First Time Trial with LSD

[GTI_Speed]

Wow, why didn't I do this mod sooner.

Things went very well this weekend. It was my first TT of the year and I've made some pretty significant changes to the car. I'm running 245/40/17 Kumho Ecsta XS now, did a back seat delete, boy those are heavy!! And I now have a WaveTrac and Clutchmasters Stage2 with SMF installed. I was very nervous especially with being on a new tire and having only 500mi or so on the clutch. Thankfully it made it through the weekend just fine!:thumbsup:

So this was a two day event at our newly renamed and renovated track just outside Pittsburgh called Pittsburgh International Race Complex aka PIRC. This is the only course I've ever run and I have lots of time on it, probably over 200laps now so I'm quite familiar with it. Unfortunately I didn't get any video :frown: from the entire weekend. Never got a chance to borrow it from my GoPro bud.

We had the amazing luck of having a cold front blow through so the highest temperature I saw all weekend was a whopping 48F. Saturday was a wet day the track had puddles and some mini rivers going across it in some areas, it was never dry line as it rained constantly! I was a little dissapointed when I got there. I didn't think I'd get to push very hard with the inclement weather and it was just going to be a boring day probably ending after two sessions. I was way WRONG! I had such a good time. It added that extra element of technicality that made the track feel new again and gave me some great experience in conditions I've never driven in before. The car hydroplaning at 100mph and lack of visibility from all the water being flung in the air made things very intense. To make things better I had a 997 GT3 and a 997 GT3RS in my run group!!! God damn those cars are soo sexy. Here are our times in the wet. I think the rain scared some of the crowd away.

Best times 4/21/2012:
1. Jack N., GT3RS, 1:12.7
2. Alex A., GTI, 1:13.7 ME :biggrin:
3. Jim B., GT3, 1:13.9
4. Will H., Miata, 1:18.0
5. Brian U., STi, 1:18.4
6. Chris C., Civic, 1:20.4
7. Hunter H., Civic, 1:26.7
8. Dan C., WRX, 1:26.7
9. Kris R., Camaro, 1:27.4

Sunday was much nicer, the track was a little damp in the morning but with the SCCA Comp School taking place it was pretty dry by the time my group went. We had a few new cars show up, the notables... two older SCCA racers in Road Setup NASCARS! They sounded so awesome and were placed in my group which was a little intimidating to say the least. We also had another GT3 show up and RS couldn't make it.

I felt invincible out there after getting the rain experience the. The car was basically doing what I told it to. I really only have to shift 4 times per lap. 4th to 5th and 5th to 4th at the start/end of the front and back stretches. The LSD was working over time and I could really feel it pulling me through everything. It was so awesome. I forgot to mention, this made a huge difference in the rain too!

The GT3's switched to Hoosier Race Tires and brought me back down to earth today haha. Still very proud of the Kumho's after this weekend. They really kicked ass in both conditions and barely look like they have worn??? I'm guessing this was because of the cooler weather. Here is times from the dry today.

Best times 4/22/2012:
1. Jim B., GT3, 1:05.317
2. Bill D., GT3, 1:05.357
3. Alex A., GTI, 1:09.126 Me :thumbsup:
4. Keith O., Olds Cutlass, 1:10.369 NASCAR :eyebulge:
5. Chris G., Monte Carlo, 1:10.577 NASCAR :eyebulge:
6. Jeff R., Cobalt SS, 1:11.049
7. Hunter H., Civic, 1:11.437
8. Jim W., VW, 1:11.621
9. Will H., Miata, 1:11.919
10. Chris C., Civic, 1:12.601
11. Dan C., WRX, 1:12.872
12. Jammie A., Civic, 1:13.687
13. Laura A., Corvette, 1:14.120
14. Gibby B., Camaro, 1:15.651
15. Kris R., Camaro, 1:16.368
16. John G., Mustang, 1:16.396

Whoever says this car is a shitty track car can suck it!:thumbdown:

I'll post some pics later.

 

[tree_hugger]

damn

 

[VancouverGTI]

Great results, man! Got any results from prior to the LSD?

Man, I wish we had a proper track in the Vancouver. Mission Raceway has too many concrete walls to enjoy yourself on.

 

[bostonaudi]

awesome!

I'm giving Kumho XS's a go this season as well, sounds like they ran well for you. Want to try RS3's at some point too.

 

[GodSquadMandrake]

Good job, how much of an improvement is that before the LSD?

 

[TXBDan]

Nice driving!

Tell me more about how amazing the LSD is. Push me over the edge... hah

 

[bostonaudi]

Y'all know I've been a broken record regarding LSD's. Most folks end up there, but its really the place to start. Looks like VW has finally taken some LSD (to see all that is good!) and including a real mechanical unit on the upcoming Mk7's.

 

[Elliott]

good stuff man!

 

[Sudu420]

Is this a new track or is it Beaver Run renamed and reconstructed? Makes me excited about this coming summer. I have been wanting to get out to a track day then my mkv was totaled. I'll be back into a mkv within a month though, so I'll have to make it out this year.

 

[GTI_Speed]

Good job, how much of an improvement is that before the LSD?

My best time from last summer on a nice hot 80F day was 1:10.9 and I was mostly in the 1:11's the entire weekend.

This weekend I was consistently in the 1:09's with my second fastest lap being a 1:09.252. So I think the consistency is really where the LSD helped. I never had to second guess anything with the throttle input and modulating it was much easier aka it was actually possible to modulate the throttle haha. There were also points when exiting a corner where you could really feel it catch and bite so damn hard. Also was cool hearing the wheel chirp has it came down off the curbing because it was still trying to accelerate!!!

I think the car has at least another .5 secs in it. I'm only at Stage2 on my K03 right now and throwing a P0420 CEL for my Catalyst, maybe that's slowing me down some? I'm going have an appointment at the tune shop tomorrow to hopefully go 2+ and figure out why the eff I'm getting a CEL. I could have probably made some changes setup wise with tire pressures to maybe get some more time out of it but I was pushing so damn hard I didn't want to change something for the worse. I was starting around 35psi front and rear and at the end of the session I was measuring 40 up front and 38 rear. I felt like I was over-driving a lot too so I'm sure the driver needs more improvement as well!

Another first for me was being on a fast track with EBC Yellowstuff pads. These things held up very well in both the wet and dry. My fluid was fried halfway through the day on Sunday in the dry, really need to lose the dust shields, and they still had tons of bite to slow me down. It would be really cool to try something along the lines of a race pad to see how much a difference it would make. I think I would need a harness for that though!

 

[GTI_Speed]

Is this a new track or is it Beaver Run renamed and reconstructed? Makes me excited about this coming summer. I have been wanting to get out to a track day then my mkv was totaled. I'll be back into a mkv within a month though, so I'll have to make it out this year.

Yes, this is what used to be Beaverun. The track is still the same, though they supposedly have plans to add another section to it.

If you were ever at Beaverun you will remember the shitty offroad entrance to get in haha. Well they repaved that and made it super smooth. They also paved a over a massive area of the paddock that used to be gravel. Things like this go a long way towards improving your overall experience there.

Definitely get out for a weekend or two. There is another TT event coming at the end of May with a Group called EMRA (www.emraracing.org). I should be there as well. Autocross season starts soon too!

 

[GTI_Speed]

awesome!

I'm giving Kumho XS's a go this season as well, sounds like they ran well for you. Want to try RS3's at some point too.

I was a little nervous about switching to them because of tirerack saying they are terrible in the wet but I figured they couldn't be any worse than the RS3's. I guess Hankook's supply chain sucks and they take forever to get shipments in so I bit on the Kumho's.

I have a theory, the inside edge of the tire has what looks to be more of a wet tread pattern. I think Kumho designed this tire for cars having larger amounts of camber, I'm talking -2.0deg and up, to keep you from hydroplaning when travelling in a straight line. The car felt so damn composed and was really confidence inspiring. Again I really think the lsd was helping out a lot here with getting on the throttle and being able to apply it more judiciously. I really wish I had video from the wet when I was chasing those GT3's. It was so damn cool.

Also on the way home I was cruising at about 80mph with no issues at all. On track I was going over 110mph on the straights and into braking zones with no issues either.:thumbsup:

 

[GodSquadMandrake]

My best time from last summer on a nice hot 80F day was 1:10.9 and I was mostly in the 1:11's the entire weekend.

This weekend I was consistently in the 1:09's with my second fastest lap being a 1:09.252. So I think the consistency is really where the LSD helped. I never had to second guess anything with the throttle input and modulating it was much easier aka it was actually possible to modulate the throttle haha. There were also points when exiting a corner where you could really feel it catch and bite so damn hard. Also was cool hearing the wheel chirp has it came down off the curbing because it was still trying to accelerate!!!

I guess it is kind of hard to make a direct comparison because I forgot you added the SMF at the same time. That dropped 2 seconds off my lap times alone. Plus you're using different tires. It certainly sounds like an improvement either way however.

I'm not surprised about the tire pressures and brakes though. Remember with the LSD you are increasing the work load on the tires during acceleration and gaining more speed down the straights, but you can only enter the corner at the same speed as before. So it naturally puts more wear on the brakes and tires. With the stage 2 it probably shouldn't be a big deal but if you get more power you could get into that zone where the tires can become completely exhausted and suddenly lose traction. My suggestion wouldn't be to gain more power but to improve the balance of the car to reduce the load on the front tires.

At the point you're already at better pads are probably a necessity anyway so you might as well put some on that have the proper temperature range for what you're doing. I don't think you need a harness, just lock the inertia reel on the seatbelt when you buckle up so it holds you in place firmly. Boiling your brake fluid is really annoying and can even be dangerous so I'd say it's better to just go with the right pads to avoid that problem.

 

[the bruce]

Best times 4/21/2012:
1. Jack N., GT3RS, 1:12.7
2. Alex A., GTI, 1:13.7 ME :biggrin:
3. Jim B., GT3, 1:13.9
4. Will H., Miata, 1:18.0
5. Brian U., STi, 1:18.4
6. Chris C., Civic, 1:20.4
7. Hunter H., Civic, 1:26.7
8. Dan C., WRX, 1:26.7
9. Kris R., Camaro, 1:27.4


Best times 4/22/2012:
1. Jim B., GT3, 1:05.317
2. Bill D., GT3, 1:05.357
3. Alex A., GTI, 1:09.126 Me :thumbsup:
4. Keith O., Olds Cutlass, 1:10.369 NASCAR :eyebulge:
5. Chris G., Monte Carlo, 1:10.577 NASCAR :eyebulge:
6. Jeff R., Cobalt SS, 1:11.049
7. Hunter H., Civic, 1:11.437
8. Jim W., VW, 1:11.621
9. Will H., Miata, 1:11.919
10. Chris C., Civic, 1:12.601
11. Dan C., WRX, 1:12.872
12. Jammie A., Civic, 1:13.687
13. Laura A., Corvette, 1:14.120
14. Gibby B., Camaro, 1:15.651
15. Kris R., Camaro, 1:16.368
16. John G., Mustang, 1:16.396

Whoever says this car is a shitty track car can suck it!:thumbdown:

Awesome results !! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

PICS PLEASE !!!

 

[GTI_Speed]

Here are some pics I hope this works...