Dumb, Stubborn, and bound to end up penniless…….

[aklackner]

Maybe there's something I haven't considered, but unless I was caged and harnessed with a HANS I'd rather have the airbag.

Love the wheel though - as I'm sure you've seen MITA sells an Acura logo horn button but I think you went red H elsewhere in your build IIRC?

I run the Simpson hybrid so similar to Hans.

With OEM belts and a helmet the airbags don’t account for speed with which your upper body will come forward and the force with which the airbag will impact.

Plus there’s how you hold the steering wheel. With airbag you should never cross your hands or hook your thumbs through the wheel as this can lead to a broken arm or other injury.

A trade off is the possibility of head to wheel contact off track when not wearing a helmet. For this reason I may end up chasing down an NSX-r wheel which includes a pad for the wheel frame, or swap back and forth between the JDM SRS wheel if I’ll be doing significant street driving. Though in 2021 I racked up less than 1000mi largely test drives and trips to shops, which shouldn’t be very common for me in through 2022.

I’m still consider getting a roll bar at least. I like the JDM seats but I didn’t realize they don’t have the same release that usdm seats do to allow you to be pushed flat in case of significant roof collapse. Unfortunately they also don’t allow for a 5 point harness either. Ideally I’d change the seats to at least Recaro Speed V, add at least a bolt in roll bar, and 5 pt harness.

I’m trying to hold off for now to get a sense for how much I’ll drive the car and the mix of on/off track. At this point I’m not driving the car hard enough on the track to be very worried about roll overs but with other drivers out there collision is a real risk.

[Stin1]

Couldn’t you just unplug the srs reel rather than swapping out the wheels?

[oddomatik]

Couldn’t you just unplug the srs reel rather than swapping out the wheels?

In b4 OP with my guess - a light on while driving on track would bother him

[aklackner]

Couldn’t you just unplug the srs reel rather than swapping out the wheels?

Yes but that wouldn’t allow for adjustment to position or personalization.

As my position in the car works out my thigh would hit the underside of the steering wheel when trying to work out heel/toe.

Entry and exit with the high bolsters are also eased with both the smaller wheel diameter and ability to remove.

Steering feel is also pretty light in the car and the reason I wanted to try a smaller diameter wheel to reduce mechanical advantage. Though the correct answer for this would probably be to add caster and or tires with a larger cross section.

[aw614]

Steering feel is also pretty light in the car and the reason I wanted to try a smaller diameter wheel to reduce mechanical advantage. Though the correct answer for this would probably be to add caster and or tires with a larger cross section.

Report any thoughts on the feel, I've wanted to do the smaller wheel for that same reason you listed, but removing the airbag and losing cruise control on my non R were things holding me back (though someone actually designed a bracket that allows cruise control with an aftermarket wheel)

[aklackner]

Got a set magnetic track numbers made.

Hopefully between, 386, 86, 38, 36, 3, 8, or 6 I’ll be able to find an available number at any event where numbers are needed.

Simple white block for numbers on a carbon fiber background.

Will make sure I have a good coat of wax on the door panels and use care when placing them.

Note to self along to mid body line not window

[aklackner]

Steering feel is also pretty light in the car and the reason I wanted to try a smaller diameter wheel to reduce mechanical advantage. Though the correct answer for this would probably be to add caster and or tires with a larger cross section.

Report any thoughts on the feel, I've wanted to do the smaller wheel for that same reason you listed, but removing the airbag and losing cruise control on my non R were things holding me back (though someone actually designed a bracket that allows cruise control with an aftermarket wheel)

Drove to a friend’s place downtown today. Light steering feel is solved. Surprised the change made such a big difference. Wouldn’t really want any more weight at low speeds, not a fight for me but firm. Any sensation of float is gone. Momo tuner wheel feels great in the hands and seems somehow more directly linked and confident. Very happy with how it turned out.

I’m having to re-adjust steering to be more gradual, as the car is turning in faster than I intend leading to uneven steering input.

Blinker is a bit further away but still in easy reach.

I had to shift the blinker canceler when I installed the ASR hub to get it lined up but must have gone the wrong direction with it or something since it doesn’t seem to be triggering the same, not a huge issue for me though since I rarely click the blinker down.

[aklackner]

I had held off on getting the Kingpin FUCA blocks for the PCU arms in since I knew it would mean doing an alignment and it’s still a pretty big project to get through myself but with the track day coming I wanted to get it knocked out.

Had gotten some more goodies to make alignments a bit easier.

The new toe sticks mount up to my hub stands with extension pieces so measurements are super consistent and easy.

In the end I feel like Im getting a lot better and more familiar with getting things dialed in, even did ballast in the driver’s side all weighed out and packed in the best I could. I guess I’m very efficient ballast so had to stack alternative ballast in the best I could. I could get camber closer side to side but it was getting late. I still need to measure where caster is at with the PCI arms, maybe in the morning, since it’s still up on the stands

Final numbers:
FL
Toe 0mm over 22”
Camber 2.82 deg
FR
Toe 0mm over 22”
Camber 2.98 deg
RL
Toe 0mm over 22”
Camber 1.92 deg
RR
Toe 0mm over 22”
Camber 1.84 deg

Updated
Caster measured R1.72deg, L1.20deg
This was first time measuring so less likely to be entirely accurate but spec. Looks like 1.16 +-1 so I’m not incredibly far off that with the PCI UCAs and rubber bushings.

[aklackner]

Just a little tease…







Not as sexy looking as my OG Bronze but should be a great track set. I really thought I was going to have to swap to Spoon Monoblock calipers but wow there’s as much clearance on these as on the 16” Bronze.

Now I need some rubber and will pray they fit under the fenders with minimal encouragement.

[aklackner]

Track day went pretty well

Had some adventures and ended up having to get a tow home since I dropped the supercharger and alternator belts. Car stars and runs surprisingly strong (I actually ran an entire session on battery power somehow).

Anyway here’s some video (updated with data overlay)
https://vimeo.com/666592582


Best time of the day for me (1:51:90, still at least 20 secs off lap for Big Willow) was actually after my off track adventure. Traction circle is inverted but so flat it tells the same story either way, there’s a lot of room for improvement.


Was interesting looking at the data from after the blower belt came off. Can see manifold pressure says in vacuum but lap times were still very similar to boosted. No hiding the truth here, it’s not the car, it’s the driver. Hopefully any followers of this build take this as encouragement to start your own driver improvement journeys.