California brake and light inspection.

[jimrankin]

Hi RNR,

Really interested in what you think of the Nittos. They look like they should be pretty good, lots of contact patch. The big question will be if you can get them hot enough to work on a cool track/cool day situation like you will probably have this entire week. Are you getting on track with HOD, the GG Lotus club or somebody else? I have been avoiding teasing myself by checking what events are happening now.

[Sean]

BTW Jim I just put a set of Nitto NT01s on my car last week. So far things seem good but I hope to be doing a few laps of Laguna this week (if the weather clears) and should have a better idea then.

 

The Nittos looked pretty stable on your left turn from Lawrence onto Elko yesterday, but appeared a bit more slippy-slidy on the left onto Lawrence Station/Old Mt. View Alviso Road under harder throttle once the light turned green.

[rnr]

The Nittos looked pretty stable on your left turn from Lawrence onto Elko yesterday, but appeared a bit more slippy-slidy on the left onto Lawrence Station/Old Mt. View Alviso Road under harder throttle once the light turned green.

 

LOL. Which car were you in?

 

In my defense I dont usually drive like that - that particular trip was my first time on dry roads and I was trying out the grip. That's my story and I'm sticking to it

[Sean]

I was at the gas station.

[jimrankin]

I'm assuming you were trying out the grip on your new Nitto's on your S2K. Did you get a chance to scuff off the release agents and find some actual "real" rubber to play with? Got word that I should see my new wheels by early April so still have a bit of time to sort out tires. Which supplier did you buy them through and were they good to work with? I've had really good luck with both tiires and wheels purchased on the net over the last several years, really don't like not supporting local merchants but the price difference on high end wheels and tires is really an eye opener, or more to the point, a wallet opener. LOL.

I'm praying for a dry day or two so you can get out and do some testing for me!!

On another point, I think you mentioned a sound check to see if you were under th DB limit. Are you running the "stock" WCM 4 into1 with cat and muffler? Interesting to see where that stands if you are still using it. Thanks, JR

[rnr]

I'm assuming you were trying out the grip on your new Nitto's on your S2K. Did you get a chance to scuff off the release agents and find some actual "real" rubber to play with?

Only got about 20 miles on it but the increase in grip is startling. I'd estimate I'm pulling as much G as my budys Elise does on slicks. I have to stick my datalogger in one of these days and see what it reads.

 

 

Which supplier did you buy them through and were they good to work with?

Discount Tire Direct - $718 shipped and arrived in 4 days

 

On another point, I think you mentioned a sound check to see if you were under th DB limit. Are you running the "stock" WCM 4 into1 with cat and muffler?

 

I am not sure what exhaust I'm running but you can have a look at it below. If the weather cooperates I will be doing the sound check at Laguna tomorrow. If I get the time I'll wire the data logger in tonight as well.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4313274246_ee1d910c73.jpg

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

RNR,

 

You may want to turn that tip underneath the car as Laguna's sound meter is on the right side of the track.

 

92 dB is pretty quiet. A lot of guys just short shift and cruise up the hill between turns 5 and 6.

[rnr]

RNR,

 

You may want to turn that tip underneath the car as Laguna's sound meter is on the right side of the track.

 

92 dB is pretty quiet. A lot of guys just short shift and cruise up the hill between turns 5 and 6.

 

 

The previous owner drove the car as is at Laguna so I'm curious to see what the meter reads. I want to get a true reading from the sound meter and then make any necessary changes to pass sound - the hushpower muffler setup sounds like a promising alternative.

 

I've done the short shift thing in my Elise and its quite irritating to reel someone in over the course of a lap only to see them drive away between 5-6. :banghead:

[jimrankin]

Hope this file attaches, and it's the right one. LOL. If it's not word or Excel I'm lost.

How does your ECU work without the oxygen sensors? I'm sure my ECU is not working properly because it doesn't kick in the Vtech till about red line. No rain shown for tomorrow, tire testing day!!!!

[jimrankin]

 

Obviously that was the wrong photo, I'll try this again. LOL

[rnr]

How does your ECU work without the oxygen sensors? I'm sure my ECU is not working properly because it doesn't kick in the Vtech till about red line. No rain shown for tomorrow, tire testing day!!!!

Since mine was the very first car that Brian built it is running an aftermarket ECU (SDS) rather than the stock one that people use nowadays. Therefore no oxygen sensor and v-tech at 6k :driving:

 

Tomorrow is not just tire testing day - I just heard back from Wine Country Motorsports that they finally have the HALO style race seats back in stock. Will be driving to Infineon to try out a seat fitment of that as well. All in all should be about 300 miles round trip in the seven which should be an interesting experience. Hope my back survives.

Edited February 24, 2010 by rnr

[jimrankin]

Wish I was getting to play with mine tomorrow instead of working. I'm making up some new headlight mounts for the 7" DOT units I got to replace the little HID's. Going to look a little "bug-eyed" to me with all that glass up front but it's part of making the light inspection. Should get to finish it up this weekend and then it's finding an inspection station that isn't computerized. Maybe if I tell them I'll bring my own pen.........LOL.

[Mondo]

Man, I like the looks/workmanship of your car Jim.

Too bad you have to go thru all that hassle with the lights. I'd sure like them to show you where it says that the year designated for SB100 is only for smog... Makes it kind of impossible to make a replica (or just redundant to put one type of lights on for one inspection and then anything you want after that).

[jimrankin]

I'm hoping that getting by the light inspection is the last bump with the state and on to having some fun. I actually started looking at 7's just for the track and wasn't too worried about "getting it legal" but after hitting the streets in one you sort of don't want to leave yours sitting in a trailer between track dates. After looking at some of the photos posted here I'm starting to like the "retro" look of the big ( I know, 7" isn't "big" but the HID's were less than half that) headlights. Putting more stuff up in the wind, well heck, just a reason to tell yourself you need a set of cams, bigger injectors and a new ECU! LOL. Come to think about it there looks like enough room on the right side of the engine bay to shoehorn in a turbo.............

[BMW RACER]

Jim.

 

You say the light and brake is the last bump in the road. Have you done the referee station for your smog? When I tried to get a referee station appointment they said I had to do the light and brake dance first.

[jimrankin]

Checked with Skyline College, our local smog referee station about appointments and no problem getting in, they didn't ask me if I had done light or break yet, just said I needed the actual hard copy of my SB100, not just the number, or they couldn't do it. I have the hard copy now, didn't have it when I first tried to set it up. I'll wait till I have the light inspection and just see if they ask for it when I'm there. All I'm finding out so far is that every step seems to be different for every person doing this. As you can see from previous post by others, some didn't get anything but an SB100 and got plates, others have had to jump through more hoops than a circus dog.

[rnr]

Sound check result: 109 dB. Maximum allowed : 92 dB

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

There is no chance in hell of this particular header/exhaust combo ever passing sound at Laguna. I'm going to be talking to Hushpower and a local Porsche exhaust fabricator to see what we can come up with.

[jimrankin]

Hi RNR,

Maybe if you stoped screaming with joy every time you stomp the skinny pedal the DB's would be lower.....LOL. Sorry about you not passing but it's good to know that the WCM setup is that loud before booking at that track. I happen to have a DB meter somewhere from when I wasn't deaf enough that tuning graphic equalizers mattered. There are so many ways to weight the DB scales that you would need to ask them just how they were set up. Might be a way to avoid having to go there to recheck you new system.

OK, your disapointed in the DB department, but you got a great day for driving and, are those Nitto's making you smile???

[rnr]

Maybe if you stoped screaming with joy every time you stomp the skinny pedal the DB's would be lower.....LOL.

I was intentionally at max revs while passing the sound station. I've done the whole lift and change line at Laguna before and to me it just isnt worth it. Now that I have a good baseline I'm exploring options on how to reduce the sound level. I've started a new thread on the subject: http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?p=39521

 

OK, your disapointed in the DB department, but you got a great day for driving and, are those Nitto's making you smile???

The Nittos are really good. Now that the release compounds are gone they are sticking very well and it actually takes some effort to get the wheels to break loose.

[jimrankin]

Thanks RNR,

Hope you had some fun yesterday anyway. Based on your comments the Nitto's are looking pretty good right now. Really do want something as soft and grippy as possible because I sometimes tend to drive faster than I drive well, if you know what I mean. Going to dig up my sound meter and see what my S2K reads with the stock WCM exhaust with the cat. Don't know if the added cat or the slightly different muffler behind it does all that much different than your setup. I have been told that the lower back pressure of the WCM set up actually detracts from the power of the stock S2000 motor because the ECU is limited in what you can do with it and it thinks something is "wrong". Got that off a Honda site about what "not" to do without changing the ECU so take it with a grain of web-salt.