Japfest 2012

A long overdue post but nonetheless, here are some pictures of the teg at Japfest back in May. Big thanks to Nick, Ben and Ian for the photos!

 

The Day Before Japfest @ TGM

So the car is now almost complete (at least for now :) )

The day (or morning I should say) started at TGM on May 11th to get the car ready for Japfest the next day, the largest Japanese car show in the UK.

I won't bore you with words, but shall instead show you pictures of progress.
Tom, Willie and their teams at TGM are insanely good at what they do. A BIG thank you for their dedication, and quality of work, including Tomo from the tinting company next door to TGM for pulling a last minute late one to produce and sticker up the car for me.

TGM Mocal Oil cooler fitted with J's Racing tow hook (painted a variant of Marussia red)

Beatrush underpanel fitted

J's Racing front bumper 'modified' to fit the oil cooler

Wheels off to fit the side skirts = perfect view of the Brembo Race brake setup and Nitron coilovers

Did I mention the brake pads are 1 inch thick?

Mugen carbon fibre spark plug cover re-laquered by Willie to give it a wet look to match the J's Carbon airbox

J's Racing LED Honda Emblem

Kit on ready for stickering!

Just finished stickering up the car at 21:30 in Tomo's workshop

21:45 - Ready for Japfest

Some will hate it but I love the J's Badge

Tyre Update

At the start of the build I had only one set of wheels for road and track, therefore a compromise on tyre selection had to be made to take into consideration dry grip, wet grip (including standing water) and longevity. As it stood, the 'compromise' would be to run extreme performance Summer tyres; a tyre one step down from semi slicks in terms of dry performance, but with the ability to cope better in standing water and in addition, provide longer tyre life on the road. Yokohama ad08's were my tyre of choice at the time to fufill these requirements.

However as I now have a separate set of wheels for track, my tyre choices have naturally evolved.
For track I'll be running Dunlop Direzza DZ03G semi slicks and for the road, Continental Sport Contact  tyres (the OEM tyre for the Mercedes SLS and E Series AMGs). My reasons for these choices are made up from numerous reviews and more importantly, on recommendation from TGM. Of course though, proof will be in the pudding when I get to try these out myself.

Dunlops - They have a reputation for high, consistent grip levels with a very good wear rate, outlasting many other semi slick tyres on the market. They have topped a number of semi slick tyre tests and are what TGM and many race teams run on their race cars when not using slicks.

 

Continental - Outstanding wet performance, they have even been recommended by one of the BTCC drivers for use in the wet (of course taking wet race tyres out of the equation). They have bested a number of road tyres in overall performance tests (dominating in the wet), including the renowned Goodyear Eagle F1's

What these two tyre choices give me is high performance grip in a range of weather conditions:

• Track (dry) - Dunlops
• Track (damp to wet) - Dunlops
• Track (wet to very wet) - Continentals
• Road (all conditions) - Continentals

Track Wheels and Vortex Generators

One thing that has been bothering me about the build is that I did not have a second set of wheels to run semi slicks for track. With my Nitron suspension and Brembo race brakes, the AD08's (even though a superb tyre) are the weak link.

Yes I could've just run semi slicks on my CE28's but to me, running semi slicks on the road is such a waste. In addition, I still wanted top quality lightweight alloys e.g. Volk Racing, however I would never be able to justify the cost of them new (approx. £2.5k). This has now been resolved though as I picked up a second hand set of the discontinued SE37K's. They are in need of a refurb which Willie will take care of and should be very special when done :)

 

I terms of rubber, they will be wrapped in Dunlop Direzza DZ03G semi slicks; a quality tyre that is a favourite of TGM's. I'll do a write up of them at a later date as I have to fly, but before I do, here's a picture of the Sard aeroblades a.k.a vortex generators on the car; complete with black roof :)

Spoon Wide Blue Rearview Mirror and Carbon Cover

One of the best 'usability' mods I have in the car is a Broadway oversized rearview mirror. As per the description it is larger than the OEM mirror and simply clips over the top providing a much wider field of vision. There is one minor gripe I have with it though - being oversized; pulling down the sun visors catches the mirror.

I wanted something OEM sized that would provide a wider field of vision than OEM. Cue the Spoon wide blue mirror. It has a 14000R convex curvature to ensure a wide field of vision and in addition it has a blue coating to reduce reflective glare.

I also didn't want the mirror to be lonely, so it's now got a fetching carbon fibre coat ;)

Aero Progress

One of the mysteries in the UK tuning scene is why TGM's body shop is not as well known as it should be. They are a top class outfit and have plenty of work through the doors; with lots of amazing projects like numerous GP2 race cars and a NSX kitted out with parts from the Mclaren MP4-12C to name but a few! Willie, Tom's brother, runs the body shop and is phenomenol in what he does. Anyway, the reason I mention this is because work has started on my aero and I am blown away by the results even at this early stage (keep in mind nothing is fully fitted or painted yet) :)

Front bumper in the body shop

Rear view in the paint booth

Like the colour scheme?

J's Racing 3D GT Carbon Fibre wing

View of the J's Racing 15mm wider front fenders from the rear. No side skirts on yet.

J's Racing 15mm wdier front fenders

Mugen Spark Plug Cover

• Autoclave moulded dry carbon fibre - check
• Quality carbon weave - check
• £350 - Not on your life 
• Sensibly priced second hand item? Oh yes

A big thanks to Dotty for this superb bit of second hand parts lurking - I doff my cap.

Beatrush is here!

I've already written about the Beatrush underpanel here. However when it would actually arrive I wasn't sure, Until I woke up this morning :)

3.8kg by the way.

Progress Updates

I went down to TGM this morning to drop off my spare wheel. On approach I noticed this.

My Function7 lower control arms and rear subframe brace were on. However the F7 anti-roll bar brackets were not on yet as the oem bushes are of a different shape. Tom is sourcing aftermarket bushes that will fit though so once he gets those the brackets will be on.

I took a look at the new Koyo radiator and it's lovely even though it's hiding behind the aircon condensor. I really can't wait to see what water temps I will be getting at Snetterton in March. With the oem radiator, my running temperature is 90°C and on track it shoots up to over 110°C easily!

Koyo R-Series Competition Radiator peeking out behind the aircon condensor.

Whilst I was there I found out what brake pads Tom had chosen. I knew they would be Hawk pads but didn't know what Tom had put in. I had told Tom I wanted something aggressive as I don't drive the teg often (or fast) on the road, only fast on track. Additionally I really don't care about squeeling brakes. Squeeling brake pads scream motorsport to me instead of embaressment.

What this meant was I wanted something more than the Hawk HP Plus, which is a fast road/track day pad. I was guessing that it would be something like the HT-10, however Tom had chosen the DTC-70, Hawk's top race compound!

Hawk DTC-70 brake pad. I was surprised the backing came in red but looks awesome (I know that's not the point)

I was secretly very happy about this as I was contemplating running two sets of pads, a low dust street pad for the road and the DTC-70's for track. Afterall, changing brake pads with my calipers is stupidly quick and going halfway house with the pads given this caliper/disc set up is a cop out and was bugging me :)

The DTC-70's operate at 204-871°C (400-1600°F) and  have an extremely high torque. They are designed to have aggressive, controllable initial bite with great release and torque control characteristics. The pads are designed for race cars with high deceleration rates with or without down force.

Spare Wheel

So a while back I was faced with a conundrum. Given the huge calipers under the front wheels, it is almost guaranteed my OEM wheels will not fit over them even with hubcentric spacers. This is because the spacers will be sized for the CE28's which are wider and have a lower offset, thus giving more clearance.
So what happens if I get a front puncture? There are two immediate options for this:

1. Keep the standard spare or an OEM wheel in the boot - swap one of the rear CE28's to the front and put the OEM on the rear. However you never know where (and under what conditions) you might end up having to change a wheel; rather one than two. Additionally I would need OEM wheel nuts for that wheel as the taper seat is different (not that that is an issue).
2. Tyre Weld - I always have a couple of cans in the boot, but to be honest I have seen a friend use this first hand and I wasn't impressed. Maybe he didn't use it correctly but even if this was true, his application of it looked sensible to me and thus I would expect to simliarly fail..

There is of course a third option, which is to keep another CE28 spare wheel in the boot. For me personally, the outlay of a brand new CE28 is not worth it as they are uber expensive. But if you can find one second hand..... ;)

Progress - Nitrons

Nitrons are on. Big thanks to Dotty for the spy photos :)

Progress - Brake Kit, Engine Mounts and Suspension

Today I was sent some build pictures of my car by one of my many spies (F2K) who was down at TGM for something or other.

Front bumper off to accomodate a new Koyo R-Series Competition radiator.

Avid engine mounts on. You can make out the driver's side mount next to the power steering reservoir.

Race brakes are on with some temporary front wheels as the OEM wheels are too small to fit over them. I cannot wait for the CE28's to go on!

And last but not least, my Nitrons were laid out in the workshop waiting to be fitted :)

Very excited!

Thanks again to my dorifto mate Jase a.k.a. F2K for the pictures.

Vision Technica Wide Blue Mirrors

Discontinued and in my possession (although not really that hard to get). Vision's wide blue side mirrors give wider visibility than standard wing mirrors due to their convex shape and have a anti-glare blue coating. They are handy for reducing blind spots, however as they were produced for race use, they shouldn't be a substitute for looking over your shoulder on the road!

I was in two minds whether to get these as although they provide a wider viewing angle, they also present everything reflected as being smaller and thus further away than standard mirrors. However this is not a big issue as it just requires getting used to new judgement distances.

Pictures below.