Saturday, November 21, 2009

Last minute prep....

For tomorrow's practice run at Ebisu - as the team challenges the circuit one more time on Monday - Alex, Simon, Tom, and Sumi-san joined me in getting the car ready.

Other than the 8 used tires we have to take off, and replace with 8 fresh Dunlop Direzza StarSpecs - which timely arrived due from TireRack (thanks!), we re-installed the rebuilt Aragostas with stiffer springs, changed out the brake fluid twice (just to make sure), and did an oil change.

Photos from the day:
8 new tires!


Sumi-san does his inspection:


Simon conducts a suspension seminar:


"Ah, so this is a coilover?"


In place!


"Vroom, vroom, vroom!!" Wow this is fun!!!


"Tom, will you please stop goofing off and help us?"


Done!!


So my impressions of the rebuilt suspension - very nice! The car certainly tracks better, with stiffer springs in the back, the front stays planted. Ride is actually quite supple, but precise. Of course, didn't drive at high speed, so might be different on the track...

When we get updates, will post them! Wish us luck!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

A drag on the carpet.


TG Racing set out for some smaller mods today. The first one was the rear drag reduction project. But not all went as planned. Initial designs for the rear bumper taped up.


Restrictions for size of mesh resulted in only the folowing becomming possible.
But as we revealed the under layer... some issues occurred with the original fitting so we put that stopped that project.

The other guys continued on with their interior trim removal and stripped some more non vitals.
Another kilo or two saved.


Saturday, November 14, 2009

TGRacing BB6 Prelude Current Spec


TG-Racing Honda Prelude
1998, September
BB6-1200016
JDM Spec S.


Engine
H22A 2.2L VTEC  producing approx. 235hp.

Engine Ancilliaries
Mugen Muffler
K&N wet type air filter.
Fluidyne Alloy Radiator
25 row Setrab upgraded oil cooler
CUSCO 1-way LSD (Recently added)

Suspension and Brakes.
Non ATTS model.
Aragosta Kit. Rebuilt with F14Kgmm springs.
Tein Monoflex. (Spare)
RunMax Stainless Brainded Brake Lines
Dixcel Brake Rotors
Endless Endurance pads. Endless M84N compound
Ducted hoses.

Wheels and Tyres
RAYS Volk Racing CE28N's of 16" under 5.0 kg each.
Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R's of sizes 215/45R16 f 205/50R16 r
OR
Direzza Star Spec 215/45R16 f 205/50R16
Honda Integra  16" Type R Wheels (Spare)

Exterior
Pearl White Paint
TG-Racing Graphics by RE-Xtreme
Vented Bonnet FRP with bonnet pins
Mugen front lip spoiler
Front bumper NACA ducts
Spec S rear spoiler.
Honda Spec S side skirts and rear skirt
4200K HID headlights + Fogs.
Rear Bumper modification for drag reduction.

Interior
Autopower Roll Cage
Sparco Race seat
Takata race harness
Momo Race steering wheel.
Defi 60mm gauges, water temp, oil temp, oil pressure in Centre Guage Pod.
TRAQMATE with chase cam and data logger.
Motorola 2way radios.
Mugen shift knob.
un-necessary trim removed.

Continued Thanks to the team and guests for time invested.

Race on!

ps. A little video http://vimeo.com/7464481 ( Russ driving :p )

Saturday, November 7, 2009

TGRacing - now we're getting serious!

Another day in the shop for Sumi-san, Miguel and Alex, except this time they managed to convince these two guys to make the drive down and help out: Mike and Tom!



On today's menu - replacing our transmission from one sourced from a BB4 (with stronger 5th and reverse gears), which ALSO came with a CUSCO 1-way LSD!

First, locate where the transmission is...


Second, even Miguel has to check the service manual once in a while...


Here goes...


"Hey, you dropped it!"


Now that wasn't too hard:


The clutch side:


Here is the LSD. Note the rebuilt driveshafts in the back, those went in too.


As Miguel holds the frypan, Mike adds some spice:


Meanwhile, Sumi-san was busy with replacing the driveshafts:


Taking the LSD apart:


We decided that the LSD needed more initial bite, so adding shims was key:




The inside of the transmission casing:


The guys finished in time - from what Miguel told me, the initial torque has improved, but is not excessive - we'll worry about fine tuning it when we change out the final gear in the future.

Next week - lightening the car, installing the rebuilt suspension, and wheel alignment...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ebisu 6Hr- Hiroshi's Perspective











Our other guest driver Hiroshi (above) sent me a message earlier today, with his thoughts.

"A big thank you to the Team Gaijin Racing team for inviting me to drive in this event. As it was my first real car race, I didn't know what to expect, but my teammates (and new friends) welcomed me and gave me suggestions and advice, which was nice to have. The Prelude is certainly a much different driving experience than my 993, but in other ways, they are the same. Obviously, the Prelude has more understeering, but both cars require smooth driver input to get the most out of the car.

I have been told that the guys are working on improving the car's suspension and tractive abilities, which should really make for a fast car. Although I have other commitments so I can't make the next race, I am hoping the guys will be kind enought to invite me back to race with them next year - I certainly would love another go at the wheel!

Thanks guys -

Hiroshi"

Hiroshi also arrived with his own very attractive photographer friend who took many pictures for us, including the following:















The car in action, Miguel driving (click on this photo for a great wallpaper):
Some in the pit action:

Alex doing some calculating.


Juan making sure the car has enough gas! (while the others were, ehem, discussing strategy I'm sure...)


Tom letting some air out.


Having a meeting.


Hiroshi and Sumi-san, ready to refuel!!


The Safety Car - the view from the front (at the race start)


Half the team... I think we were watching Tom drive...

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Ebisu 6Hr - Miguel's Perspective.


Miguel's Perspective.

"Great memories racing again – both on and off the track and good to meet some new people too, notably Juan – who gave up his weekend to help us with counting laps, refueling, etc and Mike who proved to be very smooth and proficient - putting in consistent 1.14 laps even with tyres well past their prime. Bearing in mind this was only our second race – we’ve been doing well. Our driver changes and pit stops were a lot quicker, although there’s always room to improve, I guess.

Our focus for the next race will be to improve the car further – not just getting our original Aragosta suspension repaired, but also getting it re-sprung and re-valved for best possible control. With less roll and suspension travel and quicker suspension response, plus a lighter car - we should not only be able to improve our lap times by 2-3 seconds for the same conditions but also reduce our tyre wear considerably, meaning less pit stops and less lost laps! I’d like to see a brake bias valve fitted to the car for the next race as well.

So Aki & I are off to get thie shocks delivered to Nishiki tonight. Will update more on this later.

Looking forward to November 23rd!"

Miguel.


Image comments by Russ.

Rear inside wheel lifting.

















Sometimes lonely in qualifying and practice.


The team under pit direction.


Race day pit for the oversubscribed Ebisu.


The office. It's pretty comfy actually.


Start to what?


Sumi-san is off.


Attack and Under Attack.

Just under attack here.


Bit of a nosedive under braking.


Sometimes lonely during the race too. But it doesn't last long...
"Here is a nice sequence of images"



























Shows the tight racing that ebisu circuit can probide as well as safe overtaking places. Unlike Tsukuba.


Lights on and bring it home.


Another finish for TG-Racing.

Prelude Data Log 12 +6 Race Hours.

but the team is thinking about this.

Ebisu 6Hr - Mike's Perspective

















Joined TG Racing team as a guest driver in their honda.
Really great bunch of guys and had a blast (as you can see from the pics).



Surprised how easy the honda was to drive after the lotus. Very forgiving car that gives far more warning of loss of traction than the lotus - making it an easy car to step into and race for the first time.






We came in a respectable 8th place in our class and 24th place overall.

First set of tyres only lasted 2 hours then were totally shreaded so by the time I went out I was driving on last set of used rubber and we had changed our race strategy to `survive and finish` agreeing on a tyre saving conservative lap time we should all keep to.



Unfortunately when I went out the trackmate failed and I was unable to tell what lap times I was doing so I had to try to guess and just drive as smoothly as I could.




In the end we did a total 254 laps just 3 laps shy of 5th place!
Mike.


Ed. All of Mike's pictures are here or watch a slide show here.