*The FL5 Track Junkie Thread*

[J1Avs]

Nice work, bro!!

For interested parties...

So, it was kind of a mess - session 1 yesterday had 3 cars off on lap 1 that stayed there for the rest of the session - aka, 3 local yellows in different areas (mostly mechanicals) - total mess. However, this wasn't my only issue - we tried e30 for this event (because super fast back straight), but with the sustained long 5th gear pull the HPFP was losing pressure - dropped to 1900psi from ~3000psi and threw the car into limp mode into T10.

I had no time in session 1, so I ended up at the back of group C for session 2 (aka the slowest cars), and had to navigate around a bunch of Honda Fits and other cars just to get a lap, which is the lap I ultimately stood on (1:38.3 - which I couldn't get a video of because the camera literally fell over onto the rear carpet) - I had one that was .4s up into 10 that suffered a fuel pressure drop again (only down to 2500psi this time), but it killed it, so not even a great time here.

Session 3 I was back up to group B and we made more changes to reduce boost by ~4% in gear 5/6, but it was hotter and I ran into the same issue and came into the pits on the first flyer to key cycle it after limp, but they were behind on the schedule and checkered the session short before I could even get around for another flyer.

I had Brian make a big swing after session 3 (because at this point I didn't care if I lost a few mph I just needed to not hit limp), but it wasn't to be since it rained for sessions 4-6 today.

I did at least go out in session 5 today and verify we finally got the tune working, as it didn't go into limp, and I still managed 141mph into 10 (fastest yesterday was 144 and T7 was garbage in the wet, so I think realistically I didn't lose anything meaningful), just didn't have it sorted when I needed it. Unfortunately, it was just something that would never be detected on a street pull or dyno run. @JST Performance (Brian) thankfully was incredibly supportive and helpful and did 4 revisions for me on site (despite also running GLTC this weekend and having to do his own stuff as well), just the nature of doing a new platform for actual track use. I can't thank him enough for the on-site support!

I did have some fun in the wet though!

 

[sackofcheese]

I also had the cup holder mount come loose at NCM from all the curbing there. It has to be *really* snug to keep from working its way loose but ultimately that's definitely a weak point of that setup.

I'll be trying it again at Barber in a couple weeks - if it has issues there I'll probably fall back on the 3D printed seat mount I was planning on designing before I found the cup holder solution.

Can you Link that mount? I need a better way other than my helmet mount

 

[Hailw00d]

Can you Link that mount? I need a better way other than my helmet mount

Here's the two kits I bought to combine into the mount I used. The extension arm by itself was a little low so I'll probably use at least part of the other extensions to get it a bit higher when I'm at Barber in a couple weeks:

Cup Holder Mount

Extension Arm / Camera Mount

 

[Rfpauly]

I am running three HPDE track weekends next month in my 2025 FL5 ( Willow Springs, Sears Point and Laguna Seca). The car is box stock and I plan to keep it that way.

I understand that durability and performance are conflicting characteristics, but I am hoping for some help in selecting track only tires for the stock 19" wheels that would deliver the best balance of wear and performance , and also air pressure recommendations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[svvitch]

I am running three track weekends next month in my 2025 FL5 ( Willow Springs, Sears Point and Laguna Seca). The car is box stock and I plan to keep it that way.

I understand that durability and performance are conflicting characteristics, but I am hoping for some help in selecting track only tires for the stock 19" wheels that would deliver the best balance of wear and performance , and also air pressure recommendations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think the Conti ECF would be close to OEM size. Maybe a 265/35/19? I use them they have good grip and wear characteristics for a 200tw tire. Check out grassroots motorsports for tire comparisons. Some have also had good luck with 255/35/19 as well

 

[Rexpelagi]

Here's the two kits I bought to combine into the mount I used. The extension arm by itself was a little low so I'll probably use at least part of the other extensions to get it a bit higher when I'm at Barber in a couple weeks:

Cup Holder Mount

Extension Arm / Camera Mount

I paired those two together with this so that I could use both arms, as the included double-ball isn't the same size on both ends and didn't work to connect the two sets of arms - with this the height was great, just didn't stay put (and wobbled a bit too much for my liking).

https://a.co/d/0335s74

 

[yeaitsahonda]

I am running three HPDE track weekends next month in my 2025 FL5 ( Willow Springs, Sears Point and Laguna Seca). The car is box stock and I plan to keep it that way.

I understand that durability and performance are conflicting characteristics, but I am hoping for some help in selecting track only tires for the stock 19" wheels that would deliver the best balance of wear and performance , and also air pressure recommendations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have been happy with the Falken RT660 as far as wear is concerned but I don't think they're the fastest of the 200TW tires so I likely won't buy them again. I have them on 18" wheels so unsure if they're available for stock wheels. Mine did develop the line across the tread but I've ran a few track days since noticing that and haven't had any issues. If you don't mind being a second or so off the pace of the fastest track day tires then I think they're a good option. I aimed for30-32PSI hot.

 

[BigBird]

For interested parties...

So, it was kind of a mess - session 1 yesterday had 3 cars off on lap 1 that stayed there for the rest of the session - aka, 3 local yellows in different areas (mostly mechanicals) - total mess. However, this wasn't my only issue - we tried e30 for this event (because super fast back straight), but with the sustained long 5th gear pull the HPFP was losing pressure - dropped to 1900psi from ~3000psi and threw the car into limp mode into T10.

I had no time in session 1, so I ended up at the back of group C for session 2 (aka the slowest cars), and had to navigate around a bunch of Honda Fits and other cars just to get a lap, which is the lap I ultimately stood on (1:38.3 - which I couldn't get a video of because the camera literally fell over onto the rear carpet) - I had one that was .4s up into 10 that suffered a fuel pressure drop again (only down to 2500psi this time), but it killed it, so not even a great time here.

Session 3 I was back up to group B and we made more changes to reduce boost by ~4% in gear 5/6, but it was hotter and I ran into the same issue and came into the pits on the first flyer to key cycle it after limp, but they were behind on the schedule and checkered the session short before I could even get around for another flyer.

I had Brian make a big swing after session 3 (because at this point I didn't care if I lost a few mph I just needed to not hit limp), but it wasn't to be since it rained for sessions 4-6 today.

I did at least go out in session 5 today and verify we finally got the tune working, as it didn't go into limp, and I still managed 141mph into 10 (fastest yesterday was 144 and T7 was garbage in the wet, so I think realistically I didn't lose anything meaningful), just didn't have it sorted when I needed it. Unfortunately, it was just something that would never be detected on a street pull or dyno run. @JST Performance (Brian) thankfully was incredibly supportive and helpful and did 4 revisions for me on site (despite also running GLTC this weekend and having to do his own stuff as well), just the nature of doing a new platform for actual track use. I can't thank him enough for the on-site support!

I did have some fun in the wet though!

getting out there alone is a job well done, but to be 4th in that class is an achievement.

Congrats!!

 

[Rexpelagi]

getting out there alone is a job well done, but to be 4th in that class is an achievement.

Congrats!!

Thanks! I think a lot of people didn't get representative times due to a variety of issues, so I'm not sure if I had it worse or better than others, but we'll keep working at it!

No way I was catching Luka or Josh though, I don't think that time was there. I did find out I was only about 5mph slower than Luka though into T10 (149 vs 144), even with my issues, so we may be getting somewhere.

 

[Rexpelagi]

I am running three HPDE track weekends next month in my 2025 FL5 ( Willow Springs, Sears Point and Laguna Seca). The car is box stock and I plan to keep it that way.

I understand that durability and performance are conflicting characteristics, but I am hoping for some help in selecting track only tires for the stock 19" wheels that would deliver the best balance of wear and performance , and also air pressure recommendations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A lot of us in here are going to be running more of the "Super" 200tw tires, ie, Bridgestone RE-71RS, Nankang CRS V2, etc, which aren't awful for wear and deliver great performance, but may not be quite what you want, but you really can't go too far wrong with any of the current 200tw offerings. Given where you are, rain probably won't be a major concern, although the 71RS (and many others) do great in damp/wet, just not great in standing water. There are other tires like the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02s that are very good in all conditions but not sure how well they'd hold up to a lot of dry use, so we may just need to understand what your objectives are (and your previous experience) more-specifically to help direct you.

I will say that with rotation my 71RSs lasted 14 track sessions and several autocross events (albeit 285's on 18x11s, which will help wear), and those were sessions pushing for time, so making it 3 track weekends on even one of the faster tires may be possible depending on your driving style/experience.

For air pressure, that's really up to you and your driving style / balance preferences. I run around 30-32psi front / 40-45+ psi rear cold on a square setup to try to get rotation, but that's probably not what a lot of people do.

Since you didn't mention it, I would absolutely suggest brake pads and fluid at a minimum, that will be more critical than the tires, and pull your alignment pins if you have a way to adjust the front toe, as that will just improve your wear and performance for free.

 

[Rfpauly]

I think the Conti ECF would be close to OEM size. Maybe a 265/35/19? I use them they have good grip and wear characteristics for a 200tw tire. Check out grassroots motorsports for tire comparisons. Some have also had good luck with 255/35/19 as well

Thank you Matt.

 

[Rfpauly]

I have been happy with the Falken RT660 as far as wear is concerned but I don't think they're the fastest of the 200TW tires so I likely won't buy them again. I have them on 18" wheels so unsure if they're available for stock wheels. Mine did develop the line across the tread but I've ran a few track days since noticing that and haven't had any issues. If you don't mind being a second or so off the pace of the fastest track day tires then I think they're a good option. I aimed for30-32PSI hot.

Thank you David.

 

[Rfpauly]

A lot of us in here are going to be running more of the "Super" 200tw tires, ie, Bridgestone RE-71RS, Nankang CRS V2, etc, which aren't awful for wear and deliver great performance, but may not be quite what you want, but you really can't go too far wrong with any of the current 200tw offerings. Given where you are, rain probably won't be a major concern, although the 71RS (and many others) do great in damp/wet, just not great in standing water. There are other tires like the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02s that are very good in all conditions but not sure how well they'd hold up to a lot of dry use, so we may just need to understand what your objectives are (and your previous experience) more-specifically to help direct you.

I will say that with rotation my 71RSs lasted 14 track sessions and several autocross events (albeit 285's on 18x11s, which will help wear), and those were sessions pushing for time, so making it 3 track weekends on even one of the faster tires may be possible depending on your driving style/experience.

For air pressure, that's really up to you and your driving style / balance preferences. I run around 30-32psi front / 40-45+ psi rear cold on a square setup to try to get rotation, but that's probably not what a lot of people do.

Since you didn't mention it, I would absolutely suggest brake pads and fluid at a minimum, that will be more critical than the tires, and pull your alignment pins if you have a way to adjust the front toe, as that will just improve your wear and performance for free.

Thank you for your help John. I appreciate the advice on the brake pads and fluid and will be sure to change them before my next event. Regarding the alignment, what settings would you recommend for toe and camber using the stock components? I am 73 years old, and my reflexes are not what they once were, but I was competitive long ago in SCCA Pro Racing. I did feel very comfortable in my first HPDE experience at Willow Springs last month, although I am sure that I was not near maximizing the car's potential.

 

[Rexpelagi]

Thank you for your help John. I appreciate the advice on the brake pads and fluid and will be sure to change them before my next event. Regarding the alignment, what settings would you recommend for toe and camber using the stock components? I am 73 years old, and my reflexes are not what they once were, but I was competitive long ago in SCCA Pro Racing. I did feel very comfortable in my first HPDE experience at Willow Springs last month, although I am sure that I was not near maximizing the car's potential.

View attachment 257278

That's awesome! It's great to see you are still out there!

If you have had the car out on track before and were ok with the brakes you might be alright, but I would still recommend some upgraded pads (a lot of us run Paragon R5s), and upgraded DOT 4 fluid (RL600, Castrol SRF, etc, plenty of options there), just to prevent any unexpected soft pedal experiences.

For camber, I'd just pull the alignment pins up top and slam the top mounts inboard (if you didn't already - not required, just free performance) - should get you around -1.8°, and then just set toe to zero. For the rear, only toe is adjustable, so I'd just adjust that to your preference (slight toe-out for a little more rotation).

 

[Rfpauly]

That's awesome! It's great to see you are still out there!

If you have had the car out on track before and were ok with the brakes you might be alright, but I would still recommend some upgraded pads (a lot of us run Paragon R5s), and upgraded DOT 4 fluid (RL600, Castrol SRF, etc, plenty of options there), just to prevent any unexpected soft pedal experiences.

For camber, I'd just pull the alignment pins up top and slam the top mounts inboard (if you didn't already - not required, just free performance) - should get you around -1.8°, and then just set toe to zero. For the rear, only toe is adjustable, so I'd just adjust that to your preference (slight toe-out for a little more rotation).

Thanks again John, I really appreciate it. I will make all of those adjustments and let you know how it goes in a couple of weeks.

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