TSiAWD666
Supporting Vendor
- 2,648
- 899
- Aug 15, 2003
-
Herndon,
Virginia
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Hey folks, for those that are interested my car was invited again this year to the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine Ultimate Track Car Challenge (2013 Ultimate Track Car Challenge: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine). The event is on July 19 (next Friday) at Virginia International Raceway. We'll be racing again on the Full configuration:
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Last year I had my crank position sensor die in the first timed session and after scrambling with friends all day we made it out for the very last session to post a time. Ran a 2:11.4 which was about 3.5 seconds faster than my previous best. Was a nightmare of a day to make it happen though as we had to scramble to rip one out of a WillRaceForBeer's Eclipse and install that one into my car. Later after the racing his car had issues after re-assembly (wouldn't crank) and while trying to test its battery on my car (to make sure the battery was fine) at 9:30pm on the track in the dark I hooked up jumper cables to my car in reverse... frying my ECU and MAF along with the 100amp fuse. Was not a fun night
After panicked calls all over and folks we just met bringing us parts the next day, car was back up and running for the NASA Time Trials. Then we had a radiator leak spring on us (fixed with pepper, I shit you not), throttle body intake coupler popping off constantly (due to it actually being too small for the throttle body), and the tps randomly failing, which made the rest of the NASA time trials over the weekend pretty tough and we weren't able to best the arguably half-assed UTCC time. Car made it home though!!Some additional problems found during last year's shakedown were:
- pad knockback in some areas on track probably due to worn wheel bearings (they had 130k miles on them!)
- Crank Angle Sensor was acting spotty.
- The Evo 8 rear diff with the 12-plate mod on street tires proved to have way too much lockup torque. The car was driving more like a drift car and I found it very unsafe and I don't think it was faster. I have no proof it wasn't though
- Car still could use stiffer springs, but that's going to mean re-valving.
- I think some of the knock that appears randomly may actually be my exhaust manifold heat shield rattling around. Removing it and the knock pretty much goes away completely even on pump gas.
- Power Steering dead zone became worse. I'm convinced re-man'd racks suck.
- Had the coolant temp sensor harness' wire snap off.
- After like 10 years my Stoptech rotor hats need to be replaced. Due to corrosion between the steel hat fittings (that attach the rotors) and the aluminum hat cracking has developed in the hat around the fitting holes, bad enough to become dangerous.
- Lots of torque steer in lower gears.
- Rear diff was leaking fluid. Ended up being one of the pre-load bolts (I have an Frontline Fab diff cover) worked its way loose and so fluid was coming out around it.
Since then lots of things have changed on the car, for the better, and I am pretty sure I should be able to take a good chunk of time off the 2:11.4 I ran during last year's event. All the issues have been fixed, tweaks made, and a few enhancements added. Here's what's changed:
- CPS was due to hopefully deformation of the trigger plate. It was hitting, but crank end play was only .0085". Bent the plate back into shape so hopefully it will be fine.
- TB silicon connector resized to actually fit the TB (was a 2.5", moved to a 3"). TPS and TPS harness replaced.
- Radiator leak sealed with Alumaseal as recommended by the builder.
- Lots of spare parts purchased to avoid last year's debacle (extra socketed ecu, maf, power transistor and coil pack, a second COP unit and extra coils, CPS, CAS)
- New Sponsor! Spoolinup (http://www.spoolinup.com), who makes Evo COP units that have been run successfully on 800+whp Evos, has worked with me to figure out how to run the same coils on DSMs. At least on my 2g we've managed to piece together a pnp unit that completely eliminates the coil pack and power transistor while still providing the tach signal. Here's a pic:You must be logged in to view this image or video.
- Venom Intake Manifold replacing the Magnus Street Intake manifold. Wrapped in some better aerospace heat reflective tape than the DEI Reflect-A-Gold I has used before.
- Moved away from the street tires and added 315/30/18 Nitto NT01 R-compound tires on some Enkei RPF1 18x10.5 rims. Required 5mm spacers in the front, and 7mm in the rear, that I picked up from Wheel Adapters, Wheel Spacers, Hub Rings, and much more! | Motorsport Tech. Really great guys to work with. Now I finally have some real grip! Torque steer oddly is all gone now. I guess I just needed real front traction for the Quaiffe front diff to be happy?
- Carbotech (another sponsor of mine) has graciously gifted me with a yet unreleased pad compound to address my concerns with the lack of stopping power after moving up to the r-compound tires.
- All wheel hubs have been replaced with ones packed with ceramic bearings from Performance Bearings (Racing Ceramic Bearings - Performance Bearing). Supposedly good for a couple mph to the drag guys so this should be exciting!
- Replaced the steering rack with a brand spanking new OEM one. No more 1" dead zone thank god!
- Replaced the CAS.
- Got a used coolant temp sensor harness, and used bumper epoxy to provide some support to the wires to prevent further breakage.
- Picked up a new set of Stoptech Aerorotors including new hats. Will probably get a second set of just hats so I can use the other rotors as they still have good life left.
- Added some Redline Friction Modifier to the rear diff (one whole bottle per the instructions). This has made the balance much more to my liking!
- Dropped the diff and re-torqued the pre-load bolt and lock nut. Added loctite. Really should have some thread sealant on there and telling people to use loctite out of the box.
I'm sure there are other things that have been resolved but I realized I've been babbling about fixes/repairs no one gives a rat's ass about
Well maybe some of you can glean some information for use in your track car. Anyway, lots of issues fixed and enhancements made on the car and man it is feeling very fast after a test run in May on at Summit Point. I'm confident I'm going to knock off at least 4 seconds off my time if not more, so I'm pretty excited. The way the car is driving I'm certain that with a bit more spring rate, more power from a larger turbo, and some more seat time for me that the car is a sub 2-second car which would put it in contention with the winners of last year's event. Grassroots Motorsports Magazine has said this year's event will have expanded coverage to include all the cars, and so again I should be in the magazine. If you missed last year's I'm in the November 2012 issue, but it's just a small column and picture. Better than nothing which is what most of the other cars got.
If anyone is local and has time you should come check out the event! There will be tons of cool cars this year (I hear they actually let some prototypes in and pro race teams as well), and I've rented one of the track garages so you'll have a somewhat cool place to sit around
Wish me luck!
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Taken by our own Snowborder714
Thanks to my sponsors!:
RRT :: BMW Service, Performance and Racing - Suspension setup and general support
Meguiar's : Car Care Products - AWESOME car care products!
Carbotech Performance Brakes - Best Track Pads I've used
http://www.spoolinup.com - COP Ignition System
Welcome to Mr. Spoiler - Body work
Zaklee Corp - Performance Parts for Performance Cars - My clear cam gear cover
DHP Composites - Carbon fiber wings, undertrays, diffusers - My huge 70" carbon fiber wing
http://extremepsi.com - Great discount on my billet motor mounts and great support
!
