ROAD TO TIME ATTACK Ep.2 Is My E46 Faster How to Shift and Brake Enkei wheel
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TechTranscript
00:00On the last episode of Road to Time Attack, Jay and I installed the StopTech Street Performance
00:05Brakes at JRP, and then Colin spent some time with me on the simulator.
00:09We worked on vision and smooth inputs, but I've got work to do in the real world.
00:14And since the snow is gone, it's time to get some practice in at a real racetrack.
00:26Ontario Time Attack focuses on driver development and safe competition, so Toronto Motorsports
00:32Park is a great place to start.
00:34This technical track is where the first OTA event will be held in several weeks, so I
00:38better start pushing towards competitive lap times.
00:41This week, Colin is going to give me some instruction in the car, and then we are going
00:44to head back to JRP for a wheel upgrade to see if we can shave some time off.
00:49Time is running out before the first event, and we've got a lot of work to do.
01:15It's a new season.
01:16I have a new helmet, and we are at Toronto Motorsports Park, so I can work on the things
01:20that Colin was teaching me on the simulator.
01:23I did my best to focus on perfecting my vision.
01:36I am looking at the apex.
01:38I am looking at the exit.
01:41There we go.
01:42Power on.
01:43That feels good.
01:44Colin is going to be proud of me.
01:45All right, I am going to go out, and I am going to set some hot laps so we can set down
01:50a base time on my street tires, and Colin is going to come out and give me some instruction
01:54to work on some different stuff, including sharpening my vision a little bit more and
01:59whatever else he thinks that I need work on, which I am sure is very few things, because
02:03I am pretty much ready to go, let's be honest.
02:05Hey, watch this, Colin.
02:07Oh, yeah.
02:08Turn in.
02:09Yep, nailed the apex.
02:10Yep, missed the apex.
02:11Perfect exit.
02:12I don't even need him.
02:13Is he doing a cool-down lap right now?
02:14Clearly, Colin and I had different opinions on what was fast driving, but nonetheless,
02:15I set out to set the fastest lap that my car and my skills would allow.
02:16With the StopTech brakes, the pads, rotors, lines, and fluid we installed at JRP, I was
02:17able to turn lap after lap with no issues.
02:18However, there is still lots to be done to the car.
02:19I am going to have to work on my vision a little bit more.
02:20I am going to have to work on my vision a little bit more.
02:21I am going to have to work on my vision a little bit more.
02:22I am going to have to work on my vision a little bit more.
02:23I am going to have to work on my vision a little bit more.
02:24I need to be below 130 if I am going to be competitive at all in Ontario Time Attack,
02:25so I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:26I need to be below 130 if I am going to be competitive at all in Ontario Time Attack,
02:27so I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:28I need to be below 130 if I am going to be competitive at all in Ontario Time Attack,
02:29so I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:30I need to be below 130 if I am going to be competitive at all in Ontario Time Attack,
02:31so I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:32I need to be below 130 if I am going to be competitive at all in Ontario Time Attack,
02:33so I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:34After we poked our way down the hill that was our train station,
02:36after we installed the JRP,
02:37I was able to turn lap after lap with no issues.
02:39However, there is still lots to be done to the car,
02:40as a fairly slow 133.5 can tell you.
02:44However, there is still lots to be done to the car,
02:46as a fairly slow 133.5 can tell you.
02:47However, there is still lots to be done to the car,
02:48as a fairly slow 133.5 can tell you.
02:50I need to be below 130 if I am going to be competitive at all in Ontario Time Attack,
02:52so I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:54So, I took a quick stop in the pits to let my brakes come to life.
02:55Then I picked up Colin, and we got back out there for some instruction.
02:59Alright, we're back on the track, Colin's in the car, he's going to tell me all the
03:02things that I'm doing wrong.
03:03Of which there are many, right Colin?
03:04Um, you have a good 3-9 position on the wheel, Thomas.
03:05Alright!
03:06That's my answer to that.
03:07One thing is, those were having fun, right Thomas?
03:08That's right.
03:09Exactly.
03:10It's not about who wins and loses, unless you're going to enter something like an Ontario
03:11Time Attack Series.
03:12Yeah, no, that would be silly, I would never do something like that.
03:13Nah, I didn't think you would.
03:14Woo, you actually did pretty well.
03:15I did.
03:16Oh, whatever.
03:17Wow.
03:18I listen, see, I can learn things.
03:19You do.
03:20Okay, now we're going to look far through the corner here.
03:21Okay, I want you to look all the way through the side window.
03:22Yeah.
03:23Okay.
03:24Look over there.
03:25Look over there.
03:26Yep, okay.
03:27Very good.
03:28Okay, look at your apex.
03:29Yep.
03:30Okay.
03:31Okay.
03:32Okay.
03:33Yep.
03:34Yep.
03:35Yep.
03:36Yep.
03:37Yep.
03:38Yep.
03:39Yep.
03:40Yep.
03:41Yep.
03:42Yep.
03:43Yep.
03:44Yep.
03:45Yep.
03:46Yep.
03:47Yep.
03:48Look at your apex.
03:49Look at your exit.
03:50Look at your brake zone.
03:51Turn in.
03:52Apex.
03:53Exit.
03:54Yep.
03:55Look at the track out over there.
03:56Yep.
03:57Nice.
03:58Okay.
03:59There we go.
04:00That's good.
04:01Starting to come together, Thomas.
04:02Once Colin seemed satisfied with my vision, he spent some time to silently watch me drive
04:07my car.
04:08It was quiet and unnerving.
04:10He carefully studied my inputs looking for problems.
04:13I felt like I was taking a test that I hadn't studied for.
04:16I'm not a beginner on the track and I've put in a lot of seat time over the years, but
04:19I haven't had that much in-car instruction, so I was dying to know what he had to say.
04:24Okay, so first thing I want you to do is I want you to try to work on your timing of
04:30your shifting.
04:31Timing of my shifting?
04:32Yep.
04:33On the straightaway or on the corners?
04:34Every corner you're downshifting into.
04:35Yeah.
04:36You're downshifting too late.
04:37Too late.
04:38You're still doing work while you're trying to turn the car in.
04:39Okay.
04:40You shouldn't be doing that.
04:41You should have all your shifting done before you start turning the car in.
04:44Before I start doing anything in the turn?
04:45Yeah.
04:46Okay.
04:47So one or a few corners, you're still kind of busy working stuff on the car while you're
04:51turning the car in.
04:52Okay, so braking, you're going to go down to third?
04:54Third now.
04:55There you go.
04:56That feels totally different.
04:57Why was I not doing that before?
04:58Because you didn't have me in the car.
04:59There's no one here to tell me.
05:00That's why.
05:01Because you didn't have a Colin with you.
05:02I didn't have a Colin.
05:03That's right.
05:04Everybody needs a little Colin in their lives.
05:05A little Colin?
05:06Yeah.
05:07Okay.
05:08I didn't say anything.
05:09I didn't say anything.
05:11You said little.
05:12This is why I'm being specific.
05:13There's other Colins out there, but you need the little version.
05:15You need the little version of you.
05:16Got it.
05:17Okay.
05:18Exactly.
05:21We worked on the timing of my shifting for a few laps.
05:26Get your shift done early.
05:27Get it done now.
05:28Get it done now.
05:29There we go.
05:30All right.
05:31You can see that way now.
05:32Before you even turn in, you're ready to rock.
05:33Yeah.
05:34We're talking about driving now.
05:35Okay.
05:36Not dealing with all these different things going on in the car.
05:41And braking now.
05:44Shift down.
05:45Shift down.
05:46There we go.
05:47Nice.
05:48And then I can focus on my turn in.
05:49Okay.
05:50Braking.
05:51Shift down.
05:52Shift.
05:54There we go.
05:55Feel the difference?
05:56Yep.
05:57Completely different actually.
05:58Why was I not doing that before?
05:59It just relaxes everything down, doesn't it?
06:00Yeah.
06:01Completely.
06:02Because now you're not rushing to do stuff.
06:03You can still go through a corner quickly if you don't have to keep panicking and trying
06:06to get everything done in the process.
06:11I'm liking these StopTech brakes.
06:12A lot of power.
06:13The other thing we're going to start working on now is when you're releasing your brake.
06:18When I'm releasing the brake.
06:19Okay.
06:20You're releasing it essentially timing wise as if you're trail braking in every corner.
06:25Okay.
06:26But you're not trail braking.
06:27You're just releasing the brake too late.
06:29Okay.
06:30So it kind of looks like trail braking but it's not actually because it's not accomplishing
06:34any of the things that trail braking would accomplish.
06:36Correct.
06:37Right.
06:38Okay.
06:39Turn in.
06:40Hold up.
06:41I feel like I carried a little more speed actually.
06:44Yes you did.
06:45Okay, same thing here.
06:46Now we off the brake just a little bit sooner than we used to.
06:49Okay.
06:50Brake, downshift, off the brake, turn in.
06:51Brake, downshift.
06:52Downshift.
06:53Ready.
06:54Off the brake.
06:55Off the brake.
06:56Yeah.
06:57Okay.
06:58There.
06:59A lot more speed.
07:00Brake, off the brake.
07:01If you're braking and trying to turn in, you're asking two drops of the tires.
07:02Which again, if you're trail braking properly, you're managing weight at that point.
07:05Right now you're not managing the weight.
07:06All you're doing is overloading the tires the way you're doing it.
07:08Okay.
07:09Brake, downshift, off the brake.
07:11Yep.
07:12Oops.
07:13Throttle inputs.
07:14Colin spent a little bit more time watching me to prepare for my next lesson.
07:18But first, it's time to make one of the most important upgrades you can make for competition driving.
07:29My car was only ever going to be so fast on stock wheels and street tires.
07:33The stock wheels are heavy and they aren't wide enough to accommodate competition rubber.
07:38So we took a trip back to JRP for the Ontario Time Attack Open House.
07:57This was a great chance to meet some people and to sign up for the season's events in driving schools.
08:02The JRP showroom was open, so it was also a great chance for me to pick out my new wheels.
08:07A hugely popular and go-to lightweight wheel for the track is the NK-RPF1.
08:13So I decided to be a little bit different and I went with the NK-PF01.
08:24Thankfully, JRP has the proper equipment to install and balance tires.
08:29And Carson, the Sonax Canada Sales and Marketing Director and JRP team member, was more than happy to install the tires for me.
08:36Because, well, I don't know what I'm doing, and he does.
08:39Now I picked up some Hankook RS4s to test out, but the reality is there are tons of rubber options out there.
08:45These RS4s are supposed to be very good, but the market is flooded with options.
08:50The Yokohama AD-08R is a good choice for street and competition, as are the Michelin Cup 2s.
08:55In the end, tires come and go, sometimes very quickly, and a lot of us experiment with different options.
09:01But a good set of wheels goes a long way.
09:03These NK-PF01s weigh in at just 18 pounds in my chosen size, 17 by 8.5,
09:09which is significant savings over the stock wheels at over 23 pounds each.
09:14And these NKs will let me fit a 245 width tire.
09:17So with the tires mounted and balanced, I was pumped to get back on the track.
09:26Whatever.
09:31As you may have noticed, I don't really care that much about making this thing look good.
09:35You know, because race car and all that.
09:37But after going from this to this, I'll admit I'm kind of a huge fan of these wheels.
09:56We came out to a cold yet sunny Pinnacle Advanced Driving Academy lapping day to test out the new setup.
10:08Alright, I'm going to go out and I'm going to work on the things that Colin talked to me about.
10:11I have to work on shifting earlier and getting my shifting done and out of the way,
10:14and then letting off the brake before I turn into the corner.
10:18So that, coupled with the new tires, I did a 1.33 before.
10:23Let's see if I can get it down even lower.
10:31So much grip. Holy.
10:34Alright, not going to scrub too much speed here.
10:36Braking, turn in.
10:39100 kilometers an hour through there.
10:43Nice and smooth at the steering.
10:46Foot flat.
10:49Braking, turn in.
10:51Oh, there's so much grip.
10:59As fast as I can go through there right now.
11:041.34.
11:06Alright, let's take some time off it.
11:13Come on, it's so slow in the straights.
11:191.32.5.
11:21Already, second lap.
11:24Shaved a second off.
11:26Use a little bit of brakes to rotate the car.
11:29Roll speed into the S's.
11:32Oh, I need a seat. I'm all over the place.
11:491.32.03.
11:52Come on, 1.31. I want 1.31.
11:57As I started pushing harder, I started to lose focus.
12:00Oh, I missed my gear.
12:03Alright, let's take a break. I'm getting sloppy. That's what's happening.
12:07I did a cool-down lap, then I went into the pits to adjust.
12:10I'm not going to do it again.
12:12I'm not going to do it again.
12:14I'm not going to do it again.
12:16I did a cool-down lap, then I went into the pits to adjust my tire pressures.
12:21As soon as I was ready, I got back out there for a final push.
12:31I decided to do less talking and more driving.
12:47Woo!
12:59I did my best to get as much out of this current car setup as I possibly could.
13:04I'm pushing as much as I can towards the wall.
13:07Come on, more, more, more, more, more.
13:11Come on, in the green.
13:14Shift.
13:171.30.
13:19And just like that, I had shaved three seconds off my time.
13:23I was in the lead by one second.
13:26I was in the lead by one second.
13:29I was in the lead by one second.
13:31And just like that, I had shaved three seconds off my time.
13:34My official time was a 1.30.6.
13:37I want to be in the mid to high 1.20s.
13:40The car in its current state is capable of a better time, I'm sure, but not much.
13:45So we still have lots of work to do before the first Ontario Time Attack event.
13:49Stay tuned for the next episode, because time is running out.