2010 Back Racing! Grand-Am Continental Tire Series.
Daytona Race
Hello everyone! Well after a short hiatus from the sport i am back again racing! I am racing this year in the Grand-Am series Continental Tire Championship. I am racing a new 2010 Mazda Mazdaspeed3! It is an awesome car, new to the series and racing so like any new racecar it has its problems that need to be worked out, but after that we should be up on the podium in no time!
The Mazdaspeed3 is a great racing platform, it fits exceptionally well in the Continental Tire series formally known as the Koni Challenge. The Grand-Am sanctioned racing series has 2 classes, GS (grand sport) and ST (sport touring) i am running in the ST class, it hosts a large variation of production modified vehicles, other cars include Honda Civics, BMW 330’s, Volkswagen Jetta’s and Mazda RX8’s. They are all Production cars modified for racing but still bear many of the origional parts. It is a 10 race series racing at tracks all around North America. It is an extremly competitive and fun series to drive in, and to be part of developing a new car adds to the experience.
The races are 2.5 to 3 hours long, the teams are all composed of 2 drivers per car. One driver qualifys and starts the race and strives to keep the car in good shape and the other driver battles for position and finishes the race, So it is a team effort. The race requires at least one pit-stop and driver change. The Mazda Mazdaspeed3 is a great platform, features the same turbocharged 2.3-litre DISI Turbo I4 engine from the Mazdaspeed 6. It produces 263 reliable horsepower to the front wheels. It has a 6 speed transmission than can hold up to the riggors of racing. The car features some modifications including fully removed interior, full rollcage, fuel cell, downpipe exhaust, full suspension dampers and springs and of course runs Continental Tires!
It is a brand new car to racing and the series so as with any new car it has its problems, we go faster and faster every session and make improvements to the car so you should see us up on the podium soon! The first race is in Daytona Beach Florida, at the Daytona Intl. Speedway!
- Grand-Am Continental Tire Series, Race 1, Daytona Intl. Speedway
- Grand-Am Continental Tire Series, Race 2, Homestead Miami Speedway.
- Grand-Am Continental Tire Series, Race 4, Virginia Intl Raceway.
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Sebastien February 10th
As a Mazdaspeed 3 daily driver, what kind of bugs you got to work out working on the Speed3 platform? Are you allowed to add bolt-ons ?
I believe ECU is sealed… so no ECU update possible?
Thanks for keeping us, MazdaSpeed3 fans and racing fans updated!
Taylor March 16th
Right now it is the ABS system and the DSC. We are not allowed to flash the ECM to change any of the settings so we are looking at other options and mazda is working on modifying them as well.
The abs comes on a little easy under hard braking(every brake zone when racing) causing the brakes to overheat, plus its not as fast…
Also for the abs issues, it has a dump mode, the dump mode is past the abs zone, so for example you are braking at the cars limits in abs, if you push the pedal any harder you can engage the dump mode.
The dump mode is when the car fully takes over braking(unless you let off the brakes) and it uses the maximum amount of brake psi on each corner without getting any lock up… which is actually less effective than abs on a sticky racing surface.
so long story short you usaully only go into dump mode when you have to over-brake, for example about to go off track or hit another car, so your braking at the cars limits then you go past that and the dump mode engages causing the car to actually have less brake which is pretty hairy when your about to run into the back of another car..
The DSC stability control uses the brakes and variable power steering system to counter act rear end oversteer.
With a FWD car you pretty much want to be drifting the car around the track having the rear end as loose as possible still being able to keep the car under you, so you can get the power down coming out of the turns and having as little understeer as possible.
so the DSC pretty much limits alot of rear end rotation, also when you go into a big slide it engages pretty abruptly almost ripping the wheel out of your hands putting the car straight, and when your going 80mph pointing off the track or the wheel out of your hands its also a little hairy hehe.
Dont get me wrong these systems are GREAT for the street and maybe less experienced drivers, there just not the fastest or safest way around the track.
Those are the main things right now, along with turbo lag and the tranny grinds a bit going into gear when it gets racing temp 260+ deg
other than that its an AWESOME platform for racing or daily driver. Ill keep checking back and remind me to let you know if theres any other bugs.
cheers!
taylor
David July 15th
I heard that you can completely disable ABS and DSC by holding the DSC in while starting the engine of the car… google it and find out more…
good luck with the races
Taylor July 19th
We have now gone to an aftermarket brake/abs module system, it works well and eliminates dsc, apart from when the delicate abs sensor wires get cut
That is interesting though! could have used it in the first couple of races….
Taylor July 19th
Ouch! The brakes one the MS3 do wear out quicker than normal due to the brakes being applied not only when braking, but also when the dsc activates it also uses the brakes to correct the oversteer, sometimes you can barely feel when it is activating! But all in all the “dump mode” is a terrible idea for the track, maybe for street use but on track it hurts more than it helps and in some instances can be dangerous :S
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