For a while now I had been deliberating whether or not to go full on with modifying my car. I wanted my car to look awesome visually, but I didn't want my car to be all show and no go especially as I was now hooked on track days. There had to be substance behind the looks.
Over the Christmas period of 2009 I had thought long and hard about what I wanted the car to be; a full on track car? A road car? A show car?
The theme I decided upon was visually stunning, yet focused on performance with capable road manners. This meant performance mods would have to be carefully chosen to achieve that road/track/looks balance. I was realistic enough to know this was far from a race car. Those who think the ultimate from both Worlds is possible i.e. Top track performance and capable road manners are living in La La Land. It would be about compromise, and in what areas. Money of course was important!
I carefully thought about what mods I wanted and a list of parts was formed.
When I was at TGM to get my DRE shift light fitted, I discussed with Tom what I wanted to do and we agreed that my car would be a TGM project car. I won't divulge in this post what the mods are yet, but will write up each mod in future posts, explaining the benefits and my rationale for choosing them.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
D.R.E Shift Light and Drainage Holes
Having loved my track day at Brands I decided to get a simple track mod, a shift light.
Research pointed me to the Digital Race Electronics SLD5 unit, or DRE shift light as it's more commonly referred to.
Most shift lights rely on the rev counter to program the shift points whilst revving the engine. However, the SLD5 features a built in digital display to enable simple, accurate programming without starting the engine, eliminating the inherent inaccuracy associated with rev counters.
Tested and approved by the multi-championship winning Bennett Silk Formula Ford team, the SLD5 has been developed to include all the features the drivers found useful whilst racing.
The SLD5 is made up of 5 lamps and a digital programmable disply on top of the unit. The lamps are programmable across your desired rev range. For example I have mine set from 6k - 8.5k revs. The lights consist of 3 colours that are grouped together in pairs for the first 4 and the 5th light is always red (it's also the largest). I had specced mine to show orange blue and red, so the lights as they sequentially lit up would be:
Orange, Orange | Blue, Blue | Red
By noting how many lights are illuminated at the entry and exit of any turn, you should get an indication of where you have gained or lost time well before knowing your lap time. for those of you who track your car, you will know that timing equipment is banned and only permitted for competition use so this is pretty handy.
Once I had taken delivery, I was off to TGM to get it fitted as I'm not one for soldering anything on to my ECU. As luck would have it, the motorsport electician that Tom uses for his own race cars was there and so he installed it there and then in under 5 minutes!
Below is a rather poor video (bit of an understatement!) where you can just about see the shift light lighting up on start up. Don't ask me why I held my camera so low...
Whilst I was there I also asked Tom to drill some small drainage holes in my rear light units. A common problem with facelift Tegs is that after a while, the rear lights take in water and end up looking like mini fish tanks. Drainage and re-sealing is an option, but the permanent solution is to drill a couple of small unobtrusive holes in the bottom of the units. You would only notice them if you were looking for them or polishing your rear lights closely so the visual impact is minimal to non-existant.
Therefore if you're ever buying a facelift Teg, don't be alarmed if you see a couple of tiny holes in the rear lights!
Research pointed me to the Digital Race Electronics SLD5 unit, or DRE shift light as it's more commonly referred to.
Most shift lights rely on the rev counter to program the shift points whilst revving the engine. However, the SLD5 features a built in digital display to enable simple, accurate programming without starting the engine, eliminating the inherent inaccuracy associated with rev counters.
Tested and approved by the multi-championship winning Bennett Silk Formula Ford team, the SLD5 has been developed to include all the features the drivers found useful whilst racing.
The SLD5 is made up of 5 lamps and a digital programmable disply on top of the unit. The lamps are programmable across your desired rev range. For example I have mine set from 6k - 8.5k revs. The lights consist of 3 colours that are grouped together in pairs for the first 4 and the 5th light is always red (it's also the largest). I had specced mine to show orange blue and red, so the lights as they sequentially lit up would be:
Orange, Orange | Blue, Blue | Red
 |
| Yes I know this is showing Green, Green | Blue, Blue | Red |
Once I had taken delivery, I was off to TGM to get it fitted as I'm not one for soldering anything on to my ECU. As luck would have it, the motorsport electician that Tom uses for his own race cars was there and so he installed it there and then in under 5 minutes!
 |
| DRE shift light mounted on top of the steering column. Excuse the winter mats and seat cover! |
Whilst I was there I also asked Tom to drill some small drainage holes in my rear light units. A common problem with facelift Tegs is that after a while, the rear lights take in water and end up looking like mini fish tanks. Drainage and re-sealing is an option, but the permanent solution is to drill a couple of small unobtrusive holes in the bottom of the units. You would only notice them if you were looking for them or polishing your rear lights closely so the visual impact is minimal to non-existant.
Therefore if you're ever buying a facelift Teg, don't be alarmed if you see a couple of tiny holes in the rear lights!
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Track Day at Brands Hatch
I booked a track day at Brands Hatch for obvious enjoyment but also to see what the Teg could do on track. I was accompanied by my good friend and trusty wing man Tsuyoshi aka Squashi.
It was a cold Sunday morning and minor surface frost was thawing out quickly in the Winter sunshine - fantastic conditions.
Throughout each session I grew more confident and began finding a natural rhythm, finding my ideal lines; linking turns more smoothly but also finding later and later braking points. It also gave me a good chance to properly bed in my new Dixcel Discs and Pads. I can confirm that they provided outstanding stopping power with no brake fade at all ;)
By the 3rd session I now understood why many people say the DC5 puts many higher powered cars to shame on track. The car is so easy to handle and corners unbelieveably well. I must've overtaken around 8 cars including a Lotus Elise and a Subaru WRX STI. Granted they weren't the fastest of drivers but it shows how good the Teg is at carrying speed through corners. In a straight line drag the Subaru would normally leave me for dust. Corner exit speed FTW.
It was a cold Sunday morning and minor surface frost was thawing out quickly in the Winter sunshine - fantastic conditions.
Throughout each session I grew more confident and began finding a natural rhythm, finding my ideal lines; linking turns more smoothly but also finding later and later braking points. It also gave me a good chance to properly bed in my new Dixcel Discs and Pads. I can confirm that they provided outstanding stopping power with no brake fade at all ;)
By the 3rd session I now understood why many people say the DC5 puts many higher powered cars to shame on track. The car is so easy to handle and corners unbelieveably well. I must've overtaken around 8 cars including a Lotus Elise and a Subaru WRX STI. Granted they weren't the fastest of drivers but it shows how good the Teg is at carrying speed through corners. In a straight line drag the Subaru would normally leave me for dust. Corner exit speed FTW.
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Brake Upgrade
Having had my FRSU done, the logical next step was to get my brakes uprated. Many DC5 owners get on very well with just brake pad upgrades, afterall the brake discs are Brembo. However I wanted to do some track work throughout the life of my Teg so I opted to upgrade the brake discs, pads and brake lines.
After a lot of research, I had decided on the following parts:
Feedback from other owners including non-Tegs was excellent and the constant mention of 'great stopping power' and 'no fading' pretty much sold me on them.
Now just a note on the above. For a DC5 you don't really need to uprate the rear discs and pads as they don't do much of the braking. However firstly I wanted to balance out the braking to the optimum degree and secondly I wanted the rears to match (call me fickle).
After a lot of research, I had decided on the following parts:
- Dixcel slotted front and rear brake discs
- Dixcel Z Type front and rear Carbon brake pads
- Hel stainless steel brake lines
Feedback from other owners including non-Tegs was excellent and the constant mention of 'great stopping power' and 'no fading' pretty much sold me on them.
Now just a note on the above. For a DC5 you don't really need to uprate the rear discs and pads as they don't do much of the braking. However firstly I wanted to balance out the braking to the optimum degree and secondly I wanted the rears to match (call me fickle).
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| Dixcel Slotted Brake Discs |
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| Dixcel Z Type Carbon Brake Pads |
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| Hel Stainless Steel Brakelines |
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| Front Brake Disc being fitted |
Saturday, 2 January 2010
RBC Intake and Throttle Body
I came across a RBC inlet manifold (modified to fit the DC5) and throttle body (TB) combo that was on special offer over the Christmas period. The RBC is the inlet manifold from the Euro Accord Type R that has longer runners and features higher air flow capabilities. The proven benefits include:
I snapped one of these combo's up and also a Hondata gasket. The Hondata gasket is a replacement intake manifold gasket made from special high temperature plastic, designed to insulate the intake manifold from the cylinder head. This reduces the transfer of heat from the head to the intake and incoming air giving you more power.
- Better throttle response
- Better mid range and top end power
I snapped one of these combo's up and also a Hondata gasket. The Hondata gasket is a replacement intake manifold gasket made from special high temperature plastic, designed to insulate the intake manifold from the cylinder head. This reduces the transfer of heat from the head to the intake and incoming air giving you more power.
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| RBC with TB attached and Hondata Gasket |
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| 70mm True TB |
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