decodeddiesel's 2020 A90 DD to weekend fun car journey

[Eyelise]

Thank goodness you gave us a scare there

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[baagel]

First of all, I realized I haven't posted many glamour shots of my car, so here's some pics from an event back in June at one of my 2 home tracks, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Thompson CT.

These pictures are so nice. Hate to say it, but the photographers that come out to the NASA events in SoCal are not that great.

 

[FLtrackdays]

Hey everyone, I'm back.

The break gave me time to re-evaluate the amount of time I spend on this forum and why I'm here. I enjoy tracking my Supra and judging from what I've seen, people are interested in what I share. I'm here for the exchange of knowledge, nothing more. I debated returning or just moving on, and what I've read here makes me believe I should come back.

One plus of the break is I actually had time to play GT7 a little. I'm trying to get all Gold learning the segments of Spa in a 911 right now. I'm down to sub 2:10s consistently in a lightly modified '19 Supra on The Glen too. That said, I'm really hitting the limit of what I can do with a controller in straight AUTOMATIC. Need a good wheel with nice paddles/chair/pedals. Anyway...

Back to the important things!

First of all, I realized I haven't posted many glamour shots of my car, so here's some pics from an event back in June at one of my 2 home tracks, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Thompson CT.

On 9/11/23 I had a chance to try the CSG 21/11 pad combo on my Supra at Lime Rock Park. Before the event I did a "street" bedding on my pads following CSGs guidelines as best I could without committing a felony. I then repeated the bedding on the track during my first session (TONS of traffic). I'll admit though that I got impatient and greedy and got into ABS once on entry to the Uphill during my second session trying to complete a pass. I may need to re-bed the pads in the future, but they seem like they're very well bedded and working great so, .

So, about the performance...I honestly wish I could say that it's all hype and the CSGs aren't any better than the PMUs, but that's just not the case here lol.

The main thing I noticed is the improvement in pedal feel. I've installed a MC brace and stainless lines trying to chase that pedal feel, but never really got there. The CSG pads in concert with the previous mods gave me that pedal feel I was looking for. Maybe it's all in my head lol, but it is very confidence inspiring.

The other thing I noticed was the consistency during my 20–25-minute sessions. The pedal feel and "bite" (dynamic coefficient of friction, mu) feels extremely consistent. Not saying the PMUs really had any fade, they didn't, but the pedal feel definitely changes as the temperature increases after 20+ minutes of hot lapping. I didn't feel this with the CSGs.

All of this was validated with lap times. I was able to shave nearly 2 seconds off my PB at LRP.
I'm now in the 1:04s on stock struts and springs and Kuhmo 730 tires.*

The only real drawback I see so far is that they squeel something awful on the street at low temps. IDGAF, but some people might.

Is 2 seconds worth $1000? My heart says yes, but my bank account says no. Time will tell!

*After reading and editing the previous post I wanted to add the caveat that I am an Intermediate driver. I only have 16 track events in the Supra so I'm still getting better, and 3 days of the PMUs were when I was in the Novice run group. Novice brake use with the all of the nannies still on puts a lot more heat into the pads compared to how I drive now.

Damn I wanna do a car write up like that! But I’d sound like a 15 y/o in a 50 y/o body. Full of emotion & can’t get my technical points across. Well said amigo! I figured as much with the CSG pads. I’m too afraid to try them $$$. Especially while I’m still happy on my Hawks (saving $500).

Those pics are fantastic Mine now look like they were taken with the 1st gen iPhone Glad you’re bAAAck!!!!!

 

[decodeddiesel]

Damn I wanna do a car write up like that! But I’d sound like a 15 y/o in a 50 y/o body. Full of emotion & can’t get my technical points across. Well said amigo! I figured as much with the CSG pads. I’m too afraid to try them $$$. Especially while I’m still happy on my Hawks (saving $500).

Those pics are fantastic Mine now look like they were taken with the 1st gen iPhone Glad you’re bAAAck!!!!!

Thank you for the kind words my friend.

Sometimes we get really good photographers at the events, but most of the time they're meh. I was looking at the set for the last track day I did at LRP. I was on-track for 5X 25 minute sessions, and the person got one shitty shot of my car lol. Took about 50X pictures of an LS swapped Volvo 240 though.

 

[decodeddiesel]

"Stay off the curbs on the Bus Stop!" they said. "You don't want to ruin your car!" they said.

Oops...

*The secret it to NOT be on the brakes when you go over them so the front suspension is unloaded and has room to travel.

 

[decodeddiesel]

Here we see the Supra in it's natural environment hunting it's favorite prey...Miatas.

 

[Rocksandblues]

Miatas= moving traffic cones
Hate them. Too slow to be in time trials. 2 clean laps is often all you get and then you are done because you have lapped and caught the rolling traffic cones

 

[FLtrackdays]

"Stay off the curbs on the Bus Stop!" they said. "You don't want to ruin your car!" they said.

Oops...

*The secret it to NOT be on the brakes when you go over them so the front suspension is unloaded and has room to travel.

I like that las pic the best. Keeping your loaded weight 🛞 on the tarmac. The other pics with both tires on the rumbles… ouch. That’d have to be going straight & little input I’d assume. Great photos regardless!

Miatas= moving traffic cones
Hate them. Too slow to be in time trials. 2 clean laps is often all you get and then you are done because you have lapped and caught the rolling traffic cones

Your car must be a blast in the corners. I still like following the really good miata drivers in the turns where that lower weight little to no braking shines. On the straights they are pretty good in the higher run groups for moving over and letting us blast by, imo. But I can honestly say I haven’t done any time trials with them. How’d you end up in the same class as the miatas?

 

[Rocksandblues]

I like that las pic the best. Keeping your loaded weight 🛞 on the tarmac. The other pics with both tires on the rumbles… ouch. That’d have to be going straight & little input I’d assume. Great photos regardless!


Your car must be a blast in the corners. I still like following the really good miata drivers in the turns where that lower weight little to no braking shines. On the straights they are pretty good in the higher run groups for moving over and letting us blast by, imo. But I can honestly say I haven’t done any time trials with them. How’d you end up in the same class as the miatas?

Not in same class. But here, anyway, most TT have their own session. So there are no HPDE or even advanced guys out on the track. Only TT participants. They line you up according to qual lap time. You purposely hold way back on out lap and then hit it so you are at Max at start/finish then you have clear sailing for 2 maybe 3 laps before you catch up to the slowest class which is usually.... miatas offline passes kill your lap time. It can be frustrating. I do fewer and fewer events each year and may just do a couple National races next season.

Mid Atlantic SCCA the fun groups are like tuner 4 where there are 10 cars that compete every event and all with in a sec of each other.


EDIT: not even sure if i was the correct one to answer. LOL sorry can delete if garbage post

 

[decodeddiesel]

I like that las pic the best. Keeping your loaded weight 🛞 on the tarmac. The other pics with both tires on the rumbles… ouch. That’d have to be going straight & little input I’d assume. Great photos regardless!


Your car must be a blast in the corners. I still like following the really good miata drivers in the turns where that lower weight little to no braking shines. On the straights they are pretty good in the higher run groups for moving over and letting us blast by, imo. But I can honestly say I haven’t done any time trials with them. How’d you end up in the same class as the miatas?

The Bus Stop is interesting because you basically shoot straight over the curbs to get your best time. Believe me, what you're seeing in the first three pictures is the fastest line and this is what I was taught in classroom and through the coaching I got in the car.

In the dry I was turning into the first curb at about 90-95 mph it's a straight shot over curb 1 and 2, then a small left steering input, tap Curb 3, then straight over Curb 4, accelerate, then turn in for Turn 5, a LONG right hand sweeper. You can get through the bus stop with 2 steering inputs, almost like a very obtuse V.

In the wet you drive through the center, staying off of the paint like a normal chicane and becomes a 4 steering input chicane.

This was a normal HDPE. They were all intermediate drivers. The miata out front was not giving point bys and was black flagged later this lap for not giving point bys. As far as how I stacked up, I was outpacing them everywhere on the track. The top of the Ss near the Bus Stop was brutal for the miatas because it's the highest speed section of the track. I was able to get over 140, and close to 150 on the back straight if I came out of Ss well.

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