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

[olaosunt]

some guy here on M6G posted the other day with like 5 spare engines sitting on his garage floor

.... but only 2 Voodoo’s

 

[Lurker_350]

some guy here on M6G posted the other day with like 5 spare engines sitting on his garage floor

So @honeybadger is going to become like @olaosunt?

Edit.....he beat me to it (see above)

 

[olaosunt]

I'm hoping it's just a head gasket allowing coolant to leak down into a oil drain back tube

Hopefully it is just a head gasket ....

Still not a bad idea to keep a “spare “ . if you can . Better still have a “spare for the spare “... cause once you use the spare (while rebuilding ) you need a spare . .

Seriously though, if you need one in a hurry just hit me up .

 

[JAJ]

AS a follow-up, I reached out to Tim after a kind gent on IG recommended some GM Coolant Seal Tabs based off of rec's from some reputable coyote-based engine builders. Tim reiterated this advice. Going to add some tabs and get it up to temp and re-rest.

At this point, these damn race engines give me heart palpitations. I need to start building a spare for my sanity.

Edit:

Tim's explanation on the tabs:
"Its from the brass plugs that are machined to plug up the cross coolant passages. We have started to recommend to use those tablets in our instruction sheet after similar slow leaks. Darton recommends that you use those tabs in everything that’s sleeved. Its just to dissimilar metals with different expansion rates.

I was wondering about the tabs - I've used them in the past, but I can't remember which engine needed them. They're made from finely ground roots of a plant - it might be ginger - and the microscopic particles get into any tiny gap or hole and plug it. They don't plug big holes, which is a big advantage...

 

[mech94]

gm coolant tabs are magic should fix your problems

 

[honeybadger]

Well it finally happened - i beat my previous PB of a high 2:24 with a low 2:23. Had a 2:22 before I messed up turn 20 (classic). Tires are some old Pirelli scrubs that were frozen in last year's winter freeze, so they were pretty hard. Can't wait to see what fresh slicks can do next year.



This motor is pure insanity and I love it.

 

[honeybadger]

Side-by-side of my 2:24 vs 2:23. You can definitely see that the 2:24 lap tires had more grip. Tight corners had more speed at apex and my trailbraking was more aggressive. But my faster lap has higher speeds in the wider turns, better overall momentum, and much improved braking. My new line through the carousel resulted in over 5mph improvement at the apex of T19!

Fresher tires and no mistakes at 15 and 20 and I'd bet this would have been a 2:21 lap easy.

 

[honeybadger]

Just got some images in from the weekend - got two wheels up on both a kerb AND a flat corner.

First up is the three wheelin' coming out of T18 in the carousel. This is the same corner I had such a front end grip problem before the new springs.

Zoom in and we can see daylight! Sick!

And now that tire is working. This is why I run so much negative camber at COTA - I've found -3.6 to -3.8 on these Pirelli slicks to be best. 100TW tires more around -3.2

Catching some air on the inside kerb at T19. I typically use it to swing the rear around and stay within track limits. But was jumping it for some pics this weekend

Not bad for still being on the OEM magneride with all that droop

 

[honeybadger]

So last event, we had a VERY wet Saturday. I've driven a fair amount in "damp" conditions living in the PNW for so many years, but very few days were spent in conditions this wet. Mix that with the speeds, walls, and track conditions (old rubber, bumps, etc.), COTA is a pretty challenging track in the rain. Even with the competition pirelli rain tires, I was still driving 30-35 seconds a lap slower and scared most of the time. But it was also the most fun I've had on track in quite a while.

Some shots to show how wet it was:

To my dismay, I discovered my GoPro nearly catastrophically failed with my audio feed. I salvaged what I could, but it's still a bit of a chore to listen to. However, I still felt some folks might appreciate it. Enjoy!

 

[fast306stang]

Looked like a lot of fun! I always enjoy your commentary...not sure how you can do that and concentrate on your lines as you navigate the track lol...

Benz was impressive until he spun it around...

Love your vids, HB sounds AMAZING, just incredible even under part throttle...

Do you think rain days help you achieve better lap times under ideal conditions? Like how sometimes gaming under a difficult level you can't beat helps you when you return to the normal level? Dumb analogy but that's all I got lol

 

[guzie]

Love all the content. A couple questions. Did you ever move from the factory rear 3.73:1 rear gear to say the 4.09:1 that FP has? I think 5.2 motorsports Did that with their GT350 race car, at least for some tracks. Also, are you still running the factory mufflers? It sounds great on track in your videos and very similar to my 2017 GT350 I had on track. I was running ARH catless into a corsa x pipe and the factory mufflers but then added the cats. I later switched out the mufflers for corsa extreme. I was hearing an odd buzz at times from the factory mufflers. I figured it was all the extra flow coming at them that they weren’t tuned for. I suspected the valve flaps making it or something. Just curious what you have. I have a different GT350 now and I’m back to adding LT and other things. Below is a link to my old setup on track.

 

[galaxy]

@honeybadger I must have missed it, but what springs did you swap to?

Seems you had great luck and the Ford springs/sway bars served you well for a long time on that beast.

 

[honeybadger]

Looked like a lot of fun! I always enjoy your commentary...not sure how you can do that and concentrate on your lines as you navigate the track lol...

Benz was impressive until he spun it around...

Love your vids, HB sounds AMAZING, just incredible even under part throttle...

Do you think rain days help you achieve better lap times under ideal conditions? Like how sometimes gaming under a difficult level you can't beat helps you when you return to the normal level? Dumb analogy but that's all I got lol

Thanks! Talking and driving is taking a lot of practice to get right. My session where I got the new PB I was practically silent, ha. Since the rain sessions were just for fun, it was much easier to manage. It also helps having a few thousand laps around COTA. Pretty sure I could drive it at night with no lights at this point.

Rain days are some of the best sessions for progression you can get if you're willing to push hard enough to be near limits (but not over). They'll allow you play to with car control at 20-30 MPH lower speeds. Part of the reason I was hesitant in the video was because the pirelli wets work so well that the limits are closer to a true street tire and so the risk is still pretty high. Even still, the rain really showed how I still need to work on slowing down my hands in an over-correction to move from "saving" it to riding it out. I need some time on a faster open track where I can turn everything off and take some risks, I think.

Love all the content. A couple questions. Did you ever move from the factory rear 3.73:1 rear gear to say the 4.09:1 that FP has? I think 5.2 motorsports Did that with their GT350 race car, at least for some tracks. Also, are you still running the factory mufflers? It sounds great on track in your videos and very similar to my 2017 GT350 I had on track. I was running ARH catless into a corsa x pipe and the factory mufflers but then added the cats. I later switched out the mufflers for corsa extreme. I was hearing an odd buzz at times from the factory mufflers. I figured it was all the extra flow coming at them that they weren’t tuned for. I suspected the valve flaps making it or something. Just curious what you have. I have a different GT350 now and I’m back to adding LT and other things. Below is a link to my old setup on track.

I have not made the 4.09 gear change, but it's in my offseason plans. Timing will depend on an oil analysis dictating the next track day. If we're done until Feb/March, I'll get it done this month. If the oil analysis is good, I plan to sneak something in end of Jan and the gear change might need to wait until March/April.

I still have the factory mufflers, but everything else is ARH. I have the factory mufflers locked wide open. Another change I plan to make is an option to swap in some bullet mufflers to quiet HB down and not wake up every living being in a 10 mile radius. Will need it when I head to CA in November to join a round of the Super GT Cup.

@honeybadger I must have missed it, but what springs did you swap to?

Seems you had great luck and the Ford springs/sway bars served you well for a long time on that beast.

I have the BMR handling springs on in the rear now. They're MUCH stiffer the FP springs. They don't squat nearly as bad under power and make the car much more predictable on track out.

The FP springs were great until I added aero

 

[guzie]

Thanks! Talking and driving is taking a lot of practice to get right. My session where I got the new PB I was practically silent, ha. Since the rain sessions were just for fun, it was much easier to manage. It also helps having a few thousand laps around COTA. Pretty sure I could drive it at night with no lights at this point.

Rain days are some of the best sessions for progression you can get if you're willing to push hard enough to be near limits (but not over). They'll allow you play to with car control at 20-30 MPH lower speeds. Part of the reason I was hesitant in the video was because the pirelli wets work so well that the limits are closer to a true street tire and so the risk is still pretty high. Even still, the rain really showed how I still need to work on slowing down my hands in an over-correction to move from "saving" it to riding it out. I need some time on a faster open track where I can turn everything off and take some risks, I think.




I have not made the 4.09 gear change, but it's in my offseason plans. Timing will depend on an oil analysis dictating the next track day. If we're done until Feb/March, I'll get it done this month. If the oil analysis is good, I plan to sneak something in end of Jan and the gear change might need to wait until March/April.

I still have the factory mufflers, but everything else is ARH. I have the factory mufflers locked wide open. Another change I plan to make is an option to swap in some bullet mufflers to quiet HB down and not wake up every living being in a 10 mile radius. Will need it when I head to CA in November to join a round of the Super GT Cup.




I have the BMR handling springs on in the rear now. They're MUCH stiffer the FP springs. They don't squat nearly as bad under power and make the car much more predictable on track out.

The FP springs were great until I added aero

thanks for the update on the mufflers. I have LTH brand long tube headers with their ECOTf cats this time around. They will not trip a CEL code. When I ran the ARH on my 2017 I had a CEL come up that Lund cleared for me. Now tuners will not shut them off because of the EPA crackdown So I needed something that would work well. I plan on running these into the resonator delete I already have and the factory mufflers to see how it sounds. I have the grimspeed valve delete plugs already on it because I just prefer it open all the time. I may unplug them and hook the valves back up if I’m annoying neighbors too much. Good info on the BMR springs. I will look at those this time around as I’m still on factory stuff. I had FP last time.

 

[fast306stang]

Just got some images in from the weekend - got two wheels up on both a kerb AND a flat corner.

I vote for a edit to the thread title to:

Testocules' & Honey Badger's Completely Off-the-Rails Build and Adventure Thread