Move over Initial D, I have Initial G

In high school and college, my exposure to motorsport was limited to watching Formula 1 and playing driving games like Gran Turismo and the Initial D arcade game series.

I remember how it was such a big deal back then, especially to the Initial D crowd, to understand the idiosyncrasies of the game's physics and how to successfully exploit them to make the fastest possible course time records. The first three games in particular had this ridiculous "eraser" trick that involved abusing the sequential gear shift to "erase" speed and understeer.

When the fourth game came along with revamped physics, each corner had an arbitrary speed limit. If you exceeded this speed, the game would impose a "penalty" on you, force your car to understeer, and hit the corner's outside wall. Aficionados later discovered a technique called the "penalty cancel," which involved fancy pedalwork this time. Initial D Arcade Stage 4 also basically drifted and decelerated the car for you as long as you made a certain style of corner entry - look Ma no downshifts!

As you can see none of these things was terribly realistic. If I wanted realism I had the Gran Turismo franchise and Forza Motorsport 2 to fulfill that.

Then along came my trackdays in Subic and Batangas...which I've talked about at length in previous posts.

Last Friday, while wating for Mav to arrive from work, I took a spin in the Initial D Arcade Stage 5 machine - the latest installment of the arcade racer. This game is the most realistic of the series yet, with no stupid "eraser" or "penalty cancel" tricks to exploit. You really have to downshift to second gear for the mountain hairpins, as you would in real life, and depending on your car, you WILL understeer if you overcook the entrance of a turn.

It's actually amazing how my perspective has changed. Now that I've proven myself a handy driver in actual circuit time attacks, I look at Initial D Arcade Stage 5 and don't really consider it a big deal any more. Taking to Akina and Irohazaka, I appreciate how the game's driving physics are finally correctly realistic, but because I do not feel any of the G-forces of cornering and braking, I am all the more aware that I am just playing a game.

By the time Mav arrived, I had set my personal best times at Akina and Irohazaka, slashing two or three seconds from my beginning attempts. It definitely felt like I was driving at those two infamous mountain passes, and as before, I was sweating from the concentration and effort. However, it just did not compare to the visceral thrill of carrying speed through Brian's Corner, properly attacking the double apex of R-Bend, or successfully hooking up at all the little corner gutters around Subic International Raceway.

Initial D aficionados can keep hogging the machines. Aibo and I race for real.

This early I know what I want for Christmas.

Dear Santa Claus,
I want a VHoldR Contour HD camcorder. Throw in the windshield mount and car charger.

Pretty please?

First crack at BRC

When Edward told me about a trackday event at Batangas Racing Circuit to be sponsored by Cong. Mark Mendoza...I wasn't about to pass it up. Seeing how much costlier BRC's rental fee is compared to Subic International Raceway, I immediately jumped at the chance.

My first exposure to it was in Mel's car, with me and Cliff along for the ride. Mel himself was following our instructor JP Castellano driving one of his students' Civics. JP's first lap was deliberately taken slow so that we could see the correct line through the corners, effectively in slow motion. After that, Mel decided he wanted a crack at the circuit left to his own devices.

I distinctly remember being a little spooked at first. Mel understeered through several corners at first, trying to learn the correct line at speed. The scariest part was the chicane. Understeer through that and you have nowhere to go but the tire wall, which Cliff sadly had a taste of first-hand.

When it was my turn to ride along with my groupmates (experienced from previous trackdays but new to BRC), I didn't fare much better than Mel's first foray either. BRC is loaded with double-apex turns, and I had frustration all morning with the very deceptive R-Bend. All told, I had Mav time me and I got a lap time of 2:28.6. So much room for improvement there.

Later in the afternoon I got tips from my friend Francis Arjonillo and, later on, JP himself while driving Cliff's car Sam, scuffs and all. I was fascinated with spots on the track where one could actually induce understeer to squeeze out a little more exit speed - critical for a low-powered car like Aibo. Momentum maintenance was the key. With their tutelage, I slashed my time down to a personal best of 2:20.8. JP was glad I cut eight seconds just by observation.



The best was yet to come though. Before the end of the day, I bugged JP to drive Aibo. I wanted to see how much more I could improve, and he obliged. With astonishing self-belief, he dove deep into the corners with super-late braking, and screeched Aibo's Toyo Proxes 4s from entry to exit round many a double apex. Such consistency too: all his laps were 2:18s or 2:17s, the best one a brake-fluid-boiling 2:17.21. After JP's stint, the tires and brakes had overheated and the brake pedal went noticeably longer due to bubbling fluid under hard use. Notably though, we shared a very similar line.

I'm very glad I got to sample BRC the way I did. My only regret was I didn't have my own GoPro or ContourHD camcorder to record my laps - I had to rely on Mav's brother Paolo and his cellphone for that. I'm looking forward to more.

Another year, another trackday

To kick off the year right, I signed up for the 2nd Pitworkz/Hongly Trackday, once again held at Subic International Raceway. I had Mav and her brother Paolo along once again for the ride.

Unlike the December 5 event where just 10 of us shared the track on an extended, timed practice session, this trackday was a sold-out blockbuster affair with well over 40 participants. The majority of the runners were EG, EK and ES Civics, but this time there were trios of Subaru Imprezas and BMWs in the fray too. Also notable is the participation of a lot of track virgins, such as my friend Clifford Ang and his GE8 Jazz 1.5.

Bracketing was also implemented in the style of run-what-you-brung (RWYB) competitions. Basically all the drivers and cars were given a chance to set two hot laps, and this determines in which one of four time brackets the drivers will participate in. I slotted into Bracket C, where I eventually would win second place with a new record time of 58.4 seconds.

I had broken my previous record, but somehow it wasn't as satisfying as the last trackday. Key to this was the lack of consistency. After I had set that 58.4-second "magic lap" where my line was virtually perfect and I had no mistakes from start to end, I started to over-analyze things and began to obsess about getting the Turn 3 entry/exit correctly. That led to understeering at Turns 1 and 2, scrubbing my front tires and worsening my subsequent lap times. I never again managed another lap faster than 59 seconds after lunch time.

Fastest time of the day went to Doc Luis Buencamino and his GDB Subaru Impreza STi, with monster StopTech brakes and festooned with three GoPro sport camcorders. The blue-and-black Scooby ripped through Subic at an astonishing pace, bagging a 47.67-second lap time in the early afternoon.

Mav finally got to ride shotgun with me in Aibo while the track was open to free practice in the morning, and she took it well. I was amazed at how calm she was in the co-pilot's seat and how well she took video of my practice lap with my Mavica while I was attacking the corners and trying to forge my way past the less-experienced drivers. Paolo also rode shotgun and took an eight-minute-long video clip with his cellphone.

After a green beginning that was less than pleasant, Cliff eventually found his groove and saw his time tumble to a personal best of 1:04. Mel meanwhile got to within a whisker of his aim of breaking the one-minute mark with a 1:00.08.

The Bracket C win gifted me with a trophy and a four-liter can of FK/Massimo Super SS-X mineral engine oil. Although the deal would have been sweeter had I won fully synthetic oil, I'm not complaining about a free oil change - all I have to pay for are a crush washer, oil filter and perhaps labor.

It looks like my goal of breaking the 57-second barrier with Aibo still in stock condition will have to wait.

When in doubt, FLAT OUT!

Finally the Team Flat Out trackday pushed through. Unlike the previous April trackday, slightly cloudy skies greeted us at the track and a steady breeze kept us all cool and comfortable.

Also unlike April where we were about 30 participants in all, this trackday saw just 10 of us hooning around Subic International Raceway's short track. That allowed for more practice in consecutive hot laps and a greater chance of improving on my previous best time of 1:04.4.

Our machines were all Hondas and Toyotas. Rommel brought his GE6, while Justin and I both drove GDs and the rest had EKs in various high states of tune. For the Toyota camp, Russell had his AE101, while Arby brought his rare supercharged brown AE82 five-door hatchback.

Edward and JP were on hand to give me lots of tips and advice. They were extremely helpful in building my confidence especially under full-commitment braking, and drove home the point that I should "show the car who's boss" as JP often mentions on the Honda Club Philippines forums.

After a bus collided with Aibo's rear end last year, I had become traumatized by full-commitment braking, but I learned that on the track it's no concern and that it was key to everything. My half-hearted heel-and-toe on public roads ruined my technique too. Perhaps I should just stick to throttle-blipping and brake normally on the daily commute.



On my first run at 9:00 am I virtually duplicated my previous best with a 1:04.21. The times kept tumbling as the day went by, however.

JP told me Aibo had good balance and a predictable nature, with its low power output making it an easy car to drive and learn. Aibo's Toyo Proxes 4 all-season tires gained and lost their grip in a nicely progressive manner, too. After driving it at full commitment for three laps with me riding shotgun, showing me all the markers and tricks, he said a 58-second lap was possible.

By 2:00 pm I had shaved three seconds. I was rounding SIR at one minute flat. While the others cheered my success, JP and Edward egged me on.

Thirty minutes later I was breaking the 59-second barrier! I was starting to believe JP's 58-second premonition.

Rommel sat at the timing desk to cheer me on. He had also improved greatly from his previous -best 1:03. By the end of the day he was bagging one-minute laps too.


Finally at 3:15 pm I logged my fastest ever series of laps. They were consistently in the 59-second range, but one lap saw me very close to JP's prediction.

My personal best is now 59.14 seconds!

That lap time took me totally by surprise. Perhaps I could have broken the 58-second barrier, but at that point my front tires were past their best and were suffering slight understeer from the heat of running. In any case it was better than my wildest dreams as my initial goal was to shave just three seconds off - I almost doubled that!

In the end though, Rommel and I thoroughly enjoyed this event and we left at 5:00 pm satisfied. It really felt like a gathering of true petrolheads, with no hidden agendas, no need to show off and no egos to protect. The track and the lap times kept us all honest. Our enemies were only ourselves and our previous best lap times.

After all the bullshit that's flown about in the car clubs I've gotten myself involved in, this was a very welcome change.


My new friend Russell (center on the photo above) was amazed with Aibo's potential. Equally amazing was how Aibo still clocked 12.769 km/L on the entire trip, all hot laps at Subic and 120 km/h NLEX/SCTEX cruising included.

I just cannot wait until the next trackday. Edward had already extended an invitation for me to join Team Flat Out on the RYWB (run what you brung) time-attack competition rounds.

We'll see. The next step for me is to become consistent as a sub-minute driver.

For the love of the track

Typhoon Ondoy wrecked our previous plans back in September, but tomorrow seems to be as good a day as ever to proceed with the Team Flat Out trackday. Since my first crack at Subic International Raceway in April, I've been itching to join another trackday, practice my skills and perhaps cut a few tenths (if not whole seconds) off my personal best time of 1:04.4.

Instead of upgrading anything mechanical on Aibo, the hip-hugging Recaro SRD seats were my answer to improvement. I wanted to increase my skill to their limits first, before becoming reliant on lowered suspension, power adders or trick tires --- or even higher-friction brake pads.

I took today off to take care of what I considered essential preparations for the trackday. Last September, Aibo already got a transfusion of Royal Purple oil, so today was dedicated to a flush and refill of coolant and brake fluid, the latter upgraded from DOT3 to DOT4. Afterward I decided to become independent with respect to headgear, so I got myself an HJC CL-14 full-face helmet in solid silver.

After spending the better portion of a day in shops and in bad Metro Manila traffic Aibo and I are probably as ready as we'll ever be. I'm just a little sad Mav won't be there with me because she has class.

Now for the not-so-little matter of waking up at 4:30 and getting to Subic at 7 am...

Subic + Aibo = success

At last, our Internet access has returned after three weeks. It's funny how we've all become dependent on the Internet here at home, even my mom.

In the intervening days, a lot has happened. The highlight concerned me finally breaking the duck with trackdays. I finally got to participate in a proper trackday in Subic, after six years of being part of car clubs! Mav and her brother Paolo tagged along for the ride.

Aibo did pretty well on his first forays into the Subic International Raceway's short track. The tricks I've been doing on the streets and in video games, like heel-and-toe downshifts, proper steering and seat positions and balancing the car on the throttle, worked much better in real life than I ever expected. I daresay it was much easier to heel-and-toe on the track than on public roads, where I rarely enter corners at high RPM. That tricky turn 5 hairpin showed me what understeer was all about, though.

In the scorching, humid heat of Subic, we had several practice runs, the first few ones queued behind more experienced drivers Mikko David and Patrick Chua, then free running until the timed lap sessions later in the afternoon. I asked Pat to ride shotgun with me for pointers, when he pulled out his Nokia N93 and took a video of me hooning around the track for two laps.



We got two timed laps per heat, where I ran consistently in the 1:04 range - not too shabby for a novice in a stock car.

Here are more photos of the event, many thanks to Mikko and his skills with his DSLR.