LeMONS to LeMANS Race Series -- Season Ended

[gjbaldwin60]

I can already report that sub 2 minute times will be the lap norms for the leaders from what I can tell (not including draft). We could very well see low 1:50s with the draft.

I agree, I was pretty sloppy with the 2:02s and I have another 55k to put into the car.

When I've done this track in the past it has always been with a race car (DTCC or GTP) it is taking a bit to relearn it with the Subie.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

I was hoping you'd run some 1:34s and pull me around the track but as it turned out, I was doing a better job staying on the track

It just wasnt at all what I expected. My car was quick...really quick and I pulled a shark all the way. The laps I was trailing behind you were mostly 1:35/36...could you run the 1:34s without draft?

 

[diabolicwyvern]

chuyler, I'm going with the Silvia S15. Wiifreak and Grenade are right. The Impreza has more power and more PP. Thought about the S2000 too, but I like the Silvia more. A older Supra or Z would be nice, but I do not feel like cycling through the UCD.

Just send you an email, please let me know if you do not receive it.

There are s2000s for under 30K?

@ Baldwin --I'll second the sub 2 min. If you are not hitting 1:58s with EASE...change the set-up. I wont say exactly what shark and WiiFreak were running in our short practice...(I'll let them tell if they wish)...but I ran 1:57.8xx with no added parts. When all is said and parts are installed, like turbo 3 and titanium muffler for me...the high 1:55s w/o draft and 1:53/4 if you nail the bus stop with a drafting buddy in toe sound about right.

 

[gjbaldwin60]

@ Baldwin --I'll second the sub 2 min. If you are not hitting 1:58s with EASE...change the set-up. I wont say exactly what shark and WiiFreak were running in our short practice...(I'll let them tell if they wish)...but I ran 1:57.8xx with no added parts. When all is said and parts are installed, like turbo 3 and titanium muffler for me...the high 1:55s w/o draft and 1:53/4 if you nail the bus stop with a drafting buddy in toe sound about right.

Yep, I was still using my car from the race before (Cape Ring) so I can see an easy 3-4 secs, plus when I can get the car around the track without a 4 wheel slide then I think that will drop a chunk off as well

 

[diabolicwyvern]

Sorry for the responses in mass, but I just looked over the spreadsheet and saw Baldwin was getting 30K and didnt show up last week. (did he?)
Why are we giving the midseason members 20K/race but him 30K? I'm confused. And sorry to Baldwin for pointing it out. Just want folks to get a fair shake.

 

[st1sj]

Diabolic, yeah I found a 99 S2000 (US) for $26K. Now that I am looking at the HP figures, I probably should have gone with the Impreza too. It has 25+ more HP than the Silvia.

What do you guys recommend on parts? Reduce weight or increase power? The stage 3 engine/chassis is expensive.

I can use more credits for sure.

Edit: how do you attach pictures? I had to print out this JPG in PDF just to attach it...

 

[grenadeshark]

Sorry for the responses in mass, but I just looked over the spreadsheet and saw Baldwin was getting 30K and didnt show up last week. (did he?)
Why are we giving the midseason members 20K/race but him 30K? I'm confused. And sorry to Baldwin for pointing it out. Just want folks to get a fair shake.

I think because his PS3 died versus not showing up at all.

 

[grenadeshark]

Diabolic, yeah I found a 99 S2000 (US) for $26K. Now that I am looking at the HP figures, I probably should have gone with the Impreza too. It has 25+ more HP than the Silvia.

What do you guys recommend on parts? Reduce weight or increase power? The stage 3 engine/chassis is expensive.

I can use more credits for sure.

Edit: how do you attach pictures? I had to print out this JPG in PDF just to attach it...

I wouldn't like people giving out too many hints. The best hint I can give is to check what other people have bought and take a look at their placements. These are not directly relevant, but being thrifty with your money will get you a long way.

 

[chuyler1]

Many people installed mods to use just for one race. Giving the newcomers 30k per race with the ability to apply all of it for their first race would be unfair to those who have been in it from the begining.

Just a reminder, make sure you install sport soft tires for this race. We have been increasing the compound for each race.

 

[grenadeshark]

Chuyler, I went ahead and tested your car for about 10 laps. I immediately had to change the brake balance back to 5/5 as I could not keep your car stable through the corkscrew with your settings. Outside of that, I didn't touch anything.

I made a replay of it that I am currently uploading. Here is a snapshot. One thing that comes to my mind is how stupidly consistent I was. I was about half a second slower on average per lap then in my own car, but I think that might have been the most consistent 3 laps ever recorded (by anyone?). Anyways, I will edit into this thread soon as its done.

Sorry about the quality.

 

[chuyler1]

My best times were around 1:34.3 and i can see a few places i could improve. I messed with the brake balance primarily for tire wear, didnt realize it would affect lap times that much.

So do you think it was the tune that made you slower than your car, or just choice in mods? How would you rate the tune on a scale of 1-10. Kudos on the consistent laps.

 

[grenadeshark]

My best times were around 1:34.3 and i can see a few places i could improve. I messed with the brake balance primarily for tire wear, didnt realize it would affect lap times that much.

So do you think it was the tune that made you slower than your car, or just choice in mods? How would you rate the tune on a scale of 1-10. Kudos on the consistent laps.

In my honest opinion, you had a better car then me. I would trade you at any point. Your car is much easier to drive in general. It's predictable and it had a very good tune. Had you done an engine rebuild and chassis refresh before you shared your car, I think I could beat my times that I currently run with my car.

Your suspension settings are right on. Only thing I can think of is to add a bit more front camber. I thought your shock settings were a bit high, but after testing them, they worked well. Your car understeers steady whereas mine oversteers randomly and then understeers.

I have never been a good suspension tuner as I just can't tell the differences when I am trying to tune. In general, your car is just flat out better then mine. The only reason I won was because of consistent driving at the limit which I am quite good at (pat myself on back). I can push top times anytime I want and I slow down when I am ahead to not make mistakes. Your car could have been right there with me the whole race. The brake balance settings threw me off and I have a feeling it was the problem with your lap times.

You have to remember how braking works. If you have it set to 5/5. Realistically, it is set to 75%/25% as your rear tires can only do so much when all the weight is on your front wheels. Your settings causes extreme unstableness while braking as your are asking your rear wheels to brake extremely hard when there is no weight on them. This causes extreme oversteer (maybe that's what you wanted). But, that problem is easier solved with suspension settings and the ayc.

Also, I noticed you added ballast which I don't believe was necessary. Especially on a track like laguna.

Again, I was much more consistent with your car than I ever was with my own. I think the race would have been even more lopsided had I had your settings on my car.

One thing I would like to add is testing crazy lines versus your ghost. If you look at the first big turn, I take that soo differently then the norm. The reason for this is because when I tested versus my ghost, I was able to gain quite a bit of time. Our particular car with 4wd and AYC doesn't do well on double apexes at medium speed. It tends to burn the outside wheels extremely. The solution is to brake deeper and to straighten out the 2nd apex so you can really get some acceleration.

Anyways, good tune overall. I was quite happy with it.

 

[chuyler1]

Also, I noticed you added ballast which I don't believe was necessary.

aww crap! I put that on when testing to see if it would balance the car out...totally forgot to remove it.

 

[grenadeshark]

aww crap! I put that on when testing to see if it would balance the car out...totally forgot to remove it.

Another thing. Not sure if you do this, but if you notice, I basically hit every apex on the track every time. I have found that if you focus on hitting apexes, your lap times improve in general. I noticed you had said you took the uturn before the elbow faster then me, but I think hitting the apex on that turn is more important as my speed before the elbow is higher. Also, I managed to get your car through the eblow at mid 80s speed and I recall you telling me you were doing it at 75ish. Just checked my times. 83, 84, 86.

I drive a very by the book style. Slow into every corner, as much speed out as I can get. Especially at Laguna since the dirt is forgiving.

 

[chuyler1]

Yeah, im too cautious to take it fast. I was doing 82-84 on fresh tires later in the race. I was catching you every lap during the race on the turn before the elbow...but you looked to be hitting it just right in the video above.

In general, i brake earlier but trail into turns. You dive right in but make it stick. Before i add mods to the car for wednesday, ill run a few more laps in the car in practice mode to see if i can improve.

 

[grenadeshark]

Yeah, im too cautious to take it fast. I was doing 82-84 on fresh tires later in the race. I was catching you every lap during the race on the turn before the elbow...but you looked to be hitting it just right in the video above.

In general, i brake earlier but trail into turns. You dive right in but make it stick. Before i add mods to the car for wednesday, ill run a few more laps in the car in practice mode to see if i can improve.

You have to remember that I slow down extremely when I am ahead. I get over anxious when I am in the lead and tend to make mistakes. The race at cape ring is a perfect example. I made so many mistakes when I was in the lead, it was embarrassing. Once I got behind you, its so easy for me to catch up. It's a weird mental thing for me. When I am front, I am super nervous. When I am behind, I am in the zone. Once I feel like I cannot lose, I generally pull away like mad (because of no pressure).

To give an example. Last week at Laguna, at about lap 47, I decided I wanted to lap you. I realized this wasn't likely, but I went for it anyways. The last 13 laps of the race for me produced some of my best times of the night. I pulled 3 consecutive 1:33s and multiple 1:34's after that. It was only once I realized that I couldn't pass you again (lap 55ish) that I let off the extreme pace I was trying to push.

 

[chuyler1]

30 or so more laps and you would've had me. I was basically losing 1 second per lap when I was running clean. Toward the end I started pushing turns and the combination of that and worn tires didn't work out so well. I had no idea how far back 3rd place was but I was bored to death just pumping out 1:35s and 1:36s.

 

[chuyler1]

Grenade,

I ran your car for a few laps last night. I got into the 1:33s without much effort. I hit my fastest lap on lap 3 and struggled to find more time after that but i could see it hitting a high 1:32 if every turn was negotiated perfectly. Not sure why you think I've got the better car. Yours was a breeze to drive. There were a few places it felt a little unpredictable but it didn't take much to get speed out of it.

I could definitely tell it had more highspeed grip with the spoiler. I didn't go back and drive my car afterward but when I looked at my practice mode scoreboard, your car was a solid 1 second faster than my best time in my car. I'll have to spend some time with my car to see how I can get more speed out of it for Daytona. This should be interesting.

To the newcomers,

I have received a photo of Snoopykaun's car but i don't have photos of anyone else's car. Please send them along or remind me if you were going with a premium. I'd like to update the spreadsheet today so I know what to expect tomorrow evening.

 

[SohnVonStig]

I may have to go with a premium as my camera isn't working I'll try to figure something out tonight and I'll send it your way

 

[st1sj]

chuyler, I should have my parts ready later today. Will email them to you. My Z was running great (albeit slow) until I added Stage 1 engine & chassis. Now it oversteers on exit. Testing different parts is very interesting and different.

By the way, at 50 laps I am looking at minimum of 2 stops and probably 3 stops with full damage. How many stops are you guys thinking?

 

[chuyler1]

Assuming a clean race, I think 2 stops will be the safe bet. It all depends on how much time you lose when you've got 25+ laps on a set of tires. This is a fast track, but you need grip to get the best exit speed out of the bus stop. Obviously that all changes if you hit a wall though.

Just a reminder to the new comers...it is a long race and the draft will favor clean racing over fast racing. I really don't want to see a first lap accident at the bus stop. Remember that if you get around someone before the bus stop, they will likely just get past you after it. So think long and hard about how aggressive you want to be on entry.

Another thought that crossed my mind was getting to the pit after an accident. Please do not, under any circumstances drive backward on the track. Even if you have destroyed your car in turn 1, you need to move forward on the track. Stay out of the way as best you can.

Also, Daytona has the option for a later pit road exit. Any thoughts on using that one to avoid collisions with cars coming in hot on turn 1?

 

[sl3ight]

Definitely use the later exit, I think it'll be a mess if we have cars coming out into turn 1.

 

[SohnVonStig]

Definitely use the later exit, I think it'll be a mess if we have cars coming out into turn 1.

Agreed 1 billion percent.

 

[redreevos]

I may have to go with a premium as my camera isn't working I'll try to figure something out tonight and I'll send it your way

Stig.. You can have my Z that I started this series with. Chris already has a picture of it and a list of what has been added. Send me a pm here or on PSN and I will gift it to you.

 

[SohnVonStig]

Stig.. You can have my Z that I started this series with. Chris already has a picture of it and a list of what has been added. Send me a pm here or on PSN and I will gift it to you.

Sweet man thanks! If that's cool with chris that'd be great!

 

[redreevos]

I will send it to you in about 15 minutes. When I drove it.. it was a bit of a handful, but lots of fun.

 

[SohnVonStig]

I will send it to you in about 15 minutes. When I drove it.. it was a bit of a handful, but lots of fun.

Lol, I was looking to get an MR-S anyway so handful was to be expected

 

[chuyler1]

If you want to use Red's car that's fine. It cost him 26,829 and he already installed some parts. You will probably want the parts anyway but if there is something you don't want just remove it. Make sure the total value of parts installed is under 90,000.

 

[redreevos]

With installed mods it is under the budget of $30,000 by $1271. So whatever Chris is allotting you for upgrades, just add $1271(after my installed mods). It should be a fairly strong competitor at this stage in the series I would think. Who knows though.

Edit - Thanks Chris. Just saw your post. I already sent it, but I believe it had racing air filter, ECU tune, and cat.

Looks like you should be all set Stiggy. Good luck.

 

[SohnVonStig]

With installed mods it is under the budget of $30,000 by $1271. So whatever Chris is allotting you for upgrades, just add $1271. It should be a fairly strong competitor at this stage in the series I would think. Who knows though.

Edit - Thanks Chris. Just saw your post. I already sent it, but I believe it had racing air filter, ECU tune, and cat.

Looks like you should be all set Stiggy. Good luck.

Sweetness thanks red! PS since I don't get home for 2 hours, which z is it?