Back out on track and this time for a different purpose…setup. It was time to put some laps on the new setup and begin the process of sorting things out. The new additions in question are:
- Muellerized JICs
- SPC upper control arms (camber and caster adjustment)
- new compression and lateral control arms (with flipped driver’s side bushing)
- Evo Brembos w/ Carbotech XP-12 pads
- Toyo R888
First impressions…very impressive. Going with this many changes at once really had me wondering if all the new variables would cause the car’s feel and behavior to take a step back. The Konis and H&Rs were a potent setup out of the box and the real reason for the change was due to the lack of adjustability to prevent tire rub with the fender. Otherwise they were nicely sorted out of the box. With no adjustability, they were simply bolt on and have fun. I didn’t want to loose that stability under breaking or neutral feel mid corner. Those combined with the RM sways were a great combination.
The weekend prior to the event, the Eclipse came off the jackstands with the JICs and Brembos in place with some pizza sized rotors and Centric Posi-Quiet Brake Pads from RRE. With a quick tape measure alignment I went for a little drive around the block. Immediately the first thing you feel is just how direct and quick the steering response is. In comparison with my previous setup, this was almost like driving a go-kart. Quick succession rights and lefts showed how flat the car felt. There was very minimal body roll and quick transitions where the car settled quickly. The Brembos also showed a huge improvement over the stock OEM setup. Once again there were concerns whether or not the balance would be right or if the master cylinder would be up to powering these massive calipers, but the ‘street’ pads almost felt like they could run with the Porterfield R4-Es and were a huge improvement over the stock 2 piston setup. Braking distance was noticeably shorter and very confidence inspiring. But enough of the street stuff, that’s not the environment for its intended use.
That Tuesday I took the car up to Curt at Track Time Performance for an alignment and to get the R888s mounted. Curt has a long standing reputation with the S2KCA community and was recommended to be by more than one instructor from various rac organizations. After filling up the tank to competition level and mounting the R888s, we noticed that the rear tires were rubbing and the front SPC arms were contacting the shock tower mounts. A quick call to John gave me the settings I needed to readjust the ride height and we were set. He also gave me a little advice about being tentative of my turning points
Sat. morning rolls around and it was time to see how it would all interact with one another. After a few warm-up laps to make sure nothing fell off, I dropped off the front straight into turn one and get on the brakes. First thing I notice I’m about a 100ft. short of where I should be. Furthermore I’m doing 70mph where I should be at 90. And holy crap do these Brembos and Carbotechs work. They were very predictable and repeatable through out the weekend. Another feat to attribute to the combination is that they are able to lock up the 255 R888s. Prior I’ve never had to worry about brake modulation. Traqmate would confirm that entry speeds were still within 1-2 mph of my previous setup, but the time needed to bring the car down to speed shaved off a few tenths.
The JICs were an absolute joy and really made the car come alive. Most of Sat. was spent with tape to check for rubbing and body contact, but after getting the rears adjusted to the right height, man was it a thrill to throw around. Essentially the JICs and the R888s compliment one another. Without the grip from the 888s the JICs would over drive a street tire. And without the JICs a 255 tire and the grip they provided, the JICs could not be utilized to their full potential (limiting factor is still the brain behind the wheel). The R888s handled well in both the dry and the wet. Temps rose 4-5psi in comparison to the 9-11psi from the Potenzas. When they got to their operating temps the grip was amazing. I was even confident enough to throw the car and let it slide a little on corner entry. Tire temps show that I’m not fully utilizing the fronts and the rears need a little camber removed. Best lap times only dropped by a 1.7 sec, but my average lap times are the noticeable difference. Previously I was consistent in the 2:07 range where now I was turning multiple laps in the 2:04s. There’s more sorting out to do, but its was a fun weekend dialing in the car. I’ll be taking it back out again this weekend for more data collection before turning it over to John and Curt for more tweaks.
. There's plenty more time in the setup and I've fended off the urge to up the power level. The engine is just begging, but times are dropping and I'm still at ~220HP @ 10-11 psi.
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