About two years ago, we decided to run a 15/17” wheel stagger for more tire selection, and in doing so, we had to install smaller front calipers (More detail on that here). The Cup brakes that our S240 came with were too big for 15” wheels. We were able to get a few 15” wheels to fit over them, but it required running some large wheel spacers. The set up we decided on were the AP Radical front calipers and the OEM 2 Pot calipers in the rear. Since the changes, the brakes never felt as good as the stock set up. The larger calipers require more fluid volume, and with the stock master cylinder, that meant the pedal had more travel and felt softer. We also noticed more ABS “ice mode”, which could be related to the change in brake bias and front to rear tire diameter.
I am thrilled to announce the return of Toyo Tires to our race program for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. I have had the pleasure of working with Toyo for many years previously, and this partnership renewal marks a commitment on both sides for shared success.
You’ve probably already seen the results online, 3rd in class (E1) and 9th overall. But what you don’t know are all of the details, the drama, the trials and tribulations and the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this past weekend. Fortunately, that’s what this blog is for…so please, read on.
This year seems to be just flying by. We last raced at the end of March, and since then the team has been busy with a wide variety of cool projects at the shop. Personally, my calendar has been filled with work, travel, and everything in between. One event in particular that transpired during this time was the official launch of the Yokohama A055 tire.
Before doing anything K-swap related to the new chassis, we started by transferring parts over from the original tub to the new one. Since this was a low mileage car, it wasn’t difficult selling the drivetrain. Timing worked out perfectly as there was another Elise in our shop needing a motor due to a failure.
This event marked our second attempt at the Sonoma 4-hour enduro, part of the NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship series (also known as WERC). Last year, we attempted to run this race with 2 cars (my ST4 Honda S2000 and Liam’s ST4 Honda Civic). Unfortunately, both cars had to retire early because of parts failures. I broke two differentials (my main and my spare) and Liam lost a gearbox.
July was a nice break month for us. With no racing on the calendar, we used that time to do a few things: Sourced (thanks, Graham) and began building another duplicate J32A2 engine with Supertech valve train (thanks, Martin), P2R fuel rails, and other performance goodies; Rebuilt a spare AP2 transmission with fresh OEM gears that we sent out for WPC coating treatment…
This past weekend (May 19-20, 2018) marked the third round of racing scheduled for this year’s NASA Pro Racing Super Touring championship series here in Northern California. I was thrilled to return with the team to Sonoma, because it’s close to the shop and it also happens to be one of my favorite tracks to drive at (I love the complexity, the narrowness of the walls, and the overall rhythm).
We left off in March after having just picked up our new (to us) J32A2 engine, and as promised we've been busy getting it ready for the demanding rigors of race conditions. We were thrilled to receive high-performance valves, springs, and retainers from my partners at Supertech Performance in order to do just that. These awesome parts allow us to rev the J32A2 engine well beyond it's OEM redline limitations, but safely.
Sonoma Raceway, again. But we aren't complaining. The track is beautiful, and it's only an hour away from the shop. October 28-29 marked the last race weekend of the NASA NorCal region, and this would be the weekend where we secured 2nd overall in points for the Super Touring 4 (ST4) Northern California Regional Championships. It was also where we would try our first-attempt at endurance racing for our Trackspec Autosports Honda S2000, "Irene."
This weekend marked the first time Trackspec Autosports had ever competed in the NASA Western States Championships. The event is still commonly referred to as, "NASA Nationals," because up until 2015 it gathered racers from across the United States together to compete against one another. But for the last 3 years, NASA has split the national championships into two events (East and West) in order to make it easier for racers to still compete against the very best; without having to tow more than halfway across the country. The result? We finished 8th in Super Touring 4 (ST4). But the journey to get there? Well, that's where things got interesting...
Sonoma seems to be the NASA Northern California Region's favorite race track this year. Once again, we packed our bags on Friday September 8th and headed up to wine country for Round 6 of the 2017 NASA Super Touring Series. "Irene" had received her usual post-event treatment at Trackspec after two days of hard racing at Thunderhill last month. This included a thorough inspection from head to toe, fresh GLOC brake pads (the fronts were getting low), an alignment, fresh Motul fluids, and a new differential cooler pump switch (we discovered that the automatic temperature switch was no longer working and opted for a more reliable route)...
Former US Secretary of State and four star general Colin Powell once said, "there are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." We couldn't agree more. After a pretty good weekend (4th place both days) at Sonoma Raceway back in June, our team spent the entire month of July improving, learning, and preparing for Round 5 of the 2017 NASA Super Touring Series August 12th and 13th. The result? A great weekend at Thunderhill Raceway...
One of our really good customers invited us to participate in a car show he helped created years ago. From a shop called Weksos Industries, no longer running but which primarily focused on the sale of aftermarket car accessories, evolved one of the biggest and most well-known car shows in the nation: Wekfest, which is now hosted all over the map, including Hawaii, Long Beach, Japan, Chicago, Seattle, New York, and of course, San Jose....
Monday through Friday
7am to 4pm
