Tufan
Member
- Messages
- 233
Hello from a rainy Istanbul 
Some of you would remember that I was in trouble with my manifold and also trying to find out a good set up for the track of Istanbul Park, ex-F1 circuit with famous turn 8. Well, report on both finally.
My first time at the track was last year, end of November on a sunny but cool and dry day. My best lap with Pirelli Zeros (seriously degraded) & EBC yellows were 2.37:00. Also had BMC air filter. USA spec bulky manifolds were already replaced with EU specs and rear cats replaced with HJS 200 cell cats so here the pics after upgrade. Locally manufactured by Turkey's top guy whose customers are usually egzotic cars.
Recently I joined 2 different days to track days after switching to Trofeo R and new pads, EBC Blue NDX.
The first weekend was very hot (28C) and just in 7-8 hot laps, I lost 20% of the the Trofeo Rs (total 14 laps). EBC Blue NDX provided amazing stopping distance for a few hot laps but front pads were baked very quickly while rears were still ok. Photos sent to EBC and they suspect brake balance being too much in front rears not doing much work (rear brakes checked, all ok). So 25 mins of hot lapping was enough to kill the pads but maybe it's my wrong bedding or another technical issue so it will be checked later. My main problem last week even at my best lap was not braking but it was understeer which caused more degradation of tyres at the front. So last week's best time was only 2.35:0. Surprised negatively as I thought of much more improvement vs Pirellis even though it was a hot day.
For this week's single session yesterday, 2 simple changes were made: Cambers to max negative possible which Trofeo's like (rears -2.0, front -1.7). Mechanic couldn't get it to -2.0 which could have been much better. Tyres were at 2.0 bar before session and expected to be 2.2 hot (ideal hot per Pirelli). But I was at 2.50+ so next time I need to start 1.80 bar cold probably. Maybe the air in the tyres are too humid. Front brake pars changed to yellow, rears kept blue so rear brake also helps for balanced braking. Result was an amazing 5 sec improvement achieved 2.29:5 and 2.30:2 respectively. Warmed up the tyres at 70% performance for 2 laps and test 1 hot lap, again 1 cooling lap (engine warning showed for few secs on hot lap) and finally 2 hot laps (no engine warning) gave the best results. Sports on, MSR off. Here is the vid of the fastest lap (speed in kmh):
Couldn't install DBW yet and I feel I really need. It's got lost somewhere during my relocation and praying it will be found when I'm searching for sth else. If I find a 2nd hand at an attractive price, I'll go for it. Springs and sway bars for sure will help a lot. I'm also thinking Coilovers but speaking to a forum member in Greece who had it on 4200 thinks our cars are too heavy for Coilover and car just needs better sway bar.
There were 22 cars on track but I kept distance the 2 slower entry laps. Only one slower car costing me a little time at one corner and for rest 5.3km track is all mine on this lap. Improvement areas I see: earlier braking (or better brakes) at 0.51 & 1.29, apex missed at 1.08 and not ideal entry to final straight causing rear to slide (2.18).
Looking forward for your feedback on above and track video.
And is there anyway to get the front cambers to more negative? My mechanic said that the specialist needs some special tool for our skyhook. What is it he may need?
Some of you would remember that I was in trouble with my manifold and also trying to find out a good set up for the track of Istanbul Park, ex-F1 circuit with famous turn 8. Well, report on both finally.
My first time at the track was last year, end of November on a sunny but cool and dry day. My best lap with Pirelli Zeros (seriously degraded) & EBC yellows were 2.37:00. Also had BMC air filter. USA spec bulky manifolds were already replaced with EU specs and rear cats replaced with HJS 200 cell cats so here the pics after upgrade. Locally manufactured by Turkey's top guy whose customers are usually egzotic cars.
Recently I joined 2 different days to track days after switching to Trofeo R and new pads, EBC Blue NDX.
The first weekend was very hot (28C) and just in 7-8 hot laps, I lost 20% of the the Trofeo Rs (total 14 laps). EBC Blue NDX provided amazing stopping distance for a few hot laps but front pads were baked very quickly while rears were still ok. Photos sent to EBC and they suspect brake balance being too much in front rears not doing much work (rear brakes checked, all ok). So 25 mins of hot lapping was enough to kill the pads but maybe it's my wrong bedding or another technical issue so it will be checked later. My main problem last week even at my best lap was not braking but it was understeer which caused more degradation of tyres at the front. So last week's best time was only 2.35:0. Surprised negatively as I thought of much more improvement vs Pirellis even though it was a hot day.
For this week's single session yesterday, 2 simple changes were made: Cambers to max negative possible which Trofeo's like (rears -2.0, front -1.7). Mechanic couldn't get it to -2.0 which could have been much better. Tyres were at 2.0 bar before session and expected to be 2.2 hot (ideal hot per Pirelli). But I was at 2.50+ so next time I need to start 1.80 bar cold probably. Maybe the air in the tyres are too humid. Front brake pars changed to yellow, rears kept blue so rear brake also helps for balanced braking. Result was an amazing 5 sec improvement achieved 2.29:5 and 2.30:2 respectively. Warmed up the tyres at 70% performance for 2 laps and test 1 hot lap, again 1 cooling lap (engine warning showed for few secs on hot lap) and finally 2 hot laps (no engine warning) gave the best results. Sports on, MSR off. Here is the vid of the fastest lap (speed in kmh):
Couldn't install DBW yet and I feel I really need. It's got lost somewhere during my relocation and praying it will be found when I'm searching for sth else. If I find a 2nd hand at an attractive price, I'll go for it. Springs and sway bars for sure will help a lot. I'm also thinking Coilovers but speaking to a forum member in Greece who had it on 4200 thinks our cars are too heavy for Coilover and car just needs better sway bar.
There were 22 cars on track but I kept distance the 2 slower entry laps. Only one slower car costing me a little time at one corner and for rest 5.3km track is all mine on this lap. Improvement areas I see: earlier braking (or better brakes) at 0.51 & 1.29, apex missed at 1.08 and not ideal entry to final straight causing rear to slide (2.18).
Looking forward for your feedback on above and track video.
And is there anyway to get the front cambers to more negative? My mechanic said that the specialist needs some special tool for our skyhook. What is it he may need?
Attachments
Last edited:
