The grand track tour of China

[Asbjorn]

Any temperature issues this time? Assuming no, due to part throttle. Also see you put the mesh back in over the oil cooler.

This has been a great series of articles and in the end - hope you had some fun vs worrying about fixing things. What was your favorite track?

No cooling issues this time. My oil temperature didn't even exceed 110C which actually surprised me a bit. Didn't even run mhd tack cooling because I knew I wouldn't go at it. Had the oil cooler and semi dry sump running though, as I went through the corners with good speed to get a feel of the camber setup.

So about the oil cooler mesh, yes they are back on, because I don't have any issues with power reduction due to oil temp. When power reduction has happened, it has been coolant related, and with humid +100F ambient temps, running A/C. It happened both at the Ningbo circuit and the SH tianma circuit. Right now Im testing a setup where the inlet snorkel is removed to increase passive airflow.

It helps if I turn a/c off and turn up the heater, as I learned at the Guangdong circuit. I did my fastest laps ever there, while my friends M135i hit power reduction.

As for favorite track, that's a difficult one. I prefer beautiful, safe and balanced tracks where I have a chance to beat both M5s and Caymans.

Now the safety requirement pretty much excludes all tracks with a FIA grade below 2. I have had alot of fun at the FIA 3 graded Guangdong circuit, but honestly it is also the track where I have seen the worst accidents. Cars flipping over, cars hitting guard rails etc you name it. Red flags have happened more often there compared to other tracks I have been to.

Now back to which one is my favorite. I don't think I could ever beat a 4wd M5 around the Shanghai F1 track. I mean it has a 1.2km long straight and is by far the track with the highest top speed. It is also not a particularly beautiful track. But I still like it very much.

Same goes for Zhuhai, although it is a much prettier track. Problem with Zhuhai is the lack of paved run off areas. It is not as forgiving as the F1 track or some of the newer FIA grade 2 tracks.

Ningbo is very beautiful track and technical enough that an M5 should be at a slight disadvantage, while fast enough that my Z4s power advantage should give a cayman a run for its money. At Ningbo I have previously kept up with an 911 gts and a cayman gt4 where the drivers were new at the track. If someone were to travel to China just to try one track, I would probably recommend Ningbo.

The most beautiful track is the Zhejiang Circuit though. Accommodation is five star and the location is great, close to both Hangzhou, Ningo and Shanghai. But the track is a bit narrow and for some reason just doesn't excite me as much as some of the others.

I haven't been to the Chengdu curcuit yet, and a new FIA grade 2 circuit is about to open Tianjin, so those have to be considered as well. Chengdu looks promising but very bumpy.

 

[Asbjorn]

On the off-chance that anyone here are considering China as a track-day destination, I just wanted to mention that a brand new FIA 2 graded track just opened in Wuqing district of Tianjin City in north China, not far from Beijing. The name of the circuit is

V1汽车世界国际赛车场 V1 Auto World International Circuit

Length is 3.7km, with what looks like 17 turns:

So a total of three brand new FIA grade 2 circuits has opened in China since 2017. Ie Ningbo, Zhejiang International and now V1 Auto World. It is just amazing. These are tracks with the same FIA grade as tracks like Lime Rock, Sebring and Road Atlanta. And it is a doubling in number of straight FIA 2 graded circuits that China has (ie counting Chengdu, Ordos and Zhuhai circuits).

Btw I have to admit I somehow overlooked a 2.7km FIA 3 level circuit in Zhejiang province. It is unknown to me what state the circuit is in, as I cannot find much information about it online. But the name of the track is 浙江武义赛车场 Zhejiang Wuyi Circuit, and it seems they have open practice days at least once a week. Here is a link with info in Chinese. Aerial view below:

 

[alvinhobh]

Great thread man! I been to China a couple of times for work, I assume shipping my car there would be quiet expensive, maybe I will rent a car and check one of the tracks =]

What caught my attention was the charge pipe melting, I assume the silicone connection between the aluminum charge pipe was what melted? Going to swap my silicone charge pipe for the VTT aluminum one, just wanna make sure its a good move.

Thanks,
Alvaro

Track 7 - 宁波国际赛道 Ningbo International Speedpark - Oct 6, 2018



Ningbo Speedpark is a FIA grade 2 circuit built in 2017. One lap is 4.0km and there are 23 turns. If my build was developed at any track, I would say this was the one. It was at Ningbo that I discovered a need for stiffer springs. It was also at Ningbo I did the first logging of temperatures (iat, dct, engine), eventually leading to a FMIC downgrade from 7.5in HD to 7in nonHD, as well as improved ducting for the additional engine oil cooler. Finally it was also here that the VTT aluminum charge pipe as well as the canister melted and developed leaks, leading to the installation of additional aluminum heat shielding near the turbos.

This time my goal was to beat my previous personal best by 2secs and achieving a lap-time below 2.10. I didn't achieve my goal, as my best time today was 2.10.28. This partly because I made mistakes, and partly because I got injector cut out during the second session.

It seems that low fuel in tank, and high constant g-forces coming out of a 270deg turn caused fuel starvation. I never experienced this before, but I have also gotten faster through the 270deg than previously.




Fuel level when the cut-out happened.




Next time I am making sure I have at least 25% fuel in tank before attempting a hot lap. Hopefully no damage was done to the LPFP.

Below is one of my faster laps. This lap would have been a sub 2.10 lap, had I not made the mistake in the last hairpin.


On a positive side note I did not experience any over-heating during any of today's sessions. Car was doing significantly better in today's 80F heat, compared to last time. Last time it was +100F, and the coolant temperature would exceed 117C, causing A/C reduction at the end of a hot lap.

The Shanghai F1 circuit is now the only track left before this tour is completed. Since this circuit is rarely open to the public practice, I need to wait until the end of October where the next event is scheduled. Before then I plan to have the quaife core installed once again, and try out solid rear sub-frame bushings as well as stiffer tension strut bushings up front as recommended by @John@DBV2

 

[Asbjorn]

Great thread man! I been to China a couple of times for work, I assume shipping my car there would be quiet expensive, maybe I will rent a car and check one of the tracks =]

What caught my attention was the charge pipe melting, I assume the silicone connection between the aluminum charge pipe was what melted? Going to swap my silicone charge pipe for the VTT aluminum one, just wanna make sure its a good move.

Thanks,
Alvaro

Only one of the turbo outlet silicone hoses melted. Check out this post for pictures. Please note only the VTT alu charge pipes for the GC-series have silicone connectors for the turbos. You wont find this issue with the standard product, and I can only recommend those. Oh and btw, on my car the coolant tank had to be raised a few mm for the charge pipe to fit properly without scraping / causing coolant leaks.

Since I found the issue with the GC-version, I have been running the new blue hoses shielded with aluminum plating. I just checked all the hoses last week, and they have survived all of the track sessions with no sign of failure.

Let me know if you ever get serious about visiting a track in China. I might be nearby with a car that likes a beating...

 

[Asbjorn]

Quick update on the circuit status in China

V1 Auto World International Circuit
As it turns out only part of this new circuit has opened. They have their first track day at the end of this month, unfortunately I wont be able to participate. The full track opens later this year.

Chengdu Circuit
It has been announced that this circuit is scheduled for closure. Apparently it was also quiet poorly maintained and very bumpy.

Me and the Z4 participated in another time attack at Zhejiang Circuit, finished 6th in the most powerful class
I am still very new to this circuit, and my skills were definitely the limiting factor in the end. Another limiting factor was my AD08R tires compared to the cup 2s, r888rs and trofeo Rs of the cars that beat me. This circuit is very low grip and the AD08Rs didnt even start to melt. Anyway, I used the softest sway bar setting and stiffest rear in order to dial out understeer which worked well.

Overall an awesome day. Lots of bewildered people came up to ask what on earth I had done to the car.

 

[Twinz]

What a fascinating read and bucket-list tour. Congrats man.

 

[AzNdevil]

wow first time i see this thread... props to trying out all the track in china!

i am from hong kong and i want to bring my car to GIC but... everytime the idea crosses my mind, my car breaks down lol

 

[carabuser]

Good read, thanks for putting the effort in. This would be quite an entertaining YouTube series if you filmed it all, it's a mixture of cars, modding and travel so right up my street!

How long have you been in China and how did you end up there?

 

[Asbjorn]

Good read, thanks for putting the effort in. This would be quite an entertaining YouTube series if you filmed it all, it's a mixture of cars, modding and travel so right up my street!

How long have you been in China and how did you end up there?

Yes I agree, if I had been a youtuber, there would be so much to share as the track and time attack culture develops in China. Actually another FIA grade 2 track just opened in Hunan Province. It is just amazing.

Anyhow, I have been in China for 9 years. Was originally sent here by a European company. The same company also sent me to work in the US and Germany for shorter periods, but I eventually ended up back in China again. Since then I have changed jobs locally a few times and learned the language. I will never be Chinese, or be able to obtain permanent residence, but I consider China as my second home country.