Here is a little introduction of our Prelude in Japan.
We are a team of foreigners running in various circuit races in Japan. mostly endurance. The car is co-owned by a few guys and there are guest drivers who rotate through the drivers seat. The concept was to provide introduction to racing relatively cheaply and have a lot of fun too.
We have in car TRAQMATE video and logging (Supplied by Traqmate Japan) images to study and improve driving and the learning curve has been great for everyone in the team.
The car is reliable so far and it has completed a 12hr and 6Hr enduro
But it is currently undergoing a more serious attack with new parts and more circuit focussed direction, whilst trying to remain in the road legal class.
We are heading to another 6Hr in one weeks time.
Wish us luck and check out TGRacing's Datalog to follow the action.
Suspension and Brakes.
Non ATTS model.
Aragosta Kit. Rebuilt with F14Kgmm springs.
Tein Monoflex. (Spare)
Cusco Strut tower bar (Rear)
RunMax Stainless Brainded Brake Lines
Dixcel Brake Rotors
Endless Endurance pads. Endless M84N compound
Ducted Brake cooling.
Wheels and Tyres
RAYS Volk Racing CE28N's of 16" under 5.0 kg each.
OR
Honda Integra 16" Type R Wheels (Spare)
Direzza Star Spec 205/50R16 f 205/50R16
Exterior
Pearl White Paint
TG-Racing Graphics by RE-Xtreme
Vented Bonnet FRP with bonnet pins
Mugen front lip spoiler
Front bumper NACA ducts
S-Spec rear spoiler.
Honda S-Spec side skirts and rear skirt
4200K HID headlights + Fogs.
Rear Bumper modification for drag reduction.
Interior
Autopower Roll Cage
Sparco Race seat
Takata race harness
Momo Race steering wheel.
Defi 60mm gauges, water temp, oil temp, oil pressure in Centre Guage Pod.
TRAQMATE with chase cam and data logger.
Motorola 2way radios.
Mugen shift knob.
un-necessary trim removed.
Continued Thanks to the team and guests for time invested.
Glad to see you guys on here. I remember seeing this car on Speedhunters a couple of months ago during a Tokyo parking lot meet. Can't remember if it was themed or not. I'd love to see some engine shots or some more info on the suspension.
I'm one of the co-owners of the TGR Prelude. As way of introduction, I owned - for close to 20 years, a 1985 Honda Prelude. Over 250K and no problems, got me through college, grad school, military service, and my first real job, as well as a few cross country trips. So it was only natural that I'd revert back to a Prelude when selecting a reliable and great handling car.
Suspension - well we are currently getting the coilovers rebuilt - to refresh the fluid, as well as upgrade to stiffer springs, in order to reduce dive and roll, and also to see if we might be able to tweak the handling so it might oversteer a bit on corner entry. Everything else in the suspension is standard.
As we run in the N Class. This means strict limitations on engine mods.
So No. And we want a reliable car so thats the focus.
Maybe it will get an exhaust manifold. thats about it. Not much power to be gained without huge dollars.
TBH
There are more gains to be found in driver performance than engine mods.
The car has improved from a solid 1:14 car to a solid 1:12 car and we expect that a little more improvement will continue with more tweaks.
For us, it's also about building everyone to consistent levels and learning from each other and then applying that to our own cars and driving. most of us have other cars.
AE86, FD3s, NSX, Exige, GTR33, GTR32, NC Roadsters, M3 etc
The project is more about seat time, driver improvement and building the team. Finish positions will come through good management and general experience.
Thanks Russ for the post. The engine is already one of the more powerful ones compared to the competition, so as Russ says, we need to emphasize reliability - espeically important during these endurance races. Although, I suppose we can change the cams, no one could tell... But on these tight circuits in Japan, many times it's not about power, but how well it's put down, and how well the car handles. With a longer wheelbase than the competition, for example, the car isn't quite as nimble as a Civic. Hence suspension mods, and lightening the car, are key for now.
Also, racing is expensive, so any engine mods would have to happen once we found sponsorship or a rich uncle to help us out!
I don't suppose anyone out there is interested in sponsoring us? C'mon, first non-Japanese race team in Japan - in a Prelude, too!!! Has to be historic!
rhangman & prepreludesh, PLEASE - don't hyjack this thread, OK! - We're not in the business of supplying used parts, so such discussion is irrelevant here anyways. We're only here to share our enthusiasm & experiences with racing our Spec S.
We've just completed our 3rd race. Full details and lots of pictures are on our blog: TGRacing Datalog
HI love the car hey are those rims lightweight and you sad your getting 235 is that just of Mugen Muffler
K&N wet type air filter.
Fluidyne Alloy Radiator
25 row Setrab upgraded oil cooler
CUSCO 1-way LSD.........and thats just a muffler not a full exhaust. or
SLC - we appreciate your support! Great that you found us - I'll check out the link you posted.
Sleepe00 - the CE28Ns are unbelievably light. Can easily lift up with one finger and do curl-ups. The Honda wheels are a bit heavier though, but not bad. As for the exhaust, it's a full Mugen exhaust from the catalytic converter back.
HI love the car hey are those rims lightweight and you sad your getting 235 is that just of Mugen Muffler
K&N wet type air filter.
Fluidyne Alloy Radiator
25 row Setrab upgraded oil cooler
CUSCO 1-way LSD.........and thats just a muffler not a full exhaust. or
I'd love to one day retire my prelude from the rigors of everyday commuting and have it as a dedicated weekend/track toy... but alas, that seems to impractical for me.
I have a minor suspension setup suggestion for you guys though:
After reading through part of the blog, Miguel posted:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Miguel
Rod mentioned the car seemed to under steer more as a result. Tom also said the same, having felt the car was different when he first drove it, compared to the end, when the car no longer wanted to turn in. So we can lower the front a little more, but have to be mindful of rubbing tyres on the underside of the inner fender, especially as there’s vertical pieces of metal which could cut the tyre on a larger bump.
My experience with track setups for preludes, is actually not the norm for FWD cars which is to run firmer springs up front, and softer in the rear. For reference; I'm running a set of Koni Yellow dampers with Ground Control coil over sleeves and Eibach Springs.
When I chose spring rates, it was suggested to me to try a slightly stiffer spring in the REAR of the car, to try and minimize understeer. I went with 400 lb/in (7.14 kg/mm) front and 450 lb/in (8.0 kg/mm) in the rear. I coupled those rates with a Suspension Techniques 25mm rear sway bar, and the result is a REALLY well balanced car, for tight-circuits. I haven't yet tried it on a larger, GP-style track, but others with the same setup have and their results were positive.
You'll note that my setup is ideal for a balance of mild track and street use, but with firmer springs (maybe 14.3 kg/mm F and 16.0 kg/mm R), and a thicker rear swaybar (progress makes a 27mm, I believe) it could be great for track-only use.
My experience with track setups for preludes, is actually not the norm for FWD cars which is to run firmer springs up front, and softer in the rear. For reference; I'm running a set of Koni Yellow dampers with Ground Control coil over sleeves and Eibach Springs.
I'd like to offer another opinion. Before I do, I want to emphasize that this is part preference, part experience, and that anyone can of course setup the car however they choose.
With that out of the way, I would say that the JDM-style of springs rates is very poor. I'm not at all in favor of the high spring rate in the rear of the car. This is based primarily off of math, but also swapping out setups on real cars. Most JDM coilovers have higher rear rates than the front. Spring rate should be used only for setting the natural frequency of the car; it can be computed or found experimentally during practice.
I wanted to write a full guide to selecting coilovers, but sadly most ricers won't read it and just buy off the shelf stuff anyways. However, what you really want (in terms of vehicle dynamics), is to use the springs to close to the ideal natural frequency of the car, and to choose the rates to give you ideal roll resistance. The way to find this setting is nearly always consistent across different car types. It a constant fraction of the weight distribution on each end of the car, which means softer in the rear (for the Prelude).
I would then use alignment and sway bar settings to tune the understeer/oversteer bias to where you want it. Bushings can serve this purpose to (if you pick the right ones).
There's a ton of other philosophy I have about selecting coilovers, especially maximizing suspension travel, but it's more than I can fit in a forum post.
Good luck with your next racing season.
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Artifex, thank you for your insight. Actually, what you are proposing is probably the direction we will go - one of the co-owners (he who initially described the car erroneously on purpose, to see how many eagle-eyed readers would spot the errors - J/K of course LOL) is making preparations with me to experiment with suspension settings. Watch our blog in the off season for details!
Seriously - I may PM you to pick your brain - unfortunately can't offer anything in return at the moment.
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