Teg Life... Life of my Honda Integra DC5 Type R

Japfest 2014 - Top Gear

2014-05-10T16:50:00.001+01:00

Top Gear turned up out of the blue, with Clarkson, May and Hammond bringing 3 European cars to a Japanese car show. One would presume this is the irony part of the episode they were shooting for next season. They were of course well received - Video below courtesy of Lee and Phil from the teg forum.

See Clarkson in the second car checking out my teg and dotty's ;)

Return to Snetterton

2014-04-24T21:37:00.001+01:00

So on Monday I made my return to Snetterton. I was looking forward to trying out my semi slicks for a back to back comparison and it was looking like a cracker of a day - dry weather and only 30 cars in total!

Alas it was not meant to be because as soon as I had changed my wheels over and got out of the pit lane I heard a metal sounding, "clip clip clip clip" under the tiniest amount of load. Cue panick and driving like a pensioner round the whole of the track to get back to the pits as I pretty much knew what it was - my front rims were catching on the calipers!

After checking the calipers were ok, I swapped only the front wheels back over to my road tyres as I didn't fancy changing all four wheels again..
The car of course washed out on corners if I pushed too hard as I had more grip on the rear so I kept it in check but still had an enjoyable time on track and off, catching up with old and meeting new friends.

A friend of mine joined me for the day as my wing man and he was a heavy chap to say the least! I was out once without him so cut a short clip of that below as I had my GoPro on the wrong settings so the brightness was focused on the inside of the car and not the track!

Best watched full screen in 1080p because of the wrong brightness focus..

Final Drives

2014-03-30T22:52:00.003+01:00

So I've been evaluating my options for more speed out of slow corners and generally on the straights to overtake cars that I catch under braking and cornering, but who then pull away on the straights (talking about on track here btw).

More power is the obvious option but that's another topic of discussion. After one of my chats with Tom, he cagedly suggested a shorter 4th, 5th and 6th racing gear set as although it would rapidly increase the acceleration of my car, my effective (noise bearable) cruising speed on the road would be around 60mph.
I could maybe live with the above, but what I would also like is more punch in 3rd gear as I like taking hairpins in 3rd, although technically I could go a tiny bit faster in 2nd. Therefore I have been looking at short final drives, specifically 5.46 and 5.84.

Below are some calculated numbers on 5.84, 5.46 and 5.062 FDs. You may remember I have already changed my final drive from 4.763 (OEM) to 5.062, so look at that as my baseline.

The tables show the top speed in each gear and also the shift point when changing gear. FYI, the advantage of individual gear sets over changing just the final drive is that the shift point is a lot higher.

Anyway, back on topic. Some basic and generalised information on what I'm finding on track:

I want more punch in 3rd gear out of hair pins and very slow corners. Effectively I want to eliminate the need to use 2nd
On short straights following slow corners I am buzzing the top of 3rd gear. I could change up to 4th, but would very quickly have to change back down to 3rd for the next corner
On fast corners my entry speed is usually 70-80mph with road tyres. More speed will of course be achieved with semi-slicks

Given the above, the benefits vs benefits of the 5.46 and 5.84 are as follows (if running semi-slicks):

5.84

Better 3rd gear punch out of hairpins and slow corners
Better suited for fast corners
Better acceleration on the straights

5.46

Possibly better suited for very fast corners as I can rev out for longer
I can rev out for longer on shorter straights without having to change up and then down for the next corner

Decision decision... I'll spend more time on my favourite tracks and make some notes on my findings. I also need to take into consideration an up in power, so we'll see how this pans out.

Shakedown at Snetterton

2014-03-01T15:27:00.000+00:00

So from my previous rather cryptic post, you might have guessed that I had made my long awaited return to track (yes that's the teg in the fly by).
I went with the guys from HOT for good company, as aside from being a great bunch of guys and gals, their etiquette is impeccable and their driving ability very very good with a lot of them now experienced racing drivers. I was really looking forward to it for two reasons. Firstly it had been 2.5 years since I was last on a racing circuit and secondly, I hadn't tested my car properly since getting the Nitrons, race brake setup and aero done.
However, my track set of wheels were without rubber so I would be driving on my road tyres, the ContiSport 3's I had earmarked for road and wet weather circuit driving (It was a dry sunny day by the way). Static noise testing showed my car was producing 103db on the noise meter which was a bit of a surprise! Engine wise, I have had this setup tested at Brands Hatch and I'm sure it was only 100-101db. Something to ponder in the future. Anyhow, as I was getting to grips with the car on circuit again it was immediately apparent that the car was at another level from the last time I was on the grey stuff:

Brakes - Insane amount of stopping power, fade free, stable and progressive. For the majority of the day whenever following someone into a hairpin, I had to constantly brake earlier than my braking point so that I didn't crash into them! And that was with all weather road tyres! When I did get space in front of me, late heavy braking was constant and absolutely fade free although the ABS did kick in quite a lot due to the limitations of the tyres.
Nitrons - Very very stable on track which allowed me to carry more speed through corners and be fairly aggressive with the braking. Initially the rear was a little stiff, where it was a little bumpy on a couple of corners however my friend Mark was on hand to adjust my setup based on his experience (he has the same coilovers and races in the Vtec Challenge). He reduced the high speed and low speed bump a few clicks both front and rear which worked a treat; when I went back out, the rear soaked up the bumps a lot better for a smoother transition out of those corners
Aero - The car personified stability. Under braking, round tight or fast corners it was just so stable. The J's wing made such a difference in fast corners and held the back end in very well. I could've pushed the car more but was conscious I was on road tyres and was still breaking myself back into the swing of things
Tyres - The limiting factor of the day. They could not keep up with my suspension or brakes but then they were not meant to be for track in the dry. Taking this into account they performed well and weirdly am looking forward to trying them out on a wet track day o_0
Power - I need more. Now before you say I should keep improving my driving skills, hear me out. When closing in on some of the Lotus's (especially under braking and fast corners), I found that I lacked the grunt to "clearly" overtake them in the following straight. This led to the yo yo'ing game of closing in on a car under braking and in corners, then being left behind on the straights... This as is the same with many people on track is very frustrating. Don't get me wrong, the car isn't slow in a straight line, but out of slow corners and on long straights it lacks the torque and power compared to the type of cars I'm on track with. Thoughts of pursuing the stroker kit route have now re-awakened as I don't particularly want to go down the supercharger or turbo route. Nothing will happen anytime soon mind

Final Thoughts

Mega impressed with the setup. The handling and brakes are on an entirely different level from before
I really need to run semi slicks with this setup as the road tyres are noticeably the weak link when on track. In saying that, one of the guys from HOT who was hunting me down on slicks couldn't believe I was on road tyres from the speed I was carrying around the circuit. I was very happy with that comment. Some pictures below courtesy of Dan Youngs from itr-dc5.com:

Getting ready to go back on track - very clever photo by Dan; you can see my face!

My mate Dave from Reelmotion and his turbo'd teg. Super clean and very very quick!

911 GT3 came out to play in the afternoon

Rob Burkinshaw's teg, the dominator of the Vtec Challenge. His car is immense which is exactly the same description I would use for his driving skills

Snetterton - The Long Awaited Return to Track. To be continued...

2014-02-23T19:06:00.002+00:00

Ahoy 100% Tuning

2014-02-08T17:45:00.000+00:00

Last year, I was very privileged and fortunate to be selected to go with some amazing cars from the UK to participate in the 100% Tuning show at the Ahoy exhibition centre in Rotterdam. D day was over the 12-13 October so we made our way up on Friday morning to get there for the afternoon to prep the cars. To say it's the most amazing show I've been to is an understatement. It ticked every box on what a show strives to be with 45,000 people attending over the Saturday and Sunday!
Had an amazing time with amazing people and tbh it reneweled my waning enthusiasm for the show scene.

I'll do a separate picture thread later but for now, here's a video that captures just a glimpse of what was there. See if you can spot the teg ;)

Recaro SPG and Willans Race Harness fitted

2014-02-08T17:30:00.000+00:00

In July of 2013 I completed the final piece to my plan I instigated 4 years ago. This was my my Recaro SPG race shell along with my special order white Willans harness.

In addition I was supposed to run solid Recaro side mounts with lightweight Recaro adjustable rails however these were not compatible despite being advertised as such.. Therefore I made do with Buddyclub rails and mounts.

Given that there is a greater chance of wear and tear on the side of the seat when getting in and from when I want to use the seatbelt, I added an ASM Recaro side protector which you'll see from the finished pics below.

J's Racing C pillar and Gate Bars

2014-01-18T23:41:00.000+00:00

During Japfest 2013, I unexpectedly came across some bargain parts at Sumo Power for the teg.
They were as titled a J's Racing C pillar and gate bars.

The J's Racing C pillar bar connects the tops of the rear seatbelt points and adds extra rigidity to the rear hatch of the car i.e Between the C pillars. If you don't know what a C pillar is, refer to the diagram below, it's pretty self explanatory ;)

The two gate bars which incidentally are discontinued now, connect from the ends of the C pillar bar to mounting points at the rear hatch of the boot.

You may have noticed above that I have holes cut out at the rear quarter interior boot trim to access the rebound adjusters on my Nitron coilovers. Further to this you can see that the holes were tidied up with some edge trim so I decided to do the same to the gaps around the mounting points of the gate bars which you can see below.

So do they make a difference? Let's be honest here. They will increase rigidity, but it is highly unlikely you will feel a difference. The major factor of why I got these was because I unexpectedly came across these at a price I just couldn't refuse :)

Blog back online..

2014-01-18T22:40:00.000+00:00

...Some time ago I decided to take the blog offline for a number of reasons, but after some kind words from the guys at clubitr I decided to re-open it.
The car itself has been to a number of meets and shows since my last post and has generally been well received. I'll start the continuation of my blog with some media from 2012.

Pulling into Mimms

Ending this post with a video from my mate Dave of Reelmotion - Can you spot the teg?

Japfest 2012

2012-08-22T19:22:00.000+01:00

A long overdue post but nonetheless, here are some pictures of the teg at Japfest back in May. Big thanks to Nick, Ben and Ian for the photos!

The Day Before Japfest @ TGM

2012-06-17T21:32:00.001+01:00

So the car is now almost complete (at least for now :) )

The day (or morning I should say) started at TGM on May 11th to get the car ready for Japfest the next day, the largest Japanese car show in the UK.

I won't bore you with words, but shall instead show you pictures of progress.
Tom, Willie and their teams at TGM are insanely good at what they do. A BIG thank you for their dedication, and quality of work, including Tomo from the tinting company next door to TGM for pulling a last minute late one to produce and sticker up the car for me.

TGM Mocal Oil cooler fitted with J's Racing tow hook (painted a variant of Marussia red)

Beatrush underpanel fitted

J's Racing front bumper 'modified' to fit the oil cooler

Wheels off to fit the side skirts = perfect view of the Brembo Race brake setup and Nitron coilovers

Did I mention the brake pads are 1 inch thick?

Mugen carbon fibre spark plug cover re-laquered by Willie to give it a wet look to match the J's Carbon airbox


J's Racing LED Honda Emblem

Kit on ready for stickering!

Just finished stickering up the car at 21:30 in Tomo's workshop

21:45 - Ready for Japfest

Some will hate it but I love the J's Badge

Tyre Update

2012-05-06T12:36:00.000+01:00

At the start of the build I had only one set of wheels for road and track, therefore a compromise on tyre selection had to be made to take into consideration dry grip, wet grip (including standing water) and longevity. As it stood, the 'compromise' would be to run extreme performance Summer tyres; a tyre one step down from semi slicks in terms of dry performance, but with the ability to cope better in standing water and in addition, provide longer tyre life on the road. Yokohama ad08's were my tyre of choice at the time to fufill these requirements.

However as I now have a separate set of wheels for track, my tyre choices have naturally evolved.
For track I'll be running Dunlop Direzza DZ03G semi slicks and for the road, Continental Sport Contact tyres (the OEM tyre for the Mercedes SLS and E Series AMGs). My reasons for these choices are made up from numerous reviews and more importantly, on recommendation from TGM. Of course though, proof will be in the pudding when I get to try these out myself.

Dunlops - They have a reputation for high, consistent grip levels with a very good wear rate, outlasting many other semi slick tyres on the market. They have topped a number of semi slick tyre tests and are what TGM and many race teams run on their race cars when not using slicks.

Continental - Outstanding wet performance, they have even been recommended by one of the BTCC drivers for use in the wet (of course taking wet race tyres out of the equation). They have bested a number of road tyres in overall performance tests (dominating in the wet), including the renowned Goodyear Eagle F1's

What these two tyre choices give me is high performance grip in a range of weather conditions:

Track (dry) - Dunlops
Track (damp to wet) - Dunlops
Track (wet to very wet) - Continentals
Road (all conditions) - Continentals

Track Wheels and Vortex Generators

2012-04-07T16:35:00.001+01:00

One thing that has been bothering me about the build is that I did not have a second set of wheels to run semi slicks for track. With my Nitron suspension and Brembo race brakes, the AD08's (even though a superb tyre) are the weak link.

Yes I could've just run semi slicks on my CE28's but to me, running semi slicks on the road is such a waste. In addition, I still wanted top quality lightweight alloys e.g. Volk Racing, however I would never be able to justify the cost of them new (approx. £2.5k). This has now been resolved though as I picked up a second hand set of the discontinued SE37K's. They are in need of a refurb which Willie will take care of and should be very special when done :)

I terms of rubber, they will be wrapped in Dunlop Direzza DZ03G semi slicks; a quality tyre that is a favourite of TGM's. I'll do a write up of them at a later date as I have to fly, but before I do, here's a picture of the Sard aeroblades a.k.a vortex generators on the car; complete with black roof :)

Spoon Wide Blue Rearview Mirror and Carbon Cover

2012-03-25T19:37:00.001+01:00

One of the best 'usability' mods I have in the car is a Broadway oversized rearview mirror. As per the description it is larger than the OEM mirror and simply clips over the top providing a much wider field of vision. There is one minor gripe I have with it though - being oversized; pulling down the sun visors catches the mirror.

I wanted something OEM sized that would provide a wider field of vision than OEM. Cue the Spoon wide blue mirror. It has a 14000R convex curvature to ensure a wide field of vision and in addition it has a blue coating to reduce reflective glare.

I also didn't want the mirror to be lonely, so it's now got a fetching carbon fibre coat ;)

Aero Progress

2012-03-17T14:51:00.003+00:00

One of the mysteries in the UK tuning scene is why TGM's body shop is not as well known as it should be. They are a top class outfit and have plenty of work through the doors; with lots of amazing projects like numerous GP2 race cars and a NSX kitted out with parts from the Mclaren MP4-12C to name but a few! Willie, Tom's brother, runs the body shop and is phenomenol in what he does. Anyway, the reason I mention this is because work has started on my aero and I am blown away by the results even at this early stage (keep in mind nothing is fully fitted or painted yet) :)

Front bumper in the body shop

Rear view in the paint booth

Like the colour scheme?

J's Racing 3D GT Carbon Fibre wing

View of the J's Racing 15mm wider front fenders from the rear. No side skirts on yet.

J's Racing 15mm wdier front fenders

Mugen Spark Plug Cover

2012-02-23T20:16:00.000+00:00

Autoclave moulded dry carbon fibre - check
Quality carbon weave - check
£350 - Not on your life
Sensibly priced second hand item? Oh yes

A big thanks to Dotty for this superb bit of second hand parts lurking - I doff my cap.

Beatrush is here!

2012-01-27T10:50:00.000+00:00

I've already written about the Beatrush underpanel here. However when it would actually arrive I wasn't sure, Until I woke up this morning :)

3.8kg by the way.

Progress Updates

2012-01-21T21:38:00.000+00:00

I went down to TGM this morning to drop off my spare wheel. On approach I noticed this.

My Function7 lower control arms and rear subframe brace were on. However the F7 anti-roll bar brackets were not on yet as the oem bushes are of a different shape. Tom is sourcing aftermarket bushes that will fit though so once he gets those the brackets will be on.

I took a look at the new Koyo radiator and it's lovely even though it's hiding behind the aircon condensor. I really can't wait to see what water temps I will be getting at Snetterton in March. With the oem radiator, my running temperature is 90°C and on track it shoots up to over 110°C easily!

Koyo R-Series Competition Radiator peeking out behind the aircon condensor.

Whilst I was there I found out what brake pads Tom had chosen. I knew they would be Hawk pads but didn't know what Tom had put in. I had told Tom I wanted something aggressive as I don't drive the teg often (or fast) on the road, only fast on track. Additionally I really don't care about squeeling brakes. Squeeling brake pads scream motorsport to me instead of embaressment.

What this meant was I wanted something more than the Hawk HP Plus, which is a fast road/track day pad. I was guessing that it would be something like the HT-10, however Tom had chosen the DTC-70, Hawk's top race compound!

Hawk DTC-70 brake pad. I was surprised the backing came in red but looks awesome (I know that's not the point)

I was secretly very happy about this as I was contemplating running two sets of pads, a low dust street pad for the road and the DTC-70's for track. Afterall, changing brake pads with my calipers is stupidly quick and going halfway house with the pads given this caliper/disc set up is a cop out and was bugging me :)

The DTC-70's operate at 204-871°C (400-1600°F) and have an extremely high torque. They are designed to have aggressive, controllable initial bite with great release and torque control characteristics. The pads are designed for race cars with high deceleration rates with or without down force.

Spare Wheel

2012-01-18T20:23:00.001+00:00

So a while back I was faced with a conundrum. Given the huge calipers under the front wheels, it is almost guaranteed my OEM wheels will not fit over them even with hubcentric spacers. This is because the spacers will be sized for the CE28's which are wider and have a lower offset, thus giving more clearance.
So what happens if I get a front puncture? There are two immediate options for this:

Keep the standard spare or an OEM wheel in the boot - swap one of the rear CE28's to the front and put the OEM on the rear. However you never know where (and under what conditions) you might end up having to change a wheel; rather one than two. Additionally I would need OEM wheel nuts for that wheel as the taper seat is different (not that that is an issue).
Tyre Weld - I always have a couple of cans in the boot, but to be honest I have seen a friend use this first hand and I wasn't impressed. Maybe he didn't use it correctly but even if this was true, his application of it looked sensible to me and thus I would expect to simliarly fail..

There is of course a third option, which is to keep another CE28 spare wheel in the boot. For me personally, the outlay of a brand new CE28 is not worth it as they are uber expensive. But if you can find one second hand..... ;)

Progress - Nitrons

2012-01-16T21:14:00.001+00:00

Nitrons are on. Big thanks to Dotty for the spy photos :)

Progress - Brake Kit, Engine Mounts and Suspension

2012-01-13T21:25:00.000+00:00

Today I was sent some build pictures of my car by one of my many spies (F2K) who was down at TGM for something or other.

Front bumper off to accomodate a new Koyo R-Series Competition radiator.

Avid engine mounts on. You can make out the driver's side mount next to the power steering reservoir.

Race brakes are on with some temporary front wheels as the OEM wheels are too small to fit over them. I cannot wait for the CE28's to go on!

And last but not least, my Nitrons were laid out in the workshop waiting to be fitted :)

Very excited!

Thanks again to my dorifto mate Jase a.k.a. F2K for the pictures.

Vision Technica Wide Blue Mirrors

2012-01-01T16:38:00.000+00:00

Discontinued and in my possession (although not really that hard to get). Vision's wide blue side mirrors give wider visibility than standard wing mirrors due to their convex shape and have a anti-glare blue coating. They are handy for reducing blind spots, however as they were produced for race use, they shouldn't be a substitute for looking over your shoulder on the road!

I was in two minds whether to get these as although they provide a wider viewing angle, they also present everything reflected as being smaller and thus further away than standard mirrors. However this is not a big issue as it just requires getting used to new judgement distances.

Pictures below.

J's Racing MME 2008 Shirt

2011-12-20T22:26:00.000+00:00

Not a car update, but a fashion one (WTF?!! I hear you say). I justify this post as I will not have any car updates until 2012 :p

The very last medium sized J's Racing MME 2008 shirt for sale is now longer not for sale as it is in my possession :)
(J's auctioned them off for the Earthquake victims)

For those of you who do not know, MME is the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance race, formerly known as Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race. It's a 12hr endurance race held annually at the Sepang International Circuit in late August as part of the Merdeka festivities in Malaysia.

Back in 2008, J's Racing competed and won their class (Class A). This shirt is to commemorate their success.

As J's say... Racing goes on....

BUT. I couldn't not post something about my car.

Here's my car failing to get traction on a dyno - wheel spin anyone?

The sooner I get my new wheels on (with new tyres!) the better :)

GP2 Race Shell

2011-12-13T20:27:00.000+00:00

Saw this in TGM's body shop over the weekend.

A GP2 Shell being prepped for next season.

Because of the material, paint stripper cannot be used so last season's paint has to be sanded down!

To save weight, no paint is applied to areas of the shell where components meet

Gold plating separates the driver from the fuel tank

Detatchable Cockpit Surround

Brembo Race Calipers

2011-12-10T23:47:00.005+00:00

So a few weeks back you may recall that I was astounded with the brake set up on Joe's race car at Snetterton. So much so that I called Tom up the following Monday for a "chat".

I have shall we say gone a little overboard with my brake upgrade. After our chat, Tom had spoken with Brembo to build a pair of XA2.E7 Series 4 race calipers in replacement for my new and unfitted F50 calipers.

The 2 piece race disc setup will remain the same. Incidentally, the discs are the same as the below picture which I don't believe I have posted up before.

332 x 32mm fully floating 2 piece race disc set up

I was down at TGM today so took a look at the new kit. The F50's were still there so I was able to do a quick visual comparison.

F50 Caliper picture for reference

XA2.E7 Race Caliper

Notice the quick release retainer. Pad changes should only take seconds :)

Notice the F50 has dust seals around the piston holes. The XA2.E7 does not, plus the holes are much larger! Note: this photo is misleading due to the angle of the shot. The F50 is a much smaller caliper which you'll see in the next photo

Notice the size difference between the two calipers. And I thought the F50s were wide!

The XA2.E7's as with all race calipers run without dust seals around the pistons as in brutal race applications where there is prolonged serious heavy braking, they would melt. This will mean that I'll have to keep on top of them and clean them out on a regular basis. Given my car is a weekend car at most (and only driven hard on track) this is no big issue.

Anyway, some tech specs of the XA2.E7 below (check out the piston size and pad thickness - absolutely immense!)

2 piece aluminium caliper body
2.95kg
Piston size: 38mm, 42mm
Piston area: 50.39cm²
Pad area: 63cm²
Pad thickness: 25 - 26.5mm

I am so looking forward to testing these out on track next season. I absolutely cannot wait!