Slightly tweaked 3000GT TT

[Unlogic]

I tightened my handbrake for the first time the other day. As soon as I removed the interior around the center console I came across a whole carpet of cables left over from that horrible Blaupunkt stereo I removed last summer...





It seems like the cables from that stereo installation keep creeping up behind every part I remove on this car.

[Jimvr4]

Congratulations on excising the Blaupunkt cancer !

[Blackmount]

I think I've encontered that with almost every car I have owned...like wtf. lol

[Unlogic]

The car has been running great during the month that has passed since I got it back together. Confident that everything was holding up so good I took it to a track meet this evening and did 15 laps divided into three 5-lap intervals on the Mid Sweden raceway (the local racetrack around here).

There was a mix of cars at the track (Porsche GT3 RS, Honda S2000, Mustang GT to name a few) and I managed to hold my place quite well. The track is only about 2km and has quite a few rather tight turns so I felt absolutely no need for more power than what the car is putting down today. The quick spool up of my small turbos combined with the four wheel drive meant that I could overtake quite a few cars accelerating out of the corners.

Having messed with so many things on the car during the past winter I kept my eyes on the oil pressure and water temp gauges like paranoid. The water temperature was very stable and the needle stayed horizontal on the stock gauge like it does during normal driving. Oil pressure was also fine even after really heat soaking the car.

No comes the bad part... brakes and tires!

I've always ran EBC Red Stuff pads on my car and after wearing out the stock discs on a few previous track days I upgraded to slotted and slightly thicker EBC front discs last year. This winter I installed braided brake lines and switched to Motul RBF 600 fluid. However during the first 5 laps I could feel the braking distance increase with each turn. After that they stabilized however I never managed to lock up my tires and the braking distance was not optimal especially compared to some of the lighter rear wheel drive cars.

When I entered the pits after the first 5 laps the red paint on my EBC pads had turned grey/brown and smoke was coming from the charred paint. I have no idea how hot the brakes actually got since I forgot my IR-thermometer at home but lets just say that the temperature was outside of my comfort zone

Even after doing some cool-down laps and driving the 50km route home my front brakes where still making quite a bit of noise too.

Then we have the tires. When I bought my new Rota alloys I decided to go for a relatively cheap set of Falken FK453 tires since I do way more street driving than track driving. However these tires don't really seem to like track driving at all cause when they heated up after a few laps they started to loose grip on acceleration (especially the inside front tire coming out of the corners).

The worst problem with these tires however is the wear when they get hot. These tires had about 1500km on them before I went to the track today.

Tire after 5 laps:



Tire after 15 laps:



See the chunks of rubber coming of the tire!

I wore down about a one third of the thread on the tires today. With the ECS in sport mode and the Tein S-tech springs I installed last summer the limiting factor of how fast I could corner was defiantly the tires. On the last laps the car slided sideway when I hit the throttle coming out of the corners. It felt almost like the tires where made out of cheese.

The brake problem is easy to solve and I'm currently looking at the XYZ kit with 6-piston calipers with floating 355 mm rotors for our cars that was previously sold as GB here on the forum. Got a quite good price from a reseller here in Sweden.

But what about the tires, is there any brand/model that works for everyday use and survives shorter track days or do I need to get second set of rims and a proper set of R-tires?

Many cars that drove today had two sets of tires and switched to R-tires before going out on the track. I'd like to avoid that if possible since I only go to about 2-3 of these shorter track days each year.

[green-lantern]

The brake problem is easy to solve and I'm currently looking at the XYZ kit with 6-piston calipers with floating 355 mm rotors for our cars that was previously sold as GB here on the forum. Got a quite good price from a reseller here in Sweden.

But what about the tires, is there any brand/model that works for everyday use and survives shorter track days or do I need to get second set of rims and a proper set of R-tires?

I was going to recommend that brake kit. lol

I've liked my Hankook Ventus V12 evo's. I didn't have any trouble with them at the NG track or the Dragon. For the price they are great.

Tire Test: Nine Affordable Summer Tires Take On the Michelin PS2 Comparison Tests - Page 10 - Car and Driver

[Unlogic]

I was going to recommend that brake kit. lol

I've liked my Hankook Ventus V12 evo's. I didn't have any trouble with them at the NG track or the Dragon. For the price they are great.

Tire Test: Nine Affordable Summer Tires Take On the Michelin PS2 Comparison Tests - Page 10 - Car and Driver

Yea that XYZ kit really seems to best bang for the buck for our cars right now. The reseller told me that the brake kits where actually made to order that's how they can offer so many options regarding colors etc. I was told that the delivery time was 2-3 weeks. Haven't placed the order yet however.

Thanks for the link to the tire test. Even though I've been a petrol head all my life I've never really been much into tires. Guess I have to do some research cause my Falken tires aren't going to last very long at this rate.

[Jimvr4]

Nice link Paul. I've been running the RE760s and happy with their all around performance. I don't track my car so I don't need that extra margin of performance that the Dunlops and Khumos have.

[green-lantern]

Nice link Paul. I've been running the RE760s and happy with their all around performance. I don't track my car so I don't need that extra margin of performance that the Dunlops and Khumos have.

Yeah I didn't think the extra cash for the dunlops was worth it. I can't remember if it was that tire comparison or another one but it seems like the dunlops were nearly $100 bucks more a tire.

[akotten]

I love my Dunlop Direzza ZII's. Fantastic tire in the dry AND the wet, as I found out last weekend. They come with 8/32" of tread. I probably used 2/32 at the track last weekend. They're my daily driven tire as well.

[R/T93]

I love my Dunlop Direzza ZII's. Fantastic tire in the dry AND the wet, as I found out last weekend. They come with 8/32" of tread. I probably used 2/32 at the track last weekend. They're my daily driven tire as well.

Yep my 275/35/18 z2s are very good. They would wear longer than your falkens on a track even though they are softer.

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