Sponsored

boardkat's Daily Driven CAM-C AutoX Slayer!

OP
OP
boardkat

boardkat

CAMtard
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Threads
45
Messages
900
Reaction score
569
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Vehicle(s)
'15 GT
On that note, in preparation for Nats, I took the time to install my Calimer-spec GForce Engineering gearset-equipped "MT82" - which really only resembles the original in external appearance; the only stock pieces remaining are the case and flange. Everything inside is trick, as previously shown and described in posts above.

New tranny and old 3.55/giken case waiting to mate up. First installation I've ever done with the help from a lift - already missing not having one myself!!

29085084347_b2111b4ced_h.jpg


Out with the old, in with the new! Extra fun, super expensive SRF fluid included for scale. And here I thought OS Giken 80W250 broke the bank!!

42213498740_e1998d1a2b_h.jpg


Proof for @Rexpelagi that, yes, it *WAS* in fact a McLeod RST clutch/pressure plate/flywheel installed - and that *HE* got it wrong with his installation :p

43303850254_aff4b50882_h.jpg


Initial impressions are very positive. Shifting has never felt more deliberate and smooth. Gear whine is definitely present in-town, but it sounds like a proper race car now, increasing in pitch as revs increase. Disappears at higher speeds on the highway, FWIW. Also diminished a drivetrain vibration I've been chasing for over a year - which I completed eliminated through trial-and-error rotating and adding a worm clamp to the driveshaft near the flange (things that I tried and failed to solve the problem completely previously).

All of this, of course, does very little to enhance my chances at Nats - but (hopefully) adds a little bit more reliability to the equation after thrashing on my completely OEM MT82 for almost (4) seasons. What it really does, though, is complete the picture for power that awaits to be mated (literally) the day after Nats. Is it 2019 yet?! :devil:
Sponsored

 

SteveW

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Threads
8
Messages
700
Reaction score
271
Location
Columbia Gorge area
Vehicle(s)
2015 Mustang GT PP
Your car looked great as the tires came in yesterday! Go have fun at nats, you're ready :like:
 

Grintch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Threads
15
Messages
1,892
Reaction score
792
Location
Hunstville
Vehicle(s)
2015 GT PP
One of your early photos shows the car pulling a tire/tool trailer. What are you doing for a hitch? One of the ugly off the shelf units or a custom built one?
 
OP
OP
boardkat

boardkat

CAMtard
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Threads
45
Messages
900
Reaction score
569
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Vehicle(s)
'15 GT
One of your early photos shows the car pulling a tire/tool trailer. What are you doing for a hitch? One of the ugly off the shelf units or a custom built one?
Sorry, you caught me just as I was heading out of town for nats.
I was running the off-the-shelf Curt hitch. No longer use it (weighs about 38lbs iirc), since I could drive on/haul the tires I needed without needing a trailer once I moved to CAM-C.
 

Grintch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Threads
15
Messages
1,892
Reaction score
792
Location
Hunstville
Vehicle(s)
2015 GT PP
So you are not using shaved tires for competition? Or is that not much help with the current generation of tires?
 

Sponsored

OP
OP
boardkat

boardkat

CAMtard
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Threads
45
Messages
900
Reaction score
569
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Vehicle(s)
'15 GT
So you are not using shaved tires for competition? Or is that not much help with the current generation of tires?
Autocross perspective.

Front runners come molded barely above 7/32” and do not require shaving IME. RE71R come in halfway through their first competition (2-3 runs), Rival S need at least a good scrub and full heat cycle before they start coming in. Both will heat cycle out before tread is gone on a properly setup car. Both do much better on loose surfaces/asphalt closer to full tread depth, no difference in performance/feel noted on concrete, regardless of tread depth. RE71R needs full tread to have a chance in the rain, but will not outperform PS4S or ECS in standing water (see my upcoming report on nats later this week for that!). Rival S in wet conditions, change tires or go home :p

I’ll see how things change next year as I branch out and start doing Optima events.
 

NightmareMoon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Threads
41
Messages
5,623
Reaction score
4,643
Location
Austin
Vehicle(s)
2016 Mustang GT PP
Vehicle Showcase
1
So you are not using shaved tires for competition? Or is that not much help with the current generation of tires?
Shaving (from what I understand) might be done for a couple reasons. One is to help keep a street tire with tall tread blocks from overheating. A shaved tire could even last longer than a non-shaved tire at the track!

In some cases, street tires have harder rubber compounds covering softer compounds on the inside, with the assumption that by the time the tire gets worn down into the softer rubber, it will have hardened up with heat cycles to be the right grip/hardness for street purposes, so shaving could access this softer interior rubber early. I think this is what happens when MPSS tires would chunk, the exterior harder layers would separate from the interior softer layers.

With the current generation of RE71Rs and RivalS tires, they're designed well for the role so nobody shaves them.
 

Grintch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Threads
15
Messages
1,892
Reaction score
792
Location
Hunstville
Vehicle(s)
2015 GT PP
Interesting. Just a few years ago, series that used the "streetable" R compound tires like the Toyo RA-1 and 888 were still shaving the ''dry" tires.
 
OP
OP
boardkat

boardkat

CAMtard
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Threads
45
Messages
900
Reaction score
569
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Vehicle(s)
'15 GT
The @Rexpelagi update motivated me to finish my own summary.

It's been over a month since getting back from Lincoln, NE for the SCCA CAM Invitational and SCCA Solo National Championship events, but my mind and body are only now returning to some semblance of normalcy. What a year it was!

Prior to competing of course, one must first start the journey from home. For me, that consisted of a 1650 mile haul. In my racecar. Without cruise control. Or A/C. Needless to say, I didn't arrive fresh and ready to go by the time I rolled onto the site early Friday evening! Of course, not being my first rodeo (this is the 10th time I've attended), and having a LOT of time on the road to create a mental inventory and checklist of things to do, the car was unpacked and ready to go with daylight to spare. Sometimes just getting here feels like a competition in and of itself, so arriving relatively unscathed was a cause for celebration sharing a few beers with my co-driver, Jim Boller.

Saturday morning kicked off the first day of competition in the SCCA CAM Invitational. 2018 marked the 5th time this event has been held, and the first time a waiting list was necessary as (100) competitors across (3) classes gathered from all over the country to fight for the win. Jim and I assumed our position amongst the (49) CAM-C entrants in grid, and bolted on the big BFGoodrich rubber for class competition, as conditions were sunny, warm and grippy at the "concrete beach" of Lincoln Airpark. After (3) morning runs, the battle was tight throughout. I slotted myself comfortably into 4th spot with a time of 38.366, just 0.014 back from 3rd and 0.148 out of the top spot. In the afternoon, the leader and I both came out of the box on our first runs with times that bested our morning effort, while others near the top could not match their times. Lincoln has a unique surface that can cause degraded grip due to OPR (other people's rubber) and seam sealer build-up on tires, and the increased heat of the afternoon accelerated this issue. With a fast, clean run of 38.212 already in the books, I really went for it on my final one - and while the data showed that I was definitely ahead by a few tenths halfway through, missing the brakes (twice!) in a heavy braking zone and plowing through a cone wall ended any chance of leapfrogging the leader and retaining my title from last season. When the dust settled and top runs from the morning and afternoon combined, I ended up with a time of 76.578, good enough for 2nd, 0.192 ahead of 3rd and 0.363 behind the winner, Brandon Porambo (co-driving with @Mach4.6 in his GT350R).

Sunday morning wiped the slate clean, as all competitors were given an additional (3) runs in hopes that a fast effort would be quick enough to qualify for one of the (16) spots in the Challenge. A crisp morning in the 50s welcomed us, and a quick glance at the weather forecast and radar imagery prior to starting was enough to convince me that a tire change to Bridgestone was warranted, should conditions degrade (since no tire changes were permitted once competition began). During qualifying, the surface remained dry, and I actually found a faster time (38.037), to slot myself into the 3rd qualifying position, 0.036 behind 2nd and 0.062 from 1st. Immediately before the Challenge bracket commenced, the heavens opened up and wet conditions persisted throughout. Times were a good 5-6 seconds slower, and the challenge became a battle of consistency and adapting to changing conditions. With times that were at/near the top in each round, I continued to advance through the bracket, all the way into the final. However, an ill-timed slalom coupled with a blown braking zone was enough time given back to end up on the wrong end of the match-up, and I had to settle once again for the 2nd spot behind another GT350R driver, @Conedodger

Here's a video of my fastest run from the weekend:


BTW, that's Robby Unser sending me, who was also competing in CAM-T with the Speedway Hot Wheels car - how cool is that!!

31425875728_e3b0f1390a_o.jpg


With the weekend of competition behind me, the biggest event of the year had finally arrived; it was time to go for broke at the 45th annual SCCA Solo National Championship! This year's event set a record, with (1400) entrants across (76) classes registered. Greeting us in CAM-C was a field of (48) drivers, including many from the weekend and top-tier entrants from the GM Performance driving team, as well as former champions from several other classes. The battle was going to be ruthless, no doubt. Excitement built at the chance to start on the West course, as it was wide open and hinted at the chance to run some of it in 3rd gear with several butt-puckering, thread-the-needle elements. Little did any of us know that there would be a big surprise waiting for us Tuesday morning - Mother Nature decided to get in on the action, and torment us with torrential rain that would not let up during our entire run group. So much for high speeds - all of us struggled for grip, and each run became a battle of attrition to stop bleeding time as both front and back ends of the car would alternate between under- and oversteer. Of course, having cut my teeth for over a decade on the frequently wet courses of the Pacific Northwest, I wasn't phased by the conditions - that is, until I quickly found out on my first run that even the Bridgestone reaches an unhappy place and can't evacuate several inches of standing water EVERYWHERE. As luck would have it though, a local friend and fellow Mustang driver from another class (@jpaulson) had an excellent torrential weather Michelin tire setup that he leant me, and both Jim and I found immense time (8 and 4 seconds, respectively) on our 2nd runs to put ourselves near the top - well, Jim did anyway. I'd have been leading, if not for a massive spin through the finish, taking out a cone in the process! In even worse conditions on my 3rd run, I managed to keep the front end pointed straight, slowing down by a few tenths (but remaining clean), with a time of 74.177 to put myself into - you guessed it - 2nd spot, 0.326 ahead of 3rd but a discouraging 0.804 behind the leader, GM driver Shaun Bailey in a 2019 2.0T Camaro. Jim also managed to put himself solidly into the trophies, holding down the 8th spot. It goes without saying, but having wider tires and more power definitely didn't help on a day like this.

Day #1 Run:


These pictures say a thousand words about the conditions:






44510810762_ab08fd6a89_o.jpg


Moving along to the second day, conditions had improved substantially by the time our run group was up. While a little on the cooler side, there was no rain falling and the surface was dry - a stark contrast to what we endured previously. My first run of 69.700 was the fastest in class out of the box, and put me atop the overall standings. However, fighting to find the right line led to less than ideal exits on a number of key high-speed elements that were essential to get right to find fast times, and I slipped back to the all-too-familiar 2nd spot by the time competition had completed, sandwiched between GM's top drivers (Bailey and Alexander Doss), while Jim confirmed his great driving from the first day to finish up with a trophy in the 13th position.

Day #2 Run:


Much improved conditions:
44645452411_c143dfe414_o.jpg

44645451371_aa562f0c40_o.jpg





So there we have it. A hard-fought battle against car and drivers alike throughout the season reached its zenith in a thrilling conclusion. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the key role Steeda played in ensuring success this year - whether it was a part from their comprehensive catalog to help improve grip, to alleviate an unexpected issue with blow-by, or to just be a sounding board for setup ideas, Dario, Glen, Brandon, Scott and the rest of the crew could always be counted on to come through when I needed them most, and I'm proud to call myself a part of the team. As exciting as 2018 was, plans have already been set in motion to make 2019 even bigger and better. More power, less weight, and an expanded schedule to include some Optima Ultimate Street Association events are just a taste of what's to come.

Sitting atop the "Game of Cones" throne; hopefully next season wearing a crown!
43842006244_c072e36a6d_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
boardkat

boardkat

CAMtard
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Threads
45
Messages
900
Reaction score
569
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Vehicle(s)
'15 GT
All told, here are the most notable finishes in my car this season:

Crows Landing Pro Solo: 1st
California CAM Challenge: 2nd
Packwood Championship Tour: 2nd
Packwood Pro Solo: 2nd (@Rexpelagi) and 4th
CAM Invitational: 2nd
CAM Invitational CAM-C Challenge: 2nd
Solo National Championships: 2nd

There was a recurring theme this season. Here's hoping for a lot more 1st place finishes in 2019!

Car is currently in pieces getting a new fuel system, cooling and a blower. More weight reduction to quickly follow. I'll have another large update soon ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: TDC

Sponsored

Grintch

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Threads
15
Messages
1,892
Reaction score
792
Location
Hunstville
Vehicle(s)
2015 GT PP
Sounds like you need a six figure budget to compete in CAM. Glad I just bought a G Street candidate.
 
OP
OP
boardkat

boardkat

CAMtard
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Threads
45
Messages
900
Reaction score
569
Location
Lake Oswego, OR
Vehicle(s)
'15 GT
Sounds like you need a six figure budget to compete in CAM. Glad I just bought a G Street candidate.
Nah, I’m just shifting priorities to mixed-use competition (i.e., Optima). If I was only autox’ing and smart, I’d go buy a Gen6 4banger Camaro, tune for E85, do some mild suspension bolt-ons and be faster :crazy::frown::crying:
 

GuardEcoBeast

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 5, 2017
Threads
5
Messages
212
Reaction score
69
Location
AR
Vehicle(s)
Guard 16 Ecoboost
Nah, I’m just shifting priorities to mixed-use competition (i.e., Optima). If I was only autox’ing and smart, I’d go buy a Gen6 4banger Camaro, tune for E85, do some mild suspension bolt-ons and be faster :crazy::frown::crying:
Mmm I wonder how an EB would do in CAM if the Camaro is as good as you say.
 

BoostedMike177

Active Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
28
Reaction score
4
Location
Florida
Vehicle(s)
black ecoboost
Vehicle Showcase
1
Mmm I wonder how an EB would do in CAM if the Camaro is as good as you say.
I run a Eco in DS and have wondered the same! 2.0 block on E85 with the weight reduction, could be a beast! BoardKat, I'm wanting to start doing my own alignment for street and autoX. How close do you get your alignment without the machine?
 
 




Top