Archive February 2009
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Thank goodness Tim is on the ball this week. Compounded with a less than agreeable work schedule I was wacked with a head cold this weekend leaving me uterly useless.
I just got the news that we have 6 new tires headed our direction from Tire Rack. Kuhmo lost out the tire decision, as there just wasn’t enough information out there to give Tim that warm fuzzy feeling. Instead we went with a set of 255/40ZR-17 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec, which should be nothing short of awesome.
Read up on Tim’s tire report from the DSM Tuners site here.
0Helmet Compliance
It turns out the entire team needs to get new helmets. Most of the track events have accepted M rated helmets, which are more readily found from the motorcycle shops. The One Lap Event requires us to have SA rated helmets.
The SA standard was designed for auto racing while the M rating was focused on the motorcycle industry. There is a third rating, which is designed for karting, which is indicated by K rating.
There are some advantages of having the SA rated helmets, although it was an additional expense we were not planning on.
- The SA standard is the only one which requires flammability testing.
- The SA standard will allow a narrower field of vision compared to the M or K rating.
- The SA standard includes a roll bar multi-impact test, where as the M standard does not.
I believe each of us will by trying to sell the helmets we have to recover some costs. If anybody would like a good helmet, let us know.
2SVRA Member
I received my SVRA membership card this week. We mailed in our membership applications and medical information a few weeks ago, after making the commitment to enter the event.
I realize the SVRA provides the insurance and coverage for the event. However the amount of medical information that we had to provide to get this little membership card was nothing short of excessive. While they now know more about my medical history than my own doctor, I find little comfort in knowing that none of the medical history we were asked to provide makes people safer on the track. For now, it is a milestone that we needed to overcome and one more check box in the “need to get this done” list.
1Early Work Sessions
Things get started by pulling the front and rear control arms/hubs from the Eclipse. That will give us good wheal bearings, good ball joints, urethane bushings, and most importantly 5-lug hubs. That’s going to let us use the 17×9 wheels off the eclipse and more improtantly the 255 wide tires. While we at it the L1R/FP manifold/O2 housing/exhaust/my intake manifold/JNZ relocated alternator were all harvested for the VR4.
The VR4 undergoes a similar treatment but we hit a snag working on the rear trailing arms. The VR4 has a 4 bolt rear diff and a new sub-frame was installed with it. Unfortunatly the trailing arm toe adjusters were installed backwards which meant we had to drop everything to get the old ones out. Good thing it only takes 6 bolts to get everything out. Once we got everything bolted back up and the new wheels and tires on we noticed the front tires sticking out a touch. I think once we the ride height up a bit and the negative camber where it needs to be they should tuck in. At least we hope.
DSM Tuners
DSM Tuners has put up a page dedicated to following our travels around the country and with the entire One Lap Project. This is a huge resource for us to be able to liason with the community, escpecially when we are on the road.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=1lapvr4
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