Drag Race Build Kratos V2

[Brandon Mau]

Any idea what the car weighs race weight? I scanned the thread and may have missed it! Awesome job!

Sorry for the delayed response I haven’t logged on since last September been extremely busy with work and moving to a new state recently. The car weighs around 2600lbs with the carbon doors. The factory full weight doors which I do swap on adds 110lbs on that and I weigh 200lbs without the safety equipment. So race weight is 2800 give or take a few.

 

[Brandon Mau]

To pick up from my last post I did end up running the IFO at Topeka in forced induction pro and won the event. Ran another 8 sec to back up the run from September.

Since then the car has been sitting because I just got done moving back to North Carolina. I was planning on running the IFO event at rockingham dragway in March but it was rained out. So since I didn’t have an off season I’m not sure what the next step is this season. I have mixed feelings on keeping the car and running another season or after being in the DSM game for 17 years is it time to move on. Big decision but not one I’m rushing at the moment. I’m going to try and make it to the shootout this season but we’ll see what happens with my Un predictable work schedule.

 

[Brandon Mau]

Had a little down time to figure out what to do next. First was to refresh the engine combo. The old shearer spec pistons were about to hit 10 years old and they still looked great. Picked up a set of V3 Vader rods and some 10.5:1 pistons for the new setup. The goal here by bumping static compression was to hit the same hp with less boost. Time will tell if I messed up my calculations but it’s all about trial and error in the 8 second zone.


Next was what turbo to try next. The Xona treated me well and I don’t know how much was left on the table but I feel the open T4 housing was limiting how efficient the turbo was running. This was more due to the drive pressure than anything with the UHF wheel and not running the Tial vband housing the turbo was built around. Not wanting to change manifolds and wait for a vband style I went to the dark side. It took a few months because PTE is on a worldwide back order at the moment but it was time to return to a twin scroll setup and optimize what I bought this manifold for in the first place. So once again, I dropped to an even smaller turbo and I’ll work towards a high 8 second a-b tune-up which will not be a small task. Part of me wanted to say let’s go big 7385 or even the 7685 and quit messing around but the amount of carnage that comes with it, I believe sucks the fun out of it. Also not many of us DSMer’s have even ran 8’s on 60mm range turbos so I’m keeping the same outlook do more with less. Watching the film of the mean street class at WCF on those little 64mm running what they did got me excited so that’s what I picked up.

Next on the agenda it was time for an ECU swap. I really liked the AEM but it was inevitable I needed just a few more features. The biggest one is the progressive nitrous for me. Fueltech FT550 is going in the car. When I received it, it’s hard to imagine the display is the ECU as well. I ripped out the factory engine harness and currently making progress on a new one. Hoping to start the car up by the end of next week get the rings seated then let it rip at the track. I’ve never done such extensive work this late in the season but with all of life happening over winter this is now my winter upgrades. I don’t have any real goal set by the years end but my sole focus is going to be adjusting suspension settings and figure out how to run consistent 1.3’s, then 1/8 mile passes. That’s about it for now.

 

[Brandon Mau]

Got the engine dropped back in the car waiting on a few 3” clamps for the charge piping. I bought a tau performance 3 spd conversion kit like 3 months ago and installed that. This completely eliminates O.D and blocks off all the Unused valves for a drag specific setup per Kigglys write up back in 2015 timeframe. I didn’t take any pictures of the kit itself but you can see the block off plates. Great quality kit and detailed instructions.

When I dropped my pan I found a chunk of gear and knew it was a planetary. Lo and behold it was indeed. Swapped in my spare and the trans was put back together. My oreilly at4 and hydraulic fluid mix has served me well. There is no indication of the gears getting hot just fatigue and finally broke a tooth after the 7 years running them. I don’t know how many miles were on this trans when I bought it either.

Next up will be prepping for the fueltech install just waiting on the harness and a few plugs to arrive.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

There’s no arguing what the 6466 can do for it’s size, been following for a long time and it’ll be interesting to see what this set up does!

 

[Brandon Mau]

There’s no arguing what the 6466 can do for it’s size, been following for a long time and it’ll be interesting to see what this set up does!

It will be interesting for sure on an auto. I know it’s not exactly going to be easy hitting an 8 with it. If it’s on par with my old hx40 then I’ll be pretty happy.

 

[Brandon Mau]

Most of the factory engine harness that remains vs the new one. It did good for a 33 year life span but this new one is amazing, and a few lbs lighter.

There are a few company’s offering a printed cluster but no one offers one for a nano pro wideband yet. So I used some abs 1/8” thick plastic for now. It’s no my best work but for a Version 1 it gets the job done and doesn’t look completely like trash.

 

[Brandon Mau]

Fueltech is installed. We have the start and idle tune just about done. It’s been so hot out in NC hard to work in the heat in spare time. Scrambling to get it ready for the shootout, I really need some track time to start tuning this thing.

 

[Brandon Mau]

Got to the track last week and boy it was Hotttt out! 3 passes total. Started with a 1/8 mile hit a 7.08. I had to shake the cobwebs off it’s been what almost 10 months. Then I ran 1/4 mile after adding fuel to the main map and added 1* of timing 9.4@145. Final pass adjusted the fuel map a little more to be where I like 11.5-11.7 afrs and added another degree of timing. The first 2 hits were wastegate 34 psi. I took the ebc idc to 18.5% and it raised me 1 psi for a whopping 35 psi. The final pass was a solid 9.27@147. This is a map that was slapped together fuel and timing, launch and nitrous. Prior to this there was no street hits, tuning on a dyno nada. Heck I didn’t even do a test stall with nitrous before the 2nd hit that was the Guinea pig and netted a 1.44 not shabby at all.

So comparing data to last season on the Xona we’ll just go with Noble, Oklahoma first race last year. Gate 44 PSI on that was a 9.1 that day. So literally almost 10 psi less boost and running almost just as quick is insane. I was trapping more mph on the xona but given the higher boost that’s to be expected. Fast math fuel calculations and some 1/4 mile stuff the car is roughly 660-670hp range on the gate. I’m just really impressed with the ease of the ECU and this turbo being 4mm smaller. Another interesting thing to point out is the PTE is full boost by 6800 RPM back to the HX40 territory where the super 99 and Xona were both 7800.

My car just likes twin scroll turbine housings. It would have been nice to run a vband housing on the xona and get the full potential but the open t4 was a bust on that thing. Did dang good don’t get me wrong but this is a good example of making sure to optimize all aspects of the car to work together. I don’t think I’ll be doing anymore testing before the shootout but the car runs and I’ll have to keep dialing it in once I arrive. The only goal I have right now is to get it back to 8.9’s which at this pace doesn’t seem like it will be a real problem at all.

 

[Vegas Smith]

The guy who built my engine had a free Xona FP gave him to race with and he got rid of it due to the lag.

 

[Brandon Mau]

The guy who built my engine had a free Xona FP gave him to race with and he got rid of it due to the lag.

Yes, that seems to have been a big issue with mine last season. I expected a lot more out of the turbo and I was honestly disappointed at the end of the season. I’m 100% positive it was because I was running the open T4 housing, those Xonas in the vband housings are animals.
.

 

[bastarddsm]

As far as I've seen they are lame in a vband too. I have a 6466 size turbo on mine that I built. Turbine is a big ole turd compared to this uhf crap, It's a garret vgt turbine with a monster hub and thick heavy blades. and it's a chinese billet compressor too. Car traps mid 140's like clockwork on about 29psi. It's 3100lbs and on a tired 8.5:1 engine full exhaust and all that. The only baller stuff I see that really runs a lot better is usually high comp race crap that is cranked all the way up. Hell just look at the little testing boostin did on hochmans car. An apex 73mm was like 100hp better than an 80mm htz shitbox and like 1000rpm better spool, same boost. The xona and htz crap is all 80's tech - outdated.

 

[Brandon Mau]

As far as I've seen they are lame in a vband too. I have a 6466 size turbo on mine that I built. Turbine is a big ole turd compared to this uhf crap, It's a garret vgt turbine with a monster hub and thick heavy blades. and it's a chinese billet compressor too. Car traps mid 140's like clockwork on about 29psi. It's 3100lbs and on a tired 8.5:1 engine full exhaust and all that. The only baller stuff I see that really runs a lot better is usually high comp race crap that is cranked all the way up. Hell just look at the little testing boostin did on hochmans car. An apex 73mm was like 100hp better than an 80mm htz shitbox and like 1000rpm better spool, same boost. The xona and htz crap is all 80's tech - outdated.

I 100% have to agree with you. After running the super 99 with the htz tech and then the xona I thought the difference would be quite significant it wasn’t though. Another interesting data point the PTE on gate, back pressure hit 20 psi for 34.7 psi of boost. The xona on gate 44 psi was 48 psi back pressure. Once I pushed boost on that to 48-49 PSI back pressure raised quick 69-71 psi variations. I’m not going to dig into that too much right now though because I’ve seen setups running super fast at 2:1 ratio. Case in point though PTE/PTE variants and Apex is above anything that FP/Xona currently offers from a power stand point.

 

[bastarddsm]

That PTE is doing really good then. Mine is variable geometry to I can open up the hot side with rpm or whatever, and last times I was out at 30psi I was right around upper 20's for back presure and like 110krpm. Car needs work, it's been put away wet way too many times lately. Airfilter trashed and china bov was starting to leak bad, so I think those numbers will improve some.

Anywho IDK what it's like down at FP/xona, but I do know what it's like at one of Apex's competitors, and it's wild. Prototype and test a whole slew of compressor wheels in a day. They design and manufacture everything in house except the bearing pack, and the castings. They make the wax molds for the turbine wheels, friction weld them on shafts when they get back, machine the billet compressors, ect. It's wild.

 

[Brandon Mau]

It’s been a week since The 30th annual shootout time for the recap. What an amazing event it was with a great turnout.

Prior to this event I was trying to solve a getting warmer than I like issue at idle (all airflow).I re-checked head bolt torque, wasn’t sure if it was the new sce head gasket I installed maybe leaking or even the water pump I ripped off 4 hours before I was supposed to leave. That all checked out good though. I ended up picking a stock style full size rad from a local with some eBay special 12” fans to get me by the event. They did what I needed too so I took out the half radiator and ran with it..

Then another issue I was having was the new ECU would get stuck on the start up screen and then show a random software malfunction screen, it would completely shut off the car when it did this. If I cycled power 3-5 times I could get it to operate like normal. This had me more nervous than anything for the event and I winged the crap out of it. I had to cycle power every time I went into the staging lanes and once it got on the normal screen I just left the key on power to avoid any delays. I called Fueltech on Monday and they haven’t seen this issue before so I sent it in last Tuesday and I’m waiting to hear back.

I didn’t have time before I left for the event to install the Vamos catch pan so I rolled with the trusty engine diaper I’ve been using the past 3 years. The only other “mod” I did before I left was put a front bumper extension on. I bought this from Deric Dupey almost 2 years ago and decided it was time. I have no idea if it actually helps with aero but it looks pretty good. With unclear rules on the Street 32 class regarding lexan/optic armor window I put a factory hatch on, the non gutted oem doors and a seat I borrowed from a friend. This was dang near 200lbs of weight added to the car, really a substantial amount but it was necessary to avoid any problems at the race.

This was all done literally the day before I left for the shootout, talk about a time crunch and still had to pack for the trip. The Team and I get there Thursday afternoon and set-up. Friday rolls around and I’m feeling confident to sit out TNT and go straight into Qualification. 1st round I stage up launch and about a second in pooooffffffff! I pull over like crap, engine is running normal, track crew runs up hey you’re not leaking, I put it in gear and it drives so I’m like ok……. I knew exactly what I did. Pop the hood at the pits and lo and behold I forgot to tighten the IC pipe off the turbo from when I put the new radiator in. I was quite disappointed in myself for such a stupid mistake. Qual 2 is later that night sitting in the staging lanes and they called it off because there were so many oil downs. So I had to sit all night thinking about how I didn’t make a qual pass and I’m not in the list. This really ate at me inside but I remained calm before unleashing Kratos Saturday.

Qual 2 line up bam solid 9.06 good enough for 3rd. Check data everything looks solid, quick glance over the car feeling comfortable. So I went ahead made a quick cam gear adjustment and added a little bit of timing before qual 3. Go out a stick a 8.915 new PB. Picked up 3mph so the 1* adjustment on the cam gear the car really liked still number 3 qualifier. I sat out number 4 because I figured I wouldn’t have to run one of the other 8 second cars first round elim.


Ah Sunday the big lose and you can pack the car up, no pressure though. Round 1 I’m going against an awesome 4G swapped Miata, no changes to the tune bam another PB 8.913. Feeling good getting that one over with. Round 2 I get slotted with Tony Marx the number 2 qualifier. I knew I had to give the car some more power so I upped the boost 2-3 PSI still trying to be on the conservative side of course because being consistent is the name of the game in racing. I end up cutting my best reaction time EVER and another PB 8.848! Literally won by .1011 seconds because my reaction time was better but he went faster. Elimination round #3 I get a nasty front wheel drive eclipse but not nearly as quick as Tony was so I backed boost down about 2 PSI. It’s getting later in the day now and the temps and DA are in boost favor. Well dang another cut a 1.38 60ft and another PB 8.839. At this point I was in disbelief because now I made it to the Finals and have to go against my good friend Kevin Collins and his number 1 qualifying machine. The tree hits green and he tree’d the crap out of me but I cut a 1.36 60ft and the car just ate that nice cool air. Another PB 8.80@160MPH against his winning 8.6 pass@160MPH.

So although I didn’t win the event I got runner up. Between Collins, Marx and myself we knew it was a coin toss as ling as we didn’t break one of us was winning it all. The awesome part was we were all running 64mm turbos. Tony ran World Cup finals last year so to be neck and neck with him this year really just proved to me my car is really working fantastic. Getting beat by Collins but running pretty close as he is racing WCF this year is just amazing. It is a true testament that the hard work has finally paid off, and I had to add nearly 200lbs to the car! The season isn’t over and I’m definitely going to some TNT’s to finish the year out but wow it was amazing.

Slips not in Order. Here is a link from Precisions FB page that has the my passes all in 1 spot.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Hey how does the radiator perform on the street im using a csf.

 

[Brandon Mau]

Hey how does the radiator perform on the street im using a csf.

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It did pretty good on my cruises to work during the hot Kansas summers. I did get stuck in some construction traffic for about 10 minutes without moving and it started to get a little warm 210-212*. Outside of that I never had any issues though.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Hey how does the radiator perform on the street im using a csf.

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Not to thread jack but why are you so dead set on using that radiator when you have more than enough room with an ERL manifold and hx40 to use a full radiator? I get it in @TeamFury ’s case as with top mount set ups and what not there might not be room so then it makes sense, but if you can fit it a full radiator is always the way to go. Closest thing we got to a smaller radiator with anything close to the efficiency of a full radiator was that Afco job we used on Nicky Noveselski’s champagne 1g (had a forward facing s366 set up last you seen it at the shootout) and even then we had to get a real beastly fan and fabricate a shroud to make it work real well. It’s like TeamFury said sitting in traffic it’d start getting warm, but some people aren’t that lucky (believe Mike Wagner had a hell of a time street driving with his, I’d have to ask him) so why set yourself up to deal with the headaches when you definitely don’t need to?

 

[92AWDHX40]

I have hose issues and a wastegate dump issues so this was my last resort to my issues

 

[92AWDHX40]

Thanks it won't be drive in warm weather any way.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

I have hose issues and a wastegate dump issues so this was my last resort to my issues

Look at several other hx40 set ups in stock location, if the wastegate dump is an issue re route it to where it’s not, if hoses are intervening with it fix it so they’re not as these our problems no one else has with that set up. Do it the right way and cry once, I will tell you right now you’re setting yourself up for headache avoiding doing other things the correct way.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yeah I will see how it goes I have afco radiator in storage

 

[92AWDHX40]

Like I said the csf is installed ill see how it goes if not no big deal I'm ready for the other set up.

 

[92AWDHX40]

I'll see you in Ohio how is the car coming along

 

[Brandon Mau]

Like I said the csf is installed I’ll see how it goes if not no big deal I'm ready for the other set up.

Nothing wrong with experimenting, like you said if it’s not really being street driven and has good shrouding I think you’ll be ok.