what’s new for 22’.
So what’s new for 2022? ……..Sadly, not a new car.
Although it was quite tempting to hop in line for a new GR86, I decided that there was still more to learn with the current car, and to just stay patient.
So it’ll be another year with old 2013, but this time the car won’t be stock anymore and will have a couple of upgrades as I step up to Street Class in TRD Series.
Old ZN6 vs New ZN8 - Image by Kevin Natividad @ Feend Media
The main upgrades to the car this year were:
Replaced the original 70k miles shocks and springs that have over 40 track days on them. To say they were worn is an understatement. Installed were the Racecomp Engineering Superstreet-1 coilovers.
The RCE SS1’s are a pretty basic setup, with 1-way rebound adjustability, height adjustable, and 6kg/mm front and rear spring rates.
I chose this setup because I wanted something simple, and I also believe that stiffer isn’t always better. Stiff as you need is what I was looking for.
More tire. Tires are the single most important item on any vehicle.
Wheels & tires were updated from the 17x8 - 225/45 to a 17x9 - 245/40 setup. Tires will continue to be Falken RT660, 200tw tires.
Optimized alignment.
New specs for this year are -3.2 Fr / -2.4 Rr camber, 0” Fr / 0.9375” Rr toe
Corner balanced (2869lbs with drivers)
The car after alignment and corner balanced by West End Alignment.
I took the car to good ol’ Streets of Willow (CW) to do some testing with the new setup and to dial in the coilovers. I have no idea what I’m doing as far as suspension tuning goes, so all I did was do some sweeps of differing rebound adjustments, and picked one that felt good to me as a driver. With the new SS1 coilovers and wheels & tires, I was able to shave 1.062s off my best time from October 2021, and got a new PB of 1:25.904s!
Let’s take a look at the data, and see where I was able to gain.
Red is 2022 setup (1:25.904) vs Blue is 2021 (1:26.966). Top row is speed, then latGs, lonGs, and Time Delta.
T1-T2: With the car flatter due to upgraded coilovers, I was able to go flat through T1, and brake about 50ft later at T2 without losing too much minimum speed.
Esses: I was able to get the car rotated better at T4, get to gas sooner, and then again able to keep it flat through the esses, which gave me a 5mph advantage heading into the bowl.
Bowl: Even though I was carrying more speed into the bowl, I had a higher minimum speed, and got back to throttle sooner, which was extremely important for the next straightaway.
Chicane of Death: The COD is all about commitment, and confidence. I had both on this day. I was able to carry more speed through the chicane, and down to T10.
Ambient temps was 57°F last year vs 85°F during the latest test. So you can see the blue line actually catching up to the red line down the straights, even when the red line gets to throttle earlier.
All of these improvements equaled to over 1s of lap time !
I’m quite happy with the improvements in the car, and believe there is still much to learn and gain from continuing to drive this car. I look forwarding to moving up a class in TRD Series, and excited to try other Time Attack events in 2022!
Fast in, Fast out. Thanks guys.
-PB