Hyper-X

Sorry for this late post, however I was preoccupied with a combination of work and a few projects of my own. It was a very interesting 4th of July at Hawaii Raceway Park (from hereon referred to HRP). We had quite a few people including another owner of a red 2001 who dropped by to take a peek at the action (right on Bruce!) Hopefully we can add another long-term member of Team S2000 to the ranks soon! The following pics were borrowed from www.sccahawaii.org

The course was filled with over 90 entries so it was a very long day. A lot of the fast old-timers were back along with a surprising amount of novices showing off their stuff. The course started at the end of the drag strip going counter clockwise, through the mid-track crossover, past the entry gate, into the off-camber and finishing before the burnout box at the start of the drag strip. I had the pleasure of setup & design of the first section of the track with Elton Fujii (my co-driver). It was our first attempt at doing this and we learned a lot from it. We made a few people happy and ended up making a lot of them mad since we intended to make it a go fast, slow down, go fast, slow down section which kept big power cars in check, and gave people with no power steering a good workout (this was unintentional). I can name at least 2 girls that's gonna kick me in the nuts next month. (yikes!) Safety is always of the most importance above all else when we're out there. It was mentioned to us that we needed to slow the course down just a bit (but we may've overdone it a tad ) Barry Lai (former S2000 owner) was the only person who managed to spin his car in the first section of the course in his suspension modified STI. (who btw had the 3rd best time of the day!)




Here's a guy (in the hat) thinking "who the %@#! designed this course?"


The mid section started after the crossover, filled with concrete barriers topped off with spectators with cameras and camcorders to record live footage of who's hot and who's not. From here, it was uphill and an advantage to cars with a lot of power or cars with very high power to weight ratios.


Well the mid section was where things started to pickup speed. The experienced drivers knew that they needed to capitalize on this section in order to squeeze out the best times. Surprisingly enough, this was the section where trouble began, causing some to spin off the track, go into the bushes, or go off the track into the bushes backwards.


Here's a shot of Stephen "McHurry" attempting to find the best way to take on this section of the course. This is one of those situations where sometimes you won't know how fast you can go unless you push the limits. (Steve, leave the spinning to me, I'm the pro!) Stephen and his co-driver Colin have consistently ranked in the top ten, often in the top 5 in overall times! (btw, this month's S2000 title goes to Stephen placing 4th overall with Colin following close behind in 5th!)


The following is the section were almost 5 cars spun out into the bushes to the right. A WRX's rear suspension ended up having something like 10 degrees positive camber, a Mitsubishi Eclipse went in backwards with no harm, a Toyota Corolla spun part of the car off the track, etc. This is where suspension modified cars showed their supremacy where roll resistance and quick compression to rebound transitioning gave them the edge.




Coming up towards the S turn was a series of double nipples (as we call it) that basically was a medium speed section ending up in a hard braking section going into the last set of tight slaloms before the off camber.






Right after the S turn comes to a very slow and tight slalom section intended to kill a lot of speed before hitting the off camber downhill. This was a section where I had some trouble deciding how to approach it because as we walked the course, the way how you should drive it seems obvious, however once inside the car, it didn't seem as obvious as I originally thought.


The downhill was a welcomed treat as it rewarded you with a fairly fast finish if you were able to manage the stress to your tires up to this point and saved it for the end.





Here's some misc pictures of the S2000 drivers. (Thx to MrKaisan for taking great pics!)

Elton Fujii




Stephen McCurry




Jimmy Nomura






I can't seem to find pics of Colin (who's deserving of some glory this month)... so here's a link to his own website with tons of pics during his earlier years.
Colin's Autocross Page

Colin

Hey Jimmy,

Nice write up, but I think you've got the finishing order backwards. Stephen finished with a 61.177 for 4th overall, and I had a 61.365. When we watched the video, we could see how much time I lost in the last slalom! Way more than the difference in our times. It is interesting to note in the picture of Stephen posted above, he is a good 3-4 feet off of the rumble strip. I was driving over this at that point, and on the rumble strip after this one!

Hyper-X

Thanks for pointing out my error! (corrections made)

Yes, you did hug that rumble strip on the inside of the crossover and I believe that's an area where I may've left some time on the course but the stock OEM suspension couldn't hold a steady line there (from the turn in point going to the right then trying to make it towards the rumble strip towards the left) had the car twisting too hard and I could feel the tires slipping from my seat. The biggest weakness of my car is where there are quick transitional changes in direction where I'd need to wait for the car to "dance to the best rhythm". I could be wrong and perhaps there may be a way to deal with this using a more refined technique like yours Colin... I wonder if you'd be willing to sample my car during the fun runs to provide your critique?

You're absolutely right about that last slalom before the off-camber... I feel like I left a month at least out there as I never quite figured out the best way to take that section.

smccurry

As always, nice write-up Jimmy.
Also nice pics.

As Colin said, after watching the video, we could see that Colin could have saved a lot of time had he taken the slalom at the guard shack the other direction. I thought for sure my last run was going to suck because I got completely sideways and scrubbed all of my speed in the first section of that run. I was shocked when I finished in the low 61's. We definitely left a lot of time on the track. Colin and I attack the track so differently, and if we could combine the good points of both of our runs, we'd be at least beating Pat Olsen.

Barry Lai had a nice day. He was fast from his very first run. I think we've got new competition trying to push us out of the top 10!

It was a frustrating and challenging track, but I would like to see more set-ups like these. I hope you get to do track set-up again next time out!

Hyper-X

Thanks Steve. The pics are from the SCCA spectators and drivers so I give them all the credit for the nice photos!

You guys did great (as usual) and I know the feeling of walking away knowing we left crucial seconds from making poor decisions or not making the correct adjustments.

All you need now is a front sway bar, and I seriously don't recommend the Saner. I think you are as close as it can be for an NA S2000 to be near equipment perfection... with a bigger bar up front, you'll be able to divert more stress to the front tires to save the rears for the hard throttle. You're already fast but I believe that should be your next mod. I'm starved for power and need some beefing up on the suspension to deal with Andy's new Koni's. You're not far off fom Pat O, and you both are very competetive with the Van Ormans. Everyone I've mentioned appear to have done all the mandatory mods and have the skill to make the best of them. 1 little front sway bar may change your life Steve... if you want, take my car out for a spin next month and let me know (I believe I was bone stock with a Spoon duct back then).

wantone

That looks BAD ASS!!!

Hyper-X

HOLY SH_T, 20.1 PPD?????????????

smccurry

Thanks, Ev.

smccurry

change my life?!? Damn, where do I sign up?
Wanna sell me your Comptech sway bar?

How do I sneak ordering a sway bar....

Hyper-X

LOL! I have problems keeping my car from spinning with the upgraded front sway bar... imagine me without it, I'd be the first to start and finish the course doing donuts.

Order the sway bar, have it sent to me. If you're planning on going with the Comptech, I know of a technique to prevent it from squeaking/creaking/clicking... which is common on a lot of aftermarket sway bars on polyurethane bushings.