Honey Badger's Completely Off-the-Rails Race Car Build and Track Adventure Thread

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honeybadger

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checking things out after the track day - looks like I have an alignment issue

2B87289A-4607-4899-B04D-8180424D0762.jpeg
3C8F905F-33E6-4931-B1BB-E4BFEF5DC8ED.jpeg

and a broken TPMS sensor
 

K4fxd

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I think you are ready for some un-equal length A arms. Probably at both ends, because once you fix the front the rear will show it's ugly design flaws.

If these things were 5, 600 pounds lighter in stock trim There would be options.
 
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it's the extra 5mph while hitting the kerbs. :)
You’re probably not wrong. Kerbs are really rough on alignment. I didn’t check it before this track day since my tires were fine from July. Paying the price.

Sigh.

Never. Skip. Items. On. The. Checklist.
 
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I think you are ready for some un-equal length A arms. Probably at both ends, because once you fix the front the rear will show it's ugly design flaws.

If these things were 5, 600 pounds lighter in stock trim There would be options.
You talking about the SLA system for Cortex?
 

K4fxd

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If they are making them for the S550 that would be one solution.

I don't endorse things I have never used.

Glancing over their web site it looks like they put some engineering thought in the S197 platform. Didn't see anything for the S550.

But yes, that is the direction I would go if I was racing a S550 competitively.

If it broke all the rules and I was only in it for my enjoyment, and longer tire life, I'd still do it.

I base the above comment on you wanting an extra 3 MPH out of a certain corner, and not saying you are limited to any class rules.

When I was young I was lucky to come from a racing family, so starting with a large fortune to end up with a small one was not an issue.

I have a grandson who is burning up the shifter cart tracks, if he wins a national I'll proudly post it.
 
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K4fxd

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Shogun Why the laughter?

Are you making fun of my grandson?
Tire life?

Oh the fortune thing. Now I get it
 
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so what speed do you have to go to NOT crawl up and over the curbing? Isn't the point to force a direction change? I get 'kissing' the curbing but like T12 at Road Atlanta, what's the point if you're just going to leap over it?
Those curbs were gentle. Remember the inside tires are almost completely unloaded. Also, the FP engineers specifically calibrated the Magneride to be very soft on high-spee compression when unloaded, meaning there is almost no resistance from the dampers and the wheel is "floating" over the curb. The cars are designed for this.
 

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what’s the point of arguing if curbs are part of the track when pros are taking lines like this. Faster is faster imo

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This IMO is just ridiculous. Curbs are fair game IMO, but using the actual runoff as track is stupid. I am pretty happy with how F1 is handling the "track limits" rules this year. 4 off on the outside of the curb is out of bounds, but as long as the inside tires are touching the paint it's considered "on track." So F1 agrees, curbs are fair game but outside the track is outside the track (and defeats the purpose of paved runoff, which is there to allow cars to brake and steer before hitting a wall).
 

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(and defeats the purpose of paved runoff, which is there to allow cars to brake and steer before hitting a wall).
I think it was Smokey who said, "if you ain't breaking the rules you ain't winning"

If it's paved and the fastest line, they are going to use it.

Hell if it's dirt and the fastest line , they are going to use it.
 

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what’s the point of arguing if curbs are part of the track when pros are taking lines like this. Faster is faster imo

1632276825700.jpeg
Different rules for different types of racing.
Watching Moto GP a few weeks ago where someone just kissed the green zone and was heavily penalized.
The only track I’ve ever been on was Charlotte @ Track Attack. They told us to stay off the kerbs so I did for the most part. Do the pro driver hot laps and they were all over them.
Experience matters 😉
 

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This IMO is just ridiculous. Curbs are fair game IMO, but using the actual runoff as track is stupid. I am pretty happy with how F1 is handling the "track limits" rules this year. 4 off on the outside of the curb is out of bounds, but as long as the inside tires are touching the paint it's considered "on track." So F1 agrees, curbs are fair game but outside the track is outside the track (and defeats the purpose of paved runoff, which is there to allow cars to brake and steer before hitting a wall).
As I recall, when COTA first opened, those green painted areas were actually astroturf. If you put a tire there, it was mighty slippery, then you hit pavement again. So it did reinforce track limits. But the turf got ripped up pretty quick (which was a bit dangerous), so they paved them over for safety reasons. However, that green paint is a bit slippery in its own right.
 

Rob-17GT350

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checking things out after the track day - looks like I have an alignment issue

2B87289A-4607-4899-B04D-8180424D0762.jpeg
3C8F905F-33E6-4931-B1BB-E4BFEF5DC8ED.jpeg

and a broken TPMS sensor
Suspect some toe setting issues, which would definitely cause understeer.
 

5.2 liters of democracy

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If they are making them for the S550 that would be one solution.

I don't endorse things I have never used.

Glancing over their web site it looks like they put some engineering thought in the S197 platform. Didn't see anything for the S550.

But yes, that is the direction I would go if I was racing a S550 competitively.

If it broke all the rules and I was only in it for my enjoyment, and longer tire life, I'd still do it.

I base the above comment on you wanting an extra 3 MPH out of a certain corner, and not saying you are limited to any class rules.

When I was young I was lucky to come from a racing family, so starting with a large fortune to end up with a small one was not an issue.

I have a grandson who is burning up the shifter cart tracks, if he wins a national I'll proudly post it.
You talking about the SLA system for Cortex?
I actually just reached out to them a few days ago about an SLA using the stock K member to keep it ST2/TT2 legal (no penalties). I'll post up the info they provide if that is something you are interested in. Based on what Cortex has said previously, the mounting points are the same between the S550 and the S197 with the only issue being a small modification to accommodate the radiator mounting. Obviously that wouldn't be an issue with the OEM K-member, though it may need some additional bracing since I know the S197 SLA has buckled the OEM unit.
 
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