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Man, I am so jealous about your garage setup. I know it's just a suburban garage... no lift or loft or anything crazy. But it's so damn clean and inviting. You even went so far as to put up a mirror panel and curtain dividers.
FWIW, enjoy it and appreciate it. I'd kill for a space like that to baby my cars.
Appreciate the kind words! It really is an enjoyable space for us.
FedEx just dropped of some garage door insulation I ordered from homedepot to further insulate the garage. Looking forwarding to getting those in before the summer heat kicks in, the panels with the little probable AC we have should make it a good bit cooler.
2nd track day in the G at Thunderhill West CCW yesterday went great, feeling much more comfortable with the car and myself. By the 4th and final session I was running 1:35's consistently with an unofficial PB of 1:34 which is down 11 seconds from my previous PB in the TSX. My focus is on driving technique so I don't time my laps in car, I just check them on my Gopro when I get home to see my progression.
Car held up great again.
- No overheating. The afternoon got warm with a high of 70F and I saw a max oil temp of 245F and max water of 215F IIRC.
- Tires got greasy towards the end of each session and I started to get some sliding going on.
- Setting the front bar to stiff felt like the car was more balanced but I still have TCS on.
- I turned off TCS for half a lap and I was not comfortable at all with how much the back end was coming around. I'm going to sign up for some car control coaching.
Here are 3 laps from the 4th session. 1:34 is the second lap. As always feedback is welcomed:
A few shots that I thought looked pretty good from last weekend.
Nabbed another spot for Laguna Seca on 3/27 so I'll be leaving my noisy track pads on the car a while longer, no big deal since she just sits in the garage right now anyway. April is pretty busy for me so I'm glad to get another day in March. After this I'll be headed back to Thunderhill in early May which will likely be it for me until the weather cools back down after summer.
Man that car looks really well poised. The stock suspension is so good.
When u tryna put those Tanabe on?
You ain’t wrong. Shame I didn’t get out on track prior to installing the eibach bars but paired with the factory sport dampers and springs she does great out there.
Good question
Probably over the summer now. Wife’s learning how to drive stick on the G and lowering it before I’ve given her enough time to get comfortable at stock height probably isn’t in anyone’s best interest.
That and aside from the wheel gap I really do enjoy that cars current set up. Comfortable enough to go anywhere and more than enough for my skill level on the track..just that damn wheel gap!!
You ain’t wrong. Shame I didn’t get out on track prior to installing the eibach bars but paired with the factory sport dampers and springs she does great out there.
Good question
Probably over the summer now. Wife’s learning how to drive stick on the G and lowering it before I’ve given her enough time to get comfortable at stock height probably isn’t in anyone’s best interest.
That and aside from the wheel gap I really do enjoy that cars current set up. Comfortable enough to go anywhere and more than enough for my skill level on the track..just that damn wheel gap!!
I completely agree. I had no complaints about this car's suspension's ride or handling. Just the height.
I like being similar to an ant...crawling low to the Earth.
I'm sure once you get more hardcore tyres on there, you'll start finding limitations. But with something equivalent to the stock summer tyre....its pretty spot on in stock form.
Same same. I’ve never not lowered a car and that’s not about to change lol
Yeah I really want some NT01s even though they’re a bit older in terms of tire technology. The other 3 are RS4s, re71r(or the newer models coming), and the RT660s. All depending on available tire seizes.
What I’m conflicted on right now is the wheel width though. Is a 245 on a 8.5 wheel enough tire for this car at its weight and 330hp power levels?
245 and 8.5 does seem skinny since this car is so big. But...whatever, its just HPDE.
Maybe grab some square 10" wheels and 275's or 285's for track use?
I'm using 255 square on my S2000. I am trying the RT660 this upcoming season for the 1st time. I like RE71R's, but the RT made way more sense for the price. Again...to me...its just HPDE.
I've used 265 on my S2000 before. People use 285. So...I think 245 for a big boy like the G37 is a little skinny. They'll probably overheat pretty quick in summer.
Yeah, for the short time I had the Indy's on my TSX, I was pretty impressed. Dry grip seemed on par with the MPSS I had prior to them.
Definitely loved the double sidewall feature over the Michelin's single ply. Car felt ultra solid on the highway and it was super responsive.
I think these RT's will be winners. I've run 71R's extensively and I still have a set on my priceless ZE40's lol. So...Idk how much hardcore use they'll see anymore since the wheels are like 1 out of 50 (?) in that spec.
I was using RT615K+ on my track car last year. I thought they'd be cheap throwaways but I was wrong. They look like tyres for a 5 year old...but they were fantastic. So I can only imagine that the 660's will be winners.
2nd track day in the G at Thunderhill West CCW yesterday went great, feeling much more comfortable with the car and myself. By the 4th and final session I was running 1:35's consistently with an unofficial PB of 1:34 which is down 11 seconds from my previous PB in the TSX. My focus is on driving technique so I don't time my laps in car, I just check them on my Gopro when I get home to see my progression.
Car held up great again.
- No overheating. The afternoon got warm with a high of 70F and I saw a max oil temp of 245F and max water of 215F IIRC.
- Tires got greasy towards the end of each session and I started to get some sliding going on.
- Setting the front bar to stiff felt like the car was more balanced but I still have TCS on.
- I turned off TCS for half a lap and I was not comfortable at all with how much the back end was coming around. I'm going to sign up for some car control coaching.
Here are 3 laps from the 4th session. 1:34 is the second lap. As always feedback is welcomed:
Looks like you are having fun out there! Wow that is a very tight, short track. What tires do you have on the car? It is hard to know exactly how the car is reacting without sitting in it and feeling the weight transfer and feedback from the steering wheel, but it looks like you are coming into a number of corners pretty hot and scrubbing off a lot of speed sliding before you get back up to pace on the very short "straights."
Try to focus on smooth inputs and developing a rhythm. It's a bit hard to explain, but you can almost feel the car dance and make corrections before it gets out of hand. I bet if you enter some of those corners just a touch slower you can come out a lot faster. Especially try to focus on that before the longest straight sections. Watch out for that curbing too. That seems to upset the balance of your car a bit. Then again, that is a big car on a little track. Whatever you do, keep having fun. The track is the perfect place to learn car control.
Looks like you are having fun out there! Wow that is a very tight, short track. What tires do you have on the car? It is hard to know exactly how the car is reacting without sitting in it and feeling the weight transfer and feedback from the steering wheel, but it looks like you are coming into a number of corners pretty hot and scrubbing off a lot of speed sliding before you get back up to pace on the very short "straights."
Try to focus on smooth inputs and developing a rhythm. It's a bit hard to explain, but you can almost feel the car dance and make corrections before it gets out of hand. I bet if you enter some of those corners just a touch slower you can come out a lot faster. Especially try to focus on that before the longest straight sections. Watch out for that curbing too. That seems to upset the balance of your car a bit. Then again, that is a big car on a little track. Whatever you do, keep having fun. The track is the perfect place to learn car control.
That track is tight and technical, I love it! It's two miles long with 10 turns and a few mini straights like you noted. Thanks for the feedback, I'll work more on slow in/fast out. I lose A LOT on corner exit speed coming out of the tighter corners and hairpins because traction control limits the power significantly due to slip. I really need get comfortable driving at a slower pace with the TC off and work my way back up.
Overall the car feels pretty good and from the seat of the pants I don't feel it getting upset per-say but I certainly get over confident at times and over cook a few corners. All part of the learning experience of finding my limit I suppose lol.
