Tsukuba Race Prep (all Finished, Some Vids & Pics ) !

[giant]

Dont worry about it willo / harry, let it be water under the bridge.

were not racing for sheep stations ! yet

[giant]

iwe would try to make it very clear whats required for each class to minimize the confusion.

[noone]

Smart strings are a brand of string wheel alignment, fantastic product and saved our ass over there!

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/smart1.htm

Cheers for that link thinking that it will come in handy

[PORTS]

I was thinking of Oran Park South circuit as a candidate as lap times would mostly be high 40's to mid 50 seconds.

[NickR33]

Also would like to see a powder puffs class if possible (for the ladies)

I'm in then!

Even if technically I'm not a women... I've been told I drive like one hehe

great thread, well done over there guys!!!

[Snowman]

Russ - to chuck in some idea's for the "street class" concept when it comes to tyres - back when I set-up the rules for the SAU Vic club championship we nominated a UTQG rating of 100 and lower to equal R Comps and anything over 100 were classified as street tyres.

This meant tyres like the Federal 595RS and Azien RT215 and RT615's were eligable for street class but they were about the best tyres available. But by using a UTQG rating you don't have to worry about tyre lists etc.

[Roy]

There definately would be a street car class, on street rubber(no semi's), this class is important, full interior & no cage, with a/c( if original equipment)

This will cause endless debate. But to me the street class should be on certain tyres, sure. But to say it must have full interior and no cage? So you are ruling out a safety measure such as a cage, inviting ppl to run crappy tyres with no grip and giving them the seal or approval to go crazy with hp mods? I personally think the street car class should be std panels (bonnet, boot, doors etc) with the option to run front bar and rear spoiler. The interior must retain std door trims and functioning glass etc. But should be encouraged to remove rear seat and install a cage.

Food for thought

[Roy]

Why don't you link the thread so everyone can see the discussion? You need to build a bridge.

Be warned Russ, if ppl don't like the rules and feel cheated by the result they may threaten legal action against you!!

Thats why you run under CAMS wqith CAMS officials and that way the Clerk of Course handles it all for you, using CMAS forms and usual means of lodging a protest etc

[giant]

hehe! it was interesting in japan , we could run open class with all mods and no cage, heaps of freedom - not real wise but heaps of freedom.

the other thing i thought was funny, was watching gt500 race cars and lemans cars racing around mount fuji with full size tourists busses full of people also on the track!! haha that was classic stuff

Edited December 11, 2007 by giant

[djr81]

This will cause endless debate. But to me the street class should be on certain tyres, sure. But to say it must have full interior and no cage? So you are ruling out a safety measure such as a cage, inviting ppl to run crappy tyres with no grip and giving them the seal or approval to go crazy with hp mods? I personally think the street car class should be std panels (bonnet, boot, doors etc) with the option to run front bar and rear spoiler. The interior must retain std door trims and functioning glass etc. But should be encouraged to remove rear seat and install a cage.

Food for thought

You have hit upon an inherent problem. One of differentiating safety improvements (Which you want to encourage) from go fast improvements (which you want to delineate to help set up the class structure)

Over here in WA the sprint series is divided into outright & then a bundle of classes (eg 4WD, under 2000cc etc etc) The problem being that some people (eg me) turn up with a road car on R compounds. With a full interior, stereo, climate control aircon. A road car. Others turn up in a "road car" (well its got plates) on the back of a trailer with no interior, a full road cage, no ventilation etc etc.

So maybe you need an outright class & a road class.

But the safety aspect is a big problem. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about big hp cars with no grip. They just go slow anyway.

As for street tyres - well IMHO if people don't want to shell out for a half decent set of boots then they probably aren't interested in giving an event/series their full attention. Road tyres on a race track don't live long so it is a false economy you don't need to encourage. If it is DOT approved it is a road tyre. End of story.

[Roy]

LOL..yeh i dont think we shoudl be looking to the Japanese when it comes to running an event orcar safety. Their motorsport scene seems to do its own thing whilst the FIA go in other directions, most notably with cage design and requirements

[ZENNON]

If it is DOT approved it is a road tyre. End of story.

/me hopes Harry doesn'tsee that

[Belsil80]

top effort on your trip guys!

And with the classes there should be a 'street class', where full trimmed road registered cars can compete, we have no chance against the likes of giant!!!!

Haha, street car that turns up to the show and shine on the back of a truck?! You have the perfect set up to strip that car right back and make it a track whore.

I think this sort of event could lead to something big here. It would be great to get 'sprints' out there even more.

As for tyres, i think there should be no class for 'street' tyres for a big event like this. Simplify the classes to drive type and a levels of tuning. Semis arent THAT much more than some good streets anyway. however, i can see there being a clear advantage stepping up from semi's to full slicks. hell, just make it Re55's as a controlled tyre.

look forward to seeing this happen!

Edit: djr81, you are on the money

[Roy]

But the safety aspect is a big problem. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about big hp cars with no grip. They just go slow anyway.

As for street tyres - well IMHO if people don't want to shell out for a half decent set of boots then they probably aren't interested in giving an event/series their full attention. Road tyres on a race track don't live long so it is a false economy you don't need to encourage. If it is DOT approved it is a road tyre. End of story.

I can hear what you are saying but disgaree with some of your comments.

Its not a matter of the big hp cars being slow, its partly a safety thing. Think back to Tod Wilkes when wing nuts run events and dont think enough about the safety of entrants. Todays premium road tyres are no bad things and can still generate large amounts of grip, and cars can still go damn quick. Hp never hurts, but tyres are a great equaliser

Also, back when i ran road tyres they laster forever. If i locked up a brake? No problem. They never really flat spotted. They woudl get slick and greasy but tyre wear was never worse then i get with a semi. It was actually a lot better. I made the mistake of running practically new road tyres once, never again. They sucked and they did wear a lot initially.

I think there shoudl definitely be a list of tyres that are able to be run in a street class. Using the UTQG is an idea. But it means ppl at the budget end of the spectrum will be tryign to do with $1560 tyres what otehrs are using $550 tyres for. A list of tyres all with good performance and within a certain dollar figure means that the entry level class is entry level. Its critical that this class appeals to many as there simnply woudl not be enough serious cars to fill the ranks otherwise.

[djr81]

I can hear what you are saying but disgaree with some of your comments.

Its not a matter of the big hp cars being slow, its partly a safety thing. Think back to Tod Wilkes when wing nuts run events and dont think enough about the safety of entrants. Todays premium road tyres are no bad things and can still generate large amounts of grip, and cars can still go damn quick. Hp never hurts, but tyres are a great equaliser

Also, back when i ran road tyres they laster forever. If i locked up a brake? No problem. They never really flat spotted. They woudl get slick and greasy but tyre wear was never worse then i get with a semi. It was actually a lot better. I made the mistake of running practically new road tyres once, never again. They sucked and they did wear a lot initially.

I think there shoudl definitely be a list of tyres that are able to be run in a street class. Using the UTQG is an idea. But it means ppl at the budget end of the spectrum will be tryign to do with $1560 tyres what otehrs are using $550 tyres for. A list of tyres all with good performance and within a certain dollar figure means that the entry level class is entry level. Its critical that this class appeals to many as there simnply woudl not be enough serious cars to fill the ranks otherwise.

Ok I hear what you are saying, but the Wilkes thing is a fairly singular example.

The few times I tried road tyres in my R they just chunked. So maybe it is a weight thing.

As for tyre regs over here what it has meant is that you run RE55's, Toyos or other R compounds. Yes you need to fork out for them. But to be honest as I said if you are in any way serious about winning anything you are going to have to. I burn more money in fuel/fees/brakes/broken bits than I do in tyres. So I don't think people should over emphasise their importance. If they have to porper "road" tyres (not sure how you define that) then people will end up settling on something like a Federal or a Falken. So it will have much the same outcome.

As for safety - well I reckon this will be an increasing problem. 600hp is easy to get nowadays. Used to be damn near impossible. I mean, crap my thing will do over 200km/h at Wanneroo which starts to get me all puckery if I stop & think about it. Hill climbs are getting harder & harder to get approved & they tend to end up with more bloody chicanes, year on year.

[Roy]

But to be honest as I said if you are in any way serious about winning anything you are going to have to. I burn more money in fuel/fees/brakes/broken bits than I do in tyres. So I don't think people should over emphasise their importance.

I spent $4500 on semi slicks this year. I know ppl that have spent more. But that figure killed me this year and the cost of them really limited the track days i did

I dont think the serious = semi slick thing need be the case. If you dont need to run $1600 tyres because other competitors arent then? Even better is that a street tyre from a designated list will still probably serve you well as a road tyre for another 10,000kms

Anyway....i just want to help someone build a quick track car... Making them fast is more appealing then driving them. Its also cheaper

[fireball]

looking the timesheet posted b4...

car 30 -wat class is fr-na ?? as opposed to say car 124 that says na

[Snowman]

If it is DOT approved it is a road tyre. End of story.

What about the Hoosier Radials? They are DOT approved but they also have a UTQG rating of 0. So are they a road tyre?

[Miss BNR32]

yes really like the Tsukuba format so it would be the basis.

hey chris, thats good as we were giving him plenty of shit!!

hey annie!! make sure you tell darren to fit that passenger seat or you'll be driving his car! i 've seen your driving to and your ascrazy as mark.

F**k the passenger seat!! I want to be in the drivers seat... without him sabbotaging the boost either...lol

[JAGR33]

Haha, street car that turns up to the show and shine on the back of a truck?! You have the perfect set up to strip that car right back and make it a track whore.

Unfortunately I was working Saturday morning hence why the car rocked up on the back of the truck.

I would never strip the car out, i won't be able to enjoy it on the street then. If I wanted a race car I would have built one..

My 2c on proposed event:

- Roy has a valid point, street cars should have original body panels (excl. bonnet/bars/wing), although they should also have an interior and a/c, cage optional. Tyre should be whatever the rules allow, if you want to be competitive then street tyres are obviously not a wise choice, if you can't afford semis well that's bad luck.

- No shit box challenge!!! Last thing we need is $1000 barges with engines that will most likely 'disassemble' themselves leaving oil and bits on the track.

- Tyre rules will make or break the event, there should be a strict policy, I reckon Snowman is on the money.