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[Jawngriever]

The good news is that I think I've finally eliminated the source of the limp mode. First session out it went into limp mode, so I knew it wasn't because of the stock tune it had before. I had read here that some people had limp mode issues with gas pedal spacers, and there was one on the car when I bought it, so I took it off after the first session and no more limp mode for the rest of the day!

I've been considering getting the Acuity pedal spacer. Is this not advisable?

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[Doc_Mello]

I've been considering getting the Acuity pedal spacer. Is this not advisable?

Not sure how a pedal spacer can induce limp mode. This is news to me.

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

Agreed on the Power stop TD compound as a first step. Great price. I had what I would consider to be a "successful" first track day with PST TD front and rear. I dumped my notes here. I _think_ I was experiencing pad fade from the front, though I've not got any other real life experience against which to compare.

Unfortunately the more capable TDS compound does not appear to be available for the stock Si front caliper (FMSI 1697), which is a bit of a red headed stepchild caliper--not a lot of mainstream compound choices. So I'm going to continue to run the Powerstop TD compound at rear (same reasons as you), and I've got some Carbotech XP8 pads for the fronts for my next time out.

I'm hoping the XP8 will be enough brake for my skill level but not melt the dust boots/seals in the front caliper. Also hoping that if I still have dust boots/seals left, that maybe front pad change plus bronze bushings rear is enough brake for me for now. And If not, I'll be looking for other options for next year.

Are you planning to run the AP Racing calipers in snow/salt next winter? I guess the nice thing about the AP caliper using stock lines is that I could switch back to my stock caliper for the winter months. Si will be my daily for a good number of years still.

Awesome! Glad to hear you're already familiar with them

It is certainly possible to make the TD compound fade; it is heavily dependent on the car, the track and the driver. That is a bummer they don't offer both compounds for the stock caliper, but that is pretty common unfortunately, it's the same story with my Evo, no TDS pads.

XP8 is a great pad, they're definitely more heat tolerant than the TD. I would consider them right around the same heat range as the TDS, but with some better cold characteristics and provide better feedback. I think you'll like them a lot, if you don't find them to be sufficient you can move up to an XP10 or XP12. I wouldn't worry too much about dust boots melting with any of those. I have a lot of friends who use Gloc brakes (who are supposedly owned by Carbotech and use similar compounds) and many of them run the R12 without any dust boots melting.

The past couple years I've begun instructing and something that I often tell my students after they begin to feel more comfortable on track is to be mindful of their braking zones and how to identify if their brakes are fading (either fluid of pad). It's not hard to over-temp a pad if you're over-braking or braking very early by slightly dragging the brakes and don't realize it. It's definitely a balancing act that requires seat time to refine.

At the moment I plan to leave the AP calipers on year round. I won't have to deal with much winter weather anymore as I'm moving down to SC in a couple months but even if I was staying in MI I still would. The calipers are all hard anodized aluminum and the pistons are stainless steel so none of it really corrodes easily. The kind of driving that concerns me most with dust bootless calipers is regular driving in dusty or sandy areas. If I lived out west in a dry/sandy climate I would check the calipers every oil change to make sure they're not weeping fluid etc. Single piston calipers need the boots as they're often steel so salt corrosion is definitely a much larger concern.

I've been considering getting the Acuity pedal spacer. Is this not advisable?

I am going to refrain from giving input on that, I respect them as a company and I think they offer great products. It seemed to give me issues but the amount of people that have had this issue seems to be minimal. I am still not 100% that it was my issue but it stopped going into limp mode after removal so until there is evidence otherwise, that is my conclusion.

Not sure how a pedal spacer can induce limp mode. This is news to me.

There is a thread here about it. If the factory pedal is pressed too hard with the spacer the APP sensor will experience an overtorque condition since the pedal has to travel an extra inch or so to meet the floor which serves as a pedal stop from the factory. I'm sure I could come up with some sort of extension to go on either the pedal or the floor to make the pedal stop when it is supposed to but I don't have time to dedicate to that at the moment.

Again, I don't want this to be interpreted as a knock against their product. Removing it solved my issues, if it turns out to be something else causing the limp mode I will certainly post up about it here and let you guys know. I did prefer the spacing of the pedals with it, but the factory spacing isn't terrible so I'll live with it for now.

 

[Doc_Mello]

There is a thread here about it. If the factory pedal is pressed too hard with the spacer the APP sensor will experience an overtorque condition since the pedal has to travel an extra inch or so to meet the floor which serves as a pedal stop from the factory. I'm sure I could come up with some sort of extension to go on either the pedal or the floor to make the pedal stop when it is supposed to but I don't have time to dedicate to that at the moment.

Again, I don't want this to be interpreted as a knock against their product. Removing it solved my issues, if it turns out to be something else causing the limp mode I will certainly post up about it here and let you guys know. I did prefer the spacing of the pedals with it, but the factory spacing isn't terrible so I'll live with it for now.

Hmm, wow, interesting! GTK.

 

[st4xor]

Absolutely. We've sold similar bronze pin bushings for other vehicles so this isn't our first rodeo with this particular part. I'm finishing up the product listing for the site and once I'm done they'll be up there. We'll be announcing them first thing on Monday and they'll be available for order!

Did I miss out on the first batch? Saw the bushings listing go up on the site the other night, but it shows "out of stock"

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

Did I miss out on the first batch? Saw the bushings listing go up on the site the other night, but it shows "out of stock"

Nope! We were going to announce them yesterday but shopify was down when we were trying to update some stuff on the back end of the site. They are available for purchase now. Forum announcement coming tomorrow!

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

Recap time for Gridlife midwest fest. Got there on Thursday and unloaded. Spent the first session bedding in new brake pads. Second session I laid out a couple mid-high 1:44s. Third session I gave the car to a friend to drive, he limp moded the car in 10. I've made it go into limp mode twice since removing the pedal spacer and both times it was maintenance throttle and the car was very unsettled, not like before where it would go into limp mode when the car was basically going in a straight line.

Friday, it was hot, just a bunch of 45s and 46s. Had fun chasing my tail on track, ended up sending it a bit too hard and went for a trip on the outside of 6. No damage from it luckily, just a small scare with burning grass. Unfortunately my gopro overheated so I didn't get it on camera

Saturday, morning session was hopeful but didn't improve. After morning session we went to bleed the brakes and found the front passenger tire was corded and the driver side wasn't far behind. I had debated buying new front tires prior to the event but decided against it since it seemed like a fool's errand to buy new tires for a car that already needs a clutch and the tires seemed like they'd make it.

Despite my poor choice, Ben Lin offered to loan 2 of his very fresh RT660s for the remaining 2 sessions. I spent the first of those 2 scrubbing in the tires, but wasn't able to get in any flying laps due to a miscommunication on schedule. In the final scored session of the event I was able to shave about a full second with a 1:43.8.

It's not the result I was looking for and I definitely feel I left at least a second out there but the car is going home in one piece and I'm thankful for that. Thank you again Ben for saving my weekend, it was 100% a game changer for me and it was so nice to be able to finally shave time from Thursday. Nothing feels more defeating than chasing a time you know you should easily be able to best.

I'm still far from satisfied with the car. There are a handful of glaring issues but they will get sorted in time. But seriously, for a car with almost no weight reduction and just a few basic off the shelf upgrades I'm not sad with the pace it has and I know this car is capable of great things when it comes correct.

I think there is something wrong with a wheel speed sensor or tone ring which is causing the remaining limp mode cases and overreactive stability control. After this weekend I can confidently say the BC dampers are insufficient for the springs that are on them, they definitely need to be revalved. I spent most of the weekend trying to find a line that would minimize how much the car bounced, and the dampers were basically at max stiffness. I'm going to be getting ahold of Clutch Masters soon about parts to rebuild the 725 that's in the car, if it's too pricey I'm going to grab an RV6 type R clutch setup. We've got a lot more coming for this car, it's just a lot to try and juggle it all at once.

This is the 1:43.8. At least I can say it was definitely one of the more fun laps of the event, I need to look at data, I might be onto something with that line through 10

 

[DPL8]

Recap time for Gridlife midwest fest. Got there on Thursday and unloaded. Spent the first session bedding in new brake pads. Second session I laid out a couple mid-high 1:44s. Third session I gave the car to a friend to drive, he limp moded the car in 10. I've made it go into limp mode twice since removing the pedal spacer and both times it was maintenance throttle and the car was very unsettled, not like before where it would go into limp mode when the car was basically going in a straight line.

Friday, it was hot, just a bunch of 45s and 46s. Had fun chasing my tail on track, ended up sending it a bit too hard and went for a trip on the outside of 6. No damage from it luckily, just a small scare with burning grass. Unfortunately my gopro overheated so I didn't get it on camera

Saturday, morning session was hopeful but didn't improve. After morning session we went to bleed the brakes and found the front passenger tire was corded and the driver side wasn't far behind. I had debated buying new front tires prior to the event but decided against it since it seemed like a fool's errand to buy new tires for a car that already needs a clutch and the tires seemed like they'd make it.

Despite my poor choice, Ben Lin offered to loan 2 of his very fresh RT660s for the remaining 2 sessions. I spent the first of those 2 scrubbing in the tires, but wasn't able to get in any flying laps due to a miscommunication on schedule. In the final scored session of the event I was able to shave about a full second with a 1:43.8.

It's not the result I was looking for and I definitely feel I left at least a second out there but the car is going home in one piece and I'm thankful for that. Thank you again Ben for saving my weekend, it was 100% a game changer for me and it was so nice to be able to finally shave time from Thursday. Nothing feels more defeating than chasing a time you know you should easily be able to best.

I'm still far from satisfied with the car. There are a handful of glaring issues but they will get sorted in time. But seriously, for a car with almost no weight reduction and just a few basic off the shelf upgrades I'm not sad with the pace it has and I know this car is capable of great things when it comes correct.

I think there is something wrong with a wheel speed sensor or tone ring which is causing the remaining limp mode cases and overreactive stability control. After this weekend I can confidently say the BC dampers are insufficient for the springs that are on them, they definitely need to be revalved. I spent most of the weekend trying to find a line that would minimize how much the car bounced, and the dampers were basically at max stiffness. I'm going to be getting ahold of Clutch Masters soon about parts to rebuild the 725 that's in the car, if it's too pricey I'm going to grab an RV6 type R clutch setup. We've got a lot more coming for this car, it's just a lot to try and juggle it all at once.

This is the 1:43.8. At least I can say it was definitely one of the more fun laps of the event, I need to look at data, I might be onto something with that line through 10

so nice to finally meet you at GL! you will get better just takes lots of time and money hahah. I didnt do much better tbh track conditions were as expected shite.

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

so nice to finally meet you at GL! you will get better just takes lots of time and money hahah. I didnt do much better tbh track conditions were as expected shite.

Yea it was great to meet you in person! Definitely have lots of room for improvement with both driver and car haha

 

[st4xor]

Are you still on the stock gearset? Not losing any sleep when flogging the similar-to-stock-Si block and turbo with phearable 2.5? Or are 3rd/4th gears on the upgrade plan soon?

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

Are you still on the stock gearset? Not losing any sleep when flogging the similar-to-stock-Si block and turbo with phearable 2.5? Or are 3rd/4th gears on the upgrade plan soon?

Yup, stock gears. I'm not too worried about the trans at the moment, no plans for aftermarket gears unless something lets go. Luckily the non Si trans seems to be a good bit easier to source and not quite as expensive (have seen more than a handful in the $5-700 range). If it becomes a repeat problem I'll look into stronger gears. If it was an Si trans I'd probably be more wary of it simply because of the cost difference.

I know the HPD upgraded 4th can still fail, I'm not sure who else has come out with upgraded gears yet. We have a local gear cutter that we've worked with before on gear sets for other platforms and have had good success so it may be something we consider doing in the future but at the moment we're flooded with plenty of other things to try and take something like that on.

Honestly I haven't even given the gears much thought yet simply because I still haven't changed the slipping clutch out so it's been on low boost with just 93. I wanted to drop the trans and repair or replace the clutch but unfortunately my evo has been sucking up all my car money as of late and we've been working on other products to develop so there hasn't been a good opportunity yet to fix that problem.

Speaking of gears, funny enough I just finished pulling my transfer case and rear diff out of the evo earlier tonight. They'll be getting a health check and refresh along with the trans at a local trans builder. Not looking forward to that bill; one of the very nice upsides of FWD/2wd transaxle is how much less moving parts and fluids there are to keep track of!

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

It's rare that surprises on a race weekend have a good undertone, but that's what this weekend was, a pleasant surprise. I went into this past weekend with the mindset of it being similar to other events with this car, nowhere near competitive because it's way down on power, 5-600lbs heavier than most front runners, mediocre-at-best brakes, and dampers that are way undervalved for the springs.

Before going out on Friday I told myself if I could get under 1:08 I'd be content. I don't know why I settled on that number but after a ton of sloppy driving I was in the 1:05s right off the bat! The first day was hot overall, and despite the track getting hotter and hotter I was able to drop to a 1:05.1 on the second session and a 1:04.7 on the third session, leaving me in a close 4th place in class (out of 15)!

Saturday was cold and wet, basically living inside a cloud the entire day. I went out in the morning to get some seat time but the track was damp the entire day. After that first session I realized I had run out of rear brake pads. Luckily there was a parts delivery system for parts from Advance Auto and was able to get some generic ceramic pads to hold me over, but was a bit too late so I missed the second and third sessions for the day.

Sunday morning was it. Woke up, checked brake pads one more time, checked tire pressures, and brushed up on mental driving notes. Temps were pretty cool, in the low 50s and it was overcast, but the track was dry which was what mattered most. Went out, and tried to string together as good of a lap as I could as many times as possible. I didn't do a single cooldown lap until the end when the checker flag came down ending the session. My Aim Solo wasn't working great this weekend as I forgot to download the track so I had no idea what I'd done. After getting off track I was able to see I had cut an entire second and got down to a 1:03.7, putting me in third place!

And this is where the sad news arrives. Last week I had to buy tires and decided that since the car isn't in a competitive state I would get Kumho V730 tires since they were significantly cheaper and last a LOT longer than the class required Falken RT660. So because of that I was automatically disqualified from the start. But I'm not sad, the competition was stiff, the comradery amongst drivers was strong as ever, and I was able to prove that I'm not as bad of a driver as I often tell myself I am.

Overall I'm pleased with the results we've been able to get with this car despite its relatively simple setup and over the winter we'll get a lot of these issues addressed and go into next season with an even better car!

More photos and videos to come!

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

Here's a good chunk of the sole Sunday session, starting with the fastest lap (1:03.7) and a few slightly slower laps. I wasn't up to snuff with staying on top of the Gopro so had to edit it a bit since the video was washed out, I'll get better next time

 

[With_extra_salt]

Your wheel setup for track 18x10.5, what offset is it? Do you have flush fitment or poking? And any issues with the wheel area with such wide wheels?

 

[Austin@Wunderladen Racing]

Your wheel setup for track 18x10.5, what offset is it? Do you have flush fitment or poking? And any issues with the wheel area with such wide wheels?

The 10.5 are only in the front and they're a +30 offset, there's no chance it would fit in the rear without some serious body work. It fits pretty well underneath the fenders but those have been spaced out a bit. Once you go that wide they will rub the frame rails on the inside so I have spacers installed behind my steering stops on the steering rack so those engage before the tire hits the frame, I posted some photos of it in an earlier post.

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