got my new center console that should make me eligible for RTA... thanks Lou!

Any complaints? I am thinking of going ceramic or even carbon because I plan to eventually achieve 400-450hp. I really am not a fan of organic from all my motorcycle experiences.

Since some #'s are being thrown out there, I will throw mine in too, though since I was on street tires my #'s may not matter very much.

Stock wheels all 4 corners, BC BR series coilovers with 10k/8k F/R spring rates.

front:
-camber -1.4
-stock caster
-0 toe
-stock tires @ 36.5 psi cold

rear:
-camber -1.1
-0 toe
-Nitto NT05's @ 35 psi cold

Both front and rear tires were 25-30 degrees hotter on the inside, than the outside.

Aerodynamics inspiration
 

Hey Travis, I have been keeping track of your interesting build. I received the new C&D today and they had an interesting article about the aerodynamics of the Ferrari 599XX. I thought you might get some inspiration out of it for your build :)

Attachment 11076

I was at a Ferrari sponsored event a couple of weekends ago at Homestead and had a Ferrari tech explain the air spoiler to us. Its pretty awesome...they use air being forced out with vacuums to create an invisible spoiler around the rear end. Its brilliant. Its a pretty cool car...even amidst a sea of FXX's

:tiphat:

Autocross, haven't made it to a track yet this year, it's been raining like a bast'ed. I suspect that on track my tire temps will reverse.

makes sense, chris...

tire pressure for racing...
 

I may be flamed for this response, and I accept it with great humility. Reason for humility: My 30-year old chick-boss told me that my knowledge is no longer applicable to current operations. I was born 20 years before she, and I have several Graduate School degrees more than she, and I know our business more than she, and she asks me, "What do I do, Greg?"...Yet I am bypassed for promotion. I digress! My useless/old info question is: racing Tire Pressures are, typically, higher than OEM recommended PSI. Why are you running only 36.5 (1.5 over stock)???? Call the tire manufacturer for racing PSI. R/S, Greg

Greg, thanks, and stop being bashful!... just say what you mean :)

I'm trying out different PSIs... yes, some guys run 40+ hot with their Hoosiers... my goal is to figure out which PSIs yield the best times - trial and error - that is all

Thank you, Travisjb, for the encouragement! I will attempt to post what I really think, but my greatest fear is being redlined/blocked from this post, and life in general. Always here for PM...at your service Greg :bowrofl: (this is the only "bow-down" html I could find)

I experimented a lot with tire pressure as well, with stock camber I was using 38.5 front, 35 rear, and after adjusting the camber I found that 36 front 34.5 rear was the ideal for maximum grip on my setup with RE-11's. Everyone will be a little different as it will vary depending on car setup, tires, and driver.

and of course maximum perceived grip is usually different than best time around track... hoosiers are known for this

perceived grip vs lap time...
 

You have stumbled upon the holy grail of racing! Michael shumacher was able to dismiss the feeling, so that he could lap faster than anyone (minus a few bumping mishaps).

yeah, what's up with Shumi today ? rain... malaysia... supposed to be his day! argh

So, the Ford truck is great, but alternator went bad... took the opp'n to put in 2 dry cell optima red tops... going to upgrade as things break... the trailer lights aren't working right either, but not sure there's an upgrade for those

Will post some pics of the trailer soon... it's 99% set up now and I'm starting to get into the routine of using it and loading / unloading... really pleased with the purchase

I carved out the rear license plate area today with a die cutter and sawz'all... then installed a black s/s wire mesh w/ snap rivets... looks okay - my fabrication work isn't as good as Junior's!

Will be at the Import Tuner event with Sharif this Saturday at Firebird Main - he'll be driving his GTR

This is really go to know.:tup:

Thanks for the insight. i just mounted 285/255 RE-11's and I wasn't sure what tire pressures would be optimal. One question, wouldn't it be better to have a stiffer rear tire side wall with higher PSI to avoid rolling?

Hey Travis, our GT-R crushed it's 4th gear two weekend's ago, and I had to scramble to find a new gearset. It doesn't look like the car will be ready for the Tuner Shootout. :( Still trying to secure a backup car, but it's not looking very promising at this point. It's a shame because we were looking to improve on our 3rd place podium finish from last year.

bah, who needs 4th gear ! lol

hope you get it sorted out !

That all depends on how your car is setup. From the factory you have slightly more rear camber than front camber, and the rear can be adjusted to around -2.0 with stock suspension. It's typically the front that rolls the tire edge the most during cornering, it's the heaviest part of the car and experiences the most loading.

The pressures I quoted are if you have after-market sway bars installed with adjustable front camber. With stock sway bars there will be more body roll and you will need slightly higher pressures to compensate.

Oh ok gotcha! Yes I have stock suspension. Another question, I just had an alignment done and had my rear toe at 0 but for some reason they couldn't get my driver side rear camber past -1.8. They said I would have to get a camber kit. Does that sound right?

That sounds right. I think at 0 toe I was maxed out at around -1.8 on the driver's side as well.

Ok good. I thought I messed up the suspension with our wonderful Jersey roads:shakes head:

NASA AZ night event tomorrow... will be a packed event, good chance to test the car on a track I've not run before - Firebird Main

On of the engineers I work with has an extensive background in aerospace fluid dynamics and stopped by my house tonight to provide input. Here's the list we came up with - in no particular order:

a. replace headlights and tail lights with flat contoured aluminum sheets
b. likes the idea of a flat bottom but would prioritize side skirts ahead of that... goal is to be <3" off the ground on sides and have them extend out enough to be effective
c. he likes the idea of using the side scoops to generate vortices out the rear license plate area... recommending creating two counter opposing vortex generators and experimenting with the amount of airflow to determine optimal
d. doesn't like the front splitter design and instead recommends creating an entirely new front fascia with a gradual build up from lower lip tapering smoothly to hood... if keeping front splitter, doesn't need to stick out any farther and should be made more light weight
e. add a flexible 'skirt' from hood to windshield to eliminate the large seam that exists now w/o the plastic
f. create ducts in fenders behind the front wheels and determine a way for air to flow out of the wheel wells along the side panels / doors
g. reduce the volume of the wheel wells somehow hugging closer to tires
h. make the rear diffuser a lower priority
i. add small plastic fairings in front of the open windows to keep some of the air from rushing into the cockpit
j. optimize the angle of the rear wing... and make corresponding changes to rear suspension spring rates
k. feels the rear of the car is very "un-aero"... add vortex generators all along the back of the car to minimize the air separation... suggested I study some older aircraft designs that were retrofitted with vortex generators
l. also on the rear, he strongly recommended shave the 'hump' off the rear hatch - it is only cosmetic and is causing a major drag effect


Also, here's an updated project list:

- check steering column... very loose at hub... 2 screws are stripped
- update the splitter with t. washers and eliminate some weight
- fabricate air box for rear flow and setup diff cooler and pump
- weld / fill the holes on the rear deck
- shave weight on hood, rear hatch, bumper beams, rear structure, etc
- more permanent wiring for electrical accessories
- fix triple gauge... possible short
- fix SRM... possible short
- add front brake cooling
- swap radiator hoses for new SAMCO's
- resolve fuel starvation issue
- install longer wheel studs and open lugs
- alignment... -3.5 front / -2.5 rear, dial back caster to ~5
- install spa oil/water gauge in place of clock
- COBB tune... then dyno for NASA

Trailer to do's:
- patch holes in trailer... big one on side, some little ones
- install electric winch in trailer
- paint floor with "porch paint"

F250 to do:
- figure out why battery light keeps coming on

Good Luck

Sounds like your project list just got a heck of a lot longer! Look forward to seeing what happens with those aero ideas.

Funny he mentioned that one. I work with a local corvette shop, MTI Racing, and they added the louvered Katech front fenders to their shop car and I don't remember how much speed they picked up due to reduced turbulence and getting the air out the top, but it was fairly significant.

like this right ? should help draw air from under car and from wheel wells... may also help manage air flow separation and resulting drag around sides of car

http://www.katechengines.com/street_...Sport%2026.jpg

hey all, if i need to manually wire my headlights for a night race... what's the safe way to rig that up for a couple 20 min sessions ? can't find my headlight / turn signal switch, so that's the key challenge...

here's the headlight swtich diagram on the BCM... assuming i can just connect a few of these together... will give it a try

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...Untitled-1.jpg

First dibs on the headlights and taillights if you decide to sell them :) I'll need a spare set to pass inspection one of these days:rofl2:

Looking at that diagram I agree - looks like you're good to just complete the circuit.

Someone may as well order Travis another ECU while we're at it :)

Just kiddddinggggg....

It's a 5x5 matrix yielding 20 different combinations of connections. The output transistors are turned on one by one (ground reference) to sense which inputs are active.

But basically if you wire INPUT 2 to OUTPUT 5 via a switch with an in-line diode you will activate HEADLAMP 1 mode, and if you wire INPUT 3 to OUTPUT 4 you will get HEADLAMP 2 mode. I don't know what is different between these 2 modes so you will have to test it.

For those trying to turn on the voltage signal to the fog light it looks like you can wire INPUT 4 to OUTPUT 5.

There are no specs on the diode shown but it doesn't look like it is doing anything special other than regulating current flow in the right direction. A IN4001 (available anywhere) should do the trick.

good explanation chris... i got it working last night by simply wiring 2-5 to a switch and 3-4 to a switch... interestingly, they both seem to do the same thing = low beams... you run either or both and LOW BEAMS... no idea why that is...

By the way, the numbering on this matrix is different than the pin numbering so for anyone using this chart make certain to look up connector number "m33" for an explanation of how the I/O maps to the pins

Also, I didn't use diodes... is that bad?

The diodes are a safety to ensure that current only moves in the one designated direction. I would add them to prevent the chance of damaging the BCM. Just make sure it points from input to output, i.e. stripe side facing output.

No, MTI found in wind tunnel testing that those basically do nothing. The Katech vents are on top of the fender, wouldn't really work with our fender design though, but I'm sure something up top on the sides would work.

These vents/louvers:
http://www.katechengines.com/street_...llerC6RS_1.jpg

A great electrician/ECM technician is worth $1000 a pop! Thx for your input, chrisslicks!

Mmmm...wind tunnel testing!

I ran against Chris Rado tonight... nowhere near his speed, but i had a blast... went off once, but car is okay beyond some exhaust hangar repairs that will be needed... will up some video to my vid journal in a few, assuming it turned out okay

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...s/dsc_5688.jpg

heres some fender vents for ya