More on gear oil

I'm currently using this gear oil "Motul Gear Competition MT Oil 75W-140". Was out in the car tonight meeting Richard in Autobacs in Odaiba and for the first part of the drive I had to really work at slotting the car slowly into gear. The first shift was surprisingly hard to do. I don't usually rev the engine until the oil comes up to temp so it also takes quite some time before the gear oil heats up too. But when it did, the shifts were back to silky smooth. I guess this winter I can expect more of the same thing regarding this particular oil. It definitely works differently to the other oil where even when you first hop into the car, the shifts were pretty good. Still, I'd much rather smooth shifts when its heated up on the race track.

Got front/rear brake pads on the ready also. I was looking at my remaining pads tonight and I think after my next run on Tsukuba they will be spent. I'm going to install the new pads myself and will have to do so before Fuji. Should be fun. I think I have all the tools I need now. Going to go with Project Mu HC+ pads again as they are serving me well.

Also a mate gave me a lend of his "Driftbox" so I'm looking forward to getting some data out of that from my run on Tsukuba. I'm quite curious about my corner entry speeds and how consistent I am.

More Mazda Speed Cup Trial Footage

I finally pulled my lap times out of my lap timer. No segment times unfortunately. Pretty happy with the times though. I got 5 x 1'09 times and 5 x 1'10 times with a mix of other laps in between. I'm pretty sure I should have got a 1'08 on the second lap in this video as I had to slow down going through Dunlop and just after it as another car was in my line. Oh well. that happens :-) Next time I'll try leave a little more space to play with. The lap times shown in this video are 1'09.425, 1'09.96 and 1'10.46.

Lucky Number 13!

This is footage from the 2nd session of the Mazda Speed Cup Circuit Trial at TC2000. I made a mistake by coming on the power too heavy too early into the first corner and ended up heading for the barrier. Lucky I stopped just in time and headed right back out into the action. If you don't spin - you're not trying!

Mazda Speed Circuit Trial

Woke up at 3:35, showered, shoved 2 contacts into 2 sleepy eyes and hit the road at 4am. Arrived at Tsukuba at around 5:30 and began my preparations in the still darkness with a torch. By 6:20 I had eaten some breakfast and was ready to register. Got the numbers and official lap timer, stuck them on and headed to my parking allocation inside the track. Ran over to the control tower and got a form signed off to say that I could capture my run on video. Back to the car by 7am so that the officials could review my car and mark it as track ready. The only uncertainty was what pressure to start out with on my tires. I chose 200 except the front left which I set to 195. It was bitterly cold so good times were expected. Drivers meeting from 7:50, out on the track at 8:35 for first run. What a schedule!

Someone spun on the first lap on the last corner into the pit lane wall. Not a good place to spin. Luckily he stopped so that he only tapped the wall head on leaving a big dent in his bumper but not much other damage. Red flag was out so back to the pit lane. Not nervous at all. I just wanted to go faster and I felt the time was right. Green light so back out on the track. A blue car passed by on the straight on the out lap - the nerve! I took him on the first corner and continued going to set a blazing 1'09.425 on my first lap. I was flying. I wanted to go faster. I was chasing that 1'08 I wanted so badly. A couple more 1'09s mixed in with some traffic laps I could do no better as the grip got less and I started sliding more. Still - not one to give up, I battled on and sadly missed seeing the checked flag as I was distracted looking at where I could pass the next car in front of me into the first corner. I noticed all the cars had slowed down and it dawned on me that the session was over. So cooled the car down back to the car park.

"Number 13" was wanted by the control tower... Drat. I knew exactly why too which is good, I guess. So off I headed for my telling off. It was my first event so it was all new. Its good to get called in sooner than later as its tells you were you stand. Sure enough, they'd spotted that I'd ignored the checkered flag and I assured them I wouldn't do it again. They didn't make a big deal out of it so off I went smiling at my good fortune that I didn't have my quickest lap taken from me as some sort of penalty. Whew! I'll try harder from now on! Honest!

We had some time until the second session so I put in some petrol to bring me back up to half a tank. That 20 litre gas tank I bought is too big! Oh well, at least I have spare gas now at reasonable Tsukuba prices (about 10 difference from Tokyo). They didn't do a car exam (shaken) before the second run. We had a drivers meeting and then was back on the track again at 12:40.

The temperature had risen since the morning. I'd left my tires as is. They probably could have done with more pressure as they'd been 240 when I checked them after the first session. Oh well. In the second session I didn't seem to have as much grip as the first session although I was still trying to go in with more speed into all the corners. Finally after only a few laps, I unbalanced the car by throttling too hard mid corner and headed for the inside of the first corner. First thing I noticed was there was no padding where I was headed. I was pretty sure I could stop initially but the brakes just didn't work once I hit the grass and I kept sliding inwards. Here comes the wall. I stopped. Whew! Only inches away but that is far enough for me. An inch is a mile when you didn't hit something. Game on! Lets get back out there. I still haven't got a 1'08!

About 2 or 3 laps later, I unbalanced the car again mid corner on the 2nd hairpin and spun inwards. Damn. After considering reversing out for a bit, I decided to just try going across the grass and driving out the exit instead as it seemed safer for all parties. All I could think of was what a waste of time that was and how I only had perhaps 1 lap left to try something special so I got back up to speed. The rest was uneventful though as there was a car in front of me and some others going slow on the outside of corners etc. Best I managed manage was a 1'09.625 on the 2nd session. As it turned out though everyone was about 0.200 or so slower on the second session so it wasn't just me.

So, 1'09.425 is my best time at TC2000. I was really happy with that. I'd gone all out to get it. Unfortunately, everyone else was spectacular also and that time was only good enough for 9th place out of the 17 entrants in the RX-8 More Class. Half way up the field is not bad I guess. Everyone a head of my was a member of RTE! Such domination!

I think I need a new tactic now to go faster. I need to ignore fast laps for a while and try improve on sections by trying different things and concentrating on single corners every lap. To avoid boredom, I think I'll still try 2 attack laps followed by only attacking the 2nd hairpin to start off with. There is probably still time to get with a fast entry/exit on that corner as the back straight follows. I feel I'm also weak at the 1st hairin - well most corners to be honest but I hate it when I go too slow through there with over braking. I find I don't have a proper entry plan in my head or at least I never stick with one for that corner. Hopefully targeting specific corners should help get me the 1'08 that I seek - although I'm really after a 1'07 :-)

New Gear Oil

After all the gear problems today, I tried giving Kato-san at D-Technique a call to see what he thought the problem could be. He thought it sounded a lot like the wrong gear oil. As he was at the shop he asked if I wanted to drop in and change oil. Now that's service - D-Technique is closed on Tuesdays after all. Normally, I would have just dropped in the weekend but since I am back on the track on the 18th that wasn't possible. So thanks for the offer Kato-san!!!

New oil: Motul Gear Competition MT Oil 75W-140
Old oil: Speed Master Pro Super Gear Oil 75W-90

Hmmm. spot the difference? I didn't recall the temp ratings on the oil I had put in it last at Super Autobacs when I had it done recently but sure enough it had a lower temp rating then Kato-sans recommended oil. I expect this will solve the problem. Gear changes were just fine all the way home. He said they might be tough first thing on a cold morning.

I hope this holds up now. Thanks again Kato-san!

TC2000 with RE-01Rs and new alignment

Today was my first time trying out my new RE-01R (225/45R18) tires along with the new alignment. Car started without problems this morning. I'd been a bit worried after it failed to start on Saturday. Problems seem resolved today on that front.

The shuto expressway is a good test of a cars settings as its twisty enough and the speed is just right. Traveling up to Tsukuba the car felt a little different than before. I wasn't too sure why. Tires seemed comfy enough but something felt strange. Sorted this out at the gas station. Turns out the pressures were uneven. I'd asked Super Autobacs to put 220 kpa in each tire but they were sitting on 250 and 230 on different wheels. Can't those guys get anything right? Anyway set them all at 240 with the garage guage and hit the track. At the circuit I decided to start my front left at 225 and the others at 230 on my gauge to see where they'd go.

First session I took it easy enough for the first bit exploring the tires. They felt really solid in terms of grip. I really felt the back sliding very nicely into turns in a very controlled manner. I didn't really look at lap times but got a 1'10.699 on the 2nd last lap. I was dying to explore more. After coming back in front right was 280, back left and front right were 270 and the rear right was 260. I set all tires to 260.

Second session I started to have problems changing gears :-( During a shift up from 2nd to 3rd it would grind. It would grid also dropping gears. Even 4th to 3rd became hap-hazzard. Hmmm. Syncro? I tried to change as carefully as possible but it wasn't possible. Sometimes the gear would not engage. This seemed to happen only at high revs and only after the car had heated up. I was thinking my gear oil is not right for the car or something. I'd just added some new Speed Master Pro Super Gear Oil SAE:75W-90, so this was a little upsetting. This made getting a decent lap time quite hard as missing 3rd to 2nd coming into a hairpin can really throw the car off the line/speed not to mention balance.

I decided to do the last session to see what way gear changes would behave during the first few laps. Sure enough, problem seemed resolved only for it to resurface after about 4 laps. Gear oil seems to be the culprit. Hope I didn't destroy my synchros too much today or cause any other damage. I think I was as gentle as I could be.

Anyway - back to the tires and alignment. I can't really tell you much about the tires alone except that they are as good as the ADVANs. Braking is better with the RE01Rs. With the ADVANS its very easy to lock the wheels where as the RE01Rs really did a good job of stopping me. This is not just a recent thing about the ADVANs either. They were like that from the start. The tires also looked a lot better after 3 hard sessions today than I remember the ADVANs looking which is a positive sign. The sidewalls didn't get quite as eaten as they did on the ADVANs.

Alignment was amazing. Felt excellent. Turning into the corners the back would come around very gradually. Great sense of security in how the car moved. Never felt it was going to go into wild over-steer like my older setting would sometimes send me. Todays best time was on the 4th lap of the 3rd session. Each session I got faster apart from the last few laps where I was nursing the gears.

Weather wise it was quite hot today. 19 degrees!
Including all sessions, top 5 times for the record were:
1. 1'10.254 - 28.520 28.868 12.866 - 152.392 km/h
2. 1'10.422 - 28.413 29.350 12.659 - 153.562 km/h
3. 1'10.493 - 28.854 28.839 12.800 - 153.061 km/h
4. 1'10.699 - 28.643 28.979 13.077 - 150.880 km/h
5. 1'10.787 - 28.699 29.179 12.909 - 150.670 km/h

My best sector times give me a best virtual lap of 1'09.801. So at least that's still on the cars. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't do a faster time today but the gear issues mad driving fast quite difficult. Oh well - take heart and look forward to the next one.

As a side note: I was in the A group today. Its pretty interesting when there are a lot of fast cars around. It made things pretty fun. I didn't really have to wait up at all. The other side of that is though, most people seem to just attack one lap and then sleep until their cars recovered. That was painful at times as there was always someone to watch out for. I like to just go-go-go all the time.

I didn't notice an appreciable difference in the plugs. Its hard to tell though as I was concentrating mostly on my tires and alignment.

Spark plugs and alignment

Called down to D-Technique today to pick up my car. Had the following done.
- Alignment
- plugs and plug leads.
- clean the air filter.

The previous alignment setting was complete gone. Where as previously I started with no toe in on the front, I now had toe out and where I had toe in on the back, that was gone. This is apparently quite an over-steer setting which does explain some of the trouble I've been having keeping her straight these days. New alignment gets me back on track more towards my previous alignment again with some changes.

Since, I mostly track the car I also decided to go ahead and get the racing plugs and matching leads. This helps with the power at higher revs which is what happens on the track. I ran it down Daisankeihin today and noticed the sound of the car under acceleration is quite different. Hard to describe the difference as its just a tone change. I'm quite in tune with my car so I know its definitely different now.

On leaving D-Technique I called down to the home center in Yokohama to pick up a 20 litre gas tank as I'll need that to tune my gas load for the upcoming Mazda Speed Cup Trial. When I tried to start the car, it started but quickly cut out. Started it again and it did the same thing about 5 times. I tried revving after starting the car and that worked but once the revs dropped it cut out again. Called DT and they asked me to check the plugs and air filter. No major issues there so decided to keep the car alive by revving it and trying to make it back to D-Technique for more debugging. Pretty soon after moving though all was well again and I made it back. DT checked everything and reset the cpu again. All looked fine. He thinks the car needs time to re-learn the new plugs and cleaner filter. Probably right. Driving home felt just fine. Never felt the car wanted to cut out again after that. Go figure. Old plugs were filthy! Yuck! Must have been slowing me down some me thinks.

Also called into Astro shop on the way back and picked up some tools for changing the brake pads. I think I'll try changing the pads myself the next time and see how far I get. I should have all the tools I need to do that.

Looking forward to Tuesday now although I got to be careful on the new alignment and new rubber!

Mazda Speed Cup Trial

My application to the "Mazda Speed Cup Trial" went through. I am in the "More" class and have taken the very attractive number "13"... Its amazing how negative that number is. I am actually surprised that they have that number at all. But I'm above all that! Lucky 13!!! I think its rather a cool number to get.

RTE Member

Finally paid up my membership fees tonight to join Racing Team Eightlien (RTE). RTE are a bunch of really good drivers so hopefully they will teach me more things and my driving will continue to improve. I'm looking forward to being part of the club and meeting them on regular occasions on and off the track. Hopefully I can teach them strange Irish/English in exchange :-)

RE-01Rs arrived!

I took delivery of my current tires, Neova AD07, early February this year which means they lasted me 19 track days! Their days are numbered now. The fronts still have about 2mm of thread on them but as they are also my road tires this is not so good on wet days. They gotta go.

I'll write up a few thoughts on the differences in the 2 tires when I finally get to try the RE-01Rs out on the circuit. Next day is the 13th. Apparently they are quite different. Hearsay has it that they are better for braking and acceleration where as the AD07 provides more lateral grip. I'm looking forward to experiencing this first hand!

I'm getting them fitted on Saturday at Yellow Hat and am then going to get an alignment done with D-Technique for good measure. Its the best timing to do that on the new tires.

I paid 23,000 yen per tire where as the Neova last February cost me 16,700 per tire. Still that's the cheapest price I've seen for my tire sizes.