Accepted into the 2012 Ultimate Track Car Challenge!!!

TSiAWD666 · 05-10-2012, 02:45 PM

I just received my email this afternoon notifying me of my acceptance into the Grassroots Motorsports 2012 Ultimate Track Car Challenge!!! Woohoo!!!

For those of you unfamiliar with the UTCC it's a time trial event that's been run the past few years (started in 2007) by Grassroots Motorsports magazine. Participants are selected (I believe by a panel of Grassroots Motorsports employees, not entirely sure) in order to provide a competitive and also varied field of track cars, so not just any joe blow can get in off the street. The format this year is completely open meaning I'll be competing with cars that are almost street cars all the way to prototypes. Fortunately they offer many different awards like fastest v8, fastest turbocharged car, fastest Mitsubishi, etc., so there's a chance of coming out with a trophy!

Here is the website for the 2012 UTCC. This year's event is on July 20th at Virginia International Raceway (my favorite track!!). Info there is sparse at the moment but should fill out as the event approaches:
2012 Ultimate Track Car Challenge: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

I'm very honored to have been selected to participate and see what I can do wtih the Eclipse I've been building! For those of you unfamiliar with my car here are a few pictures of what I'm bringing to the event:

The cruise control has since been yanked!

The car is putting out fairly decent horsepower with a Forced Performance FP3150 mated to my Magnus Motorsports 2.3l stroker, though possibly a bit less than the field but it will have to do for now! I've also got Andrew Brilliant's aero package in tandem with a DHP Composites wing, and some 285 tires, so I hope to put up some decent times. By the event Tim Zimmer of TMZ Performance is hoping to deliver to me one of his Stage 4 transmissions with a Quaiffe ATB front diff and 4-spider center, as well as a custom rear diff with Evo 8 internals with the Weir Performance 12-disc MAXGRIP modification. The car isn't in its final form as there is still more to come this winter, but I think I should suprise a few of the other cars and kick a little ass

I'm very excited to see what my little turbo awd 4-banger can do! I absolutely love this car and can't wait to shock a few more folks not expecting a car from the 90s to come out guns blazing in a venue many feel it has no place! It's been a dream of mine to explore the DSM platform on the track to its fullest and this is the first step into the racing world.

Many thanks to Andrew Brilliant for giving many of the tools I needed to do this along with guidance and inspiring me with his own racing endeavours. Also to the DSM community here at DSMTuners.com and everywhere else for sharing so much knowledge as without it I couldn't be here. Thanks very importantly to the vendors, aswithout their interest in our cars I wouldn't have the parts to build this "race car" of mine. Time to see what I can do with those gifts

I still need to actually knock out my time trial license so the car will be hitting VIR end of May and as well as early June, and then I'll be at Hyperfest mid-June at Summit Point Raceway to get tested.

If anyone can make the event I'd love to have the support! It's July 20th at Virginia International Raceway. Having a crew to help with the car would be amazing!

I don't have any sponsors at the moment so if anyone is interested in helping with the car please send me a PM!

Seamus · 05-10-2012, 03:00 PM

Good luck! I hope you find some backing for your effort. I am group 4 have been doing every hpde I am able to make it to for many years now, and even a casual effort like that is very expensive for a private individual who is not a lottery winner. I don't have a competetive car anymore, but it was always a dream to obtain a competition liscence after getting to group 4.

Again, Good Luck! I have a lot of respect for someone taking a car like a DSM that has no road racing support and building a car that can be competetive with the popular chassis's.

Zmann42087 · 05-10-2012, 03:02 PM

congratulations on the acceptance! keep us posted.. I'm sure you'll do great!

eligst21 · 05-10-2012, 03:05 PM

Good luck, I am sure you will make the dsm community proud!

dsmspick · 05-10-2012, 03:08 PM

Holy batman! Thats sick! Congrats and do us proud by winning some trophies, and putting the DSM out there! 285's on a DSM now that is sick nasty!!!!!

Pipnorcali · 05-10-2012, 03:12 PM

Congrats car looks great

victorious420 · 05-10-2012, 03:17 PM

Nice, I subscribe to that mag, I'll be looking for you in there.

greengoblin · 05-10-2012, 03:26 PM

Good work John!

Kevin

Raymond1927 · 05-10-2012, 04:19 PM

Congratulation..... Good to see a DSM in there.

agarc023 · 05-10-2012, 04:19 PM

I think I just saw my new desktop background

The car looks amazing

rockit11 · 05-11-2012, 07:09 AM

Congratulations! I used to live near VIR. My brother (fellow DSMer) and family still live in VA so maybe they can go watch. Actually, I think I'll be training in Richmond around 20 July so maybe I can go!

Please keep us updated on the details of when the event is!

Spyder FX · 05-11-2012, 08:31 AM

Congrats! I'm glad were being represented properly too. Go shock some unbelievers for us.

mattasi · 05-11-2012, 01:39 PM

Good Job!

Scott McIntyre · 05-14-2012, 10:57 AM

That's awesome John. I've followed the GRM Ultimate Track Car Challenge since its inception.

You'll get some great national magazine coverage out of it, maybe even a feature. Should help with your sponsor search.

ed1380 · 05-14-2012, 11:04 AM

BEAST!!!!

Are you going to keep the stock maf?

TSiAWD666 · 05-14-2012, 11:06 AM

Thanks everyone for the kind words and votes of confidence. Really appreciated!

Less than two weeks until the first shakedown event at VIR May 25-27. Just an HPDE but I need to work out the kinks of the car and also get some seat time in order to be able to test for my TT license. Still need to get the car re-tuned (my last tune was... pretty bad), stop by Frontline Fabrication to meet Andrew Kisner and pick up my custom spherical bearing tophats for the rear (the ones built for me prior were cut wrong for the bearing and it knocks around) as well as one of his diff covers, install the tophats, get a new alignment, then swap in the track pads and titanium brake pad shims and bleed the brakes. No matter how much time you spend in advance there's always a crap load to do before an event.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockit11

Congratulations! I used to live near VIR. My brother (fellow DSMer) and family still live in VA so maybe they can go watch. Actually, I think I'll be training in Richmond around 20 July so maybe I can go!

Please keep us updated on the details of when the event is!

Very cool, would love to have some DSMers out there at the event! I'll post details as the event gets closer. It's on July 20th, Friday, but I'll share the schedule as I get it.

There's also a NASA HPDE the Saturday and Sunday after the UTCC which I might participate in. Figure might as well since I'll be down there already

atownturbo · 05-14-2012, 11:30 AM

Good luck and nice setup.

TSiAWD666 · 05-14-2012, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ed1380

BEAST!!!!

Are you going to keep the stock maf?

Short term yes, long term... no since it's impossible with the airflow I'll have eventually Right now the 50-trim turbo is just able to overflow the stock MAF in the last 1k rpm, so it's not too troublesome I don't think. However I plan to soon move to a larger 35r-level of turbo to fully take advantage of the engine in the car, and then I'll have to move to an alternative (I'd imagine speed density).

Quote:

Originally Posted by atownturbo

Good luck and nice setup.

Thanks very much!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott McIntyre

That's awesome John. I've followed the GRM Ultimate Track Car Challenge since its inception.

You'll get some great national magazine coverage out of it, maybe even a feature. Should help with your sponsor search.

I hope so, but I really am a novice when it comes to asking for support. Maybe once I actually do something with the car some vendors will show interest

cl1ckclack · 05-14-2012, 06:01 PM

thats awesome! good luck bro!

dsmcrzy · 05-14-2012, 06:06 PM

Congrats and good luck!!!

I LOVE THAT AERO KIT!!! the guys that did that for you did a great job!!

gusu · 05-14-2012, 06:11 PM

Did you actually take your car to a wind tunnel after installing the kit or did you use some other method of calculating down force?

TSiAWD666 · 05-14-2012, 08:16 PM

Thanks guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by gusu

Did you actually take your car to a wind tunnel after installing the kit or did you use some other method of calculating down force?

Me, no. Andrew didn't either. Wind tunnel time is expensive!!! Perhaps you can speak with Andrew Brilliant about his methods (though he's very very busy!), but much of the work was initially done with computer modeling using CFD. After production I believe at a minimum he was datalogging strain gauges on his shocks to know how hard the car was pressing downward as it moved around race tracks, and from datalogs with and without the aero was able to properly develop the kit. This kit I think is his fifth revision of the starting design.

Andrew's never published numbers on the downforce but he sure as shit made lots of lap records (some that still stand) beating AWD and RWD unlimited cars when he was in the limited class driving a FWD. Those results really show what his car was doing and there's no way he did it without significant aerodynamic help.

I don't have any numbers, and he couldn't give them to me because aerodynamics are a fickle mistress... you'll have great downforce and make a change and lose a lot. My front diffuser might not be exactly like his, and my rear one, while constructed identically, might be mounted at a slightly different angle. My car's rake is different. I have a completely different rear wing than his as mine is much bigger and arguably a better more efficient wing, but I completely guessed at its placement (well, an educated guess but still a guess) and need to tune its angle still. My front winglets are mounted differently (a mistake my body shop made sadly, heh, but I can't change it now!).

So I'm going on a lot of faith here but hoping I can make good use of what he produced and proved worked for him. He didn't give too much of an operating manual though so it's a trial by fire now and time to see what his tools can do in my hands!

arrowhead · 05-15-2012, 12:55 PM

Go and give them hell, but get your seat time, congrats.

D_Eclipse9916 · 05-31-2012, 08:06 AM

Congratulations. I participated last year and have been waivering participating this year a swell.

Couple notes: Go get your seat time, there will be plenty good drivers and plenty fast cars. UTCC is open passing rules, KEEP YOUR HEAD UP for that 700WHP Riley that WILL blow by you before you even knew it was coming

I hope you have a cool suit setup for yourself. Last year it was 104 degrees ambient, 140 degrees measured off the pavement, literally melted some grid-workers shoes. Hopefully itll be nicer this year.

I messed up last year big time having a cage installed 3 days before the UTCC so I ended up wasting the whole day just trying to get the car right, so make sure you are FULLY prepped and ready before coming.

I am a previous DSMer, NASA official and racer. Please let me know if you need any help. I am also local to Reston, VA and have seen your car pulling out of Reston Town Center only 2 weeks ago.

At VIR (or hyperfest if your going), seek me out. Im the white #186 GTS2 M3.

Also,

Have you contacted Jon Felton and been signed off to do a check ride at Hyperfest? (last TT event before VIR July for NASA-MA). Do this now!

Friday before Hyperfest is an open track day, you may want to consider. I will be there coaching a racer half the day, but would be more than willing to help you get some data and coach you a bit. ( I have portable data Acquisition)

Bo0sTdTsI · 05-31-2012, 08:17 AM

Congrats on making it in, im pretty sure you'll turn alot of heads and surprise many. Good luck.

TSiAWD666 · 05-31-2012, 08:20 AM

Thanks for the advice!

Had the first shakedown this weekend at VIR with the SVT Cobra Club. Holy mother of god, Andrew Brilliant's aero WORKS. Really really really really awesome stuff!!! I had the car de-tuned to maybe 330 whp, maybe even less, rarely WOT, really late throttle out of turns, and really early braking, and the car still could pull an easy 2:20 lap on VIR Full. I think if I can link a lap together it could pull a 2:10 right now on the street tires. Now that's not entirely impressive I know but I can tell there's a lot left in the car. Still needs some parts to really make some exciting laps (like a bigger turbo system, stiffer springs, cage) but so far so good.

If anyone's bored you can watch a lap in the car here. It really is not a good video for learning a proper line around VIR (I drove a better line in my EVO five years ago!) and certainly isn't a showcase for the car for the reasons I mention above, but it's fun. Btw, when you watch it if the dash is undulating that's because I was trying Youtube's de-shakifying effect and that really doesn't work. It's in the process of removing that but I don't know how long that process takes.

SVT Superfest May 25-27 2012 - Eclipse GSX - YouTube

I have another practice session with Trackdaze next weekend, and then will be at Hyperfest for more seat time and a tt license check with Felton. Still got a lot to do though with the car as I uncovered lots of issues at the track, but they're getting knocked out as I type this. I'll have to start a build/blog thread to cover this stuff if anyone cares. Definitely a lot of useful info for the road racers that I need to share.

If you work in Reston or are there at times we should definitely have lunch some time! I'll pm ya. I was at the town center that day as I had a haircut appointment, and it was such a nice day I felt like taking the Eclipse. The roads to the town center from my house are pothole/dip free so it's pretty safe for the car, as long as I park in one of the town center's outside lots that don't have speed bumps

gprix1 · 05-31-2012, 08:36 AM

I wonder if FP could help you out with a turbo upgrade if you had their name on the side of your car for the competition? I'm thinking big orange letters in a downward angle. That would be some good advertising for them for sure.

TSiAWD666 · 05-31-2012, 09:32 AM

Yeah I've already arranged all this with Felton. Since I hadn't been on track in a while despite my advanced hpde experience he wanted me to hit VIR Full a few times prior to the event. That's why I hit this one as soon as the car was together, and am doing the Trackdaze event only two weeks later. Though it wouldn't hurt for me to touch base with him and make sure he hasn't forgotten

Regarding Forced Performance, I actually did reach out to them in the last couple weeks. They got back to me yesterday, saying they would not support me at this time as I don't have enough (well, any) racing experience and no wins to speak of. The advertising potential must not be there relative to their other sponsorship opportunities. I guess they expect me to do this on my own and then reach out to them, which is funny because once I have bought and paid for a turbo system that works, and found my way to victory on my own, I'm not sure why I would reach out to them and give them free advertising, especially in light of their lack of support at this stage. I need their help to get there. Shrug. Regardless, I understand they must make money and I have to prove to be a good investment and they just don't trust in the potential yet. Perhaps I'll re-visit them when I have more to justify their support. Turbos can break so maybe I'll think differently down the line.

In light of their response I may move away from Forced Performance turbos as many other brands have some exciting options. Borg Warner EFR turbos are currently near the top of my list.

Scott McIntyre · 05-31-2012, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSiAWD666

I'll have to start a build/blog thread to cover this stuff if anyone cares. Definitely a lot of useful info for the road racers that I need to share.

Please do!

arrowhead · 05-31-2012, 09:48 AM

That is the way it works with sponsors, they will totally ignore you until they can see some positive results, do the best you can with what you have and go after smaller or friendlier places, but dont give up looking for them and some will come around, build a portfolio of your car with pictures not so much of the car but with good crowd around it, and detail the info as much as possible.

good luck.