Track Day At Wakefield Tomorrow Anyone?

[ISFBloke]

ISFBLOKE i have just changed my rear Michelin Pilot super sports 255 35 (which still have over 60% wear left) and put on the Dunlop Direzza 275/30 on the rear. I must admit once warmed up i hardly get any wheel spin at the lights at full acceleration compared with the Michelin's which would lose a lot of traction. I have also purchased a set of 18x8 ex GS rims with a 45 offset and have put 2x 245/40 Micky Thompson ET Streets specifically for the 1/4 mile drags next Sunday. I am hoping to run a better time than when i previously had the Michelins.

I almost went with the Toyo R888 for the back of my car but was concerned with normal road use how many KMs i would get, but i would like more feedback as you go with them. I may get them next for the rear.

Normal road use seem just fine for me as I can't hear the extra noise it makes over my Borla anyway so no big deal. Will see about mileage. I have a mate who has these on an S2000 and got 10K out of them it really depends on your style.

BTW do you still have the Super Sports? If you so do you want o sell them?

[ISFBloke]

Also. My biggest issue with normal street tires were is that on the track after a few laps they overheat an lose their grip nearly completely and after a few heat cycles they stay pretty much like that the Falkens did just that and they became really dangerous on the street especially in the wet they still had lots of thread but no traction at all.Tail was all over even at light throttle. VSC was lighting up all the time even around normal corners at low speed, so far with the new setup I could not light up the VSC under city driving conditions even when pushed harder,

The advantage of the new setup is that this won't happen they will stay consistent.

[Gunnar]

^^^ Heat cycles are a killer. You may have decent grip and tread wear but heat cycles on road tyres will destroy them. Curious to know how the Pilot SS are with these

[ISFBloke]

Just tested the setup in the wet. I was looking forward to lots of wheel spin and sliding action. Well none of that happen actually quite the opposite I could not light up the VSC even when powering out of intersections, turning etc. I am truly blown away.

[ISFBloke]

The car is now what it always should have been.

[Gunnar]

What's their tread wear rating?

[ISFBloke]

What's their tread wear rating?

that you don't want to know:) they wear your wallet very quickly. 80 and 100. They should last 10K they say. Will see.

[Pantelis K]

ISFBloke, i still have the Michelins. Let me know what you would like to spend for them. Can you PM me?

Gunnar my Dunlop Direzza are one of the grippiest tires you can get before going R SPEC and i still get a little wheel spin, (not as much as the Michelins). I will probably go with ISFBloke's R888 next time. As far as wear goes you either get high mileage and little grip which probably does not give you the proper benefit of the ISF or go for grip and get the maximum potential and enjoy the car for what it is. I guess we don't buy these cars for economy.

[ISFBloke]

What times did you run? Do you guys do a lot of track work? I'm keen to get back after 2 years away from it

Gunnar,

I am heading out again next wednesday let me know if you would like to tag along.

[Gunnar]

Hey. Only just saw this. Sorry cant make tomorrow keep me posted on your next ones though. Thanks for letting me know

[ISFBloke]

No Worries,

It was really great today there were only SIX cars there all day. Had the track for myself as long as I wanted so it was a great opportunity for testing.

The tires were just excellent. Did approx 6 seconds faster compared to the previous tires. My best today was 1:14:07 and would have done well below if I didn't run out of fuel. That is 2 seconds off of the official ISF time on this track driven by a v8 supercar champion.

It was great fun again. Love the car.

[Gunnar]

No Worries,

It was really great today there were only SIX cars there all day. Had the track for myself as long as I wanted so it was a great opportunity for testing.

The tires were just excellent. Did approx 6 seconds faster compared to the previous tires. My best today was 1:14:07 and would have done well below if I didn't run out of fuel. That is 2 seconds off of the official ISF time on this track driven by a v8 supercar champion.

It was great fun again. Love the car.

6 seconds a lap is awesome - congrats on bringing down that time so much! Great feeling taking so much off your time huh?

Out of curiosity where did you get that Lexus lap time from? It's actually a slow lap. When I used to Supersprint the quickest guys in street cars were running 1.08's give or take. I would be capable of 1.10/1.11's and the bit slowing me down was well me. These were from weekend warriors doing it but driver ability being equal those cars would be faster than an ISF around a circuit. None the less when you factor in ability of a professional driver I would imagine the ISF to go around the 1.07-08 mark at a guess.

PS I had a look at your video on page 1 and some pointers I can offer you on where you can pick up speed in:

1. The kink at the end of the straight, turn in just after pit wall (dab the brakes to get weight over the front end).

2. Your approach down the hill, there's a lot more room for you to go closer to the apex's. Turn in later than you were. This section here if you feel like you're dancing with the car through here then you've nailed the balance.

3. The second corner off the top, it was good you changed it to 2 corners and not 1 like in your first run. To go faster just dab the breaks going into the second right hander, turn in later and be more progressively aggressive when powering out.

4. To the fish hook you can make up a lot of time turning later here, line for exit speed is best through here.

5. Stay off the ripple strips - they seem to slow you down by unsettling you.

Hope this helps and can make it out there soon!

[ISFBloke]

Thanks for the great advice:) I have to point out this was my first time ever on a track and the tires had no grip at all so I could not get the apexes right the car was all over the track.

I will upload the second video and you will see that with proper grip I was doing much better and also learning the track and the corners.

That is why I would love to see another F there to compare times.

This is where I got the times from:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Arff-ZXmabAZdEFEWHRXWU1BbW9VZVF1MFZQNnlHS1E#gid=0

As you can see the ISF time driven by a Supercar champion is 1:12 so under that is nothing short of excellent driving.

The 1:08 you are tlaking about was done by GT3s and similar and as much as I love my car I do not think it is capable of that.

Mine is a generation one so the lack of LSD plays a big part too. That will be my first major upgrade this year.

Let me know when you can make it and we could compare times out there.

Cheers

[Gunnar]

Wow looking at that sheet I'm surprised to see the ISF so slow around there. I was expecting of to be slower than an E90 M3 but not that far off the mark.

Yeah post it up, be nice to see how and where you've improved with the times. I'm curious to know how much quicker you will be with an LSD. I'm happy to come just need to find the time though. Unfortunately I won't be in an F, I won't even be in a Lexus

[ISFBloke]

I wouldn't say too slow but this track is clearly not suited for the F in fact for none of the larger cars it is very short and twisty with only one short straight. it is more suited for track cars and smallish ones like the 86 they do well here. On the chart it is till ahead of an STi which is 4 wheel drive and I am sure the M3 has been around many more times than the F. I can most likely do the same time as on the chart as I was improving very quickly which means the car can do better.

So what car are you going to be in on your sig you have an F-Sport?

[ISFBloke]

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAVjnWLDd6w&feature=youtu.be

unedited so skip the boring parts. I was testing the tires first and only pushed harder towards the end.

[Gunnar]

Yeah Wakefield is a technical circuit, so heavy cars and high power cars aren't the greatest on there. Give Eastern Creek a go, would be much more suited to an ISF.

That's pretty good and a lot tidier than the previous video. The other good news is you can take a fair bit more time off what you did. The biggest pointer is in pretty much every corner you're braking and turning in too early; the other is that you can spend less time transitioning between accelerator and brake. Go wider to the edges of the track and turn in later.

Probably some key corners for where you can pick up a lot more speed:

1. Through the kink, stay near the pit walls and at the very end of the wall then turn in (it's a bit later than where you are). Here I would dab the brakes to wash off speed and get weight over the front end, turn into the kink then stand on the brakes between end of the kink and the corner.

2. The corner before the fishhook, go wide to the right then come in, you are staying on the kerb and losing speed to the fish hook

3. This one is the easiest to do because it's easy to explain. For the last corner brake at that 100m marker, that should get you deep enough to get the line right into the final corner. Ignore the 100m aspect of it and trust your brakes on this one (you'll be fine).

The 350 F Sport is a daily drive and my toy/track car is an R33 GTS-T (albeit a road registered one), bit over 450hp at the engine, torque curve flatter than an A-cup, 1300kg's and not an electronic aid in sight - WICKED, intoxicating fun! It's not running right because it feels restricted, I think it could be clutch slip because it doesn't feel like the power is all there even though it's making the right noises.

[Gunnar]

Have a look at this video, it kind of highlights what I was saying above, especially with the braking points and where to turn in; they're all a fraction later than yours (well not in the outlap but the flying laps):

[ISFBloke]

Thanks again for the valuable advice. Yes I can clearly see where I can do better I need to get those corners right. Some more practice and I reckon I should be able to match the official time quite easily. Once I get the LSD installed it should be below 1:10

Yeah the GTR is epic fun I know:)

Let me know when you want to go out there next.

Just received the invitation for the LExus event at Eastern Creek that'll be heaps of fun for sure.

Cheers

[ISFBloke]

Love this video:)

[Gunnar]

Wakefield is an interesting track in the sense that your fast laps don't actually feel fast; smoothness is the quickness to being fast there.

Nah mine's a GTS-T so everything goes to the rear :-)

What's the Eastern Creek thingy? Lexus didn't send me anything for that (and I ticked motorsport as my primary interest) so I'm assuming it's for ISF owners only?

[ISFBloke]

Wakefield is an interesting track in the sense that your fast laps don't actually feel fast; smoothness is the quickness to being fast there.

Nah mine's a GTS-T so everything goes to the rear :-)

What's the Eastern Creek thingy? Lexus didn't send me anything for that (and I ticked motorsport as my primary interest) so I'm assuming it's for ISF owners only?

Yes so I've noticed:) Smoothness is key. Yes I believe it is an F club exclusive only unfortunately. Nevertheless just let me know when you want to head out to W so we can chat and have some fun.n b

[Gunnar]

^^ Ok great will keep you posted. Probably won't be for another little while though

[ilv1004s]

F club is open to different cars too

it runs conjunction with burrows track days at EC