Buddy Club DC5 touring car track support by Brewed Motors

Over the last 3 months a handful of Brewed employee's have been hard at work on an extra special project for an extra special customer racing a Honda DC5 in multiple Asian touring car series's. Late August Brewed was contacted by Buddy Club Thailand in Bangkok. Buddy Club's request was simple; it was time to get competitive in the Thailand Super 2000 touring car series.

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By the time the Buddy Club dc5 graced the presents of the first brewed employee its condition was a far cry from its glorious days of international racing with Buddy Club.
(The history of this car is a bit foggy at best but I would like to share everything we were told about the car and it's adventurous life of racing.)

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The dc5 arrived in Thailand 5+ years ago to be used at the circuit. When the car first arrived it was in tip top shape and putting down some great lap times. Unfortunately after a few events and a small front end collision things went downhill fast, it was obvious a professional team would be needed to maintain the car in order to be competitive, which is where Brewed comes in. Buddy Club has always been a great help with our shop projects in the past so we were delighted to return the favor helping out with the DC5!

3 weeks before the season’s first event I personally had the pleasure putting my hands on and inside the dc5. Upon first inspection it was clear we had a bit of work to do before the first race.

Here is the quick list of everything addressed before that first event.

Engine harness
Intake
Exhaust
Cooling system
Suspension (lots of love needed here)
Ecu tuning
Corner balance
Alignment

Driver Mr. Som Chai
JDM DC5 type R integra
2.0L high compression NA K20
Buddy Club racing spec EVO dampers
Brewed Tuned DTA Fast S60 ECU
Brewed engine harness
Custom VE hybrid carbon intake with front ducting
Custom VE front Aero (diffuser, under body and canards)
Buddy club wide body kit
Buddy club wheels 17x9  (many models and offsets used)
X-trac 6sp sequential 416 gear box

Custom VE control arms

Custom VE rear DC5 camber arms

Of course here is some of the media from the first event ;)

The 3 day event consisted of; Friday qualifying (15min open track, fastest lap) Saturday 20 lap main event with grid start (first across the finish line) and Sunday's 20 lap main event with rolling start. (we got rained out on Sunday)

Qualifying went smooth, car ran great and the driver only had a few minor set up requests. It was great to look around the pit and see smiles painted on everyone's faces with the car ready for more action.
Lap times in the super 2000 class range from 1:06.xx to 1:15.xx on the dry so the 20 lap race goes about 25-30 min depending on caution laps. (haha funny to even mention the word caution)  The race for 1st and 2nd is really between 2 professional Thai drivers running in the 1:06.xx range there is usually a 1.5+ second gap to 3rd place which is where most the pack sits. I expect we will be able to push this car into the 1:07.xx range with the new suspension, aero and engine.

On Saturday we found ourselves on the starting grid in 15th position (I seem to recall 27 cars qualified). The car was ready, the driver was feeling good and the track was begging for some wheel to wheel racing. Cars lined up on the grid, umbrella girls providing ample shade from the Thai sun what more could you ask for? Officials clear the track, engines start, lights go red and the engines come to life with anticipation for the GREEN. Unfortunately we did not have the best start but we were able to hold a good position. Once on the track with tires warmed up the fun begins. These guys drive with a lot of passion and don’t seem to be worried about a little contact here and there. (Check out the you tube video to see what I’m talking about.) By the end of the race we had managed to climb our way up to 5th place resulting in a bit of podium time for the driver. Although 5th is far from 1st the driver/owner was simply delighted at how well the car was running as well as hungry for more!
Many more updates coming soon, plenty more racing this season!

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BIG Thanks goes out to:

Buddy Club

Driver : Mr. Som Chai

AAI

Team dynamics

Kuroki Racing

Vattana

And of course without the team of mechanics and translators non of this would be possible.

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After a little fender bender...

Circuit Racing in Thailand

Here at Brewed Motors we take pride building close relationships with all of our customers. Whether you are ordering parts, getting your cars ECU / EMS tuned or need our experienced team at your next track event to ensure your car's suspension, brakes and engine are operating at peak efficiency Brewed Motors has you covered. Always feel free to contact us any time with questions and requests, we are here to make your automotive dreams come true on the track, the street and in your drive way.

Recently a 3 car race team based in Bangkok requested our Track Support service for this seasons 1.5L circuit race series. The team consists of 3 EG civics running D15 engines tuned on Motec M4 engine managment systems. All 3 cars suspension systems have been completely over hauled with Buddy Club control arms, ball joints, and adjustable camber links. 2 of the cars also recently picked up a sponsorship from XYZ (suspension/coilover manufacture in Taiwan) and are using the dual adjustable (32 way compression and 32 way rebound) full track spec coils with a whopping 16k spring rate in the front and 13.5k in the rear.

The first race of the season was held in Pattaya Thailand at Bira circuit.

While most the events allow the use of R compound tires and/or full slicks this event was sponsored by Kuhmo tires and all cars were required to run a 205/50/15 ecsta zx tire with a 180 tread wear rating. While these are some damn fine street tires they simply did not provide enough grip to work with the high spring rates these cars were fitted with. For future events that require the use of a street tires XYZ thailand has agreed to provide us with the spring rates we request, depending on track and tires to be used. Not to worry though, after dialing in tire pressure and adjusting the alignment specs we made the best of what we had to work with for the weekend of racing. 

(2 great Thai technicians that have worked with the team for the last 3+ seasons)

Both qualifying and the main event ran 15 min sessions of open track hot laps, best lap time counted for each driver, all cars did have to start on the grid but could run as few or as many laps as desired by the driver in the allotted 15min. I did not notice any cars come in before the 15 min were up and if you check out the youtube video below i think you'll see why. Saturday was a busy day with qualifying (top 32 drivers move on) fallowed up 3 hours later by the main event. After qualifying 4th and 8th everyone was feeling good and the drivers were just starting to get used to the new suspension. During Saturdays main event one of the cars cracked a wheel after being squeezed off the track causing a drastic loss in tire pressure and putting the car off the pace after only 2 laps. The other car held strong with no mechanical issues and finished 4th over all.

Currently we are working with the team to set up a private track day to do some fine tuning and testing on both street tires as well as R compounds before the next event. Very much looking forward to having more time with these cars and drivers at the track in the new future. 

Japanese Classic Car Show

Soo what better thing to do to unwind after a 14 hour journey from Eureka, CA to Los Angeles than attend the Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach. The amount of clean classics at the show was like nothing I had seen before. It made me wish that I had the Datsun 510, maybe next year though! Anyway here are some of the more memorable rides from the show. Enjoy!

Toyota AE86 Corolla race car with a very nice turbo setup.

 

How cool would this slammed Toyota Hilux be as a shop truck!

 

One of my favorites from the show. Nissan Skyline with an extremely clean RB with ITBs.

Another RB Skyline, this time with 4 doors, with a very interesting intercooler setup.

There were no less than 3 cars with the infamously impossible to get S20 motor.

Another beautiful AE86, this time Honda powered with an F20

Old meets new Toyota super cars, the classic 2000GT

 

  and the Lexus LFA

Some bosozuku styled Toyotas. These were truly a sight to be seen. The one on the right had a sunroof that was taped on, and the seats barely retained any of the original material besides the padding.

A few of the 510s

And of course the Zs

To top it all off Mazda came out with a few of there race cars from back in the day. The 787B was the only Mazda to win the 24 hours of Le Mans, and the only rotory powered car to do so. After its win, because it was so dominant, rotory motors were banned from the race.

Those were my highlights of the show, but only a portion of the cars that were in attendance and very few of the pictures that were taken. For the rest of the album click the link below.

https://picasaweb.google.com/brewedmotorsports/JapaneseClassicCarShow2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink