Wakefield Park 17th Nov - E R8

[CarlFST60L]

Big thanks to JusticeR8 for the friday, i owe you one ;)

The day nearly didnt happen for the R8, did you know that the E Series HSV have changed the thread size for the oil filter??? Well three dealers didnt know, and no ones else i spoke to had a clue :cussing:

Well, the R8 is certainly built for the track, straight out of the box, full of fuel, spare tire, standard oil, straight out ran 1:15 flat back to back with a heating up track surface which was punishing the tyres... With a great driver and a cooler surface to help those tyres out i can see it doing maybe high 1:12's :driving: Darren gave me a good tip for dropping a second of the time, but only got to experiment on a couple of hot laps, next time ;)

VYIIR8Clubby was pushing low 1:16's with koni's, Edit, 2 hole mod, getting those brakes working well toward the end of the day :thumbsup:
XR8Kingpin had stotck brakes, time for an upgrade? Thanks for the '5 Star' rating after comming for a lap :)
The V8 Brute was good fun to chase around, was suprising to 'keep up' :driving:
Darren, your car is a weapon, the power is unreal! Believe is was lapping low 1:08's
The best car imho on the day was the stock EVO laping somewhere around 1:09 :driving: STOCK!

The R8 is a really nice package, those brakes are incredible, able to brake at the 100m marker on the final turn and nicely pull the car up.
The ABS gets a bit ugly sometimes, causing alot of shacking in the car comming into 'hairpin' if you out brake yourself
The ESP was usless for me, it certainly help keep the car on the road, but it took the car back to a mid 1:16... Maybe it can do better, but you would have to drive to suite the ESP somehow..

The R8 is so well balanced with the new engine/wheel/chassis make up. Took quite a bit to get use to how to load the suspension up to get the best turn in. If you get it wrong, it does move around and unselttle the car, like on the long right hander, sometimes the front and back would move around as if they were pushing each other, first the front goes, then the rear, but the font comes back (its really hard to explain, but its weird).
Get it right though, and trust that turn in, and its really fast and so smooth.
Getting power down with those 275's is a treat, best noticed on the long left hander after the 'hairpin', its hard to loose the back, the suspension and larger rears really hold the back down for getting the car moving...

Scaryiest moment of the day for me was the fast 3rd gear right (second last corner), theres a bump just after the apex, it unsettled the rear of the car, i held WOT and drifted the car all the way to the escape road putting the front right into the dirt on the wrong side of the track :shock: BIG moment for me and the new car...

Needs much better rubber, the rubber goes off after 2/3 laps @ 20C, 1 lap at 35C... Time to find a set of 19's with semi comps, i dont think 18's will fit over the brakes. The brakes are to good for street rubber, the brakes have no problems pulling the car up time after time, but the rubber goes to quick
Needs some more sound, the stock exhuast sounds 'nice' but its far to quite, time to chop out the rear mufflers
Car is about the same as an edited LS1, time for twin turbos :hide:

http://www.oz8.org/gallery/albums/Carl/IMG_3121.sized.jpg

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http://www.oz8.org/gallery/albums/Carl/IMG_3118.sized.jpg

http://www.oz8.org/gallery/albums/Carl/IMG_3106.sized.jpg

http://www.oz8.org/gallery/albums/Carl/IMG_3103.sized.jpg

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[Goanna]

Far out Carl, your a champ!! You have a week old E series R8 and its on the track within a week! Well done! Nice to see someone with a car like that using it!

[Boom]

Now that looks like a great way to have some fun!!!!

[Justice R8]

Was great fun Carl. Great to see the VE clubby out being used on the track. Amazing how good it was straight out of the box. It seems to be a great alround package. I was so impressed I ordered one that afternoon. 1.15 in a new car is a great time and will only get better with some tyres on it. I couldnt beleive the corner grip you had coming out of the corners. The 275 really make a difference.

Matt got down to a 1.05 in mine and I did a 1.07. We are still playing around with shock settings. We also need to fit a brake bias unit as we keep pinching the rears under brakes due to the amount of weight we have taken out of the car. All in all I am happy with how the car is going. The Textralia twin plate is working a treat alongside the dog box and Ripshifter. Engine didnt miss a beat all day. Matt is quite confident we will get to a 1.01 or 1.02 at Wakefield with a bit more fine tuning on the suspension and brakes. Not bad considering most of the development supercars run high 0.59 or 1.00 at that track. Every second faster takes a heap of work.

I must say I prefer a private track hire over the no limit days as you dont have 15 other people out on the track getting in the way.

Some footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTyEFRr7UzA

[CarlFST60L]

Some footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTyEFRr7UzA

Nice, anyone know how to save that footage off youtube?

If you have any more of the R8 going around, pass it this way :thumbsup:

[Ghosn]

Wow, awesome work guys. Carl, very brave to take out such a new car out to the track and share with us the experience.

[CarlFST60L]

Wow, awesome work guys. Carl, very brave to take out such a new car out to the track and share with us the experience.

I have complete faith in the engine and drive train, even if this one only had 999km on the clock when we arrived at the track :)

I cant wait to get back out there... need to sort out some semi comps... but on 19's i fear this might be $$$

[HazzaHSV]

Very nice Darren, new car looks great. Those are some slick times too. If you do any more private days in the future let me know.

PS - Got any onboard video. I need tips.

Matt got down to a 1.05 in mine and I did a 1.07. We are still playing around with shock settings. We also need to fit a brake bias unit as we keep pinching the rears under brakes due to the amount of weight we have taken out of the car. All in all I am happy with how the car is going. The Textralia twin plate is working a treat alongside the dog box and Ripshifter. Engine didnt miss a beat all day. Matt is quite confident we will get to a 1.01 or 1.02 at Wakefield with a bit more fine tuning on the suspension and brakes. Not bad considering most of the development supercars run high 0.59 or 1.00 at that track. Every second faster takes a heap of work.

I must say I prefer a private track hire over the no limit days as you dont have 15 other people out on the track getting in the way.

Some footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTyEFRr7UzA

[Plan B]

I must say I prefer a private track hire over the no limit days as you dont have 15 other people out on the track getting in the way.

Some footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTyEFRr7UzA

Other people get in your way on a race track? No!!!! :lmao:

[Brockfan05]

Man that is AWESOME!! 1.15 in a bog stock 1800kg + car around Wakefield!! And thanks for the vid - That red VY hammers and sounds almost as good as a V8 Supercar. Top stuff guys.

[CarlFST60L]

I found the steering in the R8 didnt offer enough feedback as to the road surface... I quite often moved the steering around while in the middle of the long right hander and could feel any feedback from what the tyres were doing through the steering wheel....

Anyone know what to do to get more road feel through the steering?
Also, is there anychance of getting 18's on, or, what semi comps or track tyres can i get for a resonable pice for the 19 x 8 and 19. 9.5's?

[NickS]

I have complete faith in the engine and drive train, even if this one only had 999km on the clock when we arrived at the track :)

I cant wait to get back out there... need to sort out some semi comps... but on 19's i fear this might be $$$

Love your work Carl ... well done.

I got some Dunlop SP Supersport in 19's for the Coupe. Haven't used them yet so can't tell you what they are like. Looking at around $500 a corner though, not cheap. I have 19 x 8 on the front and 19 x 9 on the rear. I think the fronts are 235s (but are more like 245s in width) and the rears are 255 (but are more like 275s in width).

Good luck. :cheers: