FocusCanada Forums

Hey guys, had a trackday yesterday and used my new digital camera. I'm very pleased with the way the video came out. I made a simple mount out of mild steel 1"x1/8" bar, and bolted it to one of the (unused) passenger airbag mounts in the dashboard. There is a little vibration, which appears as distortion in the image, and some crackling in the mike, but it's pretty good. I like having the camera way up front, it gives much more of a sense of speed than when it's in the middle of the car.

So, without further adieu:

Click here to watch HarvestHappening2005_32036

The song is something they played a bit on Sirius, but I have NOT heard it on the radio, and that just blows me away. Crank up the volume because it's amazing.

Watch right through to the end please. ;)

Rob

nice vid... interesting ending....

darkpuppet,Oct 10 2005, 09:28 AM Wrote:nice vid... interesting ending....
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ya what did the neon have?

but man ur call hauls, how do all the other guys take getting passed by a focus? mind you ur car is definitely more 'prepped' then some of those other cars.

any big plans for the winter?

Love the ending.

The car at the end is a Spec Neon. It's a real race car. Gutted, cage, 2300ish lbs and probably 160hp. Also, he was on Hoosiers which are a much stickier tire than mine. Also, commitment is key at that track, he doesn't have to drive his car home. It's very intimidating to push hard there, as there is no room for error.

Anyway, SN's run about 4 seconds faster than me. My goal for the car is to be at least as fast as any other FWD racecar, in my full-weight street car.

The biggest thing right now, is I need more front camber. I was giving up 2 seconds per lap later in the day, because I wasn't pushing as hard so I could stop murdering my front left tire's outside shoulder. Camber will bring the wear to the inside, and help grip.

Also, compounding the lack of front camber, is the Bilstein PSS9 kit understeers pretty heavy, and that's *with* the Eibach swaybars. I will probably keep the rear 25mm bar, and drop down from the 22mm Eibach front bar to maybe an 18mm SPI bar.

I'd like to replace the rear poly bushings with spherical bearings, but money is going to be TIGHT for the next year, as my wife will be on maternity leave starting in January.

Great video! I've always wanted to go to a track like that.

Awesome Video, I wish Saskatchewan had some courses like you guys do. And Awesome song I had to go download it.

rob,
the problem is not with the PSS9s but the eibach bars. i found the same thing while Autoxing on faster courses, the eibach front bar cause the front to push way out and hard lift-off oversteer was the only way to really over come it... not something good for tires or time saving.

I suggest you keep the Eibach front bar and get the Steeda 28.6mm rear bar. you will be much happier with the results than dropping down the 18mm Spi front. you will need to fiddle with the dampening on the PSS9s but once you get it dialed in you will LOVE how neutral the car will feel.


nice video though, what camera are you using and do you have any pics of the mount? i was thinking about doing something similar but would like to see how you made the mount.

ZX3TUNING,Oct 10 2005, 08:46 PM Wrote:rob,
the problem is not with the PSS9s but the eibach bars. i found the same thing while Autoxing on faster courses, the eibach front bar cause the front to push way out and hard lift-off oversteer was the only way to really over come it... not something good for tires or time saving.

I suggest you keep the Eibach front bar and get the Steeda 28.6mm rear bar. you will be much happier with the results than dropping down the 18mm Spi front. you will need to fiddle with the dampening on the PSS9s but once you get it dialed in you will LOVE how neutral the car will feel.


nice video though, what camera are you using and do you have any pics of the mount? i was thinking about doing something similar but would like to see how you made the mount.
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Well, the larger rear bar will have the same effect of going to a smaller front. You're affecting the F/R ratio in the same way. The only question is, do you do it with more, or less total roll.

I would go with a larger rear bar, but I'm afraid of it breaking the rear control arms. Otherwise, I'd be right with you. But, those arms just aren't the best design.

The camera is an Aiptek 5900 from Walmart in the US, $75US. The mount is litterally a simple piece of hotroll bar, bent into a C shape. That's it, nothing to it. It's stiff, but won't absorb vibration, but it doesn't matter for the camera, since it's all digital. I'll try to get some pics. But, suffice to say, it took me 30 minutes to make the new mount after I found the aluminum wasn't stiff enough.

breaking the control arms?
what arms are you running?

P-51,Oct 10 2005, 09: Wrote:............. as my wife will be on maternity leave starting in January.
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Congrats to you & Tina.

I hope I am remembering right, it's been 4 years since I met here?

I'm running the stock arms. You have to be careful with how much swaybar stress you are putting on them.

Andrew: Yeah, about 4 years. Thanks, it's gonna be fun...

congrats and good luck on the upcomming kid :)

Rob congrats to you and Tina on the Fantastic news!!!!!!

I wouldn't run a larger rear bar, unless you could some how box the control arms. I remember back in the day someone saying that the SVT control arms were stronger has that ever been proved?

Was a front camber plate solution ever finished?

Video looks great, I haven't seen a track all year... what is the world coming to?

Euro Ford Fan,Oct 11 2005, 02:50 PM Wrote:Rob congrats to you and Tina on the Fantastic news!!!!!!

I wouldn't run a larger rear bar, unless you could some how box the control arms.  I remember back in the day someone saying that the SVT control arms were stronger has that ever been proved?

Was a front camber plate solution ever finished? 

Video looks great, I haven't seen a track all year... what is the world coming to?
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Yes, the SVT rear arms have small reinforcing plates welded on. I'd like to do something out of billet aluminum, with spherical bearings... but that's a ways off.

The camber plates didn't get done yet, but that is my next big project. I got the intercooler working this summer, and that was a big job. I cannot continue on track like this, without having more camber, because it's just murdering the tires. I wear them out on the shoulders long before the tread cords. Frankly, it's wasteful.

Rob,

Have you ever scaled your car? to get the weights from each corner plus front/rear and what not?

Seeing as you have a cage in your car i'd be interested in knowing if that changed the %'ages at all plus how much changed the bat actually affects it.

Awsome video though, and congrats on the baby

here's a pic of a video mount we made for our race car .. it gives a SUPER smooth picture, but with this version it does require a roll bar to mount too ...

schade,Oct 12 2005, 10:40 PM Wrote:Rob,

Have you ever scaled your car? to get the weights from each corner plus front/rear and what not?

Seeing as you have a cage in your car i'd be interested in knowing if that changed the %'ages at all plus how much changed the bat actually affects it.

Awsome video though, and congrats on the baby

here's a pic of a video mount we made for our race car .. it gives a SUPER smooth picture, but with this version it does require a roll bar to mount too ...


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I've had it on the scales at the dump a while back, IIRC, it was right around 2550. So stock weight, but with a cage. Basically the cage replaces the weight of the rear seat. Fair trade.

I haven't corner weighted it however. I really don't expect it's changed much over stock. Everything I have removed, has been replaced by a performance part. Rear is replaced by the cage. A/C was replaced with A/W intercooler. Cat was replaced with Turbo, etc.

Passing C5's and 911's on track in a Focus, I love it! :bowdown:

Two thumbs up all the way, great video I hope you have more videos coming up. B)

wow what an awesome video!