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Let's Go Endurance Racing - Pontini 2014 BRZ Build

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  • Let's Go Endurance Racing - Pontini 2014 BRZ Build

    LET'S GO ENDURANCE RACING!

    PROJECT INTRODUCTION, June 7, 2024: I am writing this with the hope that a car magazine publishes each section in their publication, with as much of this content intact as possible. This is the first part of a multi-article series that may or may not see print media, but I have hope. I have other articles being published by them now, so we'll see if they bite on this one.

    I started writing this at the very beginning of this build in early January 2024, helped the team turn some wrenches, took a lot of pictures, and maybe even inspired this team to pick this 86 chassis? Might be a bit much to take credit for that, as they likely would have made this choice anyway - it seems pretty obvious now.

    =======

    PART 1: PICK AN ENDURANCE SERIES & CLASS + BUY THE CAR

    What is Endurance Racing? If you are a track junkie you have probably heard of LeMons, ChampCar, World Racing League, or one of the other amateur level racing leagues that put dozens of teams with 3-4 drivers in cars on track for 7-25 hour races. The cost to do these events has never been lower and the choices of groups to run with has never been bigger!



    This is NOT pro racing - there is no television contract, few spectators, no autograph signing, and minimal glory. The costs are low enough that you dn't need sponsors to fund it - just 3 or 4 buddies who all want to split the costs and wrench, drive, and compete together in the same car. This is peak amateur road course racing, with real wheel to wheel (W2W) competition on closed circuits, often at famous road courses that you otherwise might never get to race on. The various series each have multiple classes, usually based on power, weight, cost, and/or some semblance of lap time capability.

    Excluding the "professional series" IMSA/FIA endurance racing groups, there are six "large scale" amateur endurance series in the United States at the moment - which do not require a racing license to enter - making it much more accessible to average Joe's. The most common format is a "double 7 weekend", with some testing on Friday, 7 hours of racing Saturday (usually in daylight hours), and another 7 hour event on Sunday, with both scored as separate events.



    Reliability is crucial, and the driver's have to work hard to avoid any contact, which wrecks your chances at a good finish. Just completing these 7-24 hour events is challenging, and to some that is their only goal - just make laps, have fun, and try to finish. A well managed team and a good build can chase a class win or podium, and that is what many teams (including the Pontini Team shown here) shoot for.



    The main difference between a normal SCCA / NASA / PCA "Club Level" W2W road race is that instead of a 20-45 minute races with one driver chasing the checked flag against a handful of competitors, Endurance races usually have 3-4 drivers in every car running over the 7+ hour format. There are mandatory pit stops for driver changes, fueling strategies that must be taking into account, and there is a LOT OF PASSING.

    In the handful of endurance races where I have driven 2-3 hour stints, I usually have been a part of 5-10+ passes PER LAP. The typical "Racecraft" that club road racers have to learn happens much faster in this type of racing format, as there are many more cars on track. It sounds wild but it is a lot of fun, and you don't have to be rich or even have a Club Road Racing License to do it. This is all legal, not a fantasy, and you could be a part of this racing!

    STEP 1 : COME UP WITH A PLAN

    In this first entry following this 2014 BRZ endurance race car build by the "Pontini" Team based in the North Texas area, I want focus on a number of subjects, many of which are done long before you pick the car. This includes picking the right endurance racing series for your budget and region of the country. Once you have picked the best series for your needs, you need to pick the right class within that series, and learn the rules inside and out. Hopefully at this point you have also teamed up with 2-3 other people, so you have a combined budget and workforce bigger than just one person - then and only then do you start looking for the right car to buy.



    In the real world most times people do this whole process backwards - they stumble upon a car and buy it, then find a class, series, and racing buddies to build it with. That rarely works perfectly, and could end up with a project that never gets completed. That I can tell you is the ultimate in frustration - you have a partially completed "race car" that is hopelessly outclassed, stripped of the interior (first thing people do), and often worth less than the donor street car you started with. Sometimes it doesn't even run, so it has to be sold at a huge loss.

    This series of articles is here to hopefully steer you clear of an Unfinished Project Car, and as someone who has had more than a dozen of these false starts over the last 3 decades, I can tell you the sting never goes away. The wasted hours, dollars, and loss of face with your friends and family. Nobody wants to end up here, but so many do simply from poor planning. Learn from my mistakes!

    Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent P!ss Poor Performance (the 7Ps)

    Let's assume you have 2-3 like minded friends who want to "team up" - hopefully they are folks with some motorsports experience and more than two pennies to rub together. Even if nobody on the team is in the top tax bracket, as long as you all have similar amounts of money you are willing to put in for the build AND for a regular schedule of build nights, then it can work. Another discussion - how many events per year to run? The capital and time needed for one event is not insignificant, so don't overshoot and bite off more than you can chew. Some teams never do more than 2 events a year - that is still a great season! Trying to make "all" the races within a given series is extremely ambitious and should not be considered by brand new teams.

    PICK YOUR ENDURANCE SERIES

    Hopefully at the beginning of the planning phase you will find an endurance series you like, that you can afford, and hopefully has some racing events within a reasonable towing distance of your home base. Maybe even one that has events at a race track that you are very familiar with, if you're lucky.



    We did a bit of research to show where the six main endurance series run in 2024, which we have shown with a "heat map" style layout with an approximate 3 hour driving radius around each event. Some series are very regional and others are widespread. Within these series you should be able to find a compatible schedule with races near your team's home base. Again, 2 to 3 events per year is a good initial goal for a new team.



    The schedules for each series changes over time, and this just shows the 2024 series schedules. Figure out what series' track coverage looks right for your location, then look into their costs - as some series team entry fees are more than others. Once you have picked a primary series to build around, look at a secondary series that has races you also want to visit. Your car might not be the most competitive in the second series' rule set, but it is smart to keep more than one series in mind.

    Once you pick a series, look closely at the rules and classes within each. Is one person on your team a spreadsheet nerd? Great - have them put together a shared Google sheet for the "build list", which can be read and modified by all team members. Break up the build into sections, put in proposed modifications, and note the associated rule number that governs each change. This method can also be used to track build costs, but also track each event's costs in another spreadsheet.

    Some series (like ChampCar) use "points" to limit budgets and yet allow some changes, so there needs to be some give and take within the team to plan out the best build. Don't worry about this plan being locked down solid, as things change, different cars have differing needs, and rules also change over time (normally very slowly). This is where some build expediency comes into play - dragging a build out over 2-3+ years likely means your "finished" car might not fits the latest rules.



    I also try to work with customers looking at these endurance race car builds and suggest they buy a running and driving car, do a minimal amount of mods up front, and get it on track after every phase of the build. That's what the Poninti team did here - bought a running car, did minimal mods, got some seat time, then moved to more upgrades in phases. This keeps the the driver's happy (getting seat time!) and keeps momentum going in the build. Things like the safety cage, the fire system, major suspension changes, or aero work can drag out the timeline and budget, but with a running car you can still be going to "track days" to get track time before and after each of these big upgrades.

    Once you have the team built, series picked, the class narrowed down, and the budget laid out, then it is time to pick and buy the car. This step is crucial - buying the "wrong" car, or one with hopeless problems, can tank momentum in a team or project. I will show how the team below got to their "car" decision, below.

    FORMING A TEAM : BUILDING PONTINI RACING

    The three Pontini principles (Jason, Paul, and Adam) all live in Texas - with two of them in North Dallas and one in the Houston area. They all met and raced in college and co-owned the 1999 V6 Firebird shown below. That build actually started with me involved, after I fired up the team to start a "$500 build" within the Lemons series, right after I had driven in some endurance events with two different teams in 2011.



    We actually did things "in the right order" back in 2012 when this project started - we looked at our combined budgets, picked the most cost effective series that ran in our area in 2011 (Lemons), and chose what we felt would be a sophisticated / modern / easy build for the time. This V6 5-speed 1999 Firebird was chosen then, as it was a very competitive and cost effective in that series in back then (some might say it not longer is). We found a car at a salvage yard for $700, did the initial build steps in my shop (Vorshlag), and then it moved to my home garage for the next phase of work after the first track test.



    We did a track day at an early stage - after buying that car in September 2012, it was cleaned up, repairs were made, a few upgrades were done, then it was on track at it's first track test event December 2012, where all of the team members got to drive it. After that test it went back to my garage and.... the build lost momentum. After sitting untouched for 18 months with everyone on the team "busy with life", I parted ways on the build. The remaining team members eventually got the cage installed at another shop and they were competing with it in 2014. That 2+ year time lag was costly, so it always helps to have a motivated team with similar goals and budget commitments.



    That is something you need to be ready for - changes in the team members / ownership, or even dissolution of a team. Depressing things, but just write down what everyone has invested at every stage - there should be a designated treasurer - so that if things have to change or someone has to back out, there are no grudges. After I left the team early in 2013 (I had 6 or 7 car dozen projects of my own to finish), they found "a new third", made a proper build plan, and got the car on track with all of the safety gear in 2014. My shop still sold them parts for this build and helped with some track testing, but otherwise they did it all on their own. After initially started as a Lemons series build, this car competed in numerous ChampCar and WRL events with additional volunteers (you want to have more than just the drivers trackside to help during a race weekend) and racked up some proper podiums and wins.

    They ran this car at 19 events, with 3-4 events per year planned. Then in late 2022 at a race in New Orleans (NOLA), a heavy downpour led to standing water and hydroplaning. That turned this once straight car into an octagon. The driver wasn't hurt at all, as the safety gear did its job, but this multiple-impact shunt put a stop to this car's racing career, and it is an end you need to be OK with. After our painter saw the damage he said "find a new chassis and start over".



    Why should you be ready to write off a race car? A buddy who worked in both Pro and amateur racing series for many years once told me that "Every racer should be financially and emotionally ready to push their car off a 200 foot cliff, while it is on fire, on any given weekend". You don't W2W road race a car you are making payments on, or that you need to drive to work, or that would otherwise "wipe you out" if it ends up crashed and a write-off. That's racing, in a nutshell.

    Endurance W2W racing involves an extraordinarily high number of passes in a single driver's normal 2 hour stint. Many "Club Race" W2W racers will note that a single stint in an endurance car likely involves 2-3x as many passes as they would see in an entire SEASON of Club Racing. A lot of fun, but you have to drive and make passes accordingly. After this hydroplaning incident, this team has committed to keep a full tread / narrower width set of dedicated rain tires in the trailer, for weather extremes.

    continued below
    Last edited by Fair!; 06-28-2024, 01:38 PM.
    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

  • #2
    Part 1 - continued from above

    PONTINI RACING'S 2022 CHALLENGE - FIX IT OR BUILD A NEW CAR?

    This crew looked at what they had left over in the '99 Firebird in early 2023 (see above), then debated what to do after that Nov 2022 crash. They could find another 4th gen F-body chassis, build a new cage from scratch (cages never come out and get re-used once they are welded in), move over all of their safety gear and electronics, salvage most of the suspension and brakes, and replace the broken bits. But the decade+ since this Firebird project was started, all of the endurance series have allowed in newer and more competitive cars. That's when I started whispering in their ears..



    Did it make sense 10+ years after the inception of this Firebird build to go back to a 1990s chassis - that really was designed in the late 1970s? You see GM's 3rd generation F-body chassis (1982-92) came out in 1981 and was designed in the late 1970s. Many aspects carried over to the 4th generation (1993-2002) version they had. A lot of engineering has changed in the 50 years since this car was dreamed up.

    Their Firebird had known issues with the factory ABS, the rear suspension was extremely dated (and even several popular Band-Aids didn't make it handle as predictably as a newer chassis), the Borg Warner T5 transmission kept eating itself, and the car's high weight (3050 lbs w/o driver) was a little hefty for the 200 hp it made with the 3.8L Buick V6 (first released in 1961!) They had previously listened to some of my advice on this older car - in 2017 they moved to a 315mm wide tire at all four corners, which dropped their lap times and made the tires last longer. But to fix the rest of this nearly 50 year old chassis would require some drastic changes - and now they also needed a replacement chassis and new cage.

    As much as I love Rear Wheel Drive pony cars, for endurance racing they tend to have a tough time competing with the popular Miatas and BMWs of the same era. High fuel consumption, potential for drivetrain carnage, and heavy overall mass didn't help. To me there was an obvious better solution - build a 1st gen 86 chassis BRZ or FR-S.



    We at Vorshlag have been working with the 2013+ 86 chassis since they first came out in late 2012, have owned and campaigned in both 1st and 2nd gens, and just completed a season of SCCA Time Trial competing with a 2023 BRZ in T3 class. It just so happened that a local track (ECR) had also acquired a 1st gen 2020 GT86 automatic. We gave the track some of our front camber plates, they added 225mm Hankook RS4 tires, and someone donated PFC brake pads - this became their rental Equalizer car. They would rent this car for 3 lap stints with a posted leader board of times, and all of the money went to charity. The fastest driver after a 2 month period got bragging rights. And the automatic transmission wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.

    I took one of the Pontini Racing team members to drive this car, and took him for a ride on my first 3 lap stint. He was blown away - it was clear that this nearly stock 2020 86 was both quicker and easier to drive on track than their race prepped and well developed 1999 Firebird. The modern ABS, better overall suspension design, and much lighter overall weight were too hard to explain away. And right about this the time, ChampCar had just classed the 2013-17 86 for their series as a "500 point" car. This team really liked ChampCar, for both overall seat time, enjoyment, costs, and competitiveness, and this chassis looked like a good choice.

    The way ChampCar works, they "class a car" and give it some initial base point total, if they even class it at all (many high powered, expensive, and newer cars are not ever classed). This is to keep big power spendy sports cars out of the series, so it doesn't turn into a spending spree, like a select few series. You only get a total of 500 points to "spend" on the build: the base classing points + any buffer under 500 total to use in your choices to modify the car. But when the 2013-17 BRZ was allowed in, it was one of the newest chassis allowed. And newer is often better, for reliability and even some performance aspects.



    People often do not realize how capable these 1st gen 86s are, as they come with very skinny / low grip tires from the factory, which hinders their "out of the box" lap times. The overall weight is extraordinarily low for a "4 seat" coupe (2650-2750 pounds), they have fender enough room to swallow a stickier 255mm tire, the stock brakes and ABS work extremely well, and the handling is very neutral in stock form. These also respond well to the normal suspension tricks: camber, dampers, spring rates, bushings, bars, and better tires.

    The power isn't always impressive, especially the 2.0L powered 1st gen cars, but the 200 hp rating makes for about 165 whp on a chassis dyno. With a race weight of under 2550 pounds this could still be pretty spicy for ChampCar class Group B. It took some time, but eventually I convinced the Pontini Team to buy one of these 86 chassis, sell their wrecked V6 Firebird, move their safety gear and electronics over, and build up this newer 86 chassis - without the "old car problems" their 1999 model race car had, or the dated suspension and flawed ABS systems of that era.

    BENCH RACING, SEARCHING AND BUYING THE CAR

    After the team had agreed on this new purchase (a process which took from early 2023 to early 2024) the search for a car began - but also the bench racing. Which can be half the fun! Since this "500 point" base car had no points headroom left for any upgrades, one legal way within ChampCar was to "get some points back" by choosing the automatic transmission. This nets the team 75 points for their build upgrades, which if they are careful should get them into non-adjustable coilovers, some camber, and maybe some light aero.

    Couple that with all of the "free" upgrades that cost no "points" (radiator, 4 piston BBK, wider wheels/tires, and more) it could make for a competitive entry for ChampCar class B, plus a secondary series WRL GP3 car, with some small parts changes between the two series. So the goal of a primary and secondary series / class looks like it will work, at least on paper.



    The car search landed them with a decent running and driving purchase in January 2024 - this 2014 BRZ automatic with 122K miles was nabbed for $9000 (top left). The car had been sold at a wholesale dealer auction and they picked it up from that buyer. One of the tires was corded, it had some "deferred maintenance", and even some interior wear - but for a race car this was a jackpot. It ran, it drove, and with a little help it could get on track soon with minor repairs and the fewest of modifications.

    The two Dallas team members - Jason and Paul - both have home shops with lifts, that many would envy. This was a far cry from their situations in 2011 when we started that 1999 Firebird, where I was the only one with a home shop with a lift. This makes working on the BRZ easier at either location, which are 15 only miles apart. Logistics come into play for any team, and having a "shop" with a lift is really helpful, but not totally necessary.

    WHAT'S NEXT? (BUILD / TEST / REPEAT)

    The next entry in this series of articles will show the first phase of modifications, which included some camber plates, brake pads, and a quick track test. Again this is key in keeping the team momentum alive in any long term build that started off as a running car - build it in phases, and keep going to the track after each key round of work. This way it never becomes the dreaded "non-running project" that is in a million pieces and worth nothing. At any phase of this build, if something crucial happened - a weirdly detrimental change in the rules / car reclassification, a major life event for one or more team members, or otherwise the project had to be stopped - the car was still just hours away from being a running complete car that is easy to sell.



    This "build / test / build / test / repeat" plan doesn't always work for every build, but for most of the long term projects that we have done at Vorshlag (either for in-house development builds or customers' race cars) this plan emphasizes the most enjoyment over the entire build duration. You always get to drive the car after every major round of changes and quantify the lap time drops (or not!) along the way, and getting seat time is always fun. We did that in the first two phases of this build, and I hope the Pontini crew can keep that build / test plan going throughout this build. Stay tuned next time to see the "Phase 1" modifications and the first track test!

    Thanks for reading,

    Terry @ Vorshlag
    Last edited by Fair!; 06-12-2024, 09:11 AM.
    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

    Comment


    • #3
      PROJECT UPDATE - PART 2 - November 13, 2024: In our last installment we explore the various endurance road racing series, making a plan, putting together a team, picking a primary class, finding a car, and starting a build. We followed along with Pontini Racing as they decided to ditch their very wrecked car of the previous decade and they upgraded to a 2014 Subaru BRZ automatic to be built for ChampCar Series B class.



      That was a lot of bench racing, searching, and then finding a car. We left off where they were on February 1, 2024. Let's pick up from there and follow along while they do some maintenance, basic track prep, get through their first track test, then explore the class legal upgrades and modification "points" that ChampCar has for this car and have since changed for 2025!

      STEP 2 : REPAIR, ADD CAMBER, UPGRADE TO "PHASE 1" FOR THIS BUILD

      The car was procured by Pontini Team member Adam in Houston at a dealership that specializes in buying cars from insurance auction. This one was a repo special that had a lot of deferred maintenance, two dead tires, but otherwise ran well - and it was cheap! It was transported by team member Jason straight to the team's headquarters in Dallas, his home shop.



      Once at Jason's shop the car was power washed underneath and underhood, and the outside was washed (one of his daughters helped!) Then a list of maintenance items was written up and other Phase 1 upgrades planned out. I joined the team on a Friday night (2/2/2024) the week they bought the car to weigh it in three iterations, plus I brought some loaner wheels and tires from our 2023 BRZ for use in their initial testing. The car needed tires to replace a set showing steel belts.



      The stock 17x7" wheels were fitted with 3 different brands of 215/45R17 tires, and it was clear there was some light damage to the car from the initial inspection and tire wear patterns. It was purchased at a wholesale auction in the first place - and those tend to not be exactly super well maintained cream puffs. Nothing that some RockAuto shopping cannot fix.



      Jason was in the middle of an oil change when Paul and I arrived with my wireless scales - so handy, but quite heavy, and I never loan them out unless I can deliver and supervise their use. After an initial weighing with full weight "stock everything" on board, it was time to pull the "trunk junk" - the spare tire, jack, and other tools in the trunk (that all came to 38 pounds). This is how I like to weigh any car, with all of the things you would typically remove for an autocross or track day. I also try to weigh with little to no fuel load, but with the sketchy tire, Jason had no way to burn off the 1/2 tank of fuel it came with.



      The 2707 pound weight image above shows the fuel load and total weight, as well as front-to-rear bias (57% front / 43% rear). That is an impressive number for an automatic transmission equipped 86, and it was within 18 pounds of my guesstimate (I like to think I am good at guessing car weights). This was with the itty bitty 17x7" OEM wheels and little 215mm tires.

      Sure, that 57% front weight number seems "front heavy", but nearly any modern RWD car is, especially when you start to remove interior weight. The team will relocate the battery from underhood to the trunk, and the cage will add some rear bias, but it will never be a "perfect 50/50" weight split. I will take low weight over a perfect bias in a heavier car, every time.



      For our third weighing of the night we swapped on my set of 17x9" Enkei wheels with 255/40R17 Yokohama A052 tires, and checked again. This time it gained 9 pounds to start out at 2716 pounds with the same 1/2 tank of fuel and "no trunk junk". That is a small price to pay to gain 40mm of tire and 2" of wheel width at each corner. Turns out we wouldn't use these wheels at the track test, but I will cover that later.



      That first work night when the car was on Jason's 2-post lift, we wiggled and pulled and pried on all of the bushings and ball joints on this car, as well as the wheel bearings. The front control arms needed ball joints and bushings, one front wheel bearing was bad, and the endlinks were shot. The parts list was made and parts were ordered.



      On the second work night a week later most of the maintenance parts had arrived, plus I brought over some parts we make or had in stock. We got to work on some initial mods that we do on almost every 86 car that will see track use - adjustable front camber plates made for the OEM struts and springs, a pair of cheap wheel spacers, Motul RBF600 brake fluid, and some fresh Motul Gear 300 for the rear axle (which likely had the original 10 year old fluid still inside).

      Since they had new front hubs coming (which were delayed), I also brought some M12-1.5 threaded 3" long ARP wheel studs and matching M12-1.5 nuts we keep in stock - which are NOT the OEM thread pitch, but this setup is stronger than the factory M12-1.25 fine thread studs. We do this conversion on Subarus all the time, as these threads are thicker and less likely to gall or strip. You just have to get the right part number for the knurled diameter and the matching lug nuts.



      The team pulled the front struts and I used my floor mounted spring compressor to remove the factory top mount plus upper perch, then installed the Vorshlag camber plates. The struts were pretty worn out, but we went ahead and mounted, then bolted that into the strut tower and the spindle.



      The camber was racked all the way in, and if I had my way we would have utilized crash bolts as well (this gets the front close to -3.5 degrees of camber on these cars, with about 1 degree of that coming from the crash bolts). As I was wrapping up the camber plate install the team was removing the end links and lower control arms, and getting those swapped over. They also did the rear axle fluid change with the Gear 300.



      Wheel hub bearing assemblies are a common repair item on any track car, and some cars like this 86 often require a front set after every endurance weekend (which could be 16-24 hours of practice and 2 days of racing). Removing and replacing these "unit bearings" is fairly easy and can be done track side, but it is smarter to do this back at the shop before you notice the wear and noise of worn units.



      For work night 3 (2/12/2024) the new stock replacement SKF front wheel bearings had finally arrived. We had the ARP wheel studs on hand - you can see the differences in the M12-1.25 vs M12-1.5 threads in the image above right (every picture in every post I make can be clicked for higher resolution versions).



      The team pressed out the short, stock length M12-1.25 studs from the new SKF hubs and pressed in the 3" long ARP M12-1.5 studs with the thicker threads. The new wheel hubs were then bolted back into the spindle and Blue Loctite was used on the 4 bolts, which were torqued to the factory spec.



      The factory front calipers were reinstalled but with some CSG brake pads that the team had picked up second hand, which would be used in a single track test before a Big Brake Kit (BBK) upgrade that was planned. The old brake fluid was flushed and bled at all four calipers. The small wheel spacers were installed with the 17x9" wheels and then we checked and reset the front toe - since we had both added camber plates and made a big adjustment there (which alters toe) as well as replaced the outer tie rods (which also alters toe).



      I drove the car that night to another team members house in preparation for an alignment. The steering shaft made some horrific noise, but after a quick call I was told "hey, we know about that and have parts coming to fix it - don't worry" and the drive back was otherwise uneventful.

      PHASE 1 TRACK ALIGNMENT

      We don't have a quick way to align a car with a "laser" at my shop, so we use alignment shops near us that we trust. A repair shop near Vorshlag can tackle relatively easy alignments, and they also let us come by and help if it gets tricky. On this first track alignment for the Pontini BRZ with the "Phase 1" round of modifications, we just gave them our "alignment goals" work sheet and let them handle it.



      The front camber got all the way to -3.0 deg, which is pretty good. The added caster offset of the Vorshlag plates for the front to +7.5 deg of caster, also ideal. They set the front toe to zero, (mostly) evened up the rear camber at -1.6 deg, and gave us a healthy bit of rear toe in (.28 deg total toe in). I was happy with that and they only charged the team $90 for the alignment. We were now ready for our first track test!

      TRACK TEST 1 - MSR CRESSON 1.7 CCW - FEB 16, 2024

      The build had really good momentum and in only 4 work nights the guys had this repo special cleaned up, freshened up, cambered up, aligned, brake pads upgraded and bled - all within about 6 weeks of purchasing the car. That sort of early motivation is hard to beat, and to keep the momentum going, I strongly encouraged the team to do an "initial baseline" track test like this - and even loaned them two sets of wheels and tires for the day.



      I had brought another car to test (our T3 classed 2024 Darkhorse), and had two other customers out there taking laps at the same time as the Pontini boys all got laps in the BRZ. They took turns and drove about 15 minutes each over the course of a few sessions on that chilly morning. The goal here was to get a "Baseline time", but mostly for each driver to get some seat time and a feel for the car.



      To keep the car a bit easier to drive at the limit for their first time out, we swapped to these 225mm Falken RT660 tires on factory 18x7.5" wheels from our 2023 BRZ. The plan was to let the 3 team members get some laps in on these relatively modest but long lasting Falken tires, then switch to the faster and wider 255mm Yokohama A052 tires (which fall off after about 3-4 laps) after lunch.



      All 3 team members got a feel for it and had a lot of fun, and their initial times on this 1.7 mile CCW course were all within 2 seconds of their former Firebird endurance car from late 2021, which as the time was on 315mm Falkens and had a decade of development in it. After I was done testing 2 sets of tires on the Darkhorse the team had me make a few laps in the BRZ - I had a faulty AiM SOLO in the car at the time (2 of my 3 units were in other cars) but they hand timed my laps to a mid 1:27 runs. It was super easy to drive with the automatic, the added camber, and good brake pads and fluid.



      I handed my Cannon camera to Pontini team member and spotter Keith to shoot some shots, and asked him to get some of the car loaded up in the high speed corner Big Bend (top left) and also into some braking zones (above right). The stock dampers seemed pretty much shot to me, but it was still drivable. As you can see the -3 deg of camber all disappeared into bushing deflection and body roll in Big Bend, and the sloppy dampers and soft springs allowed for a LOT of brake dive. These shots make for a great visual of what can be improved - and the team had the "points" for proper coilovers, which could alleviate most of these handling deficiencies.



      Jason wanted to take another crack at the track after seeing my lap times, so just before lunch right before a session was about to end I went out with him for a coaching lap - where he found some time, even carrying me along. That 1:29.8 lap (video shown below) showed peak g traces of 1.23 g lateral and 1.06g braking, which are great for that RT660 tire. The conditions were cloudy and cooler all day, leaving the surface of the track a bit "cold", but is better than being too hot.



      The 1:27 laps that I managed (I have an advantage of 800+ laps and 20 years of racing on this layout) in the BRZ were already quicker than their previous Firebird race car's best here, so that was very encouraging - and we never took the skinny RT660s off. The A052 tires would have knocked another 2-3 seconds off that lap, but the conditions were getting worse and rain was moving in, so we called it a little early. With more dry time at the track we could have found even more time.

      continued below
      Last edited by Fair!; 11-14-2024, 04:18 PM.
      Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
      2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
      EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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      • #4
        continued from above

        PHASE 2 UPGRADES - PICKING SUSPENSION AND A BRAKES

        The ChampCar series gives this car a "VPI" base value of 500 points. And you only get 500 points of total VPI to build a car for Classes A-D, without taking penalty laps. Every 5 points over 500 gains you a 1 lap penalty for a given race, and that usually leaves you with an impossible hill to climb. So teams generally shoot for a 500 point build, and no more.

        Luckily the ChampCar series gave automatic transmission equipped cars a +75 point bonus, which is a lot. This essentially turns the base VPI to 425 points. That 75 points is enough points for a coilover suspension (+40 points - no damper adjustment, just ride height and spring rate), home made camber plates (+5), an air dam (+10), front splitter (+10), and rear wing (+10). For Phase 2 they were just going to tackle the 45 points worth of suspension upgrades, to keep the costs down and allow for a quick return to more track testing.



        Jason and I here at Vorshlag brain stormed a solution that we have done before for the 86 chassis - a non-adjustable damping set of Bilstein PSS dampers + upgraded springs and top mounts. We've done this for other endurance racers and those on a tighter budget. This gives you a beefy inverted monotube front strut, monotube rear dampers, with 60mm adjustable height lower perches. We throw away the tapered springs (made to work with the stock top mounts) they come with and replace the soft rates with a popular 450 #/in front and 500 #/in rear set of Hyperco springs.



        We even add tender springs out back, as there are no added points for those, and no other downside other than cost. But even though I was sponsoring the Vorshlag camber plates and rear shock mounts, the "aftermarket" camber plates would add +20 points, and just start to push points budget for Phase 3 (with aero and wider wheels).



        To get around this +20 point camber plate rule, Paul came to my shop one weekend and hand made a set of camber plates. Cut, drilled, tapped, and spray painted them from plate steel scrap we had in our recycle pile.



        I guided him, but Paul did all of the drilling, welding, sanding, and painting for these steel main plates. Those were paired with some commercially available and inexpensive spherical bearing holders you can buy online. Not ideal, but this should all should meet the spirit of the "home made" rule.



        Before the 3rd work night back in February I had brokered a deal on a used set of CSG sourced Brembo front brakes that one of my customers was selling. I got those cleaned up and ready to go on with a good set of CSG pads and the rotors and lines to make them bolt up to a 1st or 2nd gen 86.



        These upgraded Bilstein coilovers and Brembo brakes were ready to go on in Mid March, and the car needed an alignment, then we could get back to the track. But the team members got busy, and I was in the peak part of a busy racing schedule, too - with my own S550 Mustang Time Trial car (below left) as well as our 2024 Mustang Darkhorse that my wife competed with in another TT class.



        Still, I was hoping to get these coilovers and brakes, installed in March, then to go quickly to another track test, with the stock seats and interior. Keeping this momentum going is really helpful for team morale. And yet everyone's schedule got busy.

        ADDING COILOVERS AND BIG BRAKE KIT

        Starting right after the Phase 1 track test (just camber plates + brake pads), the team jumped right into the Bilstein coilover and Brembo brake installation work.



        The Bilstein coilovers and Brembo front brakes went in at Jason's shop in early April 2024. The guys did a good job and got the parts swapped over quickly.



        You can see the rear damper assemblies above - the Bilstein damper itself is about 50 mm shorter, as it is made to be run at a lower ride height than stock. The spring package - consisting of the rear Hyperco spring and Eibach tender - are almost as long as the super soft factory rear spring.

        The lower ride height and shorter damper leads to less total travel, but this is a compromise we often have to make on any racing suspension. The key is matching the drop with a shorter damper to maximize bump and rebound travel within the new package. On the front strut, luckily, the aftermarket strut can be made longer than the OEM so we don't lose any stroke at the lowered ride height.



        The ride heights and initial front toe was set and at this point it would have been great to do another track test - get some seat time, dial in the alignment and tire pressures, and see where the car was compared to track test 1. But the team decided to dig in and change the seat.

        REMOVING THE INTERIOR AND ADDING A RACING SEAT

        On the last weekend in February the team got together and removed all of the interior - the carpet, interior panels, seats, headliner, console and door panels. I begged them to leave the dash in place, and they did, then I also asked to keep the center console. Keeping that 9 pounds of plastic + "Level 3 Safety" (full cage) lets you run a car in SCCA Time Trial Max classes, but I lost that battle.



        These parts were removed carefully and cleanly - and pictures were taken of each major component. That is because these used interior parts HAVE VALUE, and once cleaned up they can put hundreds of dollars back into the team's budget. Don't just go "ripping and tearing" parts out, like you see on the Cars and Sparks TV shows, unless you have someone paying you to make a TV show where you do that silly stuff. Do it for the clicks, hehe!



        The bulk of the interior removal work was done over a weekend when all 3 team members could work on the car at once, but I was away at a race so they took pictures for this article. Carpets, door cards, interior panels, headliner, plastic trunk panels, back seat, and the front factory seats. They also removed the curtain airbags and driver and passenger airbags. This both removed weight and made for more headroom - plus brought a small amount of money, after listing parts on marketplaces.

        The team was really adamant about adding the racing seat from their last race car, which better fit the drivers compared to the OEM seat and 3-point OEM belts.



        They tackled the install of a Vorshlag driver's side 86 seat bracket base + our 86-specific side brackets and slider next. To this assembly they added their custom built, containment style aluminum seat. This was measured for and built by Ultra Shield for their former car, and it survived the crash perfectly intact. With nothing more than padding changes it fits all 3 drivers, even me.



        We make this 86 seat bracket kit with special side brackets to allow for sliders to fit without covering up the original 4 factory bolt holes. Aluminum seats have some additional requirements - you either drill through the sides or bottom of the seat structure, then add LARGE steel washers to spread the load. That prevents tearing out the mounting bolts in a high impact crash.

        The team had that seat and bracket assembly installed quickly after the interior was out, which removed flammable items and dead weight. Virtually all Wheel 2 Wheel racing series require that you remove most of the interior panels, so this was nothing unusual to tackle.



        Thankfully they left the door bars in the doors, so it still had side crash protection. That means - at this point they could still go do a track test safely, even if just using the factory 3 point belts.



        The factory air conditioning compressor was removed and replaced with this A/C delete pulley assembly, which is common part made for many cars that are used in climates around the world where air conditioners are optional.



        At this point the car was moved from Jason's home shop to Paul's home shop, which is right down the street from my shop - so I was able to come by more often to document and help work on the BRZ. Somehow we jumped to mid May and I was begging them to do a track test. The car was hundreds of pounds lighter, had the coilovers and Brembo brakes, and it would have been a good time to test on the sticky Bridgestone RE71RS tires and 17x9" wheels, for a change.



        The addition of a properly designed harness bar could have allowed the team to put in the 6-point harness for the driver's seat and gone racing. Or again, the 3-point OEM belts could have been re-used to get some laps - but that was going to take some work to add the OEM lower buckle to the seat. I have built a harness bar for a car just to get 6-point belts and a fixed back seat safer, to get it on track before a 4-point roll bar or 6-point cage can be built. Some frown on this short cut, but it can work for a short period of testing (not W2W of course) with some chassis and the better harness bar designs.

        BUDGET UPDATE - PHASE 2

        The team has allowed me to share the costs on the major items. I will even put an (estimate) on things they have re-used from their previous car, and on things that Vorshlag. sponsored. People always want to know what this stuff costs, so we're here to share!
        • 2014 Subaru BRZ chassis, running and driving, $9000
        • Bilstein PSS coilovers, 450/500# coilover spring conversion ($3135)
        • AC delete bracket and pulley, $137.80
        • UltraShield custom built, aluminum, full containment seat ($1000)
        • Vorshlag 86 seat bracket base ($395), wider side brackets ($145), and Sparco slider ($85), ($625)
        • Paragon 18L ice chest driver cooling system ($318 , bracket ($98 , and hose kit ($69), ($485)
        • CSG Spec Brembo GT Brake Kit - 4 Piston caliper, 326x30mm Slotted rotors ($2095)
        • New SKF front hubs ($216)
        • ARP long front wheel studs ($88 , Vorshlag lug nuts ($34)
        • New OEM style front control arms ($116) and Moog outer tie rods ($36)
        • Not going to tally up fluids and such, but about $200 of Motul fluids
        • Enkei TFR 17x9 5x100 ET45 wheels, used ($920)
        As you can see they only paid retail for two items in the list above, the car and the AC bracket. Everything else was purchased used, already owned by the team, loaned by someone, or sponsored by Vorshlag (either partially or completely). So all in for Phase 2, if they had paid for all of this stuff new would be $17,736 at this stage.

        In the next installment the roll cage costs go onto the budget, and while that always stings, is 100% necessary. We will cover those costs next time.

        WHAT'S NEXT?

        As I was wrapping up writing this Part 2 installment in November of 2024, the December 2024 issue of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine showed up in the mail box. And to my shock, Part 1 of this series - which was initially just another forum post thread for me - was the cover article. Very exciting! I need to keep these articles brief to make it into the magazine, so this is a good stopping point for part 2.



        In Part 3 we will chronicle the roll cage and safety gear installation work, which is a significant step - both in terms of time and monetary commitment. We will discuss how to pick the right shop to make the roll cage to your series' ruleset - as "building your own cage" at home is almost unheard of nowadays, due to the expensive tools, fabrication skills, and welding experience needed to do this right.



        We will also cover Track Test #2 next time, which happened after the cage and safety gear went in, a week before their first endurance rate. That first race and the aftermath will be enough for its own Part 4 article, I think.



        Stay tuned here, as you will get the long winded version on our little forum sooner than the Magazine versions. The edited and polished version does support Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, which the industry needs. Please, if you aren't a GRM subscriber already, please sign up for the best Motorsports magazine in the world.

        Thanks for reading!
        Last edited by Fair!; 11-14-2024, 04:18 PM.
        Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
        2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
        EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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