Global Time Attack Road Atlanta 2018 Recap – 1st Place Street FWD
We, United Speed Racing, were hard at work preparing for the first big time attack event of the year. As power has increased and other modifications have allowed me to push the card harder on track, the coolant temp issue became even more of a problem. Previously we had been trying to keep from cutting the hood, or bumper in search of ways to help the issue that most other enthusiasts would be willing to do. Many things helped a little in their own ways, but ultimately we were still having the issue. We have been lucky enough to get plenty of opportunities to hit the track to test changes, rather than hoping it works.
The week of GTA we made the decision that some cutting needed to be done. 1st on the list of venting the hood to achieve a few advantages. Give the heat trapped under the hood a place to escape easily and in addition help to rush air through the radiator, but also relive that pocket of air under the hood in an effort to achieve a little extra front downforce. Previous testing and data showed that the stock hood scoop wasn’t very effective for anything except looking cool. We removed the stock scoop as well as the aluminum ducting from the underside of the hood. We then cut out more area from the scoop portion of the hood. The idea was to fabricate an aluminum plate to fit this recess in the hood and cut louvers into it to help draw heat out as air passed over the louvers. We have used CNC cut panels to achieve this previously but with little time to work, and no cutter in house we started with a sheet of aluminum and went through the tedious process of cutting the shape, smoothing out the curves for better fit, making the cuts needed for the louvers and working on a mounting solution. After all was done, it was a bit rough around the edges, but would work well for the event. Next on the agenda was a larger oil cooler. We have been running a long cooler setup in the lower bumper opening just below the stock intercooler and it has worked well to lower the temps, but we have been testing a Mishimoto prototype intercooler that was much larger and lacked a bit of room to properly fit that cooler, but has greatly decreased intake air temperatures to improve power during hot track sessions. Previously we had looked into installing a side mounted cooler but had little room to work with, and didn’t want to make many changes to the car at the time. We decided to go back for a second look. Taking measurements, forming a mock cooler based on multiple cooler sizes available, we decided on the largest cooler we could possibly fit. This meant though that we would need full ducting, cut out the side grill opening, and would require the loss of the brake duct. The loss of the duct wasn’t a big issue with our higher end braking upgrade as well as running time attack. We got the cooler in and went to work mounting it, this part was a fairly simple task. Next was the ducting. Due to space and complexity this was a challenge, but I am up for a challenge when fabrication is involved. We used aluminum to create the ducting and attached it to the cooler and the chassis for simple removal and installation of the front bumper. All that was left was to cut the opening in the grill. For now we just made a simple cut rather than trimming out each honeycomb opening, then riveted in some aluminum mesh, removed the fog light and installed mesh here as well for added air flow. Finished the cooler off with new lines, and an exhaust vent in the fender liner. With these 2 new modifications we were eager to hit the track and had positive thoughts that we would see results closer to what we wanted.
Other changes made was the addition of Konig Ampliform 18×9.5 +35 wheels. The offset was a little more than we wanted, but with the new Essex/AP Racing brake upgrade, clearance of the face of the caliper made wheel selection much less. Konig helped to check clearance based on measurements provided by Essex Parts and they were spot on. We added a 3mm space to help with expansion, but this extra .5″ of wheel width meant a 265 front tire would fit better, once we had a pair.
The day before GTA practice, we went over the car with a fine tooth comb, performance a nut and bolt, brake fluid bleed, fresh oils, fresh 245 Maxxis VR-1 tires all around, rechecked suspension settings and corner balance, etc etc. We felt there wasn’t much more we could do, but wished we had more time.
Happily the test day had great weather and it was Hot. We needed some hot weather to see how the cooling additions worked. First session and I was instantly happy, the coolant temps were staying lower, taking less time to heat soak, etc. I knew it would be a good weekend and was fully looking forward to the competition. We ran some more, made some suspension changes, tire pressure changes, and just worked on feeling out the car more….the Motion Control Suspension 2-way damper setup was still something we were learning, as well as the increased braking from the Essex/AP Racing Radi-Cal 355mm brake setup allowing me to brake harder and much later. We finished the day back at the shop, going over things once again, making sure everything was ready. We didnt want to have to do too much work at the track, instead concentrate on improving lap times, watching other competitors runs, and enjoying hanging out with friends. GTA is about the competition but we all generally get along, and it is more of a competitive track family.
Day 1 of competition: It was hot, and got 10 degrees hotter each session. As I said still learning all the changes to the car, but now being able to turn 2 or more laps back to back without being overly concerned with coolant temps, this helped my confidence and allowed me to push harder and harder and even with the ambient temp rising, I was still able to drop the times little by little. By the end of Day 1, I wasnt down to the time I wanted and felt like I needed to make a change to help get more front grip. Lucky for me, the only 2 Maxxis VR-1 265/35zr18 tires in the USA were waiting for me, not far away. I went a snatched them up, headed over to our friends at Gran Turismo East, and even though I got there right as they were closing, they fit me in and swapped the front tires out and had me ready to go quickly.
Day 2 of competition: We were starting an our earlier, which meant the first session would be a good one. I knew that the front tires were fresh and would come in, and just aimed to make the best of the weather. Instantly I noticed more front grip and was able to turn in harder and get on the throttle sooner. I dropped my fast time by just over 1 second, pretty good with just a wider front tire. Second session ambient temp was about 8 degrees higher and still went a bit faster, and set what would be my fast time for the event, 1:38.635, and good enough for a 1st place victory in Street FWD. I had been a little faster previously, but with ambient temps 20 degrees cooler and pretty much perfect track conditions. For GTA we had United States Formula 4 Championship running as well, they kept having incidents and putting fluid on the track which even after cleanup with decrease traction in areas and lower confidence to push beyond the limit.
Overall we are very happy with our performance and how well the car performed. We will continue to develop the car with modifications and tuning the current setup, as well as helping customers and other CTR owners across the globe to improve their experience. In 1 week we will be driving the car up to Dominion Raceway in Virginia for Type-R Expo East, followed by more testing at Road Atlanta, Atlanta Motorsports Park, Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, and some others possibly. Our next competition event will be GridLife South Festival at Road Atlanta in August. It will be hot, but we are working on new changes based on Data collected during GTA, to further help cope with the heat, and hope to shave another 2 seconds off our lap time.
We thank our sponsors for your continued support which is greatly appreciated and helps us to achieve our goals:
Maxxis Tire
Motion Control Suspension
Hasport Performance
Ktuner
Essex Parts Services
PTP Turbo Blankets
Konig Wheel
Gran Turismo East
Hybrid Racing
JZilla Track Days
Spec Clutch
Mishimoto
Setrab USA
Liqui Moly
Coast Lighting
PRL Motorsports
Jason is running Konig Ampliform in 18×9.5B et 35mm in Bronze all around. The Konig Ampliform is Flow Formed.
