eclipsegsx1736
Supporting VIP
- 1,599
- 44
- Nov 11, 2003
-
Los Angeles,
California
Preparation
When I first got my GSX, over a year and a half ago, I didn't really know for sure what I wanted to do with it. My plans and wish lists changed frequently, but I for the most part thought I wanted a 12ish second car that also had decent handling. I, like almost every DSMer, wanted to upgrade the turbo before touching the suspension. I started to read and think more about it, and realized my true passion was in the handling, not so much straight line speed. I knew I had bought a car that could do both without too much trouble, although DSMs are known for power potential, not handling as much. So I set out to improve the handling before touching the turbo.
Since I still didn't know for sure what I wanted to do with the car, I knew I needed a pretty trick suspension setup, but I wasn't about to spend 2-3 grand on a JIC Muellerized setup from RRE, since I didn't have near the money, and I'm still in High School. I couldn't justify that kind of expenditure, even if that setup is pretty much as good as it gets. As some of you may know, I've been helping out Megan Racing to develop exhaust parts for our cars, and they offered me a nice discount on their coilover dampers. I did a lot of research on these coilovers, from people using them on various other cars, since almost no one has them on a DSM yet. They're essentially the same as the Apexi coilovers, made in the same factory. I have read countless good things about them from Evo owners, and they're generally harder to please in the handling department. Mind you they're no JIC or BuddyClub, but from what I read they work well for people that both street and track their cars.
I ended up purchasing the M-R coilovers, and, overall, I really like them. The only complaint I have is the spring rates, of which M-R is offering replacements. The included rates are 14kg/6kg which is a bit odd, but they said they work fine with 12kg/8kg or 12kg/6kg, one of the latter two I will run at the next track day (July 7th!!). I also bought a custom RRE rear swaybar with 3 adjustments. As instructed by RRE, I started on the lightest setting, which they say is still miles stiffer than stock (the bar is an 25mm, or an inch, thick). They guaranteed that I would spin on my first track day due to the swaybar (awfully reassuring). I picked up some Porterfield R4-E pads, which RRE says won't fade even to the point where the rotors start to glow. They weren't cheap, $150 for the fronts. During the breakin of the pads, I actually overheated and faded the rear MetalMaster pads, which I have had for a while, before the R4-E's up front. We all know the fronts get MUCH hotter than the rears, it just goes to show you how crappy the MetalMasters are for anything more than spirited street driving (I wouldn't even trust them on a hard canyon run).
I opted to run my street tires for the first day, it's much easier to learn to drive the car on street tires first, before going to R compounds. My next tire will be a 235/40 RA1. I have 17x8 wheels which I just got, so I reused my 225/45-17 BFGoodrich G-Force KDW tires that I used to have on the stock GSX wheels. (Just a side note, anyone planning on doing any kind of aggressive handling with a GSX, ditch the stock wheels before you touch the suspension, the wider wheel will make a bigger difference than anything especially for so cheap).
The biggest problem I later discovered at the track was with my camber settings. When I went to get my toe aligned to 0 all around, we took a camber measurement. On the left side, I had -1.25 in the front and -1.5 in the rear, not a good setup. The right I had -2.25 in front and -1.0 in the rear, which is more like what I wanted. I didn't think much of it then, but more on that later.
The track day, April 21st, was near the end of my spring break, so I had plenty of time to prepare. At 6' 2", I discovered that I couldn't fit in the car with the helmet on, even with racing seats. I ended up bolting the seat directly to the bracket, with no sliders, so I was able to fit with enough room, although if I sat completely straight up the helmet would brush the roof. I removed some of the interior, put some spacers under the hood to raise the rear to let air out, and ditched the passenger headlight for some extra flow and to keep the intake temps down for the intake sensor, since 84F and up pulls some timing. I also flushed the brakes and used some Valvoline SynPower Dot 4 which RRE recommended to me, it had a pretty high boiling point and it's cheap. The dry point was close to 500F if I remember right. The event started at 7:30, actual driving began at 9:00, and continued until 4:30PM or so. To take some of the pressure off, I decided to take the 1.5 hour trip the night before, and stay in a hotel.
Track Day!
Wow, that was a long intro. So I wake up and head down for breakfast, which was damn good for a free continental breakfast.
It was only a 15 minute drive to Willow Springs (I ran at Streets of Willow). I arrive at the gas station to fill up right before hitting the track, the last thing you want to do is starve the fuel pump, so I kept it at ½ tank and above on the track. The first thing I realized was that my tire pressures were lower than I wanted. They were about 33 psi cold, I knew they would heat up a lot, but I wanted to start high to have some room to work with in either direction, since I planned on running ~39 psi hot. I arrive at the track and start unloading stuff, and head to the driver's meeting. I attended a track day a few months back, just to check out the action, and comparatively, this event was much more laid back. The driving will begin at 9:00, and there will be 2 run groups; one beginner group and one "advanced" group. After only one run each, the track will be completely open. This turns out to be an awesome idea, it never gets crowded, since there are maybe only 20 cars max, about half of them were Evos at least. Also, this time the track was set up in full-length mode, using the "bowl" turn, which had a 20 degree bank. After an overview of the flags and their meanings, the advanced group heads onto the track.
After about 10 minutes into the 1st run group, one of the blue Evos heads out a little late. He gets a few hundred yards, just past the 1st turn, and the car comes to a stop at the side. I couldn't see what the problem is. I was sitting in my car waiting to go onto the track, and the maintenance/emergency truck drives over to the Evo. A good 15 minutes go by, and finally the Evo is brought back into the pit, and I overhear that the wheel came off WTF. Apparently, a friend said he would finish swapping wheels/tires while the driver was at the driver's meeting, and forgot to tighten the lugs
The flag waved, and we were out on the track. A civic was playing pace car, and it was pretty heavily modded. The first thing I noticed immediately about the track was that it was much smaller than I expected. It was well laid out and a good size, especially for someone just beginning to road race. All the turns were 2nd and 3rd gear turns speeds from 30-70, and you only get up to around 100 max on the straights. The "bowl" turn had me worried before I got out there, but it ended up being my favorite turn. Right when you hit the apex, you can nail the gas and very slowly unwind the wheel as you power out of the turn, as the radius smoothly widens into a straight.
After only a few laps, I am already comfortable at the track, it's extremely fun. There's nothing to worry about, everything is going great, it's much less stressful and much more easygoing than I thought. I was quick to pick up the lines for the turns, and I spend the rest of my 80+ laps perfecting them. After about 10 minutes on the track, I come in to check out the car and the tire pressures, I didn't know how the car would handle this kind of stress. The pressure is already up to 41 psi, so I bleed it down to 38 and set out again. After another 20 minutes or so, the pressure was up to around 42 again, so I brought it down to 38-39 and it stayed there the rest of the day. I started out at about 13 psi and a rich tune, and later put some 100 octane in (just in case) and ran about 14-15 psi. The stock sidemount started to heatsoak somewhat, but the EGTs were in spec still.
I passed a few Evos, an M3 convertible, a Scion Xb
rolleyes: , actually it must have been heavily modded because it wasn't so bad), and some others. There were obviously plenty of Evos out there that were faster than me, but I had the stock ones beat for the most part, and the lightly modded ones with "careful" 
drivers. The uneven camber turned out to be VERY annoying. I was surprised how much of a difference 1 degree of camber makes. Most of the turns were to the right, since we were running the track CW, and I could feel the car didn't have enough front grip and too much in the rear. The opposite was the case, however, on left turns. The rear end kicked out if I trail braked, or let off the gas. This was much more fun, and more to my liking, since any oversteer could be tamed with the throttle, but the problem was that I was so used to the behavior during right turns. I would then enter a left turn as I would a right turn, and the rear end would start kicking out. If the car had even camber, one way or the other, it would be much easier to drive. I almost spun several times on the same left turn, but never completely spun out (take that, RRE! 
) I did manage to get _very_ sideways a few times, though. Throttle corrected it much better than counter-steering (which turned out to be a bad idea)!
Later in the day, one of the Evo drivers comes up to me during a pit, and asks for a ride. He says he's been watching me out there, and he wanted to see what it was like in a GSX. We went out a few laps, and he complimented me on my line, which was nice. I then hopped in his car (bone stock, just some Azenis and some brake rotors). It's actually pretty scary riding shotgun around the track at first, even after driving it myself for some time. I was happy to note that his speed through a few of the turns was a good 10 mph slower than mine, and he was really pushing, although we did have an extra person in the car. The largest difference I noticed between the Evo and my GSX was in braking.
I never had a single brake issue the entire day, the R4-E pads always worked 100%, and never had any fade whatsoever or any fluid boiling. My brakes did get VERY hot, though. The caliper paint (bad idea) started to bubble and turn black on the edges, and I discovered later that I cracked a brake piston boot from the temperature. The difference I noticed is that the ABS kicks in _much_ later on the Evo, and when I get back onto the track in my GSX, I realize the ABS is really holding my braking back. I decided I would finish the day with it on, and next track day I'll be sure to disable it. Almost every turn I would be on the ABS, and I know I can brake harder with it disabled.
In the end, I had about 150 miles on-track time, 80+ laps, and averaged 7.3 MPG. Most of my rear bumper was covered in dark brown exhaust soot, and my friend had to write a message in it
(pic below) . The muffler tip also turned a permanent golden brown from the heat and countless flames shot out the back, I think it actually looks better now. 
For the next track day, I will be sure to have the camber where I want it, which will probably end up being 2.25 front and 1.25 rear, and have the ABS disabled. I hopefully will also have my Toyo RA1 tires, in the 235/40 flavor to play with. I still haven't decided if I dare to run those on the street as well. If not, I would have to mount/dismount tires before every track day, as I can't afford 2 sets of nice wheels like the Evo guys can! I'll also have my better spring rates. Together these things should make the next experience even better.
Overall, I was really impressed with the way the car performed. Not only did I not have any overheating (coolant and brakes) or oil consumption problems, but the car handled very well. I was pushing hard the whole time, 9/10-10/10. It was easy to predict (except for the left turns), and was pretty neutral on the track. I also didn't feel the tire's grip fall off as they got hot, must be a good compound. They did chunk, though, which is normal for a sticky steet tire that isn't shaved. I'm already excited about the next track day, July 7th once again at Streets of Willow. Guys, get out there and road race those DSMs!
Below are a few pictures, my favorite being the Evo right behind me in Super Evo Tricycle Attack Mode!
When I first got my GSX, over a year and a half ago, I didn't really know for sure what I wanted to do with it. My plans and wish lists changed frequently, but I for the most part thought I wanted a 12ish second car that also had decent handling. I, like almost every DSMer, wanted to upgrade the turbo before touching the suspension. I started to read and think more about it, and realized my true passion was in the handling, not so much straight line speed. I knew I had bought a car that could do both without too much trouble, although DSMs are known for power potential, not handling as much. So I set out to improve the handling before touching the turbo.
Since I still didn't know for sure what I wanted to do with the car, I knew I needed a pretty trick suspension setup, but I wasn't about to spend 2-3 grand on a JIC Muellerized setup from RRE, since I didn't have near the money, and I'm still in High School. I couldn't justify that kind of expenditure, even if that setup is pretty much as good as it gets. As some of you may know, I've been helping out Megan Racing to develop exhaust parts for our cars, and they offered me a nice discount on their coilover dampers. I did a lot of research on these coilovers, from people using them on various other cars, since almost no one has them on a DSM yet. They're essentially the same as the Apexi coilovers, made in the same factory. I have read countless good things about them from Evo owners, and they're generally harder to please in the handling department. Mind you they're no JIC or BuddyClub, but from what I read they work well for people that both street and track their cars.
I ended up purchasing the M-R coilovers, and, overall, I really like them. The only complaint I have is the spring rates, of which M-R is offering replacements. The included rates are 14kg/6kg which is a bit odd, but they said they work fine with 12kg/8kg or 12kg/6kg, one of the latter two I will run at the next track day (July 7th!!). I also bought a custom RRE rear swaybar with 3 adjustments. As instructed by RRE, I started on the lightest setting, which they say is still miles stiffer than stock (the bar is an 25mm, or an inch, thick). They guaranteed that I would spin on my first track day due to the swaybar (awfully reassuring). I picked up some Porterfield R4-E pads, which RRE says won't fade even to the point where the rotors start to glow. They weren't cheap, $150 for the fronts. During the breakin of the pads, I actually overheated and faded the rear MetalMaster pads, which I have had for a while, before the R4-E's up front. We all know the fronts get MUCH hotter than the rears, it just goes to show you how crappy the MetalMasters are for anything more than spirited street driving (I wouldn't even trust them on a hard canyon run).
I opted to run my street tires for the first day, it's much easier to learn to drive the car on street tires first, before going to R compounds. My next tire will be a 235/40 RA1. I have 17x8 wheels which I just got, so I reused my 225/45-17 BFGoodrich G-Force KDW tires that I used to have on the stock GSX wheels. (Just a side note, anyone planning on doing any kind of aggressive handling with a GSX, ditch the stock wheels before you touch the suspension, the wider wheel will make a bigger difference than anything especially for so cheap).
The biggest problem I later discovered at the track was with my camber settings. When I went to get my toe aligned to 0 all around, we took a camber measurement. On the left side, I had -1.25 in the front and -1.5 in the rear, not a good setup. The right I had -2.25 in front and -1.0 in the rear, which is more like what I wanted. I didn't think much of it then, but more on that later.
The track day, April 21st, was near the end of my spring break, so I had plenty of time to prepare. At 6' 2", I discovered that I couldn't fit in the car with the helmet on, even with racing seats. I ended up bolting the seat directly to the bracket, with no sliders, so I was able to fit with enough room, although if I sat completely straight up the helmet would brush the roof. I removed some of the interior, put some spacers under the hood to raise the rear to let air out, and ditched the passenger headlight for some extra flow and to keep the intake temps down for the intake sensor, since 84F and up pulls some timing. I also flushed the brakes and used some Valvoline SynPower Dot 4 which RRE recommended to me, it had a pretty high boiling point and it's cheap. The dry point was close to 500F if I remember right. The event started at 7:30, actual driving began at 9:00, and continued until 4:30PM or so. To take some of the pressure off, I decided to take the 1.5 hour trip the night before, and stay in a hotel.
Track Day!
Wow, that was a long intro. So I wake up and head down for breakfast, which was damn good for a free continental breakfast.
It was only a 15 minute drive to Willow Springs (I ran at Streets of Willow). I arrive at the gas station to fill up right before hitting the track, the last thing you want to do is starve the fuel pump, so I kept it at ½ tank and above on the track. The first thing I realized was that my tire pressures were lower than I wanted. They were about 33 psi cold, I knew they would heat up a lot, but I wanted to start high to have some room to work with in either direction, since I planned on running ~39 psi hot. I arrive at the track and start unloading stuff, and head to the driver's meeting. I attended a track day a few months back, just to check out the action, and comparatively, this event was much more laid back. The driving will begin at 9:00, and there will be 2 run groups; one beginner group and one "advanced" group. After only one run each, the track will be completely open. This turns out to be an awesome idea, it never gets crowded, since there are maybe only 20 cars max, about half of them were Evos at least. Also, this time the track was set up in full-length mode, using the "bowl" turn, which had a 20 degree bank. After an overview of the flags and their meanings, the advanced group heads onto the track. After about 10 minutes into the 1st run group, one of the blue Evos heads out a little late. He gets a few hundred yards, just past the 1st turn, and the car comes to a stop at the side. I couldn't see what the problem is. I was sitting in my car waiting to go onto the track, and the maintenance/emergency truck drives over to the Evo. A good 15 minutes go by, and finally the Evo is brought back into the pit, and I overhear that the wheel came off WTF. Apparently, a friend said he would finish swapping wheels/tires while the driver was at the driver's meeting, and forgot to tighten the lugs
The flag waved, and we were out on the track. A civic was playing pace car, and it was pretty heavily modded. The first thing I noticed immediately about the track was that it was much smaller than I expected. It was well laid out and a good size, especially for someone just beginning to road race. All the turns were 2nd and 3rd gear turns speeds from 30-70, and you only get up to around 100 max on the straights. The "bowl" turn had me worried before I got out there, but it ended up being my favorite turn. Right when you hit the apex, you can nail the gas and very slowly unwind the wheel as you power out of the turn, as the radius smoothly widens into a straight.
After only a few laps, I am already comfortable at the track, it's extremely fun. There's nothing to worry about, everything is going great, it's much less stressful and much more easygoing than I thought. I was quick to pick up the lines for the turns, and I spend the rest of my 80+ laps perfecting them. After about 10 minutes on the track, I come in to check out the car and the tire pressures, I didn't know how the car would handle this kind of stress. The pressure is already up to 41 psi, so I bleed it down to 38 and set out again. After another 20 minutes or so, the pressure was up to around 42 again, so I brought it down to 38-39 and it stayed there the rest of the day. I started out at about 13 psi and a rich tune, and later put some 100 octane in (just in case) and ran about 14-15 psi. The stock sidemount started to heatsoak somewhat, but the EGTs were in spec still.
I passed a few Evos, an M3 convertible, a Scion Xb
rolleyes: , actually it must have been heavily modded because it wasn't so bad), and some others. There were obviously plenty of Evos out there that were faster than me, but I had the stock ones beat for the most part, and the lightly modded ones with "careful" drivers. The uneven camber turned out to be VERY annoying. I was surprised how much of a difference 1 degree of camber makes. Most of the turns were to the right, since we were running the track CW, and I could feel the car didn't have enough front grip and too much in the rear. The opposite was the case, however, on left turns. The rear end kicked out if I trail braked, or let off the gas. This was much more fun, and more to my liking, since any oversteer could be tamed with the throttle, but the problem was that I was so used to the behavior during right turns. I would then enter a left turn as I would a right turn, and the rear end would start kicking out. If the car had even camber, one way or the other, it would be much easier to drive. I almost spun several times on the same left turn, but never completely spun out (take that, RRE! ) I did manage to get _very_ sideways a few times, though. Throttle corrected it much better than counter-steering (which turned out to be a bad idea)!Later in the day, one of the Evo drivers comes up to me during a pit, and asks for a ride. He says he's been watching me out there, and he wanted to see what it was like in a GSX. We went out a few laps, and he complimented me on my line, which was nice. I then hopped in his car (bone stock, just some Azenis and some brake rotors). It's actually pretty scary riding shotgun around the track at first, even after driving it myself for some time. I was happy to note that his speed through a few of the turns was a good 10 mph slower than mine, and he was really pushing, although we did have an extra person in the car. The largest difference I noticed between the Evo and my GSX was in braking.
I never had a single brake issue the entire day, the R4-E pads always worked 100%, and never had any fade whatsoever or any fluid boiling. My brakes did get VERY hot, though. The caliper paint (bad idea) started to bubble and turn black on the edges, and I discovered later that I cracked a brake piston boot from the temperature. The difference I noticed is that the ABS kicks in _much_ later on the Evo, and when I get back onto the track in my GSX, I realize the ABS is really holding my braking back. I decided I would finish the day with it on, and next track day I'll be sure to disable it. Almost every turn I would be on the ABS, and I know I can brake harder with it disabled.
In the end, I had about 150 miles on-track time, 80+ laps, and averaged 7.3 MPG. Most of my rear bumper was covered in dark brown exhaust soot, and my friend had to write a message in it
(pic below) . The muffler tip also turned a permanent golden brown from the heat and countless flames shot out the back, I think it actually looks better now. For the next track day, I will be sure to have the camber where I want it, which will probably end up being 2.25 front and 1.25 rear, and have the ABS disabled. I hopefully will also have my Toyo RA1 tires, in the 235/40 flavor to play with. I still haven't decided if I dare to run those on the street as well. If not, I would have to mount/dismount tires before every track day, as I can't afford 2 sets of nice wheels like the Evo guys can! I'll also have my better spring rates. Together these things should make the next experience even better.
Overall, I was really impressed with the way the car performed. Not only did I not have any overheating (coolant and brakes) or oil consumption problems, but the car handled very well. I was pushing hard the whole time, 9/10-10/10. It was easy to predict (except for the left turns), and was pretty neutral on the track. I also didn't feel the tire's grip fall off as they got hot, must be a good compound. They did chunk, though, which is normal for a sticky steet tire that isn't shaved. I'm already excited about the next track day, July 7th once again at Streets of Willow. Guys, get out there and road race those DSMs!
Below are a few pictures, my favorite being the Evo right behind me in Super Evo Tricycle Attack Mode!
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