S550 2017 Grabber Blue Mustang GT Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

[Bill Pemberton]

The newest version of the CR-S does appear to be quicker and there were some drivers showing up a the Solo Nationals this year running them. One Class winner was on them and in chatting with an old friend who is a multiple time National Champion he said on a really, really hot day they stand up better than the A052s or the RE71RSs. So in essence he was stating they were still likely third or so on an autocross , but he said they held up better on a road course than the other two, as they could take more runs before they got greasy. As that is more your forte, I imagine you will find quicker laps in 2024 , but he did mention that they are still a bit noisy, sorry. Thanks for posting, always interesting what others are doing around the Globe.

 

[bnight]

The newest version of the CR-S does appear to be quicker and there were some drivers showing up a the Solo Nationals this year running them. One Class winner was on them and in chatting with an old friend who is a multiple time National Champion he said on a really, really hot day they stand up better than the A052s or the RE71RSs. So in essence he was stating they were still likely third or so on an autocross , but he said they held up better on a road course than the other two, as they could take more runs before they got greasy. As that is more your forte, I imagine you will find quicker laps in 2024 , but he did mention that they are still a bit noisy, sorry. Thanks for posting, always interesting what others are doing around the Globe.

The track is closing for resurface or at least that's what the rumours are in January. So not sure how my 2024 season will look like just yet. But yeah preliminary tests show the CR-S are close in lap times to A052 and RE71RS. There is also the question will they be available in Europe I hope they will.

 

[bnight]

Ford Fest 2023 - Dracon - 01.10.2023

Just a week after my previous event on Dracon I was back for my favourite event of the season Ford Fest 2023. As you guys know I love this event not only is a chance to see amazing ford cars like 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback and 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 (track owner), but it's also a chance to catch up with a lot of friends. This year the Plovdiv Ford Mustang club was a sponsor of the event so naturally there were a lot of Mustangs. As every year I traveled with my Focus RS friend and his son who is now 19 and has a lovely Focus ST. So at 8:00 am we were practically first on track and I manage to get my usual 088 race number.

Since I was on track last week the car didn't needed any preparation. Which mean that I have a lot of time to catch up with friends see beautiful cars and enjoy. The weather was better than last week so I was hoping to finally brake that 1:05 barrier. This year the Mustang class was packed with 3 Mach 1's 1 A10 2019 Supercharged Mustang (1:08.958).
Just before my first session some ford blow it's engine and spill coolant in the braking zone for the first hairpin.
First session started really good with 1:07.116 but this is far from 1:05 what was clear in that session was that front right tires is not holding me as it should though based on that photo I can't imagine this is possible:

But when inspecting it visually it was clear that the tire was having it's last times this is 3rd track day with that tire been front right and all 3 days were in real heat so probably I should have rotated tires.

Second session marked my best time for the day 1:06.944 but I again overshoot the last corner because of hard brake pedal ... this is starting to get annoying need to figure something out my only option by the looks of it is bigger brake deflectors. On bride sight since it was colder the CHT's were somehow reasonable. The Mach 1's did 1:11.961 and 1:14.507 but we are talking stock cars with A10's and drivers that only have a few or less times on track. However is impressive that the mods that I did to the car make 4 seconds difference on a 2 km track. I'm sure that if the Mach 1 is on same tires with better driver the difference will be close to 1 second or so. But still a lot of people were very impressed and ask me what I had done to the engine. Which obviously was nothing.

At lunch time there was a car expo on all car at the start/finish which was amazing:



We only had 1 session left but I was not able to improve. However in the other big class Turbo my friend with the Focus RS was doing great with 1:08.661 on AR-1's and his son did an impressive last session with 1:13.458 for 3rd in Class. So all 3 cars on the first photo were on a podium.

Here is the overall standings:




So what is next ?

A friend of mine sold me used Steeda Toe links and new ford performance toe to knuckle bearings so I need to install them which hopefully will fix the annoying noises from the back.

Speaking of annoying noises my front right spring insulator bushing seams to be getting worn that mean that I need to get the front struts out and replace both insulators.

I still need to figure all my cooling issues namely brakes and CHT most importantly brakes. The car is stopping fantastic but it's just not consistent enough to push lap after lap. Same goes for CHT I can push for 2 laps but then the CHT shoot through the roof. I will figure out something in the off season which only few weeks away now.

 

[bnight]

Аfter the Ford Fest I went to my tires shop to rotate tires as my front right was not in best condition we started rotating tires but when we get to front right tire we found this:



I have a great idea how that happen in my last session on the Ford Fest I dropped off the 1st right curb because I instinctively braked and the car over rotated which was not ideal considering I was already on the edge of the curb. Luckly I was able to take the car home and to the tire shop. Obviously I ordered a new wheel from Apex that I'm still waiting for (unlucky for me this was just a few days after the 2nd year of purchasing the SM-10's). We rotated tires and balanced the other 3 wheels but I will need to deal with that. I changed to my very worn (original PZero fronts, Hankook K127 rears) summer tires and call it a day.

Free Day - Dracon - 16.11.2023

With the end of season fast approaching my friend with the A10 Mach 1 suggested we go to Dracon for a free day to finish of our street summer tires in style (his PS4s has seen better days for sure).

I decided this is a great opportunity to see what the car can do with OEM Tires and to see exactly how much of a difference the 305/30/19 AR-1's and SM-10 wheels really make ( I did 1:06.9 on the Ford Fest at 26C (78F) weather). The SM-10 combo with tires is 10 kg (22 lbs) total lighter than stock tires and wheels.

It was amazing day we were the only 2 cars on track arrived at around 10:00 am. The weather was dry clear sky and 15C (59F) but there was a lot of wind which lucky for us was in the direction of the longest straight.

First few sessions the tires were very cold (I run my stock PSI settings) and I only did 1:11.53 which was shocking bad. It was remarkable how much more the car was sliding in the rear with the K127 tires (Dot 2019) in fact my OEM Pzero fronts looked like have a lot more grip (Dot 2017) than this K127my advice is don't buy Hankook Summer tires for the Mustang they are not up to the task.

In the second session I only did 1:13.5 and my friend offered me to pop in his Mach 1 and do a lap there. I can tell you the PS4s tires were not great ether and with the Magnaride the car was moving even more in the corners with both of us in the car I only manage to do 1:13.9 which is showing that whatever HP advantage the Mach 1 is having was offset by the added weight of 2nd person in car. The A10 started to acting up and skipping gears after just 1 lap on track (may be adaptation kicking in but my guess is hot trans oil). So we decided to give the car a rest.

I than give my car to the Mach 1 owner and he was impressed with how fun a Manual in a Mustang is as well as how well sorted my suspension is. He didn't push my car at all though doing only 1:20 or so lap. The Mach 1 actually burned through a lot more fuel than me (half a tank) when I only burned 1/3rd or so.

With the Mach 1 need for fuel and the lunch time fast approaching we decided to go for lunch and fuel with the Mach 1. We traveled 20 or so km's to a spa hotel with amazing restaurant and the autumn scenes of the road and fields with beautiful blue sky and white clouds was creating a lovely riding experience there is so much fun you can have in a Mach 1 even just been a passenger in one. The lunch was amazing and like 2 hours or so.

We were back on track at 14:30 starting with a few more sessions. I don't usually like afternoon sessions but after the lovely lunch and with the fast ride in the Mach 1 I was looking forward to improve my lap times. Obviously few more hours of sun made the track a bit faster as well. I did 1:10.82 in that session and my friend was dropping into the 1:12's which was his new PB's.

I did another session shortly after at 15:10 and dropped to 1:10.68 started noticing brakes fade as well even with street tires but after a few laps so decided to let the brakes cool down and pop in the car with my friend to show him some lines.

My final session for the day was at 15:50 and was a short 5 laps session with the goal of dropping down to 1:09 I only manage to do it slightly down to 1:09.97. Compared to worst weather conditions and full with cars track on Ford Fest that marks for 3 seconds time difference between OEM size PP1 tires package and my track tires. However the interesting thing is I actually manage to clock 187.5 km/h (highest speed I even done on Dracon) this obviously will not be possible with 305/30 tires.

We than packed and get back to Sofia in the Evening I stopped to wash the car and call it a day and what a lovely day it was.


Season 2024 Upgrade Plans

A few other interesting developments till now. My Friend with the Cayman actually put Nankang AR-1's and ask me to go with him to the track (29.10.2023) so he can try to improve and I help him with advice etc. It was a lovely travaling in a Cayman it's remarkable how good that car is on the street the brakes are really quiet the suspension is sporty without been harsh and the overall riding experience is really good you fast get used to the fact that it's a small car with not a lot of room but it's actually reasonably comfortable (in a way it remind me of my ex's 206 CC) with my help and a lot of over breaking (porsche breaks really are amazing) he manage to do 1:05.70. Few weeks later was the Dracon Speed Cup (18.11.2023) final round (I had to skip because of the wheel issue). The Porsche actually took my place and manage to do 1:05.020 (PB so far).

The E36 BMW actually manage to win the championship overall and was fastest with 1:04.579.
There are a few other cars that took participation in the class but were not on the final event one is a BMW 440i with a best time of 1:04.687.

A friend of mine has a BMW M2 which he run in one round but didn't in the final he improved to a 1:03.763 on a AR-1's.

There is also a new BMW M4 (G80) that the owner was previously running (F80) in Speed cup he did a 1:03.909 again on AR-1's.

So as you can tell based on my 1:06.9 and a best of 1:06.39 through the season I look like to be like 3 seconds off the pace from podium places in the Street Tuning class which is understandable considering me and the Cayman are the only N/A cars in the field and everyone is running 700 whp.

With that in mind a few things I plan to do for next season:

1. I obviously do need new set of tires. Considering everyone is saying that the king of tires at the moment is the A052 (should be faster than AR-1's) I plan to switch to 295/35/19 A052's this will hopefully help me to pick up some top speed end of straight.

2. I need more power to the car so far I narrow it down to a Power Pack 3 (GT350 IM, GT350 TB, GT350 CAI) because this kit actually have an EU version with EU calibration. This will help me stay at 4th in the back straight and pickup top speed with the goal of hitting 200 km/h before braking.

3. Speaking of braking I plan to purchase brake cooling plates from Vorshlag as they say are as effective as hoses based on there testing and much simpler to install. Will probably add R10 rear brake pads as well or look for other brake pads options (looks like not a lot are available in Europe).

4. Speaking of cooling with the added power from the Power Pack 3 I think I will need to step up my cooling game. At the moment I'm looking into Mishimoto Ultimate Bundle (Oil Cooler, Radiator, Racing Thermostat, All the hoses, Aluminium Extension Tank) mostly for easy of install not sure if it will actually do something but I'm sick of not been able to run in summer. Though this will not be needed this season as the track will be repaved in summer. Last open day is 30.05.2023.

5. I need to sort out the spring insulator issue in the front. I'm not sure how dangerous this one is ? But this might require coilovers rebuild which will be annoying.

6. FP Knuckle to Toe link bearings need to be installed. I'm still debating if I want the toe-links to be installed as well.

7. New set of lug nuts as mine have seen better days and this is obviously always needed.

Looks like it's going to be really busy off season.

Hope you all have amazing Christmas holidays with a lot of new shiny car parts under the tree.

 

[302BOB]

I always liked the Grabber Blue Color, but CO remains my favorite!!.........Hon has nothing to do with this..........................

 

[Vettel-ish]

Wow epic write ups and track events. Love the blue and a set of Apex 10....SO good!

Keep improving!

 

[bnight]

Pre Season preparation 2024

Ok we are back ! As you know from the last post I had big plans for winter let's see how well this plans were executed.

So on 15 of January the first boxes started to arrive:




This lovely Ford Performance Power Pack 3.

Than this box arrived on 23 of February:




Vorshlag brake cooling plates this are not yet installed though.

On the next day a friend of mine helped with the install of the Knuckle to toe-link bearings (this was a PITA but we did it when we find the right stone).



The toe-links are second hand so they don't look the best but they are doing the job which is the important part.

Than on 06.03.2024 the new Rubber arrived 295/35/19 Yoko A052 this is making all the rage in the S650 community mostly Steeda is running them on the new GT as well as Vorshlag on the new Dark Horse they even did a test against the Pirelli Trofeo RS. So I looking for less diff decided it's time to go in that direction




There is something so exciting when you get new rubber the second set is for my friend with the Cayman GTS we will be going on a two day track day on Serres in a few weeks 23-24.03

Literally the very next day 07.03.2024 my car had a dealer visit for installing the FP Power Pack 3 as well as changing oil fresh 5W20, diff fluid 75W140 Motul, trans fluid Motul DCTF overall Moto-Pfohe did amazing job on the install:




In mean time a new Apex rim arrived and I manage to reinstall the 305/30/19 Nankang on it as well.

So far the Power Pack 3 is on the car as well as the FP Knuckle to toe-link bearings and Steeda Toe-Links didn't manage to find time to install the new rubber (mostly because the events upcoming are a lot so getting a bit more from the Nankang is a must) as well as i still need to install Vorshlag plates.

When the power pack was installed I notice that when I rev the car the brake pedal is moving up and then down. I'm obviously having a vaccum leak of some sort from the check valve.




Ordered new one as well as new gorment but I'm not sure when they will arrive. I hope it will be soon as I have a track day coming up.

So a bit more work to do on the car.

Free Day - Dracon - 10.03.2024

I was obviously eager to test the new mods on track and I have two friends with 2 Mach 1's that were wanting to trash some tires on track and to learn a lot so we decided that we can go to the open track day on Sunday (10.03.2024). Sadly since I only received the car on Thursday (07.03.2024) didn't have enough time to figure things out and with the Check Valve leaking I needed to find solutions fast. I got super lucky as someone was having 2 S550 torn apart near the track and was having a check valve not sold on one of them he agree to sell it to me on a Sunday what a nice guy. So I wake up at 8:00 AM got into the garage and installed the Apex tires and the 305/30/19 AR-1's that obviously had seen better days this is there 3rd season. I took of to the track at around 10:20 but needed to make short pit stop for Check Valve. Did that at around 12:00 so was on track at 12:40 or so to see a track full of lovely cars 15 or so with AMG GTR been the most stand out of them.

First session was just getting to know the car and see if the brakes work or not so I did 1:08 but the car was feeling brutal fast with the new PP3 I hit 189 km/h on the end of the straight.

Even with the very old rubber and relatively cold weather 13C (55F) the car was like on rails on the rear that's amazing.

The worst thing is that I can only describe the brakes as inconsistent they were stopping a lot more than last time out which combined with the faster car was trowing my game a lot more than I though but after a few laps the pedal was getting hard even on the end of the big straight.

So obviously the check valve is not the issue but still will replace with new one.

Something interesting is the CHT the car was getting hot 109C (228F) but now after 1 cooldown lap the temps were dropping to 95C (203F) I guess this is the benefit of the CAI from the GT350. This will be great help as I will be able to do more laps in a session ones I figure out what exactly is going on with the brakes. I guess the brake cooling plates might help with that. But it was cold weather.

The Mach 1's were amazing car though with 1 on winter tires (1:15) and one with old summer PS4s (1:12) my car was miles ahead faster. Good think is that Gen 2 is pulling the same acceleration as well as top speeds as this babies and I'm sure my friends will improve there driving through the season after all I'm here to help them.

Next session I manage to get more confidence in the car to drop my lap times to 1:07.05 this is very close to my Ford Fest time of 1:06.94 but I was making a lot and a lot of mistakes.









I'm struggling a lot in the last sector with the slow U turn corners. Will need to figure it out.

Overall I think the test was positive and the car is great and I manage to make it home safe:




So what is next:

I need to install the Brake Cooling ducts.
I need to install the new A052 tires.
I need to install new check valve when it gets here.

I have the start of the Time Attack season next Saturday (16.03.2024).
Fallowed by Serres track days next weekend 23.03-24.03.

I don't think I ever had 3 weeks of events back-to-back so I really really hope the car will hold together. But overall I think it's a positive start on a very exciting season.

 

[JP X]

Pre Season preparation 2024

Ok we are back ! As you know from the last post I had big plans for winter let's see how well this plans were executed.

So on 15 of January the first boxes started to arrive:


View attachment 93810

This lovely Ford Performance Power Pack 3.

Than this box arrived on 23 of February:


View attachment 93811

Vorshlag brake cooling plates this are not yet installed though.

On the next day a friend of mine helped with the install of the Knuckle to toe-link bearings (this was a PITA but we did it when we find the right stone).

View attachment 93812

The toe-links are second hand so they don't look the best but they are doing the job which is the important part.

Than on 06.03.2024 the new Rubber arrived 295/35/19 Yoko A052 this is making all the rage in the S650 community mostly Steeda is running them on the new GT as well as Vorshlag on the new Dark Horse they even did a test against the Pirelli Trofeo RS. So I looking for less diff decided it's time to go in that direction

View attachment 93813


There is something so exciting when you get new rubber the second set is for my friend with the Cayman GTS we will be going on a two day track day on Serres in a few weeks 23-24.03

Literally the very next day 07.03.2024 my car had a dealer visit for installing the FP Power Pack 3 as well as changing oil fresh 5W20, diff fluid 75W140 Motul, trans fluid Motul DCTF overall Moto-Pfohe did amazing job on the install:


View attachment 93814

In mean time a new Apex rim arrived and I manage to reinstall the 305/30/19 Nankang on it as well.

So far the Power Pack 3 is on the car as well as the FP Knuckle to toe-link bearings and Steeda Toe-Links didn't manage to find time to install the new rubber (mostly because the events upcoming are a lot so getting a bit more from the Nankang is a must) as well as i still need to install Vorshlag plates.

When the power pack was installed I notice that when I rev the car the brake pedal is moving up and then down. I'm obviously having a vaccum leak of some sort from the check valve.


View attachment 93815

Ordered new one as well as new gorment but I'm not sure when they will arrive. I hope it will be soon as I have a track day coming up.

So a bit more work to do on the car.

Free Day - Dracon - 10.03.2024

I was obviously eager to test the new mods on track and I have two friends with 2 Mach 1's that were wanting to trash some tires on track and to learn a lot so we decided that we can go to the open track day on Sunday (10.03.2024). Sadly since I only received the car on Thursday (07.03.2024) didn't have enough time to figure things out and with the Check Valve leaking I needed to find solutions fast. I got super lucky as someone was having 2 S550 torn apart near the track and was having a check valve not sold on one of them he agree to sell it to me on a Sunday what a nice guy. So I wake up at 8:00 AM got into the garage and installed the Apex tires and the 305/30/19 AR-1's that obviously had seen better days this is there 3rd season. I took of to the track at around 10:20 but needed to make short pit stop for Check Valve. Did that at around 12:00 so was on track at 12:40 or so to see a track full of lovely cars 15 or so with AMG GTR been the most stand out of them.

First session was just getting to know the car and see if the brakes work or not so I did 1:08 but the car was feeling brutal fast with the new PP3 I hit 189 km/h on the end of the straight.

Even with the very old rubber and relatively cold weather 13C (55F) the car was like on rails on the rear that's amazing.

The worst thing is that I can only describe the brakes as inconsistent they were stopping a lot more than last time out which combined with the faster car was trowing my game a lot more than I though but after a few laps the pedal was getting hard even on the end of the big straight.

So obviously the check valve is not the issue but still will replace with new one.

Something interesting is the CHT the car was getting hot 109C (228F) but now after 1 cooldown lap the temps were dropping to 95C (203F) I guess this is the benefit of the CAI from the GT350. This will be great help as I will be able to do more laps in a session ones I figure out what exactly is going on with the brakes. I guess the brake cooling plates might help with that. But it was cold weather.

The Mach 1's were amazing car though with 1 on winter tires (1:15) and one with old summer PS4s (1:12) my car was miles ahead faster. Good think is that Gen 2 is pulling the same acceleration as well as top speeds as this babies and I'm sure my friends will improve there driving through the season after all I'm here to help them.

Next session I manage to get more confidence in the car to drop my lap times to 1:07.05 this is very close to my Ford Fest time of 1:06.94 but I was making a lot and a lot of mistakes.




View attachment 93816


View attachment 93817

I'm struggling a lot in the last sector with the slow U turn corners. Will need to figure it out.

Overall I think the test was positive and the car is great and I manage to make it home safe:

View attachment 93818


So what is next:

I need to install the Brake Cooling ducts.
I need to install the new A052 tires.
I need to install new check valve when it gets here.

I have the start of the Time Attack season next Saturday (16.03.2024).
Fallowed by Serres track days next weekend 23.03-24.03.

I don't think I ever had 3 weeks of events back-to-back so I really really hope the car will hold together. But overall I think it's a positive start on a very exciting season.

Wow, you've been busy! Good stuff, H!

 

[biggsy]

Great progress so far!

also do you have the braided clutch line connected at the firewall or the intermediate hardline?

 

[bnight]

Great progress so far!

also do you have the braided clutch line connected at the firewall or the intermediate hardline?

I do have the one from master to firewall because I was heaving issues with it slipping out.

 

[biggsy]

Sorry I’m talking about this end.

 

[bnight]

Sorry I’m talking about this end.

View attachment 93819

That looks like the steeda line but I don't know why it's connected here and not on the firewall.

 

[biggsy]

That looks like the steeda line but I don't know why it's connected here and not on the firewall.

Yup. I had mine there before. When I moved it to the firewall it did make a difference. One less point of air getting in

 

[bnight]

Yup. I had mine there before. When I moved it to the firewall it did make a difference. One less point of air getting in

what you mean by one less point of air getting in ?

 

[biggsy]

what you mean by one less point of air getting in ?

so one of the reasons why dead (or low) clutch pedal happen is because of possible air in the system. When the slave cylinder (throwout bearing) is replaced we have to pump the pedal a million times. All this I’m sure you know but I’m saying even though that joint is sealed there is still a very small chance of air getting in. If you connect it directly from the firewall/master cylinder, it is a direct line to the throwout bearing. Have you realized the stainless line is pretty long when connected there? I know steeda’s video shows them connecting it there but it is actually the proper length to connect directly to the firewall.

Again, you could have no issues and everything I said can be thrown out the window but in my personal experience, moving it to the firewall provided better feedback in the clutch pedal

 

[biggsy]

Just checked and Steeda’s instruction actually mention connecting it to the firewall.

 

[bnight]

Just checked and Steeda’s instruction actually mention connecting it to the firewall.
View attachment 93820

I will need to look into my engine bay and see how this is connected because I thought it was connected to firewall but I remember Moto-Pfohe mentioning something about the line been to long so maybe that's why they don't connected it to firewall. If this needs to be fixed is going to be a PITA.

 

[bnight]

so one of the reasons why dead (or low) clutch pedal happen is because of possible air in the system. When the slave cylinder (throwout bearing) is replaced we have to pump the pedal a million times. All this I’m sure you know but I’m saying even though that joint is sealed there is still a very small chance of air getting in. If you connect it directly from the firewall/master cylinder, it is a direct line to the throwout bearing. Have you realized the stainless line is pretty long when connected there? I know steeda’s video shows them connecting it there but it is actually the proper length to connect directly to the firewall.

Again, you could have no issues and everything I said can be thrown out the window but in my personal experience, moving it to the firewall provided better feedback in the clutch pedal

My clutch pedal is fine hard etc but I'm having some brakes issues and since master is shared and the issues did start after the clutch line was installed you might be right and maybe I do have an air getting in from here situation. Will investigate more but still a PITA.

 

[biggsy]

Not going to lie to you…it was a PITA lol. The fitting at the firewall which is your clutch master cylinder is at an angle. If you don’t have it right, it’ll be like jamming your finger into a wall. It took me 3 days and patience to get that line in plus my hands aren’t the smallest. It’s a tight fit with the ABS block there.

 

[bnight]

Day in the Shop - 14.03.2024

So after last weekend track test I decided to visit my tire shop and install the A052 tires. It was a miserable rainy day and it took me 2 hours to get to the shop was planning to also install the brakes cooling but in the hurry I forgot the parts at home. However an hour late for my appointment we started changing the front right tire the old one looked like that:




However we mounted the new A052 295/35/19:





And we noticed that 295/35/19 A052 run wider than 305/30/19 AR-1 so I was naturally concerned about fitment we put the tire on the car just to notice that the car is hitting the struts. So I was very unhappy and got back home thinking of why this is happening. It took me a while to realise that when we fitted the 305/30/19's we took all the camber possible from the spindle reducing the inner clearance. I called my shop again and booked a new appointment for 20.03.2024. Hopefully this time we will make the 295/35/19 tires work.

Dracon Speed Cup R1 - Dracon - 16.03.2024

With my new tires not fitted and the old ones having 171 laps on them I was wondering if I should waste resources on the first round in the Dracon cup or not. However I decided that I really really need the track time considering how poor my driving with the new mods were and how not used to them I'm. So I wake up at 6:30 and start driving to the track at 7:10 I get to the track at 8:40 or so pass technical got registered got my transponder and by 9:00 or so was done with the car prepping:





There is something so exciting about a new season. There were 78 cars registered a lot of people that I'm always happy to see and a lovely spring day with 15C (59F) high temps. It was sunny it was without any wind and just a lovely day. In my class there were only 3 cars a BMW 440i F series with highly modded B58 engine, me and a VW Golf MK4 that has it's first Time Attack event. In the Modded 3000 ci+ class there was a Supra, AMG GTR in White and A4 B7 1.8T all of them on slicks.
Since there are a lot of cars as we know the sessions will go slow and they combine classes since in most classes there are few cars. In my session we were combined with the Street Tuning class between 2l and 3l. Last year that event was held on 18.03.2023 and my best lap was 1:06.55 in it. My first session for the day was around 11:00 so I spend that time talking with friends and enjoying the lovely cars. There were a lot of cars in my session it took me 6 laps of clearing traffic to get a clean lap. The new CAI and Intake setup works as now even if I get my CHT hot highest I seen was 228F it only took half a lap for it to drop to 206F which allow me to push even in my 7th lap of the stint. Since the tires were old I was having hard time getting them up to temp usually taking 2-3 laps while previously it was taking 1 lap. So my first session ended with a lap time of 1:06.825 which was second fastest in the session after the BMW 1:04.839 the Golf was doing laps around 1:19 so I was running 2nd in Class:




After us was the Modded class and was lovely to watch the Yellow Supra the White AMG GTR and the Audi having a go for it. The Supra and the Audi are heavy modified cars with a lot of power even though the Audi is only 1.8T it manage to post the fastest lap time of the day at 1:01.830 while the AMG GTR posted 3rd fastest with 1:02.760 while the Supra only did 1:02.850.
We always joke that the 1.8T Audi motor is the place to be but in that event it really was the place to be beating the B58 and all the other engines at the competition.

My Second and 3rd session were plugged by brake problems with my brake pedal getting hard at end of straight when I was doing 193 km/h surely was scary though I manage to stop the car just before the grass in the corner so was good. I also noticed that when stationary pressing the brakes lead to jump in ARF ration from 14 all the way to 15.5 I guess my check valve really is that broken.

I hope a new check valve arrive this week and I manage to fit it and that will hopefully solve my brake problems I also have a lot of brake drag in the front which is causing my front pads to wear off really fast. I hope this is also related to the check valve.

Also by the end of the day my tires were melted so now I really really need to make the A052's fit for next weekend.

With that and a lot of waiting it was finally time at around 17:50 for the price ceremony. The trophies were 3D printed track layouts in red kind of resembling that famous Monaco GP trophy. It's also great because the track will have a brand new layout in September for the last 2 rounds of the competition.

As I mentioned I placed 2nd in class making this my highest finish so far in that competition. Yet I'm 2 seconds of podium.




I also placed 12 out of 78 cars.

It was amazing day and I manage to bring the car home in one piece washed it it filled it and it's tucked away. I manage to be back home at 21:00 after a lovely spring day at the track with a lot of friends.

What is next:

20.03.2024 - I plan to tuck this front 295/35/19 A052's under the fenders and to add the Vorshlag brake cooling plates (my control arms holes need to be taped for the nuts to fit). I hope this week the check valves to finally arrive and be fitted as well.

22.03.2024 - I'm traveling with my friend with the Cayman GTS (who already fitted the A052's) to Serres Greece for 2 lovely track days organised by the rental cars car company at the track. Hope to be a packed event.