STANG KILLA SS Goes Racin

[STANG KILLA SS]

yes on pretty much all accounts.

[STANG KILLA SS]

FINALLY got back to the track after a 3 month wait for the full 3.1 track to be available. this one was with the Porsche club, ive never run with them before. huge organization, most cars ive ever seen there too.

also got a bunch of "upgrades" (more on that later) and despite the old change 1 thing at a time adage, i changed everything at once.



stock calipers to wilwoods
rubber lines to braided stainless
Motul 600 to Castrol SRB
Centric rotors to DBA
Raybestos ST-43 front pads to Hawk DTC-60
stock rear pads to DTC-30
stock shocks to DRM tuned Bilsteins











also went from BFG Rival S(200TW) to Toyo R888R(100TW) same 315/335 sizes. although the Toyos appear to run a bit wider.



also re did the rear toe, had been following the pfadt corvette track alignment guide which for some reason recommends toe out on the rear. car has been sorta unstable so we changed it to a more traditional 3/16" toe in on the rear.



Tires:
should have been way stickier. they proved quite the opposite. they were audibly louder, more squealing communication which i liked. but grip appeared to be way down. i was pushing/understeering and finding the limits alot. which i rarely do with the Rivals. it was quite noticeable. temps were 40 in the morning working up to 59 in the afternoon. full sunshine, no clouds all day. i tried everything from 31-39 hot. all had less grip. im hoping it was the cooler temps? or are the "harder" Rivals superior? also in the pits on cold tires first session (tires were 40 degrees) thats the first time ive EVERY felt tires feel like ice. i was sliding and spinning in the pits, just moving the car at idle.



Brakes:
also a let down. pretty much EVERYTHING was upgraded here. just didnt seem to have great braking. was missing alot of apexes and just not stoping well at all. like stock brakes/pads. worse at times. then i started noticing on slower corners were i didnt have to downshift the brakes were just OK. right near my old setup, maybe touch below. ie decent in low rpm situations. but on faster corners, when i had to down shift, as soon as i would down shift, the rpms would come way up the pedal would push back at me, reducing the braking clamping to almost nothing. was REALLY blowing apexes then. just had no stoping power. i later realized this and waited to down shift until nearly all my braking was done, and the rpms/speed was lower, this helped. but it delayed my turn in, and ability to go somewhat deep really bad. costing me time. i especially didnt like what it did to my turn in timing.

also noticed bad vibrations in the early two morning sessions. which ive ALWAYS fought with this car. i would have bad "warped" rotor vibrations in just 1 or 2 days. these were brand new and did it in 1-2 sessions. bad. but then in warmer afternoon sessions it actually went away some how. like all of it. im running full race spindle ducts with scoops in the fog light holes.
pedal was very firm with little feel/feedback as well.

really disappointed in new brakes so far.



shocks:
didnt notice much difference here. i particularly bought these for a rough crest on the back stretch were the two halves of the track meet. its rough from all the angle changes from the jumper road. plus im right in my peak power there, and its a crest so the car gets light, my goal someday is to be able to take that flat out, no lift. these seemed to help little with that.



couple cool cars, what appeared to be a 60s can am car w/o the body






never seen an Atom in person. looked brand new.






was able to get check ride from advanced instructor and got moved up. i was running everyone over in blue group. got to yellow and it was great (what i ran in at TWS) it was the first time ive ever run two entire sessions without having traffic slow me up. never saw anyone. was SO nice. was able to run 4 back to back 2:26 in last session. super consistent.

but a full second off my personal best, despite all the new/better/faster parts.

[hpiguy]

Damn Cory, that suck to spend all that time and money to make those changes and be let down by two of them, and meh on the third one. Great driving and love that sound as always though!

[XSRCdesign]

I wonder if lack of grip was contributing to your braking feel?

[STANG KILLA SS]

went back to the track monday


picked up a new Anderson Composites hood












shaved about 9 lbs. but i really bought it for the cooling, and reducing front end lift.






few cool cars there
Mike Dusold was there with his twin turbo '67 from the Optima Street car series






also a 488 GT3 prewrap. a AMG GT3 also rolled by in the same all white, but i couldnt grab a pic fast enough






Thanks to a tip from Sam Strano i swaped my OEM rear pads back on and it fixed my braking issue! (pedal push back on downshifts) now i find myself needing a bit more braking power, but i think i can get there.



dispite the horrible grip of the Toyo R888R, ive been working on a few corners and learning the track better, and was able to set a new PB.

my previous PB was a 2:25.7, did back to back 2:24.9s! still lots to learn but happy with the improvement, especially on these terrible tires.

[hpiguy]

Damn that thing sounds good! Could you tell a difference in heat and front end lift from the new hood? Nice work Cory.

[STANG KILLA SS]

naa. cool day. and this track isnt near as high speed as TWS was. its certainly not hurting. its proven to work. but not a "holy hell this is sucked to the track" type difference.
just relieves the air packing these cars get under the hood that creates lift.

[JatoTheRipper]

Damn that sounds good! The gurgling is perfect.

[Zukiiholic]

I'm not much for words.
Soo.

[MattTheGenus]

Great looking car, I've read that the r888r like to be higher pressure to get the most out of them. ~44 hot. I ran a set on my miata for a summer, never checked them hot but bumping them from 35 cold to 40 definitely woke them up.

[STANG KILLA SS]

went back to the track last monday.



after success with the OEM rear pads fixing my braking issue, i swaped to some more agressive ST-43 pads i had laying around. they worked great as well. with more stopping power of course.



pretty uneventful day of fun. still hating the R888R tires though. horrible grip. cant wait to burn threw them. got a set of Rivals waiting.




















https://youtu.be/0kTmDFCE0WA

[BJoe]

I thought those Toyos were supposed to supposed to be some sort of big deal for track work?!

[STANG KILLA SS]

thats what i thought too. until after i bought them, and tried them, and had terrible performance. EVERY SINGLE PERSON ive talked to since, that has tried them has said the same thing i have experienced. they are consistantly slow. consistant, predictable, and last forever. but slow with low grip.
one guy said "theyre great if your looking for an all weather tire" that cracked me up.

did the vid work for you? randy couldnt get it to play.

[Zukiiholic]

Video is working Great.
Nice Wide Screen.

[hpiguy]

It plays for me this morning. Nice laps Cory!

[BJoe]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

thats what i thought too. until after i bought them, and tried them, and had terrible performance. EVERY SINGLE PERSON ive talked to since, that has tried them has said the same thing i have experienced. they are consistantly slow. consistant, predictable, and last forever. but slow with low grip.
one guy said "theyre great if your looking for an all weather tire" that cracked me up.

did the vid work for you? randy couldnt get it to play.

"All Weather Tire"


Sounds like they might outlast the BFG Comp 2 A/S I had on my 200 and my Sister has on her Challenger


BTW, video worked great last night for me.

[STANG KILLA SS]

late getting this posted, and not much to post.



Finally was able to get the best out of the Toyo R888Rs. 30 psi was the ticket, hit 31 and they would start to slide, push, and shutter. still worst than the BFG Rivals, but the best the R888Rs have been. luckily this should be there last outing. rears are nearly bald.



now that i got the exhaust joints fixed and sloted, so they clamp good and stay together, now its finding the next weak point. keeps just pulling the exhaust out of the rear hangers. its like the whole exhaust is about 1-2" too short. had to repair the exhaust wrap too. i think it drug on trailer unloading and cut it.





Stupid Porsche club rules. have to wear pants. the ONLY HPDE that has this rule. there lucky i forgot i had my plaid pajama "pants" in my luggage! i would have worn them as a FU. had to rent a fire suit.




SLC superlite



this was the first somewhat warm day with the new hood (mid 80s) and i felt like it was doing some cooling good. i felt like the temp needle was a good 1-2 marks lower than before.



the brakes with the ST-43 rear pads were great.



watched a bimmer go off. looked like maybe a harsh downshift locked the rears initiating the slide.




got to do 1/2 lap with a 488 Pista. i ran him in a early morning session and he was a road block. super slow. then in the afternoon, it had to be a different driver, MUCH faster.







i had gone off prior in the session. got black flaged for that, 1/2 lap into the battle with the 488 Pista. right as he went off too.
excuses: my toyos were shit and on there last session (rears bald)
i could get him under braking, but he could get on power SO much earlier with rear engine. and i was no match for his 710 HP.

really bummed i got black flaged and had to come in. i really wanted to play some more.









random cell vid

[STANG KILLA SS]

back to the track!


Midnight thrash
2 days before the event i had the old Toyos removed and back to fresh BFG Rivals. more on that later.

when i went to go put the rear wheel back on i notice this. on both rear rotors.





with no way to order in time, in a panic i look up every Autozone, Advanced, Oreillys, and Napa within 3 cities. NO one has any. i finally track down a single set at an Oreilly. unfortuntly on such short notice could only get drilled rotors, so it will just happen again. also swaped to Hawk DTC 60 rear pads





then as im putting on the very last wheel, the drivers front. one of the lugs welded itself to the stud. i thought "ill show this lug". ill get the impact on it. well that just made things worse. finally had no choice but to cut off the lug. once removed i ran a die over the stud to clean it up.









then the next day. 1 day before i leave the alternator goes out. (possibly from getting wet from vented hood? or just age and heat most likely) luckily this was my first vehicle that had the alternator right on top. was a 5 minute job luckily.



Monsoon
I see its supposed to rain at the track at 4 night before, so i leave early. FIVE miles from the track the bottom lets out. so i got to unload the trailer alone in a severe thunderstorm. down pour rain, 20 mph winds and lightning everywhere. got completely soaked but the job done. used the hotel hair dryer to dry my shoes genius


Day of!
perfect weather the day of, and the previous day rain was so hard and fast, it didnt soak in, so no drainage across the track.

guessed wrong on cold pressures for first session and hot pressures got to 42 and 43psi! even that high the BFGs STILL out gripped the R888Rs at there optimal hot psi! grip was back and so good. it would do everything i asked of it.




New Best!
During the second session i had run a 2:24.55s! and in the 3rd session a pair of 2:24.2s! beating my all time fastest laps of 2:24.9! i was so excited.
but also racechrono had two first laps on session 2 and 3 that were so fast i didnt even believe them. and they were both first lap which i thought i had found in the past to be inaccurate gps from exiting the pits.

once home and a couple days later, to my surprise and just out of curiosity i check those 2 laps on both the gopros running at the time. and i couldnt believe it they were real!
i SHATTERED my previous best lap time by 1.8 seconds!!!!!!
running a 2:23.1 and a 2:23.4!!!!!!!








Final session
Last run of the day. after a few laps i notice a new vibration. slow down for a lap and then decide to come in. seemed worse at speed and on right hand turns. i couldn't figure it out definatly wasnt RPM/motor related.

well as im prepping to load the car on the trailer and pack the jeep in the pits, a guy drives up to me with a smirk on his face. he hands me this and says "this flew off your car."






i immediately look and find the missing hole on the drivers rear. i then check the other lugs and both nuts on either side of the missing one were completely loose. only 2 lugs were tight, next to each other, was the only thing holding on the wheel!
I tell the guy that brought it "this is gonna sound crazy, but this just made my day" cause that was gonna be a long drive home and days after trying to locate the cause of that vibration.



a roller coaster of a weekend, but worth it with a hell of a new personal best time!

[hpiguy]

Nice laps Cory! Glad you caught the lug issue too. That could have gotten a lot more expensive quickly!

[STANG KILLA SS]

thanks!
amen, that could have instantly turned into new rotor, caliper, fender, cradle, sway bar, and probly a wheel too.....