COBB Tuning Blog

COBB Tuning Motorsports wrapped up Round 1 of the Redline Time Attack in winning style this weekend. The team arrived at Buttonwillow Raceway Park dressed in their new racing colors in full force, bringing three AccessPORT equipped cars to cover the Modified, Street Tire and Enthusiast classes. When all was said and done, COBB Tuning Motorsports had claimed trophies for 1st place in Modified AWD in the Nissan GT-R and the 3rd podium position in Street Tire AWD in the 2006 Subaru STI.

“This was the first event that COBB Tuning Motorsports has competed in as a team and the results achieved on track as well as in the pits has made the effort leading up to this weekend worth it”, said Steve Lock, the team’s crew chief. “The event crew is just over a month old, but you could not tell that by watching them. These guys have gelled very quickly and have proven to be efficient at servicing the cars and getting them ready for battle in short order. Combine that with the pace of the race cars and the skills of our driver line-up and we have a team that’s going to be tough competition this year!”

Brian Lock drove the COBB Tuning Motorsports Nissan GT-R to an overall Modified Class win by setting a new Modified Class track record lap time of 1:48.897.

“I could not be happier with how this weekend ran”, said Brian Lock, General Manager of COBB Tuning Motorsports. ” We did about 4 months of work in just about 2 to get COBB Motorsports ready for this first event. To come home with a track record, two podiums, and a top ten is more than I could have asked for. This is going to be an amazing season!”

Cameron Benner, driver of the COBB Tuning Motorsports Subaru STI adapted well to the new street tires and foreign race track to finish up on Sunday with the third fastest time of 1:58.996.

“This first redline event at Buttonwillow marked the beginning of time attack competition for both me and the car. We went into the weekend with high aspirations, but with a grounded understanding of the stiff competition. Coming away with 3rd in Street Tire AWD is a great accomplishment for us. It is clear that given the car and driver development that will come with more events, I am incredibly confident that we have the recipe to secure wins.”

Trey Cobb had not been on a race track in four years and was forced to battle difficult oversteer issues in the Nissan 370Z due to a failing stock rear differential. Despite the vehiclular handicap, he continued to push the car to its limits and picked up 21 valuable championship points with a seventh place finish.

“Driving the COBB 370Z was a great learning experience for me”, said Trey, founder of COBB Tuning. “Not only was I challenged with getting comfortable on the track due to my overall inexperience and time away, the car also decided to throw me a few curve balls. The crew continuously made positive adjustments to the car and my fellow drivers gave me some great pointers to help me adapt to the car and learn the track. By the end of the weekend I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the car and continued to push my lap times down each session. I am looking forward now to learning more in New Jersey and getting quicker, step by step.”

COBB Tuning Motorsports is now preparing for the long haul across the country to the east coast for Round 2 of the Redline Time Attack Series at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The team has just 6 days to refresh the cars and get them race ready before pounding 3,000 miles across the continent.

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COBB Tuning Motorsports was busy with practice today as we continue to put our team of cars through it’s paces. The day was packed with action as our drivers pushed harder to the limit, searching for the fastest line around Buttonwillow’s challenging and incredibly rough surface. COBB Tuning CEO and founder, Trey Cobb, swapped ends on more than one occassion as be pushed the, tricky to drive, 370Z in the enthusiast class. STI driver, Cameron Benner, also found his rally driver roots leaving Brian Lock, driver of the widebody GT-R, to keep it clean with no wheels dropped off the course! Check out the action and stay tuned for more photos and video updates from Buttonwillow Raceway and Round 1 of the Redline Time Attack!

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The COBB Tuning Motorsports team is getting ready for our first weekend of competition in the 2010 season of Redline Time Attack! The 2006 STI of Cameron Benner and 2009 GT-R of Brian Lock are at Buttonwillow raceway and final preparations are underway for the team to take to the track early Friday morning! Trey COBB has also arrived driving the COBB Tuning Mystery Machine (a 2010 Nissan 370Z) to run in the Enthusiast Class!

New AST Suspension 5200 Series remote-reservoir coilovers have been installed on the STI and 370Z and final setup will take place following 8am practice! The team will be sporting our new circuit-board livery to match our racing team’s tuning solution, the AccessPORT. Come by and see us in the paddock at the COBB Tuning Motorsports pit area, just look for the giant AccessPORT

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Once again, the COBB Tuning AccessPORT proves to be the key to big-horsepower and unbelieveable performance as AMS Performance’s AccesPORT-Tuned GT-R tore off another amazing 1/4-mile pass. The AMS GT-R, powered with AMS’s big-turbo SR 850 Package and an AccessPORT broke the R35 GT-R 1/4-mile record with a 9.89-second pass at a blazing 145.98mph! This once again proves that these cars are best tuned on the factory ECU with the powerful COBB Tuning AccessPORT and AccessTUNER Pro software. We expect to see even lower ETs as the hunger for power and thirst for speed intensifies as the summer heats up!

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The COBB Tuning Motorsports team and I just got back from our first weekend of testing at California Speedway with the new OS Giken TCD rear Limited Slip Differential (LSD) upgrade for our GT-R. With nearly 800HP available at the wheels, I had been experiencing significant rear wheel spin on corner exit that was obviously hurting the car’s ability to put power down coming out of the turns and hurting our lap times.

During the install the OS Giken LSD looked quite a bit beefier than the stock part it was replacing. Probably because it has a grand total of 28 friction plates inside! These plates can be configured to provide progressive locking up to 100% and with that many plates there are quite a lot of tuning options for us to fine tune the amount of lock-up we want.

My first impression was “WOW!” What a difference the TCD LSD made! As I started my first hot laps I could feel the difference in the rear of the car. Now the chassis just seemed to hunch down in the back and squirt out of the corners with no rear inside wheel spin at all. Plus it was much easier to use the throttle to help steer the car out of the corners. With the inside wheel spin gone, I could easily modulate rear slip angle with my right foot, encouraging corner exit rotation by feeding in just a bit more throttle.

As they say, the proof is in the data, and we have data. In this first screen shot is data from last year with the stock rear differential. Focus on the section where throttle position begins to increase and look at the difference in rear wheel speeds.  At some points there is as much as a 14 mph difference between the rear wheels. And this was on super sticky Hoosier R100 slick racing tires!

This next screen shot is from data recorded during our test day with the OS Giken TCD LSD installed. Looking at the wheel speeds you can see they are much closer together and how much the rear differential is working.  It allows a small amount of slip under deceleration, and locks up 100% under acceleration.  In fact you can see that for most of the graph the left and right rear wheel speeds are so close they are indistinguishable from each other. What makes this even more impressive is that we were running on Toyo RA1 DOT racing tires. DOT race tires are not nearly as sticky as the pure racing slicks we used last year, so it is clear to see how effective the OS Giken rear diff is, even with much less traction from the tires.

The data also revealed that we still are suffering from front wheel spin. The OS Giken rear LSD is working so well we may need to encourage them to release their forthcoming front LSD as soon as possible!

We’re in the final stages of preparation for Round 1 of the Redline Time Attack Series which kicks off this weekend, March 27 & 28, at Buttonwillow Raceway in Buttonwillow, CA. If you are in the SF Bay or LA area, come on by to say hello and stick around to see how our monstrous Nissan GT-R fares as we take on the hotly contested Modified Class.

Brian Lock
COBB Tuning Motorsports

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COBB Tuning is pleased to announce the release of 2010 Forester XT Off the Shelf (OTS) Stage maps available now for download. These map are only available in BETA format for the 2010 Model Year Forester XT. Maps are available for download on our Map Download Page on the COBB Tuning website. The AccessPORT for the 2010 Forester XT is available here. No firmware update is needed to use these latest BETA maps, current 2010 Forester XT AccessPORTs can download these maps now, without updates.

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The start to the Redline Time Attack is quickly approaching, with Round 1 at Button Willow Raceway on March 26-28th, just a week away. The COBB Tuning Motorsports team is making final preparations to our Modified AWD Class GT-R, Street Class STI and our third Mystery Machine to be driven by COBB Tuning founder, Trey Cobb.

Come out to the track, meet and hang out with the team, ask questions and find out how COBB Tuning can help transform your performance car. We will have product on display and COBB Tuning apparel available as well!

In addition to the action on the track, check out the action on the infield with the rockin’ Redline Time Attack Battle of the Bands or the sultry Redline Time Attack Spokes Model Search.

Want to get in on the action? How about entering your own ride in the Redline Time Attack Street or Enthusiast classes? Want to show the world what a clean ride you have? Check out the Redline Time Attack Show and Shine and compete for top show honors!

Come visit the COBB Tuning Motorsports team at the COBB Tuning trailer starting March 26th, Friday afternoon for testing and practice. Competition starts Saturday the 27th! We will see you on the podium!

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As part of the festivities at the Redline Time Attack Series, Bonanni Motorsports will be showing their 370z showcar at all West Coast events. This car features a whole host of go fast parts, including the COBB Tuning AccessPORT! While the car will not be racing, it does show what can be achieved with Nissan’s sportscar on a reasonable, real-world budget.

“My goals with this car are to show the public what can be done with this platform with a real world budget,” said Mike Bonanni. “Although it will not actually be competing in time attack events due to my obligations as a driver for the Berk Technology race team, this car is still being built with fast lap times in mind. I have helped many companies develop and test new performance parts for the 370Z and plan to continue using this car to help pioneer the 370Z performance aftermarket so the everyday consumer can have access to proven effective parts like the COBB Tuning AccessPORT.”

See the Bonanni Motorsports 370z starting March 27th at the first round of the Redline Time Attack at Buttonwillow Raceway!

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The AccessPORT for 2009 EVO Xs is available now from COBB Tuning and all COBB Tuning dealers and ProTuners! COBB Tuning is happy to announce the release of the World Market 2009 EVO X AccessPORT for GSR and MR. This update includes all World Market 2009 EVO X GSR and SST vehicles with full OTS map. AccessTUNER support will be available in the near future.

This release also includes 16 Off The Shelf (OTS) maps for both the GSR and MR. Maps can be downloaded from the Map Download Page

2009 WM Evolution X GSR Map List

• Anti-Theft Mode GSRv106.ptm
• Economy Mode GSRv106.ptm
• Installed Stock Mode GSRv106.ptm
• Stage1 91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage1 93 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage1 ACN91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage1+SF 91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage1+SF 93 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage1+SF ACN91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage2 91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage2 93 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage2 ACN91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF 91 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF 93 GSRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF ACN91 GSRv106.ptm
• Valet Mode GSRv106.ptm

2009 WM Evolution X MR Map List

• Anti-Theft Mode MRv106.ptm
• Economy Mode MRv106.ptm
• Installed Stock Mode MRv106.ptm
• Stage1 91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage1 93 MRv106.ptm
• Stage1 ACN91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage1+SF 91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage1+SF 93 MRv106.ptm
• Stage1+SF ACN91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2 91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2 93 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2 ACN91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF 91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF 93 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF ACN91 MRv106.ptm
• Stage2+SF ACN91 Mrv106.ptm

Updating the current AP-MIT-002 AccessPORT firmware to the latest release will enable existing units to function on the 2009 EVO X GSR and MR.

For purchasing or other information, contact COBB Tuning at www.cobbtuning.com or call us at 801-713-0035 or visit one of our COBB Tuning premier facilities at www.cobbtuningsurgeline.com or www.cobbtuningplano.com.

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Check out the April 2010 Issue of Modified Magazine for the low-down on a very sexy, and well-executed 2008 STI built by AccessPORT ProTuners P&L Motorsports! This car, which was inspired by the owner’s father’s love for all things Hotrod, features a P&L custom turbokit centered around a Garrett GT35R turbocharger. A COBB Tuning double-adjustable shortshifter and shift knob, as well as a COBB Tuning lightweight pulley also round out this spectacular car filled with cool JDM goodness. The car was tuned on a COBB Tuning AccessPORT to over 360whp and 370wtq on pump fuel. Look for a copy available on newstands right now!

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