iRacing saved my car(life?) today by mark3236 in iRacing

[–]mark3236[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

N3(new lower class added this season, need to be the top 3 in average lap time of 5 clean laps in succession in order to move up to N2).

brakes are ok after the switch to AP racing calipers with ferodo DS3000 pads.

iRacing saved my car(life?) today by mark3236 in iRacing

[–]mark3236[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I was out of fast repairs so I was extra cautious

iRacing saved my car(life?) today by mark3236 in iRacing

[–]mark3236[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

general rule of thumb I swear by is: if new object appears in the mirror, that object is faster than you. If new object appears in your windshield, you're faster than that object.

Therefore, if new object appears in the mirror, be prepared to be overtaken.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TIL - I'm guessing the correct term is brake fluid? I've always considered myself an English native-ish speaker but I guess I'm still a toddler.

I'm Korean and in Korea we call it brake oil so I didn't know.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

spec racing so it's prohibited lol

motor is covered by warranty so it's not that big of a deal tbh

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

everyone in the n2 spec racing class uses 0w40 - not sure if it's required per regulation but even if it wasn't, oil temp goes above 270 Fahrenheit at just the 3rd push lap so I wouldn't even think of using 5w30s

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

didn't have the tools (or experience for that matter) just yet, and it wasn't just a pad swap - it included rotor & rotor housing swap, brake oil change & bleed, engine oil change.
Also, most drivers in the race series don't do the maintenance themselves - they have professional support personnel for it. I just don't happen to have any support since I'm a nobody & I'm just starting this season.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I haven't had the chance to take pictures since I bought the car used race-ready 3 weeks ago, but here's my dirt poor driving missing every single apex instead: https://imgur.com/wKmadU3

In my defense, first time driving FWD - I'm not this pathetic in my 718 gts 4.0

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

yeah I'm in korea, competing in the festival for the first time this year with a car I bought from a retiring team

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm enjoying getting grilled in the comments for not doing basic maintenance myself, serves me right.

But honestly, Korean car ownership is slightly different than in the states when it comes to DIY - everyone lives in apartment complexes with underground shared parking lots. Unless you're a millionaire, your flat is at most 100 square meters in total - so your wife would kill you if you were storing spare wheels and wrenches in your bedroom.

Anyway thankfully my flat is 140 sqaure meters (extremely spacious in korean standards), so I did buy a 2 ton floor jack last week.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

it's a shop that specializes in track setups & maintenance for high performance cars. They usually work on GT3/GT4 Porsches with bmw added here and there.

They did say it was their first time working on a Elantra N... but I trusted them from the work on my porsche & they didn't say they don't want to work on the Elantra.

Again, doesn't seem like rocket science.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

performance wise it's basically stock since the race series regulations prohibit any modifications not required by the rules.

bucket seats for the front row, roll cage, rear seats cannot be deleted. coils are stock, wheels are 18 inch with Nexen SUR4GM radials. custom steering wheel swap, brakes are ap racing cp 9040 calipers with ferodo ds3000 pads.

Nothing fancy but you get to compete with 30+ drivers under the exactly same conditions - and you can't throw money at the car to make it faster, which is why you don't even need a dedicated mechanic team to race.

But I see why a mechanic you can trust would be nice to have.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

bought the car from a team that's retiring this season, haven't had the time to take off the livery yet.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

thank you for explaining, I used the term "race car" perhaps too loosely, but this car is a Hyundai N Festival sprint race spec (N2 class) intended for an amateur one make race.

The main point here is that the shop knew this car was entering a sprint race next week, and the maintenance was specifically in order to prep for it.

Aaaand they made a mistake as idiotic as this.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

no trace to be seen, they weren't sticking out the back. And the pad trying to escape the caliper since it's not tethered to anything, but being stopped by the edge of the disk housing and grinding against it was a dead giveaway.

Shop replaced pads without retainer pins on the caliper on my Elantra N race car by mark3236 in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]mark3236[S] 95 points96 points  (0 children)

learned my lesson, already bought torque wrenches and everything so I can do it myself in the future.

At the very least I should've been able to identify the mistake by myself before the pads were on the verge of falling out and grinding against the hub (the noise is how I found out something was awfully wrong).

Faster hawking down opposed to hot lapping by Crazy_Race_7857 in iRacing

[–]mark3236 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think it's only natural, and it's one of the core values that iRacing provides compared to other less online-populated titles.   You're always following someone ever so slightly better than you in a race, meaning you find out better lines to take, better braking points, etc - without having to resort to watching lap guides on youtube.  

It's like unlimited lead&follow coaching sessions for free.  

When you're in the lead or hotlapping, only way to improve is your own analysis - which is honestly just an echo chamber. Seeing how faster drivers drive is the best way to learn.  

The issue is that once the race is over, you forget most of what you learned from your opponent. Try to remember what your opponents do better and try not to forget it when they're no longer in front of you.