Endurance Race (Malaysia)- 30/8/2003

[R33]

Guys, dunno where or which area to post this...tried the racing category but there's no general area for this kind of race...so I am posting it here. Just to share this updated news about me with you all whom I know here.
Ok...here goes. Every year, on the eve of our independant day (31st august is our ind day)...there is a 12 hour endurance race over here. This year, race will start at 10am on 30th and finishe at 10pm...2 hours before the party starts!
Guess what? Me and 2 friends bought an EVO5 on the cheap...preps it up to race specs and we will be in Class A (production 2 litre cars) this coming 30th! Managed to get sponsors for clutches/radio equipments/huge discount for tyres n slicks. A regular mech who is starting off on his own and wants some publicity has committed his whole new workshop/employees to tune the car and crew for us. Suspensions and handling are however done by a reknown rally team workshop...cost a bomb!
Tested the handlings/clutch/brake last Sat nite. The car handles like a dream!!! Latebraking at the really sharp and hopelessly slow 1st and 2nd corner after the 0.9 km straight, I was surely missing the apex...but dialled in lotsa idelayed input, the car just threw itself into the apex and stuck there...absolutely fantastic! I wouldn't be exagerating if I were to say that it is the best handling car I have driven so far. Me and team mates are absolutely happy with the handling.
The car is back in the workshop now for engine tuning. Will be using Autronic EMS...running 1 bar in daytime and 1.2 bar at nite. Tuning will be ready in 3 days time. Another testing later. After that, car will be tidied up look wise (paint job etc) and we will be doing timed testing after that.
I will post some pics prolly after our next testing but the car won't be a looker as it will not be tidied up by then.
I am slowly getting used to to the EVO's dynamic as as all of u know, I drive a monster GTR and the dynamics, in temrs of power/gear ranges/weight etc are really really different between the two. Although the lines are just about identical, braking/clutching/acceleration points are all different especially the gear range.
If the mod don't mind, I will, later, post some of our startegy here (I think it should be safe enough to post it here...hmmmm...wonder whether any of my competitor is on this forum...). I hope to get some input from yer all on the startegies.
And oh ya...just passed my medical and got my racing licence. All these mean I am now a licenced racing driver and no more unsanctioned sprint races for me....

[RazorGTR]

Sweet! sounds like you're in for a lot of fun. Yep keep us informed on its progress, and yes looking forward to some pictures.

[R33]

We have successfully tested the car....the EMS was remapped to give fat torque from 3000rpm or so...running 0.9 bar daytime...the car was very responsive and we were averaging 2min 42 secs per lap in a slight drizle in full slicks! We are pretty happy with the performance. A bit of loose ends have to be tied up...eg boost spikes up to 1.3 bar at times/cleaning the interior and painting it/selection of tyres/selection of brake pads etc.

Here's a pic....

[R33]

Ant the rear view...

[Moppie]

Very cool!

How would you feel about me either moveing the thread, or copying it into the Lancer forum? I know there are some EVO nuts in there who would love to hear of another member who was actualy racing one.

[R33]

By any means...pls do.

[Moppie]

Cool!

I put a copy in the Lancer forum: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...60#post1151929

I know they will be interested in any updates, and Im sure a few will have a few questions.

[SkylineUSA]

Awesome R33,

I will tell ya, when I went to Japfest here in England a few months ago. It was held at a local race track. Everyone one was running,(WRXs, GTRs, Celicas, and some Euro Trash) and the car that impressed me the most were the Evos. That car stuck to the road in the corners. Most of the other cars, had a lot more body roll that the EVOs.



I wish you luck.

[R33]

Hv to agree with you here Sky. The Evo5 that we have handles like a dream...did a lot of testing with it already, I must say the handling is really something else. Although my GTR wud spank it properly along the straights, keeping the GTR close to the Evo along the long sweeping corners and also the sharp and slow ones take quite an effort. (my GTR's weight could be the real disadvantage here).
I was hand timing the Lotus Elise (2 of them) and a 340R who will be in our Group come this 30th and they were consistently doing 2m 54secs per lap although they are really much lighter then our Evo (about 800kgs inclusive of driver). That pleases us no end as we are clocking 2m 40secs now. By comparison, the mighty Porsche GT3 in the Open Group is burning the track at 2m 28secs consistently (they are the reigning champion).
We are hoping we could break 2m 40secs soon without straining the car too much. Anyway, at the current 2m 40secs, we have achieved our target and anything more will be a bonus. Our biggest rival wud be the Lotus (but their current timing, they are no where near us, although they are known for their reliability and fuel economy) and of course the many Honda Integras (including a factory backed Integra complete with a driver from Japan!). Surprisingly, we have not seen even one Integras testing the car yet! They are keeping their car and testing a secret I suppose!

[SkylineUSA]

What kills the Lotus, is the lack of power in the straights.

I do not like Porsche, but they always make a fantastic race car.

[R33]

That is also true Sky. I have driven an Elise around the track before and on the front staright I was struggling to even touch 180kph! It is nippy arount the sharp corners but along the long sweeping corners and the straight its so called superior handling and light-weight body cannot compensate for its lack of power/grunt. The engine wud strain and when the mid range torque disappear...oh my...other cars just walk by! The Elise Sports 190, with 190bhp is of course better than the normal Elise...handles like a dream with a bit of top end power to boot. There are a couple of Elise over here whose owners have replaced the Rover K18 engine with Integra Type R 2 litre engine...I think one of them will be in the Open Group (it has to be in that group as the engine is changed) this year. But still, it will be whupped by the big boys in that group, I am sure as the others in that group are big powered!
The Porsche, surprisingly, have done well in this race over the last couple of years...I must say the 3.4 (or is it 3.6?) litre flat 6 is really strong and full of torque and low end grunt, which makes it easy to preserve the engine as the driver don't always hv to rev hard. But this year, the Porsches GT2/3 will hv a Diablo, an Ultima GTR and a worked Mondeo as company. It looks interesting in that group.
My aspiration is of course to run my GTR in that group. If only I have enough money!!

[Gonthrax]

Wow, Good luck with it R33. Sounds like mucho fun.

Of course you have to get some incar video lappage for all the fiends here you know

[R33]

Racing is a whole lot of fun I must say. Wud seriously recommend it for everyone. We are planning to fix a cam in the car for the official pratice next week. If all goes well, I will surely upload some vids on the net.
Next Friday is the qualifying...there are 26 cars in our Group, which means 6 will hv to drop out. We have another practice on Tuesday next week before official practices on Thursday and Friday (next week)morning. Things are looking fine...car is a finished product now...will be paraded to the public this Sunday at a meet-the-drivers session with the public. The only thing left to be done is to correct the AF mix which is a bit rich currently. Hope to have everything complete by next practice (Tuesday).

[Gonthrax]

So, will all three of you be driving it on race day?

[R33]

Yup. All 3 drivers must drive a total of 4 hours each. The rules say any single driver can only drive a maximum of 2 hours in one outing. He must rest a minimum of 2 third of the time of his last drive before he is allowed to drive again. We plan to change driver everytime we fuel up and so far in practices, that wud mean about 1 hour per driver per outing. Just nice.