Who tracks there car and what's your set up

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Hey guys,

I am looking to get my r32 gtr up to spec to run a few track days next year. I went to a small track for the first time on oct 1st and it was a blast. I learned a lot about my car and the value of brakes and tires. Melted the tires and cooked the brake fluid to the point it had boiled out of the reservoir. Looking for some input from the guys that have been there done that. I am looking to add some new rims and tires for more show then track but hope to run them at the track too. Varrstoen 18x 10.5 et15. That will leave me with the stock 16" for a better track tire.

Is anyone running stock 16" rims? what's a good size tire for this rim and what brand do you suggest. I don't want to run R compounds but something good

Here is what I have so far
hsd coilovers
whiteline sway bars
Adjustable Front tension rods
adjustable front and rear upper arms
nismo front upper strut bar
rear trunk strut bar
Greddy/trust Oil cooler and relocate
stock brakes with nismo pads
stainless steel brake lines just added after track day
ate brake fluid just added

adding the following over the winter
cusco master brake stopper
Battery relocation kit
rear traction rods
Engine dampener
oil catch can
some aftermarket gauges oil pressure, oil temp, water temp

Thinking about dba 4000 rotors and hawk plus pads on the front

I have an os giken twin plate when the current clutch fails
Stainlees steel clutch line

Thanks
Mark

[king_cobra]

Mark,

Glad to hear you had fun.

You don't want to be running 16's on the track. It kills the suspension upgrades that you currently have and makes that turn in so numb. 17's are excellent and cost effective. 18's are even better if you can spare the cash.

Only use the DBA T3 clubspec rotors from Daryl @ Rightdrive. The 4000's won't take the abuse.

I personally didn't like the Hawk HP+. Too noisy, too much initial bite and faded on me later on. I use project mu pads and they are incredible - grabs nicely and never fades. The Nismo R-tunes are great as well (I don't remember if you're running S or R tunes).

For tires, use only the Dunlop Z2, Bridgestone RE-11A or Yokohama AD08's. Rest are a waste of money.

Also get a good alignment - it will do wonders for your setup.

I'll probably see you out there next year.

Dave

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Thanks Dave. What tracks do you go to? Are you running stock calipers?

[frankiman]

what he said ^^

but for me, HP+ > PMU pads

the hankook RS3 is also a excellent street/track tire

make sure you have the car setup not too low, since you have HSD and they probly come in 8kg/mm front and 6 back, they're pretty soft so lowering the car too much will affect geometry and actually make the car roll more and lose total grip

make sure to get a OE alignment, for a street car the GTR's stock alignment is perfect for both street and track,

for wheels/tires, a good cost effective setup is 17x9 or 17x9.5 rims with 255/40/17 tires

also chaging the worn out shifter bushing for a brand new one or a brass aftermarket upgrade is a good idea to avoid miss-shifts

the best thing though, is to get alot of seat time with instructors and go gradually faster while staying in your confort zone at first, and learn to manage heat (oil - tires - brakes) if your not doing time attack you don't need to go all out on each lap, its a street car after all

[Skym]

You don't want to be running 16's on the track. It kills the suspension upgrades that you currently have and makes that turn in so numb.

Probably needs to go lower on the profile of the tyre. Bigger diameter rims usually have a lower profile tyre.

Stock R32 GTR rims are around 6-6.5kg, so less unsprung weight. Bigger rims help when running bigger diameter rotors.

For tires, use only the Dunlop Z2, Bridgestone RE-11A or Yokohama AD08's.

Each of those brands should give different handling characteristics (suits different racetracks), so you have to match to each track / your setup to get the best from it.

Use semi slicks with that setup, don't use street tyres. Sometimes raceteams have slicks with not much tread on tyre that they get rid of (buy cheap) and are good for trackdays.

cooked the brake fluid to the point it has boiled out of the reservoir.

Run 600+ boiling point brake fluid (prevents brake fade) and 2 piece rotors on the front where most of the braking is done (cheaper to replace the outer part vs cost of single piece rotors, bigger cooling vent down middle of rotor vs stock rotors). DBA rotors have that bigger vent down middle of rotor and different temperature paint on edge of vent, so can see how hot rotors are getting.

At least 500+ degrees with brake pads (race pads). You can run mild street brake pads (0-500 degrees or so), but have to use 3 sec pulse braking which heats the rotors up less. Hard constant braking is what makes the brake rotors heat up, so avoid being aggressive on the brakes (pulse brake and brake from a longer distance) to preserve your brakes.

Also remove stone shields behind brake rotors and run some brake ducting to keep rotor temps in set temp range.

If rotors overheat, the heat is transferred to brake pads, calipers and then transferred to brake fluid. When brake fluid overheats you get brake fade.

Brake master cylinder stopper helps with stopping brake master cylinder diving when braking hard.

With braided brake hoses, make sure they have a Teflon outer which protect's from rock strikes. Major flaw with stock brake hoses is they are exposed to rock strikes (learnt this the hard way).

[Daryl @ RightDrive]

I haven't tracked in a few years, but I used to all the time in Japan.
Some lessons I learned were:

1) Take your time...you don't want to go all out the first time out. Take your time, learn your car, learn the track, and you will improve

2) Good brakes and good tires make all the difference. The first time I raced I had stock brake pads and crappy Falken tires. I was sliding all over the place and had crazy brake fade. Very dangerous, and not fun at all.
You d'ont have to buy the best of the best, but something solid. As King Cobra mentioned, those tires are all great choices (I've always used Bridgestone, but may try out the Dunlops next year) and a nice set of pads from Project Mu, Endless, Nismo, Hawk or EBC will do you well. A good set of rotors should be paired with the pads, and again, you dont want to cheap out, but you don't necessarily need to get the most expensive either. DBAs are a great choice as they are top quality at a reasonable price.

3) The most power doesn't always win. Patience, skill and understanding wins. I once raced in a group at Suzuka with a friend of a friend. We were in a group of about 60 cars, with full race turbo NSXs, GT-Rs, Supras, Ferraris...all sorts of crazy stuff. He had a 2010 Civic Type R, with Advan AD08, Tein coilovers, and a Recaro seat. That's it for mods. And what...a measly 190hp? He was lapping the 7th fastest out of the 60 cars. After seeing his times I was throughly impressed. You can have a 1000hp and still lose.

4) Good alignment. Very necessary.


My setup for brake and suspension:
BCNR33 Brembo calipers
Endless Type R pads F/R
Nismo lines
Project Mu rotors
Nismo front upper links
Nismo front upper link brackets
Nismo transverse links
Nismo tension rods
Nismo rear upper link front side
Nismo rear upper link rear side
Nismo rear lower arms
Nismo sway bars F/R
HKS coilovers

In terms of suspension, what made the biggest difference were the front suspension links and sway bars. They really tightened up the handling, and made the car predictable. The rear arms didn't really change the feel.
The brake upgrade made a big difference as well, however since I did it all at the same time, I can't comment on teh difference the individual pieces made.

[king_cobra]

Mark - I'm running the R33 brembos. They're incredibly good.

Frank - Yes, I missed the RS3s.

[FRRACER]

On my R32 I have the following setup:

Suspension:

Apexi N1 with 12kg front and 12kg rear Eibach springs.

Subframe bracing front and rear.

On order - Ikeya Formula complete Suspension and Tie rod setup.

Brakes:

R35 GTR front and rear Brembo 6 pot/4pot calipers. 380mm discs front and rear.

Wheels/Tyres:

Rota GTR:

Tyres: Porsche Supercup Michelin slicks fronts all round.

Gearbox:

Getrag 6sp with Nismo SuperCopper Mix twin plate comp spec.

Engine:

Mild tune, decat, exhaust, air filter, remap, steel turbos running 1.3 bar of boost, approx 440bhp/360 ft/lb

My aim is to build the car and focus on the important aspects that deliver braking, chassis performance. On the engine side there is no need for 1000bhp , something like a well sorted 650bhp is plenty just like the way Mines did with their demo R34.

[Redone]

Thanks guys. A lot of great responses here. Who offers track schools in ontario?

[Redone]

what he said ^^

but for me, HP+ > PMU pads

the hankook RS3 is also a excellent street/track tire

make sure you have the car setup not too low, since you have HSD and they probly come in 8kg/mm front and 6 back, they're pretty soft so lowering the car too much will affect geometry and actually make the car roll more and lose total grip

make sure to get a OE alignment, for a street car the GTR's stock alignment is perfect for both street and track,

for wheels/tires, a good cost effective setup is 17x9 or 17x9.5 rims with 255/40/17 tires

also chaging the worn out shifter bushing for a brand new one or a brass aftermarket upgrade is a good idea to avoid miss-shifts

the best thing though, is to get alot of seat time with instructors and go gradually faster while staying in your confort zone at first, and learn to manage heat (oil - tires - brakes) if your not doing time attack you don't need to go all out on each lap, its a street car after all

Thanks frankiman. Do you have the part number for the shifter bushing?

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Thanks Skym. I am still running 245/45/16 fuzion zri tires that came with the car. I will be purchasing varrstoen rims in the spring with some decent street rubber to learn on. If everything is good then maybe a better tire at the end of the season for the 16" stockers if the stock brakes hold on. What's the down side of removing the stone shields?

[Skym]

You're welcome.

I gather rock strikes. I think it doesn't matter too much on racecars, as rotors are replaced often.

[Redone]

What about dampener settings? Also is the upgrade to a r33 brembo really worth the money? If so how much?

[Redone]

Bump it for the bushing

[Redone]

Cusco metal shifter bushing # 231940A