Five months ago my last outing at Batangas Racing Circuit looked like this.


Scratch that.

Since the last outing, I added nothing more than braided steel brake lines. I finally perfected the clutch meet on my heel-and-toe and dive-bombed every turn entry.

This is my timesheet now. Runs were done at 12:30 pm.

 

More photos.

 

Last but not least, here's how I did those 2:16 laptimes.

 

Good stuff and really glad to hear that you dropped time by just altering yourself.

I too went out this past Saturday, 2nd time over to Sodegaura in Chiba, did 4 30 minute sessions and I dropped nearly 4 seconds from the first time out there in August and was consistently 3 ~ 3.5 seconds better. No changes to the car and the mission still needing a rebuild (soon I hope).

 

Thanks man.

I did throw in steel braided brake lines at the front in the interim, but those are a pretty minor mod in the grand scheme of things. I'm not sure they helped, to be honest. I still drove home with faded brakes, but I guess I was able to drive at maximum attack a bit longer.

I think 2:16s or perhaps chipping at the high 2:15s might be the limit for Aibo's current spec around BRC, though. I'm told by my old instructor that there are still a number of places I can shave some time off after he saw my video, but I'm scratching my head as to where those places are. As it is, a 2:16.04 lap requires burning through the brake fluid and pads via late braking/trail braking, because the L13A3 i-DSI motor has such crappy, asthmatic top-end past 120 km/h.

That's it for me and trackdays this year. For 2014, the guys at FiT-Concept.PH (the group I was with for this event) plan to take on Clark International Speedway next, which is a "power" track in its full-course layout.

Shame to hear about your gearbox. I hope the rebuild goes well and soon. I've got gremlins in what I suspect are bad front wheel bearings, myself.

 

This trackday also marked the first time I drove cars other than Aibo around BRC.

The FD1 Civic, with the R18A motor and the five-speed manual gearbox, was just sweet. On the video, driving Aibo, I needed to grab fourth gear and downshift mid-corner to wring all available power. On the FD1, all you really need is second and third - such is the pull of the R18A and so wide is its rev range. Perfect pedal placement for heel-and-toe, too. I could comfortably lap BRC with exit speeds 10-20 km/h faster than on my GD1.

My sister has an FD1 too, but it has the auto gearbox, and I dislike that with a passion because you're too busy chasing after the car's aggressive creep.

Afterwards I drove a GE8 with the paddle-shift auto gearbox. In many cases, it's very similar to my GD1, just with a stiffer body and higher usable rev range. The car is badly handicapped by its transmission logic, though. Request for a second gear downshift, as is frequent around BRC, and it will either fail to give it to you, or give it to you after a very lengthy delay. The auto 'box is much too afraid of grenading itself, only granting you a downshift when your engine speed ends up at 4500 RPM.

 

Congrats on the PB and consistency of those lap times, good work!

That is a tight course... there's a middle ground there where low powered cars are OK because you can keep momentum, on courses that tight it's annoying because you can't power out worth a damn because you're off throttle. I see you are keeping maintenance throttle where possible but some of the turns are too tight so you're letting off to rotate, those are the annoying ones with no power hahaha

I saw at 6:41 I think you could gain some time if you have the cajones for it

 

Would a brake circulator be worth the effort for 30+ minute track sessions?
LC/SB Brake Fluid Re-Circulator - DPI Performance Racing Products


Porsche guys swear by them.

 

Ahh, the entry to the never-ending left that is Brian's Corner. Earlier that morning (video was shot at 12:30pm), I actually ran off track into the grass shoulder because I carried way too much entry speed there, with not enough front-end bite. BRC has banking on the turns that naturally helps you turn in, but apparently entering at 120 km/h (~70 mph) into Brian's just spits you out hahaha!

I just give the brakes a little dab there to get some weight up front and ease turn-in. I guess if my front end was a bit stiffer, I could dive-bomb the entry better with a bit less brake. Even then, though, I think you'd have to get the line just right, riding enough of the inside to avoid getting off track.

Thanks for the suggestion man. First time I've heard of this part/mod in the Philippine context - if there are any people running a brake circulator here, it's not the most talked-about component. Then again maybe I should make more Porsche-driving friends to fish for info?

I'll look into it; seems like a useful tool for heavy trail brakers/late brakers. Are the fluid lines here different from the brake lines themselves?

 

Hope i get to see you race sometime! Nice photos, very nice results on your timesheet!