Nov. Trackday @ California Speedway!

[jkuchta]

Hey everyone...

I just signed up for the trackday at Cal. Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 23rd.

Speedventures is putting on the event, and you all can register at www.speedventures.com.

I think Cali Yaris is coming....so you know it will be crazy!



Everyone who can should go to this....it's going to be cool!

[natethegreat38]

be sure to tell me how the tires hold up!!

[jkuchta]

^I sure will.

[rningonfumes]

So close and yet...so far!


Gotta work.

[jkuchta]

Bummer bro. Keep your eye's peeled though....we're going to go to the streets at Willow after the first of the year!

[largeorangefont]

I will be there on the 23rd running the Roval with my Cobra. Are you guys doing the Roval or Autocross?

[LtNoogie]

I will be there on the 23rd running the Roval with my Cobra. Are you guys doing the Roval or Autocross?I

Wow, I would love to do the Roval but I think I want some instruction first.

The $80 for a full day of Autocross sounds tempting. $30 for three quick runs at Solo2 events goes too quick.

[jkuchta]

We'll be running the roval.


Instruction is included in your first day with Speedventures. Novices are in their own group, and have debriefs after every session, as well as follow-the leader and/or instructor ride-alongs.

[natethegreat38]

BTW John- It sounds fun and as we had talked about, I would like to go but I think I am working the L.A. Auto Show that day/weekend. Are you going to the auto show?

[largeorangefont]

We'll be running the roval.


Instruction is included in your first day with Speedventures. Novices are in their own group, and have debriefs after every session, as well as follow-the leader and/or instructor ride-alongs.

Yup. You will have plenty of time to debrief with your instructor in the car when you are on the oval :wink:

[jkuchta]

Nate, I'm going to try and go on Monday the 24th. Will you be there?

[natethegreat38]

I might. I will check the schedule and will let you know. They are still making on-going revisions, so it might be a few days before i know for sure...

[largeorangefont]

Hey everyone...

I just signed up for the trackday at Cal. Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 23rd.

Speedventures is putting on the event, and you all can register at www.speedventures.com.

I think Cali Yaris is coming....so you know it will be crazy!



Everyone who can should go to this....it's going to be cool!

I saw your car out there I think..

Red gutted hatch with steelies and a front grille? How did you do in the autocross?

[jkuchta]

I didn't autocross...I ran on the Roval....and it was Awesome! This car is suprisingly quick and pretty neutral handleing. I'll post a full debrief later today.

[largeorangefont]

I didn't autocross...I ran on the Roval....and it was Awesome! This car is suprisingly quick and pretty neutral handleing. I'll post a full debrief later today.

Oh cool. Were you in the white group?

I ran in the black group.

[Tamago]

any pictures?

[cali yaris]

I bet that Yaris kept up with everything in the turns -- that's been my experience. And then pointing everyone by on the straights.. :biggrin:

[largeorangefont]

I bet that Yaris kept up with everything in the turns -- that's been my experience. And then pointing everyone by on the straights.. :biggrin:

There were some FAST cars out there. More Z06s on R compounds than I have ever seen in one place.

[jkuchta]

I was in the white group...lots of fun.

The first session I was waved past an M6, a Z06, and an E36 M3. Got lapped twice by a guy in what was either a 360 or a 430 (didn't get a good look!). There isn't very much that can run away from a yaris in turns, especially the last series of lefts that lead onto the front straight. The last three sessions saw fewer point-bys, but my laptimes dropped considerably. I was running 2:32 in the first session, and 2:25 in the third (haven't seen the results for the last session yet).

As for how the car handled....it did quite well!

My HB is more or less stock suspension wise (stock struts/springs, no sway bars, stock steelies). I have installed a Thermal axle back, Simota carbon SRI, and nology hotwires plug wires. The tires I ran were Yokohama Avid V4s, with about 1500 miles on them. As far as brakes are concerned, I'm running Carbotech XP8 pads on slotted rotors up front, and Carbotech 917 shoes on stock drums out back. The fluid was changed to ATE Super Blue Racing DOT 4 fluid.

First off, the brakes were crazy good. So good in fact that I could feel the tires squirming around pretty bad under braking once the tires got too hot. I never experianced ANY brake fade, though there was a pretty much 1 mile long straight to let things cool off just a little bit. Initial bite was great, hot or cold (though better hot), and modulation was a piece of cake. An added benifit of the 917 rear shoes is that they shifted a little bit of the braking bias rearward, such that under really hard braking I could feel the rear end moving around a little, such that I was able to get a little bit of a slide going pretty easy which, timed right, helped just a little bit in getting the car turned in some of the tighter turns in the infield

The tires, as good as they are on the street, just could not handle the monster cornerspeed and braking that a stripped Hatch with race pads a fluid can through down. For the first two or three laps the tires were really grippy and responsive, but after that things just kind of went south. Once overheated, these particular Yokos get really gooey, such that they'll slide without making any noise whatsoever. The entire day I never heard so much as a chirp from them. They were very perdictable though, and once really hot the car would develope a bit of a push on corner entry, with a little bit less push on corner exit under power (thanks front wheel drive). Slides, both 4 wheel and rear only, were easily managed, which allowed me to do a bit of exploring in terms of corner speed. Another nice thing with these tires is that they recovered really well between sessions. I thought once they got overheated that would be it for the day...that they'd just get worse and worse. In fact, though, they came back more or less to normal in time for the beginning of the next session, where they would hold on for 3 or so laps, and then cook off again. All in all not bad for a 500 AA A rated tire.


As far as the suspension is concerned, I think everyone pretty much knows that the stock setup is really soft, such that body roll is really evident on the outside sholders of the rear tires. The thing really liked to lean, but I have to say it would take a pretty mean set, once leaned all the way over. It'll corner like a mofo! A set of coilovers would make this car a true weapon at the streets of willow, and would bring the laptimes down even further on the roval. Lowering the C of G couldn't hurt either.

All in all, after a day of 4-6k rpms, and half of a tank burned in a little more than 100 miles, the yaris is none the worse for wear. The highest oil temp I saw during the day was 103 C (217 F), and the water temp was pegged on 184 F all day on the track. I think she'll be ready for the streets of Willow this weekend, especially with the WR 4-2-1 header that Garm helped me install this afternoon. Maybe the slightly lower speeds will help the tires hang on a little bit better too.

I should have some pics to put up in the next few days. I'm waiting to see what the event photog comes up with, and my instructor took a few pics of the car in the pits...numbers and all.

If there are any questions I can answer just let me know.

[Malaya1221]

lots of fun there j...hope to go with you next time around!:thumbsup:

[jkuchta]

Can't wait bro!

[largeorangefont]

Streets will be a very good track for the Yaris. Get some camber bolts if you dont have them already and dial in som extra negative camber in the front.


I may bring mine out to Streets this December with my new track car.

[jkuchta]

Hey everyone.....here are a few pics that my instructor took at the speedway. I'll post the pics the photog took when they show up on the web in the next day or so.

[largeorangefont]

You have to get the track pics of your car.. they look good.

http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/motorsportlens/img-show?&_bqG=79&_bqH=eJxFjssOgjAQRf.GjRvAqEDSBbSVTIKt6UODm4kgBDdqk Gji11uMymzmnDuLO.0.7u1hW.zqNuby8siz5TEwQgT9NVlEqyR cJAkg05SEvh8FQTifPbvz0HiAFExJ3NYmNXwEKq0wqkTQclSpg At3AylGBY2KFzzVnH11OznSDMEFZPih_aNaT7hx6BqlMoS5Vu_ zGqaCfXKruUJgxPpuqkt8Ole3Q_.KvHxMPUypIffm2NfdGy8sS ZU-&GI_ID=

http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/motorsportlens/img-show?&_bqG=439&_bqH=eJxFjssOgjAQRf.GjRvAqEDSBbSVTIKt6UODm4kgBDdqk Gji11uMymzmnDuLO.0.7u1hW.zqNuby8siz5TEwQgT9NVlEqyR cJAkg05SEvh8FQTifPbvz0HiAFExJ3NYmNXwEKq0wqkTQclSpg At3AylGBY2KFzzVnH11OznSDMEFZPih_aNaT7hx6BqlMoS5Vu_ zGqaCfXKruUJgxPpuqkt8Ole3Q_.KvHxMPUypIffm2NfdGy8sS ZU-&GI_ID=

http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/motorsportlens/img-show?&_bqG=45&_bqH=eJxFjssOgjAQRf.GjRvAqEDSBbSVTIKt6UODm4kgBDdqk Gji11uMymzmnDuLO.0.7u1hW.zqNuby8siz5TEwQgT9NVlEqyR cJAkg05SEvh8FQTifPbvz0HiAFExJ3NYmNXwEKq0wqkTQclSpg At3AylGBY2KFzzVnH11OznSDMEFZPih_aNaT7hx6BqlMoS5Vu_ zGqaCfXKruUJgxPpuqkt8Ole3Q_.KvHxMPUypIffm2NfdGy8sS ZU-&GI_ID=

[cali yaris]

Nice!

[blacksandiegovitz]

Good stuff man , That is one truely gutted yaris , I love it . with some suspension modds that thing will be a real track star .

[id3379]

cant belive u didn't have any suspension stuff done!

[jkuchta]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all of the great comments. The suspension is coming along. As soon as I have enough saved, the car will be on coilovers with pretty stiff springs. It's pretty neat though to really push the car on the stock suspension...kind of like riding on top of a marshmallow...which is in turn perched on top of a spring.

I'm having the photog put together a cd of all of the pics of my car...Gotta have proof of passing an M6 and an M3 on the Auto Club Roval in a basically stock yaris!

I just got home from another trackday at the Streets @ Willow Springs. Hopefully there will be some good pics to share soon.

Hey Cali, make sure you have a set of camber bolts after the holidays, I think that is the next suspension mod.....maybe I'll be able to slap on some shocks too (I hope Santa is listening!)

[largeorangefont]

Ill bet the car ran really well at streets.

[jkuchta]

the car ran pretty well, though I pretty well shagged the left front tire in 4 20 min. sessions. Rotating the tires with 0z322's help made the 5th session a little better, with a best time of 1:42..., about 6 seconds better than my first session, but slower than 0Z322's best of 1:36. He's really quick. Over all it was a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll have some pics up in the next couple of days.

[CASTREX]

the car ran pretty well, though I pretty well shagged the left front tire in 4 20 min. sessions. Rotating the tires with 0z322's help made the 5th session a little better, with a best time of 1:42..., about 6 seconds better than my first session, but slower than 0Z322's best of 1:36. He's really quick. Over all it was a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll have some pics up in the next couple of days.

Can you share some times of other cars there... so we can compare how good the Yaris did against others and how fast is a 1:36 on that track?

:thumbup:

[jkuchta]

A completely race prepped miata did a high 1:26. A dude in a toyota turbo-powered Super 7 did like a high 1:19 I think. 0Z322 would be able to give a better recount on the times.

[largeorangefont]

1:26 is pretty fast on that track for a steetable car on DOT R compounds. The track is 1.8 miles long. There are a couple guys I know with Street Class Time Attack cars that run in the 1:26s.

I can cut 1:29s in my Cobra on Kumho MXs.

Sounds like you did good for your first time there. You need camber bolts! I bought some on eBay for a scion XB.

[jkuchta]

I need camber bolts AND more appropriate tires. 500tw tires just can't handle any kind of prolonged cornering.

I'm looking forward to going back with a set of Advans and some coilovers!

[largeorangefont]

I need camber bolts AND more appropriate tires. 500tw tires just can't handle any kind of prolonged cornering.

I'm looking forward to going back with a set of Advans and some coilovers!

You will like that..

[jkuchta]

Oh, and that 1:26 was put in by a miata that was not street legal...the thing had a full cage (with hard top), a splitter (that works) and a rear wing (that also works). The thing had an open exhaust, and was really fast! It was a beast, and it sounded like it.

[largeorangefont]

Oh, and that 1:26 was put in by a miata that was not street legal...the thing had a full cage (with hard top), a splitter (that works) and a rear wing (that also works). The thing had an open exhaust, and was really fast! It was a beast, and it sounded like it.

The guys I know that run 1.26s are modded street cars.

[jkuchta]

Cool.

[largeorangefont]

That miata was probably a spec miata. A lot of those guys practice out there.

[03Z33]

The pics of your car on the roval are classic! I love the passing the M6 on the outside pic :biggrin:

Had a blast at SOWS this past weekend also... wasn't really planning to run the Yaris but got talked into it by the organizer and Jkutcha :wink:
I was running on the S.drives which have a 300 treadwear, they're great street tires and lots of fun in the rain but not really meant for track duty. They didn't overheat as bad as Jkutchas tires, but I couldn't really drive the car the way I wanted since I was trying to save the tires. A lot of people are still surprised by how quick the Yaris is mostly stock. All I had on my car was the Silkroad coilovers and partly stripped interior.

As for the other cars, Alex in the Super 7 will easily be in the 1:17-1:19 range once he gets the car and engine tuned and sorted. He only ran the very first session of the day (2 clean laps) and FTD at 1:23.3! That car has lots more potential.

Some times for reference:

1:23.2 FTD Alex P. in Locost Super 7 with 4AGZE turbo on Toyo 888's
1:24.7 Taka in turbo AE86 with Toyo 888's
1:26 Turbo race miata
1:29 stock GTR
1:30 Turbo AW11 on Kumho V710
1:31 Turbo AE86 on RA1's
1:34 20v AE86 on Kumho V710
1:36 Yaris on 195/17 S.drives
1:38 Nissan 370Z (stock press car)
1:39-1:42 most AE86/Miata/240 etc.. on street tires.

Alex P. in his Locost Super 7:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/Adobo_Joe/AE86TimeAttack012.jpg

[CASTREX]

Some times for reference:

1:23.2 FTD Alex P. in Locost Super 7 with 4AGZE turbo on Toyo 888's
1:24.7 Taka in turbo AE86 with Toyo 888's
1:26 Turbo race miata
1:29 stock GTR
1:30 Turbo AW11 on Kumho V710
1:31 Turbo AE86 on RA1's
1:34 20v AE86 on Kumho V710
1:36 Yaris on 195/17 S.drives
1:38 Nissan 370Z (stock press car)
1:39-1:42 most AE86/Miata/240 etc.. on street tires.


Nice!!

Good work!:evil:

[03Z33]

Nice!!

Good work!:evil:

I really wished I still had those 215/17 Azenis 615, they would have been good for at least 1-2 seconds!

[CASTREX]

I really wished I still had those 215/17 Azenis 615, they would have been good for at least 1-2 seconds!

I'm sure SOMEONE will give those a good use!:biggrin:

[largeorangefont]

Heres a few of my car out there.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/largeorangefont/MSL_1543_ACSpeed_SV_Nov2308.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/largeorangefont/MSL_1028_ACSpeed_SV_Nov2308.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/largeorangefont/MSL_0403_ACSpeed_SV_Nov2308.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/largeorangefont/MSL_0283_ACSpeed_SV_Nov2308.jpg

[jkuchta]

Looks great man! Fun track, isn't it?


I can't wait to go back.

[cali yaris]

nice pics! top speed on the track? I bet that Cobra moves out nice on the straights

[largeorangefont]

nice pics! top speed on the track? I bet that Cobra moves out nice on the straights

I hit about 145 or so on the front straight before I had to slow down for turn 1 and 2. I could take them at around 115-120 comfortably.

[justjesus]

Looks great man! Fun track, isn't it?
I can't wait to go back.

Damn, it does sound like fun. I may go back with you!
I'm on SpeedVentures mailing list, but haven't had money. Next couple of months, i should be better!

Thanks for posting your experience and that nice write-up. Good info.:thumbup:

[jkuchta]

Anytime J. Speedventures is going to the Streets of Willow a lot in the Spring...we ought to all go! The yaris is a blast on the streets course!

[id3379]

Good job, makin us yaris peep's proud.

[dallas]

Great pic's and great job. Whats with the Nissan 370 running so slow, car salesman driver? :iono:

[jkuchta]

It was a press car....jurno didn't want to wad it up I guess.

[kngrsll]

wow, some good posts in here... i didnt know carbotech made shoes for our car!! im hoping to do a track day in march or april, so thats good to know, although the place im going is easy on brakes.