The oddball wheel and pedal set for drivers who want to put real-life racing first People always seem surprised when they find out that many club and pro racers don't own high-end sim racing rigs. If you have ever raced on a mid to high-end sim racing rig, you probably already know why: Even the newest, most expensive prosumer / eSports-grade sim racing gear can't replicate the subtle sensations or the "seat-of-the-pants" feelings that drivers rely on to control a real racecar on an actual track. And while that is still very much the case in 2024, there is another, much simpler reason as to why many fast drivers drive on Logitech wheels and secondhand Fanatec gear: Racecar drivers have surprisingly little money and even less time. Racing is expensive, especially in ultra-competitive series where the difference between winning and finishing 10th comes down to how many dollars you can invest into developing the car and driver. Because of this, most competitive racecar drivers will put their hard-earned budget into development, consumables, and testing time in a physical car (or kart) before they even think about spending money on sim racing hardware. That said, sim racing can still be a valuable tool for keeping a racer's instincts sharp and staving off the off-track blues during the long gaps between race weekends. What all of this means is that there is a market for a simple, affordable, sim racing wheel and pedal set that is designed to mimic the feeling of driving a real car on a real track. Enter the GTR Simulator RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel + v3 Pedals In 2021, sim cockpit maker GTR Simulator built just that — A budget-friendly force-feedback wheel and pedal set that comes pre-tuned to satisfy the needs of real-life racers and track enthusiasts. The RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel was originally sold through an Indiegogo campaign, with the claim that it was "Expertly Designed by a Professional Racer". While the original campaign experienced delivery delays and issues with support (the hallmarks of any crowdfunded hardware project), it eventually did deliver. And to our surprise, it seems to have delivered on its original promise particularly well. The Wheel Base The RS30's wheel base and button setup is visually identical to the oft-forgotten MadCatz Pro Force Feedback wheel, which later became the base for the PXN v10 Force Feedback wheel. Inside the familiar plastic housing is a surprisingly powerful helical gear mechanism that gives a force feedback sensation that is both sharper and stronger than what you get from the Logitech G29 / G920 / G923 series of wheels. The hardware force feedback profile is reminiscent of that of the much-loved Logitech G27: Slightly muted, with movements that "knock" rather than "jerk" the wheel in response to the FFB from your sim of choice. Some competitive sim racers dislike this feeling, as it can potentially limit the amount of information that you get through the steering wheel. But ironically, this sensation is very similar to the feedback that you get in a real car on a racetrack. The wheel itself is a 280mm D-shaped wheel wrapped in Alcantara, an unusual choice for a budget-friendly wheel. Having used the RS30 for longer sessions, we can say that this results in a noticeably more comfortable (read: less sweaty) sim racing experience for those of us who prefer to drive with thinner (or no) gloves. Because the RS30 uses a gear-driven force feedback mechanism, it runs significantly cooler than most Direct Drive wheels. This means that you won't have to worry about heat-related force feedback fade or overheating problems that you get from some cheaper Direct Drive wheels. At the back of the wheel base, there is a toggle switch which allows you to lock the wheel at a max rotation of 270 degrees for Formula car games and older titles. We found this function to be unnecessary for most modern racing sims. The button layout is intuitive, with the D-pad and X / Y / A / B buttons placed towards the outside of the wheel center, so that most racers won't have to stretch their thumbs to reach them. However, the inputs for the two shoulder (bumper) buttons are missing. In their place are two trigger paddles placed directly under the shifter paddles, which are hardware-mapped to hand controls for the throttle and brake. Wait, Hand Controls? On an Entry-Level Sim Racing Wheel? Yes, you read that correctly. The GTR Simulator RS30 is the only sim racing wheel that comes with pre-configured hand controls for the throttle and brake. We aren't entirely sure why GTR Simulator chose to map these paddles to hand controls, but having tested them extensively, we can say that they are implemented quite well. The travel on the hand control paddles is just long enough to give the driver an accurate gauge of how much throttle or brake is being applied, and the springs provide just enough resistance to not cause fatigue over a 30 or 40 minute race. Although the brake paddle doesn't have the same feedback as the lever-based hand controls on a real car, it's definitely good enough for a sim racer to race competitively without the use of their legs. For those of us who are fortunate enough to have full use of both legs, these hand controls give a convenient means to keep the throttle held down so you can stretch your legs or itch your calves down a long straight. The downside is that there seems to be no way to remap these paddles to anything other than the throttle and brake pedals. We have reached out to GTR Simulator about this, as they advertise the lower paddles as being re-mappable. However, we have not yet received a response. We will update this article if we do receive instructions on how to map these to other controls, such as the XBox shoulder buttons, a hand clutch, or a handbrake. The Shifter Paddles The shifter paddles are wide, spring loaded aluminum units that have a solid feel reminiscent of the paddles on the Logitech G27. While these paddles lack the magnetic snap-back of real-life paddle shifters, they do feel natural and are easy to use. Although they use a different type of switch from the current line of entry level offerings from Logitech and Thrustmaster, the paddles on the RS30 do seem to be susceptible to the same annoying "double upshift" issue that causes your car to shift up two gears at the most inopportune of times. We were able to fix this very easily by disassembling the wheel, putting a generous dab of Nyogel 767a damping grease (or any sort of keyboard switch grease) on the end of the springs for the shifter paddles, and reassembling it. Disassembling the wheel was a surprisingly straightforward operation due to the fact that the RS30's wheel can be removed from the base using a tool-less quick release. The whole wheel rim and switch assembly can then be taken apart with a set of small Torx bits and a (+) head screwdriver. In its stock configuration, some of our testers felt that the shift paddles came too close to the wheel when fully pressed, resulting in a few drivers pinching their fingers on up and downshifts. The fix was simple - Carefully apply 40 to 50 lbs of force to the paddles, and they will bend. We bent our shifter and hand control paddles back almost 2 inches without issue. All of their paddles have since held their shape since then (despite some unnecessarily aggressive upshifts and downshifts). The v3 Pro Pedal Box GTR Simulator's v3 Pro Pedal Box is the highlight of this sim racing wheel bundle. This pedal base is adjustable for pedal position, pedal travel, and resistance. They come mounted on a heavy-duty steel platform that allows for pedal height and angle adjustment via the adjustment screws for its diamond-plate heelplate. This is the only pedal set in its price range that offers this level of adjustability, and it does so in a package so sturdy that it feels like it would survive a drop out of a 2nd story window. While the v3 pedal box uses a spring-and-position-sensor setup (like most entry level pedals), the springs behind the throttle and brake pedals are just the right stiffness to emulate the forces required to depress the throttle and brakes on a real car. At their maximum stiffness settings, it takes slightly over 22 lbs of force to fully depress the throttle pedal and just under 100 lbs of force to fully depress the brake pedal. This is significantly stiffer than what is offered by the entry level pedal sets from PXN and Moza and is much more realistic than the ultra-stiff rubber bump stops that come in the Logitech G29/G920/G923's pedal boxes. This is particularly important because many real-life racers use sim racing to help keep their left foot braking skills sharp. Most club and pro racers still drive three pedal manual transmission cars and rarely get the chance to practice left foot braking. Having a brake pedal that is stiff enough, yet not so stiff that it can be used as a crutch, is invaluable as a training tool. Although Yours Truly tends to prefer a stiffer brake pedal with shorter travel, we recognize that most newer cars achieve full braking force at 77 to 85 lbs of pedal force. The 92 lbs-f of pedal force that the v3 pedals offer is about as realistic as you can get without going to an expensive load cell or pneumatic pressure pedal set. The pedal covers themselves are also taller than those in other entry level kits, making them more similar to what you would find in a modern sports car. The throttle pedal comes with an adjustable lateral stop to keep your foot from slipping off the throttle while dancing on the accelerator to control a slide. These details put these GTR Simulator v3 pedals head and shoulders above the pedals that come with the sub-$500 racing wheels from the likes of Logitech and Thrustmaster. They also put the v3 pedals miles ahead of the soft, plasticky pedal boxes offered by PXN with their v10 racing wheel. *Although we reviewed the 2-pedal box, GTR Simulator also makes a 3-pedal version. The clutch pedal on the 3-pedal box takes a maximum of 22 lbs of force to fully depress, similar to what you would experience on a modern-day manual transmission Touring Car. Software & Compatibility We were surprised to find that there is no driver software to install with the GTR Simulator RS30 wheel. The only software that GTR Simulator provides are a firmware update to the latest version, a manual that shows you how to calibrate the wheel, and a pre-configured copy of Forza Emuwheel (a program specifically designed for playing Forza titles using less-popular wheels on Windows PCs). Since our wheel was already updated to the latest Firmware version and properly pre-calibrated (as it should be), we had no use for the first two pieces of software. This was admittedly a little jarring for Yours Truly, who has spent countless hours pre-configuring Logitech, Thrustmaster, and Fanatec wheels before using them. Because the RS30 is not a super-popular wheel, you will most likely need to map the controls and test the wheel and pedals within the settings the first time you play any PC game. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the RS30 "just worked" with many popular titles. Assetto Corsa, ACC, F1 23, Automobilista 2, iRacing, RaceRoom and even the vintage Project Cars 2 worked perfectly once the controls were mapped properly. F1 23 complained about a controller mapping issue at first, but we were able to fix that by changing some of the button mappings. It's quite impressive, especially considering how buggy and resource-intensive some manufacturers' drivers and support software tends to be (we're looking at you Logitech G Hub). Even Forza Motorsport 7 worked with the use of the provided presets for Forza Emuwheel — Though we should point out that the more powerful force feedback motors in the RS30 wheel made us painfully aware of how primitive FM7's force feedback code is compared to that in newer titles. As expected, some titles did give us issues. The Force Feedback did not seem to work at all in DiRT Rally 2.0, DiRT 4, and GRID (2019). We tried the workarounds listed on the PXN site and on GTR Simulator's original Indiegogo page, to no avail. We also tried connecting the RS30 to PXN's Bluetooth Mobile App (PXN's method for configuring their wheels), but this did not work either as the RS30 appears to be missing the Bluetooth transmitter in the PXN v10. From our experience, this chart on the PXN Gaming site seems to closely mirror our experience with the GTR RS30 wheel. We recommend reviewing this list to make sure your favorite titles are not highlighted in red or green before buying the RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel. *Unfortunately, we did not have access to an Xbox available to test with. While GTR Simulator claims XBox compatibility, we suspect that players might miss the use of the bumper buttons (see above) in newer titles. How's the Gameplay? TL;DR: The GTR Simulator RS30 wheel drives like a much nicer Logitech G920. Although the internal design and construction of both wheels are technically similar, the RS30 is slightly better in every single way. The Alcantara wheel rim just feels more pleasant to hold and doesn't become sticky or slick during a long race. The buttons are placed just slightly far enough apart so you don't have to move your hand to press the D-pad. The gear mechanism feels significantly less "clicky" than a Logitech G-series wheel, and the occasional clacking of the helical gears is quieter due to the fact that the RS30 wheelbase uses thicker plastic walls to hold the gear mechanism in place. The v3 pedals are far superior to anything else you can get in a $500 wheel and pedal set. They feel great regardless of whether we wear SFI rated racing shoes, wear socks, or even drive barefoot (the author's preferred method for sim racing). Even with aftermarket modifications to the pedal and shifter, our old Logitech G920 wouldn't hold a candle to the feel of the GTR Simulator RS30 or its v3 pedals. We suspect that hardcore sim racers might be disappointed by the very slight notchiness of the RS30's gear-driven FFB, as well as the lack of a two-stage brake pedal that is becoming more and more common in newer sim racing pedals. But for the real-life track day enthusiast, weekend warrior, or racer without a sim racing sponsor? The GTR Simulator RS30 is the perfect fit for a budget-oriented real-life racer*. *On PC that is. Remember, we were not able to test the RS30 on an XBox. The Curious Conclusion So given all of that, would we, the budget-conscious club and pro racers at StudioVRM, recommend the GTR Simulator RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel + v3 Pedal bundle? Some retailers (such as Micro Center and Kohl's) are selling the RS30 Ultra + 2 pedal bundle for $300 - $350 US. At this price, we would recommend it wholeheartedly. The incremental improvements over the gear-driven Logitech G series and the entry-level Thrustmaster wheels are both significant and relevant for racers of real-life cars. And more importantly, they are things that cannot be easily replicated with bolt-on mods, especially for this price. However, MSRP for the RS30 Ultra + v3 pedal bundle is closer to $500. This would have been a good deal in 2021 or 2022, but with the arrival of affordable Direct Drive setups from Moza, Fanatec / Corsair, and even Logitech themselves, this price tag becomes difficult to justify. With a more advanced wheel base, better software support, dedicated buttons for the XBox shoulder bumpers, and maybe some different spring and bump stop options for the v3 pedals, the GTR Simulator RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel could still be very competitive in the $550 - $650 market. As it stands, however, it looks like the RS30 may unfortunately be left behind by the rapidly evolving offerings in the entry level wheel & pedal market. Of course, this doesn't spell doom or gloom for GTR Simulator as a company. Their bread and butter is in the sale of budget-friendly sim cockpits. They would do just fine selling sim cockpits for other companies' wheel and pedal setups. If we were in GTR Simulator's shoes, we would forego building a "RS40 Wheel Base" and instead start selling upgrade kits for Moza, PXN, and Logitech's latest offerings. The Alcantara wheel, the rock-solid pedal base, the tuning of the pedal springs, and the hand controls on the wheels are all features that would greatly enhance the driving experience on a Fanatec CSL DD, a Moza R5, or even PXN's latest v12 Lite DD wheel bundle. All that said, we plan to keep our GTR Simulator RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel for a long time — At the very least, until we have the $1200 or so in spare cash for an upper midrange wheel and pedal setup. Summary The Good: Wheel and pedals feel like what you have in a real production car Outstanding hardware adjustability on both the wheel base and pedals Helical gear force feedback system beats Logitech's gear system in noise and feel Force Feedback Motor is deceptively powerful Hand controls are surprisingly useful No additional software needed on PC - Just plug in and go The Bad: Support and documentation are both lacking compared to competitors Can't remap hand controls, which limits the number of buttons you can use in some games Position-based pedal sensors won't satisfy hardcore sim racers Lack of aftermarket pedal springs and wheel rims limit customizability Disclosure Section: StudioVRM.Racing and Roger Maeda are not affiliated or sponsored by GTR Simulator. The RS30 Ultra Force Feedback Wheel and v3 pedals used in this review were purchased in a like-new Open Box state from a fellow US Touring Car Championship driver, for fair market value. The GTR Simulator GTS-T cockpit shown in the photos was provided as a prize from the 2024 USTCC Virtual Series competition, in which Roger Maeda placed 4th overall. Roger owns products from Logitech and Thrustmaster, and recommends products from Logitech, Thrustmaster, Moza, and Fanatec / Corsair based on firsthand experience with their products.

Photo by Sam Draiss Photography A whole nine years have passed since we published the first installment of our Building a Honda Prelude Racecar series. And thanks to enthusiasts like you, these old articles still receive hundreds of views every week. While the advice and recommendations in these early articles are still relevant today, some of the products mentioned are no longer available or have been supplanted by better options. So, I thought it would help to put this quick list of updates and errata together for those of you who may be building a Honda Prelude Racecar in 2024: Classing The US race classing landscape has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Most new club racing classes now rely on power to weight ratio or bracket racing style lap time-based classes for their race groups. This is a good thing for owners of 4th and 5th gen Preludes, who traditionally had to fit their cars into classes where they couldn't get their cars light enough to meet minimum weight or couldn't reach power targets with the stock H23A1 or H22 engines. We now recommend choosing a class which allow for cars to be competitive with a minimum weight of 2500 lbs or higher (with driver), and a target power output of 180 hp to 250 hp. Those figures should be attainable for the average club racer. Suspension While we at StudioVRM are still fans of Tein's tanky twin-tube suspension dampers, they are becoming harder to find. Ever since Tein's non-rebuildable "Z" dampers became the focus of their aftermarket coilover business, they have made fewer and fewer suspension dampers that are actually suitable for track use. Because of this reality, we now have to look elsewhere for budget-friendly coilover options. We now recommend looking at the following options when choosing budget-friendly race coilovers for your Prelude racecar: Redshift Suspension valved BC Racing Coilovers Shaftworks Motion Control Suspension (MCS) While slightly more expensive than the budget-friendly dampers on our Prelude, the budget options from these three vendors should perform similarly or better than what we use today. The silver lining is that the cost of durable, spherical bearing conversions for our Honda control arms have come down dramatically in the past few years. We now recommend skipping the polyurethane bushings kits and going straight to spherical bearings, even on street cars. We also recommend running higher spring rates than in the past. Part of this is because newer dampers do such a good job of managing low-speed movement in the shock that there are fewer penalties to running stiffer main springs. The other is due to another reason, which is mentioned further below. Brakes Thanks to the low cost of track-capable aftermarket calipers and rotors, most racing classes now allow the use of aftermarket brake calipers and rotors. This is great news for those of us with 4th and 5th gen Preludes which, due to the size and weight of their base chassis, will often end up running with a race weight north of 2500 lbs. Our budget recommendation for Preludes with larger (17" or 18") wheels is the FatFour Customs Acura RL brake kit - a sturdy big brake kit that combines the 4 piston aluminum calipers off of a 2005 Acura RL with redrilled rotors from a Nissan 350Z. While this kit is heavier than most of the Wilwood-based kits out there, we have found it to be a more rigid and fade-resistant setup. As far as brake pad compounds, we still recommend the Raybestos ST-43, ST-45, and ST-47 compounds for the front and ST-77s for the rear calipers. However, The ST-45 and ST-77 compounds are still on an extraordinarily long (6 to 12 month) backorder due to ongoing supply issues. If you need something on a more urgent basis, we would recommend looking in the Carbotech or G-Loc brakes catalog for a suitable substitute. As for cooling, we now recommend skipping the traditional metal hose brake ducts and using vents in the bumper to encourage more airflow to the wheel well to help keep the front brakes cool. This is partly because routing large diameter brake hose is so difficult within the Prelude's cluttered wheel wells, and partly because you can cool the brakes, axles, and shocks with much smaller openings in the front bumper. Engine Due to a lack of spare parts, we were forced to switch from the affordable Honda H23A1 non-VTEC engine to the more high-strung H22 VTEC platform in 2023. And while having access to a greater variety of off the shelf parts is a welcome change, it is hard to ignore the fact that H-series engine cores are no longer as cheap or as affordable as they used to be. Yes, Honda K series swaps are a popular and common option for street cars. However, the K swap mounts for the 4th and 5th gen chassis place the transmission in a position which puts the cv joints at an extreme angle. The load on those joints is so extreme that even top shelf racing axles (e.g. Raxles VIR axles ) will typically only last a handful of race weekends before breaking. At $800 per set, replacing these axles on a regular basis can get very expensive very quickly. While we do plan to continue with the H22 platform for the foreseeable future, we now plan to use race-prepared, sleeved blocks from our Technical Partner, Bad Guys Worldwide . The costs to build a sleeved block are still reasonable at the time of writing, and will greatly extend the life of the engines. This is especially important as many H22 engines are now so old that the FRM coated cylinder liners are starting to fail due to old age and wear. Differential and Transmission Limited slip differentials and aftermarket Final Drives have become so affordable and cheap that they are now among the first Powertrain modifications that we would make if we were building a new Prelude racecar. This is partly because most used manual transmissions tend to come with a fair bit of synchro and bearing wear, and should be inspected or rebuilt before putting into service in a race car. Fortunately, companies like MFactory / Synchrotech have made this very affordable for us Prelude owners, with several options available for rebuild kits, final drives, and limited slip differentials. As for what type of Limited Slip Differential to use, metal plate clutch pack LSDs have a decisive performance advantage over helical gear units, to the tune of about one second per lap on a 1 minute 30 second road course. However, even modern-day clutch pack diffs need to be serviced and rebuilt on a regular basis. For those of us who are not able to rebuild transaxles and differentials on a regular basis, we recommend a WaveTrac . WaveTrac diffs continue to offer an affordable, low-maintenance alternative to more expensive clutch pack differentials, and offer performance somewhere between a helical differential and a clutch pack differential. Aero Thanks to the increased flexibility offered by modern rulebooks, downforce-producing aero is both affordable and effective to the point of being almost mandatory. We recommend cutting your own splitter from 1/2" birch plywood and using quick release mounts and splitter rods from Professional Awesome Racing to mount it. PA's quick release mechanism and compression fit splitter rod design are clever, durable, affordable, and you can buy spare parts for them. The last bit is important as splitters and splitter mounting components tend to suffer a tremendous amount of wear and damage, especially as both car and driver become faster. As far as rear wings, we recommend looking at large-chord aluminum wings, similar to what is offered by Winglogic . Be warned that the Winglogic wings are not bolt-on aero pieces. You will need some fabrication skills and the ability to weld thin-gauge aluminum, and the ability to source your own uprights. However, as far as budget-friendly wings go, they currently offer the best balance between affordability and outright performance. One of their wing elements, a set of eBay-sourced wing upgrights, and a TIG welder to bring it all together will shave seconds off of your lap times for pennies on the dollar. Questions? Have a question about any of the info above? Feel free to reach out to us via our Contact Us form . Disclosure: The Bad Guys (AKA Bad Guys Worldwide) is a Technical Partner of StudioVRM.Racing , and have provided discounted engine rebuild services to us for our latest race engine build. StudioVRM and Roger Maeda are not affiliated with Tein, Redshift Suspension, Shaftworks, Motion Control Suspension, FatFour Customs, Carbotech, G-Loc, Raxles, MFactory / Synchromesh, WaveTrac, Professional Awesome Racing, Winglogic, or any of the other vendors mentioned here. Any of the parts purchased and reviewed for this article have been purchased at full price from our team's car development budget.

Header photo by John C Ernst Photography If you've watched or followed any racing series, you'll hear teams and commentators alike talking about "developing" their racecar as the season goes on. But what does that actually mean? Most racing games depict the process of developing a racecar using a modern-looking tech tree, where you can give virtual engineers a bunch of virtual currency so they can make your car accelerate harder, stop quicker, and corner better as the season progresses. It gives you the impression that you're investing R&D dollars into a team of researchers who are constantly inventing and building new parts that your mechanics will bolt onto the car. And while there is an element of truth to that for some well-resourced teams, it's far from reality for most racers. The Reality of the Matter The reality for most drivers and teams is that we don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in new parts over the course of a season. For many of us, the parts that we have on the car at the beginning of the season are what we plan to finish the season on. And aside from a lucky few, most of us lack the tooling or the skills to fabricate new parts in the comfort of our own shops. And yet, budget-minded racers like us still find ways to make our cars faster over the course of the season, sometimes by a factor of seconds per lap. So how do we do it? In this series, we will take you behind the scenes as we develop the StudioVRM Honda Prelude through a competitive 2022 US Touring Car Championship season. In the process, we will you what actually goes on when we "develop" and "upgrade" the car, and hopefully give you some inspiration on how you could approach the development process for your own track or race car. Let's get started. Choosing your Tools The key to a successful development program is organization. All of your findings and data will come from your time on track, but most of your actual development work will happen away from it. That means you need a way to collect accurate data in a quick, efficient way, and have a way to keep it organized so you can review it later on. Our at-track data toolbox includes: Trello for Notetaking Since yours truly has a penchant for losing paper notes, our race engineer has mandated that all team notes are kept on Trello, a free-to-use cloud-based task management platform. Trello is an electronic Kanban board. It lets you track tasks in small, short notes called Cards, that you can quickly drag and drop between a series of Lists to indicate the status of the list. We have two Trello Boards in our Workspace, one that shows the list of upgrades and changes that we need to make to the car, and another that helps us keep track of observations and findings at each event. This second board also acts as our pre-event packing list, which helps make sure that we don't forget to pack something. Very handy. All of our team members have the Trello mobile app installed on our phones so we can collect, share, and review our notes before, at, and after each race weekend. On-Track Data Logging on a Budget Our team budget doesn't allow for expensive data loggers, so we do things the old-fashioned way - With cameras. Over the years, the team has amassed a small collection of second-hand Sony Action Cams, and we always try to install at least two of them whenever we go out on track: One forward-facing camera on the harness bar of the roll cage One rear-facing camera mounted to the rear windshield Our cameras may be several generations old, but they are still capable of producing clear 1080p60 footage. The video footage that we get from these little guys provide invaluable data that we can go back to see exactly what the car and driver are doing. As for lap timing, we use the RaceChrono Pro mobile app, installed on a used Android phone. We attach it to the roll cage on a RAM X-mount to use as an in-car lap timer and to collect speed / position data that we can review later on. If our car had an OBD II port, we would have also purchased a budget-friendly OBD data logger to collect data from our Honda's in-car systems. Unfortunately, our car lacks the sensors or the computer for these functions, so it isn't an option for us. Some Basic Instruments There are also some areas where you have no choice but to have dedicated tools. This is the one area where I would recommend spending a little extra money to get the best possible tools. At minimum, you will want to have the following on hand so you can collect valuable data about your car's tyres: A good, consistent tyre pressure gauge (preferably one made for racing) A probe-type tyre pyrometer We do bring a travel case of portable alignment tools to the track, but those tools are for checking and fixing our toe or camber in case of a handling problem. We rarely have a need to use it during a race weekend. Building a Baseline Now that we have our tools, it's time to set a baseline for the car so we know what we are working with. This means having a rough idea of the car's power, weight, alignment, tyres, and (if available) average lap times from past events that you can use as reference data. For us, that baseline data was: Max Engine Output: 190 hp @ 7000 RPM / 159 lb-ft of torque @ 5816 rpm (rev limited to 7500 rpm) Weight 2605 lbs with driver and no fuel Spring Rates Front - 14 kg-f/mmRear - 18 kg-f/mm Alignment Brakes Raybestos ST-45 Front / ST-77 Rear Stock Prelude Si VTEC calipers and rotors front and rear Wheels / Tyres 17x8 +35 offset 10mm spacers in front Used Hard compound slicks Aero Front splitter mounted to frame, extending 3" forward of the bumper as viewed from above VIS Racing hood, with vent grill removed and 3/4" tall gurney installed in front of vent 4" aluminum side skirts as measured from top of rocker Foam-reinforced composite rear wing Baseline Lap Times: NJ Motorsports Park Thunderbolt - ~1:35 NJ Motorsports Park Lighting - ~1:16 Summit Point Main Course - ???? Pittsburgh International Raceway - ???? Due to time and budget constraints and an over-supply of slicks, we decided to start the 2022 season on used hard compound racing slicks, then switch to new Hankook F200 medium compound slicks before the second round at NJMP. We knew that would affect some of our tyre and alignment related measurements and could hamper the development of our alignment and suspension setup. But that was ok. We had other things to worry about at the first race. Recognizing Your Weaknesses Understanding your baseline also means understanding your weaknesses. All of us head into a season with a few items left on the to-do list. So we made sure those were accounted for. In our case, there were still question marks around whether our engine was fully broken-in after its last rebuild. Despite being to the track seven times since its last rebuild, mechanical issues meant that this motor had less than 2 hours of total running time on it. We had performed some last-minute break-in before the event, but we weren't confident that the piston rings had fully seated just yet. In addition to the engine being slightly down on power, this also meant that we would need to keep a close eye on the oil catch cans attached to the Prelude's crankcase breathers. We were also concerned about the tracks that the series was going to this year. It has been years since we had raced at Summit Point or Pittsburgh International Raceway, both of which had been repaved and modified several times over the course of the past decade. Because we had no idea about the surface or the new kerbs, we would need to be conservative with settings like our ride height and spring rates. If our car was too stiff or too low, it would be difficult to fix at the track. That means running the car higher and running softer springs, and a compromise of speed vs drivability. Finally, there was the driver. While yours truly has a reputation of being a safe pair of hands behind the wheel, it has been a few seasons since I have been able to fully immerse myself in the heat of a lengthy dogfight. It would take an event or two to shake off the rust and get used to fighting again, and that means focusing on small, incremental changes while the driver re-learns how to race at the limit. Building a Plan With our baseline and weaknesses accounted for, it's time to build a plan. We like to categorize our development plans by area and set tasks and goals on a race-by-race basis. Our development plan for our first test & race weekend at Summit Point included the following items in each category: Powertrain Verify that the engine is fully broken in Verify that the new catch can setup has sufficient capacity to handle the blow-by from our engine If the engine is healthy, consider raising the rev limiter to 7700 rpm Suspension & Handling Test the compliance of the suspension by riding the taller kerbs at Summit Point Check whether the suspension is stiff enough to keep the aero working under hard braking and full acceleration Braking No changes Tyre and Wheel No changes Monitor treadwear, switch to backup dry set (white wheels) if tyres show damage Aero Monitor effectiveness of gurney flap installed on hood Monitor splitter height and check how often it contacts the ground Monitor side skirt height to see how far it is off the ground under cornering Driver Gain a better understanding of Summit Point Raceway Avoid unnecessary risks On to the First Race With plans in place and the rig loaded, we were ready to head to our first race weekend of the year at Summit Point Raceway. How did our plans fare against the track test that stood ahead of us in the rolling hills of West Virginia? Find out in Part 2 of How to Develop a Honda Prelude Racecar. In the meantime, I'll see you at the track.

Roger Maeda Driver/Author – StudioVRM Racing Team Stats Height: 5'8" (172 cm) Weight: 170 lbs (77 kg) Born: Kyoto, Japan Resides: East Brunswick, New Jersey Nationality: United States of America Trivia Daily Driver: Toyota FJ Cruiser Favorite Driver(s): Jenson Button, Kaz Nakajima Favorite F1 Team: VCARB Likes: Chess, Precision Pistol, Italian Food Pro Touring Car Racing's Greatest Loser Racing the road less traveled means encountering more obstacles than the average driver. ​ As a result, Roger Maeda is no stranger to losing. ​ Yet, through every defeat Maeda has grown stronger, faster, and wiser. Even as reigning champion in the US Touring Car Championship East Series, Maeda strives to push the limits of car, driver, and technology in pursuit of even greater performance. ​ Racing Record ​*Season in progress 2024 US Touring Car Championship East Series 2nd in SP* 2023 US Touring Car Championship East Series 🏆1st in SP 2022 US Touring Car Championship East Series ​ 2021 SCCA Club Racing - Super Touring Under ​ 2020 SCCA Club Racing - Super Touring Under ​ 2019 SCCA Club Racing - Super Touring Under ​ 2018 US Touring Car Championship East Series ​ 2017 SCCA Pro-IT Series ​ 2016 SCCA Club Racing - Improved Touring Class ​ 2015 SCCA Club Racing - Improved Touring Class ​ 2014 SCCA Club Racing - Improved Touring Class ​ 2013 IMG Endurance Racing Series 🏆1st in PI-4 2013 IMG Sprint Race Series ​ 2012 IMG Sprint Race Series ​ 2011 EMRA Sprint Race Series ​ 2010 EMRA Time Trial Series 🏆1st in ST-4 2009 EMRA Time Trial Series ​ 2008 EMRA Time Trial Series ​ 2007 EMRA Time Trial Series ​

Race Hard. Bloom in Chaos. May 30 3 min RACE TEAM NEWS Frustrating Weekend Ends Up in Smoke for StudioVRM's Roger Maeda A close quarters duel with BRT’s Martin Szwarc ended in disappointment as the StudioVRM Prelude’s H22 powerplant expired halfway into the Ro Apr 25 3 min RACE TEAM NEWS Rocky Road Leads to a Podium on Technicality for StudioVRM.Racing The 2024 USTCC East Series opener proved to be a tough test for StudioVRM’s Roger Maeda, as electrical problems with the team’s 2024 spec Pr Feb 4 4 min HOW-TO ARTICLES How to Fix Scratched TV Screens Like a Pro (Racer) Using an $8 detailing pen to fix your scratched up TV or laptop screen 1 2 3 4 5 The Car: StudioVRM Honda Prelude - USTCC "Kikka" Technical Specs The Driver: Roger Maeda Meet the Driver – Author – Mechanic known as "Touring Car Racing's Greatest Loser." Driver Bio Latest Articles Our Partners Latest Racing Secrets Nov 12, 2023 6 min RACING SECRETS How to Develop a Honda Prelude Racecar - Part 8 Pushing to the Finish Line with Late-Season Setup Changes Aug 14, 2023 8 min RACING SECRETS How to Develop a Honda Prelude Racecar - Part 7 Race testing our Spec B engine upgrades and aero updates Jun 24, 2023 4 min HOW-TO ARTICLES How to Develop a Honda Prelude Racecar - Part 6 Analyzing and adapting to our new VTEC powerplant 1 2 3 4 5

Racing Secrets All Posts Racing Secrets Race Team News How-To Articles May 30 3 min RACE TEAM NEWS Frustrating Weekend Ends Up in Smoke for StudioVRM's Roger Maeda A close quarters duel with BRT’s Martin Szwarc ended in disappointment as the StudioVRM Prelude’s H22 powerplant expired halfway into the Ro Apr 25 3 min RACE TEAM NEWS Rocky Road Leads to a Podium on Technicality for StudioVRM.Racing The 2024 USTCC East Series opener proved to be a tough test for StudioVRM’s Roger Maeda, as electrical problems with the team’s 2024 spec Pr Feb 4 4 min HOW-TO ARTICLES How to Fix Scratched TV Screens Like a Pro (Racer) Using an $8 detailing pen to fix your scratched up TV or laptop screen Jan 26 1 min RACE TEAM NEWS 2024 Race Schedule StudioVRM.Racing is defending its US Touring Car Championship East Series crown with a faster, more refined machine and team.