,
So how did it all perform?[13CW track map from Billy’s article] First session out, the rear was a tad loose going thru turns 5 and 13, so we dropped 1.5 psi from the rears (right rear from 40.5 to 39 hot, and left rear from 41 to 39.5). Problem solved. That was the only adjustment we made all day long.
 |
| 2” neoprene ducting to cool the front brakes. Ghetto? Sure. Cheap? Yup. Effective? We figure it was at least close to being as effective as the air deflectors used on Evos and Porsches. |
The Bridgestone Potenza RE-11s worked extremely well. Even with the high heat (ambient air temp hitting 97F), they remained consistent the entire day. Their breakaway characteristic was very progressive; it was very easy to control a powerslide when the rear decided to step out a bit on the throttle. We’ve commented before on the very slight give in the sidewall of RE-11s making for a better ride. Well, they also help to maintain grip in bumpy corners; Cotton Corners has a few rough patches and the car stayed perfectly composed. We wonder if this is from Bridgestone’s experience in racing F1; if you watch some of the onboard camera shots of F1 cars showing the suspension movement, or some of the external super slow-motion of the cars going over curbing, you’ll notice that the tire sidewall is basically half the suspension movement! Our camber settings seemed to keep the tires flat in the corners as there was no rolling over on the shoulders at all. The wear looked to be very even across the face of the tires, front and rear.
 |
| The neoprene ducting uses wire windings, so they are plenty strong to attach zip-ties through. The ducting was zip-tied in three locations: front undertray to secure the front, end of the front undertray to secure the middle, and the bottom of the shock with the ducting point towards to the middle of the rotor hat. The air being directed to the center of the rotor should maximize the cooling as the air should go through all of the rotor vanes. |
The KW Clubsports soaked up the curbing and bumps perfectly. The car was never unsettled. The ability to go over the curbing is important at Buttonwillow; we used the curbing quite a bit thru Cotton Corners, Club Corner, Bus Stop, and a bit in the Esses. The curbs in the Esses are pretty tall, especially the final one. They can literally cause the cars to jump if the suspension can’t handle them, but no such issues with the KW Clubsports. It was smooth sailing with the foot to the floor thru the Esses.
Our chassis did not seem to be affected too much by trail-braking during turn-in. Mid-corner and corner exits were quite neutral. The tail could be coaxed wide with the throttle in 2nd gear going thru the Buttonhook. Going thru the longer corners such as Talledega and the Sweeper, car placement was a simple matter of making small adjustments with the throttle and steering. Where our old Evo would require a pretty big throttle lift to get the front to turn in, the S2000 only required minor steering and throttle changes.
 |
| It seems that our suspension and alignment settings are pretty good; the tires did not roll over the shoulders at all and the wear looked pretty even across the entire tire. |
The Stoptech brakes were excellent. They stopped the car every time with not the slightest hint of fade or any pad issues. The pedal remained completely firm the entire day. Threshold braking was easy to modulate as there was good feedback. The linear progressiveness of the braking power with increasing pedal effort made threshold braking easy. They stopped the car every time, fade free even with only a moderate track pad, easy to modulate, barely any pad wear…. We’re not sure what more you could want? There’s nothing better than not even having to give a thought to the brakes over the course of the day.
