP-Mazda LMP2) in Sebring, 2009. Photo by Chuck Miller from Mazda.

Minor updates about E-bay coilover kits

2010-05-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

In order to get the ride height I wanted, I had to have a new groove machined 50mm below the lowest groove to lower to spring perch. 6 inch springs would have worked, but I was slightly concerned with coil bind, especially if I upgrade the tophats for more travel someday.

One thing to note is that the spring perch is now very close to hitting the upper control arm. It is the inboard side that is very close to hitting the control arm. However, you can get it right up there and it won't hit it along the range of motion. If I remember correctly, at full gravity droop it was not hitting. Good enough for me!

If you live in north-central Florida, I highly recommend Stuart's Cycle to do this kind of job. They have decent machine shop equipment and are very prompt. In fact, when I took them in they were getting ready for a race that weekend. The owner told me he'll get it done in two hours, and it was done a bit before two hours. They are a motorcycle shop so they probably won't do any serious machine work on your engine, but I am sure they will take on whatever job they are reasonably able to do.

Truth about the E-bay Coilovers

2010-05-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you've been following the discussions on the Miata Ebay Coilovers you will know that they used to be about 30 dollars. If you've gone shopping for these coilovers you'll know now that they are over 70 dollars after shipping. And if you've ever looked around in ebay beyond just a cursory look, you'll notice that there are the same "ebay-style" coilovers for other cars, listed for cheaper. If you are like a lot of people, it will have crossed your mind that maybe these coilover kits are all the same. And maybe you thought you didn't want to take a risk and spend the money on kits that might not fit your vehicle.

In this hobby, its always good to experiment and explore. That I did! I have some good news. From what I can see, the various coilover kits are identical. I ordered a set of Celica labeled kits after reading from a truck forum that their inner diameter is 2 inches. From what I've found, Celica, Accord and Civic ones are listed the cheapest. Please note, there are different coilover kits on Ebay. It is picture and vendor dependent, not car model listed dependent. You can check on various car forums too. One thing is for sure though, the Celica ones are the same size as the Miata ones.

Why would they label them differently? Well, as you may already have guessed, people probably aren't going to spend money on universal kits. Especially if they were already skeptical about the low price. People who are "car guys" as opposed to "track junkies" or racers really care a lot about their cars and want to buy only what is best for them. Kind of like spending a lot of money for gourmet cat food. Plus, it allows them to price discriminate beautifully. Perfect example of this at work is our Miata situation. We started picking up these kits fast, so the Miata labeled ones sell for over 30% more. Actually, they aren't even labeled. The listing title is the only difference.

Dimensions (Sleeve, perch, and locking ring):
Length - Front 130mm, Rear 80mm
Inner Diameter: 50.5mm
Weight: Front 330g Rear 245g (approx)

Truth 1 - Material
These coilovers are claimed to have been made from the same materials as most other kits. T6 series aluminum.

Truth 2 - Threads and Machining

The machining is decent. Threads on the sleeve are pretty clean. The only part where the machining was scrappy are the holes on the bottom of the sleeves for threading in small screws to secure the sleeves. By the way, I don't think these screws and holes need to be used. This was my main area of concern; are the threads on the shock body well made? See for yourself. Good enough for me.

Truth 3 - Fitment
If you have any 50mm diamater shock, it will fit very nicely. There is a slight amount of play, probably resulting from the approx 0.5-0.8mm difference. If it worries you so much, put a piece of paper in there. The supplied O-rings will probably work just fine with smaller shocks.

Installation steps
First, remove the C-clip from the top groove of the shock. Just spread out the ends with a pair of small screwdrivers, and then carefully slide it off the shock. Then pull out the hardware for the bumpstop/accordion shaft guard assembly. That way, you can take off the Bilstein spring perch, which is sitting on the lower C-clip on the bottom groove. Put your threaded sleeve on this groove. If this worries you, leave the spring perch and put the sleeve on top of this. You'll lose out a little bit of range though. You should be fine with it sitting on the C-clip. You will have to cut off the bit of the sleeve that is exposed over the end of the shock, or else you'll lose out in that much suspension travel. Oh precious suspension travel. Better cut that off. Just use a hacksaw.

Thats it! If you have 50mm shocks, no adaptors, rings or anything of that sort needed. If you have an AFCO, Ground Control, Bilstein, or Koni kit that you will be willing to ship to me, please let me know. I would love to do a visual comparison of these kits.

Spring lengths

If you use the setup above, you need to use 6" springs. The more expensive springs are your only option. I took my shocks to a local motorcycle shop and had them machine a groove 50mm below the lower groove, and I was able to use 7" QA1 springs to get the ride height desired.

Here is a list of updates related to the E-bay coilover setup

Rod's update: NB Bilstein HD and Ebay Coilovers

Minor Updates (machining grooves to get correct ride height on 94 R package shocks)

Choosing a coilover setup

Technical Difficulties

2010-05-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

So just as I was about to take finals this morning, my computer stopped working. Its only been two years since I bought it. Whats up with electronics nowadays not lasting that long? It caused a bit of trouble for me during the day today.

I am pretty sure something on my video card is wrong. It will display on my roommates LCD moniter via VGA cable, but it nothing on my laptop's display. I am also certain it has to do with overheating.

I was going to make an update because I found a cheap source for coilovers. Yes, the "ebay-coilovers." Old news? Well, check the price. Nowadays they are 70-100 dollars after shipping, might as well buy AFCO pieces or go with your shock manufacturer's specific threaded sleeve and perch kit. The Koni ones are pretty cheap, and the Bilstein kits run about 200 for all four corners.

Well, I'm going to take apart my laptop and try and fix it. I have a lot of racing data I recorded and I never made a backup of it. I also have a lot of digital copies of race engineering books and articles that I never backed up. Great! I may not be able to make any updates for a while.

Good news is I am done with finals and now I am a third year law student! I have about a week of break and work starts middle of this month. O-town, here I come!

Threaded sleeve and perch kit options (AKA Coilovers)

2010-05-03T00:51:00.000-07:00

I am upping my suspension rates again. My new setup will probably be too hard for my Bilsteins, but one day I'll be getting the revalved for even higher spring rates. An intergal part of my project is the ability to adjust ride height and use standardized spring sizes in my suspension. Threaded sleeve and perch is what I need.

Ground Control sleeve/perchs used to be the most popular kits. A lot of people don't know all the choices out there. Talk to any dirt oval guys and they'll tell you a lot of cheap, high quality options. If it is good for these guys you know it is good for us. I haven't bought any of these kits so I can't do a review on them, but I'd like to list these so we'll know that they exist. Oh, and also, coilover kit is much easier to type than threaded sleeve/perch kit, so I will just refer to them as coilover kits from now.

1. Bilstein/Koni kits
Bilstein and Koni both make coilover kits for their shocks. Bilstein shocks for Miata are 50mm in diameter. Bilstein makes kites one for a smaller, 36 milimeter diameter shock and one that is 50mm. Bilstein coilover kit takes 2.5" springs. I believe the Koni sport shocks are 42mm in diameter. Koni makes a kit thats 42mm and 50mm. You can probably use the 50mm Koni kit for the bilstein shocks. Bilstein kits are slightly cheaper so there is actually no reason to do that. Too bad Koni shocks for miata aren't 50mm? I think their RACE shocks are monotube and might be 50mm. If you have a set of these shocks please let me know what the diameter is and I will update this post.

Part numbers for 50mm and 42mm kits
Bilstein: BSN-B4BOA0000117
Koni: 80-0000-1

2. AFCO Kit
AFCO has different series shocks. The ones we should be looking at are AFCO smooth-body shocks. I believe oval guys use these shocks a lot. Anyways, I have to apologize, I found out which series shocks are at the size closest to the Miata applications. If you do some google research and find out, please let me know. AFCO makes threaded sleeves for all their smooth body shocks. The thing to do would be to get the sleeve thats very close but bigger than your shock body outer diameter, and make a sort of centering ring. Rubber o-rings, PVC pipe, etc are all options. These are cheaper than the Bilstein/Koni kits, and the sleeve material is steel. They sell each part of the kit seperately, so if you drive an NA you can probably save money by ordering just the sleeve, perch, and whatever else you need to secure the perch.

3. Mystery Ebay kit
If you go on any car forum, these kits are in hot debate right now. A lot of skepticism and optimism about them floating around. These are under 100 dollars and are by far the cheapest option. If you've noticed "economy" is a big theme in this blog. So guess which one I picked? I am going to make a seperate post goimg into detail behind the truth of these kits, so please check back!

3.5 Ebay-OBX kit
OBX, who have made sort of a brand name for themselves through their sales of decently priced medium qualify exhaust hardware and misc. parts, have started making coilever kits. As i will explain later, I can't imagine these kits being substantially higher quality than the other ones.

Note on materials
All of these kits and the Ground Control kits are made from T6 series aluminum, with the exception of the sleeve part of the AFCO kits. They are all machined. I can't imagine any other way to make them.

Life update

2010-04-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would make an update on my life. Finals are right around the corner, so I haven't been able to make posts. Nothing new in my track hobby. There is a local autocross on the 18th but that is only a week from my first final, so I will not be attending that one. I've had a bit more luck looking for summer jobs; I may be staying in Florida over the summer.

Recently I attended a local Kickboxing bout event as an exhibition fighter. It went okay, a bit rough here and there but me and my partner got our match. If you go to the University of Florida or Santa Fe Community College, please come check us out! Video of round 2. But if you want to watch both of the rounds, check out my Youtube channel.

And I did finally secure a summer job. Externship at a government office. O-town, Fla here I come! I hope I'll be able to participate in some autocross races while I am there. Thank you for everyone who wished me good luck!

I need to get back to studying for finals. I keep researching how to do fiberglass work instead of studying.

Aerodynamics: Summer project

2010-04-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

Aerodynamics Project

I've been reading "Race Car Aerodynamics" by Prof. Joseph Katz. A thing about Dr. Katz; he is a professor at the San Diego State University. He was a professor while I was at the FSAE program also. Sadly he did not participate in the project. However, he is the authority on race car aerodynamics. Very detailed book, goes into how to test and collect data, how to do CFD simulations, wind tunnel testing, as well as calculating values needed. Of couse, it has a very comprehensive overview of aerodynamics in general and how it effects cars. And a basic section on how it has been applied in car technology. Alas this isn't a book review. I really recommend people to read books on whatever topics they are interested in. Speaking of which, please recommend me any low-priced books on composite fabrication.

This summer I am going to try and make a fiberglass air dam, ABS front undertray, front splitter, vortex generators, rear undertray and rear spoiler. I will probably get to only a couple of these projects.

Explanation of Aerodynamic Concepts

Drag

Let me explain what happens as you push the car through air, for those readers who never thought about aerodynamics. Its not all that much important when we are in the entry-level of this track hobby. I will be using extreme laymen's terms so you techy readers, please forgive me.

As air flows over a surface, it tends to stick to the surface. Air particles stuck on the surface pull other air with it, slowing them down. The layer of air that is slowed down in relation to the ambient air velocity is called the boundary layer. This friction contributes to total drag in the form of skin drag.

Airflow likes to follow surfaces. Take any streamlined shape. Flow re-attaches in the end part of the shape, because airflow likes to follow surfaces. Wings are an example of such shape.

Lets take a shape of the side mirrors. As airflow splits along the front half, the abrupt edge of the surface separates the airflow. As air tries to converge, it goes into a turbulent state and a slight "vacuum" state will exist as the airflow caves in to fill the void left by the mirror. This creates a negative pressure area, which pulls on the mirror that is trying to move forward. This area can be very long behind a moving vehicle. The airflow created by such vehicles are called wake flow. This is the most major contributor to drag. The drag created by this is called form drag. This sort of drag exists behind your canopy, mirrors, behind your car, doorknobs, and any other part of the car sticking out into the airstream.

Lift and Downforce

Following Brunelli's principle, an increase in fluid velocity is accompanied by a decrease in pressure. Lets go back to the wing example. As the airflow's cross section gets "flattened" by the curvature of the airfoil, it is forced to go faster. The same reason water from a garden hose moves faster when you put your thumb on it. As this travels faster, it creates negative pressure on the top of the wing. This is what creates lift.

The airflow over the car is generally faster because it is more streamlined. In contrast, airflow under the car is slow because it has to deal with all the junk hanging out of the bottom. Airflow is slowed down. There is less pressure above the car and more pressure below the car. Result is net positive lift. Your tires stick better when there are more forces pushing the ground and the tire together. All you have for this at this point is your cars weight. The positive lift will decrease the force of the car's weight, resulting in less traction.

Race-car applications

My goal, and everyone else's goal is to reduce the positive lift in the car. This is achieved by reducing the pressure differential as much as possible. If you can accelerate the air under the car faster than the air over it, then you can even achieve net negative lift, also known as downforce. This is why you see race cars with smooth undertrays and side skirts. Not just for looks.

A more effective way to reduce net lift and add downforce is to add an inverted wing in the areas it is needed. A wing can create much more downforce than what you can do under your car.

My goals for this project is to reduce lift and drag. I will do this by accelerating airflow under my car and promoting smooth airflow over the car.

Upcoming projects

Fiberglass air dam

The fiberglass air dam helps divert air upwards over the car, and less air under the car. This reduces the effects of the bottom of the car has on airflow. It also works in conjunction with an air splitter to create downforce, but for that explanation please read the section on air splitter.

My design will be very simple. Flat, vertical air dam. The major design consideration is probably going to be bracing it properly, so it will not flex much and won't damage more than the air dam itself when you go off track.

Vortex Generator

Simple vortex generator to keep boundary layer attached to the rear roof and deck. The air's momentum is what separates the airflow. Vortex generators twirls the airflow into a vortice. This dissipates the momentum of the airflow, allowing it to stay attached longer. You can see vortice generators in airplane control surfaces, race car undertrays, etc. The Mitsubishi Evolution has them in the rear part of the canopy. My vortex generators will look like that.

As far as the design of the generator itself, I used published, public information to come up with a design. The design consideration will be figuring out how to optimize the positions of the generators and how far they need to be apart.

Splitter

Whenever air hits your car, there is a pressure zone created. This canbe any place on the car where air "piles up" The most major pressurezone is probably the nose of the car. When air hits the front of a car,there is a stagnation point where the air velocity reaches zero. This air pressure exerts forces in all directions. The splitter is necessary to utilize the downward force of the pressure zone, and also traps more air in the area. The air dam promotes this effect.

Another function of the splitter is to "split" the airflow and create cleaner air going under your car.

It will probably be made out of foam sandwich fiberglass. It will be adjustable slightly, but I will have to figure out how to properly bolt it in to the undertray without shattering it.

Front Undertray

Its going to be a simple, mushroom shaped piece of plastic that bolts onto the bottom of the car. I just need to make sure its strong enough not to flutter on the track and break itself off, and make my splitter work with the undertray.

Final Note

As usual, my projects will be as low-cost as possible and easy to follow. Well, I hope they are usually easy to follow. Please correct me if anything I said here is wrong!

Photos

Porsche GT3 in wind tunnel - speedhunters.com

Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier vortex generator

Mitsubishi Evo vortex generator

Ford Fusion Sprint Cup Car front air dam and splitter - K&N Filters website
RE-Amemiya front splitter and canard assembly

Gainesville Test Track Day Repost - 03/27/10 - Importance of Data Logging

2010-03-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

I call the Gainesville Track a test track, but I think its official name is "Gainesville Road Course." Road Course to distinguish it from the more famous drag strip.

Yesterday was supposed to be my girlfriend's first track day, but one of her legal assignment due dates was recently announced to be during the track session. So I went by myself.

Track conditions: No rain. Min 44 Max 77 Fahrenheit. Not much dust or rubber on track (Glad not a lot of people run R-comps here)

I love the morning silence before the first car goes out. This particular morning I arrived at the track to find the gates closed. And I saw a bunch of cop cars on part of the course. Uh-oh. Is the event canceled? A white GTI pulled up behind me driven by a kid in his mid-teens with his father next to him. Cool! When I was sixteen, I never even dreamed of going on track. In fact, driving was something very foreign to me. I think its very good that he is getting track experience at an early age. Lucky to have such a cool father.

My worries proved me wrong and people arrived to open up the gates. I always arrive nice and early to the track. I used to spend this time to socialize with other drivers and make new friends, but in the past year I decided to spend that time by myself. Driving is not a team activity, and I believe that pre-session times are best spent alone. Now I spend that hour or two before the driver's meeting focusing on what I am going to be working on that day. This time I was going to work on hitting all of my apexes, looking ahead and learning the new setup.

I mounted a camera to my right fender to see how close I get to the track edge. Turns out this isn't needed since I should be getting right onto the edge of the track and hanging off a part of my right wheel. Thats when I knew I was getting close enough. Sorry track owners for wearing out the tarmac edge.

First session out. It took me this whole session to get used to the grip levels. Car understeers a bit less, but the on throttle oversteer is gone. I would still like the car to handle a bit more edgy. This is because my low horsepower and my viscous LSD (which by the way, is like not having one) isn't able to overcome the increased rear traction. With more front end grip I should be able to balance the grip levels and drive a more edgy and faster car.

Second session out. I'm used to the grip levels. In this session the temperatures were probably 50 degrees. I did my fastest lap in this session, even though I was no doubt driving better in the later sessions. Still missing apexes on the right side. Fastest time of the day, no doubt because of the air temperatures. I forgot to do a cool down lap and my brakes were smoking! Always remember to do a cool down lap. Fast time is 1:02.7

Third session out. Figured out points of the track I'm leaving time on and added more throttle in those sections. I'm consistently hitting my apexes. Fast time is 1:02.9. Here is a video.

Fourth session out. Grant drives it for a 6 lap stint, sets benchmark time. Had trouble turning the streering wheel because his knees touched the steering wheel. His fast time is 1:01.8, consistently.

I'm glad Grant is there to drive my car. Someone at the track askedme "he must be a really good friend that you let him burn you tiresup." But to me setting a goal is much more important than tires. Trackdays are not competitive and this is the only way I can push myself toget better.

Fifth session out. I got caught up into doing a fast lap and forgot what I was supposed to be working on. Missed some apexes but I'm consistently going over the curbs I want to go over, driving on the edge of the road when I want to. Discovered that going over the outer curb setting up for turn 5-6 unsettles the car and results in oversteer.

Importance of Datalogging
I went home and watched the video-overlay. I've found that watching these videos is different than looking at my GPS log. Something about seeing my speed and accelleration with an actual visual of the track makes things click. Seeing how much past a certain visual reference mark on the track helps me rememember the sensations and the car behavior that I cannot see from the data. For example, trun 2 and 3 are the same radius, but turn 3 is more off-camber. Why am I going a few mph slower in the first one? I figured out while driving on the course that I can go full throttle in turn 2 entry, but it took me looking at the overlay to realize I should be getting on the gas much sooner.

This time I failed to record Grant's stint in my datalogger, so I compared the P-box data of our prospective runs.
As usual, he is braking much harder for a full half a second shorter in the major braking zones of turn 1 and turn 4. I can't brake that hard yet. Another thing I could not ascertain without datalogging.

Car changes since last event
-Spec miata exhaust installed
-Front ride height increased to 13"
-Bilstein 1994 R-package shocks installed
-New RT-615 tires
-205mm wide tires on 15x7 wheels
-Track width increased by 16mm

Car Handling
-Still some understeer
-Less on-throttle oversteer

Setup Notes
-More front camber needed
-Ascertain affect of higher front ride height and lower front ride height at the same camber levels
-Ascertain whether or not it is faster to let the V-LSD do the work, or just wait a bit to get on the gas. Hypothesis is that accelerating early enough to have a couple of seconds of inside wheel spin until the LSD kicks in is faster, since it doesn't result in any oversteer and scrub off speed.

Conclusion

This event, I felt like I extracted much more out of the track; found some more of the hidden speeds. I think from now on its going to be all about consistency, smoothness, and car setup. I understood the importance of looking ahead couple of corners much more. I hope all of these things move over into my driving when at other circuits.

Last Minute Ride Height Adjustment - using Coil Spring Spacer

2010-03-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

I did this Friday, a day before my track event. Track day report will be posted soon!

You may remember from my previous entries that my left front tire is rubbing when given a good amount of steering input. A little bit of rubbing is fine, but I was rubbing pretty bad in right hand turns. I found out that the outside edge was rubbing on the fender, when I mounted my camera on the fender. Before, I tried sticking my hand out with the camera but the angle wasn't right. Don't try that at home!

I spent a few hours rolling and pulling my fender with a PVC pipe. I didn't have much time because I was trying to solve my problem a couple of days before the track day. My car already kind of looks like crap so I didn't mind my bad fender pulling job. It wasn't going to work. Time to raise the ride height. But Doh! I don't have an adjustable spring perch.

I went to Advance Auto Parts and picked up a coil spring spacer. These spacers are supposed to fit between the coils of a spring and effectively remove that spring. I wasn't going to do that, but place it on the bottom or top spring perch. I sliced them in half, cut them down to the appropriate circumference (if you forgot everything you learned in middle school like I do sometimes, that is Pi*2r). I drilled holes into them to secure the ring with zip ties.

Installation procedures: 1. Remove shock shaft nut on top of the suspension 2. disconnect sway bars (to save time, jack up the entire front end and disconnect on both ends so re-installation will be easier) 3. pry the upper control arm down 4. move spring up and slip in spacer on the bottom shock perch. 5. secure zip tie. You will need three limbs to do the last three steps, so a friend can help a lot.

They don't sit flush on the perch. Make sure the holes are drilled far inside so they don't rip, and that you tighten the pretty well. But not so that the zip tie will fail. On testing, the tires stopped rubbing at mild speeds, and didn't slip off. They held up fine at the track day as well. I don't recommend this though, but it sure beats getting a ring machined for 50 bucks. Do this at your own risk!

Final ride height: Front 13" Rear 13" (front was raised about 0.5 inches)

Roll Bar Camera Mount - Don't be a Sucka!

2010-03-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

In preparation of my track event, I decided to make a roll-bar mount. If you've ever shopped for roll bar mounts, you know how expensive they can be. They can range from 30 to 85 dollars. Last year, I played around with an idea for a hobbyist level motorsports video service business. The idea got nowhere and I really cannot say I know anything, but I did realize camera mounts have a very high profit margin. For example, I am currently looking at a brand-name collar mount for a small, lipstick camera on a vendor's website. Price is about 70 dollars (!) The collar can be bought at McMaster-Carr or your local Grainger store, and the swivel mount can be found online. Even at consumer prices, the two components can be ordered individually for less than half the list price of this particular mount. So, I encourage you to try and be resourceful. Many products out there are merely a combination of off-the-shelf parts with a crazy markup.

Some of the more expensive stuff allow a bit more flexibility in the angles than the instant design. However, when mounting things on a tube you should keep in mind that the mounting surface itself is a pivot axis means. Therefore, you only need one other axis to do cover almost all angles. For most of us, we only need an angle that shows some of the interior and the track outside the windshield. I am no exception. Additionally, if I wanted to run another camera at an angle that the roll bar mount cannot do, I can run my lipstick-type camera with my suction mount. Regardless, any shortcomings of this design is overcome by the sheer simplicity of this mount and more importantly, by its low cost.

Things you need
#5 Conduit Hanger - (a.k.a. pipe hanger, pipe clamp)
Targus 6" Table-Top Tripod
M4x.70x16 machine screw
Optional but recommended:
Small piece of pipe insulation or strips of rubber (1 inch thick donut)
Two small rubber/neoprene washers

First, unscrew the sigle screw on the bottom of the swivel where the tripod legs meet. Two plates and a small o-ring will pop out, along with all of the legs. Save these items.
Optional step: Remove the adjustment bolt and nut in your clamp and paint it to your favorite color. It will see heavy use so I recommend using something really tough like rustoleum black primer. I painted mine red for that ricer look.

Second, screw in the clamp to the swivel using M4 screw and the plates. You can toss the o-ring and not use any rubber washers, but I used them in hopes of some vibration isolation. Loc-tite is an option, but to keep the screw in place while being subject to heavy vibration, I recommend using the o-ring and neoprene washers. Although the bulk of the vibration absorption should happen at the clamp, I think the use of these rubber parts may even help improve picture quality.

Here is the order I used: Swivel | O-ring | Plate | Neoprane Washer | Clamp | Neoprane Washer | Screw head

This order made the most sense to me. But whatever you do, keep the o-ring. It compresses as you tighten the screw, which makes the operation of the tightening knob which you use to secure the swivel much easier.

Third, install the roll bar mount. For a more complete product, you could glue in rubber strips to the inside of the clamp. I am just going to cut a piece of pipe insulation and mount the mount over it. NOTE: I will upload a picture of the roll bar mount installed shortly.

Simple! Best part is all of this only costs $12 after tax.

Credit: I did an internet search to find this design. It is not my idea; I'd like to credit user "tabasco" from r3vlimited.com forums for this idea. I almost always ask permission to post any information or picture regardless of existing copyright, but this time I haven't. Also, thanks Matt for setting my head straight..

PS: Bonilla interview is still pending, confirmed by him!

Update: I recommend using a better ball head/pan head. This ball head is a bit too particular. The ball head housing is made of aluminum, and the screw is made of steel. So if you tighten it too much, it will strip. If it is too loose, the ball head doesn't secure itself. Keep this in mind when tightening the screw so you will not strip the threads of the housing! I recommend using another ball head.

Here are some recommendations: Walk-mart sells the Targus Digital Camera Accessory kit which includes a similar tabletop tripod, camera pouch, camera cleaning kit and LCD protectors for ten dollars.. The tripod isn't as high quality as this one, but the ball head looks more solid. I haven't tried it yet. Or you can just buy a good one from your local camera supply store.

Also, I recommend using rubber for the mount's vibration isolators. The pipe insulation is not grippy enough.

St. Patrick's day post

2010-03-18T08:25:00.001-07:00

A day late I know. Chris Cullen linked me this video last year, and he had a funny idea to post it for St. Patty's day. Warning: harsh language

Spring Break

2010-03-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

So I was in California for the past week. I had two purposes. First was to get a bit of vacation time. But most of my trip I was thinking about a job interview at a small but successful law firm. My Formula SAE teammate Jerome, who had done a bit of work for them hooked it up. Thanks Jerome! As non-engineers at FSAE, we used to do a lot of work together. Sitting there in the conference room during the interview with Jerome reminded me of those times at SAE. Jerome is a co-owner of Autodolce, specialty performance parts company. They have a line of premium brands for European, American and other import cars.

I learned a lot about the firm's practice; trial lawyering straight out of a movie. The office is located right on the waterline in Southern California. Beautiful. The firm focused on automotive litigation as plaintiffs against large auto manufacturers. The lead attorney, who basically does everything in the firm, is a car enthusiast and does track days regularly. His company is renting button willow for the six people who work there. Very cool! He said he is going to be hiring pro drivers to coach the group. Anyways, I did not get a job offer but I was told to contact them at the end of the school year; so lets keep the fingers crossed. I did learn a lot about the field though.

I took my girlfriend to indoor karting for her first time out. I hadn't been to Miramar Speed Circuit since mid 2008. They changed the course layout. I was about half a second behind the fastest guy in my session, who worked there. I could see where I was missing out on speed; and sadly, I couldn't clean up those parts because I literally needed more kart control to tidy up my lines. Sliding around the seat didn't help either. Need more seat time.

Good news is that my girlfriend, on her first time out was only a second behind me. She was fast enough that she gave me somewhat of a race through a couple of sections! I know a lot of that is her light weight but someone on their first time out is usually over four seconds slower than me per lap. I'm going to have her drive with me in my next track day, as soon as I solve my tire rubbing problem.

I also got to have dinner with my friend Matt Wilson. Matt is a brilliant engineering senior at UC Irvine. He is well on his way to MIT. He is the guy in the background of my hobby who have done modeling and simulations for me when there were ambiguities I needed to resolve. For instance, he ran a simulation and figured out my seat mount is barely aequate in side impact situations. The holes deform too much. It was very nice to see him.

Thanks to my friends that came with me and all the friends that I got to see again. Special thanks to Gary, Grace, Jarrod, James for their hospitality.

Upcoming interview! (and an update on my life)

2010-02-27T22:54:00.000-08:00

Gerardo Bonilla has graciously agreed to an e-mail interview! I got to speak to Mr. Bonilla at my first Florida autocross. He and Matt Ferratusco led the novice walk which I attended. It is the best novice walk I've been on. I think the Martin Sports Car Club is very fortunate to have such talent in the club.

For those of you that don't know Mr. Bonilla, he has recently driven in the 24 hours of Rolex with Gotham Competition entry. He also drove in ALMS with B-K Motorsports in the BP Mazda entry. He has had more experience and success in IMSA lites, Speed World Challenge, Formula Mazda, and more.
Please check out his website! www.gerardobonilla.com

He is from Puerto Rico and currently resides in Orlando, Florida. In person Mr. Bonilla is equally impressionable; well-spoken and with a very sharp eye. When I met him he looked very well composed despite the freezing temperatures.

Thank you for those of you in the Miata.net website and my friends with ideas on which interview questions to ask.

Nothing much has been happening in my life. I've sent out even more job applications with no luck. I finished one of my business law classes recently, so I should have slightly more time to make updates. I am beginning to think about a non-legal career; maybe even temporarily until the legal market improves. I do really want to get experience practicing law even though eventually I may pursue another career.

(first picture) Bob Heathcote BobHeathcote@bobheathcote.com NASCAR, Indy, F1 and more racing news www.autoracing1.com

(second picture) Eric Morse Racing www.ericmorseracing.com Please check out Morse's racing career on his website.

R-package Bilstein Shocks

2010-02-26T13:16:00.000-08:00

I'll keep this post very short. Here are some things I have discovered.

Shock spring perch height
As listed in the FatCatMotorsports webpage, the R-package Bilstein shocks are a bit shorter than the stock shocks. However, I have also discovered that the spring perches are slightly lower by about 5 millimeters. This will lower my car even more. Unfortunately, as I was in a hurry at the time I did not take measurements. I have a photo somewhere but the camera I used is my roommate's, and he is not home right now. Note for next time; if there is any information I want to obtain and keep, get it no matter what!

Tire clearance
And with old Flyin' Miata springs, R-package Bilsteins, 205mm wide tires, 15x7 wheels and 40mm offset the inside of the left-front tire rubs against the headlight wiring. I've moved this up a little bit using zip ties but it is still rubbing. It is also possible that something else is rubbing. If anyone has experience with these dimensions and save me some time, please let me know.

Track day report.. NOT

2010-02-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

It was Friday. A day for festivities and unwinding. The streets of Gainesville come alive with activity. You cannot go to all the places in town and you'll never grow bored of this lively city. There is always something to do around the clock.

Okay, maybe not.. select areas of University Avenue come alive. There are less than ten places to go enjoy nightlife. Its not much. Have you seen Devil's Advocate? The place where Kevin Lomax parties it up with his hot wife in the beginning basically sums up Gainesville, but even that makes it look better than it really is. In Gainesville, you go to the same damn bars you go every time. And if you happen to be a law student, you go with the same people so you can run into even more people you see every single day at school. Oh, and most dudes just wear a shirt and a pair of shorts. Maybe a baseball cap, or if you are extra hip, realtree camo hunting cap. Yep, that is Gainesville alright.

But still, its was Friday. Girls still dress pretty and who ever gets bored of pretty girls right? That is off-limits for me though, although I would much rather take my girl out for drinks than do what I did on Friday. Sure, it may be the same place every time, but it grows on you a little bit and it sure beats my Friday evening.

After spending a few hours to get my tires mounted, I spent all day doing schoolwork which obviously sucks. At night, I started to install my Bilstein shocks on my car for the track day the next day (today). Straightforward install with cut factory bumpstops. I did the rear ones then moved up front. Busted out the pitman puller and went to work..

And proceeded to mess up the upper ball joint threads. The puller was not aligned properly and destroyed some of the threads on the ball joint it was supposed to push out. I tried forcing the threads back in with a bunch of different nuts with no avail. I tried cutting the ruined part off for a temporary fix with no luck. Well, I was SOL.

Also, one of the studs on my fron right hub finally gave in. It seemed already partly damaged. The lug nut cross-threaded against the stud as I was turning it out. This wouldn't have stopped me from doing the track day though; I could have bought new studs at the store before the event. Too bad my ball joint is destroyed, huh? I need to replace the entire upper control arm because they don't come separately.

I did go watch the last thirty minutes or so of the event however. A fried of mine was driving his 4500lbs, 410hp Dodge around the track instead of his race car. The guy who sets up the events makes an exception to the standing policy and credits my entry fee to the next event. The old formula Ford that shows up and breaks each time is acutally working and putting in laps this time. Shit happens, but things aren't too bad. I'll just wait another month for the next event and do an autocross instead.

So.. new shopping list:
Replacement stud and some spares
RF upper control arm and castle nut

By the way, Discount Tire Direct has an 80 dollar rebate special for Falken Azenis RT615s. I know they are old and slow, but I got my 205/50/15s for 300 dollars mounted. Can't beat that.

Autocross lessons - 1/10/10 MSCC Autocross report

2010-01-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

I got up early in the morning and drove down to Lake County. I thought I was going to freeze to death. Streams next to the freeway were frozen solid. I moved from San Diego to Florida for this. Awesome.

I signed up for STS because no one else was in my class. I never got to be that fast to begin with and I had forgotten everything about autocross in the two years I did not participate. I was never that fast because it took me such a long time to isolate the skills I need. But when I did improve, I was placing higher at each event and eventually got to the point where I was at the about 50% of PAX, on all-season tires.

Photo by Kevin "Kabel41" more cool photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabelphoto.

This autocross event felt very good. Not in terms of competition (I placed pretty low) but in terms of development. It put me right where I left off. And I picked up a few new things. Here they are:

Before your runs

1. Walk the course as much as possible. (4-5 times is usually not enough for me)

2. Walk the course alone

3. While walking the course, really make an effort to visualize it at speed. Pick out the tricky spots.

4. Try to isolate the few point on the course that is the biggest hindrance to speed. For sloths like you and me this is where you can gain the most speed. Get this and you'll consistently place somewhere higher every event.

5. Get serious.

During your runs

1. Look ahead MORE. you can never look ahead enough.

2. No matter how short the course is, note braking points on the course

3. Attack slaloms. You can save some time in them.

These are the things I was working on when I stopped autocrossing and some more I learned that day. I figured it out during one of my later runs.

I also got a great piece of advice from a pro driver that was there that day. I will make a separate post about this later.

Koi fish

2010-01-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

I bought three cheap 5 dollar koi last night. They are about 3 inches long. I got a 10 gallon tank to keep them with.This is a motorsports blog, and why am I talking about koi fish?

Koi fish are one of the ten long-living creatures commonly referred to in far east cultures. These guys can live anywhere from twenty to fourty years. They are basically nicely colored carp. As we all know, they are kept for their very cool coloration.

Actually, I've always wanted turtles but pet stores can't sell them here. But I've always wanted koi also. When I was a college student, I used to go to the Scripps cottage pond at San Diego State University to relax watch turtles and koi fish. Ever since then, I've wanted my own pond. I would make it look very nice and put in really cool bridges and viewing areas.

One of the reasons I wanted to be successful is because I want to move ahead in my racing hobby. I really do want to get into road racing someday. In order to do that, raise a family, and make sure my kids get pretty cool education, I think I would have to be a bit more than average.

So how does this relate to motorsports? It doesn't really. But I'm hoping these guys will live long and get bigger for long after I graduate. When I can afford to race, own my own house with that pond I dream about, that is where they will live, and not get eaten by some bird right when I do that.

Scripps cottage pond. Picture from SDSU website