RKM Motorsport - Tuned Tuners - May '13
- Thread starter Rotary Junkie
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RKM Motorsports Lime Lighter Turbo
So I discovered that I had the house to myself for a day. No kids, no partner, no in-laws dropping in from interstate. What to do? I know, I'll spend the day on a marathon of GT5 (duh)! Since I'm feeling a little masochistic, and haven't yet done the 9 hour Tsukuba enduro, that seems as good a place as any to start.
As I have no intention of doing this race again, I need a car that will ensure a victory. Where else to find one but the go-to garage of RKM Motorsport. And what do I find, but a rather serpentine looking Amuse S2K fresh off the hoist. I'll take it!
After fitting the car with a set of RS tyres to cement a victory over the RM wearing competition, I line up against the usual tuning suspects, a couple of Mines Skylines, both the HPA's, some Nismos and the only real competition, an Amuse GT1 '04.
Green light. Hmmm. It appears that I've seriously underestimated what RKM have done to this car. After lapping the second placed car after 12 laps, I do some quick arithmetic (500 and what!!!), and it seems that this race has come down to two competitions. 1, how many laps can I finish ahead of the next in line, and 2, a competition between the two HPA cars to see which of them could punt me off the track in the most spectacular fashion (only those two, seems HPA have something against Amuse). Oh well, down to it.
The Lime Lighter is everything that the brochure says. Fast and fun. There is heaps of power when you need it, thanks to a wide powerband (about 4000-8000 rpm is the go zone, exceptional value when short-shifting to save fuel). The transmission is well placed, just be aware that it will take a while to get back up to speed from a full stop after a mishap. Turn in is sharp and responsive with only a hint of oversteer. The tail will step out on command however. The brakes are the real winner on this car. Most corners which required brakes only needed a slight tap, or a soft squeeze to settle the car before turning. Usually for me, trail braking is a bit of a 'cross your fingers' exercise, but I was able to with the Lime Lighter without thinking twice. Balanced to perfection. Wear between the rear and front tyres is even and slow. There was none of the shrieking rubber that I have come to associate with driving at Tsukuba.
The only gripe I have with the Lime Lighter will only be found in the longer races. As the fuel load comes off, the car becomes a little twitchy under braking. It's quite easy to mess up the weight transfer and find yourself pointing in the opposite direction to where you wanted to be. The car is faster with less fuel, but more concentration is required (I doubt anyone could keep 100% concentration for 9 hours at Tsukuba). It's just more consistent with a full tank.
So the result of competition 1 was 54 laps, and competition 2 was many and varied (no clear winner). I can't recommend this tune highly enough. I now have yet another favourite to add to the list! Thanks very much Roj.
Oh, by the way. Due to my competitors during the 9 hours, I am forced to refer to a rather tired internet meme.
The Lime Lighter Turbo will make you greater than Chuck Norris. Proof below!
Onboy123
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Thanks for the extended road-test!
I love the powerband as it's not a peaky mess like most turbocharged Honda's end up. It's actually stronger than a lot of V8 cars. Also the tyre wear comment reminds me of my NSX-R in GT4. Balanced tyre wear to prove the car is indeed, balanced! As for the getting back up to speed, I can only assume the racing softs dont let you spin the wheels to launch the car properly. Also yeah, the loss of weight does have it's side-effects. That's something I can't really tune for unless I ruin the car's handling with a full tank first.
But yeah thanks a lot for taking my Amuse on an endurance race! You get a much better feel for the car over that sort of time frame.
:tup:Also nice!
I find B.Lee is better than C.Norris anyway. No, I'm a Honda driver. I'll have you out there in an EK9 or something. The RKM Ricer!
*leaves with immediate effect*
- 6,056
- Cebu
- SayakaMiki1337
- Kawauchi2568
That's the fun of Trial Mountain. The best lines are the insane ones. 2-wheeling off kerbs and kamikaze diving into corners just makes it more fun to time attack. Also there's so many lines, it makes for great touge battles.
Which the RKM 380RS has served well. And again, the understeer on the last lap was purely the driver going all over the place. I loved the hairpins by the way, going insanely into the inside seems fun
Also nice!
J. Chan is the most amusing one of all.
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I loved chasing you in the ITR Turbo, then waiting for you to screw up.Which the RKM 380RS has served well. And again, the understeer on the last lap was purely the driver going all over the place. I loved the hairpins by the way, going insanely into the inside seems fun
J. Chan is the most amusing one of all.
Also J.Chan is a name that evaded me and I ended up with A.Shepherd.
The Honda S2000 please?
Does Takumi drive a Toyota MR2? No? No S2000 then!
Onboy123
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I loved chasing you in the ITR Turbo, then waiting for you to screw up.
Also J.Chan is a name that evaded me and I ended up with A.Shepherd.
Does Takumi drive a Toyota MR2? No? No S2000 then!
I hated running behind you lot in RJ's NSX, every time I caught up, it killed me. 
<--- my expression after the 2nd lapHe could
I'm only like that cuz I hate FFs.
- 11,127
- Bromley
- V16T91
- E0nLeader
Does it mean I handled Pinkie Pie well?
My Nismo GT-R was such a fail in that race. Again, as I had already said, the car is not built for racing but rather drifting. The only valid reason I had for using it was to make it Nismo-Honda racing. And we lost
- 6,056
- Cebu
- SayakaMiki1337
- Kawauchi2568
My Nismo GT-R was such a fail in that race. Again, as I had already said, the car is not built for racing but rather drifting. The only valid reason I had for using it was to make it Nismo-Honda racing. And we lost
It was a close call anyway. We did our best and then we delivered well. 👍
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