Kenji's HKS Time Attack Silvia at the TTA3 2:28:720 lap video

[Staff]

Possibly the best S15 Silvia in the country, Ling Ken Ji's HKS Time Attack spec prepped S15 has seen more track days and events than most you get running on the roads. Setting a lap time of 2:28:720 on semi-worn-semi-slicks at Sepang, this is probably as smooth driving as it gets. Watch as he tries hard to minimize time-consuming slides.

YouTube - HKS Time Attack Silvia @ zerotohundred.com Time to Attack Sepang, 31 Oct 2010

Here are his words:

Despite clocking a respectable 2m 28.720s best lap time, it is clear from the video that traffic aside, I was having a lot of difficulty with the handling of the car today.

The normally faithful rear end would break loose anytime I got on the loud pedal, and instead of the usual, smooth neutral-steer exits, I was fighting oversteer at almost every corner. In the high speed ones, the rear was wandering alarmingly mid-bend!

Not a good day from a driving standpoint, but a good base to build on for the final round. Car is definitely capable of a much quicker time if I can manage a 2m 28s time with all the drama today!! Looking forward to the next run ^_^

 

[faisal]

KenJi,

u should remount your camera further back dude. We wanna see u at work behind the wheel :p

 

[HKS-GT2835R]

KenJi,

u should remount your camera further back dude. We wanna see u at work behind the wheel :p

i second the motion.
if you put a secondary video on yur footwork as well. useful fer track noobs (like me)

 

[Charles]

You actually make it look so easy and drama-free, pretty smooth lines and no-rush gear changes. I wouldnt even label you as an 'aggresive' driver hahaha.
Hope you can get your car dialed in for the finals and produce an even faster time, good luck.

 

[andykazama]

good driver n good car setting...respect!!!

 

[mist]

haha thanks for the kind words guys. as i've noted, will be trying to improve on that messy run @ the final round next month :)

I will likely be getting a Video VBOX Lite setup from AxisRacing, so in-car PIP cam view should be available soon. But nothing to see la, my humble driving ain't anything special. On the other hand, will have to try to not embarrass myself whilst on camera! hahaha ;p

cheers!
KJ

 

[touge80]

I think u can make better lap time if not because of the traffic. Congrat bro

 

[fordrunger]

Kenji's great driving + slightly later braking + more corner exit speed + [wider lines, turn 1] + hit turn 5 and 6 harder - loose rear end - traffic - no rain = high 2:26's (or low 2:27's at least)

You can do it man..

 

[mist]

heheh thanks again. share something with you guys:

i've been asked a few times about my line into T1, and why i changed it.

honest answer: daydreaming!! ^_^

blame Halloween @ Velvet and 4 hours of sleep for that ;p

T5-6 was on the limit already for those set of tyres (6th track event) + set up on the day, but yes, can go much faster. with fresh tyres, based on previous data logging done, we'd be at least 10km/h faster into entry at 5. but more importantly 6 is where the momentum is carried through to T9 - the wandering rear end meant couldn't open throttle until very late.

overall though, if you've seen my prev videos, you've probably noticed that some corners seem to be taken 'early' rather than wide now, and braking point seems earlier too. got Denis Lian to coach me recently, and i'm trying to switch over from 'squaring the corners' to 'rotating the car into corners'. it's hard to tell from the video, but i'm actually carrying more cornering speed now... when the tail played ball. :)

anyways, 'nuff said - roll on the next round. will try to do better!

cheers,
KJ

 

[fordrunger]

to add to Dennis Lian's suggestion, try braking into the corner rather than just in a straight line (very dependent on your setup and brake balance). ideally, you want to minimize the time spent coasting around the corner. it may be short, but those few fractions of a second spent in between braking and accelerating go a long way.

anyways i don't mean to patronize you and tell you how to drive. i know for a fact that you and your car have a good thing going, so just keep it up man. you've got a 2 second lead on the next car.. that's a lot in racing terms.

all the best in the next round!

 

[mist]

no you're right - in fact, that was exactly what Denis was getting me to do.

i am working on reducing the amount of time spent in threshold braking, and connecting it with trail braking into the corners. that's what i meant by 'rotating' into the corners. it was a 2m 28s out of the box (1st hot lap) with no prior testing (Car was in workshop for 2 months) - prob fell back to old habits (more straight line braking, 'squaring' the turns) rather than what i should be doing. didn't help that the setup was all over the place, so trailing in was pretty scary on the day. but nvm, next round try again ^_^

 

[faisal]

I always enjoy reading forums bout track lap times when the focus is on Driver Performance. Much finer science and art than just plonking on gizmos to make the car go faster.

To sum up Kenji, fordrunger and DL's advice, a 2 26 is high possibility.

 

[mist]

agreed. car has enough handling (datalogged pulling 1.5-1.6 Gs on 8 events' old semi-slicks!) and braking to go much faster - it's all down to the driver now.

*whisper* fresh tyres, and Denis Lian driving - target would be 2m 22s. that's how far off the pace an enthusiast is from a pro :)

 

[faisal]

mist,

Get it done then; DL driving, datalogged, then u (try) emulate his driving in same conditions

It's always best when u have a benchmark. And that benchmark is coaching you is an added bonus

 

[mist]

bola tak sama besar bro !!

LOL !!!!!! ;p

 

[fordrunger]

you already have all that drifting experience and you know exactly when the car is going to slip. so the balls are there, just not in the right place at the moment.

in this case just hit the corners hard, right till they want to slip. shit even if you could have a slight drift in 5 and 6, the whole 'Initial D' argument comes in.. will it be quicker? the notion is that a tail happy car is more likely to do a quicker lap than a under-steering car.

on another note.. is it fair to say this: a drifter can be a good track driver, but a track driver can never be a good drifter? its like snooker and pool. a snooker player is more likely to win a pool championship, than a pool player winning a snooker championship.

 

[mist]

haha i think u got me confused with Yoong dude. he's in the HKS S13, and is a regular drift competitor. he's def not afraid of charging in, and we all do on Sepang, but with his drift experience, he would be even more comfy with catching the car.

nevertheless for track driving, 'drifting' per se is a waste of time. working with the slip angles that the tyres allow, with the aim of achieving neutral steer - that's definitely the way to go. when the setup is right, that's what my car *should* be doing... will def try and sort it out before the next round.

we had zero testing before the last round as the car was only ready the day before, after undergoing some mechanical & electrical repair work, and we rocked up with unknown wheel alignment that probably caused the horribly unstable rear end seen in the video ;p

cheers :)

 

[fordrunger]

actually i was going by the looks of your car. it looks like a drifter when the sun goes down.

sorry missed the 'time-attack spec.' in the write up.

 

[ftzone]

haha thanks for the kind words guys. as i've noted, will be trying to improve on that messy run @ the final round next month :)

I will likely be getting a Video VBOX Lite setup from AxisRacing, so in-car PIP cam view should be available soon. But nothing to see la, my humble driving ain't anything special. On the other hand, will have to try to not embarrass myself whilst on camera! hahaha ;p

cheers!
KJ

Hi KJ,

How could I get hold of the Video lite VBOX from AxisRacing? Buying a set seems pretty expensive for a occasional trackbie... how much to rent these systems? They look so cool in video.