TSiAWD666
Supporting Vendor
- 2,648
- 899
- Aug 15, 2003
-
Herndon,
Virginia
Hello! The car and I have been accepted into the Ultimate Track Car Challenge again for 2015, and I thought people might find interest in my efforts to prepare for the race, so here I am. Lots has changed since last year's UTCC and we're poised to be much faster this year. I'm really excited to get back to Virginia International Raceway to do even better in the UTCC as well as NASA TT2.
NOTE: As I find pictures I'll edit this post and insert them.
Prologue
First a quick recap of where I was last year because I didn't post a follow-up. We went into last year's event with a fastest time of 2:09.5 with a lot of issues. I brought to that event many attempts at fixing these issues with a good amount of success:
Intake Manifold - the Venom intake manifold's head flange was curved! After having the #1 runner crack at the plenum over and over we found the flange curved, and it was likely pulling the runner when torqued to the head. Flattening the flange, and re-welding the runner while adding a bit of bracing there for good measure has solved this. Being a used manifold welding was very difficult due to contaminants, and even in the end one final pinhole had to be filled with JB Weld, but it's pretty solid no with no more cracking. I definitely noticed more power after this fix so it was definitely holding us back.
Ignition issues - I had dabbled in coil-on plug solutions with no CDI and just ecmlink, and this just proved unreliable with coils failing too often. The fix was zip-tying in place a new stock coil pack and using some NGK wires and ignition has been rock solid for some time now. Haven't given up on COP yet but it's taking a back burner to simplify changes and keep the car stable.
Random Knock - We would get knock randomly throughout driving, and to minimize this we had to go to pretty low AFRs (10.6-ish), but we got it relatively stable. This was even with a mix of 93/110 octane. Not entirely solved ideally at this point. More on this later.
Cracking brake rotors - With Carbotech XP20 pads I never had any issues, but when I stepped up to XP24 pads (the highest friction compound they offered, I started on their prototypes before they were released to the public) I started generating so much heat, and thus thermal stress, that I would develop cracks all the way through the edges of the rotors in one weekend. This is BAD. For this event we added some Porsche-style (or Evo-style) lower control arm air deflectors that route air directly to the center of the rotor. This dropped caliper temps (I measure temps with some Alcon stickers) by over 70-deg F, and GREATLY reduced the cracking, however I still saw troubling cracking (not all the way through this time, but possibly would be after another event) so this wasn't quite the entire solution. I didn't want to go back to the XP20 pads though because the XP24 pads are addicting (-1.5G braking!).
Undersprung suspension - I had been running on KW V3 coilovers with 500/600 lbs. springs, but still found myself compressing under high speed from the aero to the point where I was bouncing all over under braking due to being about at the bottom of the compression. Over the winter I had updated to 900/1000 lbs. spring with a experimental re-valving to give me enough rebound. Experimental in that I wasn't entirely sure it would work. Couldn't modify the compression due to KW's design (really lame, but they want you to pay up for the Clubsport versions). Well, while it's not entirely ideally damped it definitely worked and made everything handle much better, and no more bouncing during braking.
Intake Temps - Typically I had been seeing very very high intake temps, in the 140+ deg range at the MAF. When we noticed this we suspected this was related to the knock. I created an airbox to try to segregate the air filter from the engine bay, with a 3" air hose leading down to the tail end of the diffuser. This... didn't work that much. I think we still saw 120+ temps.
Failing alternators - The prior year we had killed two alternators at the UTCC alone. The speculated cause was heat, and/or using re-man'd alternators. For this year I fabricated a heat shield for the alternator and used a brand new one (not OEM, since you can't get new OEM ones anymore, but some other brand whose name escapes me at the moment). Knock on wood this has been rock solid ever since the change.
I had also added a roll cage and some weight reduction (no more AC/heating/stereo/interior and carbon fiber doors). No more driving to car events! I got a new trailer (using e-track to give clearance for the front splitter) and a Durango R/T for towing. I think the car with half a tank and me was weighing about 3275 lbs.? I can't remember exactly, but something like that (yes, still heavy!)
Well, we improved drastically. While VIR was widened in two turns which contributed certainly to the time improvement (people were estimating two seconds), we first ran a 2:05.7 in the UTCC on Friday, about four seconds faster. Netted us 17th. I was still learning the track and getting accustomed to the changes and knew there was more in the car. After UTCC we had NASA Time Trials both Saturday and Sunday. I ran a 2:04.5 giving me 3rd place on Saturday, and then on Sunday's first session I ran a 2:02.58 giving me second place. Really felt good, but still left some out there (I felt I could improve maybe 1 more second or so) and I wasn't on the same level of tires as everyone else (Nitto NT01 vs Hoosier A6). Car was rock solid though with no major issues other than our exhaust manifold heat shield bracket breaking from all the stress.
Here's some exterior footage shot by @snowborder714 (thanks!!):
Here's the fastest lap footage from in the car via a GoPro. Data is from my RaceCapture/Pro datalogger.
Here's the album for the event (feel free to friend me on Facebook, but my pictures are public so everyone can see them regardless):
https://www.facebook.com/john.freund.209/media_set?set=a.10202568526880935.1429266581&type=3
The 2:02.58 would have been good enough for 12th, faster than a 600+whp Neon SRT-4, and some twin-turbo Audi R8 (never saw hp numbers for it) in the UTCC had I been able to figure things out on Friday rather than Sunday So I gotta get back and try again!
I didn't race any more after July as the rest of the year was getting married, going on a honeymoon, then the holidays. So the car sat pretty idle for quite some time until around late March.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
NOTE: As I find pictures I'll edit this post and insert them.
Prologue
First a quick recap of where I was last year because I didn't post a follow-up. We went into last year's event with a fastest time of 2:09.5 with a lot of issues. I brought to that event many attempts at fixing these issues with a good amount of success:
Intake Manifold - the Venom intake manifold's head flange was curved! After having the #1 runner crack at the plenum over and over we found the flange curved, and it was likely pulling the runner when torqued to the head. Flattening the flange, and re-welding the runner while adding a bit of bracing there for good measure has solved this. Being a used manifold welding was very difficult due to contaminants, and even in the end one final pinhole had to be filled with JB Weld, but it's pretty solid no with no more cracking. I definitely noticed more power after this fix so it was definitely holding us back.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Ignition issues - I had dabbled in coil-on plug solutions with no CDI and just ecmlink, and this just proved unreliable with coils failing too often. The fix was zip-tying in place a new stock coil pack and using some NGK wires and ignition has been rock solid for some time now. Haven't given up on COP yet but it's taking a back burner to simplify changes and keep the car stable.
Random Knock - We would get knock randomly throughout driving, and to minimize this we had to go to pretty low AFRs (10.6-ish), but we got it relatively stable. This was even with a mix of 93/110 octane. Not entirely solved ideally at this point. More on this later.
Cracking brake rotors - With Carbotech XP20 pads I never had any issues, but when I stepped up to XP24 pads (the highest friction compound they offered, I started on their prototypes before they were released to the public) I started generating so much heat, and thus thermal stress, that I would develop cracks all the way through the edges of the rotors in one weekend. This is BAD. For this event we added some Porsche-style (or Evo-style) lower control arm air deflectors that route air directly to the center of the rotor. This dropped caliper temps (I measure temps with some Alcon stickers) by over 70-deg F, and GREATLY reduced the cracking, however I still saw troubling cracking (not all the way through this time, but possibly would be after another event) so this wasn't quite the entire solution. I didn't want to go back to the XP20 pads though because the XP24 pads are addicting (-1.5G braking!).
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Undersprung suspension - I had been running on KW V3 coilovers with 500/600 lbs. springs, but still found myself compressing under high speed from the aero to the point where I was bouncing all over under braking due to being about at the bottom of the compression. Over the winter I had updated to 900/1000 lbs. spring with a experimental re-valving to give me enough rebound. Experimental in that I wasn't entirely sure it would work. Couldn't modify the compression due to KW's design (really lame, but they want you to pay up for the Clubsport versions). Well, while it's not entirely ideally damped it definitely worked and made everything handle much better, and no more bouncing during braking.
Intake Temps - Typically I had been seeing very very high intake temps, in the 140+ deg range at the MAF. When we noticed this we suspected this was related to the knock. I created an airbox to try to segregate the air filter from the engine bay, with a 3" air hose leading down to the tail end of the diffuser. This... didn't work that much. I think we still saw 120+ temps.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Failing alternators - The prior year we had killed two alternators at the UTCC alone. The speculated cause was heat, and/or using re-man'd alternators. For this year I fabricated a heat shield for the alternator and used a brand new one (not OEM, since you can't get new OEM ones anymore, but some other brand whose name escapes me at the moment). Knock on wood this has been rock solid ever since the change.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I had also added a roll cage and some weight reduction (no more AC/heating/stereo/interior and carbon fiber doors). No more driving to car events! I got a new trailer (using e-track to give clearance for the front splitter) and a Durango R/T for towing. I think the car with half a tank and me was weighing about 3275 lbs.? I can't remember exactly, but something like that (yes, still heavy!)
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Well, we improved drastically. While VIR was widened in two turns which contributed certainly to the time improvement (people were estimating two seconds), we first ran a 2:05.7 in the UTCC on Friday, about four seconds faster. Netted us 17th. I was still learning the track and getting accustomed to the changes and knew there was more in the car. After UTCC we had NASA Time Trials both Saturday and Sunday. I ran a 2:04.5 giving me 3rd place on Saturday, and then on Sunday's first session I ran a 2:02.58 giving me second place. Really felt good, but still left some out there (I felt I could improve maybe 1 more second or so) and I wasn't on the same level of tires as everyone else (Nitto NT01 vs Hoosier A6). Car was rock solid though with no major issues other than our exhaust manifold heat shield bracket breaking from all the stress.
Here's some exterior footage shot by @snowborder714 (thanks!!):
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Here's the fastest lap footage from in the car via a GoPro. Data is from my RaceCapture/Pro datalogger.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Here's the album for the event (feel free to friend me on Facebook, but my pictures are public so everyone can see them regardless):
https://www.facebook.com/john.freund.209/media_set?set=a.10202568526880935.1429266581&type=3
The 2:02.58 would have been good enough for 12th, faster than a 600+whp Neon SRT-4, and some twin-turbo Audi R8 (never saw hp numbers for it) in the UTCC had I been able to figure things out on Friday rather than Sunday So I gotta get back and try again!
I didn't race any more after July as the rest of the year was getting married, going on a honeymoon, then the holidays. So the car sat pretty idle for quite some time until around late March.