Live thread: Join us this weekend at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill

Andy Hollis said:

Pit bikes resting for the evening...

They've got seats, so they're NASA-legal!

With a long night of engine swapping ahead, we're doing dinner on site.  Our friends from Hondata are grilling up sausages and pork chops.  
 

It's in!

Calling it for the night.  Finish in the am.  
 

Tomorrow is official practice and then qualifying.  
 

Good morning!

Willows, CA isn't much of a town, but it does have a Starbucks.  Caffeine is key in a 25 hour race. 
 

Andy Hollis said:

Well that escalated quickly...

 

#25 getting a new engine

Explanation:  While the 24 car has seen a few lap at the Honda Proving Grounds, plus a trip to SEMA...the 25 is totally fresh.  Unfortunately a heater hose clamp was installed improperly and the car overheated on its first hot track laps.  And that seemingly took the head gasket with it.  
 

These cars were hand assembled from spare parts onto a body-in-white, no donor cars.  So they are an interesting exercise in figuring out what actually needs to be in the car for it to run properly. Todays electronics are so integrated that you run into all kinds of weird dependencies.  

"The taillight is out so the traction control doesn't work"

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Andy Hollis said:

Pit bikes resting for the evening...

They've got seats, so they're NASA-legal!

 

That is 100% of my personal justification for why I "need" one.

#24 is out on track doing some damper sweeps to dial in thd handling.  TOMO at the wheel. 
 

Car 25 back out on track after the engine swap. Fingers crossed. 
 

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Or:

tomoracing94 said:

In reply to msterbee :

Hahaha - I have Andy working on that now. 

I think maybe you opened your mouth, the universe said: "You have no time for that, your car is about to overheat" and here we are 24-ish hours later... 

Andy Hollis said:

It's in!

That's what she said? 

tomoracing94 said:

First photos from trackside! Exterior first:

- Using the front splitter from the TCR Civic Type Rs

- Custom rear quarter flares

- "Sufficient" rear aero haha 

- Andy's first inspection of the engine bay!


 

 

What size rear tire are you running that you need even more flare than the already flared Type R rear fender? More at the front I can understand. More at the rear on a FWD car is perplexing. 

Henry from Hondata adjusting the tune in the 25, which is building boost quicker than the 24.

TOMO getting more wheel time...

Good luck! How are the Motocompos?

Got to spend some good time on suspension tuning this morning with the #24 car - Thunderhill is somewhat bumpy in places and our baseline setup was pretty sharp but not very compliant yesterday. If you've been to Harris Hill or Sebring....think that haha. 
 

We got the car more compliant at the expense of some sharpness, which should be both more consistent and less punishing to mistakes, and also more comfortable for the drivers. A super sharp corner entry doesn't mean much when you start to skip and hop away from the apex halfway through the corner...
 

Otherwise, they're light and playful, lots of good rotation and already faster than our 2019 FK8s went that year with 3 years of developments and mods. Definitely not the most important thing for a 25 hour race but it's fun data! These are the fastest cars a lot of these Honda Associates have driven for this race and they're loving it. Qualifying starts at 4:15PM PT this evening for us 

In reply to msterbee :

275/35-18. Since they came as bodies in white without donor cars, they had to Type R-ify the rear quarters. 

tomoracing94 said:

In reply to msterbee :

275/35-18. Since they came as bodies in white without donor cars, they had to Type R-ify the rear quarters. 

Ah!  That makes sense now. The BIW were from "regular" Civics.  Square tire setup?  That's a giant effing tire... 

Tom Suddard said:

Good luck! How are the Motocompos?

I'm thinking the fact that you can fold them up into a heavy-ish briefcase size is going to make them super popular for paddock transportation.  

In reply to Tom Suddard :

They're like primo casual paddock transportation haha. I just buzzed around during lunch break to visit some different teams, you get the convience of an electric scooter with the comfort of a chair when you get there lol 

In reply to msterbee :

Yeah, perhaps a bit overkill, but it's so convenient to have the same size tire front and rear when it comes to mounting and rotating tires during the race. 

tomoracing94 said:

In reply to msterbee :

Yeah, perhaps a bit overkill, but it's so convenient to have the same size tire front and rear when it comes to mounting and rotating tires during the race. 

And being a bit 'overtired' helps with life in an endurance race.

In reply to tomoracing94 :

Can the motocompacto compete in an impromptu scooter prosolo course though?

Qually complete...P1 & P2!!