It stands for west michigan honda meet. It was a 2 day event this year. I think it's always been at Gingerman raceway, which is one of my fav. tracks. The whole atmosphere is so laid back and everyone's out to have fun.
This was my 2nd WMHM and I'll definately be going back. My setup was awesome this year. I was catching/passing lots of cars....even ones with R compounds. I started out in the intermediate class since I still have street tires. It rained like crazy on Saturday and I came to find out that the tires were awesome in the wet. There really wasn't anyone I couldn't pass out there.
So for Sunday, after it dried up, I figured to switch to Advanced 1. Then up again to Advanced 2. I think that Advanced 2 was the perfect fit for me. Most people were on race tires. Everyone out there was really really driving as well. There was even a 740hp NSX in the class. I was able to pass some civics/integras on race tires and come very close to catching and passing an S2000 on street tires. Consdering that the runs were only about 15 mins long, I'd say it's pretty good to catch someone that gridded up wayyy in front of you to start.
I think the tires were my fav. part. They were so consistent. Dunlop advertises them to be consistent over a wide temp. range, but I thought it was all hype. They grab hard when they're cold, when they're wet, when they're burning hot...WHENEVER. They gripped like crazy in the rain and never got greasy when it was dry. I was driving the hell out of them as well.
This is my setup. I have a MY00 S2000 FYI.
-KW V3s. Stock rebound/compression settings. Ride height set at 13'' front and 13'' rear (from top of fenderwell to center of hub).
- ADVAN RG2s 17X7.5F 17X9R +45 all around.
- Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 starspec. LOVE these tires. 225/45 front 255/40 rear.
- AEM V2 intake (the only "power" mod).
- EBC yellow race pads (swapped in for the track. I use OEMs for the street).
Camber -3 deg.
Toe: 5mm total. 2.5mm per side. (Oversteer alignment, so be careful).
Cold tire press: 38PSI.
Considering that's all I had done to the car, I was really amazed at how well it performed. I was able to drive it FAST as hell.
The brakes were another great thing. They got hot enough to melt the hub centering rings for my wheels, but never ever faded. I've had these brakes for about 5 track days and they're still going strong. I'll probably be able to get one more day out of them! I brake later than most people do (you'll se on videos), so they're really good pads.
The coilovers got me to the track in relative comfort and they REALLY kicked ass at controlling the car on the track. I couldn't be more happy with the coilovers.
My alignment really worked out this time. The toe specs were perfect, the camber specs were perfect. I was using the whole tire without rolling it over. The guy (Mark) who did my alignment is a pretty meticulous dude. I'm glad he put up with my car giving him so much sass. S2000s are a little difficult to align. Plus, I'm a pretty exacting guy...so I want everything to be just where I want it on my alignment.
The intake sounded and worked great as always...and it's pretty well tucked away. There was tons of standing water on the track on Saturday and very little of it ended up in my intake. I got a small bog once or twice...but it was fine right afterwards.
I have pics for now. I'm working on video. I made a really nice camera mount. I'll have to post a DIY on that later. So I have hours of really good video.
here's my friend's Si. That's me behind him right as I was about to pass him up
me passing a civic and maxima. the maxima was freaking fast for some reason.
And the aftermath. Like I said, I really abused these tires...but they totally kept up.
Holy brake dust!
and just a cool picture of the car sitting in the garage jacked up getting washed, stock brakes put back on and an oil change done.
I had to re-clean my engine to get all the rain water and track crap out of the bay.
You guys should come out next year. http://www.wmhm.org. It's going to be a blast again.
This post was last modified: 07-22-2008 11:28 AM by B serious.
im in detroit(2-3 hours away?),it would be a great idea to come next year
This is my 9th or 10th track day with the car. I've had it since september 06. I drive it only between april and october/november, though. I store it between the first snow of fall and the first rain of spring. So I'd say I drive it about 6 to 7 months a year. So if you figure it that way, it sees about 1 track day or more per month.
It has 29k on it...and the engine doesn't burn a drop of oil. These were also short runs at WMHM. At Road America or the Autobahn CC, it runs for about 45 mins to 1 hr straight in 90 degree heat non stop. Two days in a row. I'm sure I over rev more than once on downshifts from time to time. It's even seen 10,500RPM...which was a total mistake...but it ran the rest of the 30 mins of track time without a flaw. Then I beat on it again the next day.....
Then I drive it home for like 40-200 miles depending on where I'm at. I drive home with the AC on too lol.
Never over heats, never has a hiccup..nothing. These motors are solid. It's hard to break an engine anyway. You have nothing to worry about. Just keep up on the maint.
You should def. come out the next year.
This post was last modified: 07-22-2008 01:10 PM by B serious.
sweet,i feel you,i beat my j30a1 like it was brand new,but it has 132 k on it,it lives on vtec and still runs solid,no hesitation,no odd noises,crisp and smooth for the last 6 k
however i should probably stop before i blow something.
sweet,i feel you,i beat my j30a1 like it was brand new,but it has 132 k on it,it lives on vtec and still runs solid,no hesitation,no odd noises,crisp and smooth for the last 6 k
however i should probably stop before i blow something.
im def coming next year,cant miss it.
You should be fine either way. My 99 DC2 had 158k miles on it. It was my daily and I drove it like 80-100 miles a day. I beat on that car like crazy..and it ran like it came off the showroom.
I even did 130mph and got 30mpg on the same tank lol.
I uploaded my video on Youtube....I shortened it, but OFCOURSE....it didn't come out the way I had it edited. I'll try again tomorrow....but here's a short video. BTW, the car in the 1st scene is the REAL DEAL spoon sports integra.
its good to know that these honda engines dont die easily
what speeds are you hitting on those video runs?
Gingerman is a small, tehnical track. High speeds aren't really that common with normal cars.
A friend of mine said I hit 103 on the back stretch twice when he was in the car.....but that seems insane. I saw top speeds of about 95ish or so. In the rain it was around 87...limited obviously by corner exit speeds, and braking distances....but also by HYDROPLANING!! lol. Once your car does the two step of death at 90+ mph while trying to brake on the front straight...it gets a little scary to go that fast for the next couple of laps. But speeds increase again shortly after.
At Road America, I saw 130mph on the back straight easily with room to brake even with stock brakes (err...for about a half hour before they had had enough). It's a lot easier with race brakes now . The times I went to road america, the front straight was speed limited. I'm sure I could have gotten 140-150 even though it's uphill for some of it.
Gingerman is a small track. So triple digits out of a pretty much stock engine S2000 is freaking hard. My turning speeds were REAL high, though. Top of 2nd, top of 3rd in some instances. I never even lifted at all for the kink. I brake super super super late ...you can see on some of the vids that I'd catch fast cars real hard on braking and turning. Again, I was really impressed with the car....and myself to be frank.
I just re-edited some videos. Here's one of them. It's a cliche song...but it's one of my fav. songs and HAS to be one of the best songs of all time. It makes it less cliche that I was listening to this WAAAAAAAAY back when.
This post was last modified: 07-23-2008 09:25 PM by B serious.
. The times I went to road america, the front straight was speed limited. I'm sure I could have gotten 140-150 even though it's uphill for some of it.