View Full Version : Vorshlag 2011 Mustang 5.0 GT - track/autocross/street Project
Project Update for December 2nd, 2013: After the October TMS road course autocross the next event on our race schedule wasn't for three whole weeks. The gaps between race weekends are getting longer as the season winds down. Of course I had something going on every weekend day between these events, but at least not any races. We were wrapping up the last of the work on the 2011 GT, both for this season ending NASA weekend at ECR as well as before the car would (hopefully) be sold an upcoming eBay auction (it wasn't). We were slammed at the shop during this 3 week break but we made time to finish the pre-race prep a few days before the Nov 2-3 race weekend, where we pick up below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-XhkZkQP/1/S/ECR-googlemaps-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-XhkZkQP/1/X2/ECR-googlemaps-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wszj3Kk/0/S/jpgECR%20Track%20map-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wszj3Kk/0/X3/jpgECR%20Track%20map-X3.jpg)
While the shop was working on getting the car ready, Brandon made the new TT race map for ECR, shown above. We took the satellite image and found that the old 2008 track map (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/LeMons-ECR-042411/i-V4gL9Fs/0/O/ECR-Map-2-1-08.jpg) we had been using for years was not drawn to scale. Our new ECR track map (above right) is not perfect but a lot closer to reality than the old map. We marked the "bunch up" and "go" green zones and marked the corner numbers the same as always, then made 40+ copies for the Time Trial racers to use in our meetings.
Pre-ECR Race Prep
This was the last NASA competition event we had planned for this car, so we worked hard to wrap up any unfinished projects and upgrades before we went to ECR. This included tweaks to the flares, brakes, and rear diff catch can system.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-684nmZQ/1/M/_DSC9083-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-684nmZQ/1/X3/_DSC9083-X3.jpg)
Jason worked on the flares, wrapping our black ABS work in red vinyl that matched the factory Race Red paint. Then he cut new stripes fore the sides and with Brandon's help they re-applied the strips to the flare section. This made them look less ugly than they did before, and was something we should have made time to do before going to Miller or TWS in the last few months.
Ryan re-routed the lines for the oil catch can/vacuum recovery system after seeing the hoses keep flattening out from a high vacuum condition. We've been chasing the correct routing for this system for months, and the way some Ford guys told us to do it wasn't working (they set-up these cars simply as an external breather, but we wanted to pull a slight vacuum on the crankcase). The vacuum source we were using was too strong, though, and sucking the hoses flat. We punted and temporarily just turned this system into a vented catch can system without vacuum (which we fixed after this race weekend; I will show that in my next post).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vNb99xz/1/M/_DSC7158-M.jpg
As I mentioned at Miller, the front Brembo calipers on this car have seen at least 100 cycles on and off the car. We used to swap rotors and pads between a street/autocross set-up and the track-only stuff. So some of the threaded mounting holes were starting to wear and had to be repaired (helicoil). We had picked up a spare set of new Brembo calipers to have on hand "just in case", and the Thursday before this weekend's events the guys in our shop were bleeding a little fluid through the calipers when one of the threaded hole for the banjo bolt/brake hose finally stripped. It was time to replace the front calipers (we had replaced the rears when we went to the 13.8" GT500 rotors out back), so they put on the new set and stuck the old ones in the "spares" pile to be rebuilt (for the 3rd time) and to have the stripped hole re-tapped and helicoiled.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Brakes/i-X9mbMV6/1/M/_DSF2162_1-M.jpg
Once the new Brembo front calipers were swapped on (along with new brake pad pins and clips + the existing Carbotech pads that we used at Miller & TWS), the rest of the car was "nut and bolted" and inspected closely. One change was made to the routing of the diff vent tube overflow line and that system was buttoned up. The "AGM" style, 14 pound Odyssey PC680 battery was charged up (its starting to get tired after 3 years of street and track use, so we will finally replace it after this next race weekend) and the car went into the trailer with all of our gear. We loaded the car on a well worn set of 315/30/18 Hoosier R6 tires but a fresh sticker set of A6s were mounted and balanced onto the "white" showcar wheels and those were loaded in the trailer, to hopefully be installed Friday night at the end of our planned test day.
ECR Test Day, Friday Nov 1st, 2013 - Day 1 of 3
With the trailer loaded I picked up Ryan at the shop at 7 am on Friday morning and we towed the 70 miles out to ECR, in heavy morning commute traffic. The plan was to get there around 8, find a good paddock spot for the weekend, unload the car, unhook the trailer, run some laps and tweak the set-up for a few hours, then swap on the A6 tire set at the end of the day, stuff the car back inside the trailer for the night, and head back to the shop in the truck. If all went well we'd come attack the NASA weekend on Saturday morning in TT3, already set-up and with me "mentally ready" to put in my best laps in an early session. Getting there Friday would also ensure we had a better paddock space for the weekend. I took a few (crappy) pictures with camera phone, and had the Nikon ready for use by Ryan, but there is not much photo coverage of this Friday test day.... because everything went pear shaped.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-BxwzBCx/1/M/20131101_104323-M.jpg
We actually got there by 8:30am (morning traffic was murder) but the weather was absolutely beautiful (the area had gotten 3 inches of rain the two days previous, though, so it was very muddy off track!); low 60s with plenty of sun and breeze. We unloaded the Mustang and I noticed that the fuel gauge was almost on "E". Hmm, that was a mistake at the shop. :/ Should have fueled it up before it was loaded. We looked in the trailer and only had one spare fuel jug, which was of course empty, for mistake number two. Oh well, no worries - the track has 4 grades of fuel at their pumps... right?
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-nP5mPVN/1/M/20131101_124713-M.jpg
Wrong. The pumps were completely out. Great! (they got a fuel delivery late that afternoon). I quickly went out on track briefly at the end of the first track session and made one test lap but the car ran very poorly, bucking and popping like it was misfiring badly. Zero power and very worrying, so I immediately came in and talked with Ryan. We thought that with such a low fuel load maybe it was fuel starving EVERYWHERE? Weird. So let's resolve that by getting fuel before I fret too much.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-MgdNDFh/1/M/20131101_113118-M.jpg
Our next task was a hunt for fuel jugs. We went asking around in paddock and borrowed 5 empty fuel jugs from an American Iron racer, then took that plus our single empty jug we had brought and drove 15 miles to the nearest gas station. We filled up with 30 gallons of 93 octane fuel, put 10 of that into the Mustang and kept our 5 gallon jug filled for use later in the day. The AI racer gave us some cash for the 15 gallons we got for him, and we could finally get started for the day. So I went out a second time with more than enough fuel now and made another lap. No better - motor was still running very badly, misfiring, bucking, and popping, at both part throttle and WOT. Immediately came in since I didn't want to hurt anything.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-vJg5Jzd/1/S/20131101_123803-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-vJg5Jzd/1/X2/20131101_123803-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-RsgCMQr/1/S/20131101_121648-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-RsgCMQr/1/X3/20131101_121648-X3.jpg)
Investigations began looking for the poor running issue
At this point I'm freaking out while Ryan was calmly diagnosing things, checking for any visible issues, but couldn't find anything obviously wrong. He would find something small, fix it, and we would go blast down the highway or take another lap, and the car always ran like crap. Re-routted vacuum lines, fixed a chafed wire, pulled the spark plugs, checked a lot of things, and looked at any engine codes each time. Finally traced it down to a recurring code showing "Bank 1 lean", all the time. Kept resetting, going back out on track or on the highway. Bank 1 Lean, Bank 1 Lean, kept popping up. Nothing we tried worked. Ryan spoke with Sean at True Street, who thought that it had to be sensor or something electrical, and told us to look at the O2 sensors first.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-c2Jtx8W/1/S/20131102_082410-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-c2Jtx8W/1/X3/20131102_082410-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-7gqTkjF/1/S/20131101_114525-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-7gqTkjF/1/X3/20131101_114525-X3.jpg)
Meanwhile we had a lot of other customers out at ECR that day also, some of whom needed a hand with this or that, or came by to talk with us, so it was a very hectic day. Long story short by 4 pm we were out of ideas and the car was still running poorly. I felt like crap (hadn't slept in over 2 days), had just got some bad news at the shop the night before (our new Ops Manager had turned in his notice!), and the prospect of racing this car in this final NASA Texas weekend looked slim. My 2013 goal of setting every TT3 lap record on the Texas schedule would be squashed. Damn it! I was really pessimistic but Ryan thought it must have a fouled O2 sensor. He made some calls and we found that the closest Oxygen sensor was at a Ford dealer 50 miles away (they only had one!), so we made the call - lets head back to the shop.
Of course we had ALL of our gear unloaded and the trailer set-up for the upcoming race weekend: chairs, coolers, tables, parts displays, wheels/tires, tools, and we had a perfect paddock spot. Grrr... so we loaded everything back up, loaded the car, rehooked up the trailer, and we left the track by 4 pm. I called Brandon at our shop and had him run to the Ford dealer to get this O2 sensor (about $130, since it is a wide band) then run by my house to also get our stock 2013 Mustang GT. We were going to pull parts off that car and swap sensors over until we found the issue, if we had to - I wasn't missing this last race of the year, not at my home track!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-bcm6dpv/1/M/20131101_132311-M.jpg
Even with only a handful of laps the mesh grill was packed with grasshoppers
So we kept talking ourselves into this issue being a bad O2 (pre-cat), and I knew it wasn't mechanical. The engine has been rock solid reliable for over 3 years and it ran perfectly when we loaded it into the trailer after the last event in October. Had to be electrical in nature...right? So we hauled ass across town, through more murderous 5 o'clock Friday traffic and got back to the shop around 6 pm.
At this point Ryan was coming down with a cold and I was so tired I couldn't see straight, so Olof and Kyle did most of the wrenching at the shop. Kyle has a better scan tool here that also data logs and it was pointing to a bad Oxygen sensor. Amy brought everyone some food (Ryan and I had skipped breakfast and lunch out at the track, since it was such a thrash). They got both pre-cat O2 sensors pulled and, lo and behold... Bank 1 O2 was blacker than midnight. The Bank 2 sensor looked fine (tan), so we swapped in the ONE new sensor we could buy in town that day and fired it up. The 2013 GT was still there in case we needed to rob another one, but we hoped this lone sensor would do it. Fired right up, cleared the codes, and I took the car around on a drive of our test loop with Ryan riding shotgun again. All of the problems cleared up before we left the parking lot. Woo! No more bucking, hiccups, nothing. Well, I noticed one or two small hiccups at part throttle tip-in, but we chalked that up to fouled spark plugs.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-8rMgr3q/1/M/20131101_182956-M.jpg
We got back after our 2 mile street drive, I did a few donuts in the parking lot, and pulled it right into the trailer. Man, that was a huge relief! Ryan was still wrenching on the car inside the trailer, but everything was buttoned up and ready for transport by 8 pm, after a long 13 hour day. We ended up leaving the R6 set on the car for use in the first "Warm Up" session Saturday, since those times wouldn't count (this was a mistake, in hindsight). I finally went home with the truck and trailer to try to get some much needed sleep, where I promptly passed out.
NASA at ECR, Saturday, Nov 2nd, 2013 - Day 2 of 3
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-RnGddn5/2/L/20131103_134726-L.jpg
After a ridiculously early start Amy and I got out to ECR again before dawn, looked around and settled on a less desirable paddock spot at the bottom of the hill, out in the dirt (but hey, that's why you show up on a Friday for the NASA weekend at Eagles). We quickly unloaded the car from the trailer, unhooked the trailer, unloaded our gear for the day, and got ready for the TT warm up session. It was pretty dang cold (42°F!) and I got to grid on this worn set of Hoosier R6 tires. We had a huge class in TT3 (7 cars), with a bunch of new cars and drivers I wasn't familiar with. No idea what to expect for the class today! It was still very cold, and in heavy traffic with plenty of blocking (a recurring theme all weekend) I only managed a 1:58.100 lap (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-mQtBPvM/1/X2/20131102_094608-X2.jpg), slipping and sliding around. The time was crap but still good enough to start grid 4th on the grid out of 35 TT cars for the next session (which is the first official TT session). Looking back I should have been out there on sticker A6s and qualified in about 2nd place on grid, which would have saved me a lot of traffic grief in the next session. Qualifying is key!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-rGjgpLn/1/S/DSC_0256-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-rGjgpLn/1/X3/DSC_0256-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-pJrk3fN/1/S/DSC_0257-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-pJrk3fN/1/X3/DSC_0257-X3.jpg)
After the TT Warm-Up we had a small break, when Kyle from our shop had arrived at the track. We did a quick wheel and tire change and mounted the sticker set of Hoosier A6s to the Mustang plus worked on some other customers' cars. It had warmed up into the mid 50s and I went out hopeful that this could be my fastest session of the day, which would also make it my last session to drive. The plan was to let Amy drive in the last 2 TT sessions of Saturday, if I could get my best lap in this session.
What you don't see in the video below are the painful first 2 hot laps where Corey Wells' TT1 ZR1 Corvette and I are stuck behind another TT1 car, who is known to "take a bit of time to get up to speed" and accidentally holds up the front of the pack. Very, very frustrating. Mike Weather's TT1 Z06 had some issues and waved everyone by on the first hot lap, and in the middle of the 3rd hot lap Corey and I finally pushed our way past the slower TT1 car. By then I had gotten all 4 Hoosiers and brakes truly overheated and almost blew off the session, but I knew it wouldn't be this cool again all day plus I wanted to let Amy drive the last two TT sessions, so I took an unprecedented 3rd hot lap in a row. Always a bad idea on A6s...
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-hg4bxr5/0/L/3-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/33137411_B82hXB#!i=2935444307&k=hg4bxr5&lb=1&s=A)
In-car video of 1:55.250 lap, on hot lap 3, TT Session 1
Well that video lap above was just a big hot mess, but it ended up being my fastest lap of the weekend. I watch that and just laugh - that's the best I could do?! On this lap I ran out of brakes twice - first going into the downhill Turn 9 and almost went off mid-corner. Before that point the AIM Solo predictive timer is showing high 1:54 lap times, so I gathered it up while cursing traffic and pushed on. The predictive timer was still showing a 1:55.1 time, so I kept in it. Then in the very next braking zone I had brake fade again, entering Turn 11. Barely kept it on track. I guess this should be expected, after 3 complete bonsai TT laps in a row - you simply cannot push a TT car 10/10ths every single lap and maintain the tires and brakes. I normally try to get my best lap in on my very first lap of a session, or at worst on the 2nd lap. And the first lap on a set of sticker A6 tires are their best, too. But when you are held up behind a slower driver in front for 2+ laps that just wasn't possible. And with more fast TT drivers right behind me, I didn't dare back off and let them pass, to only get held up when I caught them (which always happens). By the 4th lap I'm usually catching the back of the field and the chances of getting a clear lap approach 0%, so I had to take that lap when I did.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-pxGs7PB/1/L/_DSC9593-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-pxGs7PB/1/X3/_DSC9593-X3.jpg)
So this double-brake faded 1:55.250 lap (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-CvkPmhp/1/X2/20131102_113457-X2.jpg) ended up being my best all day, was third fastest of the TT session, and it was enough for the new TT3 track record and class win. In that session the next quickest TT time was a solid 3 seconds back, in the 1:58s. Most racers went faster in the 2nd timed session, after I had handed the keys off to Amy.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-QwgGKT6/2/S/20131102_125435-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-QwgGKT6/2/X3/20131102_125435-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-B5Qmccc/1/S/DSC_0323-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-B5Qmccc/1/X3/DSC_0323-X3.jpg)
Left: The grid for TT session 2 was a mess. Right: This looks more like it
Amy drove in TT sessions 2 and 3, and put in a 1:57.449 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-NG5HC5x/1/X2/20131102_134819-X2.jpg) in session 2. She was still working up her nerve in both sessions (plus she put in an HPDE4 session) and looked to pick up time on Sunday. She stayed out of everyone's way while she got up to speed, waving others by on the first lap or moving herself down the grid beforehand - which a good racer should do. I wish every TT driver would be so courteous.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-N5kmCxN/2/S/20131102_133400-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-N5kmCxN/2/X3/20131102_133400-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-nrpJxZD/2/S/20131102_135307-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-nrpJxZD/2/X3/20131102_135307-X3.jpg)
By day's end nobody was getting all that close in TT3, so I had Amy take the 4th session as well. My session 1 lap time of 1:55.250, even as compromised as it was, still compared very well with the AI times (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-SGj5mfW/1/X2/20131103_072857-X2.jpg) that day, the quickest of which was about 5 seconds back. In one of the AI races that day there was a crash into Turn 11 when a Mustang racer lost his brakes, which I was the first on the scene to check out (I was standing at pit wall). Then Mike Patterson lost his brakes on his AI Camaro moments later and he went off in Turn 11, about 100 feet away. Crazy! One thing to point out was the TT1 ZR1 of Corey Wells (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Corey-Wells-ZR1/), one of our customers. This nearly stock, street driven 2010 ZR1 ran a 1:50.449 lap on Michelin slicks, winning TT1 and approaching the TT1 record. You should watch this lap on youtube (http://youtu.be/uHVvUsJHyzE)... its is amazing.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-9th7Jn7/0/S/DSC_0290-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-9th7Jn7/0/X3/DSC_0290-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-CVcT3X7/0/S/DSC_0294-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-CVcT3X7/0/X3/DSC_0294-X3.jpg)
Another TT record fell that day, in TTB. Our friend/customer/tester KenO (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Ken-Os-E46-M3-STUTTB-prepped/) beat the old TTB record handily with his E46 M3. He moved some TT points around in his build and made changes to his set-up and it paid off with a 1:57.955 lap on Saturday, beating the old TTB record of 01:58.678, which he had set in 2012. Ken dropped the record further to a 1:57.603 on Sunday. We ended up building a new exhaust system with a 3.5" in/out MagnaFlow muffler for Ken a couple of weeks later, which dropped his car's ear splitting 105 dB sound level to an amazing 85 dB while picking up flow, ground clearance and power. Custom exhaust work is one of the fabrication services we provide to a number of competitors.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Ken-Os-E46-M3-STUTTB-prepped/i-MdRVNCX/1/S/_DSC0009-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Ken-Os-E46-M3-STUTTB-prepped/i-MdRVNCX/1/X3/_DSC0009-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Ken-Os-E46-M3-STUTTB-prepped/i-rzJPvvH/1/S/_DSC0020-S.jpg
For competitive reasons Ken asked us not to show any more of the exhaust than this. We made a new system from the headers-back
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-R8d7Rzj/1/S/DSC_0322-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-R8d7Rzj/1/X3/DSC_0322-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-GBkWk6W/1/S/DSC_0327-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-GBkWk6W/1/X3/DSC_0327-X3.jpg)
Amy put in some good laps in the Mustang, getting faster each session out and getting down to a 1:57.449, nearing her personal best at this track. But she felt like she could find more on Sunday, so we planned on doing the same strategy - letting me go out in the 1st session then she'd take the rest, unless I got into some traffic again and needed to take the 2nd session also, to try for the class win. I also wanted to get that 1:54 lap that the timer said was in the car, and which I felt was in the set-up with some clear track. Unfortunately, the TT1 car that had held me (and others on the grid) up in the earlier sessions Saturday was just fast enough to get ahead of me on grid final session on Saturday. Oh great.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-mMfMpjt/0/S/NASA-ECR-Nov2TimeTrials1-pg1-S.jpghttp://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-Kzj3cx8/0/S/NASA-ECR-Nov3TimeTrials-pg2-S.jpg (http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2013%20-%20Official%20Results/7%20ECR_Nov/Nov%202%20Time%20Trials.pdf)
Time Trial Results: for Nov 2nd: http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2013%20-%20Official%20Results/7%20ECR_Nov/Nov%202%20Time%20Trials.pdf
I should have been happy with the 1:55.250 lap in TT3, as this was a new personal best at this track by over a second, plus beat the old TTS and TT2 lap records (http://www.nasa-tt.com/Texas_Track_Records/p2046_articleid/11) (which were set in the same TT2 car in 2012). It says "TTA" below but that car should have said TTS, as I was there running in TTS that weekend and remember it all too well. Second place in class on Saturday was a solid 1.5 seconds back (Jeff Tan) and 3rd was 2.5 seconds back (Amy), so why should I worry? (ha! Wait until Sunday...)
The existing NASA Eagles Canyon Track Records before this weekend
TTU.....John Page..........Chevy Corvette.....01:55.879.....Oct-10
TT1.....Troy Messer........Chevy Corvette.....01:50.105.....Oct-12
TT2.....Josh Dunn..........Mitsubishi Evo.....01:55.326.....Oct-12
TTA.....Josh Dunn..........Mitsubishi Evo.....01:55.629.....Oct-12
TTB.....Ken Orgeron........BMW M3.............01:58.678.....Oct-12
TTC.....Eric Foss..........Mazdaspeed 3.......02:03.814.....Oct-12
TTD.....Zachary Parker.....BMW M3.............02:05.336.....Oct-12
TTE.....Josh Price.........Acura Integra......02:11.133.....Oct-09
TTF.....Ken Brewer.........Toyota MR2.........02:15.810.....Oct-10
continued below
continued from above
I need to note here that the Mustang was running much better Saturday than it did on Friday, but it still wasn't 100% right. There were some stumbling issues I could feel at part throttle, something that was very noticeable to me but Amy said it felt fine to her. The new Oxygen sensor had seemed to clear up the wild bucking and popping issues, but maybe the fouled sensor was a result of another issue, not the cause of it? Kyle checked the codes on the car throughout the day and kept seeing (and clearing) O2 Bank 1 issues... now showing stuck full Rich. We would end up monitoring this closely all weekend.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wCSmBvs/1/S/_DSC9391-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wCSmBvs/1/X3/_DSC9391-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-GtvF8PG/1/S/_DSC9400-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-GtvF8PG/1/X3/_DSC9400-X3.jpg)
Left: On the scales, where I got within 9 pounds of my 3770 lb minimum, running with the "low fuel" light on! Right: Adding more ballast (aka: fuel)
Two of our customer's had some car troubles that kept us busy, too. One of them broke a rear control arm and the other had a motor issue that led to lots of black smoke. We diagnosed the UCA failure and had the customer ride with us to the shop, where his ride picked him up. We had a new UCA at our shop we would install the next morning. And the 2nd customer's car was loaded into our trailer for a tow to their house, and later to a Ford dealer for diagnosis. So after unhooking our trailer and unloading all of our gear... we had to load everything back up, load up the customer's broken car, and leave our TT3 Mustang sitting in the paddock overnight (along with another friend's car who crashed out at our place that night and rode back and forth to the track with us). Dropping their broken car off and then taking the other customer to our shop for pickup made for a long night, but we finally made it home by 10 pm.
NASA at ECR, Saturday, Nov 2nd, 2013 - Day 2 of 3
Sunday was a new day and I was determined to find that elusive sub 1:55 lap time if I could get a clear lap. Today we had Olof (technician) and Brandon (photographer) from Vorshlag joining us, and they stayed just as busy as Kyle did on Saturday and Ryan did on Friday. This is the point where the pictures started to get a lot better, as it was Brandon using his talent and gear to shoot them and not me or Amy shooting with our Nikon or camera phones. I slid in a couple of Brandon shots from Sunday in the Saturday post above, too, because they are so much better than ours'.
Vorshlag Event Picture Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-2qmgrSc/0/L/sJPGHugeMustangBrenizer%20copy%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-2qmgrSc/0/X3/sJPGHugeMustangBrenizer%20copy%20copy-X3.jpg)
Amy and I got back out to the track at 7:30 am towing the now empty trailer. We set our paddock back up, unloaded our gear for the 3rd time this weekend, and got ready for TT session 1. Olof worked on our customer's Mustang and installed the new and improved Whiteline UCA and mount (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=529) (KTA141-A). This job was a little tricky doing it parked in the paddock on jack stands, but he got it done. This customer was able to get his HPDE sessions later that day without issue, which made him very happy.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-bRPMK64/0/S/20131103_085126-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-bRPMK64/0/X3/20131103_085126-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-bT97mkr/1/S/_DSC9880-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-bT97mkr/1/X3/_DSC9880-X3.jpg)
Jamie's Forgestar/AST/Vorshlag/Whiteline equipped car getting some trackside repairs and heading back out for more laps
The first TT session was at 8 am, so we were a bit rushed checking tire pressures, fuel level, and getting everything ready before heading out on track. Well, with all of the frantic work going on in the paddock and people stopping by to talk I spaced out and forgot to plug in my damned transponder. You see, Amy and I have separate AMB transponders for our separate, individual TT3 entries, and we swap on her battery powered unit and unplug my wired unit when she races. Well her battery powered unit was off the car but we didn't plug mine in, GRR!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-LTDxdzJ/1/S/_DSC9706-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-LTDxdzJ/1/X3/_DSC9706-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-WCDBJVj/1/S/_DSC9382-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-WCDBJVj/1/X3/_DSC9382-X3.jpg)
Left: Out on track in my "timeless" session. Right: Hitting the scales again after another session stuck behind "the blocker"
I was oblivious and went out on track, which was still pretty cold at 44°F, sitting in a good grid spot and hoping to get a good lap in... then I was black flagged on the first hot lap. WTF? Apparently Amy had been watching the Race Timer app and noticed that my first hot lap time never triggered, she immediately knew what had happened, asked the NASA folks to black flag me, which they did during my 2nd hot lap - so I came in. She waved me over in the hot pits, explained the issue, opened the hood and hooked up my transponder and sent me back out about 30 seconds later. I knew time in this session might be running a little short so I took a warm up lap at full speed and right as I came around to the start/finish to get a timed lap... the flagger at the stand whipped out the checkers, 13 minutes into the session. NOOOOO! Apparently they shortened all of our TT sessions from 20 minutes down to 15 minutes, but gave us 5 sessions on Sunday instead of the typical 4. Normally this would be welcomed news, as I only want to take 1 or 2 hot laps, but in this case that 5 minute (really, 7 minute) shorter session left me without a single hot lap. My whole session was blown and I never got a timed lap (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-NnD5zT9/1/X2/20131103_092223-X2.jpg). It was so cold that I only saw an indicated 1:56 lap (on Lap 1) on my AIM Solo anyway, and nobody else set a fast time in this session, so that wasn't likely going to be the time for that golden lap to happen.
So that first session was wasted and totally my fault, but this happens sometimes. I have had an item on our build list all year to get a dash-mounted switch for the 2nd transponder, with an indicator light, but we just never got around to it. One of several sessions that were blown this year for the same stupid reason - no transponder. Switching beween two transponders for two drivers is highly unusual and takes an extra effort, but apparently too much for my old, feeble brain to remember, heh. Next year Amy and I are racing as "Team Vorshlag" so we can use the same car and ONE transponder (and pay one entry fee), so hopefully this won't happen again. I will have them set the TT2 car up with a single, wired transponder that is always on when the engine is running, so I cannot forget!
Long story short, Amy let me drive again in TT session 2, where I was gridded 5th in line, right behind the TT1 car that I've been having trouble get held up behind all weekend (and pretty much all year), so I was worried I would get blocked again. Even with a big gap on the Warm Up lap, where I held back for an entire straightaway before Turn 11, he also held WAY back and I caught him by the start/finish line line on hot lap 1. Then I followed about 1 car length off his bumper through Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4, to let him know I was there ("Hi!") and obviously getting held up. Right where you normally accelerate between turns 4 and 5 he freagin brake checked me! I came so close to crashing into the back of his car and taking us both out I cannot describe it. It was a very close call, an absolutely insane move, and totally caught me off guard. I braked so hard going down the hill into Turn 5 that there couldn't have been inches between us. There was a lot of speed differential, too, and the incident could have totaled both cars - not a good place to brake check someone.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-R7W6dJp/1/S/_DSC9361-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-R7W6dJp/1/X3/_DSC9361-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wDXjTRv/1/S/_DSC9587-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wDXjTRv/1/X3/_DSC9587-X3.jpg)
Left: Out on track. Right: Coming in after a brief off track excursion with grass in the grill
So that Near Miss really spooked me, and I backed way way off and let the train of three cars held up behind me go by (who were also held up by the slow poke in front) while I let loose a stream of expletives. I took another brisk cool down lap, trying to build up a gap ahead while not holding up more drivers behind, so as not to ruin anyone else's session.
continued below
continued from above
On the very next lap I turned up the heat and re-caught one of the TT2 cars I had let by me after the near accident, in the same spot entering Turn 5. I was trying to get a good run up this hill on this Corvette and had a bit of wheelspin through uphill Turn 5. Any wheelspin quickly overheats A6 Hoosiers, so I backed off knowing this lap was blown, which turned into some off-throttle oversteer. I cranked in full opposite lock and got back into the throttle to hopefully transfer some weight to the rear... but it was too late. I had a little tank slapper and when I caught it the car wanted to go a bit wider than the track surface allowed for, heh. Instead of chancing a sideways off I straightened up and barely took all 4 wheels off, track right. It was 4 off, though, which of automatically DSQd any of times from that session, so I immediately came in and waited in the hot pits, trying to cool down. I was spitting mad, and eventually had some words with the TT1 driver that nearly crashed us both when he came in - telling him that his brake check move was utterly insane and that his constant blocking was getting old. His response was a lame "I never saw you..." Sure, since this giant red Mustang swerving and flashing bright lights parked 5 feet aft of your back bumper is so hard to miss. Good grief...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-5SB3qVQ/1/S/_DSC9530-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-5SB3qVQ/1/X3/_DSC9530-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-HDqXKX8/1/S/_DSC9543-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-HDqXKX8/1/X3/_DSC9543-X3.jpg)
Mike Weathers' TT1 Corvette and I were always next to each other on grid all year, but communicated well and never impeded each other
Based on the repetitive blocking I encountered this year from this one TT driver I am going to run a completely different TT warm-up/gridding/out lap strategy next year to avoid getting anywhere near drivers like this, and I am going to publicly call out these games in every TT meeting we have.
Amy took the keys for TT session 3 while I tried to cool down. She went out and ran a 1:56.934, which was her personal best at ECR by over a second. That was good news, and she came in all smiles and super pumped up! If you don't know this track, a 1:56 lap is really flying, and would be a record in any of the lettered TT classes and was still 3+ seconds faster than American Iron was running. Many of the TT drivers congratulated her on her new best lap time, as only 5 other TT drivers ran quicker than her on Sunday.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wWWpnj7/1/L/_DSC9307-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-wWWpnj7/1/X3/_DSC9307-X3.jpg)
Jeff Tan's ST3/TT3 prepped, EVO-D tuned EVO put up a hellva fight, taking 2nd in TT3 both days
Amy's 1:56 would have been 2nd place but Jeff Tan also had a fast session 3. After slapping on a set of 275mm Hoosier A6s for the first time he dropped to a 1:56.7, and I felt like he might go faster still in the 2 remaining sessions. This is a gutted and race prepped ST3 EVO with an Evolution Dynamics tuned motor that makes a big flat power curve... where they tweak the boost levels to make the same flat 380 whp across the entire rev range. It is a TT trick you can do in a turbo car, and they've used this tuning strategy plus good driving to notch up a number of TT lap records in Texas. Well I was worried Jeff might go out and find more time in TT session 4, which he eventually did in a BIG way
After 3 TT sessions were in the books I still didn't have a time yet, so I went out in TT session 4. There were 6 cars in TT3 class on Sunday so 2 more contingency tires on the line for anyone on Hoosiers, plus I was worried that my track record from Saturday was a little soft - since I had two major driving errors on that 1:55.250 lap Saturday. It was up to 65°F, a little warm for that ideal A6 lap time, but it was still possible. This time I gapped the road blocker in front of me by a HUGE amount, holding up the rest of the field on the Warm Up lap, but I wasn't going to catch him into the first turn again, by damn.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-vdrHzVG/0/S/DSC_0288-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-vdrHzVG/0/X3/DSC_0288-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-gFCGF7s/1/S/DSC_0266-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-gFCGF7s/1/X3/DSC_0266-X3.jpg)
The bulk of the NASA Texas TT competitors are great about giving point-buys and making room for others during cool down laps
Luckily I had a fairly clear first hot lap with Jeff Tan glued to my tail. He was chasing the rabbit (me) and barely kept a handful of car lengths between us. I slowly pulled a little bit on him and when I saw the 1:55.279 time at the start/finish after hot lap one I knew he had to be in the 1:55s as well, but I felt like our gap was increasing ever so slightly. I found out later that Jeff had run a 1:55.872 right behind me, his fastest ever by a large margin. He got really close to my time - which made me nervous! - and this was the closest gap in TT3 that we had all year (other than the one loss at MSR-C). Lap one was good but I wanted more, so I went ahead with Hot Lap 2. This lap was feeling better, where I put even more distance on Tan, and I had an indicated 1:54.6 through most of the lap... but I was slowly catching that same TT1 car again. I can't get away from this guy...
I looked up when I was coming up the canyon out of Turn 10 that the TT1 driver had his fist in the air, indicating that he'd be going into the pits. Great! He was waaaay up there, and surely he saw me closing in and would give me room on his cool down lap. But instead of looking in his mirrors, seeing me closing fast on him (I don't think he owns a rearview mirror) he instead lollygagged for the last few hundreds of yards of his lap and I caught right him in the middle of Turn 11. I had to back way off to avoid hitting him, almost coming to stop mid corner, which of course blew my 1:54 lap down to a 1:55.9. I tried to take another lap but by now the A6s were overheated and I was catching the back of the TT field going into Turn 3, so I took a cool down and came into the pits.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-48wK8c9/0/L/3_DSC9326%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-48wK8c9/0/X3/3_DSC9326%20copy-X3.jpg)
The weather was getting warmer, and I was exhausted from constantly getting pissed off at the blocker, so Amy went out in TT session 5. She took one of our customers (who had the engine troubles the day before) riding shotgun, letting many of the other TT drivers by her on the first lap, cleanly and safely. She took several laps at a 1:59 pace, just having fun on the ride-along; taking riders in TT DSQ'd her session, of course, but she never impeded anyone. Probably her last day driving this car in competition, so she made the most of it.
While Amy came in from that session I went out in in the very next HPDE4 session driving one of our tester's Mustangs, who is running our first set of S197 MCS TT1 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=582) singles on her car. This was the very first set of S197 MCS TT1s ever built, where we helped them calculate shock lengths and such. We knew the car rode beautifully on the street (daily driven) but I needed to drive this car to make sure all was well on this bumpy, tricky track.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-PVhD9SM/1/L/_DSC9440-L.jpg
Jan's Mustang on MCS TT1 coilovers was a lot of fun to drive
This '12 Mustang GT was on the stock 19x9" wheels and some worn out 255mm Nitto Invo tires, Carbotech XP16 pads, Vorshlag plates, MCS TT1s, a CG lock on the stock belt, and that's it. Totally stock engine, tune, airbox, and those skinny street tires that had seen better days. We went out with several instructors in HPDE4 and I pushed it about 8-9 tenths, running as quick as a 2:07.5 lap in traffic on these very low grip tires. Watching that video (which is only posted on my personal Facebook page at the moment) I had to brake 200 feet early into Turn 6, while coasting and waiting for a point by, so the car should run closer to a 2:05 lap. She took some video and data with her phone (Tom's Lap Timer), which we will try to get ahold of and post later. Jan had a blast riding along as I talked her through my lines, braking points, and described the different phases of "tire feedback" on 4 laps, always in some traffic. This car was a joy to drive, easy to put anywhere, and soaked up the ECR bumps effortlessly. Only complaint was the stock seats! Seriously, once you run laps with a dedicated fixed back racing seat, nothing else compares. I was sore later on, after trying to hang on for 4 laps while I slid around on the flat leather seats.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-MWQrPXB/0/S/NASA-ECR-Nov3TimeTrials-pg1-S.jpghttp://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-mN422s8/0/S/NASA-ECR-Nov2TimeTrials-pg2-S.jpg
Time Trial Results for Nov 3, 2013: http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2013%20-%20Official%20Results/7%20ECR_Nov/Nov%203%20Time%20Trials.pdf
Seems like all the of the car breakage calmed down and nothing went wrong on Sunday, thankfully. Times generally dropped significantly from Saturday, except for me, where I ran nearly identical 1:55.2 best laps (either blocked or with serious brake fade) on both days, only a couple of hundredths quicker on Saturday. As I said above, KenO reset the TTB record to 1:57.603 on Sunday. Another E46 M3 customer, TTB racer Jason Covington had his personal best with a 1:58.606 (which would have been near the TTB record last year). Jeff Tan had a personal best, Amy had a personal best, and a total of four TT records were broken (http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=109864&sid=566d927a18f9cbe87d205bbcb890d9cf#p455175) (TT3, TTB, TTE, and TTF) this year. It was beautiful weather all weekend, with high of 76°F on Saturday and a high of 68°F on Sunday, with some brisk 40 degree mornings. Olof and Brandon took off by 2:30 pm on Sunday and Amy and I were loaded up and on the road by 4 pm.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-87MsmCh/1/S/_DSC9409-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-87MsmCh/1/X3/_DSC9409-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-WDQ4zB4/1/S/_DSC9410-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-WDQ4zB4/1/X3/_DSC9410-X3.jpg)
Big thanks to our guys from Vorshlag for coming out all weekend, as there's always something we need help with on our car or customers who need a hand. We had tons of people come by, look at the Mustang, ask for help, borrowing tools, etc. Within TT we have a good group that gets along well and help each other out, even within the same class; Jeff asked for a look at some tire rubbing issues and I gave him tire pressure advice, too. Great event put on by the folks of NASA Texas once again, with some W2W class carnage Saturday but clean racing on Sunday, and no contact in TT. It was a close call on Sunday with me and the TT1 car, but luckily I managed to keep from slamming into him, with inches to spare. I will definitely watch my gaps next year, and if I am in a similar car that has to get the fast laps in early but behind a "faster" car that takes 3-5 laps to get up to speed, I am going to really hang back in the warm up lap to build a big gap. We're not supposed to do that, but you know what, we're also not supposed to intentionally block or brake check drivers behind us, either. Anything I can do to avoid contact, I will do.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-VpNMqjH/1/S/_DSC9497-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-VpNMqjH/1/X3/_DSC9497-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-tvKR6n9/1/S/_DSC9772-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-tvKR6n9/1/X3/_DSC9772-X3.jpg)
Left: Plaid Print Yuri blowing a kiss to the camera. Right: Jason running in TTB in his E46 M3
By the end of the day I just felt fortunate that I didn't wreck the Mustang into another car on two separate occasions, and just felt lucky to win the class and 2 Hoosier tires each day. In the end, with all of the new track layouts, mistakes, challenges and hurdles to jump this year we still somehow managed to attain our goal of setting track records at all 8 track configurations on the 2013 NASA Texas schedule, which was a big win for Vorshlag.
New NASA TT3 track records set in the Vorshlag Mustang in 2013:
Motorsports Ranch Houston (2.38 CW), 1:41.544, Jan 19, 2013
Motorsports Ranch Cresson (3.1 CCW), 2:22.753, March 17, 2013
Texas World Speedway (2.9 CW), 1:51.530, April 21, 2013
New Orleans Motorsports Park (2.75 CW North Course), 1:50.535, May 5, 2013
Hallet Motor Racing Circuit (CCW), 1:24.365, June 23, 2013
Hallet Motor Racing Circuit (CW), 1:26.786, June 23, 2013
Texas World Speedway (2.9 CCW), 1:50.675, Sept 22, 2013
Eagles Canyon Raceway (2.5 CCW), 1:52.250 Nov 2, 2013
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-XGkkTWw/1/L/_DSC9502-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-XGkkTWw/1/X3/_DSC9502-X3.jpg)
All of those records will eventually be broken, and I feel that the Mustang in its current form (it got faster after every round up updates in 2013) could beat all of those lap times if we raced it in TT3 again next year. We took 13 of 14 possible TT3 wins in the NASA Texas series, with that one 2nd place loss at MSR-Cresson where I ran out of sessions, fuel, and talent. ;) This left me with 1390 out of 1400 possible points (http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=109864&sid=817e8c80c77600f5437c731c95f1ef80) in TT3 class, which was the highest of any driver in TT in our region, out of the 100+ unique TT drivers we had in Texas this year. With the 6 race drops we get, that made for a perfect 800 point season, with Amy placed 3rd in TT3 at 553 points, having missed several events. Nationals was a bit of a mess (3rd place out of 11) but I learned two valuable lessons: don't make massive aero changes before Nationals and bring new sticker tires for each day of competition at Nationals. Overall it was a great year for us in this car and I am looking forward to another healthy NASA Texas schedule next year, hopefully starting in the ST2 BMW (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8254) and switching to the 2015 Mustang by April or May? I hope the 2015 Mustang is as solid, reliable and easy to drive as this 2011 GT was.
What's Next: Sell Both Mustangs
In our next installment I will talk about taking the TT3 Mustang to True Street to try to diagnose the part throttle issues, where they made a discovery about to the actual issue. This led us to replace some electronics at our shop, which seemed to fix the issue once and for all. I still want test this fix on track, but this coming weekend's ECR Toy Run event might get cancelled due to snow or ice. Low of 22, high of 33, high chance of snow... not the best track testing conditions. :/
Both this 2011 GT (http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2011-TT3.php) as well as our 2013 GT (http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2013gt.php) are still for sale, just awaiting the right buyers. In the spirit of Cyber Monday I am lowering the prices on both cars today, so if you were interested before please check the linked ads to see the new asking prices. I've got to move these two cars before the end of the year, so give me a call. I cannot afford to just give either car away, but things are about to get drastic if they stick around any longer. Please, don't make me de-mod the TT3 Mustang... but if the car is still here in a few weeks it will have to happen.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-zHbcKtQ/1/L/_DSC0148-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-zHbcKtQ/1/X3/_DSC0148-X3.jpg)
The crew pulled the front of the car apart one last time after the ECR race weekend and finished up some unfinished business, painting everything that was still bare metal and perfecting a few details, which will be covered in my next post. Late next week I'm off to Indy (BRRR!) to attend the 2014 PRI show, joined by 2 other Vorshlag team members, then we will come back and get back to work on several long term custom projects here at the shop. There are some other small changes and new Mustang parts I will show off in the next post, such as the motor mounts we put in after TWS and the throttle body replacement.
Cheers,
Project Update for Dec 27, 2013: Been a busy busy month here at Vorshlag since I last posted, after the 2013 race season ended. There have been a lot of updates on a number of other project build threads, such as our shop parts hauler "Truck Norris" (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57769#post57769), our E38 740iL restoration project (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57775#post57775), the Chumpcar Firebird build (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57779#post57779), and Matt's 95 M3 LS1 swap (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57777#post57777). We've also had a few things brewing with our two main in-house S197 projects - including several repairs, updates, and possibly even a major change of course for our 2011 GT - and it is time to share that here. Don't worry, its good news.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brian-Joos-E36-M3-LS1-Swap/i-hwxgXDF/1/S/_DSC1715-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brian-Joos-E36-M3-LS1-Swap/i-hwxgXDF/1/X3/_DSC1715-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-GMT800-Parts-Hauler/i-BFkNGPF/1/S/_DSC0816-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-GMT800-Parts-Hauler/i-BFkNGPF/1/X3/_DSC0816-X3.jpg)
Many projects have kept us busy in the shop, as well as gobbled up my time updating project threads on several forums
2013 PRI Show + 2015 Mustang!
The annual December "ECR Toy Run" track day event we had hoped to attend was rescheduled due to a massive ice storm in Dallas. The new date ended up happening when we were at the 2013 PRI Show in Indianapolis. This is a huge racing industry trade show we attend almost every year, and where we had some important business meetings and saw lots of new parts. I was really bummed about missing the Toy Run, and missing some automotive TV show filming that happened out there that day, but I got a great consolation prize: getting to see the 2015 Mustang first hand!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/PRI-2013/i-pfPhVrg/1/L/20131212_132135-L.jpg
(http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/PRI-2013/i-pfPhVrg/1/X3/20131212_132135-X3.jpg)
This year PRI moved from Orlando to Indy, but even with the terrible downtown parking and horrendous Winter weather it was the biggest PRI show I had ever attended. We learned a lot being there, but not much was shared on social media for the folks outside of the racing industry that aren't allowed to attend. Balls to that, you can feel free to rummage around in my photo gallery (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/PRI-2013/) and get an eye full of next year's parts.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/PRI-2013/i-4jkkZws/1/L/20131212_131752-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/PRI-2013/i-4jkkZws/1/X3/20131212_131752-X3.jpg)
To me, the highlight of this show was seeing the 2015 Mustang in person. I got to crawl under the back of the car and see the IRS up close as well gawk at as the exterior shape and body lines. I spent a bit of time and made an "S550 vs S197 Mustang: An in depth comparison" (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57774#post57774) article, which you can read here (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57774#post57774). In this, the 2nd part of our preliminary S550 investigations, I compare the S550 and S197 Mustangs styling side-by-side, then go "up skirt" and look at the suspension on this pre-production car to verify the rumors and images we've been shown. If you are interested in that new fangled Mustang, give it a read (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57774#post57774).
Throttle Body Replacement + Front Splitter Updates
As I mentioned in my last update, we took the car to True Street and had them put the car on the dyno, load it up, and try to diagnose the part throttle stumble that bit me in the backside at the November ECR event. Turns out that they found something wonky in the throttle body circuit... the pedal would send a signal for a certain percentage of opening yet the throttle body would refuse to open by that amount. Some wiring bugaboo, but we first swapped in another stock throttle body - which has electronics inside, since it is a drive-by-wire setup.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-mjzb8CG/0/L/DSC_0571-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-mjzb8CG/0/X3/DSC_0571-X3.jpg)
Luckily that fixed it. I have driven the car 2 or 3 times since that was replaced and it runs like a top, from 1500 rpm roll-ons to 7000 rpm shifts.We didn't have to repair any wiring harness gremlins, which was a relief. The 3 year old Odyssey PC680 battery finally gave up the ghost, so we swapped in a new $125 replacement. This battery managed to never let us down on the street for years of daily driving, and it was long term storage that killed it (sitting for weeks between races without a battery tender). While the TB was being replaced the entire front end was then blown apart for inspection and updates.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-6x9jpZq/1/S/_DSC0145-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-6x9jpZq/1/X3/_DSC0145-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-tH9cbqP/1/S/_DSC0163-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-tH9cbqP/1/X3/_DSC0163-X3.jpg)
This was another area I discussed last time: the front end and splitter refinements. Our custom splitter development has spanned several months (August - November) and we've learned a lot along the way, and noted some areas that could be improved. Extra fasteners added here or there, a better alignment on the captured mounting pins, and some better sealing on the radiator ducting.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-n8Q37Rb/1/S/_DSC0151-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-n8Q37Rb/1/X3/_DSC0151-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Q2hfp6m/1/S/_DSC0146-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Q2hfp6m/1/X3/_DSC0146-X3.jpg)
Some of it was just normal track wear and tear. The black painted finish on the splitter took a lot of bug hits at ECR (grasshoppers are brutal at 125 mph!) so the splitter was removed and completely repainted during the above work. It all went back together better than before, and we kept the "short" splitter on the car (the 6" vs 10" extended length) for now.
Goofy Oil Catch Can + Crankcase Vacuum Routing
After the weekend of the NASA@TWS race in September, we noted a bit of oil residue under the car. It got worse by NASA@ECR in November, when we noticed a bit more oil leaking under the car and showing up on the floor of the trailer. It wasn't a lot, but was more than a little, you know? Looked like it was coming from the rear main seal of the engine, just dripping out of the transmission bell housing. That's not good. We kept cleaning it off and watching it all weekend, and it got progressively worse.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jnZKdmv/1/L/_DSC9136-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jnZKdmv/1/X3/_DSC9136-X3.jpg)
Dammit, why did this happen? I think it was my fault - having something to do with the improper routing we ran on the oil catch can/PCV system. See, we were trying to follow the routing of the Boss 302-S oil breather system, but that doesn't really have a sealed catch can like we run. Instead that car just has a crankcase breather system, with no real vacuum source, and uses a fresh air filter in the top of the catch can. With the crankcase breather routing we ran (since our August test at ECR, see above) we pulled a high amount vacuum from the intake manifold, through the catch can, and then back to the tops of both valve covers. With no fresh air inlet it was too much for the system to hold and it was collapsing the hoses. We chased the horrible honking noises, hoses that kept getting sucked flat, pulled the PCV valve out for a straight thru unit, and overall just ran too much vacuum on the crankcase. This likely pulled the rear main seal out of place during this time.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-q9MF9zF/1/S/DSC_0693-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-q9MF9zF/1/X3/DSC_0693-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Bfb54Tn/1/S/DSC_0694-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Bfb54Tn/1/X3/DSC_0694-X3.jpg)
We have since switched this system to more conventional OEM type PCV routing, shown above, which is how the stock Coyote 5.0 positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system runs. The only difference is that we have added an oil catch can/filter in line with the hose on the passenger side head (the vacuum side).
continued below
continued from above
The driver's side valve cover pulls in fresh air from in front of the throttle body (which is atmospheric pressure, and not a vacuum source), to keep fresh air coming into the crankcase, which balanced the vacuum pulled on the passenger side valve cover at the opposite end of the system. Again, just like the factory routing, and all of the "hoses pulled flat" and honking noises have gone away. We had initially switched to a simple breather system during the ECR race weekend, but with 3 race weekends run in the weird "high crankcase vacuum" mode we think that is when the rear main seal was damaged. The old routing kept filling the catch can with oil.
You can see the extra hose bib that was added (TIG welded) to the gold foil wrapped aluminum intake tube in the two pictures above, when we switched the hoses to a more traditional PCV style routing. We even added the PCV valve back to the passenger side valve cover (note the blue color of the one-way check valve on the PCV coupler; the black coupler on the driver's side is just a straight thru connector). We will test this new routing at a track test day / possible TV shoot this coming weekend, but I'm confident this will work just like stock, because it is just like the stock routing now but with the catch can in place.
Basically we created a problem, listened to people tell us to keep doing it the wrong way, chased our tails, damaged the rear main seal, and then undid the mistake and went back to a logical PCV routing system. Sometimes you have to ignore advice and just do what makes sense, what works.
Repair Work to Rear Main + Clutch
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-wpMp2bm/1/L/_DSF0948-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-wpMp2bm/1/X3/_DSF0948-X3.jpg)
So by now it was late November, many repairs and fixes had been done to help sell the car and put to bed every little nagging problem, except one: the leaking rear main seal. At this point and we still had every intention of selling the red TT3 Mustang, and I couldn't let anyone buy the car with a known oil leak. So I asked the guys in our shop to yank the transmission out for a look at the rear main seal. This meant we had to drop the after-header exhaust, the starter, the driveshaft, unhook the shifter, and then pull the transmission. Lots of fun. Kyle tackled this rear main seal + clutch replacement work in 6 hours and 23 minutes, according to our MyShopAssist (http://myshopassist.com/) logs (this service tracking system is used on all of our service work starting in mid 2013, even our own cars).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-zp6bKDH/1/S/_DSF0954-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-zp6bKDH/1/X3/_DSF0954-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-4X6NXKn/1/S/_DSF0956-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-4X6NXKn/1/X3/_DSF0956-X3.jpg)
This was the first time we had to pull the transmission out of our 2011 GT, as the service to 3rd gear last April was done by the dealer under warranty. The drivetrain in this car has been rock solid and I didn't expect to see any damage to the clutch, pressure plate or flywheel, other than possible oil contamination.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ksQk3Td/1/S/_DSF0958-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ksQk3Td/1/X3/_DSF0958-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-hb5XdWg/1/S/_DSF0969-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-hb5XdWg/1/X3/_DSF0969-X3.jpg)
Once the transmission was out, the clutch, PP and flywheel, as well as the reluctor for the crank trigger had to come out to access the rear main seal. The seal replacement is actually very easy once all that is out of the way. The new part wasn't expensive at all ($11) and I was hoping that's all we would need to do - burn some hours making access to the seal, then replace this one part. Looking at the clutch disc surface you would think this was a brand new car, as it had almost no noticeable wear. 18,000 miles and lots of autocross starts and thousands of shifts on track, and all of the friction and metal surfaces looked perfect on the clutch, flywheel and pressure plate. Amy and I are always easy on drivetrain parts, but there was some damage... something quite strange.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jQsqsHP/1/S/_DSF0961-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jQsqsHP/1/X3/_DSF0961-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-4PQg6KN/1/S/_DSF0962-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-4PQg6KN/1/X3/_DSF0962-X3.jpg)
Above are pictures of the 3 dowel pins in the stock flywheel (in 6 pieces, just as they came out). When Kyle pulled the transmission he noted that all 6 bolts holding the PP to the flywheel were very loose. That's not good. And then when he pulled the PP off the 3 dowel pins fell out, as each had broken in half. WTF? I cannot say what happened here, except to note that this has all been apart before for some warranty work. The loose pressure plate to flywheel bolts must have allowed the pressure plate to wobble out the mounting holes, and that movement then broke the dowel pins. To me this meant the PP was not reusable, and I had questions about the flywheel. Could we have reused it all? Sure, and since we were selling the car so it would be no bother... but I don't play that way.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7N2SNrF/1/S/_DSF0946-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7N2SNrF/1/X3/_DSF0946-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gmD6VRH/1/S/DSC_0687-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gmD6VRH/1/X3/DSC_0687-X3.jpg)
We weighed the OEM flywheel, of course, and at 22.3 pounds it was lighter than I originally thought it might be (but confirmed the numbers I was given by Fidanza). Would it be worthwhile to replace this with a 12-13 pound aluminum flywheel? Hmm.... not a lot of gain here, compared to some V8 cars we've dealt with that have 40-50 pound flywheels. Since I felt uncomfortable replacing just the pressure plate, and we could not find the part number or a source for the 5.0 Coyote's flywheel dowel pins, we went ahead and replaced all of it.
While this seems somewhat drastic, remember - this is a 6+ hour repair job, where the labor outweighs the replacement costs of the clutch/PP/flywheel parts. It is rare that you pull a transmission and not replace at least the clutch disc. After doing some research and running out of time (we had the car in pieces, stuck on one of our lifts) we went back with the exact stock replacement parts sourced from Ford. The clutch, pp and flywheel are the same OEM pieces as what came out, just brand new and secured properly this time. All told it was about $500 in parts, and while we could have saved a little money with aftermarket replacement bits I didn't want to risk changing something that worked so well on a car I was about to sell. Most aftermarket clutches would have more pedal effort, and at this power level (420-430 whp) we obviously didn't need it, as we had never felt clutch slippage and noticed almost no wear on the clutch parts.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-K9cc4ZZ/1/S/DSC_0688-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-K9cc4ZZ/1/X3/DSC_0688-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Q5brS5s/1/S/DSC_0690-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Q5brS5s/1/X3/DSC_0690-X3.jpg)
Going back together was fairly easy, and everything lined up perfectly. As you can see we are still running the stock shifter (less notchy than most SSKs) but do have the Steeda rear poly bushing in the body side mount and the Whiteline trans bushing insert as well, and Amy and I both like the positive shift feel and low shift effort. New pressure plate mounting bolts were secured in place on the flywheel with red Loctite this time, which was obviously missing on the old bolts (they were clean and dry).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vZcVhQf/1/S/DSC_0691-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vZcVhQf/1/X3/DSC_0691-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7D4xnzm/0/S/DSC_0726-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7D4xnzm/0/X3/DSC_0726-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
Once the transmission & clutch parts were all back together I thought we were done with the rear main seal repairs. Not so much. Turns out a slight leak in the clutch hydraulic system developed that refused to cooperate. Bleeding and bleeding just resulted in a mess on the shop floor from a tiny leak that couldn't be found. So we replaced the stock plastic hydraulic line (shown below) with a commonly used stainless steel hard line (FMS-M-7512-A, $229, that technically is for the 2005-10 Mustang, but it can be tweaked slightly to fit the '11-14 6-spd), as we thought there might be a crack in the plastic line. That wasn't the issue and the pedal's hydraulic feel was still crap, with a tiny yet invisible leak. Don't waste your money on that metal clutch hard line unless : you have the system apart already, don't want the plastic line anymore, and don't mind tweaking the hard line to fit.
The leak was later finally chased down to a 90° plastic quick-connect elbow on one end of the hard line that had "sprung its spring". It dripped down the line and was in an inaccessible spot that was very hard to see. This meant we had to buy yet another clutch line to get the new elbow,the OEM plastic piece (which comes with this elbow). That fix turned this little leak repair into into another $300 worth of parts and another few hours of investigations and several clutch bleeding attempts - but that seems to finally be fixed as well. Lesson learned: always be suspect of plastic quick connects! Good grief, what I wouldn't give for a regular threaded fitting sometimes; we could have made a new line that actually fit this chassis better for about $40 in parts.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9jwdN3z/0/S/20131223_163840-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9jwdN3z/0/X3/20131223_163840-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-DxHXbVh/1/S/_DSC1710-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-DxHXbVh/1/X3/_DSC1710-X3.jpg)
This whole crankcase vacuum / rear main seal snafu snowballed quite a bit, and is honestly a little embarrassing, but I have to chalk it up it was a learning experience. It never left is stranded and didn't "break" per se, and we caught the flywheel bolt damage while we were in fixing the rear main seal issues we caused. I took poor advice on the PCV system routing that I now know to be wrong, but in the end we finally got our system laid out correctly. The guys also found and fixed a broken exhaust mount while the exhaust was off, too (probably due to the off track excursion I had at Turn 6 at TWS), which made the lone rattle on the car disappear.
Please, if you have read this far, learn from our mistakes. Always question any advice on aftermarket mods, do your research, and plan for the worst when you get your car apart - don't plan on a 6 hour fix when it could turn into a multi-day parts chasing mess. What I thought would be a 1 day repair with $11 in parts ended up spanning two weeks and involving $800 worth of consumables - none of which made the car any faster, ugh. But now I can say that the car is at least fixed right and we avoided a potentially spectacular clutch system failure.
Somebody Buy Our Black 2013 Mustang GT...
So I've had potential buyers sniffing around both Mustangs, but the vast majority have been looking at the less costly and more stock-like black 2013 GT (http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2013gt.php) shown below. The black GT will sell soon, I can feel it. But the Red 2011 Mustang seems to have no takers. Why is that? Maybe the car looks too radical to be street driven - it isn't, but it has that perception. Yet it isn't radical enough to be a full "race car" for others. And of course the graphics are a bit over the top and the front flares are admittedly ugly. If we sell this car we won't have a replacement track car/race car ready for the next few months because we are too busy at the shop working on customer cars, which means we will miss the first few NASA Texas events for the season.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-CqF3wCc/1/S/CROPCENTER2b%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-CqF3wCc/1/X3/CROPCENTER2b%20copy-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-mWSGD6J/1/S/_DSF6183-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-mWSGD6J/1/X3/_DSF6183-X3.jpg)
Instead of de-modding and dumbing down the 2011 GT we're now going to concentrate harder on selling the black 2013 Mustang GT instead. Again, that car is pristine, has 6K miles, and has been garaged every day of its life. I've almost had it sold so many times (and once again last night), came within $500 of closing the deal once, so its almost there. Here are the details:
Classified ad page: http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2013gt.php
Price: $26.5K obo!
Odometer: 5,9XX miles
VIN: 1ZVBP8CF2D5247691
Engine: Coyote 5.0L DOHC Aluminum V8, 420 hp (dyno'd at 377 whp , 365 wtq)
Drivetrain: Getrag MT-82 6-speed manual, Rear Wheel Drive, 8.8" rear axle with Limited Slip and 3.55:1 rear gears
Colors: Black exterior, Black Cloth interior
Upgrades include:
Ford Racing M-5300-P springs (lowers the car 1.5")
Whiteline Adjustable Panhard Bar (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=531) (re-centers the rear axle when lowered) and chassis brace (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=530)
Whiteline LCA relocation bracket (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=533)s (fixes rear suspension geometry when lowered)
Eibach larger diameter front swaybar (part of this kit (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=349))
14" Brembo 4 piston front brakes (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=598) (what comes on the Boss302 and Track pack cars) with Centric premium rotors (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=587)
Vorshlag S197 stainless brake line kit (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=586)
Prototype brake cooling package made by Vorshlag for the 2013-14 Mustang GT (hidden front ducts behind the grill, 3" hoses to a pair of Vorshlag S197 Brembo backing plate ducting (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=634))
Engine is bone stock, as is the interior and exterior
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Instructions/AST-4100-install-on-S197/i-p84shSD/0/S/DSC_6510-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Instructions/AST-4100-install-on-S197/i-p84shSD/0/X3/DSC_6510-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-5d8wrxP/0/S/DSC_1983-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-5d8wrxP/0/X3/DSC_1983-X3.jpg)
Optional upgrades to the black 2013 GT
Of course if you want to customize this Mustang we have lots and lots of parts we can put onto this car, both new and used. We will sweeten the deal and discount the parts and labor on a number of parts, to help sell this car. Here are a couple of things we could add to incentivize the right buyer, with the discounted costs shown:
AST coilovers + springs + camber plates for +$1800. We have a set of used set of 4100s that have the Grand Am DDP pistons, were custom valved, and were used on our red 2011 GT for a year and a half before we went to Motons. These became the prototypes for the 4150. This set-up new would cost $2839 + the custom revalving.
Wider wheels and tires (shown above): The 2013 GT already has the upgraded factory 19x9" wheels and 255 Pirellis that come on the Track Pack/Brembo cars. For +$1000 we would upgrade to the 18x10" D-Force LTW5 wheels and 295/35/18 Nitto NT-05 tires (used). This set-up new would cost ($1236 for 4 wheels + $248/ea for tires) $2240.
Again, get it touch with us if you are thinking about buying a 2012-14 Mustang, as we can make this one customized for YOU, many banks will still give new car financing on a car this new, and the 5 year/60K warranty (http://www.ford.com/cars/mustang/2013/warranty/) has a majority of its life left.
2011 Mustang Development - Not Quite Dead Yet...?
My point is, if we could just sell this 2013 GT we would likely keep the red 2011 GT and continue to develop it and race it in the 2014 season. Why not - nobody wants to buy it! I've talked with Amy and she doesn't really want to sell the red Mustang, and for once would rather keep one of our long term project cars. After we buy the 2015 Mustang and had it race ready, in the future, she would love to make the red 2011 GT a street car/daily driver again. I also think that this S197 still has a lot of untapped performance potential in TT3, as we never got around to trying a few things I wanted to test or develop further.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-XpHc6n8/0/L/DSC_1013-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-XpHc6n8/0/X3/DSC_1013-X3.jpg)
We have yet to find the limit of "bigger is better" when it comes to tires on the heavy S197
What things? Wider tires than the 315mm Hoosiers we ran in all of 2013 season. Because it is very heavy, makes a decent amount of power, and in testing it has gotten faster after every single tire width upgrade we've done since 2010.
continued below
continued from above
We started on 255mm tires and quickly moved to 265mm, 275mm and finally 295mm wide street tires. And when it came to R-compounds we tried 275, 285, 295, 305, and 315mm widths ranging from Kumho to Hoosier.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-9PnV762/0/S/DSC_1000-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-9PnV762/0/X3/DSC_1000-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-SDrPszk/1/S/_DSC5107-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-SDrPszk/1/X3/_DSC5107-X3.jpg)
We tested briefly in 2012 with the 345/35/18 rear Hoosier A6, and it had ferocious forward bite on these nearly 14" wide tires (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hoosier&tireModel=A6&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=3435ZR8A6&tab=Specs) (13.9" section width/13.2" tread. The 315/30/18 is only 11.8" of tread/12.5" of section width, fully 1.4" narrower), but they rubbed the inside body structure and fenders badly under cornering (before the Watts Link). The rubbing caused other handling issues, and a huge smoke screen, so we shelved that size for a while. When we cut and flared the front fenders (to clear the new 18x12" wheels) I had every intention of doing the same to the rear fenders, then upgrading the front to 335mm and the rear to the 345mm tire again. I met with considerable resistance from Amy about "cutting on her car", but I'm wearing her down.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-vK76r9M/1/S/DSC_1075-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-vK76r9M/1/X3/DSC_1075-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-HdMP8f5/2/S/IMG_1682-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-HdMP8f5/2/X3/IMG_1682-X3.jpg)
The 345mm rear Hoosier was wider than the stock rear fenders could accommodate and made lots of tire smoke from rubbing
As we noted many times in our Time Trial events this past year (with 15 separate NASA events in 2013) my fastest laps were almost always my first or second lap, barring traffic problems. On one or two rare occasions I ended up making my best lap on hot lap 3, but that was always due to a driving mistake or traffic on previous laps. The Hoosier A6 is a temperamental tire and works best in ambient temps from 50-60°F, and more often than not the lap times fell off a full second per lap after the first. We were also only getting 20-30 hot laps per set of tires before they are GONE.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Hallett-062213/i-rFfd4Jm/1/S/DSC_8721-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Hallett-062213/i-rFfd4Jm/1/X3/DSC_8721-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Hallett-062213/i-49SDpBz/1/S/DSC_8419-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Hallett-062213/i-49SDpBz/1/X3/DSC_8419-X3.jpg)
Tires that only work for 1 or 2 laps, coupled with slower cars in front = TT traffic frustration!
My theory is that with another 20mm up front and another 30mm on the rear that our "golden lap zone" of ideal conditions could be expanded from 1 or 2 hot laps to maybe 3-4 hot laps. That is a big improvement for Time Trial that could have allowed for faster lap records at a few events in 2013 where I had serious traffic issues in the first couple of laps (more times than I can count). Not to mention a potential increase in mechanical grip from the additional two or three inches of tire on the ground at each axle. And possibly an increase in total tire life? That +20/+30mm change is not a small increase in tire width.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-hrsR8qh/2/L/_DSC2747-L.jpg
Another area we dabbled with late in the 2013 season was adding downforce, which I think still has more room for improvement on this car. While Vorshlag is first and foremost a suspension shop we have been seeing more and more aero development creep into club level road racing and time attack/time trial competition, and we were finding lap time improvements using aero changes very late into the season. The 10" long front splitter we added right before Miller, that many told us was "too long to be effective", coupled with our front grill block-off and ducted hood made more front downforce than the APR GTC-300 rear wing could match. That meant that at high speeds the car had an aero imbalance, and it was prone to oversteer. I cannot emphasize enough how loose this car was at Miller with that long front splitter, and we ran out of AoA on the rear wing to stabilize the car in high speed corners. Nothing like going 150+ sideways, wee!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-4gqvJg3/1/S/_DSC6876-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-4gqvJg3/1/X3/_DSC6876-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-684nmZQ/1/S/_DSC9083-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-684nmZQ/1/X3/_DSC9083-X3.jpg)
To "fix" this we lopped 4 inches off the front of the 10" long splitter (well, actually a spare we had), right after returning from Nationals. Magically the car was balanced once again at the 150+ mph corner entry speeds we saw at TWS in late September, and was faster than ever at ECR in November. But it always nagged me... if we only had more rear downforce wouldn't that bigger front splitter be better overall? With some of the latest rear wings on the market having 14" and even 16" long chords and 70"+ widths, there could be a more efficient and more effective wing to test on this car, then we could bring the Big Splitter back (we kept it, just in case).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bQ75ZNW/1/S/_DSC9078-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bQ75ZNW/1/X3/_DSC9078-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Test-Day-ECR-082613/i-B4sJWzv/1/S/_DSC1309-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Test-Day-ECR-082613/i-B4sJWzv/1/X3/_DSC1309-X3.jpg)
As I mentioned in my previous posts we would have liked to get into S550 chassis development as soon as possible, and run the 2014 season in NASA TT2 class with the new Mustang (a bump up on power and/or down in weight from TT3, going from 9.5:1 to 8:1 pounds per hp) but my hopes of acquiring one of these in the early spring of 2014 and prepping it to race for most of that year seem to be dashed. At best we might see a car in early August. So recently we began our ST2/TT2 build on an E36 BMW LS1 car (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8254), then our paying customer shop work picked up so much (we're building a number of race cars and LS1 swaps for people right now) that this project was delayed. Meaning, if we mothball the 2011 GT we won't have a car to race at all for many months, which pains me. That's half the reason I quit the secure engineering jobs I had in the past - to start a business, create products tailor made to racers, and then using our racing as "testing"! :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E36-LS1-Vorshlag-Chassis-002/i-7C33vb8/1/S/_DSC1607-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E36-LS1-Vorshlag-Chassis-002/i-7C33vb8/1/X3/_DSC1607-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E36-LS1-Vorshlag-Chassis-002/i-h6hJ5RR/1/S/_DSC1604-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E36-LS1-Vorshlag-Chassis-002/i-h6hJ5RR/1/X3/_DSC1604-X3.jpg)
We have a lot of work left on our ST2 BMW LS1 project (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8254) before it is ready to race
Long story short, we're going to take our red 2011 Mustang and keep racing and developing with it as long as we need to, until the ST2 car is completed or until the S550 is here and prepped. This might mean an entire extra year competing in the red 2011 GT, known jokingly around the shop as the "pretty pony". And that's one thing I aim to do - make it look less ugly, with a new rear wing, proper metal flares blended into the bodywork, and a more low key graphics theme - say good bye to white strips visible from space!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-h8m8NBr/2/S/20130902_201512-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-h8m8NBr/2/X3/20130902_201512-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Gs4hMC5/1/S/_DSC9084-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Gs4hMC5/1/X3/_DSC9084-X3.jpg)
This is the worst looking pair of flares on any car I've ever owned, and that's saying a lot
Those prototype plastic front fender flares we made look OK at 100 mph, but up close, they ugly. Sure, these were aerodynamically efficient but we have plans to make proper METAL flares welded to the front and rear fenders to cover the much wider Hoosier tires. Amy is still complaining about cutting the rear fenders on "her car" to clear the bigger meats, but I've got the Mustang at the shop all day, there's a fresh blade on the SawsAll, and possession is nine tenths of the saw.... I mean the "law".
continued below
continued from above
We've got a few ideas in mind to keep pushing the performance of this 2011 Mustang on track. We know some of our TT3 records are soft, so it might be nice to bump them up a bit. And we're running some all new track configurations this year so we could try to nail down some more. But then again, TT2 is faster, and would be challenging to try to compete there in Texas and at NASA East Nationals. We beat some of the TT2 records last year in TT3, and with less weight or more power (or just more development on the TT3 set-up) we could feasibly reset some of those and nail down some wins. And if we went ahead and bumped the red 2011 to TT2 it would be an easy transition to bring the BMW LS1 ST2 car up to speed, accumulating points in the same class all year. Which way to go then?
Where To Race - TT2 or TT3?
Before we start this bench racing section I have to post the new NASA Super Touring rules, revised for 2014. This is the basis for the TT classing and rules, and there are some changes that affect TT2 and TT3.
New 2014 rules: http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/Super-Touring.pdf
Lots of little changes in the new ST rules, and they look good. I like that the 4 door exemption is being cut in half, as this factor never really hurt most of cars that could come in both 2 or 4 door models.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Adam-Fousts-BMW-3-Series/i-RQWbCGg/1/S/_DSC7609-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Adam-Fousts-BMW-3-Series/i-RQWbCGg/1/L/_DSC7609-L.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E36-LS1-Vorshlag-Chassis-002/i-zS9h5Dk/1/S/_DSC6925-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E36-LS1-Vorshlag-Chassis-002/i-zS9h5Dk/1/X3/_DSC6925-X3.jpg)
The E36 BMW 2 door and 4 door chassis weigh almost exactly the same, but the 4 door used to have a +0.4 modifier bonus but now is only +0.2
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-BW3BSx3/0/L/competition-weight-2014-L.jpg
The new 2014 revised Competition Weight modifier chart for ST, above, is easier to wade through and penalizes the super light cars more (sub 1800 pounds = -2.0 penalty!). I like this since the sub-1800 pound cars with driver aren't really "cars" per se, not by any modern definition. Just for grins here is the old, more complicated Competition Weight modifier chart from the TT rule set, below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-PtGB2BH/0/L/competition-weight-2013-L.jpg
For 2013 the TT3 class was the most popular TT class in the NASA Texas at almost all of the 14 race regional competitions we had last year (and at NASA Nationals). And Vorshlag had a decent set-up there, winning 13 of the 14 regional TT3 races in this car, mostly with the pre-August '13 aero changes and narrower front wheels. We could feasibly develop the car further and do better in TT3 again, but for grins let's see what it would take to make the jump to TT2. At first glance it would seem like the jump would be easy, as it is "only a 1 point weight to power ratio change", going from 9:1 to 8:1. Just lose a few pounds here and there and race it, right? In reality it is much more complicated than that.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-Mpjjkm3/1/L/_DSC9389-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-Mpjjkm3/1/X3/_DSC9389-X3.jpg)
First let's back up and analyze our current TT3 setup with respect to power, race weight, and ratio modifiers:
2013 TT3 race weight was 3770 pounds with driver. I'm about 210 with my gear on and we've been using 3/4 tank of fuel to ballast up that weight (and to avoid fuel starvation - I usually go out in each session with a nearly full or totally full tank). Latest DynoJet chassis dyno pull was a best of 419 whp, after we added the new air snorkel, but it made 430 whp in the past (more on that "missing power" in a second). Here's the 2013 and 2014 TT3 ratio calculations:
TT3 Unadjusted Wt/Power Ratio = 9.0
Non-OEM aero = +0.4 (*penalty) - note this changed from -0.5 in 2013
Running 3700-3799 pounds = -0.5 (*bonus) note: we used a +0.6 bonus for 2013
Adjusted Wt/Power ratio = 8.9 (the adjusted limit at this weight was also 8.9 in 2013)
3770 pounds / 419 whp = 8.99 currently
So if you noticed we were a little over the 8.9 ratio needed at this race weight, almost by 0.1, which is a good bit. This means we could really have run as low as ~3730 pounds at this power level, or run a few hp more on the dyno at 3770, and not get dinged. That is just part of the cushion we like to run, just to stay squeaky clean and legal. As much as others have pushed me to I won't cheat, and I show these ratios and calculations publicly and have our TT classing paperwork at every event for anyone to look at. In 2 years, 20+ TT events, and probably 40 weighings on this car we've missed weight twice, both times by 5 to 7 pounds, and we fixed it shortly after (and ran faster at the proper weight in later sessions).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-B2ftfzs/0/L/_DSC9397-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-B2ftfzs/0/X3/_DSC9397-X3.jpg)
But how can we get this car down to an "8.0 ratio", to be competitive in TT2? We think there is a bit of power to be had in the exhaust, as this setup used to make 430 whp and did for quite some time. The catalysts we are running are a few years old, and one of them is smashed a little and might have a busted catalyst matrix, causing some flow restriction. Removing the cats and making a shorter/lighter race exhaust might uncork that 10-12 whp and get the power back to where it was before (from 419 to 430). But other than that there is no more "easy power" to be had. Everything we could do to add 20-30 more hp would cost thousands of dollars (build a race motor) and virtually every bolt-on mod that might be done would just move the rev range up and likely lose as much or more power below 5500 rpms. So let's stick with 430 whp, for the most simplicity, reliability and lowest costs.
3770 pounds / 430 whp = 8.76
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-cLNBHgs/0/S/DSC_5303-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-cLNBHgs/0/X3/DSC_5303-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-RGh73Mh/0/S/_DSC3203%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-RGh73Mh/0/X3/_DSC3203%20copy-X3.jpg)
Hmm, we're still way off the mark at that power level. What about losing a bit of weight? We think that ditching the over-the-axle exhaust section and the pair of relatively heavy Flowmaster mufflers in favor of a lightweight "dumped" system like we built on the custom Boss 302-S exhaust (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-7nfwhhG/0/X3/JPGEDITwarpBETTERUntitled_Panorama1%20copy%203-X3.jpg) we built (see above) could shed as much as 40 pounds off of the current system (see below). We dropped more than that on the 302-S exhaust. We could also replace the bloody slip-fit joints from the headers to the exhaust (which always leak just a little and we have to tack weld in place) in favor of proper 3" stainless V-band flanges.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-SFHWd8g/0/S/DSC_7732-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/Exhaust-Systems/i-SFHWd8g/0/X2/DSC_7732-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g4P6LsB/0/S/DSC_7396-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g4P6LsB/0/X3/DSC_7396-X3.jpg)
Then there is the rear seat, which when removed would drop another 35 pounds, with hardware. So with exhaust changes and rear seat removed that is the "easy" 75 pounds to lose. All could be quickly undone and involve almost no cost (well the exhaust would take two mufflers, some mandrel bends and about 7-8 hours to fabricate and weld, but who's counting!).
3695 pounds / 430 lbs = 8.59
If we do something about the fuel starvation issues, maybe with a new fuel tank sump or surge tank, that could mean we wouldn't have to run nearly a full tank. We run almost full now, which is 16 gallons, and at 6 pounds per gallon for gasoline that's 96 pounds. Running only a 20-25 pound fuel load, with a proper fuel tank pick-up, surge tank or even a small fuel cell, might help us drop up to 70 pounds of fuel weight...
3625 pounds / 430 whp = 8.40
We're making some progress but we need a lot more. Let's look at some interior bits that could be removed to drop more pounds. That carpet likely has some hefty insulation under it. It needs to come out and be weighed. And the air conditioning compressor, accumulator and condenser core are not only heavy but the condenser core is blocking air to the radiator. Is there another 90-100 pounds in weight savings here, not even touching the under-dash bits? Could be.
3525 pounds / 430 whp = 8.18
So with a little bench racing we're getting closer to the 8 pounds per hp goal, but don't forget about the TT modifiers. Since we are moving to TT2 there's no more +0.4 penalty for "non-stock aero" (formerly 0.5), yet there's still a bonus for running a race weight heavier than 2999 pounds... scroll up to the Competition Weight adjustment chart for that modifier (now a -0.5 bonus, which used to -0.6).
continued below
continued from above - last one!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-NOLA-May-4-5-2013/i-SNM3FsW/2/L/image-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-NOLA-May-4-5-2013/i-SNM3FsW/2/X3/image-X3.jpg)
Looks like if we got down to 3500-3600 pounds there is still a -0.3 bonus, which means we could add even more power and still be TT2 legal, yikes. You kind of have to back into this weight penalty/bonus deal by first choosing a race weight, looking at the Competition Weight table of modifiers and then figure out your final ratio that way. It takes a couple of iterations but isn't hard to do. With a guess at 3525 pound minimum weight (where we think we could get without cutting up the car) that is a -0.3 modifier bonus, which is helpful.
3520 pounds / 457 hp = (8.0 - 0.3) 7.7 ratio (legal ratio at this race weight for TT2)
Yikes, that's a big jump... so we would be going from TT3 with an adjusted 8.9 ratio to TT2 with a 7.7 ratio. Even after dropping another 250 pounds we would still be 27 whp shy of the limit for the class. Another way to look at it is that at 3520 pounds the car would be 207 pounds overweight for 430 whp. Yikes... that's a lot of power to find (read: pay for) or a lot more weight to lose (450 pounds lower than we are now, which is impossible without radical chassis surgery and/or without exotic materials). So maybe a 100% competitive TT2 build is not in the cards for this 2011 GT... and I'm OK with that. What about a "semi-competitive" TT2 car?
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-NOLA-May-4-5-2013/i-5dTVLzm/1/L/_DSC3696-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-NOLA-May-4-5-2013/i-5dTVLzm/1/X3/_DSC3696-X3.jpg)
Say we get that "easy" 200-250 pounds out of the car, add the bigger rear wing, flare the sheet metal properly and run the wider 335/345 tires, then ballast back up to TT3 weights -or- run sans ballast and just jump into TT2 with a +200 pound heavy car? Again, we did pretty well last year in TT3 and even beat TT2 lap records a few times at 3770 pounds. With more tire, more aero and less weight we might still be able to sneak in a few TT2 wins until the dedicated ST2/TT2 car(s) are built? Who knows. It gives us some extra performance and classing flexibility with minimal spending.
Again, there is no easy way to add another 30 whp, as the only "easy" bolt-ons left are bigger cams and a different intake manifold design (bigger cross section, shorter runners). Yet we know that these mods will likely lose power below 5000 rpms over what we have now. The popular Boss302 intake is a known "power shifter", adding a few points of peak power up top but killing as much or more power below 5500 rpm, so that's a dead end. The other ways to add power to an engine are to improve the Volumetric Efficiency, add compression or displacement, or add boost - none of which are easy or cheap to do. I like having a bone stock engine from throttle body to exhaust port, as it keeps the factory 5 year / 60K powertrain warranty intact, hehe.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Wineingers-50-Mustang/i-wbgJhJz/1/S/_DSC1107-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Wineingers-50-Mustang/i-wbgJhJz/1/X3/_DSC1107-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Wineingers-50-Mustang/i-CrHsLWg/1/S/_DSC1383-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Wineingers-50-Mustang/i-CrHsLWg/1/X3/_DSC1383-X3.jpg)
So while I will consult some folks smarter than me and see where we can lose more weight (without cutting away big parts of the car) or gain more power (without getting into the motor), we will likely just try to improve the TT3 performance, drop as much weight as we can easily undo, and ballast up closer to the class limit... and remove the ballast and run TT2 as-is, when it makes sense. We will also make a separate ballast package for whenever Amy drives, as we are running as "Team Vorshlag" in 2014, and she and I will split driving duties. At least this way we can run the same transponder and won't screw that up, heh. Just need to make a very visible, quick to install chunk of driver ballast to make up the differences in our weights.
MCS / S197 Shock Test Video
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-tHFMGZd/0/L/in-car-ecr-jan-L.jpg
In-car video from Nov 3rd track test with MCS TT1 coilovers on 2012 Mustang GT at ECR (http://youtu.be/XBt3GZZS-Bc)
Shannon just uploaded the 720P high def version of the Tom's Lap Timer video that I talked about in my last forum update. In the video above (http://youtu.be/XBt3GZZS-Bc) you can now see how the MCS non-remote singles work on this somewhat bumpy track. Driving this car was effortless (exception: hanging on in stock seat was difficult!) at 9/10ths, and we put in several hot laps with some traffic in an HPDE4 session. I didn't make any crazy passes and we got held up on every lap, yet we still managed to put in that 2:07 lap there.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-QDXWJRz/1/S/Untitled_Panorama1-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-QDXWJRz/1/X3/Untitled_Panorama1-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-X3CTd54/0/S/_DSC7416-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-X3CTd54/0/X3/_DSC7416-X3.jpg)
The 255mm street tires (Nitto Invo) were worn smooth out, but car owner Jan has since ordered 18x11" Forgestar F14s from us (that just arrived) and we will be installing some fat 295/35/18 BFGoodrich Rivals onto those next week. This Mustang is nearly bone stock, with a 100% stock powertrain, some Carbotech XP16 brake pads, and the MCS shocks and Vorshlag camber plates. Real monotube adjustable dampers absolutely transform these cars on track, yet with the valving turned down this daily driven Mustang rides beautifully (550F/250R rates). I think with the 11" wide wheels and 295 Rivals this car could dip into the 2:03-2:04 zone, which is just FLYING for street tires. In comparison, a truly bone stock 2012 GT runs about a 2:12 lap at ECR, from what we have seen and timed (we tested our 2013 GT on 18x10" wheels and 295mm Nittos for our "baseline" numbers).
USCA Event at TMS is On!
There was an event we were in danger of missing in the early part of 2014 if we didn't have a street car to race - the Ultimate Street Car Association (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/)'s TMS event March 21-23, 2014 (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/events/). This is the new series created by Jimi Day/FM3 Marketing to serve as the qualifiers for the big Optima Challenge shootout after SEMA, and we want to be there in this Mustang, which is a real street car. We hope to be on proper 335mm Rivals this time, too. Keeping the 2011 around will allow us to make that event in our own back yard, which is exciting. Road course, autocross, speed stop and some car show portion.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-PFj783k/2/L/DSC_2057-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-PFj783k/2/X3/DSC_2057-X3.jpg)
Time for some fat street tires and a run at the USCA event in March!
NASA @ MSR-Houston Jan 19-20, 2014
First NASA event of 2014 is right around the corner, as we race 12 months out of the year here in Texas. The MSR-H event is being run this year in the CCW format, opposite of 2013, so any TT3 winning time will be a track record, and possibly TT2 as well. So Amy and I will enter as "Team Vorshlag" and run whichever class has more cars, and if we can get to 5 in a given class maybe somebody will win some tires. The attendance looks pretty light right now, but that is typical for this January event - which could have really cold or windy weather, rain or fog (the fog last year delayed the start of the event) - but being Houston that could change at any minute and turn into a warm sunny day. Most people wait until the last possible minute to enter this event, which drives the NASA folks nuts! ;)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-Houston-011913/i-RM5nFqP/0/L/_DSC9884%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-Houston-011913/i-RM5nFqP/0/X3/_DSC9884%20copy-X3.jpg)
With this renewed focus on the red 2011 Mustang and a split of TT3 & TT2 goals for 2014, we have a lot of prep work to do in the next few weeks to make MSR-Houston, unless we just take the car "as-is". I don't want to do that, of course! We almost never run the same set-up twice in a row - continuous development makes for continuous improvement. The initial changes we have planned (exhaust, flares, tires, weight) are still much less work than is needed to finish the ST2 BMW, which needs 200+ hours of work to be a running, driving car + time for testing and sorting the new set-up. We will continue to work on that ST2 BMW as time permits but for now we'll concentrate on 2011 Mustang development until the 2015 Mustang gets here.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Wn2LbvN/0/L/JPG_DSF1235%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Wn2LbvN/0/X3/JPG_DSF1235%20copy-X3.jpg)
We are doing a tire test tomorrow at ECR in the Mustang (320mm Continental slicks vs 315mm Hoosier A6) so I will report back on that soon.
MUCH more soon!
El_Tortuga
01-05-2014, 10:09 AM
If the NASA formula is all about lb/peak hp, why not do a custom tune to pull a little power back just at the peak rpm? I.e build a flatter power curve that would allow you to run a lower weight car and still have all the ponies in all the other rpms.
El_Tortuga
01-05-2014, 07:39 PM
If the NASA formula is all about lb/peak hp, why not do a custom tune to pull a little power back just at the peak rpm? I.e build a flatter power curve that would allow you to run a lower weight car and still have all the ponies in all the other rpms.
Not just pulling timing, but Coyote motor could play with cam timing too
modernbeat
01-06-2014, 03:22 PM
If the NASA formula is all about lb/peak hp, why not do a custom tune to pull a little power back just at the peak rpm? I.e build a flatter power curve that would allow you to run a lower weight car and still have all the ponies in all the other rpms.
We've considered it. And we did something like that when we autocrossed the car in an attempt to reduce rear wheelspin. But, if you look at our current dyno charts you will see the power is not very peaky and we use everything we have. NASA also has a corollary that prevents diesel style power curves with huge amounts of torque and low horsepower.
csamsh
01-07-2014, 07:09 PM
We've considered it. And we did something like that when we autocrossed the car in an attempt to reduce rear wheelspin. But, if you look at our current dyno charts you will see the power is not very peaky and we use everything we have. NASA also has a corollary that prevents diesel style power curves with huge amounts of torque and low horsepower.
Do the Evo's know this? Ha.
modernbeat
01-08-2014, 06:52 PM
Do the Evo's know this? Ha.
Yes, and they work it as much as they can. That's one of the reasons they are sort of funky on track. I suspect they could have much more upper end power with much less effort if they wanted it. And I suspect they could be much faster if they would pony up for a real motorsports gearbox, but that's a $10k+ bill just to start.
2013MustangGT
01-09-2014, 01:16 PM
@ Jason
Where can I find the rules for tuning for TT. I look and didn't find anything. However, for AI there is a 9.0:1 ratio for Tq.
Thanks,
Jamie
modernbeat
01-09-2014, 03:50 PM
Here are the Time Trial rules.
http://www.nasa-tt.com/rules
The TT3/TT2/TT1 rules are supposed to be similar enough to the Super Touring (W2W racing) rules that they cross over. Both Terry and I think they are easier to understand the formula and restrictions. Take a look at the ST rules below, look down the list for Super Touring.
http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules
2013MustangGT
01-09-2014, 05:29 PM
Thanks Jason. However, I can only find HP/weight ratios for both ST and TT nothing about Tq/weight ratios like they have in AI.
Project Update for Feb 6th, 2013: Its been over a month since my last post in this thread but so much has been going on I cannot hope to cover all of it. In the red 2011 Mustang alone we've done a track test/TV shoot at ECR (Dec 28th), rebuilt the front splitter mounts, made an all new exhaust system, ran in the 2014 season opening NASA Texas Time Trial at MSR-Houston (Jan 18-19), then the following weekend we ran the car in SCCA Club Trials at the the Polar Grand Prix race weekend at MSR-Cresson (Jan 25). And the next weekend we drove it out to Cars & Coffee (Feb 1). Somehow this became my largest EVER single forum post, took a week to write, and I had to break into 5 parts due to post length limits (and up to 10 parts on some forums).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-FR-s-LS3-Vorshlag/i-GB6vg3T/1/S/_DSC3314-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-FR-s-LS3-Vorshlag/i-GB6vg3T/1/X3/_DSC3314-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-srgrTBV/0/S/i-srgrTBV-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-srgrTBV/0/X3/i-srgrTBV-X3.jpg)
Left: The first mock-ups of the 2013 FR-S LSx look good. Right: Cage wrapping up on this C4 Corvette
And that was with just one car of many we are working on... Something has been going on every single weekend since my last post - looks like we won't get a "winter break" from racing this year. I won't go into the Scion FR-S LSx swap we're knee deep into, or the Corvette race car build that consuming lots of time, or the half dozen other cars we've been working on. Or the fact that we just broke a monthly sales record for the 10 year history of the business... in a January (traditionally our slowest month of the year). Everything feels like its going by at 1,000 miles an hour lately.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Pauls-1995-Subaru-Impreza-L/i-LbdPCbB/1/S/_DSC3166-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Pauls-1995-Subaru-Impreza-L/i-LbdPCbB/1/X3/_DSC3166-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Corbeau-Seats/i-XH4tMT7/0/S/1078553_10153775807710113_1904349548_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Corbeau-Seats/i-XH4tMT7/0/X3/1078553_10153775807710113_1904349548_o-X3.jpg)
See, we're not "just a Mustang shop", or "not just a suspension shop" as we work on a lot of BMWs, Subarus (including a '95 Impreza with an '07 STi swap, above left), Miatas (including the LS1 Alpha). And we're doing a lot more than suspensions - like seat and harness installs (above right), chassis work, roll cages and roll bars, brake upgrades, wheel and tire fitments, and more.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-Rallycross-Mustang/i-W8m2jVR/0/S/photo%201%281%29-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-Rallycross-Mustang/i-W8m2jVR/0/X3/photo%201%281%29-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-cDsnKXt/1/S/_DSC7529-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-cDsnKXt/1/X3/_DSC7529-X3.jpg)
But yes, we're knee deep in Mustangs. I just bought another one, the former stage rally SN95 Mustang shown above left. We have some fun ideas about what to do with this car that involve a big motor, rallycross and a lot of hoonage. So I've really got to get rid of one of our two S197 Mustangs, and I've slashed the price on the 2013 Mustang GT (http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2013gt.php) to $25K. That's an amount I've had and turned down more than once for this car, but all of the other higher priced offers went "poof" and the buyers flaked out. So if you wanted to see me bleed with this car, mission successful. I don't think it can last long at that price, but I've said that before, too. Check the ad (http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2013gt.php) and give me a call if you are interested.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-8cSJqRM/1/S/_DSC4073-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-8cSJqRM/1/X3/_DSC4073-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-4p6Wtw7/1/S/_DSF1832-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-4p6Wtw7/1/X3/_DSF1832-X3.jpg)
We should have a new 2011-14 5.0L external oil cooler kit available very soon. We developed this on a 2013 Boss302 that was seeing some very high oil temps at the track. We junked the factory Boss/Track Pack "oil heater" system (that uses hot radiator coolant to "cool" the oil) and replaced it with a big Mocal heat exchanger, custom bolt-on mount, BMRS lines, a Canton oil filter sandwich adapter with thermostatic control. This same car has also received a Mishimoto radiator, customized Maximum Motorsports 4-point roll bar, Schroth Profi 2 harnesses with customized anti-sub belts, front brake cooling, a customized set of auxiliary gauges in a Ford Racing 3 gauge pod, and a custom built front tow hook. This Gotta Have It Green Boss is turning into one slick track toy.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-9XBnC4K/1/S/_DSC5386-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-9XBnC4K/1/X3/_DSC5386-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-RFSRCB7/1/S/_DSC4228-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/John-Camps-Boss-302/i-RFSRCB7/1/X3/_DSC4228-X3.jpg)
So that was some of what's been going on in January - a small slice of the craziness that Vorshlag has become. I've also been looking at larger commercial properties to move the business into, as we've completely run out of room with our company's growth. I hope that by October we will be somewhere new, so I need to finalize the deal on the new place by about June... we looked at 15 properties last Saturday, after Cars & Coffee.
Let's back up and cover the S197 Mustang development for the past 5 weeks....
Track Test & TV Shoot @ ECR, December 28th, 2013
There is a new "car guy" TV show that has been created and been filming in the Dallas area for a few months. This show is supposed to debut in March 2014 (don't know what channel or markets yet) and while I don't know much about the show, I do know a lot of the folks involved. They are all track folks, and we go to a lot of track events so we have run with all of them many times. So when I got a call about being part of a TV shoot for a sketch about a "street car vs. race car" track segment, I was on board in an instant. The only question was... did they consider our Mustang the street car or the race car??
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-VbC2xbZ/0/L/_DSF1357%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-VbC2xbZ/0/X3/_DSF1357%20copy-X3.jpg)
Yep, our big red 3770 pound Pony was going to be the race car. Uh-oh. Sure, while our street legal Mustang can be quick, there are some still "street cars" that would give us fits on track. I've run against some C6 ZR1s and Z06s that were fookin FAST. So I asked what we'd be running against? Turns out it was to be C6 Corvette. Uh-oh, those can be fast. But luckily it wasn't a Z06 and it was "a nearly stock 6-speed manual convertible", whew. But the driver was pretty good and he was going to be running "slicks". The car had a mix of 305 Pirelli P-zero racing slicks up front and 345 Hoosier A6s out back. That could be pretty fast, if the two compounds worked together. Oh well, we would find out later in the day when we did some head-to-head stuff...
320mm Continental Rolex Race Tire vs 315mm Hoosier A6 Track Test
Before the filming began we used much of this day at ECR to test some tires on the Mustang and some shocks we're developing for another chassis.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-gTtmT6f/2/S/_DSC4642-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-gTtmT6f/2/X3/_DSC4642-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-SDrPszk/1/S/_DSC5107-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-SDrPszk/1/X3/_DSC5107-X3.jpg)
Some of you that have been following this thread for a while remember the big gaggle of Continental slicks I purchased at the end of last season. Got a bunch of 305/650/18 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=618) and 320/650/18 Contis (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=619) for a good price and we stuck them on our clearance page.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-xrqvHJc/1/L/_DSC3403-L.jpg
305/650/18 on 18x11" wheel fits the S197 very well front and rear
These Rolex series Continentals (http://www.continentalrace.com/downloads/2013-Rolex-Dimensional-Data.pdf) are measured like real racing slicks and are very different tires than the CTSCC Series Contis (http://www.continentalrace.com/downloads/CTSCC-Technical-Data-2013.pdf) that are measured like passenger tires, which are very similar to a DOT Hoosier R6. The DOT type tires have a LOT more steel belts in them and tend to weigh a good bit more. The real racing slicks tend to have the spring rate of the tire (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-D9sPnV3/1/X2/_DSC5100-X2.jpg) measured and marked on each carcass.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-2rDw7Q5/1/L/_DSC5110-L.jpg
The same 305/650/18 on an 11" wide wheel (at left) is much more square than when on 10" wheel (at right)
We really don't know much about these Rolex Contis yet. What we have are the "GT-O" compound/series tires, which I have been told were made for the high banks of Daytona and are different both structurally and in compound from the GT-R and other versions that are used on Rolex DP cars. Technically our Mustang is heavier than these tires are designed for, but we don't make a fraction of the downforce of a DP car so it likely all evens out.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Wn2LbvN/0/L/JPG_DSF1235%20copy-L.jpg
These 305 and 320 Contis were such a good deal it was hard to NOT buy them, and we've sold a couple of sets and so far everyone has been happy with them. I wanted to see how they'd fare head-to-head against the A6s, so we mounted a set of 320s to one of our 18x12" Forgestar sets and left some well worn 315 Hoosier A6s on the other set and brought them with us to the track that day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-K3LX7vg/1/S/_DSF1252-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-K3LX7vg/1/X3/_DSF1252-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-zJRXSrk/1/S/_DSF1262-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-zJRXSrk/1/X3/_DSF1262-X3.jpg)
Amy and I got to ECR at 9:30 am that Saturday right as the film crew guys arrived. As we unloaded the Mustang, Brandon showed up, then Olof and his buddy Steve arrived. Sofi rolled up in her truck towing a trailer with two of her motorcycles, too. So we had a big Vorshlag contingent early on.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-35w5gPV/0/S/20131228_123345-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-35w5gPV/0/X3/20131228_123345-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-MXhz3Tp/1/S/_DSF1302-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-MXhz3Tp/1/X3/_DSF1302-X3.jpg)
We also had some of our testers/customers join us, so we could do some shock testing and car set-up work with them. Mike, Jan and Shannon brought one of their Mustangs and a Miata we had some new prototype Bilstein Motorsports shocks on. This racer family has 5 track cars between them, and we see them at tons of track events every year.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-C3zRs8r/1/S/_DSC2364-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-C3zRs8r/1/X3/_DSC2364-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-m9snFgW/1/S/_DSC2511-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-m9snFgW/1/X3/_DSC2511-X3.jpg)
The day started off a little cool (46°F) but quickly warmed into the high 50s then low 60s, with the sun shining bright. I went out at about 10:30 am on the Contis and tried to get them up to temperature, to see how they felt and hopefully get in some lap times. After about 4 hot laps they just were not working, so I came into the hot pits and Olof took tire temps and bled the tires down (We tried from 30-38 psi, with little luck). The hottest we saw the tires get to was 109-110°F, which is not nearly enough heat. So I went back out and tried another 5 laps, grip was terrible, and I couldn't barely run a 2:00 lap. Came in hot and again, still around 110°F on the touch probe pyrometer for the tires. WTF? The A6s would be boiling after a run like that.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-JjVFwN9/1/S/_DSC1919-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-JjVFwN9/1/X3/_DSC1919-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-kZFmVrj/1/S/_DSC1877-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-kZFmVrj/1/X3/_DSC1877-X3.jpg)
I guess the only conclusion we can say is they don't work in 60 degree temperatures with only a handful of laps. It is an endurance tire, but we didn't think they were that hard. I was driving on these like a wild man, trying to scrub them in and build some tire heat, but the Contis just laughed at my attempts at hoonage and stayed dead cold. I was not at all happy with the performance of the Continental GT slicks and could not wait to get them off the car. We punted on the remainder of the test, but I vowed to try them again in the warmer months - maybe then we can get them warm enough to work? The March 29-30 TrackGuys event at TWS (http://www.trackguys.com/?tag=texas-world-speedway) is likely where they will get used again. There was zero visible tire wear on the Contis, as you would expect.
Hoosiers On + Filming for the Show
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-QXV3Rs2/1/S/_DSF1274-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-QXV3Rs2/1/X3/_DSF1274-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-SmRnsrC/1/S/_DSF1282-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-SmRnsrC/1/X3/_DSF1282-X3.jpg)
So while Olof and I swapped over to the Hoosier A6 scrubs we brought, the rest of our big group was out tracking their cars or motorcycles; they run the bikes and cars in different run groups every 30 minutes on these Member Days. Mike was pounding miles on the prototype Miata Bilsteins, Jan and Shannon were both having a blast on the MCS equipped Mustang, and Sofi was running both of her bikes.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-2JGtV9t/0/S/20131228_115618-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-2JGtV9t/0/X3/20131228_115618-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-sRx6tdm/1/S/jpg_DSC2415%20copy%202-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-sRx6tdm/1/X3/jpg_DSC2415%20copy%202-X3.jpg)
Left: Olof and Steve assisted with a coolant leak on Mike's Miata. Right: Our Ops Mgr Sofi had fun running her 2 bikes on track
Amy ran a couple of sessions on the Hoosiers, giving rides to folks and ran some 1:59 laps. I then took over and ran a couple of sessions, failing to get a single clear lap. It was a member day so there weren't a lot of cars out there, but there were enough to clog up any given lap, all while we were out there with two cars and a camera car trying to get footage (that ended up being really tough to do). With everything from full on race cars (nearby Pinnacle Motorsports had a few cars out there testing) to very clearly street cars on the track, and lap times from sub 2 minute to 2:30s and beyond, it was impossible to get a single clear lap. But it was fun anyway, and they likely got some footage to use.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-fvmXSdC/1/S/_DSC2069-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-fvmXSdC/1/X3/_DSC2069-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-rnbgDLk/1/S/_DSC2100-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-rnbgDLk/1/X3/_DSC2100-X3.jpg)
We tried some lead-follow stuff where we were supposed to change places (Corvette street car vs Mustang race car) and not lose the camera car, but that didn't work out so well. We needed a much faster camera car. And both of us wanted to occupy the same space on track and both cars had similar acceleration rates, so needless to say there was more than one off that day, heh. Mine was pretty good and I stuffed it off the entry to Turn 6, pretty hard, and dug a trench about 70" wide in the soft dirt. Tore up the splitter mounts and dislodged the lower bumper cover, which kept Olof busy for a bit doing some hasty track-side repairs. He got it put back together well enough that you wouldn't know it was borked know unless you crawled underneath.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-tqmR2xH/0/S/20131228_120223-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-tqmR2xH/0/X3/20131228_120223-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-qFfFXLp/1/S/_DSF1313-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-qFfFXLp/1/X3/_DSF1313-X3.jpg)
After losing two different camera cars they tried to use, we eventually just had a bunch of POV cameras slapped on both cars and onto a quadracoptor camera rig to shoot some aerial stuff. In the afternoon they wanted to do a 3 lap head-to-head shootout with a side by side green flag start. I will wait and see if this sketch airs on the show, but the other car had its off during this shootout and it was a good session for the Mustang. Here's a tip: fast heating A6s come up to temp and overheat by the time Pirelli slicks get up to temp, which can make for a handling nightmare if you use both tires on the same car. :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-SRLVPR8/1/S/_DSC2374-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-SRLVPR8/1/X3/_DSC2374-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-Gt5ZX9R/1/S/_DSC2362-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-Gt5ZX9R/1/X3/_DSC2362-X3.jpg)
During the "3 lap challenge" I was really trying to run consistent laps, which isn't something you normally strive for in the "I just need one lap!" berzerk 10/10ths driving I do in Time Attack/Time Trial competition. I was worried that a small driving screw-up might put me on the defensive then I'd never stay ahead. Turns out that wasn't a worry, and I ran fairly consistent if a little conservative laps at 1:57.0, 1:57.1 and a 1:57.4.
Those times were pretty good considering the age of these tires, but a solid 1.5 seconds off my times here in November, when these tires were brand new (it was the same set). And that 1:57.0 lap was a solid 3 seconds faster than I could manage on the 320mm Continental slicks. Again, the GT-O compound isn't their softest and the track needed a lot more heat for these to get up to temperature. So I guess that tire test proved that running the 315mm Hoosier A6 is still a good choice, compared to the GT-O compound Rolex series DP race tires.
We were supposed to do some track side interviews after that portion of filming was done but they had some technical difficulties with the other car and the quadrocoptor (it flew away, right as the filming started). They said the whole day of filming might have to be redone, and later invited us back for a reshoot to be held on New Years Day. Yikes, I didn't plan to be awake that day, since we had a big NYE party planned and knew we'd never get any of the crew to join us that day, so we bowed out. Long story short - we may never see any of this footage and my dreams of being a TV star were dashed, heh. Oh well, it was still a fun day and we got a lot of testing done. :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-rwwMzCm/1/S/_DSF1268-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-rwwMzCm/1/X3/_DSF1268-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-chTfptN/1/S/_DSC2551-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-chTfptN/1/X3/_DSC2551-X3.jpg)
Left: I fit in the Mustang fine, with the Cobra seat lowered down. Right: In the Miata's stock seat, I don't fit so well
I got to drive Mike's 2000 Miata later that afternoon. We shot some video while I drove it on track for about 5 laps, all the while talking to the camera and giving my feedback of the feel of the Bilstein Motorsports shocks we built and then custom valved with Maxyspeed & Co. I was pretty happy with the feel of the car as a whole but I had to re-tune my brain to drive without the aid of ABS! It has been a while since I drove a car with "old school brakes", but I managed some 2:17 laps on some worn out Kumho XS tires and that lopped about 10 seconds a lap off the car's previous lap record with the stock shocks. It rode great, too, so I think we might have a good damper setup.
Mike has since installed an aluminum UltraShield seat (and Vorshlag is now an UltraShield dealer, to go along with Cobra, Corbeau, Sparco and Momo) and Schroth harnesses into the Miata. He says that lowered the seating position about 3 inches, which would have made my head not stick above the roll bar, as shown above. That seat change would have made driving his car not only safer but less tiring. After 5 laps of being thrown around on top of the stock seats and 3-point belts I was ready for my trusty Cobra racing seat again.
More CEL Problems and Traction Control Faults
One thing to mention is that all day the Mustang was fighting me. Amy didn't have a lick of problems, but it seems whenever I drive the TT3 Mustang lately it is throwing Check Engine Lights, laying down under power or resetting the Traction Control. Obviously it is something in my driving style, but as I told Amy, while it seems like I'm whipping this thing like a rented mule, that's producing the faster lap times.
That happened all day on me: with the Continentals it reset the Traction Control into Fault Mode twice; so bad that I had to come in the pits, shut off the motor, and reset the whole sequence while holding the brakes. During one semi-clean A6 equipped lap I was running a high 1:56 predictive and the motor laid down after Turn 11 and I limped across the line to a 1:57.5 lap. Even during the final 3-lap shootout segment it laid down right before the Start/Finish line on the last lap. We noted several CELs for the O2 ("stuck open rich"), and now one for a Cam Sensor, too.
We have been chasing these CEL issues for months, especially at ECR, and I felt like we needed to make some exhaust system changes to try to alleviate this. I had hoped we had the issues fixed after True Street found the Throttle Circuit wiring short and we later replace the throttle body and integrated TPS sensor. Sure, anything under 3/4 tank will fuel starve now, which is not an easy fix, but something else is still borked in the O2 circuit/exhaust system. I felt like it was time to remove the catalysts and see if we had one that was broken and/or plugging up one side of the system.
New Lightweight Exhaust System for TT3 Use
Turns out that was the case, as we did indeed have one broken catalyst matrix when we changed the exhaust two weeks later. Before we attacked the new exhaust the guys fabricated new rear mounts for the splitter, which I bent badly with my off in the soft mud of ECR at the TV shoot. That took a couple of hours, as I had really done a number on them and the old ones had to be junked.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-c5t8CK9/0/L/_DSC1859%20copy_1-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-c5t8CK9/0/X3/_DSC1859%20copy_1-X3.jpg)
The old exhaust layout (shown above) we've been using on this car for the past 3 years is rather traditional - dual 3" pipes from the ARH 1-7/8" long tubes, ARH cars and X-pipe, and a custom dual 3" over the axle system we built using rear mounted large case mufflers (Flowmaster Series 44) and some tips in the stock location. This system was lighter than most off the shelf systems but still pretty lengthy and had a lot of tubing. It was modified once back in early 2012, but has remained untouched ever since. The slip-ft joint that comes with the ARH headers had a tendency to leak so it was spot welded in place and each time the exhaust was removed we had to cut the tacks. My curb incident at Hallett last June broke the tacks and it was a little leaky ever since.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g4P6LsB/0/S/DSC_7396-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g4P6LsB/0/X3/DSC_7396-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-txXrBw5/0/S/DSC_7390-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-txXrBw5/0/X3/DSC_7390-X3.jpg)
We knew we had at least one catalyst that was smashed and possibly both had a broken matrix inside and needed to be replaced. But I wanted to get some weight out of this car if possible (we can always add ballast to the trunk) so we went with a system layout we had used before, on Mark Smith's Boss 302-S race car (shown below).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Mark-Smith-Mustang-Boss-302S/i-rNJxs4x/0/S/_DSC3203%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Mark-Smith-Mustang-Boss-302S/i-rNJxs4x/0/X3/_DSC3203%20copy-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Mark-Smith-Mustang-Boss-302S/i-tWVMZb3/0/S/JPGEDITwarpBETTERUntitled_Panorama1%20copy%203-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Mark-Smith-Mustang-Boss-302S/i-tWVMZb3/0/X3/JPGEDITwarpBETTERUntitled_Panorama1%20copy%203-X3.jpg)
That system above proved to be about 42 pounds lighter than the stock stuff it had before and it picked up so much power he had to have a restrictor added. When we sound tested (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Exhaust-Sound-Testing/12871330_kZJPQp#!i=2203852200&k=wjpG8x3) the new system it was louder but not unreasonably so. The result was lighter and more powerful? Sign me up!
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RrWMNW6/1/S/_DSC3186-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RrWMNW6/1/X3/_DSC3186-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xBWNkP5/2/S/_DSC3193-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xBWNkP5/2/X3/_DSC3193-X3.jpg)
The old X-pipe was removed and the cats were inspected. Yep, both of them were clogged up. Driving over some curb somewhere probably smashed the internal matrix and ruined them both. So they were cut off and the Magnaflow stainless 3" mufflers were acquired (we're a Magnaflow dealer now, in case you guys need anything). We also added 3" V-band clamps and flanges to the header collectors, which made me happy as they are the least leaky type of exhaust junction.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RSSz99w/2/S/_DSC3231-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RSSz99w/2/X3/_DSC3231-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fsz2fvZ/1/S/_DSC3244-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fsz2fvZ/1/X3/_DSC3244-X3.jpg)
On this system we moved the mufflers further back and set them under the recesses made for the exhaust under the saddle style fuel tank. Yes, there is a fiberglass heat shield between the mufflers and the fuel tank, and we added some DEI gold foil reflective insulation there as well. The turn-downs are also pushed further back and now dump just under the axle housing, with the heat of the exhaust not near the axle. We've run the car at two race weekends since and had zero rear axle heat issues.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-tBL5JbZ/1/L/_DSC3239-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-tBL5JbZ/1/X3/_DSC3239-X3.jpg)
The guys made some custom rear exhaust hangers and the system was buttoned up in less than a day. Ground clearance is still excellent and the sound is... well.... it sounds like a race car now. I certainly wouldn't recommend this for a street car or daily driver, but we don't need ear plugs driving it on track, so it is appropriate. :) The Magnaflow mufflers should last for years to come, too. Listen to the in-car videos from the race coverage below to hear the sound.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xXVc3xW/1/S/a_DSC3234-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xXVc3xW/1/X3/a_DSC3234-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-W86rCj2/1/S/_DSC3248-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-W86rCj2/1/X3/_DSC3248-X3.jpg)
There was some weight savings, of course, but also some extra room around the rear axle. We run the ride height at back of the car very low and it was getting tight between the axle tubes and the over the axle 3" pipes under full bump travel. Parts of the old system will be reused at some date on another S197, as that 304SS custom over the axle section still looks great.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-Ldzrd5G/1/S/20140117_093327-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-Ldzrd5G/1/X3/20140117_093327-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-rVkpxqR/1/S/20140117_093701-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-rVkpxqR/1/X3/20140117_093701-X3.jpg)
As I drove the car down to the corner gas station to fuel up (and a police car pulled somebody over right behind me, yikes), the "System Fault" message above showed up on the touch screen of the car. WTF? This happened right after we fired up the car, so the rear O2 data was likely wigging out with no catalysts upstream to affect the exhaust stream emissions. We kind of figured that would happen (and we will have the car in for a retune at True Street soon enough), so I hoped this wasn't an issue that would pop back up (it didn't all weekend). A full tank of 93 Octane Shell fuel went in the tank and we loaded the car in the trailer.
NASA at MSR-H Jan 18-19, 2014
We didn't do many improvements to the TT3 Mustang for this season opening round of NASA Texas, but if you've been reading this forum thread for a while you know why. We only just decided to stay in TT3, after the red Mustang didn't sell in November and the 2015 Mustang was delayed likely until August. I had planned on making some upgrades, but as you read at the top of my post, January got a little insane around the shop and left very little time to work on our own cars. So we're just sticking with the existing TT3 set-up and the classing formula has changed for us. The exhaust change was done more to eliminate the CEL issues we kept running into, which we hoped would mean less trouble on track. I doubt it added any power, but we will re-dyno the car soon to make sure. We've been down 10-11 whp for the last year and a half, from the highest tested 430 whp dyno number the car made back in 2012. Plus we tend to run 30-40 pounds over minimum weight, so we're safe if we accidentally unlocked 3-4 hp.
Back in November I had blew my last set of Hoosier contingency tires on a new set of 275 A6s for the ST2 car, which meant I had no fresh tires to use for TT3 on the Mustang in January. Hmm, that wasn't too smart, but I didn't make a good guess on what we'd be doing 3 months later. Instead of forking out $1400 for a fresh set of sticker 315s we decided to just run some used scrubs and hope for the best. Fresh tires can be worth 1-2 seconds per lap, so I knew going into this race weekend we were venerable. But the TT sign-ups were a little light, and some TT3 competitors had last minute problems, so we thought we might get lucky and sneak in the win on used tires (2 race weekends old).
The other mistake we made this race weekend was NOT bringing any of our Vorshlag crew members with us. If we would have had Ryan there wrenching and Brandon shooting pictures this would have been a smoother race weekend, for sure. We get so buried with the "other stuff" during a NASA weekend that I overlooked some issues with the car. But Amy and I went down there solo, and the results were as predicted - a bit of a mess.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-3MmhPZZ/0/L/MSR-H%20Track%20Map-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-3MmhPZZ/0/X3/MSR-H%20Track%20Map-X3.jpg)
The track configuration at MSR-Houston is run once a year on the NASA Texas race calendar and every year they change the direction, as this track can be run Clockwise and Counter Clockwise. Amy and I looked and we hadn't run this 2.38 mile course CCW in... ever? Hmm, that's strange, we've run here a half dozen times, but it has always been CW. So we'd be learning as we drove, and sharing sessions since we're running the same car together again this year. At least we only pay one entry fee this year, from our new "Team Vorshlag" team entry. We will keep doing this until we can afford a two car trailer and two race cars, which might not ever happen. ;)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-8BKWhdr/1/S/20140118_101854-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-8BKWhdr/1/X3/20140118_101854-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-b5xCgZ8/1/S/20140118_101903-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-b5xCgZ8/1/X3/20140118_101903-X3.jpg)
Our crew finished up the new ligthtweight exhaust Thursday night and loaded the trailer so Amy and I could leave Dallas by about 2 pm for the 5 hour haul to south Houston on Friday. We had planned on meeting up with some friends who had scoped out a good paddock spot and got there just at the sun was setting, unloading the car in the dark and getting our 2014 Annual NASA tech performed. Our paddock was shared with two other enclosed trailers and racers, Paul Costas' GT1 Camaro and Matt White's Coyote powered SN95 Mustang ST1 race car. We were all parked right where it is marked "Grid", as our TT track map had one mistake as the actual grid was held much further down the main straight. Our trailer grouping was right there at the pit wall and when standing up on Paul's trailer's observation deck we had the best views of the track in the paddock!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-gqjTp2R/1/S/DSC_1076-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-gqjTp2R/1/X3/DSC_1076-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-SK8JgkP/1/S/DSC_1078-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-SK8JgkP/1/X3/DSC_1078-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
I had looked at the old track records for this track layout and of course there was nothing for TT3, as this class was new in 2013 and this CCW MSR-H layout had not been run since 2012. I was hoping we could slot in between the old TT2 (TTS) and the old TTA class records, if we won. Setting a track record on old scrubs that had seen 2 previous race weekends on them might be tough, and without running Friday to learn this track layout or work on the set-up, we might be in trouble. I was also worried we might run out of tires for day 2, so we brought another mounted set of scrub 315/30/18 A6s, just in case.
2012 TT Track Records for Motorsports Ranch Houston (2.38 CCW) (prior to this race weekend)
Class Driver Car
TTU Eric Purcell Radical 01:41.896 Jan-09
TT1 Joe Woodhead Chevy Corvette 01:38.402 Jan-12
TT2 Sean Farrah Nissan 350Z 01:40.172 Jan-12
TT3 .... n/a
TTA Josh Smith Mistubishi Evo 01:42.914 Jan-12
TTB Wynn Suebhongsang Honda S2000 01:43.134 Jan-12
TTC Norman Wilhelm Subaru WRX 01:47.241 Jan-12
TTD Blake Clements Mazda Miata 01:49.319 Jan-12
TTE Josh Price Acrua Integra 01:50.969 Jan-12
TTF Ken Brewer Toyota MR2 01:58.367 Jan-10
Our car sailed through annual tech (and we're a NASA approved HPDE Tech shop, so I suspected it would) and we had a good dinner in town with Costas and his wife Anna, then bombed up to our hotel for the night. We got to the track early Saturday morning and the weather was a bit brisk, but the forecast looked good. Amy rode with me on the first TT session, which we call the "Warm Up". This session does not count for times and is used for gridding purposes in TT session 1 only. I was pretty slow in the Warm-up, as Amy is a terrible passenger with me, and fumbled my way around an unfamiliar circuit. I was 9th fastest in TT with a 1:45.5 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-prVwnkt/1/M/20140118_093349-M.jpg), not a good sign.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-RvB4f7r/1/S/20140118_093352-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-RvB4f7r/1/X3/20140118_093352-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-JRSRvK7/1/S/20140118_111928-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-JRSRvK7/1/X2/20140118_111928-X2.jpg)
Saturday TT Warm-up (at left) and TT session 1 (at right)
I was planning to only run Saturday in the TT Warm Up and TT session 1 only, leaving Amy two sessions later in the day to get her up to speed. So that meant I needed to lay down my best lap of the day in the first timed TT session, which luckily I did. I found about 4 seconds from my laps in the Warm Up, probably from figuring out the proper line and losing a passenger, and dropped to a 1:41.457 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-JRSRvK7/1/M/20140118_111928-M.jpg). That ended up being the 3rd fastest TT time of the session, behind Weather's TT1 C6 and Costas GT1 Camaro. It also proved to be our fastest time of the weekend, which I will explain below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-RbpMvQk/0/L/Terry-MSRH-011814-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/36100467_SzQxqp#!i=3045661827&k=RbpMvQk&lb=1&s=A)
That 1:41 lap felt pretty good, but it was far from perfect. I knew there was time left in a few corners that I had hoped to work at on Sunday. For the rest of the day Saturday, Amy took over in TT Session 2 and 3, as planned.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-TKSX8RZ/0/S/DSC_0860-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-TKSX8RZ/0/X3/DSC_0860-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-kLpv277/0/S/DSC_0877-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-kLpv277/0/X3/DSC_0877-X3.jpg)
Meanwhile our paddock area was pretty busy all day, as Costas dealt with some coolant leaks and other issues on his GT-1 Camaro and Matt had to rebuild the front end of his car after a big off. Later Costas was forced off on the back straight during a GTS/Super Touring/Super Unlimited race and tore up his splitter as well. A lot of us were pitching in to help get that car put together as he re-did the intake gaskets, repaired the splitter (using two piece of plywood and a truck tire to flatten the metal), and chased a few other fixes. There was never a dull moment in our little mini-paddock all weekend! Costas' write-up on his website (http://www.witchdoctormotorsports.com/ch215.htm) better describes all of the race incidents and repairs that he and Matt had over the weekend.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-X6j5FjX/0/S/DSC_0883-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-X6j5FjX/0/X3/DSC_0883-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-kpjHCr3/0/S/DSC_0881-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-kpjHCr3/0/X3/DSC_0881-X3.jpg)
Amy took her time getting up to speed and ran a 1:48.2 in the TT session 2 but was already down in the 1:44s in TT session 3 when she had an accident in the end of the final session.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-8HhJbdS/1/S/DSC_1047-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-8HhJbdS/1/X3/DSC_1047-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-qKmLQ2j/2/S/1506309_780552931958540_1971982096_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-qKmLQ2j/2/X3/1506309_780552931958540_1971982096_o-X3.jpg)
She said she missed a 5th to 3rd gear downshift (rev matching wasn't close enough - she normally goes through each gear in a downshift) which locked the rears at high speed and sent the car into a spin. That spin sent her up and over the high curbing on the inside of Turn 4, where the car got beached and was stuck for a good half hour. She spun at the very end of the TT session and the track crew (3 trucks worth!) worked hard to get the car off the curb without ripping the splitter off or tearing up the underside of the car. They used a lot of boards and ramped the car down, but at one point it was stuck with 2 wheels in the air. We now call Amy by her new nickname "Curby", hehe...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-mXrRFMp/0/S/DSC_0963-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-mXrRFMp/0/X3/DSC_0963-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-XGdtz3v/0/S/DSC_0980-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-XGdtz3v/0/X3/DSC_0980-X3.jpg)
I was watching from a half mile away and knew something had gone wrong. I couldn't see any damage but the car was really stuck. Amy finally borrowed a phone to call me, and said "I broke a wheel. Bad. Bring a spare, quickly." So I borrowed a vehicle and grabbed an extra front wheel and tire and a jack and zoomed out on course, which at this point was closed for racers during the extraction (there were 2 race groups left for the day). They had the car extracted and were flat towing the car VERY SLOWLY on a broken wheel and flat tire, dragging the splitter, but I quickly stopped them. Using two jacks we got the wheel changed in about a minute while it was parked out on the back straight, but the car wouldn't start so they flat towed her in. Once we got the car back into the pits it was getting dark fast (these pics have been brightened up a lot) and it was getting very hard to see.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-MdkTmvw/0/S/DSC_0973-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-MdkTmvw/0/X3/DSC_0973-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-KSMvKqP/1/S/20140118_174852-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-KSMvKqP/1/X3/20140118_174852-X3.jpg)
continued below
After a long day in the sun and wind, talking to lots and lot of folks, and helping Costas with his many repairs, we were all dead tired. But with some volunteer help (thanks Toth and Robert!) and a borrowed LED drop light (thanks Marc!) we pulled the RF wheel again, swapped it to the left front (the spare set of scrub tires were really bad) so we'd have the freshest A6 on the Right Front once again (most turns were left hand). On jack stands it was hard to get under the car and see much but it looked surprisingly OK, so I spent the next half hour fixing the front toe problem - it had almost 2" of toe out. Again, it was pitch dark by now and I was there without our normal crew of Ryan and Brandon, so I didn't see the very obviously badly bent RF Lower Control Arm. I really should have asked for another set of eyes, as this was a major piece of damage that was missed, which was on me. I would have put the car in the trailer at that point and just called it a day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-qZPNFRF/2/S/20140118_174838-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-qZPNFRF/2/X3/20140118_174838-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-NfPLN5n/0/S/ch215pic17-S.jpg
The broken wheel was obvious, and it failed exactly as it should have considering the massive curb hit the car took. The wheel absorbed a lot of energy as it deformed. Once we had the toe more or less back to zero, it still ended up with the steering wheel at a 90 degree angle to its normal setting (covering up the tach and gauges while driving), but it was getting too late and COLD that I punted and figured "we'd just drive it and shift by ear". We wrapped up our paddock for the night and walked over to the Saturday night NASA dinner and annual awards banquet. We had a great time there eating and drinking and catching up with friends, listening to this "School of Rock" band made up of a bunch of kids. They rocked the house, no lie.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-jWJPsR5/1/S/20140118_193851-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-jWJPsR5/1/X3/20140118_193851-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-G3wXcvj/1/S/DSC_1071-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-G3wXcvj/1/X3/DSC_1071-X3.jpg)
They handed out NASA Texas regional awards for all of the W2W and TT classes, with Amy getting a 3rd place trophy for TT3 while I got 1st for 2013. We wrapped up at about 9 pm and then hit the hotel, exhausted. By the end of Saturday (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-dKkCPBQ/1/X3/20140119_075742-X3.jpg) several folks in TT had picked up some speed and we fell from 3rd to 7th fastest, but stayed about 6 seconds ahead of the other two TT3 competitors and had another new track record set (this car's 9th) for the weekend. Here's the end of day Saturday TT results in PDF form (http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2014%20-%20Official%20Results/1%20Houston_January/Time%20Trials%20Saturday.pdf).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-kH7fFVJ/1/S/20140119_075608-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-kH7fFVJ/1/X3/20140119_075608-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-hgG98V5/0/S/DSC_0989-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-hgG98V5/0/X3/DSC_0989-X3.jpg)
We rolled out Sunday morning and the entire area was blanketed in heavy fog. You couldn't see 100 feet and traffic on the highway was doing about 40 mph. The fog delayed the first session by half an hour, until the corner stations had enough visibility to see each other. That morning Costas was bugging me to take a closer look at the car and slap on some caliper heat indicator decals at the same time (more on this later), but I was too damned tired to do it.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-CrLxSSZ/0/L/DSC_1017-L.jpg
What's wrong in this picture? The RF wheel should have -3.5° camber but it was more like at -0.5°. This wasn't super obvious to the naked eye
I went out cautiously in TT session 1 on Sunday more as a shake down test than anything else. I was pretty slow but I just wanted to see how the car felt, as I had a feeling something else might be broken. The car had a wicked push in left hand turns, but it was manageable. I came in early and was not all that fast, but the car was in one piece. Obviously the RF lower control arm was badly bent, and we were "missing" about 3 degrees of negative camber. This made the RF wheel go into a slight positive camber setting (see picture above) under load - not good for grip!
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-DMfkS3R/1/S/20140118_123245-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-DMfkS3R/1/X3/20140118_123245-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-4P4KH3f/1/S/20140118_153815-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-4P4KH3f/1/X3/20140118_153815-X3.jpg)
The brake temp indicator strips on Costas' calipers showed how much one caliper got hot in a session after a brake duct hose came loose
I went out again in TT session 2 and was pushing hard for another 1:41 lap, or quicker. I had watched some other drivers doing some CRAZY lines (some of them well outside the marked boundaries of the track) and noted a few places where I could save some time, while still staying on what I considered the track limits. I knew that there would likely be some pushback once people started sharing some of their videos and pictures of cars going waaaaay off course (that did happen later, as predicted). I will always show all of my best competition laps so I stuck with the "conservative line" that did not go around the outside of any curbs, over the line of the marked pit out lane, or using the paved runoff "beyond the paint". This statement will ruffle some feathers, but so be it - I think that we should all stay on the course as marked and not go 4 wheels off to gain an advantage. The TT director and Regional Director met about this and then issued a letter after the event. They noted that all future NASA Texas TT events will have supplemental regulations to clearly define the course limits for the TT group.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-fwpbCQ6/0/S/DSC_0765-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-fwpbCQ6/0/X3/DSC_0765-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-g9NSDWw/0/S/DSC_0862-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-g9NSDWw/0/X3/DSC_0862-X3.jpg)
So back to the race weekend. I was mired in traffic in TT session 2 on Sunday but I finally got around a TT1 Corvette that held me up for two laps and was good to go. I finally had some clear track and was pushing on hot lap three, hoping to finish the lap without catching the back of the field. About halfway through this lap I noticed two cars slowing rapidly ahead of me - a TT1 Corvette and a TT2 EVO, who were now on their cool down lap. I caught them fast heading into turns 8-9-10. The Corvette saw me at the last second and jumped out of the way to let me by, which opened up the mirrors for the EVO. He tried to get offline in the middle of Turn 10 but it was too late and I was pushing too hard. I had a quick 4 wheels off and on trying to get by him while saving the lap and leaving enough room to pass. Stupid mistake, and nobody got close to anyone, but I shouldn't have tried to go two wide in that corner, even with the point by. Trouble was I could see we were catching the back of the field and knew this was my only shot at a fast lap, due to the early traffic I ran into.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-KqpFXhH/0/S/DSC_0903-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-KqpFXhH/0/X3/DSC_0903-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-nF6C5zT/2/S/20140119_102617-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-nF6C5zT/2/X3/20140119_102617-X3.jpg)
Well crap, 4 wheels off DSQs the whole session for me, and the grass packed up the lower grill so it would have run hot, so I quickly came into the pits. I was on a low 1:41 lap on the predictive timer, too. I negotiated with Amy to let me take another shot and I eventually took two laps in TT session 3, then we performed a hot pits driver change and she took another 2 laps in the same session. Why would we do that driver change? Well honestly we were trying to get out of town early (and skipped session 4). She wanted to get some laps in, but I wanted to try to set another fast lap to secure the win for the day, too. Because in TT sessions 1 and 2 we had nothing but junk lap times. Turns out you are not allowed to swap drivers in a single TT session - we had asked the TT director beforehand and he said it was OK, but he since learned that isn't allowed. Oh well, live and learn.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-TSG52ML/0/L/ch215pic04-L.jpg
Terry riding along with Amy, trying to pass along some pointers
Somehow I still ran a 1:41.5 that day, about a tenth slower than Saturday. And after seeing the damaged front Lower Control Arm I'm shocked we were that close with the extreme lack of camber on the RF corner. Of course if we would have seen the bent LCA we would have NEVER run the car like that on track. That was simply a stupid oversight. Oh well, gotta credit Ford for making a tank of a control arm that took a curb impact like that and still raced all day Sunday! Craziness...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-qKmLQ2j/2/L/1506309_780552931958540_1971982096_o-L.jpg
(http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-qKmLQ2j/2/X2/1506309_780552931958540_1971982096_o-X2.jpg)photo by John Roberts
After the 3rd TT session we let the car cool down, packed up the trailer and headed on our 5 hour journey home. We missed the crazy 4th TT session where a lot of records were broken, and one driver made a mysterious 4 second improvement. There was all sorts of controversy that led to an official investigation and new rules regarding track for future events. Didn't affect TT3 so I mostly stayed out of it, but I was getting calls and texts for a week about this. And looking at the pictures and some videos of TT cars after the event, many were clearly exploiting track limits to gain time. Like I said, this is something that will be addressed at the opening meeting next time so there are no magic laps at the very end of the weekend (without any scales checks).
Vorshlag Picture Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/
NASA Results: http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2014%20-%20Official%20Results/1%20Houston_January/
Paul Costas' race write-up at WDMS: http://www.witchdoctormotorsports.com/ch215.htm
One thing we didn't have problems with (for the most part) were CELs and traction control faults, yay! I think I had one fuel starve moment but no Check Engine Lights, and the engine ran STRONG all weekend. This is the first time in many months where we weren't chasing CELs, so the busted cats were likely the cause of some of our recent troubles. The motor pulled solid from 4000-7000, but on Sunday without any visibility to the gauges it was hard to tell when to shift. I watched some of our Sunday in-car videos and I was short shifting at like 6200-6500 a lot, and Amy was shifting at around 5000-5500. There was simply no way to see the tach with the steering wheel cocked 90 degrees out and it was hard to discern the RPMs from the much changed exhaust note.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-wn4FLpX/1/S/20140118_101919-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-wn4FLpX/1/X3/20140118_101919-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-FWRm5sP/1/S/20140118_101931-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-FWRm5sP/1/X3/20140118_101931-X3.jpg)
We ran a good old chunk of ballast in the trunk (and were scaled twice at 40+ pounds over each time) to make sure Amy wasn't going to end up light when she ran. We really need to look at a "quick change" ballast system so we can switch the weights between the 2 drivers quickly, as it is easy to forget that on grid. The lighted and switched transponder circuit was much appreciated and we never once made a lap with it turned off or unplugged. Should have done this switch panel years ago (see above left).
I'm glad we made it out of there with as little damage as we did, and was thankful that we could score two class wins and a track record on such worn out old tires (especially the mis-matched set on Sunday). Looks like our 1:41.4 lap time fell right in between the old TT2 and TTA records, but it is clear that we left a lot on the table - since I was able to nearly match my Saturday times on Sunday with a bent control arm and three degrees of missing camber on the right front, so that new lap record is fairly soft. I suspect with better familiarity with the track, better driving and fresh tires this car could have run a 1:39 or so, but who knows? NASA Texas won't run this track configuration again until 2016, and I have no idea what car or class we'll be racing by then, but at least the new TT3 record is safe for two more years. Still can't believe this heavy stick axle Mustang has 9 standing TT3 track records now.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-hwzL4Nd/0/S/DSC_1018-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-hwzL4Nd/0/X3/DSC_1018-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-8vddrKB/0/S/DSC_0958-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-8vddrKB/0/X3/DSC_0958-X3.jpg)
With only 3 cars in class we didn't have enough in TT3 to get Hoosier contingency (you need 5 cars to pay to 1st place and 7 to pay to 2nd) but that's not unusual for this first event of the year, with potential sketchy weather in January. The race weekend went smoothly and the weather cooperated, so we got lucky there. Amy and I both had a blast and talked to probably 75+ people who came by and wanted to see the Mustang closer. The car sounded GOOD and the times were OK. Our yardstick class American Iron (with Spec Iron) was about 3 seconds back (http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2014%20-%20Official%20Results/1%20Houston_January/Thunder%20Race%202%20AI%20SI%20CMC.pdf), with the top car posting a fastest race lap in the 1:44.2 range.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-53NwrVv/0/S/DSC_0984-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-53NwrVv/0/X3/DSC_0984-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-5HHdsk7/0/S/DSC_0809-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/i-5HHdsk7/0/X3/DSC_0809-X3.jpg)
The wide variety in the TT field was fun to watch, with Costas GT-1 Camaro just accelerating like nothing else. I didn't see him much on track with the 5 second lap time gap between us, heh. Track records were broken in seven classes (TTU, TT1, TT2, TT3, TTB, TTD & TTE), so people were driving fast down the entire roster.
Overall I don't feel like I drove all that well at this event and should have been a bit quicker. The layout in this direction was trickier than I expected, as you really had to respect the pit wall near the edge of the track at the exit of turn 17, and we saw several cars back into that wall in W2W races (mostly Spec Miatas, and always with "help"). Being 5 hours away from us it is hard to get a lot of seat time at this course. compared to the other tracks within 1-3 hours of us (ECR, MSR-C and TWS). I really wish we would have done the Test and Tune event here on the Friday before, which would have let us both get more seat time on this unfamiliar layout. Oh well, don't always get to take that extra day away - especially on the busy month we were having at the shop.
continued below
continued from above
Post MSR-H "Curb Repairs" and Track Prep
We didn't have a lot of time after we got back from Houston before we had to get ready for another Time Trial type event the following weekend. So we looked at the damage on Monday, explored any potential upgrade ideas, and then bought another stock Lower Control Arm and inner and outer tie rods.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-D5CGBgc/1/S/_DSC3336-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-D5CGBgc/1/X3/_DSC3336-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-p7Tsj3r/1/S/_DSC3347-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-p7Tsj3r/1/X3/_DSC3347-X3.jpg)
Of course we looked at the Ford Racing 302S/R front LCA with a taller ball joint and new rear bushing, but that was an expensive set of parts ($1300+) that really only made sense if we had the stock rubber rear LCA bushings still on the car. The new Ford Racing bushing is much smaller than the normal beer can sized fluid filled mush, but it is still rubber. We had already replaced both LCA bushings with the Energy Suspension polyurethane long ago. There wasn't a lot of time to evaluate other options, and we were so impressed with how the stock arm failed (non-catostrophic, and that LCA's deformation saved the subframe and steering rack) that we ordered another stock lower arm instead.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-FJvMHRg/1/S/_DSC3353-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-FJvMHRg/1/X3/_DSC3353-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9SbFjMK/1/S/_DSC3356-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9SbFjMK/1/X3/_DSC3356-X3.jpg)
The problem was that the new arm came with an all new hydro bushing attached to the ends, which had to be removed. Kyle and the guys spent a couple of hours burning off the old bushing and getting it off the arm, then prepping the stub for the Energy poly bushing, but they got it on and it works like before. The inner and outer tie rod were also replaced, as they were bent. We couldn't know how the $1000 Ford Racing steering rack fared until the next race weekend. One front stainless brake line was pulled a bit too far when the bent LCA was unbolted and it POPPED down (it was preloaded badly) so that line was replaced with another from stock. A couple of V-band clamps that were smashed on the curbing were also replaced, the car was inspected thoroughly by real techs (not me!) and they found nothing else wrong. Another 8 quarts of Mobil1 15W50 and a Wix filter were changed and that "junk" set of old A6 tires on the white wheels were mounted up. That set of tires had 3 race weekends on them and were long past the "good" rubber, but oh well.
SCCA Club Trials, MSR Cresson, Jan 25th, 2014
This was a new event held by the Texas Region SCCA during a normal Club Racing weekend (Double Divisional, Super School, Club Trials) that they called the Polar Grand Prix. The Club Trials event was only being held on Saturday but the low cost promoted several to enter, once the word got out. $75 for 5 sessions and $125 if you didn't have a transponder. All sessions were timed and there would be a "competition" of sorts. We didn't know much more than that, but Amy and I signed up in the first hours it was opened, 3 weeks before this event was to be run. The weather on Saturday morning started out COLD (27 degrees in the morning!) but it warmed up into the low 60s by days end. Amy and I actually towed out to Cresson the night before, got teched by the SCCA Regional Executive Bob Neff, and scored a great paddock spot early.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Wnwtptb/0/S/20140124_174501-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Wnwtptb/0/X3/20140124_174501-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-6G8mfrz/0/S/20140124_174528-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-6G8mfrz/0/X3/20140124_174528-X3.jpg)
The SCCA is trying to court new club racers by having a PDX/Club Trials group run at their Club Race weekends. I am very much in support of this and hope they can take the extremely good turnout for this event and do it again, and not as a separate event as they are thinking of doing - to work as a ladder system you have to keep your DE and Time Trial folks running at the same track weekend as the Wheel to Wheel folks. I am going to keep reminding them how well this works in NASA every time they bring up excuses of why its "so hard" to have 30 extra people at a race weekend of 100 drivers. :D
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-hW8Hr2T/1/S/_DSF1929-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-hW8Hr2T/1/X3/_DSF1929-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-RH8TF9R/1/S/_DSF1905-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-RH8TF9R/1/X3/_DSF1905-X3.jpg)
The entry cap for this event was set at 30 cars so we quietly promoted this to many of our local customers. Of the 28 entries they got about a third of those were Vorshlag customers and testers. Everyone arrived with some track background (for the most part) and there were five NASA TT licensed drivers in attendance as well - me, Amy, KenO, DaveW and Eric.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSRC-031613/i-4BLT3Pf/0/L/MotorsportRanch-L.jpg
The reason they kept the entries so low was to keep all of the PDX/Club Trials folks in the same run group, and running the 1.7 mile course at MSR only allows for 30 cars to fit on track at once. And with 26 out there at the same time (we had a couple of no shows - one car broke and another was stuck in an ice storm in Austin) of wildly varying speeds, it got a little crowded. The first Club Trials run session (of 5?!) was a lead-follow at 60% speed with the experience TT folks leading smaller groups to show them the line. It was 32 degrees and there wasn't much grip on the cold and dusty track anyways.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Hbzs2Fk/1/L/_DSF1897-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Hbzs2Fk/1/X3/_DSF1897-X3.jpg)
Our second CT session was a bit of a clusterfox, as there weren't any established times to grid cars in order. I went out first and KenO was behind me. We tried to bunch up the field but we caught the back of the group at the tail end of the first hot lap. We were passing 3-5 cars per lap and couldn't get any clear track. In the driver's meeting that followed we more clearly defined point by signals (some folks were confused) and it ran smoothly for the rest of the day.
Now I'm not super familiar with the MSR 1.7 mile course, as NASA TT always runs the 3.1 mile configuration - because we have too many entries show up to fit on the 1.7. With 40-50 TT entries we need the extra course length to spread out and have enough room to drive at speed safely. But most of the 1.7 is part of the 3.1 course, so I knew the basic lines and such - just didn't have any good 1.7 mile course times to compare against from the past. I had run the 1.7 course many years back when we had the BMW E36 LS1, and I remembered some 1:20 lap times from that light, V8 powered race car. So when I saw the 1:23.103 lap from the 2nd CT session I was a little bummed. Still, that was with passing 2 cars in traffic and the car was a bit bouncy.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-ZWTB8hZ/3/S/_DSC3961-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-ZWTB8hZ/3/X3/_DSC3961-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-CBctQD7/3/S/_DSC3994-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-CBctQD7/3/X3/_DSC3994-X3.jpg)
Stuart and Doug Maxcy from Maxcyspeed & Co were at this event to support their customers and Stuart noticed some rear suspension things on our car. Between my 2nd and 3rd track session he suggested a substantial rear shock compression change (full soft) to allow the car to put power down better. The rear was very traction limited, partially from the old worn out tires and partly from the cold.
I was being lazy and not using the shock adjustments to their best advantage, for changing conditions with the car and track. We had the rear shocks tuned well for new sticker A6 tires being used in warm weather, plus using the full fuel load and extra rear ballast like we run in NASA TT. Since this was SCCA Club Trials we had no minimum weight to worry about that day, so we pulled the ballast and ran less fuel. In addition the used tires we brought didn't have the grip levels of the normal fresh tires we race on, and the track temps went from the high 20s to the low 60s in the span of a few hours. Stuart's calibrated eyeball spotted how the car was behaving from the side of the track, suggested that I use the adjustments of the shocks to help fine tune the car as the track warmed up, and he was right - his tip was much appreciated. It helped us find some of the five seconds that my times dropped from the 2nd to 3rd sessions (track temps and traffic played a part as well)
continued below
continued from above - last one
I led KenO once again and we both got two full hot laps in before we caught the back of the field. We set our fastest times of the day in this session, which was in the high 50°F range.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-qRsjjKT/0/M/Terry-MSRC17-012514-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/36616612_wb6BDh#!i=3045926792&k=qRsjjKT&lb=1&s=A)
Well that sure felt a lot better. With a little more familiarity with the course, a little more track temp, two clear laps, and the rear end settled down from the shock change, I managed to drop 5 full seconds in this session. My first hot lap was a 1:19.253 and my second lap was a 1:18.675. Looking at the other race groups, other than a few Formula Mazdas one GT car (a GT2 Corvette with a 1:18.414 on Sunday (http://sowdivscca.com/raceresults/2014/20140125/Group%204%20Sunday%20Official%20Results.pdf)), this was one of the faster laps run that weekend. That lap felt really good and while the tires were a handful and rear traction was still limited, it was one of the better feeling laps I've driven in a while.
Vorshlag event picture gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/
Event results: http://sowdivscca.com/raceresults/2014/20140125/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-S5kTSRS/0/S/mustangs-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-S5kTSRS/0/XL/mustangs-XL.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-pFXs5VJ/2/S/_DSC3491-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-pFXs5VJ/2/X3/_DSC3491-X3.jpg)
Since they don't really have any classes set-up for Club Trials yet they used SCCA Solo classing and even PAX factors for the results. I think the results kind of speak for themselves on how well that works, heh. Even with a terrible Street Mod multiplier my PAX time was still at the top of the list, seconds ahead of the rest. I was just happy to have the quickest raw time by 4 seconds, which is more than I was expecting. Amy ran in CT sessions 4 and 5 and had fun getting down to a 1:23 lap time. She finished 3rd overall in RAW and 7th in PAX.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-XgGd6GN/0/S/Polar%20Prix%20Club%20Trials%20End%20of%20Day%20Ra w%20Time%20Results-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-XgGd6GN/0/X3/Polar%20Prix%20Club%20Trials%20End%20of%20Day%20Ra w%20Time%20Results-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-3483Gcg/0/S/Polar%20Prix%20Club%20Trials%20End%20of%20Day%20PA X%20Results-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-3483Gcg/0/X3/Polar%20Prix%20Club%20Trials%20End%20of%20Day%20PA X%20Results-X3.jpg)
Since we were sharing the car I worked with a couple of drivers in sessions 4 and 5 as an instructor. After hopping in with Mark Council in his 18x11" / 295 Rival / AST equipped Mustang I helped him find 2.5 seconds on his lap times. It was just small adjustments to his driving line, pushing his braking zones and actually having him short shift in one spot. Then I hopped in with Jan with her similar 18x11" / 295 Rival / MCS shock equipped Mustang and worked on a few things as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Xkz6TJ3/1/S/_DSF1943-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Xkz6TJ3/1/X3/_DSF1943-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-hbfF8m2/1/S/_DSF1925-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-hbfF8m2/1/X3/_DSF1925-X3.jpg)
Kyle and Brandon from our shop came to offer track support for all of our customers that joined us. Kyle fixed a number of items on 4 or 5 cars as well as kept the Mustang fueled, pressures set, and oil topped off.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Gx7H3fq/1/S/_DSF1923-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-Gx7H3fq/1/X3/_DSF1923-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-PXFBghd/1/S/_DSF1928-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-PXFBghd/1/X3/_DSF1928-X3.jpg)
Brandon snapped a gaggle of great pictures and we kept many of the Club Trials folks warm and hydrated, as our trailer became the shelter from the wind and sun. All in all this was a great event and I really hope the SCCA can find a way to make this a regular part of their Club Race weekends. I feel that without this the W2W programs will continue to wither and die, and this region has admitted as much openly. We will do whatever we can to support racing in this area, and will be at whatever PDX/Club Trials events that they hold in the state, whether it be SCCA or NASA.
What's Next?
Luckily February is pretty dead - as the weather here in north Texas is nasty and unpredictable this month. It will be 70 degrees one day and 25 degrees the next; luckily we have a climate controlled shop, so we don't get bogged down in the cold or heat. Our annual Vorshlag Open House and SCCA Solo Annual Tech day is going to be held on Feb 22nd, plus we have some customer races and test days for race car builds going on this month, but nothing in our Mustang. Looking at March we have way more events than we could possibly enter. Some weekends have two or even three events to choose from, yikes.
Vorshlag's Upcoming Race Schedule (Feb-March)
Feb 1st - Cars & Coffee Dallas. We drove the red TT3 Mustang to this event on Hoosiers, parked with the SCCA folks, I was interviewed for a TV show there, and I will cover that in my next post.
Feb 22, Vorshlag Open House/ SCCA Solo Annual Tech day (http://texasscca.org/soloautocross). Everyone is welcome, come by for a look at the shop and current projects, get some free food, talk to a bunch of racers.
Feb 22, Open Track Day at ECR (http://www.eaglescanyon.com/httpdocs/2008/schedule.php). I sure wish we didn't have our Open House conflicting with this event, because we have a lot of customers that will be out there on the 22nd. We might have a technician out there for trackside support anyway.
March 8-9, NASA @ MSR Cresson (https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1766). Time Trial will likely run the 3.1 whereas all other groups run the 1.7. HPDE and TT slots are open - sign up now!
March 21-23, Ultimate Street Car Association (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/events/), Texas Motor Speedway road course. We will beg/borrow/buy some big Rivals and run this autocross/track/speed stop competition in the TT3 Mustang.
March 21-23, NARRA race at NOLA Motorsports Park (http://narraonline.com/schedule). Man I really wanted to go to this but I promised Jimi Day I'd make his USCA event at TMS that weekend
March 23, Texas Region SCCA Solo #1, Pennington field (http://www.texasscca.org/soloautocross/solo-events-calendar). We'd probably be doing this if we weren't already triple booked
March 22, ChumpCar World Series at Texas Motor Speedway (http://www.chumpcar.com/events.php). 12 Hour Special Event, "The Cowtown Grand Prix". We will be there supporting a customer while we also run at this same venue with USCA!?
March 29-30, Track Guys Event @ Texas World Speedway (http://www.trackguys.com/?tag=texas-world-speedway) 2.9. We are signed up and will be at this Mustang-centric HPDE weekend with the TrackGuys crew, running the TT3 Mustang. Should be fun!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-2JQm72L/2/S/DSC_2214-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-2JQm72L/2/X3/DSC_2214-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-xs8V83d/0/S/Texas-Motor-Speedway-Aerial-e1330035326680-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-xs8V83d/0/X3/Texas-Motor-Speedway-Aerial-e1330035326680-X3.jpg)
Running at TMS road course should be fun with the USCA
So that looks a bit nuts, with too many choices. We can't make all of these but we'll pick at least 3 weekends in March to compete in. We're also knee deep in a lot of customer projects, the FR-S should be kicking into gear, the LS1 Miata needs to make some progress, and I want to get the Rallycross SN95 Mustang started here pretty soon. It is all about time.... even working 12-14 hour days we cannot get it all done. And we cannot bring any more people on board because we're out of room, so my "new building search" is crucial. I'd really like to get some mods done to the TT3 Mustang, if we can squeeze it in. A new rear wing? The wider tires? Maybe a new set of shocks? We'll see what the budget and shop time allows.
Don't forget - our 2013 Mustang GT is slashed to $25K (http://www.vorshlag.com/cars-2013gt.php). Please spread the word!
More soon,
garner
02-07-2014, 05:18 PM
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RrWMNW6/1/S/_DSC3186-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RrWMNW6/1/X3/_DSC3186-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xBWNkP5/2/S/_DSC3193-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xBWNkP5/2/X3/_DSC3193-X3.jpg)
The old X-pipe was removed and the cats were inspected. Yep, both of them were clogged up. Driving over some curb somewhere probably smashed the internal matrix and ruined them both. So they were cut off and the Magnaflow stainless 3" mufflers were acquired (we're a Magnaflow dealer now, in case you guys need anything). We also added 3" V-band clamps and flanges to the header collectors, which made me happy as they are the least leaky type of exhaust junction.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RSSz99w/2/S/_DSC3231-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RSSz99w/2/X3/_DSC3231-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fsz2fvZ/1/S/_DSC3244-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fsz2fvZ/1/X3/_DSC3244-X3.jpg)
On this system we moved the mufflers further back and set them under the recesses made for the exhaust under the saddle style fuel tank. Yes, there is a fiberglass heat shield between the mufflers and the fuel tank, and we added some DEI gold foil reflective insulation there as well. The turn-downs are also pushed further back and now dump just under the axle housing, with the heat of the exhaust not near the axle. We've run the car at two race weekends since and had zero rear axle heat issues.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-tBL5JbZ/1/L/_DSC3239-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-tBL5JbZ/1/X3/_DSC3239-X3.jpg)
The guys made some custom rear exhaust hangers and the system was buttoned up in less than a day. Ground clearance is still excellent and the sound is... well.... it sounds like a race car now. I certainly wouldn't recommend this for a street car or daily driver, but we don't need ear plugs driving it on track, so it is appropriate. :) The Magnaflow mufflers should last for years to come, too. Listen to the in-car videos from the race coverage below to hear the sound.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xXVc3xW/1/S/a_DSC3234-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-xXVc3xW/1/X3/a_DSC3234-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-W86rCj2/1/S/_DSC3248-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-W86rCj2/1/X3/_DSC3248-X3.jpg)
There was some weight savings, of course, but also some extra room around the rear axle. We run the ride height at back of the car very low and it was getting tight between the axle tubes and the over the axle 3" pipes under full bump travel. Parts of the old system will be reused at some date on another S197, as that 304SS custom over the axle section still looks great.
Interesting exhaust set up. Wonder how that would sound on mine since it's kinda the same(offroad h pipe and exhaust ends at the end of the over axle pipes, but I have factory manifolds)
re-rx7
02-07-2014, 07:20 PM
I enjoy reading your post.
modernbeat
02-08-2014, 12:41 AM
Interesting exhaust set up. Wonder how that would sound on mine since it's kinda the same(offroad h pipe and exhaust ends at the end of the over axle pipes, but I have factory manifolds)
There are a couple videos out there of a 302S with a similar exhaust we did.
http://youtu.be/nI3QEhbs_h4
And here's a video of the Vorshlag Mustang with the new exhaust.
Vorshlag Laps With New Exhaust. (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-MSR-H-011814/36100467_SzQxqp#!i=3045661827&k=RbpMvQk&lb=1&s=A)
Project Update for March 5, 2014: After another extremely busy and record breaking month for the business, another 4 weeks has passed without a Mustang build thread post. I haven't had much "internet time", due to a lot of service/race prep work on customers cars. It got so backed up that I had to pitch in back there a few days, which is never a good sign. I hastily wrote this post, finishing it around midnight after a 12 hour work day, because this is the only time I can go more than 30 seconds without being called on by an employee, customer, PM, text or phone call. We've made some key changes to our red 2011 Mustang, the 2013 Mustang finally sold, and we are in the beginning stretch of 6 straight race weekend stint, including 3 days of racing this coming weekend. That means I will be writing at a furious pace with fewer edits - so if I sound a little loopy, and make some grammatical errors, that's due to the late hour and my compressed writing schedule.
2013 Mustang Finally Sold
Hallelujah! After 6 months of trying (or more? I'm afraid to count) the black '13 Mustang GT sold to a buyer out of state. I don't know if it was the latest of many price drops ($25K, ouch!) or the time of year was just right, but a mere 12 days after I lowered the price on January 31st the phones just all of a sudden lit UP. During a 24 hour period I had the car sold over the phone to an out of state buyer, sold and shown to a local buyer (first back-up), and then after we had 3 additional backup buyers lined up on the phone that same day - and the phones kept blowing up for another 24 hours. We finally just told the rest of the people that kept calling it was sold, before it was gone. We even had people offering $1000 over the asking price after I had accepted the first verbal offer, but we don't play like that, so I sold it to the first person who gave me confirmation and just waited for him to fly in and pick up the car a few days later.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-QwZRZ5G/0/M/_DSC4870-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-QwZRZ5G/0/X3/_DSC4870-X3.jpg)
The buyer loved the car when he arrived, then wanted to upgrade it to the full Bilstein StreetPro struts, shocks and camber plates. We had what he needed in stock, got them installed in a couple of hours, took care of the sale at the bank, and then he drove it 1400+ miles home through an ice storm that hit the east coast, with a smile on his face. Weirdest thing... so many buyers appeared during a 48 hour period, I thought I was being prank called at one point. I guess I won't ever try selling cars in December or January again, that's for sure. Probably the magic of Tax Return Season.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-9xVDjgC/1/S/_DSC5426-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-9xVDjgC/1/X3/_DSC5426-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-Zk3XQ4H/1/S/_DSC5427-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2013-Mustang/i-Zk3XQ4H/1/X3/_DSC5427-X3.jpg)
Was sad to see this one go, but with 8 personal cars and projects I needed to reduce the fleet a bit and this one just wasn't being used. Now it can be driven and appreciated by one of our S197 Mustang build thread's long timer readers, and with the new suspension and brake upgrades he should have a lot of fun on track.
Rear Flares Finally Happened!
So if you have been reading this Build Thread for the past 4 years you will know that I've complained about the 315mm tires we have run at all four corners are a bit on the small side and lusted for MOAR TIRE. While the "315s are skinny" statement sounds crazy to many of you, remember: we have been racing at 3770 pounds (with driver) in NASA TT3 class, and the "weight-to-tire" ratio isn't all that great with this many pounds and only a 315mm tire.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-ECR-Nov-110213/i-3SpVFHS/1/L/DSC_0325-L.jpg
Typical TT1 C6 Z06 rear tire is a 345mm Hoosier, and these cars weigh around 3150 pounds stock, not 3550+ like our Mustang
Remember: the typical TT1 classed C6 Z06 Corvette (above) in Time Trial is on 18x12" wheels and 345mm rears under stock fenders, with the same power levels (440 whp) or maybe a tick more. And with a 400 (or more) pound advantage to our car, their "tire-to-weight" ratio is very favorable. We cannot run that light without removing large portions of the chassis, and bumping up classes, but have been making due with 315mm tires on a 3770 race weight, with similar power numbers as a stock Z06.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-KdXL9rX/0/S/DSC_9935-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-KdXL9rX/0/X3/DSC_9935-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-bpMxDmd/0/S/DSC_9937-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-bpMxDmd/0/X3/DSC_9937-X3.jpg)
2012 SCCA ESP and NASA TTS wheel/tire set-up on 315/35/18 Kumho V710
Let's back up and cover the tire and wheel upgrades we've made since ditching the 18x9" then 18x10" wheels and street tires of our first 2 seasons, when we were building around STX/STU autocross classes. After a switch to ESP and TTS classes, we started running the 315mm R-compound DOT tires back in 2012 with a Forgestar 18x11" front and 18x12" rear, both of which just fit under the stock fenders (with some tricks out back to clear the 12's and 3 degrees of negative camber in the front to keep the top of the tire under the fender).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-Rf2HvjC/0/L/IMG_6996-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-Rf2HvjC/0/X3/IMG_6996-X3.jpg)
Early 2013 NASA TT3 wheel/tire set-up on 315/30/18 Hoosier A6
We have since perfected the 18x11" wheel fitment at both ends of the S197 and realize that, for most racers, a 295mm-305mm tire works and fits best with that wheel size. Fewer tricks are needed to fit the 18x11" rear wheel and that tire width, compared to the 18x12". But for our "ballasted up" Mustang making 420-430 whp, and with as aggressively as I drive the thing on Hoosier A6 tires, we were overheating the 315s within 2-3 laps. So I bought a pair of the widest DOT radial tires made by Hoosier: the 345/35/18 Hoosier A6. They fit the rear 18x12s "well enough" and looked liked they fit the car without any fender mods (but didn't really).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-n9qKGKb/0/M/DSC_1022-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-n9qKGKb/0/X3/DSC_1022-X3.jpg)
I did four autocrosses with these big 345 rear tires: a Pro Solo, a National Tour and two local autocross. It looked like it almost fit, until you started cornering and loaded up the read axle, and then they rubbed like mad and made billowing clouds of tire smoke. It was rubbing so badly on the rear inner fender sheetmetal that the car would bind up on the tires. It would start to load up in a corner, the tires would rub and slow down the car, unload the suspension and free up, lurch back into cornering then rub/slow down/lurch - rinse and repeat. But man, the traction off the line at standing start events was EPIC, and it cornered VERY WELL right up to the point where the rubbing started. Putting the 315s back on the car was a huge let-down, and I was determined to get them on this car again, eventually.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-HdMP8f5/2/S/IMG_1682-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-HdMP8f5/2/X3/IMG_1682-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-vK76r9M/1/S/DSC_1075-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-052012/i-vK76r9M/1/X3/DSC_1075-X3.jpg)
Failed experiment: 345 Hoosiers made tons of smoke from excessive rubbing under stock rear fenders
Back then we were using much softer spring rates (450F/175R) on the AST 4150s and a panhard rod, which of course doesn't control the rear axle location as well as a Watts Link. So why didn't we try the 345 mm tires out back after we went to the Whiteline Watts and upped the spring rates 3 different times on the Motons? Because it still wouldn't have worked on a road course. We noted that as hard as we pushed the car on TRACK with the 18x12" wheel/315/30/18 tire we still had a little whisper of tire rub, both inboard and outboard. It may have worked in a parking lot speeds, but no way would it have been safe on high speed road courses with long laterally loaded corners and the added speeds/downforce we see there. There's a big difference in some tire rub at 20-50 mph for 30 seconds at a time and then from 60-150 mph for ten minutes or more on track. We played with spacers and got it to a "pretty dang good" compromise spot with very minimal rubbing on the 12" wheels and 315s, but any addition of tire or wheel width would go back to the rub/lurch/unload scenario, which was terrible. And at road course speeds that would quickly destroy a tire and potentially cause a catastrophic failure.
continued below
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Hallett-062213/i-HmV2xpJ/0/M/_DSC_8552-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Hallett-062213/i-HmV2xpJ/0/X3/_DSC_8552-X3.jpg)
Ugly cut front fenders at Hallett 2013 clear the now wider 18x12" front wheels
Before the June NASA Hallet event last year we cut the front fenders (a replacement pair of OEM units - the stock front fenders are in my attic, along with the OEM trunk, front bumper cover and hood) to clear a new wider 18x12" front wheel, to make the wheel set-up more "square". We ran it this way for a couple of months and in August of 2013 we finally made over-flares for the front. We made these in our shop using a vacuum formed ABS plastic material just before NASA Nationals last season, and made them big enough to clear a 335mm tire. But with stock rear sheet metal we kept all four corners at 315/30/18 sizes.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-NkWpw8b/1/S/20130824_114103-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-NkWpw8b/1/X3/20130824_114103-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2013-NASA-Nationals-at-Miller/i-XRpRwJz/2/S/DSC_9861-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2013-NASA-Nationals-at-Miller/i-XRpRwJz/2/X3/DSC_9861-X3.jpg)
"Ugly but Functional" front flares. We say that phrase a lot, I know...
They were not the prettiest things to look at, but they were functional and aerodynamically correct - you want to COVER the entire FRONT of a spinning tire, as that reduces drag, and you want to EVACUATE the rear portion of the tire by leaving it UNCOVERED on the back side. This helps pull air from the wheelwell and undercar areas, increasing brake cooling + engine cooling and reducing lift. This is a trick used in sedan car racing and was easy enough to emulate.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Test-Day-ECR-082613/i-B4sJWzv/1/S/_DSC1309-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Test-Day-ECR-082613/i-B4sJWzv/1/X3/_DSC1309-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Test-Day-ECR-082613/i-5dGcvr8/1/S/_DSC1330-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Test-Day-ECR-082613/i-5dGcvr8/1/X3/_DSC1330-X3.jpg)
Testing the mega-splitter at ECR, August 2013, days before making the front flares
We added a MASSIVE front splitter to the car at the same time and integrated the front flares/wheel spats into it. I had wanted to flare the rear wheels at the same time, and switch to the 335/345 tire combo before Nationals, but we simply ran out of time (and Amy said NO!). After Nationals I wanted to attack that at our shop, as we've done steel flares as well as wide-body conversions in steel before, such as these cars below (but Amy said NO!).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E30-V8/i-MWD5P2f/1/S/7851448582_ba522a57bd_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E30-V8/i-MWD5P2f/1/X3/7851448582_ba522a57bd_o-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-6gcw3ms/0/S/_DSC4714_DSC4714-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-6gcw3ms/0/X3/_DSC4714_DSC4714-X3.jpg)
Left: Boxed flared E30 we built. Right: Widening the OEM flares on this Pikes Peak raced 2005 Subaru STi at Vorshlag
Problem was we just got too buried in customer fabrication work, plus Amy absolutely REFUSED to let us "cut on her car". Yes, even after we made the ducted hood, massive rear wing and mega front splitter... Every other thing we had done to the car for 3 seasons could still be unbolted and replaced with the OEM sheetmetal, but cutting on the unibody was verboten. Plus it would take away our technicians from paying service work, and when you are trying to save $$ to buy a building, every dollar counts. So we had the new front areo and big flares, but no additional tire... we raced it like this at Miller in September on skinny 315s, and TWS in September, and ECR in November, and MSR-Houston in January, and Cresson with the Club Trials in January. ...I simply had enough...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/McCalls-BMW-E367-M-Roadster/i-QDRQpdc/0/S/detail%20final-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/McCalls-BMW-E367-M-Roadster/i-QDRQpdc/0/X3/detail%20final-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/McCalls-BMW-E367-M-Roadster/i-VjdkDTP/0/S/_DSC8286%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/McCalls-BMW-E367-M-Roadster/i-VjdkDTP/0/X3/_DSC8286%20copy-X3.jpg)
This is just some of the custom bodywork Shiloh has done for us...
When we realized late last year that the all new 2015 Mustang was going to likely be delayed until Fall 2014, and decided to keep the 2011 GT and race it in the 2014 season, I REALLY wanted to do the Big Tire Upgrade. RIGHT. THEN. AND. THERE. But we were too busy to tackle the rear flares, so I called Shiloh at Heritage Collision in Sherman, Texas, who had done such an amazing job on the custom flares for McCall's Z3 LS1 project (above). He worked the rear fender contours to clear that car's massive rear tires, then made front flare sections that he integrated into a carbon fiber hood, then made flared lower fender sections to blend it all in, and even fabricated some little splitter sections for the nose. That car looked AMAZING, so I took him the 2011 Mustang...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-f8VhBFt/0/S/20140210_152619-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-f8VhBFt/0/X3/20140210_152619-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-z5bJVc8/0/S/20140210_152608-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-z5bJVc8/0/X3/20140210_152608-X3.jpg)
Dropping the car off at Heritage Collision in early February - 345s installed and spaced out 1/2"
Amy was NOT AWARE that I had done this, of course, as I knew she wouldn't approve. I figured it would better to ask for forgiveness than permission in this case. So it was done during a very hectic time in the shop, hoping she wouldn't notice the red Mustang being gone for a couple of weeks during the ~5 week break between Race Events (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events) we had from Jan 31st until March 8th.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-dKdH33K/1/S/_DSC5418-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-dKdH33K/1/X3/_DSC5418-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gHmqnjp/1/S/_DSC5413-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gHmqnjp/1/X3/_DSC5413-X3.jpg)
Our shop guys (Ryan, Kyle and Olof) had blown apart the front splitter, front grill block-off plate, bumper cover, and rear wing uprights to have all of the aluminum bits blasted and powder coated (no more rattle can black paint or raw metal), as well as the Gloss "White" wheels (which were to be blasted and powder coated Anthracite grey with a semi-flat clear coat) then we loaded the car in the trailer and I dropped it off at Heritage. I discussed the timeline, budget and look we wanted with Shiloh and he said it would take a week or two. Well in 2 weeks we had our annual Open House and SCCA Tech Day, and I wanted this car to be there, so that was the absolute latest deadline we agreed upon.
Behind The Scenes : Making Custom Steel Rear Flares
Trust me - you don't want to see this kind of bodywork being done on your pretty car. Here's are some pictures that Shiloh was texting me while the rear flare work was ongoing, and my near mental breakdown that ensued. At first he showed me a method (these two below) that might have worked with a narrower tire, if we didn't need the extra clearance for lateral movement of the axle (even with a Watts there is some movement + tire deflection).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VVjTD44/0/M/20140212_153012-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VVjTD44/0/O/20140212_153012-O.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Sx3GkvX/0/M/20140212_190817-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Sx3GkvX/0/O/20140212_190817-O.jpg)
Before and After - this was just the outer panel separated, moved out and massaged. "Looks great!"
Continued below
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-PdLs7CL/0/M/20140219_181524-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-PdLs7CL/0/X3/20140219_181524-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-LKrDHPj/0/M/20140219_181451-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-LKrDHPj/0/O/20140219_181451-O.jpg)
But by now Amy was getting suspicious, and I couldn't keep her out of the shop every night she came in (after her day job) to do our accounting work. Luckily, with end of year bookkeeping she was pretty busy and somehow never noticed her car being gone. Now I never lied to her, and if she had asked "where's the Mustang?" I would have fessed up immediately, but I dang sure didn't volunteer the information! :p
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-n9GphCP/0/S/20140210_152637-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-n9GphCP/0/O/20140210_152637-O.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-5Fqcrcv/0/S/20140221_152555-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-5Fqcrcv/0/O/20140221_152555-O.jpg)
We took it down to the wire, as Heritage needed the full two weeks we had before our deadline to get it bodyworked, painted and buffed. They even painted the ABS front flare sections for us, as the red vinyl wrap job we had done was not sticking well and starting to peel off. Shiloh really wanted to make steel front flares for us, and I wanted him to as well, but we simply didn't have time.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-c4gh263/0/S/20140221_153626-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-c4gh263/0/O/20140221_153626-O.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pLZxwf7/0/S/20140221_154345-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pLZxwf7/0/O/20140221_154345-O.jpg)
As it was, I didn't get back to the shop 5 pm on Friday, with the car and the many powder coated aluminum bits picked up from Crosslink Powder Coating on the way back (another great resource run by another real car guy). We needed the car assembled for the Open House the next day at 9 am, and still needed to clean up the shop - which was a disaster! Our fabricators and techs have been working nearly around-the-clock on customer race projects for weeks and we had to clean until the wee hours that night.
Meanwhile, as I'm taking the trailer back to our remote storage lot Amy drives up to the shop right after I left. CRAP! I ducked down and hoped she didn't notice me... in the giant red F350 dually with 36' enclosed trailer behind me. See, I was hoping our guys would have a chance to reassemble the wing and front end parts before she showed up and noticed the massive rear flares and missing rear graphics. Nope, she walked right into the shop while four of our guys were standing right next to the Mustang, which had the front end exploded apart on the floor (below) in front of it...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-j85qZGm/1/M/_DSC5370-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-j85qZGm/1/X3/_DSC5370-X3.jpg)
They all looked innocently at the pallet racks or stared at the ceiling while she asks them "Where is Terry going with the trailer???" It took her about 30 seconds to notice the new J-Lo booty on the Mustang, then her jaw dropped. Luckily she really liked the work, but that didn't stop her from calling me and giving me grief. 10 minutes of expletives began, and she really lit it up. I thought was in the dog HOUSE, I tell ya... I was thinking about sleeping in that trailer that night. Finally then she cracked, started laughing, and I could hear the whole shop rolling on the floor. She told me it looked great, and let me off the hook. WHEW! Two weeks of panic and stress were lifted in seconds.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-new-Shop-Build-up/i-m4kMXJk/0/L/vorshlag-panaramic-022214-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-new-Shop-Build-up/i-m4kMXJk/0/X3/vorshlag-panaramic-022214-X3.jpg)
After I got back from dropping the trailer the entire shop was in full "CLEAN MODE". We still had to re-arrange all of the "Stuff" and throw out junk (the scrap guy came by three times and was all smiles), and we cleaned up for many hours that night. I had to help sweep, scrub and mop the floors in the shop, too. Somehow we managed to clean up the messy floors, get most of the ongoing project cars shined up and presentable, get the lobby looking good, and got a few hours sleep before I had to be there at 7 to get ready for the Open House the next day.
Vorshlag Open House + SCCA Solo Annual Tech Day, Feb 22
Picture Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-4pwsfR4/1/S/_DSC5444-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-4pwsfR4/1/X3/_DSC5444-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-wDfDpw9/1/S/_DSC5402-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-wDfDpw9/1/X3/_DSC5402-X3.jpg)
This Open House event went even better than the two previous years' did, and we had 100+ people through the shop that day. Dozens came for the SCCA Annual Solo Tech, which saves them 15+ minutes during each of the 9 autocross events that Texas Region SCCA SOLO (http://www.texasscca.org/soloautocross/solo-events-calendar) holds each year.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-TJ3bSgg/1/S/_DSF2148-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-TJ3bSgg/1/X3/_DSF2148-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-GCJdjj2/1/S/_DSF2155-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-GCJdjj2/1/X3/_DSF2155-X3.jpg)
Lots of our customers came by, and we had tons of food and drinks. Breakfast was kolaches and donuts and lunch was catered Mexican food by Ryan's mom's place, Ojedas. MMM, mmmm it was good! We also had cake, cookies, chips, queso, salsa, and lots of beer.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-Vx6Dxw3/1/S/_DSC5440-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-Vx6Dxw3/1/X3/_DSC5440-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-tGDQrmv/1/S/_DSC5477-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-tGDQrmv/1/X3/_DSC5477-X3.jpg)
I never sat down from 7 am until 5 pm, when it all wrapped up, and I talked so much I was hoarse. Lots of people looked at the Mustang's new flares, the C4 Corvette cage we had just built, the Scion FR-S and NB Miata LSx Alpha projects, a customer E36 M3 LS1, among other projects underway.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-r6TLwFp/1/S/_DSF2137-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-r6TLwFp/1/X3/_DSF2137-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-3DR9DkW/1/S/_DSC5490-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-3DR9DkW/1/X3/_DSC5490-X3.jpg)
One of our customers, Tyler, brought his Unimog out that day and rolled up in line for tech. The SCCA tech guys just shook their heads and laughed. He then proceeded to drive up every incline in the surrounding property in front of our shop, giving rides.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-ZjQkz8K/1/S/_DSC5454-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-ZjQkz8K/1/X3/_DSC5454-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-GdRrBW2/1/S/_DSC5466-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-GdRrBW2/1/X3/_DSC5466-X3.jpg)
All of the Vorshlag crew (9 of us) were there at the Open House, except two. Ryan was sleeping in after pulling a string of all-nighters at the shop the previous week, and Jason was co-driving the vintage 1963 Saab 96 rally car at the 100 Acre Woods Rally that weekend.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-WZMK2pw/0/S/i-WZMK2pw-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-WZMK2pw/0/X3/i-WZMK2pw-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-cZf6LTR/1/S/_DSC5410-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Vorshlag-Open-House-2014-SCCA/i-cZf6LTR/1/X3/_DSC5410-X3.jpg)
Left: Jason at 100 Acre Woods rally - Photo by Alex Wong of Emotive Image. Right: Kyle reassembling the TT3 Mustang
continued below
During the Open House Kyle stayed busy all day, when he re-assembled the Mustang's splitter and front end, installed the wing, and then worked on a customer's Corvette race car - all while the rest of our crew was eating food, drinking and goofing off. Nicely done, Kyle!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vp3p6F2/0/S/20140222_083038-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vp3p6F2/0/X3/20140222_083038-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Mxr6z93/0/S/20140222_083152-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Mxr6z93/0/X3/20140222_083152-X3.jpg)
To be fair, Olof helped him for the Mustang front end, and mounted the 335 tires on the newly refinished 18x12" front wheels. Of course Brandon was busy taking pictures all day and we were all busy talking to folks and giving tours of our little shop, too.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TTpWhPR/1/S/_DSC5386-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TTpWhPR/1/X3/_DSC5386-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Kn4wGZJ/1/S/_DSC5395-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Kn4wGZJ/1/X3/_DSC5395-X3.jpg)
Just want to give a shout out to all of our crew here at Vorshlag for a job well done, after the two busiest months we've ever had. It was good to kick back and take a day to eat, drink and bench race with our friends and customers.
New 335 front 345 rear Hoosiers + New COBRA Seats
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VcLB43P/0/L/_DSC5647-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VcLB43P/0/X3/_DSC5647-X3.jpg)
So the whole point of (last year's) front and (new) rear flares was to house these wider tires. We knew the 335/30/18 Hoosier A6 fit up front, and I had a pair of scrubs that were mounted up for the Open House. The rear got another set of scrub 345/35/18 Hoosier A6 tires, which I have about 10 of (from the pair I purchased earlier plus some more I acquired).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gWCsJwK/0/S/DSC_1138-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gWCsJwK/0/X3/DSC_1138-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-BdRbMPG/0/S/20140301_092823-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-BdRbMPG/0/X3/20140301_092823-X3.jpg)
The sticker set got here today. So the plan is that we will have the Mustang loaded in the trailer on the four scrubs, with the sticker 345s mounted on the spare 18x12" rears and the sticker 335/30/18s loose in the trailer. Blast out to MSR and test in the afternoon on the 1.7 mile course on the scrub tire set.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-DvjN94T/0/S/DSC_1134-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-DvjN94T/0/X3/DSC_1134-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-HPnmNrL/1/S/_DSC6142-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-HPnmNrL/1/X3/_DSC6142-X3.jpg)
Then take the front wheels off and mount the sticker 335s trackside at PST (since Amy busted one of the extra pair of front 18x12s at MSR-H and the replacement isn't here yet). That Friday night I'll mount the sticker front and rear wheels onto the car after I'm done testing.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-XzSS4hK/0/L/DSC_1113-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-XzSS4hK/0/X3/DSC_1113-X3.jpg)
The old seats that came out of the 2011 GT. These will be for sale on our Clearance Page (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) soon.
While we were getting the car cleaned up for the Open House I noticed how faded the COBRA seats have become. The passenger seat, a narrow ("normal width") Suzuka kevlar fixed back composite racing seat, is from 2005 and with nearly 9 years of use in two of my cars without tinted windows, that often get parked outside during the day (to make room in the shop to work), is fading fast. And it is a bit narrow for most folks, so my passengers have had to suffer (it is really made for folks under 160 pounds). The driver's seat is also a Cobra Suzuka, but the "GT width" version (wide, which fits 90% of the people in the USA) from 2009. The fabric is perfect on that one, but the outer left side edge has seen some sun fade also. It isn't noticeable unless you sit it next to a new set, though.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jkPFwv8/1/L/_DSC6156-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jkPFwv8/1/X3/_DSC6156-X3.jpg)
But with an event in March that will be televised (USCA) I wanted to put in a fresh pair of COBRA seats, and get that narrow passenger seat upgraded to a wide version, that will make it easier to give rides at track events and autocrosses. So I took the Cobra Evolution GT seat from our lobby, and another Cobra Suzuka GT we had in stock, and had Olof and Kyle put them in the Mustang. They had to modify the (fixed) bracket on the passenger side, but it is all good now. We routed the OEM seat belt through the head protection section and down through the lap belt hole of the Evolution seat, and it fits across my shoulder and hips just like it does on an OEM seat. So yes, a racing seat can be safe in a street car, if you keep the stock belts and route them properly... I had a whole article written about seats, roll bars and harnesses (for autocross, track and street use) but it needs some more edits. I'll post it in a week or two.
Call Vorshlag For 315mm Scrubs!
So now that we've finally made the switch to 335/345 tires, we've got a shop full of my used Hoosier A6 (and even six R6s) DOT race tires in 315/30/18 that we need to move. They have been stored in our climate controlled shop and all are less than one year old. These are all my TT scrubs, and I've been saving and hoarding them from last season - I think I used 32 new A6s last year, and most of them are still here. They'd all work great for autocrossers, even track guys - if you don't mind the fastest TT laps have been taken on each set already. These cost $376 new, selling them for $100-125 per tire. Call us and see if we still have any left. I'll be moving the 335 and 345 Hoosier scrubs pretty soon as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-jsbfMDW/0/S/DSC_1111-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-jsbfMDW/0/X3/DSC_1111-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-TgCL3nV/0/S/DSC_1112-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-TgCL3nV/0/X3/DSC_1112-X3.jpg)
And of course we still have several sets of new Continental 305 and 320/650/18 racing slicks. All of these are either in our Clearance Page (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) now or will be soon.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-8Xt6b3S/0/M/DSC_1114-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-8Xt6b3S/0/X3/DSC_1114-X3.jpg)
Getting Ready for NASA @ MSR Cresson March 7-9th
Amy is out of town so "Team Vorshlag" will be just me, driving solo this weekend. The signups were a little light for this event in TT, and TT3 only has 4 cars right now. That means: nobody can win tires. It also means that we only have 27 in TT, not enough to warrant the extra track length (and 3 extra corner stations) of the 3.1 mile course that TT normally runs at MSR (the race groups and HPDE always have smaller run groups and just run the 1.7). Most of the TT racers are bummed about running the 1.7 mile course, but after that 1:18 lap time in January, I'm not! I had one of my best drives on the 1.7 five weeks ago, and that was on worn out 315s. What will the car run on sticker set of 335/345s? Who knows but I doubt it will be slower.
Continued below
Here's the old NASA TT track records on both the 3.1 mile and 1.7 mile courses (NASA TT hasn't been run the 1.7 since 2010):
Motorsports Ranch Cresson (3.1 CCW)
Class Driver Car
TTU John Page Chevy Corvette 02:19.489 Mar-11
TT1 Troy Messer Chevy Corvette 02:16.519 Mar-13
TT2 Mike Perkins Chevy Corvette 02:18.353 Mar-13
TT3 Terry Fair Ford Mustang 02:22.753 Mar-13
TTA Josh Dunn Mistubishi Evo 02:23.043 Mar-12
TTB Dysen Pham Honda S2000 02:24.302 Mar-13
TTC Eric Foss Mazdaspeed 3 02:28.562 Mar-12
TTD Eric Foss Mazdaspeed 3 02:30.047 Mar-11
TTE Steven Farrell Mazda Miata 02:37.153 Mar-11
TTF Ken Brewer Toyota MR2 02:37.955 Mar-13
Motorsports Ranch Cresson (1.7 CCW)
Class Driver Car
TTU - - -
TT1 Troy Messer Corvette C6 01:17.113 Mar-10
TT2 Sean Farrah Nissan 350Z 01:20.283 Mar-10
TT3
TTA Ken Orgeron BMW E46 M3 01:22.755 Mar-10
TTB John Zepeda Mazda Miata 01:27.682 Mar-10
TTC Josh Konkle Chevy Cobalt 01:27.006 Mar-09
TTD Terry Fair BMW 328 01:29.811 Mar-10
TTE Josh Price Acura Integra 01:26.583 Mar-10
TTF Ken Brewer Toyota MR2 01:29.804 Mar-10
My 2:22 record for TT3 set last year on the 3.1 is probably a little soft, so I could have worked on improving that if we were to run the 3.1 mile course, assuming I could get a clear and unobstructed lap (which never happens on the 3.1). But it seems we're running the 1.7, and my 1:18.6 from January slots in there quite nicely in the old lap records. Of course nobody has set a TT record on the 1.7 in 4 years, so I suspect all of those old 1.7 TT records will fall. Hopefully, maybe, fingers crossed we can set the TT3 record on the 1.7 this weekend? That's assuming everything goes according to plan, which it almost never does. ;)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSRC-031613/i-4BLT3Pf/0/M/MotorsportRanch-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSRC-031613/i-4BLT3Pf/0/O/MotorsportRanch-O.jpg)
This is the 1.7 mile course everyone will be running this weekend with NASA
Weather could play a major factor, and rain is in the forecast this weekend (but it changes by the hour). We've seen days as recently as this week where it was 80 degrees and sunny in the afternoon one day and then 16 degrees and sleeting the very next morning. Totally psychotic temperature swings, with 4 freak ice storms this winter season - unheard of in Dallas. So it is anyone's guess how this weekend will go.
The Car Guy Show
So in my last update I mentioned that we went to Cars & Coffee in the red T3 Mustang in February. Amy drove out on the 315 A6 tires and I drove out in the 2013 GT. The weather was COLD but the crowds were HUGE, and out of the 1000+ cars there that day a film crew for a new TV show was on site and interviewed about 6 car owners. One of those was our red car, with my goofy ass standing in front of it - wired up for sound, talking to the host and answering questions on camera.
The first show of this new series aired March 1st in the Dallas TV market only (so far), and somehow they used about 2 minutes of my interview in the pilot episode, spread across 3 different segments. This wasn't scripted; it was just some questions they asked and my answers given off the cuff. Pretty cool that this made it on the show. The on-track segments we filmed with this crew December 28th might get re-shot soon, once they get their filming schedule opened up, and they might even shoot a bit at our shop. We'll see.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7ztpzrk/0/M/carguyshow-candc-030114-M.jpg (http://youtu.be/IQoG5wEzi4U)
You can watch the pilot episode of The Car Guy Show at the link above
This show airs on KTXD Channel 47 Saturday's @ 11:30am with encore presentations Sundays @ 6pm and Fridays @ 1:30am. This is a Dallas CBS affiliate network, but the show is supposed to make it to more TV markets in the coming months. So its not a nationwide show, and not a huge deal, but was a nice surprise to see that I made this show's first episode. The promo video they made for 30 second commercials for the show has in-car footage from our TT3 Mustang, shot at the December 28th film shoot.
Cars and Coffee Dallas, March 1st
While the pilot episode of The Car Guy Show was airing we were at Cars & Coffee Dallas once again, bright and VERY early Saturday morning, parking with the SCCA Solo folks to promote their events. We drove out on the Hoosiers, this time the 335/345 scrubs that I will test with on Friday. The crowds flocked to the car even more this time, as the rear fenders were fairly obnoxious looking. The Car Guy Show crew also brought out a couple of cool cars, including this Viper and this Mosler MT900, which parked next to our Mustang.
Picture Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-fKZhWF4/0/S/20140301_081208-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-fKZhWF4/0/X3/20140301_081208-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-Mf9SqpM/0/S/20140301_085906-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-Mf9SqpM/0/X3/20140301_085906-X3.jpg)
They filmed some B-roll out there and a few brief "we'll be right back" segments with some folks. Vorshlag's Ops Manager Sofi rode her Cafe themed Honda motorcycle (that she hand built) and also parked with us. The weather was PERFECT and the lot was jammed with 1200+ cars and thousands of people.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-5ZSdnPd/0/L/2_DSF2332%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy%202-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-5ZSdnPd/0/X3/2_DSF2332%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy%202-X3.jpg)
At about 10:30 who walks up? None other than Aaron and 5 of his guys from Gas Monkey Garage. Even though he hates Mustangs, Aaron stopped and talked to me about the car for 20 minutes, and we realized that one of his crew was someone I knew that used to work at a shop we dealt with a lot. Then the subject of his '63 Falcon came up and the Pikes Peak 2014 race, which Aaron is entered in. We've supported racers at this event in the past, and Vorshlag's head engineer Jason has crew chiefed there 4 or 5 times, and will again this year.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-L6VJktc/0/S/cars-coffee-030114-GMG-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-L6VJktc/0/X3/cars-coffee-030114-GMG-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-tRKmSf2/0/S/20140301_100939-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-tRKmSf2/0/X3/20140301_100939-X3.jpg)
Left: Me chatting with the GMG crew. Right: Aaron's recently purchased 63 Falcon is sweet!
We talked a bit about the tricky nature of this treacherous hill climb event, the altitude and prep you need to tackle. Aaron is going to be getting more seat time in the Falcon at NASA events, a Bondurant school, the upcoming Goodguys autocross, and the Ultimate Street Car Association's event at TMS this month as well. Our own beared wonder Jason spoke with Aaron at the PPIHC event last year, and I suspect they will trade some more Pikes Peak stories at one of the events we will see the GMG guys at in the coming months.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-rfM6bFH/0/S/20140301_083728-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-rfM6bFH/0/X3/20140301_083728-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-F5DcNnf/0/S/20140301_083848-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/i-F5DcNnf/0/X3/20140301_083848-X3.jpg)
Left: In Texas we have everything from Exotics to Bubba Trucks. Right: Yep, that's wood grain on an Audi R8
Continued below
After C&C we went and had breakfast with the SCCA Solo peeps Brad and Jen Maxcy, with me and Amy plus Brandon and Sofi from Vorshlag. Best breakfast ever = the Chicken and Waffles at Whiskey Cake Cafe. Bacon is infused into the waffle...!! And After four mimosas it was nap time for Terry, and Amy drove us home. Then we switched cars and went to some Irish Festival all afternoon, where I had plenty of Irish beer and ale. And that was my first day off in about 4 weeks, which was epic.
I drove the Mustang to the shop the next morning, with a healthy hangover, after the temperature dropped by more than 60 degrees. It began raining then sleeting on my drive in, of course. Oh well, the defrost and wipers worked just fine, and the DOT Hoosiers had enough grip on the slick roads to where I didn't even notice the slick conditions (left the traction control on, just this one time). Worked about 7 hours while it continued to sleet and I drove another vehicle home, towing an empty trailer in much worse road conditions... passing inexperienced winter drivers on the highway. Good grief, Texas drivers on ice are terrible.
Dyno Retune Finds Some Lost Power?
Yesterday the tuning gurus at True Street Motorsports in McKinney, TX made time for us in their busy schedule and we got them the 2011 Mustang for a re-tune and dyno check-up. We have changed the exhaust (added the lighter Magnaflow mufflers and dumps) and needed a re-tune and NASA Time Trial Dyno Certification Form (http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/sanctioned/nasa_time_trial/ttdynoform.pdf) for this season. We don't plan to make any more changes that would affect power.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pVGZwdp/0/S/scan0362-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pVGZwdp/0/X3/scan0362-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w3ht65V/0/S/scan0364-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w3ht65V/0/X3/scan0364-X3.jpg)
Dyno pulls from 3/5/2014. Left is STD correction factor, right is SAE correction factor (which NASA uses)
So in the past ~8 months we had been making from 419 whp to 421 whp and around 402 wtq, right before Nationals and again in a late December dyno test. That's the number we used to get to that 3770 pound TT3 race weight, which we used to ballast up about 45-85 pounds to meet (depending on fuel load and driver). Well this new dyno pull kind of threw a kink in those numbers.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-2R6T9JP/0/S/TT3class-sheet-page1-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-2R6T9JP/0/X3/TT3class-sheet-page1-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-N964Fbh/0/S/TT3class-sheet-page2-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-N964Fbh/0/X3/TT3class-sheet-page2-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pGQ2pR9/0/S/DynoCertForm030614-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pGQ2pR9/0/X3/DynoCertForm030614-X3.jpg)
Left: New TT3 classing sheet, page 1. Center: New TT3 classing sheet, page 2. Right: Dyno Certification Form
The 442 whp and 429 wtq STD corrected numbers were a little shocking, until I realized that the SAE numbers were only 432 whp and 419 wtq - SAE numbers are what NASA uses to get to the correct power-to-weight for our TT class. I've included the updated TT1/2/3 classing sheets as well as the dyno certification form. I did the calcs and it looks like the bump in power was only a modest bump up in minimum weight, going from 3770 to 3802 pounds with the new power boost. This was helped by the fact that at 3801+ pounds we get the highest bonus possible from weight, +0.6. The non-OEM aero penalty is -0.4, taking the 9.0:1 base TT3 ratio to 8.8:1. Then if you do the math... 432 whp x 8.8 = 3801.6 pounds, rounded up to 3802. While it might seem backwards how we came up with these numbers (and it is opposite of how the TT sheets have you calculate it), this is exactly how the NASA TT National Director (Greg G) showed us how to do it at the 2013 NASA Nationals.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-2Qd7nTR/0/S/DSC_1146-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-2Qd7nTR/0/X3/DSC_1146-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-nttH8w6/0/S/DSC_1149-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-nttH8w6/0/X3/DSC_1149-X3.jpg)
I asked Olof to modify the existing weight box bracket to make it a bit more robust ballast, to hold additional weight. I never liked the old one (it was the black 1x2" tubing that bolted in at 2 points/4 bolts), and the new design is a "T" shape with two more mounting bolts + an all new thicker/stronger M14 bolt to secure the weights with. Please don't over-analyze this brace - you can lift the back of the car from that bolt and brace.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pgdx2RL/0/S/DSC_1151-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pgdx2RL/0/X3/DSC_1151-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9kff92S/0/S/DSC_1150-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9kff92S/0/X3/DSC_1150-X3.jpg)
We figured the new flares and especially the much wider (and taller rear) tires would add some weight, and boy it did. With nearly a full tank of fuel and me sitting in it (210 pounds, been eatin' good!) with my helmet and the new weight box bracket we're at 3822 pounds sans ballast, so that is overweight now by a solid 20 pounds. And that was after removing the rear seats today (33 pounds) because it was way over minimum an hour earlier. Granted it has about 80 pounds of fuel in it, and it can probably go down to 1/2 tank on this course safely, but dang this car is heavy. Those new tires added some pounds, but a lot of added width - should sill be quicker, I hope? We will see soon enough.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-v65PJMR/0/L/DSC_1124-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-v65PJMR/0/X3/DSC_1124-X3.jpg)
Olof and Kyle did a ride height change in the rear - Shiloh had it "tucking some tire", which looked cool for pictures but it bottomed out on the street a bit much. Then they did a corner balance adjustment to get the cross weights even.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Kc7mw5H/0/S/DSC_1118-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Kc7mw5H/0/X3/DSC_1118-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Nm5mRF3/0/S/DSC_1144-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Nm5mRF3/0/X3/DSC_1144-X3.jpg)
Getting a quick corner balance done on the car after some changes. It was at 48.2/51.8% cross but we got it to 49.9/50.1%
continued below
And yes, for TT2 we're still WAY too heavy (even without ballast) and WAY down on power to hit the power-to-weight ratio limit for the class (for us it would be 8.0:1 -0.3 for weight = 7.7:1 at 3500-3600 pounds). We'd have to drop nearly 300 pounds and gain another 30 whp to hit the 7.7 ratio (3500 pounds and 454 whp) to max out for TT2. I think we've found the limit of power for this car with a bone stock engine from throttle body to exhaust port, and I don't want to dump time and money into a built motor and gutting the car to get to that weight. Not even going to entertain that idea.
What's Next?
This weekend we have the NASA TT event, plus testing Friday. Then the following weekend is Goodguys at TMS. If you are near DFW, have some 200 treadwear tires, and have a domestic car or anything "domestic powered", come out and join us on Sunday. Its only $40 to run the tightest autocross you will ever see. It will be a good test for us for the following weekend, which is the BIG event we've been waiting for since last Fall...
USCA @ TMS March 21-23 - Mention Vorshlag to Save $200!
This is the big event in March I am really looking forward to. This is the 2nd round of the all new series from the Ultimate Street Car Association (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/events/fort-worth-tx-march-21-23/), which will be a TELEVISED and consistent 3-day format competition event leading up to the Optima Challenge in Vegas after SEMA. All cars must run on a 200 treadwear, and there is no restriciton on makes and models - you can bring anything from a Civic to an EVO to a late model Mustang to a classic muscle car, as long as it is street legal and meets a few basic requirements to prove that. The treadwear rating of the tires are the great equalizer, too.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-TXGLJJv/1/S/IMG_5661-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-TXGLJJv/1/X3/IMG_5661-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-RpkPjdH/2/S/DSC_2018-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-RpkPjdH/2/X3/DSC_2018-X3.jpg)
This USCA event at TMS is going to be very similar to the Optima Qualifier we ran over in 2012 (and even run by the same crew) where we did the speed stop and autocross at the Horse Track in Arlington, then did a 70 mile road rally (to prove these are street cars) to Eagles Canyon, where we had a time trial event and a 5 lap shootout. Our Mustang did pretty well at that event, 3rd fastest in the time trial, winning the autocross and taking 3rd place overall (I tanked the speed stop event - long story).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-QNrT9Sz/2/S/DSC_2045-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-QNrT9Sz/2/X3/DSC_2045-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-s7CRDqg/1/S/IMG_5679-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-s7CRDqg/1/X3/IMG_5679-X3.jpg)
That Optima Qualifier event was a BLAST and we got to run our Mustang against some serious machinery from all over the country. And we got on TV - everyone did. So, what are you doing March 21-23rd??? Why don't YOU come join us at this event???
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-ECR-060912/i-qwN9J2H/1/S/DSC_2067-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-ECR-060912/i-qwN9J2H/1/X3/DSC_2067-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-ECR-060912/i-pzWM9JF/1/S/DSC_2354-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-ECR-060912/i-pzWM9JF/1/X3/DSC_2354-X3.jpg)
I have heard from a lot of folks that the $500 entry fee for this 3 day event was too much to stomach. The entire event is held inside the oval at Texas Motor Speedway, with the autocross and speed stop held on some big parking lots and the Time Trial on the 1.4 mile infield road course. This course is a blast and we ran that with Global Time Attack in 2012 and the local Texas Region SCCA Solo group runs it every year for their one road course autocross.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-ECR-060912/i-k3QrSbW/1/S/DSC_2333-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-ECR-060912/i-k3QrSbW/1/X3/DSC_2333-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-at-TMS-October-13-2013/i-vf6Nx3G/1/S/DSC_0130-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-at-TMS-October-13-2013/i-vf6Nx3G/1/X3/DSC_0130-X3.jpg)
I talked to Jimi Day of the USCA and he wants to get more LOCAL TEXAS RACERS to enter this event, so we worked out a deal to get the price down for you by two hundred bucks. Here's the deal: Go to this link and sign up with either Gold or Platinum entry ($500), then note that you are WITH VORSHLAG somewhere. You will then get a $100 refund after you sign up. Next, come to Vorshlag with your car (not your buddy's car) within the next 6 months and get $100 Credit towards service work at our shop, effectively bringing your price down to $300 instead of $500. Of course if you are out of state this $100 service credit doesn't do you much good, but I am trying to get LOCALS to support a race in our back yard. That service credit can be used for fabrication work, repair work, race prep, parts installation, whatever.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-p3dqJ8R/0/L/Texas-Motor-Speedway-Diagram-L.jpg
That $300 price gets this 3 day event in line with a typical 2-day HPDE or Time Trial, and you will get a FREE MEAL Friday night after the road rally, a FULL DAY of autocrossing and speed stops (Saturday), and a FULL DAY of laps on the TMS Infield Road Course. That's a lot of seat time for the money. So please, if you have anything with 200+ treadwear tires, PLEASE COME JOIN US! :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-8TRLm6d/2/S/DSC_2225-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-8TRLm6d/2/X3/DSC_2225-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-at-TMS-October-13-2013/i-K5WZZff/1/S/DSC_0111-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-at-TMS-October-13-2013/i-K5WZZff/1/X3/DSC_0111-X3.jpg)
I'm calling you out, Texas Region SCCA Solo people! You've run this road course and tons of autocrosses on this pavement at TMS. We need you to REPRESENT! And I'm calling you out, Texas NASA Time Trial racers! This is a chance to get on TELEVISION! Get your TT car on some 200+ street tires and come REPRESENT! Just remember to say you are with VORSHLAG to help save you $200 off the $500 entry fee ($100 refund + $100 service credit at Vorshlag). Nobody else is getting this sweet of a deal...
USCA Rules: http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/usca-rules/
Sign Up Here: http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/events/fort-worth-tx-march-21-23/
That's all I have for now, more next week.
DirtyD
03-07-2014, 04:11 PM
I find it funny that Aaron hates Mustangs so much, but yet his Ford Falcon is the Mustang in sheep's clothing. :lol:
modernbeat
03-10-2014, 11:47 AM
I find it funny that Aaron hates Mustangs so much, but yet his Ford Falcon is the Mustang in sheep's clothing. :lol:
I love those early, rounded Falcons, and looked into building one for performance rally. But everything I saw pointed me towards Mustangs. The '65 Mustang was 4" wider, which helps a lot, and the '67+ cars were much stronger and had more engine bay room.
But, if you are in love with the shape, or are entering an event restricted to pre-Mustang cars, a Falcon will work.
Crimson600+HP
03-10-2014, 11:58 AM
I wish I could make this event for the HPDE and Auto-X, but I am running the TX Mile that weekend. Bummer, so many good events going on in TX in March...can't choose them all.
DirtyD
03-10-2014, 12:17 PM
I love those early, rounded Falcons, and looked into building one for performance rally. But everything I saw pointed me towards Mustangs. The '65 Mustang was 4" wider, which helps a lot, and the '67+ cars were much stronger and had more engine bay room.
But, if you are in love with the shape, or are entering an event restricted to pre-Mustang cars, a Falcon will work.
Don't get me wrong, that looks like an absolutely beautiful car, and I know Aaron built it right. Aaron is really the only reason I like and watch the show, because of how he mods. Simple and factory appearing, but with an extra bit of "in your face" performance.
DirtyD
03-10-2014, 12:20 PM
Terry/Jason,
Did y'all have plans to add a flare to the side skirts in front of the rear tires? THat way the lines match up and flow more air around the front of the tire.
modernbeat
03-10-2014, 01:10 PM
Terry/Jason,
Did y'all have plans to add a flare to the side skirts in front of the rear tires? THat way the lines match up and flow more air around the front of the tire.
Yes, we intend to build a modified rocker that kicks out below the rear flare. Just never enough time.
DirtyD
03-10-2014, 02:48 PM
Yes, we intend to build a modified rocker that kicks out below the rear flare. Just never enough time.
Cool. I was just curious. That will definitely finish the look and be mean as hell too. :headbang:
Project Update for March 20, 2014: As usual this started out as a "quick update" but grew into a monster, and it only covers two weeks worth of events and car prep. We had a great time with NASA at Motorsports Ranch Cresson March 7-9th, so I'll go over that race weekend. Then I'll discuss the last nagging problems we're having with the car, which slowed down the lap times once again (AdvanceTrac faults!). We stripped all of the graphics off the red Mustang in preparation for Goodguys and USCA events as well as installed a set of BFG Rivals. We also got a chance to install the new BMR "UTCA033" spherical Upper Control Arm for the 2010-14 Mustang as well as a new set of Cobra seats (Monoco) in one of our Tester's GTs. Then we get ready for USCA this weekend.... let's go!
NASA @ MSR-C, March 7-9th, 2014
In my last update we went over the modifications and rear flares that were involved to the rear fenders to clear the big 345/35/18 Hoosiers back there (see below). The front flares we made last August were always intended to clear the 335/30/18 up front, and this was the first event where we got a chance to run this new tire upgrade.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-HPnmNrL/1/L/_DSC6142-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-HPnmNrL/1/X3/_DSC6142-X3.jpg)
Mmmm..... big flares.... big tires.... NASA @ MSR means it was time to finally use these in anger!
We drove at MSR track in January with SCCA Club Trials to a 1:18.675 on used 315mm A6 tires, so I was hoping for a 1-2 second time drop with a sticker set of the wider Hoosiers on the same 1.7 mile course... if we even ran the 1.7 course. You see the NASA Texas Time Trial group is normally too big to fit on the 1.7 so we normally use the longer 3.1 mile course - and have done so for the past three years (2011-13). We've had as many as 47 cars enter into TT group at our events, but this time we only had 26 signed up about 4 days before the event, so Dave B made the call, "TT will be running the 1.7". The cut-off for minimum TT entries to run the 3.1 was 32 cars, and we just didn't make it in time (but we did by the end of the race weekend!)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSRC-031613/i-4BLT3Pf/0/M/MotorsportRanch-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSRC-031613/i-4BLT3Pf/0/O/MotorsportRanch-O.jpg)
The 1.7 mile course everyone ran at the NASA event Jan 8-9th
The main thing I lacked at the Club Trials event in January was simple, SEAT TIME. I almost never run the 1.7 mile course at MSR, and have a lot more seat time on the (seldom used) 1.3 and 3.1 courses. I only drove the Mustang at speed for two sessions on the 1.7 mile course in January and put my best laps in early, in the 2nd session. Amy co-drove with me that day and drove in the last two sessions of the day, when it was warmer (it was very COLD at the start of that event, in the 29-35°F range). Well for this weekend Amy was at a wedding for a cousin out of state, so I was going to get to run the car as much as I wanted. Instead of learning the new tire set-up (and this track) during the four daily TT sessions on Saturday and Sunday I decided to head out to MSR on Friday afternoon to get some laps in at the "Test-N-Tune" event normally held the day before any NASA Texas event.
Friday Test and Tune at MSR
MSR is fairly close to our shop and after trying a new route (thanks Google!) I got there in under 1.5 hours. Problem is I didn't leave the shop until after 1:15 pm, as the guys were thrashing to get the car prepped and loaded. And normally I bring along one of our techs for each day to these local events but all of our guys had something going on that weekend, so I went out by myself. So no crew, no Amy, no Brandon (our photographer) - what could go wrong?
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-K9KBb7p/2/L/20140307_172233-L.jpg
(http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-K9KBb7p/2/X3/20140307_172233-X3.jpg)
I had planned on getting there a bit earlier to reserve good paddock parking for my trailer and 2 others (Matt and Costas), but when I rolled up after 2:30pm the place was PACKED. NASA has commandeered the covered grid area for tech/scales, so they moved grid area to one of the parking lots normally used for paddock - which made the remaining paddock spaces disappear. I got the best spot I could find, unlaoded the car quickly, and went to the clubhouse sign up for the T-n-T event. Only $100 to run in the afternoon, but for all MSR run member and test days you must wear a fire suit and full race gear. No worries, I always bring my gear bag. They said that with our TT3 prepped car with the times it runs I could run with either the "race cars" (W2W prepped cars) or the "sports cars" (mostly HPDE and TT folks). There were 6 sessions left (30 minutes each), so I hopped in the car, set-up the new AiM SOLO DL, and went out to drive.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-98C6j3L/1/S/20140309_142237-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-98C6j3L/1/X3/20140309_142237-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jamie-Becks-S197-Mustang/i-8GSjtVn/1/S/_DSF7270-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jamie-Becks-S197-Mustang/i-8GSjtVn/1/X3/_DSF7270-X3.jpg)
One of our testers Jamie Beck was there with his AST/Vorshlag/Whiteline/Cobra equipped 2013 Mustang GTs (above) to run in HPDE3 on Saturday and he was nice enough to snap these pictures of me driving - the only pictures I got all weekend of our car (I shot pics of TT cars in sessions that I wasn't driving on Sat/Sunday). We had just rebuilt his rear axle (diff bearings were shot, swapped in a new Torson and 3.31 gears from 3.73s - he loves it) and had some new gauges, a shift light, Ford Racing Sparco wheel and some "blip shift" device he was testing in HPDE3. He also borrowed my "loaner" AiM SOLO timer, which came in handy. So I went out Friday on the 335F/345R scrub set I had picked up for this car and was going to do just a couple of shake down laps, but once I got up to speed and scrubbed off the old rubber the car was flying around the track and I was having a blast.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-hc85qkt/1/S/DSC_1216-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-hc85qkt/1/X3/DSC_1216-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-jZB66qC/1/S/DSC_1234-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-jZB66qC/1/X3/DSC_1234-X3.jpg)
I came in after 10-15 laps and hopped out under the "Tech shed" area to take a quick look and make sure nothing was leaking or rubbing. Well don't you know that the underside of the back of the car was dripping in gear oil. WTF?! I took a peek and thought I saw the problem... drove to the paddock spot, shimmied out of my driving suit, got the back of the car in the air and yep, the differential vent line for the vent/catch can system we built long ago had popped off the fitting on the rear axle. That was an easy fix. I cleaned up most of the leaked fluid, which looked like much less than a pint, and got back out on track.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-LgJ9SBj/1/S/20140307_155815-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-LgJ9SBj/1/X3/20140307_155815-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-3rZjqwD/2/S/20140307_155801-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-3rZjqwD/2/X3/20140307_155801-X3.jpg)
After that was fixed I drove in two more 30 minute test sessions with the race group and got a TON of laps in - more than I normally get in several TT weekends. Fine tuned suspension set-up, tire pressures and worked on my driving lines. Adjusted the new seat a little bit - took the bottom seat cushions (they are Velcro'd in place) out of the new Cobra Evolution seat (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=279&products_id=611) and got a lot better seating position, but then the submarine belts were too long, and the belts I have in the car aren't very good (I have new Schroth Profi2 harnesses going in today).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-4P8FMht/1/L/DSC_1292-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-4P8FMht/1/X3/DSC_1292-X3.jpg)
Since I was on scrubs and normally mired in traffic I was just out there getting seat time and learning this track better - something I have lacked in the last few events (I didn't know the 1.7 course well at the January Club Trials nor the MSR-H track in that direction at the January NASA TT event). Put a tank of fuel through the car, had a lot of fun, and used up a good bit of brake pad material. The scrubs were A6s so they got greasy after 4-5 laps and times would drop, but the Mustang seemed to be passing everything out there and I never had to worry about anything crowding the mirrors, which wasn't what I expected.
continued below
continued...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-jfvL3P6/1/S/DSC_1310-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-jfvL3P6/1/X3/DSC_1310-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-DcXhRhR/1/S/DSC_5628-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-DcXhRhR/1/X3/DSC_5628-X3.jpg)
The best lap I saw was a 1:19.2 but that was with passing 2 cars on that lap, so I didn't worry about it too much. I came in at 5 pm, even through there was another session I could have run it. I got the front of the car in the air and pulled off the front wheels, which I needed to re-use for the new tires. Then I quickly moved the trailer (to leave room for Costas), unhooked the truck, and hauled the two loose wheels to PST. I got there by 5:20, whew. But... they closed at 5. Doh!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-JxJMCxK/2/L/20140307_183751-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-JxJMCxK/2/X3/20140307_183751-X3.jpg)
They said they'd get the tires swapped first thing Saturday morning, but they opened at 8 am and I also had a TT meeting at 8 and had to be ready to leave the grid at 8:40. I told them I'd be there early and hope for the best. Got back to my paddock spot, changed the rear wheels for the other pair with fresh 345mm A6 tires mounted, checked the fluids, and then wrapped up for the day by 6:30 pm.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-nsQ4qLL/2/S/20140307_164041-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-nsQ4qLL/2/X3/20140307_164041-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-hFQgNMv/1/S/20140307_185737-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-hFQgNMv/1/X3/20140307_185737-X3.jpg)
Jamie joined me for dinner and we met Marc Sherrin and a bunch of other TT drivers at the "Rib Shack", which was a literally a shack out in the woods, but they had some good BBQ. (this is the first of 4 BBQ meals for the weekend)
Saturday March 8th - NASA TT Day 1
Arrived at the track Saturday morning at 7:30 am, stopped at the gas station in front of the track to get ice for the cooler. Noticed the line into the track was 30+ deep so I went ahead and ordered a bacon and egg breakfast burrito from On The Brazos BBQ next to the gas station. Best breakfast burrito I've ever had in my LIFE! This thing was HUGE, and chowing on that $3.50 burrito made the wait for the front gate go by quickly. Once signed, wrist banded and inside the gate to my paddock spot. Costas had arrived at some unholy hour and was already unloaded. Our single-trailer width paddock spot grew to three trailers stuffed in there with Costas' 28' and Jamie's 24' trailers jammed in front of our 36'. Their cars plus the Mustang, Toth's Audi and Cody's E36 M3 were all parked together next to Glen's CMC Camaro over the rest of the weekend, too.
After I got inside the gates I raced over to PST to buy a freakin tire gauge (it wasn't loaded in the trailer), and they had my two front sticker tires mounted and balanced by 7:45 am - they rock. Thanks AJ! Ran back to my paddock spot, mounted the front wheels with sticker A6 tires, checked all the fluids and put a tiny bit of oil in it.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-M5BvRgX/1/L/20140309_140227-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-M5BvRgX/1/X3/20140309_140227-X3.jpg)
Which is all I normally need to do to this car - just keep it full of fluids and drive it. This Mustang is a TANK, I tell ya. Bled tire new tires' pressures down to where I thought they needed to be in the 36° temperatures we saw in the first TT practice session - 29psi front, 27 psi rear, shooting for 33F/31R hot (it overshot that goal by a good bit, as each tire grew by 6-8 psi). First session for TT was of course early and cold, so the track was very slick.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-jbb5wXf/1/S/20140308_095817-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-jbb5wXf/1/X3/20140308_095817-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-kw62Ft9/1/S/20140308_171731-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-kw62Ft9/1/X3/20140308_171731-X3.jpg)
Wind chill put ambient temps in the high 29-30°F range, brr! So I figured there would be no grip on track. At least - for once - I had plenty of seat time on the Friday before an opening TT race session and felt pretty good about the set-up, and I hoped I could drive better than I did in January at the SCCA Club Trials. I have watched my laps from that event, plus many others, and knew I was leaving time on track just in my driving (braking too early, lifting in corners that I should take flat, and being "smooth"). Even after 27 years of autocross and track experience I still have plenty of areas to improve with "the nut behind the wheel".
As I was installing the front wheels I was farting around with the front spacers - something just didn't look right and had the front wheels on and off a couple of times, getting the wheels to fit right. I was confused and knew something on the car needed to be changed with respect to the spacers when I ran the different set of wheels (one pair of 12's has very different offsets from the later set of 18x12s). We had a quick TT meeting in at 8 am, and I was very rushed all morning. I then got the car to grid but something was nagging me.. ballast! I drove back to my paddock spot and looked for the 35 pound plates, but they were still at the shop. I had like 2 minutes to spare so I grabbed a 25 pound plate and hoped that would be enough. Bolted it on and drove back to grid. I ended up getting there as the one minute warning whistle blew. Crap! Go go go!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-n5jTFJN/1/S/20140308_171704-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-n5jTFJN/1/X3/20140308_171704-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-FkbHr4G/2/S/20140308_171740-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-FkbHr4G/2/X3/20140308_171740-X3.jpg)
I am belted in and look over to the passenger seat and see... the harness belts on the passenger seat were unlatched and the seat cushions were sitting on the floor - all of which which would fly around and be a huge distraction on track. I had to get out of my harness, get out of the car, go around to the other side and secure the belts and cushions. Long story short - I didn't make it out in the first grid spot as planned for the first session and had to rush out and catch the field once I had all of my crap together. Not having Amy or anyone else from the shop with me this weekend was a constant struggle to make it to grid on time and get the car checked over between runs. I had some help from Jason Toth and Paul Costas but they had their own cars (and students) to attend to.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-zgchPpD/1/S/DSC_1627-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-zgchPpD/1/X3/DSC_1627-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-tgZKNDb/1/S/DSC_1564-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-tgZKNDb/1/X3/DSC_1564-X3.jpg)
Went out dead last in TT, about a minute after they had left, so I blasted out of the grid and caught the back of the field on the formation lap then scrubbed the sticker tires a bit. Costas snuck out there in his GT-1 car late as well, but held back and left a half lap gap to me, so he had all sorts of clear track on his first couple of laps. Smart! I caught a ton of traffic on every lap, of course, but everyone was cool and I was passing 3-4 cars per lap. Worked my way up through the field and took five laps, which is a lot for this car in TT (normally overheating the tires by then).
I can smell and hear a tire rubbing and smoking, and eventually I figured out that the right rear is rubbing inboard badly. Then I finally remembered which spacer I was supposed to change - the rears! I really needed to get a sub 1:20 lap so I took a few more laps even though I saw and heard the tire rub. Needed a fast lap to get up the grid for TT session 2, so I wouldn't be mired in traffic and slow all day. That was probably a mistake, as when I finally did come in I had damaged the tire a bit more than I figured.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-cFNkvJ5/1/S/1836728_10202658478775499_793338579_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-cFNkvJ5/1/X3/1836728_10202658478775499_793338579_o-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-tWkT9x5/1/S/20140308_090316-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-tWkT9x5/1/X3/20140308_090316-X3.jpg)
Did manage a 1:20.4, which was 4th fastest and moved me up the grid. Way better than I thought I'd get with that much traffic and these cold temps, so I guess it helped after all. We ended up having 29 cars for the day after 28 signed up, some didn't show, and then we had several new drivers get check rides from HPDE 4 and move up to TT. I came in, pulled the rear wheels and put the correct spacers on back there. Checked the tire, despite the rub, it was still OK and had not cut all the way through the outer rubber and into the carcass. Made quite a big "tire baby" out of the shaved rubber from the right rear. Oops.
continued below
continued from above
I also wanted to note that as badly as the Traction Control system has behaved it has mostly only happened to me and Costas when driving this car - Amy is a much smoother driver and it never faults on her.
We will test this new ABS/Traction Control module at the USCA event this weekend (on street tires) and at the Track Guys TWS track event the weekend after (on sticky tires) and I will report back with results after autocrossing and tracking this new M-2353-CA module with those vastly different grip levels.
Back to Saturday's TT Event...
So after the AdvanceTrac issues in TT session 2 and 3 and with the weather getting much colder, I sat out the 4th and final TT session on Saturday. Ended up being a good call as very few folks set their fastest in that session and we saw lots of "offs". I took pictures of the TT group, watched the AI/CMC crash-fest races, and took pictures when Costas was out in the Blitz group. Troy Messer eeked by my best time in his 3rd TT session in TT1, and I ended the day with the 2nd fastest time out of 29 cars in the TT group. And I think it was the 3rd fastest time for the entire day of all NASA race groups, with Costas getting a 1:17.3 in qualifying for the SU race (he was on some 3 weekend old, harder compound tires). That was weird and lots of people thought so as well, but I guess it was just a good day for the 3800 pound pony car. What was funny was I put two stinkin wheels in the dirt on that lap and the AdvanceTrac was going bonkers! I was excited about Sunday, hoping to beat that time - but who knows what tomorrow brings? Would the faults and CELs get worse on Sunday? Would it rain and slow us all down? No idea.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-K4DCZcS/1/S/DSC_1619-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-K4DCZcS/1/X3/DSC_1619-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-RVxq3Wt/1/S/DSC_1605-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-RVxq3Wt/1/X3/DSC_1605-X3.jpg)
We had a great dinner provided by NASA Texas for everyone that night with killer BBQ cooked by one of the CMC racers, but it was SO cold we had to move indoors to eat. NASA Texas had a new thing that night where they handed out trophies for wins that day and track record certificates when a record was broken.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-m4WXGrx/1/S/20140308_193744-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-m4WXGrx/1/X3/20140308_193744-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-p594Gsx/1/S/20140308_194612-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-p594Gsx/1/X3/20140308_194612-X3.jpg)
I picked up those trophies and print-outs for the TT3 win and new TT3 track record as well as for several of our friends/customers who couldn't stick around for the party.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-VQcff6n/1/S/DSC_1438-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-VQcff6n/1/X3/DSC_1438-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-ZvT4JcZ/1/S/DSC_1472-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-ZvT4JcZ/1/X3/DSC_1472-X3.jpg)
Costas won TTU, set that track record, won both Blitz races overall and won SU class both times on Saturday. Vorshlag customer Eric Johnson won TTE and set the class record, his first class win, so he was very happy with that. Long time Vorshlag tester but first time NASA TT racer Doug Worth did his first TT event in his E36 M3 and won against the "E46 Mafia" in TTB by a couple of hundredths and set the TTB track record, but days later it was taken away after his classing sheet was rechecked came up one point short for TTB class. He has since received a dyno re-class and with 10 more pounds on board is TTB legal for the next event. Bummer.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-QxgKqdC/1/S/DSC_1351-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-QxgKqdC/1/X3/DSC_1351-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-VQpXWZc/1/S/DSC_1518-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-VQpXWZc/1/X3/DSC_1518-X3.jpg)
It was close, and I didn't find out for about 5 more days, but there ended up being a car moved from TTB to TT3 class (sorry Doug!) so we ended up with 5 in class for Saturday, which meant I scored two Hoosiers for that day's win. Whew! That was good news, because I pretty much ruined one of the brand new (and expensive) 345mm rear tires in that spacer snafu. Not having any of our crew or Amy there made it more stressful than normal, and I really missed all of them that day. After a a couple of plates of food and few beers I made it back to the hotel and tried to get some sleep.
Sunday March 9th - NASA TT Day 2
Sunday dawned with Daylight Savings giving us more light but stealing an hour of sleep. I was at the track by 7:30am, got ready for TT for the day but skipped TT session 1 because it was 29°F indicated - stupid cold and well outside of the A6 tire's performance envelope. I went out in TT session 2 gridded in P1 at 10:30, and the sun had just started to peek out of the clouds. I had some nice clear track in front of me and with temps in the 40s I ran a first lap of 1:18.2 and a second lap of 1:17.310. As usual the AdvanceTrac was faulting BADLY the entire time, turning itself back on and applying brakes in that first lap. I think the car sees the g-loading and my spastic driving and calculates "Danger! This car is crashing!" It was blinking lights, applying brakes and FREAKING out. The last 4 corners on my best lap of the weekend and the damned REAR BRAKES were on the whole time. The engine was straining but I kept the throttle matted and cursed my way through that 1:17.310 lap (see in-car video from those two laps, below).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-ZT7bnbx/0/L/TerryMarch9-2014-NASA-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/37597851_WKmNrp#!i=3121929171&k=ZT7bnbx&lb=1&s=A)
That time was a half second quicker than Saturday's best and a second and a half quicker than the January SCCA Club Trials lap on 315mm Hoosiers, so the new tires were working despite the AdvanceTrac system fighting me the entire time. Frustrating laps, but I was happy to reset the track record (the car's 10th standing NASA TT3 track record) and ended up being fast enough for another win with 7 in class that day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-JwHbKgB/1/S/20140307_172024-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-JwHbKgB/1/X3/20140307_172024-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-CsxLxNs/1/S/20140307_172033-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-CsxLxNs/1/X3/20140307_172033-X3.jpg)
Indicated 470°F front and 350°F rear brake caliper temperatures were a bit alarming
The brakes worked well this weekend but I got them REALLY hot, as shown in the Alcon caliper temperature indicators that we placed on each caliper. This is a standard data acquisition trick, but I learned the value of it from Costas in January at the NASA MSR-H event. So I picked up a packet of these adhesive strips and the results were a bit startling. The 470°F degree front caliper temps were the most alarming and we will need to address this before our next high speed track event. Again, we were running with driver and ballast at over 3800 pounds (much higher than most S197 racers) and seeing speeds and lap times that are probably atypical for this chassis.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-mGc52FN/0/M/DSC_1165-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-mGc52FN/0/X3/DSC_1165-X3.jpg)
Like many S197 racers we are using a single a 3" brake duct hose coming from the fog light openings right now but we had just re-routed and lengthened these hoses to avoid the 335mm wide front tires at full lock (see new routing, above). I fear that the new cooling hose routing (now located inboard of the splitter's rear mounts) with tighter bends in the hose is causing some additional airflow restriction we weren't seeing before. The rear calipers even saw over 350°F, which was a tick higher than expected. We will replace these Alcon indicators for each event and monitor the max temps reached on each caliper and possibly add a second 3" hose (or move to a 4" hose) up front and maybe even add some under-car ducting for the rear brakes. I have an idea for that which will tie into the new rear bodywork nicely and discretely.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-cQ7DLGs/1/S/i-cQ7DLGs-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-cQ7DLGs/1/X3/i-cQ7DLGs-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZqLBZR3/1/S/i-ZqLBZR3-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZqLBZR3/1/X3/i-ZqLBZR3-X3.jpg)
We've run multiple brake cooling hoses to the same corner on other cars we've built before, like this C4 Corvette above. That one used a massive inlet duct, air passed through the frame rail then was diverted out into two duct hoses: a 3" hose routed to a custom brake backing plate for the inside of the rotor and a second 2" cooling hose pointed right at the caliper.
continued below
continued from above
This system worked very well and in that car's first 12 hour of racing the pads barely wore halfway, but the rear brakes (uncooled) went through two sets of pads. We might try this "dual cooling" set-up on front of the TT3 Mustang, or a single 4" hose to the rotor, or a dual 3" hose to the rotor. And a ducted rear rotor set-up is coming as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-sqWGdb6/1/L/_DSC6319-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-sqWGdb6/1/X3/_DSC6319-X3.jpg)
The front brake pads are wearing more quickly than we like (again, 3800 pound car + lots of brake heat), as shown above. We just put a new set of front Carbotech XP20 brake pads (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=588) on the front Brembo calipers for the USCA event and will address the brake cooling needs soon. The old pads (shown) wore down tot he last 1/16th of an inch of material and are only good for "emergency use", to make one session or a drive home from the track for someone that had a pad failure.
In Sunday's TT session 3, the car didn't even make through the first hot lap before the AdvanceTrac faulted heavily. I barely ran a 1:18 lap and it was only getting worse, as was the traffic. I didn't even try to make a 2nd hot lap, and with the start/finish line just before the pit entrance road I just dove into the pits and did a little cool down drive to the corner gas station and back, to get the brakes and systems cooled off before parking the car for rest of the day. The ambient temperatures were getting warmer and a few guys went quicker, so I ended up only 4th fastest in TT for the day after skipping the 4th TT session. If the AdvanceTrac wasn't faulting I would have gone out and could have dropped time. After the car had cooled off I hooked up the truck to the trailer, loaded up the car and our gear, then helped Costas put his car back together (windshield, bodywork, and wheels) after he fixed a nagging brake light switch issue that was a bear to access. Once he was ready for his last SU race, where he won the class all 4 times, I headed out a little early.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-X2xK5mF/1/S/20140309_120111-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-X2xK5mF/1/X3/20140309_120111-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-7hD3gmR/1/S/DSC_1635-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-7hD3gmR/1/X3/DSC_1635-X3.jpg)
That 2nd session 1:17.310 time was good enough for the win (7 cars in class) and reset the TT3 record. A Radical SR8 ran with us in TT on Sunday and was stupid fast, but its a SportsRacer and that's to be expected. Troy Messer found a lot of time in his TT1 Corvette in the 4th session and ran a 1:15.8 and Vorshlag customer Corey Wells put in a fast lap with a 1:17.290 in his TT1 classed ZR1 (street car!) as well.
All in all this was a great weekend and the Vorshlag Mustang really came alive on the bigger Hoosiers I have lusted after for the last three years. Just as I predicted, it dropped a lot of time AND I was able to get in 3, 4, even 5 hot laps before the tires got overheated and greasy - unheard of when running at this weight on the 315mm A6 tires. The extra grip probably caused these additional AdvanceTrac faults and one CEL issue, so we're installing a new ABS/TC module that hopefully eliminates all traces of factory traction control once and for all. Again, I really missed having Amy and our crew there, and the only pictures I got were with my Nikon that I took, and the only shots of our car on track were those that Jamie Beck shot with my camera on Friday in practice. I watched all the video and saw plenty of driving mistakes so there's no telling what this car could have run without the AdvanceTrac faults and my hack driving. I know a 1:16 was possible without the brakes being applied by some stupid computer when I wanted to be WOT. Maybe next year NASA will run the MSR 1.7 course again. I sure hope so, as this course was more enjoyable for me than the 3.1 mile course we normally run in TT.
Making Weight by the Hair of My Chinny Chin Chin!
One little scare I had on Saturday was after TT session 2. I came after running that 1:17.7 lap and was sent to the scales. I wasn't too worried, as I had thrown a 25 pound ballast weight plate into the trunk mount moments before the session began, after I noticed a somewhat lower fuel load than I had wanted (normally I was going to grid with 7/8ths to a full tank). I made weight that time by 2 pounds!!!! And that took two tries...
The first time they put the car on the scales after that session it was 8 pounds light. As per the rules, that would have been technically legal on my first weighing of the day (10 pound grace on first weighing) but I knew that weight couldn't be right. I asked them to roll me off, make sure the scale pads were under all 4 tires all the way, and we rolled it back on. That time it was 3804 pounds on a 3802 minimum. Whew!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-n5jTFJN/1/M/20140308_171704-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-n5jTFJN/1/X3/20140308_171704-X3.jpg)
I went to the paddock and immediately threw 20 more pounds of ballast and a full tank of fuel went into the car for each successive session all weekend. I was weighed a couple more times; once it was 3835 and another it was 3853 pounds! So getting spooked by that "close call" 2 pound weight check made me run too much ballast all weekend. I'm sure with our crew here I wouldn't have overshot that so badly, but oh well. It was fully 51 pounds overweight on my 1:17.310 lap Sunday.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-7BHWhH9/1/S/DSC_1558-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-7BHWhH9/1/X3/DSC_1558-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-fgkr87h/1/S/DSC_1571-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-fgkr87h/1/X3/DSC_1571-X3.jpg)
Jason Toth (the Alpha LS1 Miata owner) made his TT debut on Sunday in an Audi A4 (loaner, shown above left) and had a blast. He borrowed my spare AMB so he graciously ran in TT3, which made for 7 in class. Hoosier pays all the way down to 2nd place so Jeff Tan won a tire that day in 2nd and I won 2 more in 1st. Which was good, because I blew my tire budget all to pieces with the new A6s for this event and BFG Rivals for Goodguys/USCA. I'll save the newly arrived 4 tire winnings for April's NASA TT event and use 3 of these 4 tires from this weekend as my Friday test set if we go down there a day early. Gotta get a replacement 18x12" wheel so we have two complete sets - running around and getting tires swapped and mounted minutes before my first TT session Saturday was a bit too hectic. Congrats to Mike Patterson (shown above right), who won all 4 AI races, reset the track record for that class in the low 1:20 range (on the new Toyo RR tires running 18x9.5" Forgestar F14 wheels he bought from Vorshlag), and ran in TT3 both days as well. He also works as race director for another race group, so he was a busy man!
Official Results: http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2014%20-%20Official%20Results/2%20Cresson_March/
Vorshlag Photo Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-kjJ2Zbr/0/M/MSR-TimeTrialsSaturday-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-kjJ2Zbr/0/X3/MSR-TimeTrialsSaturday-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-h49DDwh/0/M/MSR-TimeTrialsSunday-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-MSR-030814/i-h49DDwh/0/X3/MSR-TimeTrialsSunday-X3.jpg)
Left: Saturday's NASA TT results. Right: Sunday's NASA TT results.
Decal Removal + New BFG Rivals + Prep for Goodguys & USCA
We had to steal a tiny sliver of shop time to get the red Mustang ready for the next two "street car" events, so we took it. The guys made sure the car was street legal and re-attached the horns and double checked all of the street car systems like the wipers, lights, signals and the rest. We ran out of time to get the car reinspected (it was a few months out but it just got re-inspected today) but they got it all street worthy and up to snuff. On Thursday March 13th the set of BFG Rivals I found a couple of weeks earlier (TireRack was out of stock on the 335s) arrived in town and I went out to an undisclosed location to pick them up.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-bQhfqcP/1/S/20140313_164806-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-bQhfqcP/1/X3/20140313_164806-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZGtFzqR/1/S/20140314_121002-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZGtFzqR/1/X3/20140314_121002-X3.jpg)
On the Friday before Goodguys Olof got the 315/30/18 pair mounted to the front 18x12 wheels and the 335/30/18 pair mounted to the rear 18x12s. Once mounted on the car they were swallowed in the massive rear flares and even the 335s looked small.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZHZknXh/1/S/_DSC6174-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZHZknXh/1/X3/_DSC6174-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-HsPBLBv/1/S/_DSC6176-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-HsPBLBv/1/X3/_DSC6176-X3.jpg)
continued from above
Another change we made was to remove the current "livery", which we've had on the car since 2012. The crazy stripes were Amy's idea, and the vendor decals were there to show what we have on the car that we sell. Some of the parts shown in decals are about to be removed (more on that in my next post) and almost all of the vendors we use aren't "Goodguys/USCA" sponsors, so they had to get toned down a bit.
Street Car, Race Car - What's The Definition? Who cares?
The number board, NASA decals and race numbers/class letters make this streetable car look more like a race car than it really is, and I didn't want to put the wrong impression for Goodguys or USCA - because this really is a very streetable car that we often drive around town for various events, unlike some cars that show up at those street car competitions. We have had a few folks complain publicly about how our Mustang is a "race car" showing up and beating "street cars" at NASA events, Goodguys, and other competitions, but I just chalk that up to internet whining. It is even funnier when folks with "street cars" that have gutted interiors, no radio or air con, built or boosted motors and/or wildly illegal emissions systems make these claims about our 2011 Mustang. This really is a full interior car (back seats are reinstalled as of last week), with the OEM air bags, big honkin' radio, touch screen sat NAV, a satellite radio subscription, air conditioning, power windows, all of the OEM glass, OEM seat belts, and a bone stock engine from throttle body to exhaust port. The suspension is refined for competition, but it's still quiet and uses bushings in most of the arms and links.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RMTzSTZ/0/L/jj_DSF2550%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-RMTzSTZ/0/X3/jj_DSF2550%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-X3.jpg)
A ducted hood, splitter and big wing don't make a car a "race car" or really much less streetable than other cars - but these are visible exterior mods that look "racey" and some that don't understand the function of them would even say "ricey". And at the events we race in, this Mustang is usually the heaviest car at the entire event (3802 pounds) and almost always competing against much more radically prepped cars. Is it my fault if someone shows up to NASA TT in a bone stock car and gets beat? Should they expect to win in a totally stock vehicle? Sometimes a fairly stock-ish car can do well in NASA Time Trial, but most of the time these entrants are making significant modifications to otherwise OEM vehicles to be more competitive. When there are contingencies on the line (like free sets of tires for the winners) you better believe I'm going to look at the rules and do what I feel is most beneficial to lowering our lap times. At the 2013 NASA Nationals our car was one of the only ones on the TTU-TT1/2/3 grid that was a registered and inspected street car, and once again the heaviest car on grid.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2013-NASA-Nationals-at-Miller/i-PbMwJGB/2/L/DSC_9820-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2013-NASA-Nationals-at-Miller/i-PbMwJGB/2/X3/DSC_9820-X3.jpg)
Just know that everyone has their own definition of a "street car", and your's might not sync up with mine. You should see some of the street cars race in Hot Rod's Speed Week! The 80 mile road rally we have to drive on public roads this Friday at the USCA event will separate the street cars from the race cars, and I'm confident that I will have no problems on that drive. In fact I'll probably have the A/C on and playing Channel 51 on Sirius blasting through the 1000 watt stereo, burning 93 octane pump fuel and having fun.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w6fn6Xs/0/S/20140313_112202-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w6fn6Xs/0/X3/20140313_112202-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-STfhZ6N/0/S/20140313_112749-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-STfhZ6N/0/X3/20140313_112749-X3.jpg)
Back to the decal removal. So we left the car out in the sun for a couple of hours to help soften the adhesives, then I started to yanked off the stripes and most of the decals myself. Kyle finished removing the decals and then washed the car. After that I removed the adhesive residue with the Goof Off Heavy Duty spray remover I like (not the Goof Off Industrial Strength, which can sometimes affect the paint - the "heavy duty" version is much safer). Finally, Ryan used his detailing skills and tools to buff and wax the paint. HE wasn't around when Brandon took this picture below, so I stood in for him and pretended to do real work, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZbKKQVz/0/L/j_DSC6194%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZbKKQVz/0/X3/j_DSC6194%20copy-X3.jpg)
Some of those decals have been on there for about 2 years but luckily we use good vinyl and they came off well. Nothing was brittle and tore except for a few printed decals that came from vendors or race events. One of those left a HUGE glob of adhesive that took a bit of elbow grease to get off, but it all cleaned up well. Some of these stripes and decals went onto VERY fresh paint (due to time constraints) but Shiloh's paint work held up perfectly. Once it was all buffed and waxed it came out nice.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-CgQQ34J/0/S/jpg_DSF1357%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-CgQQ34J/0/X3/jpg_DSF1357%20copy-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-89mdzjr/0/S/jpg_DSF2517%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-89mdzjr/0/X3/jpg_DSF2517%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-X3.jpg)
There's the old livery at left and the new "naked" look at right. We had planned on doing some simple black stripes and a few vendor decals but the weather started to turn and we ran out of time. That's going to happen soon, so it won't stay "naked" long. Yes yes, it looks better with a simple red paint job, but this car is a marketing tool for us and it has to show the parts on it that we sell, so they have to go back on at some point.
Goodguys Autocross - Sunday March 16th - TMS
A Goodguys weekend consists of 3 days of car shows, swap meets, and autocross competition. The typical customer for these shows is the 1972-older domestic car or truck owner, and they tailor most of their many events around these folks. The g-machine muscle car scene has taken a strong foothold over Goodguys and the Friday-Saturday autocross competition is chock full of these 1972-older American cars.
Event website: https://www.good-guys.com/slsn-2014
Luckily they also welcome the "late model" 1973-newer American cars on the "All American Sunday Autocross", which we have entered once before (last October, where I got 2nd place (https://good-guys.com/lsn-ac-13) by .02 seconds - and lost out on a free set tires from BFG!). Last October (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57741#post57741) we went to the Goodguys event at Texas Motor Speedway for our first time and ran on a used set of 295/35/18 Nitto NT-05s and I was introduced to their autocross course layouts. I had heard they were tight, but this was an eye opener.
With 90% of the course run in 1st gear, several super tight 180° turn-arounds and running through major sections of the course multiple times, I'd really call this more of a gymkhana than an autocross, but that's how they set up all of their events and more power to 'em. Not knocking it - just different from your typical SCCA course, in case you attend one of these. And you should - it is fun and you get to see some serious machinery! I learned what to expect back in October (about the course as well as the unannounced goodies you win for first!) and so when the next Goodguys event was scheduled in Dallas (they do 2 events a year at TMS - Spring and Fall) I signed up. This time I was there for two reasons: first, to get practice for the following week's USCA event (more on that below) and second, to win the fat loots they give to the winner.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-CNLfDCv/0/L/DSC_1780-L.jpg
The prize package for the winner of the All American Sunday at a Goodguys event is no joke!
continued below
continued from above
Ya see, back in October I didn't take the Goodguys autocross that seriously because I didn't realize they had such good prizes for the winner. I lost that event by two hundredths and only after the event was over did I realize that there was a free set of BFGoodrich tires on the line. So for this March 2014 Goodguys I came better prepared, with a fresh set of BFGoodrich Rivals and more serious driving attitude. :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-wLrVMsT/1/S/20140314_173951-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-wLrVMsT/1/X3/20140314_173951-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-svVFr4L/1/S/20140314_173740-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-svVFr4L/1/X3/20140314_173740-X3.jpg)
We luckily knew the entire "Goodguys event" drill this time. Since we weren't allowed to bring our truck and trailer inside the Speedway on Sunday we got to the race hotel at 7:20 am to register (for the Sunday autocross event you have to sign up the day of, or become a Goodguys member and sign up about 3 weeks in advance), got to the TMS assigned trailer parking area outside the Speedway, and quickly unloaded the car from the trailer. Yes, it was on street tires and we still trailered the car, but mostly because we are trying to keep these BFG Rivals FRESH and avoid unnecessary heat cycles on them. The more times you drive on any set of tires - where they start out cold and then get hot and then cool off again - the more heat cycles they take. Heat cycles can "age out" a set of competitive tires before the tread is gone, even these Rivals. And at $1300 a set I'm going to SAVE THESE TIRES. Not to mention that Texas Motor Speedway is also about an hour away from our shop, and we had no spare tire.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-k959gC3/1/S/DSC_1718-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-k959gC3/1/X3/DSC_1718-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-DrS8NDV/1/S/DSC_1699-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-DrS8NDV/1/X3/DSC_1699-X3.jpg)
The weather started out in the low 50s when we left the house, but a cold front had swept in the day before (and brought MASSIVE winds and rain that night), and temps were dropping into the lower 40s and the wind was BRUTAL. The winds was blowing so hard that everything was flying out of the trailer - pieces of wood (which we use with the trailer ramps), papers, and anything not bolted down. This did not bode well for the rest of the day. We bundled up in several coats, tossed our helmets (didn't need em!) plus an air gauge in the trunk, and we drove to the Speedway entrance. Once we got inside to the area where the autocross is held we got in line and I went to walk the course.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-QFBG7vx/1/S/20140316_082121-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-QFBG7vx/1/X3/20140316_082121-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-SLZwFc4/1/S/20140316_082128-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-SLZwFc4/1/X3/20140316_082128-X3.jpg)
I realized quickly that this was the same course we ran in October. Exactly the same, really, but one of the Pro drivers (the Fri-day-Saturday group is broken up into groups and the shops and drivers that go to most of the Goodguys events and do well get assigned into the "Pro" category) said it was different by a couple of feet here and there. Regardless, having run this strange layout in October was a big help, since I knew I wouldn't get lost this time like so many did at that event. I walked it one time and got back into the Mustang to stay warm!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-35s75ZT/1/S/DSC_1662-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-35s75ZT/1/X3/DSC_1662-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-hD47d69/1/S/DSC_1649-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-hD47d69/1/X3/DSC_1649-X3.jpg)
When the event finally got underway around 8 :30 am the Pro class drivers went first, which they are allowed to do. They park by the announcer and put on a good show for the crowd, but they aren't competing in that day's events. Many of the 1972-older domestics that ran Friday-Saturday also take runs throughout the Sunday, but they also aren't in competition - just making fun runs. A little frustrating for those of us that are competing in the All American Sunday (1973-newer) event, but they paid their money and they get their runs. It makes the day more interesting, as just late models autocrossing can be boring for this crowd of spectators - which was a surprisingly full crowd all day, considering the weather.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-M8S89rd/1/S/DSC_1646-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-M8S89rd/1/X3/DSC_1646-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-B4qxs7k/1/S/DSC_1686-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-B4qxs7k/1/X3/DSC_1686-X3.jpg)
I had one of my student's from Sunday's SCCA Solo School where Amy and I instructed who was at this event, Lloyd in the red Boss302. His son was with him and he wanted to get a ride in our car, so I took a rider on my first run - and only on this run. Last October I took riders on all of my Goodguys runs, but when you lose by .02 seconds you begin to get paranoid. I knew this first run would suck, and it did. The BFG's still had visible decals and mold release and it felt like driving on ice. He had fun and I got that awful run out of the way. You can see in these pictures that we were wearing helmets, which I'm so used to doing, but nobody else was because it isn't required at Goodguys.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-xtxHWtQ/1/S/DSC_1688-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-xtxHWtQ/1/X3/DSC_1688-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-v4BQVTX/1/S/DSC_1684-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-v4BQVTX/1/X3/DSC_1684-X3.jpg)
And while the course ran very near fences and concrete barriers it doesn't seem to phase anyone at these events, so I just went with the flow and drove my laps. My first lap was a 77 second run, which was terrible... but after the first round of runs it was in 1st place somehow. Then I made a second run of a 74.4 second run, which was painfully slow and I had wheelspin everywhere, and now I was 4 seconds in the lead. Huh?
The lines were heavy and growing all day and it was taking about an hour between runs, but I was used to this from the October event. By the time I got to the line for my third run it was around 11 am, and they said they'd pick the fastest time run by 11:30 and call them the winner. I pulled up to stage and the guy is plastering decals on the car for "Autocross Winner", and I hadn't even made my last run. "Nobody is close" he said, and then I was told to report to the timing tent after my last run, shown below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-BXv9CHN/0/L/goodguys-terry-run3-031614-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/37759243_ZPSqHJ#!i=3129339666&k=BXv9CHN&lb=1&s=A)
That run felt a little better, and I made all of my 1st gear downshifts shifts smoothly. The wheelspin was more controlled than my other two runs but there was still VERY little grip on this still wet asphalt in these crazy cold conditions. The BFG Rivals apparently don't do as well as the Falkens in cold temps, and Brian Hobaugh was stupid fast on Falkens in his gorgeous orange 2nd gen Camaro, running several seconds quicker that day than me. But he and the rest of the Pro class drivers were in the 1972-older series and luckily their runs didn't get compared or counted with ours'. Next weekend at USCA those cars are in the same class as me, so I am hoping with warmer temps and better driving I can get closer.
AAS...Terry Fair............2011 Ford Mustang............74.124
AAS...Bryan Mills...........1994 Ford Mustang............76.059
AAS...Lloyd Collins.........2012 Ford Mustang............76.684
AAS...Greg Scherer........2002 Pontiac Firehawk........77.788
I copied the first 4 results from the 23 entered in the "AAS" class and it turns out there were two driver's that improved a lot on their last runs and got within 2 seconds of my final time, including my student from the Solo school the day before (nice driving, Lloyd!). Didn't know until the results were posted earlier today.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-r7F5Lz6/1/S/DSC_1726-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-r7F5Lz6/1/X3/DSC_1726-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-gVfsXhx/1/S/DSC_1725-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-gVfsXhx/1/X3/DSC_1725-X3.jpg)
So after I won the autocross I was told to park in the Winner's Circle area with all of the car show class winners and previous day's autocross SM and PRO class winners. Lots of people came by to shoot pics of the big red Mustang, which was fun but weird to watch. Honestly the this car had so little to do with the win, at least within this class - it was mostly about getting through a painfully tight course as cleanly and close to the cones as possible. I think I could have done as well or better in a rental automatic Mustang, and I got beat last year by one of the Pro driver's in his wife's automatic and stock 5th gen Camaro convertible. These Goodguys courses are super tricky and don't emphasize the car's performance all that much.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-vLhtrNz/1/S/DSC_1678-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-vLhtrNz/1/X3/DSC_1678-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-4cZS9mg/1/S/DSC_1777-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-4cZS9mg/1/X3/DSC_1777-X3.jpg)
Amy and I parked the car in the car show area and ran into the Fuzzy's Taco Shop that is inside TMS. We ate some good Tex Mex and warmed up, then went around and talked to some friends we saw also parked in Winner's Circle area, like Stuart in his GT500 SuperSnake and Wade in his 32 Ford. They told us the whole awards presentation was moved up an hour due to the weather, so we hopped in the car and got in line, then drove past the bleachers and announcer tent to get our winnings.
Official Results: https://www.good-guys.com/slsn-ac-14
Vorshlag Photo Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-m6Pfx5b/1/S/20140316_115632-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-m6Pfx5b/1/X3/20140316_115632-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-Fnp5sH2/1/S/20140317_114142-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-Autocross-at-TMS/i-Fnp5sH2/1/X3/20140317_114142-X3.jpg)
Left: Amy was not pleased when I took this picture while she was thawing out from the cold. Right: The Goodguys goodie bag was immense!
A nice trophy accompanied the awards packet (linked at the beginning of this section). Free set of tires from BFG and gift cards and deeply discounted certificates from other sponsors - nice! Can't get Rivals with this but it will help ease the pain of that $1300 set of tires (again - ouch!) that we got to run this and the USCA event. After that we followed the mass exodus leaving speedway, loaded up in the trailer, and headed home by 1 pm - which has to be a record early end time for us at any given autocross. The other event we would have been at if not for Goodguys, the Texas Region SCCA Solo #1, had 193 entrants and ran for most of the day in these same miserable conditions, so we lucked out on our early departure that day!
Some Random Mustang Work
We work on a lot of cars in our service and race prep shop, and one of those recently was Vorshlag Tester Mark Council's 2012 Mustang GT (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/), who is also the OKC Region SCCA Autocross Chairman. We've already swapped his car from 3.55 to 3.31 gears, which he really enjoys for autocross and track use (no 2-3 shifts in parking lots and fewer shifts on track as well). This car has Forgestar F14 18x11s, AST 4150s w/550F/250R springs, Vorshlag plates, Whiteline swaybars, and a Torsen T2R.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-GXxmhQH/0/S/_DSC3009-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-GXxmhQH/0/X3/_DSC3009-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-RXNnQLJ/0/S/_DSC3925-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-RXNnQLJ/0/X3/_DSC3925-X3.jpg)
We had installed a Cobra Suzuka GT (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_284&products_id=573) kevlar racing seat into his car a while back, using the custom S197 bracket we make to go with the Cobra slider and Cobra side mount brackets. He loved the new Corbeau S197 Harness Bar (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_284&products_id=627), new seat and 6-point harnesses and raved about how much more control he had gained with this seat. He drives the car to events from as far as 5 hours away, and does a lot of track and autocrossing in the car, on both street tires (295/35/18 BFG Rivals) and R compounds (315mm Kumho V710s).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-kFx63M8/1/L/_DSC6249-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-kFx63M8/1/X3/_DSC6249-X3.jpg)
He loved the new driver's seat so much he went ahead and sprung for a passenger seat upgrade, which any track instructors or passengers will greatly appreciate. If you do one seat you really should do the other side as well. To save a bit he went with the steel framed fixed back Cobra Monoco seat (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=0_279) on the passenger's side, which was about half the cost of the kevlar Suzuka. It only has about a 2 pound penalty in weight over the composite seats, and being a Cobra product, it still looks great and has very high quality construction and materials (I ordered some more of these seats for inventory). He skipped the slider on the passenger side and we just mounted the seat fixed to the bracket, fairly far back and lower than it would have been with a slider - which is what we often do on the right side seat.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-kggxTHj/2/S/_DSC6198-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-kggxTHj/2/X3/_DSC6198-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Custom-Seat-Brackets/i-pk7SHdH/0/S/_DSF2586%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Custom-Seat-Brackets/i-pk7SHdH/0/X3/_DSF2586%20copy-X3.jpg)
Another change he had in mind was a new rear Upper Control Arm assembly. After reading what we had to say about poly bushings, Del-Sphere and all of the other variations on the upper arm and mounts he went with some brand new "ultimate" UCA from BMR, shown below. The instillation was straightforward, but still time consuming. You need a lift, removal of the back seat, and a BIG torque wrench for the main bolt (which should be torqued to 250-300 ft-lbs, depending on the brand - see your manufacturer's instructions) to tighten the mount to the chassis. The pinion angle also has to be adjusted, and there is even a second set of holes in the chassis mount for potential geometry changes.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-BMMTGFw/2/S/_DSC6197-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-BMMTGFw/2/X3/_DSC6197-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-NGvmGfT/1/S/_DSC6234-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-NGvmGfT/1/X3/_DSC6234-X3.jpg)
The upper control arm is one of those places where a spherical seems like the right choice, as this bushing has to pivot much more than the LCA bushings do. And to match the new upper arm's spherical he went with a Steeda spherical bushing replacement on the axle side of the UCA arm axis also, per our suggestions.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-6r34Jht/2/S/_DSC6200-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-6r34Jht/2/X3/_DSC6200-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-9JZqhLx/2/S/_DSC6199-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-9JZqhLx/2/X3/_DSC6199-X3.jpg)
continued below
Getting the OEM rubber bushing out of the axle side is a real B!TCH of a job. The instructions say to cut out the old bushing, but if you make a tool to press it out you can re-use that to press in the new Steeda assembly. Then when you go to tighten the 58mm (?!) hex nut for the new spherical you might need to make a tool for that as well...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-w2nk64D/2/M/_DSC6214-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Councils-2012-Mustang-GT/i-w2nk64D/2/X3/_DSC6214-X3.jpg)
After finding a massive 58mm socket for around $35 we had to chuck it up in the lathe to machine the outer diameter down for clearance, otherwise it would not fit in the space between the axle housing and the bushing mount. Really fun job, that one, heh. After all of this work was done I drove this car around our Test Loop (bumpy road we use to listen for creaks, pops and noises plus to test ride quality) with Mark in the car and we both agreed that it makes a LOT more noise inside now. We had previously rebuilt his entire axle with all new bearings when we did the 3.31 gear swap, and the rearend was silent as a church mouse just hours before, but after the double spherical UCA set-up was installed it was much LOUDER inside the car - and he still has the back seat installed. Just know that this particular UCA set-up adds a lot more NVH than you might expect - you will hear all sorts of noises from the rearend that were masked before. Mark said he likes the feel of the new set-up but needs more seat time to give a full review. You can read his build thread on s197forums here (http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103880) and he talks about the new seat and the BMR UCA in post #262.
Another Vorshlag Tester is Jan Maher (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/), who was the first S197 Mustang owner on MCS TT1 coilovers. We've installed all sorts of goodies on her 2012 GT including the reclining Corbeau seats, shown below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-vcRmFgJ/3/S/_DSC3988-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-MSR-01514/i-vcRmFgJ/3/X3/_DSC3988-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Z8xR42d/0/S/jpg_DSC5371%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Z8xR42d/0/X3/jpg_DSC5371%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-X3.jpg)
At the recent Texas Region SCCA Solo school, Jan had entered in her 2012 GT, while one of her two daughters that race, Shannon entered in her 2011 GT. They were both brushing up on some autocross skills to use in the many track events they enter - always a good idea to learn things like car control and LFBraking in a parking lot, where the only thing to hit are cones. Amy and I both worked with Jan that day, and while Amy was instructing in her car I happened to be riding with another student and noticed a broken wheel stud on course. I'm sort of OCD about finding and removing "FOD" on an autocross course so I hopped out of this car, stopped the course, and ran out to pick it up. It was a broken OEM wheel stud with what I recognized as one of our Vorshlag lug nuts on it. That narrowed it down to about a half dozen potential cars at the event, and I quickly found a missing stud on Jan's front wheel.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-tFZKhwm/1/S/_DSC6324-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-tFZKhwm/1/X3/_DSC6324-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Z2W6mQn/1/S/_DSC6345-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Z2W6mQn/1/X3/_DSC6345-X3.jpg)
I took her the broken part and let her know the bad news - she wasn't racing in Sunday's autocross with a busted wheel stud, so she co-drove in Shannon's GT instead. With over 50K miles on Jan's car and lots of track miles it was probably a good idea to replace the front wheel bearings anyway (they are a known wear item - usually they make noises and clunking when they are bad), so we brought in a pair of new hubs using the M-1104-A Ford Racing kit, which come pre-installed with "longer and stronger" (insert joke here) ARP front wheel studs, are pre-greased on the hub face, and include two new spindle retaining nuts.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-tGsTsn8/1/S/_DSC6348-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-tGsTsn8/1/X3/_DSC6348-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Q4h9NT8/1/S/_DSC6351-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Q4h9NT8/1/X3/_DSC6351-X3.jpg)
We've installed these FR hubs before (our 2011 GT is on the 3rd pair in 4 years - again, the hubs take a beating from lateral load and brake heat, and it is a known wear item), but noticed that this M-1104-A kit now comes with new front hub retaining nuts, which we used to order separately. This monster spindle nut has to be torqued to 250 ft-lbs and is a "torque to yield", one-time-use piece of hardware. Make sure you have a torque wrench big enough and rated high enough for this torque level - it took all of my weight plus a lot of arm strength to get these nuts torqued today. After a brake pad swap, some new brake fluid bled, and a full HPDE tech inspection at our shop Jan's car is fixed up and ready for USCA this weekend.
Getting Ready for USCA
We're running at full throttle around here getting our car and 5 others ready for the Ultimate Street Car Association event this weekend. We have multiple sets of tires to mount (Rivals, Rivals and more Rivals!), the hubs and pads on Jan's car, some brake repairs on Shannon's car, and much more to do. My Mustang is finally getting Schroth harnesses installed today before we load it onto the trailer. One of our customers has a couple of Miatas and he is bringing one of them to compete int he "under 3000 pound" class, with Rivals.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jzt2nsd/1/S/_DSC1082-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jzt2nsd/1/X3/_DSC1082-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/General-Race-Prep/i-gnkLMnt/0/S/FlareCrop_DSC0632%20copy-X3-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Service/General-Race-Prep/i-gnkLMnt/0/X3/FlareCrop_DSC0632%20copy-X3-X3.jpg)
And at the end of the day today we have a company dinner at a German place where we will get together and raise a glass to toast Ryan, our head fabricator who is leaving us in about a month to go back to school full time. Really sad about that, like losing a member of the family... but he has great things ahead and we wish him the best. I've already hired a new shop foreman (Texas Region Solo RE, Brad Maxcy!) and we'll have a listing up on our jobs page (http://www.vorshlag.com/jobs.php) soon for the fabricator position that opened up. If you have lots of automotive race prep and fab experience, love long hours and low pay, this could be the opportunity for you! ;) Please send your resumes to
[email protected], thanks.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pCVvJpQ/1/L/_DSC6290-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pCVvJpQ/1/X3/_DSC6290-X3.jpg[)
Hoosier tire winnings from this weekend stacked up next to a new set of 225/45/15 BFG Rivals for Mike M's Miata. Wow.
This weekend's 3 day USCA competition is looming heavy and I'm hoping more people will sign up at the last minute. Once again the Dallas area racers seem to find nothing but excuses when a big event like this rolls into town and I fear that we might not get another one if the attendance stays low. We lost the GTA event in Dallas after a dismal local turnout in 2012 and I've been calling people all week to try to get them to enter USCA this weekend. I worked out a deal with the organizers for a HALF PRICE entry ($250 vs $500). Use the word "SCCA" in the order notes and you will receive a $250 refund on your entry fee. Please feel free to call me at Vorshlag today if you are interested in going but have questions: 972-422-7170. I'm not associated with the USCA and neither is the SCCA, this was just a discount code hoping to grab local areas SCCA autocross racers and Time Trial entrants.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bTmqZMd/1/S/20140319_124402-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bTmqZMd/1/X3/20140319_124402-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-xs8V83d/0/S/Texas-Motor-Speedway-Aerial-e1330035326680-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-xs8V83d/0/O/Texas-Motor-Speedway-Aerial-e1330035326680.jpg)
I'm pretty excited about this event. Rolling out there tomorrow at 11 am to set up the trailer, get their event decals installed, and start the 80 mile road rally. We have our car inspected, tagged, and all legal-like for street use, so I'm not worried about the Friday street drive. The weather looks good for the weekend so I'm hoping we can have another strong showing in the autocross, a better showing than last time in the speed stop (fingers crossed that the new ABS unit works!) and of hoping I do well on the "1.04 mile" (aka: 1.36 mile) TMS infield road course on Sunday.
Until next time...
Project Update for April 2, 2014: This post covers the first day of the 3 day Optima Street Car/USCA event at Texas Motor Speedway March 21-23. We ran on 315/335 BFG Rival 200 treadwear tires on our 2011 Mustang as well as tested the Ford Racing M-2353-CA "Boss 302R" ABS/TC module, but left our existing Hoosier A6 suspension parts and settings untouched from the last TT3 event and Goodguys. I will split the event write-up over three different days.
What is the Ultimate Street Car Association?
The USCA was only created late last year and announced at SEMA. I hinted at it in my October post after Goodguys. Basically this is the new series created for the qualifier events for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/tune-in-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational-on-this-saturday-5pm-eastern-on-mavtv/), held every year the weekend after SEMA in Las Vegas. This series includes 3 days of competition in streetable cars on 200+ treadwear tires. Drivers go head-to-head in autocross, Speed Stop and road course time trials. You also have to prove the street worthiness by driving your car for 50-100 miles on an assigned route. The last part of the scored competition includes a Design and Engineering segment where 5 or more judges score each car with a number of categories that include various street equipment, craftsmanship, and creativity.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zNCbgfH/0/L/Optima-Preview-L.jpg (http://tinyurl.com/n4ngf38)
The video above is a good preview of what the series is about. This was a promo for a show that covers the 2013 Optima Invitational event, which is airing on MAVTV now. Getting an invite to this event is a big deal for most shops and amateur racers like ourselves and guarantees you a spot in the SEMA show the week before as well.
If you have been reading this build thread for a while you know that we have entered 3 of these Optima qualifiers before. The first Optima qualifier was an ASCS "Run To The Alamo" in Feb 2012 (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57098#post57098). That event was supposed to be a 3 day/3 event format with autocross, speed stop and road course times. They didn't check to see that this track (Harris Hill) didn't have a paddock or parking area big enough for the speed stop and autocross, so those 2 events were cancelled. During the road course event they had timer problems but I ran all day, in the pouring rain. We left after about 6 hours, soaking wet, about 30 minutes before they were supposed to stop running. I was in the lead. They ended up keeping the track open until dark, the rain cleared, the track dried off, I got beat, and didn't get an invite.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-NBx4zFd/0/S/DSC2010-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-NBx4zFd/0/X3/DSC2010-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-PFj783k/1/S/DSC2057-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Faceoff-QTP-060812/i-PFj783k/1/X3/DSC2057-X3.jpg)
The second qualifier we entered was the OPTIMA FACEOFF AT HOT ROD POWER TOUR (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57289#post57289) in June of 2012. We fared a little better at this televised and much more organized 3 day event, winning the autocross and coming in 3rd in the road course portion, but I got 14th place in the speed stop. I finished 3rd overall and didn't get an invite. At some of these Optima qualifiers they weren't even inviting the overall winner, but instead just picking people for their "spirit of the event" to invite to SEMA, as happened here. They later came back and offered an invite late in the year to the winner of the June event, local NASA TT racer Todd Earsley in his then yellow EVO.
Last but not least was the GOODGUY'S ALL AMERICAN SUNDAY (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57741#post57741) autocross at TMS in October of 2013. This was an Optima Qualifier but only had the autocross, and was one of Goodguys super tight "gymkhana" courses. I got 3 runs, was in the lead, so I was taking riders... ended up losing that event by .02 seconds - stupid mistake. They picked another car that didn't even place for the SEMA invite anyway.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-TMS-100613/i-Jh9SJH9/1/S/DSC_0055-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-TMS-100613/i-Jh9SJH9/1/X3/DSC_0055-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-TMS-100613/i-7BfC7Fp/1/S/DSC_0081-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Goodguys-TMS-100613/i-7BfC7Fp/1/X3/DSC_0081-X3.jpg)
I learned a lot about these Optima qualifiers over the past three years. Most qualifiers were being hosted in different series, sometimes with wildly varying competitions - some road course only, some autocross only, some had 3 day Optima style events, and others were random things like High Speed Open Road events. Not a consistent format. The event we did at Hot Rod Power Tour was more like the Optima Invitational, but we didn't take the event seriously enough and showed up on the WRONG tires: 295/35/18 Nitto NT-05s. What I quickly found out was THESE TIRES ARE NOT GOOD, and we quickly overheated them in the road course event. We also arrived at that event with a poor brake pad selection (Hawk DTC-70) that were too hard for slow speed use, and a leaking power brake booster fitting that killed the vacuum assist. I used the same set of 295 Nittos last October at Goodguys, and that didn't help my chances.
USCA Rules: http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/usca-rules/
Probably due to the old Optima qualifier inconsistencies, USCA was created to host consistent and competition based events, and all 10 of their events on the 2014 calendar (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/events/) are hosted at notable road courses which can hold all 3 driving formats: autocross, speed stop and road course. They are run by the same group of people that host the Optima Invitational in Vegas, so the events are more representative of the "big show" held after SEMA. For 2014 the USCA has kept one "spirit of the event" selection per event but offers an Optima invite to the winner of each of THREE different classes: 3000+ pound 2WD, under 3000 pound 2WD and AWD. This means 4 invites go out at each event, and 3 of them are going to be somewhat serious competitors that won out over a class of entrants. I like that - awarding the winners instead of mostly "spirit selections" made at previous events. Good move. The three class format also separates the lightweight and AWD cars from the traditional heavy RWD pony cars, which meant we might have a better shot in our 3550 pound Mustang.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GjJmdHN/1/L/_DSF2995-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GjJmdHN/1/X3/_DSF2995-X3.jpg)
Last but not least, they have a TV contract for all of the USCA events. The Optima Invitational has been filmed and aired almost every year since its inception but the qualifiers rarely were. In 2012 about half a dozen of the qualifiers were televised, and we got some TV exposure at the June 2012 event. All ten of the 2014 USCA qualifiers will be televised, starting around August 8th on MAVTV. So you get 3 days of racing, good food, some swag, television time, and 4 people from each event get invites to Optima/SEMA? That's a lot of value for the money! Yes, the entry fee is higher now than at some past events... but let me tell you now: IT WAS WORTH IT!
We had SO much fun at this USCA event that I can barely put it into words. And anyone can enter... it doesn't take a "pro" driver or a $200K car to win this thing - I'm living proof of that: I'm admittedly a hack autocrosser in a heavy Mustang with a stock motor and still won an invite to Optima Invitational! with the overall win. We are super excited about that, and want you readers to really think about finding a USCA event nearby and checking it out. At least go out to WATCH, but if you have a streetable car and 200 treadwear tires, you should ENTER. This three day event was the most fun I've EVER had with my clothes on!
USCA at TMS, Friday March 21st, 2014
Before we get started, a note about the pictures: There's a LOT of them. Some of these were copied from other people's posts on Facebook and are credited. Anything with a Vorshlag watermark is something that either Amy or I shot with our Nikon, or one of our cell phones, or that Brandon shot with his gear. If it is a GOOD picture, just assume Brandon took it.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/L/TMS-map-USCA-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/O/TMS-map-USCA.jpg)
Brandon took some of the best pictures from one of our events we attended... ever. That means this series of posts is very heavy on the photos, and each one with a Vorshlag watermark can be clicked for a higher rez version. Sadly he was only able to come out on Sunday (road course and final awards), so all of the autocross, speed stop and road rally pics were ones that Amy and I took. There's over 530 pictures from this event in the gallery linked below - I can't show them all, but many are worth looking at!
continued below
continued
You can get the "original" rez pics from there and save them for things like PC background wallpapers. And no, I won't even pretend to think that our Mustang was the most photogenic at this event, ha! There were some seriously cool machines there and he took some amazing pics of them. Several folks that attended this event have gotten in touch with Brandon about getting some enlargements and poster sized prints: you can reach him through his website brandonlajoie.com (http://brandonlajoie.com).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zfFzZ5h/0/L/1796010_497065400399021_379555385_o-L.jpg
Vorshlag Photo and Video Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/
The Ultimate Street Car Association (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/) held it's 2nd event for 2014 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas. By Friday morning they already had all of their big sponsors on hand already set-up and ready, including the massive "Optima Prime" trailer that the picture above was shot from. This massive 3 story trailer expands out like a Transformer and was their HQ for the weekend as well as the awards stand and announcer perch.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-3GF655p/1/S/_DSF2861-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-3GF655p/1/X3/_DSF2861-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WcnfM7b/1/S/_DSC7360-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WcnfM7b/1/X3/_DSC7360-X3.jpg)
We got to the track with our trailer and car around 11:30 am and was told we could pick any garage spot we wanted. Yep, the NASCAR garages were open for our use and at no additional cost, so we all got an unexpectedly nice upgrade for the weekend. With the winds and weird weather we saw, this was a welcomed surprise!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cXWppwT/1/S/_DSF2846-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cXWppwT/1/X3/_DSF2846-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-g33pqkk/1/S/_DSF2864-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-g33pqkk/1/X3/_DSF2864-X3.jpg)
Some of our Vorshlag testers will be featured in a "women of USCA" segment (left) and more Vorshlag folks parked in the garage
We didn't take over the whole garage but a good quarter of it was Vorshlag folks. The event was a bit under-attended by local drivers, due to a few factors: 1) Not many folks knew what USCA was or knew the rules/classes. 2) The entry fee was a little steep. 3) There were several other racing events going on that same weekend that drew potential entrants away, including: inaugural WRL (http://www.worldracingleague.org/) race at MSR-Houston, Texas Mile, and BMWCCA at COTA. I got a call from one of the USCA principles a week before the event and we worked out an even better deal where local folks could get $250 off their entry fee + I threw in $100 service credit at Vorshlag for a $350 in savings. I then made a number of phone calls to customers, got another 7 folks to join us, ordered several sets of BFG Rivals, and then there was a flurry of safety gear outfitting at Smiley's that week. All told we had 8 entrants that had "Vorshlag" on their order form, out of the 38 signed up, and I'd like to thank ALL OF THOSE FOLKS for stepping up: Jerry, Jan, Shannon, Heather, Michael, Jon, and Marc!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9nmwJ5d/1/L/_DSC7353-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9nmwJ5d/1/X3/_DSC7353-X3.jpg)
7 of the 8 Vorshlag customer entries at the TMS round of USCA
38 doesn't sound like a huge number, but considering the early date for the season (Texas Region SCCA had just kicked off their season the weekend before) and a long drive for many of the Pro Touring "regulars", that wasn't bad. I hope that next year we can help them get 100 entrants in Texas - and after you read my post, I hope YOU will get the bug and want to join these folks at another event in 2014 (see the ten 2014 dates here (http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/events/)). It only takes 200+ treadwear street tires, some safety gear, and a car that has some nominal street car provisions.
I've been telling my other racer friends that missed the TMS event about the new USCA/Optima series - how it includes multiple driving competitions, how all of the events are held at renowned road courses that also have parking lots big enough for a proper autocross pad, about how there are 3 classes this year and ALL of the class winners get an invite to SEMA/Vegas Optima Shootout - and now have half a dozen folks BUILDING THEIR CARS for this series! Yes, it was THAT much fun, is infectious, and it is accessible to virtually anyone with a car with street tires. I'll cover more of the classing, tips and tricks to doing well in this 3 day event as we go.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-8xp4dSZ/3/L/jpg_DSF2517%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-8xp4dSZ/3/X3/jpg_DSF2517%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-X3.jpg)
We arrived Friday and we had a naked red Mustang (see above) - and yes, I prefer it that way as well. We were going to try to "tone down" the Vorshlag and race car graphics a bit, but they still had a gaggle of event and sponsor decals for us to add, so Amy got to work.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-t44GhCr/1/S/20140321_134603-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-t44GhCr/1/X3/20140321_134603-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mhBVhFF/1/S/20140321_125616-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mhBVhFF/1/X3/20140321_125616-X3.jpg)
As our other Vorshlag customers and friends arrived Amy was drafted to install many of the bigger "event decals" as well. And then someone wanted big Vorshlag decals, which we had a limited supply in our trailer, so those started going on cars ... including our own.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-bNhmHc3/1/S/20140321_125545-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-bNhmHc3/1/X3/20140321_125545-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2wwf2Vh/1/S/20140321_125556-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2wwf2Vh/1/X3/20140321_125556-X3.jpg)
Amy also showed some folks how she installs big decals, both wet and dry, and passed along some knowledge. Once Shannon saw Amy's decal tricks she started helping her sister and mom with installs on their cars, too. Yep, two sisters and a mother all entered this event in their 3 track cars - they all did well and snagged a lot of camera time, with about 4 special interviews sessions. Look for a side story about Jan, Heather, Shannon, and "the women of USCA" in the episode that will air for this Optima Challenge event! (sometime around August 15th on MAVTV, the Lucas Oil channel)
I was reluctant to "over-Vorshlag" our Mustang, as this event was about street cars and I wanted it to look the part - well, as much as possible with a giant wing, flares and splitter. So we put some simple black Vorshlag decals on the rear flanks, which are much smaller than we normally run. We also kept the white Vorshlag.com windshield banner, and added some small decals for our main products: Whiteline, Forgestar, MagnaFlow and Maxcyspeed.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-CRFmK95/0/L/_DSF3032%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-CRFmK95/0/X3/_DSF3032%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy-X3.jpg)
To show BFGoodrich some love we got a BIG Rival "R" decal from the BFG rep on site. This was added to the hood and two small "R" decals went on the front flares. Marc followed suit in his red C6 Z06, and we all added the Optima windshield banner, Redline oil rear window banner, the giant Optima door panel decals, the numbers we were assigned, and the tall strip of sponsor decals for the sides.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-x9cGGHQ/1/S/_DSC7212-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-x9cGGHQ/1/X3/_DSC7212-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-b8sdJW4/1/S/_DSC7219-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-b8sdJW4/1/X3/_DSC7219-X3.jpg)
Doing that many decals on 8+ cars carefully enough to avoid bubbles, wrinkles and tears took Amy and everyone else a few hours, and we cleaned up some exteriors as we went also (some folks still bring a dirty car to an event that is televised, ha!). We all got registered, teched, had all of our safety gear checked (more on that in the Sunday Road Course section), and met a bunch of cool folks who were also arriving.
continued below
continued
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-VFNWV8z/1/S/_DSF2944-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-VFNWV8z/1/X3/_DSF2944-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jNM3zDh/1/S/_DSC7276-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jNM3zDh/1/X3/_DSC7276-X3.jpg)
We saw Todd Earsley again from MyShopAssist (https://myshopassist.com/), which is the customer service work software we use here at Vorshlag. Todd entered his NASA TT prepped EVO, which he added an interior to for these events. He also brought out his dog Violet, the sweetest puppy you'll ever meet. She quickly became the event mascot. Mike from Dusold Designs (http://www.dusolddesigns.com/) in Lewisville was entered as well, and his twin turbo 7.0L LSx making 1000 whp was a LOT of fun to watch - and he's been kicking butt in the Goodguys events, too.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zPhWCRt/1/S/_DSF2929-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zPhWCRt/1/X3/_DSF2929-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jBp6JC7/1/S/_DSF3013-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jBp6JC7/1/X3/_DSF3013-X3.jpg)
Left: Todd and Violet are regulars on the NASA Texas TT circuit. Right: Marc Sherrin is a NASA Texas TT1 racer and a real character!
There were also lots of famous folks from the Pro Class of Goodguys (https://www.good-guys.com/autocross-pro) and Optima Street Car events. Kyle and Stacy Tucker from Detroit Speed and Engineering had their transporter full of cars and they both entered. Infamous autocrosser and road racer Danny Popp entered in a wild 5th gen Camaro prepped by Lingenfelter. Bret Voelkel from RideTech was there in his Camaro, and autocrosser Cheryl Herrick from JetHot had a Nova that was absolutely beautiful inside and out. Ryan Mathews, a former NASCAR truck series driver, was entered in a race prepped 5th gen Camaro from DSE that had big aero, no interior and a full cage. Last but not least, 2013 Optima Challenge winner Brian Hobaugh was there in a really beautiful and monstrous 2nd gen Camaro built by Maier Racing (http://www.maierracing.com/) - who builds epic autocross cars from Detroit iron.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-SvdRNB4/1/S/_DSF2825-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-SvdRNB4/1/X3/_DSF2825-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Bh2kCFg/1/S/_DSF2841-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Bh2kCFg/1/X3/_DSF2841-X3.jpg)
There were so many AMAZING cars! Detroit Speed had several that most people would give a right arm for. So did Ride Tech, and many other Pro Touring shops from around the nation. It helped to have the Goodguys event the weekend before, so many of these shops that normally wouldn't have made the trek to Texas brought big transporters full of cars and ran Goodguys, flew home for a week, then came back for the USCA 3 day event.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-nLtPpRr/1/S/_DSC6804-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-nLtPpRr/1/X3/_DSC6804-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mzPFGXr/1/S/_DSF2848-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mzPFGXr/1/X3/_DSF2848-X3.jpg)
Dallas area's Aaron Kaufman from Gas Monkey Garage was entered in his 1963 Falcon (which he is taking to Pike's Peak this year), but he only ran on Sunday in the road course event. From what I heard there might be a conflict with his Discovery channel TV contract, so he and his car probably won't be shown on the episode that was filmed at this event. Too bad, the car looked great - but Brandon got a lot of good pics of his car.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rmGdXL7/1/S/_DSC6914-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rmGdXL7/1/X3/_DSC6914-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mzJqCJ8/1/S/_DSF2780-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mzJqCJ8/1/X3/_DSF2780-X3.jpg)
We spoke again at this event with Aaron and a couple of the guys from the GMG shop - all super nice folks. Marc even tried to get Aaron to co-drive with his team in a ChumpCar race at Daytona in May, in his "Poorvette (http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/03/super-piston-slap-poorvette-fever/)" C4 Corvette that we caged. That car is a riot!
Detroit Speed Road Rally
The only "competition" on the Friday of this 3 day weekend was the Detroit Speed sponsored Road Rally, which was to be a 90 mile street drive "poker run" event, used to prove the street worthiness of the entrants. To show that you made all 90 miles of the drive each car was given a playing card at each of 5 checkpoint stops, and our hand was turned in at the end for some extra door prizes (based on your poker hand). We had a driver's meeting around noon and Jimi and Dennis of the USCA introduced us to the series, outlined that day's events, and handed everyone their Rally notes and maps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-N8Lqvt3/1/S/20140321_133336-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-N8Lqvt3/1/X3/20140321_133336-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-p2LnGvr/1/S/20140321_133638-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-p2LnGvr/1/X3/20140321_133638-X3.jpg)
This was the only portion where all entrants that completed every stage (5) of this competition could get the full 25 points towards their overall score - the other 4 competitions were to be weighted scores based on finishing order, with the winner getting 25, 2nd got 22, 3rd got 20, then 18, 16, 15, 14, etc. So all we had to do was make each checkpoint and finish, but not everyone did. A few folks skipped this event due to work obligations on Friday (and got 0 points), and someone missed one checkpoint and only got 20 points, but everyone else got the full 25. It was more of a "Pass/Fail" sort of deal.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HmXK8xH/0/L/Results-RoadRally-L.jpg
I wasn't worried about the street drive in our car, as we've been driving it on the street for years, it is street legal and everything worked. The weather on Friday was exceptionally nice, sunny and warm. By 1:30 pm we were told to stage outside of the garages and given a heads up that we would be making some laps of the 1.5 mile, 24° banked oval (http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/texas-101/history/facts), driving in single file, to start the rally. This wasn't originally in the plan but we were glad it was added. We drove at "mostly highway speeds" and had a good time chasing Marc Sherrin's C6 Z06 Corvette in front of us.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-x5HMsFZ/1/S/_DSC7367-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-x5HMsFZ/1/X3/_DSC7367-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-wwNzqHX/1/S/_DSC7469-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-wwNzqHX/1/X3/_DSC7469-X3.jpg)
Left: Jimi Day of the USCA ran things smoothly behind the scenes. Right: Show host Chad Reynolds of BangShift.com was always making us laugh
We were told to take two laps then to line up and everyone would stop at the Start/Finish line for pictures, then proceed out of the infield via the south tunnel and then follow the route on the rally instructions and map we were given. We tried to get our Vorshlag folks to all stick together but we lost most of our group by the first stop light. It wasn't a hard route to follow, and with nearly 40 cars all stickered up in Optima graphics it made it easy to see someone from this event no matter where you ended up. I was lucky enough to have a navigator (Amy) riding shotgun, but of course, like the stereotypical married couple, we had to argue over the instructions the ENTIRE time!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-fHVShLg/0/S/tms-usca14-day-1-173-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-fHVShLg/0/X3/tms-usca14-day-1-173-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-hqMSMp8/1/S/20140321_142241-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-hqMSMp8/1/XL/20140321_142241-XL.jpg)
The first couple of miles of the route were on highway 114 right outside of the Speedway, but the route quickly diverted to secondary roads and even some residential streets. We got to see some beautiful homes in the city of Trophy Club, went through a school zone (the school kids went bonkers seeing all of the classic muscle cars go by!) into Grapevine, skirting around Grapevine lake. We drove through Flower Mound, Lewisville, and into my hometown of Plano. All of these secondary roads are concrete with expansion strips, and going slow you could feel every one in our Mustang with stif 800# springs. As the temperatures crept up into the 84°F high for the day, we rolled the windows up, turned the air con on, had the Satellite radio playing and the nav screen showing us the upcoming turns.
Amy and I have thousands of miles experience doing "TSD" rallyes, so the route instructions would have sufficed, but they gave us all detailed colored maps with the checkpoints clearly marked. They even had marks for what we quickly noticed were Optima film crews along the route, so we'd smile and wave for the dozen or so locations where we saw folks with tripod mounted cameras situated in medians and on road sides (some competitors said they never noticed them!). Having a navigator definitely helped, and we picked up more than a few strays - solo drivers trying to drive on unfamiliar roads while looking at a printed map - along this series of city roads that we had mostly driven on in the past.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-TLQsQJr/0/L/USCA-RoadRally-driveby-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3156673811&k=TLQsQJr&lb=1&s=A)
We drove way across the Dallas metroplex and all the way east to Plano, then headed north to Frisco. Mike Dusold from Lewisville had made this route for the USCA folks and he did a fine job of keeping all of the competitors on real streets with the normal street car challenges and bumps. With the shocks turned down on our Mustang it really wasn't that bad. One of the 5 checkpoints was at Pole Position Raceway (http://www.polepositionraceway.com/dallas-frisco/), an amazing indoor kart track facility in Frisco. I hadn't driven at this Pole Position yet and I knew I had to give these karts a spin!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-nnNBN4p/1/L/20140321_161818-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-nnNBN4p/1/X2/20140321_161818-X2.jpg)
About half of the competitors were too hungry to stop for karting and instead stopped for lunch along the route, or wanted to get to the Holley Welcome Party dinner at the race hotel's final checkpoint. But at least 20 of the entrants stopped in for some karting fun. These were decently quick electric karts (45 mph) on a slick concrete surface in a climate controlled building, which was nice because it was a bit warm outside that day. Mike had arranged for a killer deal - half price races at $10 each - and I ended up buying 4 races. Each race is about 12 minutes long and they can have as many as 20 karts on track at once. I got into a decent kart my first two races and had the fastest lap times in each race. My next two races I ended up in two stinkers, with no front tires left and no top speed, and was 1-2 seconds slower on my best laps and got 4th and 5th fastest laps, ugh. So even the rental indoor electric karts can be as inconsistent as those of the gas powered variety, heh! Still, it was a lot of fun.
Amy had a spring pollen/sinus induced headache and sat out the karting, which she normally enjoys. She instead went to get some much needed food for about 7 of the competitors that were there - a real life saver. We scarfed down Whataburgers and fries between races and by 4:30pm we had burned enough of the day at the kart facility and got back on the road, as we still had two more checkpoints to meet before dinner. By now we had three playing cards and a pair of fours, so my "poker run" hand was looking more like a foot. Marc Sherrin was already giddy with his budding hand of 3 eights, but we had no idea what the prizes would be for the poker hand at the end (not part of the points competition, of course).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-k4BbNqL/1/S/20140321_150426-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-k4BbNqL/1/X3/20140321_150426-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-t7QNBCD/1/S/20140321_140345-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-t7QNBCD/1/X3/20140321_140345-X3.jpg)
Left: The cars in the road rally stopped traffic everywhere. Right: First street drive with the new ABS computer - lots of lights, as expected
In the next leg we noticed a ~2 mile section of road on the route that was under serious construction and made a slight detour, not saving any distance just avoiding a traffic clusterfox, which worked beautifully. Thank you, Ford Sync Nav system! This construction detour we made (and were followed by a few others in the road rally) lopped off some time, as we made the next checkpoint ahead of people that left the kart track 20 minutes before us. The final stretch was a route along an old highway that was little more than a 2 lane road with a bunch of stoplights, which ran parallel to I-35. We could have taken the Interstate, and that was tempting, but we were worried about straying too far off the route and any consequences we might see. Unfortunately there were none, and we found out later than many competitors got to the party hours ahead of us by just using highway and tollway routes instead of the surface streets that made up the rally route, going directly from one marked checkpoint to the next. Oh well, live and learn... we waved at all the camera guys along the actual route, at least. :)
continued below
continued from above
Holley Welcome Dinner
We finally arrived at the final checkpoint around 6 pm and the brakes were howling on our Mustang. So much stop and go traffic on XP20 Carbotech track worthy brake pads and the noise and dust that ensues. One thing we noticed immediately after starting this road rally was that the front rotors were WARPED. These had been on the car since just after Nationals at Miller, lots and lots and lots of race weekends, and they were worn thin. It takes a lot to warp Centric Premium 14" front rotors, but the surfaces were covered in micro-cracks - an indicator that they were too thin. I called ahead (via the Sync systems in-car bluetooth!) to our shop and had Kyle snag a pair of fresh Centric front rotors (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=587) that we keep in stock, for a Saturday morning swap.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZTRgFCv/0/S/1974261_497065170399044_2009417008_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZTRgFCv/0/M/1974261_497065170399044_2009417008_o-M.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GdtszwW/0/S/1556452_497066073732287_90879829_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GdtszwW/0/M/1556452_497066073732287_90879829_o-M.jpg)
Jimi Day handing competitors their final card at the Marriott hotel checkpoint, right before dinner was served
Our warped front rotors paled in comparison to one competitor (who shall remain nameless) who lost an alternator on the road rally and had to stop and get 4 car batteries, which he swapped out when each one would die. Towards the end of the 91 miles of heavy traffic driving he noticed high coolant temps. They had to change a head gasket that night, and coupled with a complicated alternator swap they finished work on the car at 5:30 am Saturday morning! Long night, but he made it to all 5 checkpoints and raced Saturday and Sunday and drove it home, too.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-8Tt8285/1/S/20140321_190518-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-8Tt8285/1/X3/20140321_190518-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HJGvp67/1/S/20140321_191454-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HJGvp67/1/X3/20140321_191454-X3.jpg)
The USCA folks had us all park for pictures and video at the Marriott race hotel, where the Holley Welcome Dinner was held. My final playing card given to us at this stop made for a terrible poker hand, but Marc ended up with FIVE EIGHTS! He was showing everyone his cards, and they explained that ten decks were used at the 5 stops, so the five of a kind was possible, however unlikely. He figured he had the poker run cinched up, until Danny Popp whipped out five KINGS! What are the odds, that out of 38 hands there would be two people with 5 of a kind??? It seems that this winning hand was the end of Danny's good luck for the weekend. They both got to pick from the door prizes that USCA had paid out, and all of us got a new Optima battery tender in our goodie bag after completing this event, as well as a USCA TMS event T-shirt that was pretty nice.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-293x8df/0/S/1980191_497064960399065_2026923151_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-293x8df/0/L/1980191_497064960399065_2026923151_o-L.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-X97Z4cf/0/S/1920572_240099436176686_1324180164_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-X97Z4cf/0/L/1920572_240099436176686_1324180164_n-L.jpg)
Left: Marc with his "five eights" hand. Right: Chad announcing the door prizes and talking about the events on Saturday
Dinner was burgers and sides in one of the Marriott ball rooms, and we had fun telling stories of our road rally driving, karting, poker hands and bench raced a bit for the next day. We got back to TMS to park in the garages that night by about 8 pm, tired and ready for some shut eye. Since we live only about 50 miles from the track we just drove home. I left the truck, trailer and Mustang in the garage area - Amy had followed me out to the track Friday in her long wheelbase BMW 740iL (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8223), which we call the Couch, and Marc Sherrin and his dad Carl rode back to the far side of Dallas with us.
Tune in next time for my Saturday USCA event coverage - the Autocross and Speed Stop competitions!
Project Update for April 8th, 2014: This post covers the second day of the 3 day Optima Street Car/USCA event at Texas Motor Speedway March 21-23. I also have some "house cleaning" clearance items that are Mustang related to post and talk a little about Pro Touring and SCCA's CAM class.
House Cleaning!
As happens around here a lot, we change parts on our Mustang "test mule" from time to time. And when we pull anything off one of our cars we sell the used bits on our clearance page (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51). I won't get too salesy here, but if you see something you or one of your buddies might like, check it out.
We recently installed our 4th different set of shocks onto our Mustang - a set of MCS RR2 shocks that I will show in one of my upcoming posts - so our old Moton Club Sport remote reservoir double adjustables are now for sale (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51). We bought these new in May of 2012 and they have proven to be very rugged, have a large rebound and compression damping adjustment range, and we've set a lot of track records and notched up a lot of wins on these.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-4tJTNwm/0/S/i-4tJTNwm-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-c3vfWfL/0/S/i-c3vfWfL-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51)
What you see here is for sale, just as they came off our TT3 Mustang a week ago
Lots more information can be seen about these used Motons if you click the pictures above. A winning set-up, real-deal remote reservoir Moton doubles at a big discount. If you don't see them listed on that page then they have sold.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-N8b84rS/1/S/i-N8b84rS-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-45NvQfG/0/S/DSC_1548-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51)
Next we have the last of the used Cobra Suzuka Kevlar racing seats from our Mustang. This is the "normal width" (aka: narrow) Suzuka, best suited for folks under ~175 pounds. We had this on the passenger side of our car for several years, and it has of 2005 build tag. It is in decent shape, with no tears or rips in the fabric but it does have significant fading of the material. It basically went from Dark Black to a Slightly Less Dark Shade of Black. We replaced this and the driver's side Suzuka "GT" width seat about a month ago with a new set, to better show off the current Cobra models we sell. The used driver's side Suzuka seat lasted exactly 48 minutes after we posted it for sale on our clearance page (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51), so if you want this click here (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) and buy it. Once its gone, its gone.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Wn2LbvN/0/S/JPG_DSF1235%20copy-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-LRqFHN3/1/S/_DSC0181-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51)
Last but not least, we still have multiple sets of the new 305 and 320mm Continental DP racing slicks as well as a many pairs of used Hoosier DOT racing tires we need to move. Stacks of tires are all taking up far too much room in our overly crowded but climate controlled shop. The Contis are normally about $2000 for a set of 4 but the we have dropped the price on these brand new race tires to $550/set, below what we paid for them.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-SQ7kkDJ/0/S/i-SQ7kkDJ-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-VKBQKfp/0/S/i-VKBQKfp-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51)
All of the used Hoosiers listed right now are 315/30/18 sized A6 tires, which until very recently was the tire we used on our TT3 Mustang. I normally hoard my old race tires, but since we moved to the 335/345mm tire sizes on our Mustang, the crew here is grumbling at me to move out these 315s. Each Hoosier has some tread left, and we have listed each pair currently for sale with pictures of the actual tires being sold and DOT date codes from the sidewalls.
Happy bargain hunting!
A little About Pro Touring Cars + SCCA's CAM Class?
Before we get started on the 2nd day of USCA coverage I wanted to back up and cover the PT "movement" to explain some of the cars that were at this event or seen at other events nationwide - and to state that not all Pro Touring cars are created equal. The typical cars that run the Pro Touring series of events - Goodguys, USCA, ASCS, Optima - are 1972 and older American made muscle cars, with a smattering of old Corvettes and even a couple of wild T-buckets (or kit cars) and Cobras (or kit cars). The typical Pro Touring car has some modern wheels, brakes, and big 200 treadwear tires. Most nowadays have big LSx motors, and the Pro guys all seem to have built 7.0L+ LS7 based engines that make 650-700+ hp. It has gotten crazier as the years have passed and these events have gotten more popular.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-FqxsLtv/0/S/big_red_11_88_rebuild1-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-FqxsLtv/0/X2/big_red_11_88_rebuild1-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vXzRBSz/0/S/big_red_4_89_silver_state1-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vXzRBSz/0/X3/big_red_4_89_silver_state1-X3.jpg)
This Pro Touring "movement" has been around for a long time, and there are disputed stories about which was the first Pro Touring muscle car. The car I remember first, and that those of us that have been around HOT ROD magazine long enough remember, is the Gottlieb 1969 Camaro called "Big Red" (https://www.facebook.com/BigRedCamaro/info). This was more of an "Outlaw" top speed event car, but it had the look that Pro Touring adopted. This car even has its own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BigRedCamaro) and it's own website (http://www.bigredcamaro.com/). Built in 1987 (when I was but a wee lad) this car became a semi-tube framed "silhouette" car with a giant 540ci V8 motor that made 750 hp, wild and crazy and very little of the 1969 Camaro was left. It started out radical and nuts. It was built to run the La Cararrea and Silver State Classic open road races, and the car had just enough of the look of the classic Camaro to be allowed to run those. It was an over-the-top build that is chronicled here (http://www.1shopauto.com/blog/the-rise-of-big-red-the-mythical-camaro/).
The cars that followed, like the Camaros from famed Pro Touring builder and GM Engineer Mark Stielow, were still packed with crazy powerplants and modern suspension, but more often than not today's PT cars are still mostly based on factory unibody structures and much tamer builds compared to Big Red. These are more streetable cars that were entered in One Lap of America events, and later beget the Goodguys and Optima "Pro Touring" scene. These latter events were made to allow pro built show cars to have a place to show that they were... more than just show cars. Show them being driven in competition.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-pmnKNWX/0/S/SEMA_2012_Mark_Stielow_Mayhem_Camaro01-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-pmnKNWX/0/X3/SEMA_2012_Mark_Stielow_Mayhem_Camaro01-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7cvfJMm/1/S/sucp-1105-08-o%2B2010-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational%2Bmark-stielows-1969-chevy-camaro-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7cvfJMm/1/X3/sucp-1105-08-o%2B2010-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational%2Bmark-stielows-1969-chevy-camaro-X3.jpg)
A pair of 1st gen Camaros built by Mark Stielow, which both ran in Optima Invitationals
As these competition events have grown in number and popularity, more radical Pro Touring builds have been built and they are fast approaching the Gottlieb car - and in many ways have surpassed it, at least in suspension sophistication. These PT cars have more and more radical mods: extreme lightening, lightweight and big race motors tamed just enough for street use, and modern, uncompromised racing suspension designs. The popular front suspension for a 1st or 2nd gen PT Camaro includes narrowed hydroformed frame rails with aluminum spindles, modern double-A arm suspensions, and a narrowed set-up that allows 315 or 335mm tires to fit with the outer track unaffected. The transmissions are increasingly more racey (Jerico, G-Force, etc) to take the power of these big LS-V8 engines. And rear suspensions have gotten beyond solid axles, with fabricated tubular IRS set-ups going under classic Detroit Iron.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-kZhqWxk/1/S/20140322_091858-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-kZhqWxk/1/X3/20140322_091858-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-DtHSddS/1/S/20140322_094627-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-DtHSddS/1/X3/20140322_094627-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
Even the "iron" component is becoming less evident, with engine blocks mostly in aluminum and sheet metal going over to composites & carbon fiber. There are Pro Touring cars with 4 pound fiberglass doors, Lexan windows, CF front ends, and big aero, with exotic materials and methods creeping in. And why not? There are essentially NO RULES in most of these series - even fewer than the admittedly open NASA Time Trial "numbered classes" (TT1/2/3) that we here at Vorshlag campaign in. On top of that PT cars usually have show quality paint, bodywork, interior coverings and more. You can spend a lot of money building a fast Pro Touring car, and the arms race doesn't seem to be slowing down. With top name street rod and race shops building these cars, price tags in the $100-200K range are not uncommon.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-qGc7SkG/0/L/julyshoppics002-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-qGc7SkG/0/O/julyshoppics002.jpg)
A Pro Touring Camaro being built with an LS9 engine, custom crossmember and firewall, modern suspension
I'm not saying they should change anything in Goodguys, ASCA, Optima or USCA, not hardly. More power to 'em! These cars are beautiful and fun to watch, and these groups all put on helluva show. I'd give my right arm to be able to own one of these Pro built cars, or to have clients that trusted us enough to let Vorshlag build one for them. But that's not what we do, and the PT type scenes is really not what the SCCA is about, either (more on that in a second). Sure, the 200 treadwear tire limitation does ultimately put some limits what you can do that really matters, and the 3000 pound minimum weight for the main class in USCA is a good number, but these series and the PT cars that enter them are going to get wilder and less recognizable as time goes on.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-L76fRbn/0/S/dsc_0044-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-L76fRbn/0/X3/dsc_0044-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-p8f4Zgv/0/S/maxresdefault-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-p8f4Zgv/0/X3/maxresdefault-X3.jpg)
A classic Camaro built around SCCA Solo rules looks almost nothing like a PT car underneath
Why do I bring this up? Because the SCCA created a class explicitly to attract Pro Touring cars called Classic American Muscle. And this class has the fewest rules of any class SCCA has created in the history of Solo. Jason Rhodes deliberates on the many problems with the ruleset in CAM. (http://www.rhoadescamaro.com/build/?p=2090#comment-235) Jason built the 1967 Camaro Z/28 shown above for STX class, only to have it moved to a less competitive STU class a year after its debut. If you look at the CAM rules from a racer's point of view there are some crazy things that you could build. And in typical SCCA style, the rules makers haven't thought this through very well, and when (not if) these wild creations show up there will be a series of TAKE BACKS and rules changes the likes of which have never been seen.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-6BncgvT/0/L/DSC09476-L.jpg
Brian Hobaugh's Pro Touring Camaro ran in C Prepared class at the Solo Nationals, and did very well
We always complain about rules, and some of us have wished for more unlimited rulesets... just be careful what you wish for. Instead of fixing the issues in STX and STU classes, with respect to the modern Muscle Cars, the SCCA punted all pony cars into STU and seem to be ignoring any requests for allowances because "they can just run in CAM". But CAM is not a National class, and probably never will be - at least with the wide open rules it has now. I think creating CAM was a mistake, in this form, and removes all impetus to fix the pony car problems in STX and STU.
That being said, I'm going to be doing some autocross testing on street tires by running some SCCA Solo events in CAM class (and in our region they have split it by years, so we will run in MAM or Modern American Muscle). This will hopefully help us tweak the set-up and improve my driving to get ready for the Optima Invitational in Vegas. I actually renewed my SCCA membership last week (shocking!) and have already signed up for an event this weekend (http://www.texasscca.org/soloautocross/solo-events-calendar) at TMS bus lot. But that doesn't mean I'm "building for CAM", no no no. If I was, first I'd ask someone to smack me over the head. Next, it would be a dedicated build along the lines that Rhodes laid out (http://www.rhoadescamaro.com/build/?p=2090#comment-235), but that would be a spending war that I wouldn't want to be a part of 2 years form now when the class either blows up and gets a rules re-write, or dies away from lack of attendance.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-LSP-112011/i-t3FVT2h/0/S/DSC_6074a-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-LSP-112011/i-t3FVT2h/0/X3/DSC_6074a-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Div-TMS-051311/i-RcvWNMT/0/S/DSC_2024-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Div-TMS-051311/i-RcvWNMT/0/X3/DSC_2024-X3.jpg)
We tilted at windmills in SCCA's STX class for 2 years, and briefly in STU. I'd rather not be a part of the Solo Circus again
Anyway, I made that brief foray into the history of Pro Touring just to see how it has evolved and relates to the STX/STU/CAM/MAM classes within SCCA, which I honestly don't have any heart to fight for anymore. SCCA Solo is going to do whatever it is going to do, and I'm not going to get involved more than casually entering a few local autocross events to use for practice for another series. I caution anyone looking at CAM as "the answer" to the woes of the pony car drivers that may have formerly run in STX/STU classes. CAM might never take off, and if it does, be prepared for MAJOR changes when the rules makers figure out what they have left open to exploit. Enjoy!
USCA at TMS, Saturday March 22nd, 2014
Now that the house cleaning, PT history and SCCA rules discussion is out of the way, let's cover the Saturday series of events at the USCA qualifier at TMS on March 22nd! On this day we were to compete in two of the toughest competitions: the Speed Stop and Autocross. I will discuss each event separately, but we were running these both concurrently off and on all day Saturday.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jrmtJNB/1/S/20140323_084447-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jrmtJNB/1/X3/20140323_084447-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xFRM7D3/1/S/20140322_071121-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xFRM7D3/1/X3/20140322_071121-X3.jpg)
The USCA driver's meeting (left) was held after the ChumpCar driver's meeting (right) in the same garage, an hour earlier
We had a driver's meeting early that morning at 8:30 am, right as the 12 hour ChumpCar race that was being held Saturday on the infield road course had started. We were told that the last digit in our assigned car numbers would determine which group we were in, "Odd" or "Even". We were given some time to walk both courses, and I took it, walking the large autocross course 3 times and the speed stop twice.
Ride-Tech Autocross Course
I will start with this Saturday event first, since I was in the "Odd" group that started out on the Autocross course first, and then we switched about every hour between this and Speed Stop. Towards the end of the day both courses were open to anyone, and lots of people had stopped running while others kept taking lots of runs.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/L/TMS-map-USCA-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/O/TMS-map-USCA.jpg)
Before we got going I took my walk-throughs a little more seriously and jogged / walked briskly by myself two times after walking it once with some friends, to get a good look at the autocross course. Chatting with others is normal on your walk-thrus but I've learned that I absorb a lot more of the course when I walk by myself, without distractions.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-s8DcDsf/1/S/DSC_1894-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-s8DcDsf/1/X3/DSC_1894-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-5nKcBgX/1/S/DSC_1897-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-5nKcBgX/1/X3/DSC_1897-X3.jpg)
The course was set-up by an experienced SCCA autocrosser and it looked good, and nothing like the Goodguys gymkhana course. This made me very happy, as it would more suit a "normal car" and not the strange gearing and insanely tight turn-arounds that the Goodguys courses focus on. It wasn't an "easier" course than the weekend before, per se, just more flowing and with higher average speeds. Gone were the worries of another "1st gear only" course and as I walked the site it felt like a perfect 2nd gear course for our 3.31 geared Mustang - and it was. There were a LOT of cones and they even lined the course with white chalk, so it should be hard to get lost. If you did make a mistake I could see where there would be a lot of cones to collect.
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-tqpzdFH/1/S/DSC_1947-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-tqpzdFH/1/X3/DSC_1947-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-4PCvJnS/1/S/DSC_1953-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-4PCvJnS/1/X3/DSC_1953-X3.jpg)
Left: The man lifts used for filming were in the middle of the course, out of the way. Right: The world's biggest video screen, recently added to TMS
They had video camera stations and Man Lifts set-up inside the course, and the layout had one crossover, but it made for a much bigger layout. If you look at the map in my previous post they had a LARGE area for the autocross to run in, much bigger than Goodguys used the week before. This is where SCCA normally has the paddock when they do the TMS Road Course autocross events, and it was BIG. There were a few "gotcha" sections the designer put in there, trying to make it challenging, but nothing that someone with 25+ years of autocross experience couldn't see past, heh.
Event Results: http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/power-source/2014-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational-field-adds-four-more/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-C3Dnsw8/0/S/1015295_497067960398765_1450400067_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-C3Dnsw8/0/X3/1015295_497067960398765_1450400067_o-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-CKVC4xT/1/S/_DSF2966-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-CKVC4xT/1/X3/_DSF2966-X3.jpg)
Left: The Autocross course was overlooked by the Optima Prime trailer. Right: Dennis Pittsenbarger was announcer all weekend
There was a slight delay while some timer issues were worked out. The USCA folks had a brand new timing system, but the wireless lights were apparently interfering with another signal. The Texas Region SCCA folks working the course and instructing helped them diagnose the issue and it was found that the 3+ TV cameras around this course were stepping on the signal for the lights, so they fixed that after a bit. Before they did Jimi Day sent our group to go make one run on the speed stop course, while they fixed the issue. I'll talk about that in the next segment. Also, the weather was super sketchy. Rain was in the forecast (not if but when) and the temps had fallen, with winds whipping up all day. You'll notice dark clouds in many of the Saturday pictures, and that's what we ran under all day - a constant threat of rain.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-8w5fjbn/1/S/DSC_1924-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-8w5fjbn/1/X3/DSC_1924-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cx7Z7PT/1/S/DSC_1985-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cx7Z7PT/1/X3/DSC_1985-X3.jpg)
Once the Autocross course finally went hot around 10 am I got in a fast first run. I was lucky to have Amy, Kyle and Jason spotting on the course, listening for times, and helping with tire pressures and getting me ready before each run. I made a few more good runs in the first session by the time we were told to switch events with the "Even" group. At that time I was temporarily in the lead for the Autocross. We came back to this area 3 or 4 different times that day, and I quickly found out that my early leading times had fallen. I was in the low 43 second zone in the morning but the big gun drivers were already in the 42s and Brian Hobaugh was in the 41s. Yikes! I stepped up my driving and worked the tires hard, trying to maximize rear grip.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-5qWXcdw/1/S/DSC_1881-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-5qWXcdw/1/X3/DSC_1881-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GjKN6fJ/1/S/DSC_1834-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GjKN6fJ/1/X3/DSC_1834-X3.jpg)
The rear tires became the limiting factor in everything on the autocross course that day. Yes, even with 335s on the back the car struggled to put the power down from this stock Coyote 5.0 (433 whp SAE). I was pushing the car to the edge of the cones, and picked up more than a few cone penalties that day (often just stepping on the cone bases, which is verboten in USCA). The event announcer (Dennis Pittsenbarger) was noticing my quick-ish times but was quick to also point out my penchant for cone penalties, and dubbed me The Conekiller, heh. He had nick names for lots of people, like "Cookie Monster" for Jon Miller - who had won a big bag of cookies in the Poker Run - and "Five Eights" for Marc Sherrin. He kept all of us informed as well as entertained all day, standing atop Optima Prime announcing.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GzNqX8d/1/S/DSC_1978-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GzNqX8d/1/X3/DSC_1978-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-DWz93XF/1/S/DSC_2010-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-DWz93XF/1/X3/DSC_2010-X3.jpg)
I earned the Conekiller name, of course, but luckily this wasn't a "3 and done" sort of event. I kept making autocross laps until I could get a faster time clean. Then I'd push in another area and run until I had it clean and faster. Rinse, repeat. Over the day I made close to 20 autocross runs - more than most but less than a few. I worked my way into the 42s, then the high 41s. At one point I had a 41.7 second run but that wasn't good enough for the win, as Hobaugh had his orange Camaro down to a 40.900 second run. Brian Finch and Kyle Tucker both had 41.7 times a hair quicker than mine, so I was in 4th. I didn't think I could catch Hobaugh but was so close to Finch and Tucker that I kept making runs, looking for a tenth...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2WhXSTz/1/S/DSC_2035-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2WhXSTz/1/X3/DSC_2035-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zGHGxPV/1/S/DSC_1847-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zGHGxPV/1/X3/DSC_1847-X3.jpg)
Side note: everyone was supposed to stop in a stop box after the autocross Finish timers, but I quickly noticed that most of the Pro drivers blew that off, as it wasn't manned like the stop box in the Speed Stop event. I kept killing my brakes to try to make that stop box, and it was TOUGH. But the new Ford Racing M-2353-CA" ABS/TC module worked brilliantly and our Mustang was definitely stopping well, considering the hefty weight it was carrying. All of the weirdness I've noticed when autocrossing on street tires was gone - with this ABS module I could go from wheelspin into full ABS braking without it missing a beat. It never once let me down all day - success!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-v4QGCcd/1/S/_DSC7524-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-v4QGCcd/1/X3/_DSC7524-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jM5JDrt/1/S/DSC_1831-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jM5JDrt/1/X3/DSC_1831-X3.jpg)
Left: Our latest ballast weight rack, now with MCS remote reservoirs installed. Right: Our Mustang on the autocross course
We had the TT3 ballast plates removed (above) but the Mustang still pushed 3550 pounds, then add another 200 pounds for me. Many of these top Pro drivers were in purpose built muscle cars and were much closer to 3000 pounds, which was the class minimum weight for the "GT3" class - the class we cared about.
Towards the early afternoon, after we had stopped for a lunch break and got going again, I was making autocross runs and the the fuel level got very low on the Mustang. I was parked in grid at the autocross course, strapped into the harness and ready to pull up for another run, so I asked Jason and Amy to go back to the trailer and grab the fuel jugs then get them filled at a nearby gas station with 93 octane. There were no active fuel pumps at TMS that day, but the gas station was about a mile away. I would keep making runs while they were getting fuel.
Strangely they arrived back to the paddock with a 5 gallon fuel jug and dumped that into the tank while I was strapped in. I figured they found a competitor with some 93 octane and would replenish that next, but I asked them "Where did you get that fuel?" They said, "It was in our trailer". "Uhh.... that's not one of our fuel jugs. You need to find out what you just poured into the car, please."
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cp4KTtH/1/S/20140321_121918-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cp4KTtH/1/X3/20140321_121918-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2JWXfph/1/S/20140321_121925-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2JWXfph/1/X3/20140321_121925-X3.jpg)
E85 ethanol fuel is becoming popular with racers running boosted engines, for the high octane rating yet low cost compared to race fuel
I don't think anything more of it and I'm in line about 4 cars back from the start line, ready to make a run, when Jason runs up and says, "Shut off the motor, that was E85!" Oh crap. I pull out of line and get out of the car. He explains that a friend of ours put his fuel jugs in our trailer overnight, after I told him he could stash his stuff in our trailer. He runs E85, didn't mark his fuel cans, and they just put 5 gallons of corn juice in my tank. CRAP! I kind of... lost my temper. I wasn't so much mad at them but mad at myself for watching them put "unknown fuel" in our car. I should have stopped them. They went to go get our fuel jugs both filled, and we talked about ways to get this fuel out of the tank. Kyle had already left for the day and we didn't have the Ford quick-connect fuel line tools needed to make this easy. The weather was looking bad and we knew we might get rain at any minute. The only dry runs left for the day were about to happen in the next 10 minutes. CRAP CRAP CRAP!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-5RN9qM6/1/L/_DSF2952-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-5RN9qM6/1/X3/_DSF2952-X3.jpg)
I did some mental calculations... I had about 2 gallons of 93 octane in the tank (fuel light had come on) when they dumped 5 gallons of E85 in there. There was not enough time to dump out the tank and no tools on hand to do it easily. We'd need to run to town, get the tools, dump the fuel, refill it with 93, and that would take an hour or more. By then it would likely be raining and the day would be over. I needed to make some more speed stop runs as well. Instead of all of that I decided we would DILUTE the E85 with a lot more 93 octane, but before that I'd take one more run. I was so mad, and so far back in the standings (4th place would cost me a lot of points in this event) I just didn't care, and needed just a tenth of a second better to make 2nd place in the autocross.
I got back in line, strapped in, and made this run below. Click that image for the in-car video, some commentary about the E85 fiasco, and go to the 720P for the best resolution.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-C7qWcqQ/0/L/USCA-autocross-run14-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3144325643&k=C7qWcqQ&lb=1&s=A)
I don't know why I was faster on this run, maybe since my head was somewhere else (E85 dilemma) that it let my subconscious drive the car? I wasn't thinking about driving at all, I just drove. Jason said I was smoother and cleaner than I had been all day, not hanging the ass out for the camera, and he knew it would be a faster run before I even crossed the finish line. This 41.581 second run ended up being my fastest lap of the day and moved me up to 2nd place, just squeaking ahead of Finch and Tucker (shown below). I never got close to that time again in the half dozen laps I ran in the hours after the rain had come and dried back up.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vmgNdLv/1/S/20140321_122040-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vmgNdLv/1/X3/20140321_122040-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mf4f84v/1/S/20140321_134030-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-mf4f84v/1/X3/20140321_134030-X3.jpg)
My 41.58 run still was pretty far off of Hobaugh's best, and he backed up the 40.9 with another 40.9. Nobody had anything that could touch him in the autocross competition all day, but even being almost 7 tenths back my 2nd place finish was good enough to net me 22 out of a possible 25 points, which made all the difference in the end. After we quit switching courses between the even and odd cars we were finally able to run together, so and I could watch Tucker, Finch and Hobaugh run. Wow, those guys were hailing some tail.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-fVzzpzH/0/S/1379842_10203237828694636_2115777823_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-fVzzpzH/0/X2/1379842_10203237828694636_2115777823_n-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9fqqMMB/0/S/988847_10203297451585171_2052927470_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9fqqMMB/0/X2/988847_10203297451585171_2052927470_n-X2.jpg)
Left: Hobaugh's Camaro was in a league of it's own. Right: He took a lot of autocross and speed stop runs! Each of those papers is a time slip.
All of their cars looked great but Hobaugh's Camaro was so hooked up I cannot describe it. Here is one of his runs on video, below, which is obviously much faster than any of mine - or anyone else's. He dominated the Goodguys autocross event the weekend before (on Friday/Saturday) by an even larger margin.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Jk8tdP8/0/L/hobaugh-L.jpg (http://tinyurl.com/jwh49sf)
That Camaro is hooked up and Brian had no driving mistakes. Very well done. Agian, he won the Optima Invitational last year in his dad's 1965 Corvette (http://tinyurl.com/keue3bx), and he has been autocrossing for something like 28 years, so he is no stranger to these events. Looking at his video, I'm going to have to step it up driving-wise as well as make some fundamental changes to our TT3 set-up to work better on these street tires for the Vegas Optima event. I had enough little driving mistakes but for the most part my run was right on the cones and on the limit of the tires everywhere.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-M2GN2m2/0/L/Results-Autocross-Ranked-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-M2GN2m2/0/XL/Results-Autocross-Ranked-XL.jpg)
I might never catch Hobaugh on any autocross course, and I don't think with 100 more runs that Saturday that I would have caught him. That car is seemingly tailor made for the tight stuff, and I was very happy to pull off 2nd place at this event.
Saturday Breakage
Our Mustang was a tank all weekend with nary a hiccup, but that couldn't be said for everyone. When you are making 700+ hp and taking dozens of runs in a row, things can break, even on street tires.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-XXdjbBM/0/S/1960856_497070523731842_1758135093_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-XXdjbBM/0/X2/1960856_497070523731842_1758135093_o-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rKtBBJL/1/S/DSC_1785-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rKtBBJL/1/X3/DSC_1785-X3.jpg)
One of the more popular builds was this vintage Volvo built by "Swedish Ops". This had an LSx V8 swap and a manual transmission. Apparently they lost a McLeod hydraulic throw out bearing and had to snatch the transmission out to repair it. This was one of 2 cars in the "under 3000 pound" class, which it ended up winning. It barely made weight, as you had to weigh under 3000 pounds to run this class.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HcsxcMQ/0/S/1900491_497068867065341_403282210_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HcsxcMQ/0/X2/1900491_497068867065341_403282210_o-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Xwq27n6/0/S/1958523_240106882842608_1129179389_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Xwq27n6/0/X3/1958523_240106882842608_1129179389_n-X3.jpg)
Saturday was also a bit of bad luck for the DSE crew. Kyle Tucker's 2nd gen Camaro munched a clutch, one of the multi-disc variety. His crew had the transmission out and the clutch changed in a little over an hour, and he was back out there making Speed Stop and Autocross runs.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-RGkxW9c/1/S/20140322_091942-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-RGkxW9c/1/X3/20140322_091942-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-D6fZc4G/1/S/20140321_122018-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-D6fZc4G/1/X3/20140321_122018-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
Last breakage that I recall on Saturday was Danny Popp's 5th gen Camaro. We heard it go "BANG" on course after it had blown a CV joint in the rear halfshaft. Without any spares he was out of the event and didn't get to make a lap around the road course on Sunday. That sucks, and I hate seeing a top competitor like this get his weekend ended early. I'm sure we'll see Danny at another USCA/Optima event soon, and it looks like on Facebook that he's testing this Camaro on the BFG Rivals (he was on 305mm Goodyear Supercar tires during the USCA weekend).
There was one more key competitor that broke on Sunday, which I will cover in that series of posts.
Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop
The other Saturday event was the Speed Stop, which has been a tough event for me in the past. I was bound and determined to NOT place poorly in the Speed Stop this time, no matter if I had to take 30 or more runs to do it. I ended up getting 3rd quickest and it only took about 28 laps to pull that off, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vhx35NQ/1/L/DSC_1808-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vhx35NQ/1/X3/DSC_1808-X3.jpg)
The course layout was simple, and it was held in the smaller lot that Goodguys normally uses for their autocross. Again, in my overall satellite map of the TMS site (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/O/TMS-map-USCA.jpg) you can see the area where it was held, and it had about half the space there as the Autocross site. It was still plenty big, and allowed for a pre-grid area, starting box, and a straight long enough to top out 2nd gear for me (around 70 mph). After the straight we had a big braking zone into a tight ~150 degree turn (the one with the 4 cones lined up, above). Not quite a 180, but darn close to that. That corner was still bottom of 2nd gear, luckily, and this led immediately into a tight 3 cone slalom (optional direction to start) then right across the finish lights and into a 40 foot stop box.
Event Results: http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/power-source/2014-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational-field-adds-four-more/
Seemed so simple when I walked it, but I fought this course all day long and it took far more runs than the Autocross course to sort of master it. I drove it so many different ways, but it was all about limiting wheelspin, going slow enough in the turn-around, staying on the throttle through the cones, and braking as late as possible - down to the inch.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-MxpGt38/0/L/USCA-speedstop-runs1710-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3144342168&k=MxpGt38&lb=1&s=A)
That video has 3 of the Speed Stop runs in it, and each run is around 11-12 seconds, so it isn't too long. You can see my frustration there, after I kept running over the same cone in the slalom, lap after lap, and as I found out even touching a cone was a penalty - you didn't have to knock it down or move it out of the marked box. That is their rules, I just needed to learn them. The USCA had good spotters watching this course, mostly from the Texas Region SCCA.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zRx3Tcj/1/S/DSC_1782-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zRx3Tcj/1/X3/DSC_1782-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-fv3gCRs/1/S/DSC_1783-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-fv3gCRs/1/X3/DSC_1783-X3.jpg)
I knew this SCCA crew well: Wayne Atkins was the starter, Brad Flak was the stop box spotter/flagger, and Brad and Jen Maxcy were running the timers and handing out time slips to competitors. Even though I knew them, they they cut me zero slack. They did give pointers to me and the other entrants about how much room we were giving up in the back of the stop box or how far off of the cones we were. I had Amy and Jason spotting for me on many runs as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jWJ7JMh/1/S/DSC_1966-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-jWJ7JMh/1/X3/DSC_1966-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-825NHHM/1/S/DSC_1962-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-825NHHM/1/X3/DSC_1962-X3.jpg)
Stuart from Maxcyspeed came out and gave me some pointers for the shocks, and we made some time up after his damping suggestions. We also tried all manner of tire pressures and the car stopped best with the pressures we had dialed in on the autocross course, with about 31 psi up front 315s and 33 psi in the rear 335s. We changed shock settings for the speed stop and autocross, however, and made more shock changes for the Sunday road course. This event was the last time we ran the Moton Club Sport doubles, and now we have to re-learn the car on the MCS doubles (luckily they are very similar in look, construction and function).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-b5dScV6/1/S/DSC_1974-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-b5dScV6/1/X3/DSC_1974-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-pGqGbPm/1/S/DSC_1968-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-pGqGbPm/1/X3/DSC_1968-X3.jpg)
My first speed stop was in the 12.4 second range and I spent the entire day working on my driving, trying different lines, tweaking my braking points, and just flat out beating on the car to get every tenth we could. Hobaugh and Finch were once again leading the charge and I chased them all day. I spent all morning mired in 7th place, then worked my way into 6th, then 5th. After a brief rain shower that took a good long time to dry off of the speed stop course I went back and was "hot lapping" this course with Bret Voelkel, Brian Hobaugh and Danny Popp. Some of the guys were doing big, hairy burn-outs to try to increase starting line traction - there was just very little grip in the starting box.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-MHXMz9t/1/L/DSC_1970-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-MHXMz9t/1/X2/DSC_1970-X2.jpg)
I didn't bother with burn-outs, but would instead just keep working on my launch, shifts, brake points and cone distances. Marc Sherrin and I kept swapping back 6th place, first in the 11.7 second range than in the 11.6 second range. I was confused about the different classes on Saturday and kept an eye on Todd Earsley's EVO's times all day - and even through his times didn't end up counting against mine we pushed each other. He and I have a friendly rivalry at these events + NASA TT, so when I looked and saw him missing for a long time on the autocross course, I asked Amy where he was. She had someone spotting the Speed Stop and came and told me "Todd just ran an 11.53!" So I ran over to that area and made laps until I had an 11.52, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2BpmxkT/1/S/DSC_1799-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-2BpmxkT/1/X3/DSC_1799-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-kgT9Nmm/1/S/DSC_1804-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-kgT9Nmm/1/X3/DSC_1804-X3.jpg)
Towards the end of Saturday afternoon I happened to be making laps when only 2 other cars were there and the camera crew and show host Chad were interviewing me after every couple of passes, since they seemed a bit bored. After a string of runs touching the same cone in the slalom 4 times in a row I finally got a clean run, and nailed the stop as deep in the stop box as possible. Chad ran up with the the camera crew and stuck a microphone in my face and said, "Wow, you really got it deep in the box!" and I replied, without thinking, "That's what she said". They laughed pretty hard at that but I doubt that will make it onto the show, heh.
This event is hard work, and emphasizes more of the car aspects than driver skill. You still have to really PUSH the car to get your best lap and nail everything to the inch to minimize your time. I watched Hobaugh make a lot of passes and he really beat on his car to get down to that 11.0 second run. Eventually I had a bit of a break through with my driving and got down to an 11.2 second lap, after a string of 11.5s and 11.4s. It all came down to pushing the braking zone as late as possible, getting the brakes WARM, and waiting a foot later on the binders to save a tenth or two - or push you right out of the box and into the Red Flag territory (essentially a DNF).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-D9VZzsh/0/L/Results-SpeedStop-Ranked-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-D9VZzsh/0/XL/Results-SpeedStop-Ranked-XL.jpg)
As you can see, Hobaugh won this event once again - two in a row for Saturday - but Finch was right on his heels at only .01 seconds back! I was 2 tenths back from the two of them, and my 3rd place standing netted me 20 out of a possible 25 points.
continued below
continued from above - last one!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xFDhzKD/0/S/10005851_497067300398831_292265369_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xFDhzKD/0/XL/10005851_497067300398831_292265369_o-XL.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-bwsqrfd/0/S/10012135_497070600398501_543541620_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-bwsqrfd/0/X3/10012135_497070600398501_543541620_o-X3.jpg)
At this point on Saturday it was looking like Hobaugh had this whole weekend sewed up, but I knew one thing these Pro guys didn't: the TMS Infield Road Course. With a couple of hundreds laps under my belt here in 2012 with GTA and 7+ years of SCCA autocrosses on the same layout, I had a little course knowledge over anyone else in attendance. Would knowing the course be enough, since everyone would get 6 fifteen minute sessions on track Sunday? I had no idea - only Sunday would tell. I was worried about being down on power to virtually all of the top 15 cars, too. But one thing that really helped my overall standing was the last "competition" that happened on Saturday: the design challenge.
Lingenfelter Performance - Design and Engineering Competition
During the middle of one Autocross session they pulled me over to the Optima trailer "to be judged". There was no Judge Dredd there waiting but instead 5 industry icons picked mostly from the company owners from the event sponsors who would evaluate each car. This judged event was also worth a total of 25 points, from a ranked score. The judges first scored each entry on six categories of "street car amenities" (things like air con, door glass, lighting, and such) and then on another series of things such as the paint, interior modifications, engineering changes, drivetrain, and the fit and finish of the car. I was really worried about this because our Mustang is far from a show car, unlike many of the Pro cars. But, also unlike many of those, our Mustang is really a street car - with a full interior, air bags, air con, and all of that. And the unique and custom aero and wheels look the part, and then some.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-gKVfZQM/1/S/_DSF2885-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-gKVfZQM/1/X3/_DSF2885-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-KMSJVDJ/1/S/_DSC7363-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-KMSJVDJ/1/X3/_DSC7363-X3.jpg)
Prepared to be judged....
Turns out we didn't do so badly, and the judges noticed that I had all of the "street car points" in the 6 categories they were looking for. We maxed out the 15 points that made up these streetable things, while many others did not. Some of the Pro Touring entries here were barely disguised race cars, and they did poorly in these street categories by not having things like HVAC, real doors, side door glass, interior materials, or a radio.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-VZXdPQp/0/L/Results-Design-Points-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-VZXdPQp/0/XL/Results-Design-Points-XL.jpg)
The other 10 points of the 25 point score were subjective numbers based on a 0-100 scale from each judge. They threw out the high and low judged score on this subjective scale, average the remaining three numbers and divide that score by 10, then added this to the 15 point scale from above. Sounds easy, right? Looking at the score sheet above helps it make more sense. On the subjective 0-100 scale we scored a 61 average, better than many others. That meant I got 6.1 points out of the subjective 10 point part + all 15 points for the 6 street car amenities categories for a total score of 21.1 out of 25.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Z4kFqzS/0/L/Results-Design-Ranked-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Z4kFqzS/0/X3/Results-Design-Ranked-X3.jpg)
That the 21.1 points wasn't my final score in the this category, of course, as this was only used for the overall class ranking yet again. The car's score here was good enough for 4th overall in class, so I netted 18 out of 25 points in this event, not the 21.1 points scored. Follow?
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-R2cJZT4/1/S/_DSC6668-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-R2cJZT4/1/X3/_DSC6668-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-4Bj7xmF/1/S/_DSC6682-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-4Bj7xmF/1/X3/_DSC6682-X3.jpg)
Cheryl Herrick's beautiful Chevy II (above) from Jet Hot won this event, and if you had seen it up close you'd know why. That car was amazingly well prepared and scored a 72.2 score on the 0-100 judge's subjective scale (7.2 points) and she also netted the maximum 15 points for "the street amenity score". Her overall score was really only a 22.2 out of 25 possible points (only 1.1 points better then our Mustang), but since she ranked first she got the full 25 points in this category. That ranking thing is how they do it in all categories, and it really pays to win as many events as you can. Finch scored one place ahead of me here (by a 0.2 point scored margin, doh!) and netted 20 out of 25 points. He also beat me on the Speed Stop by one place, but I nudged him on the autocross by one place. So, unbeknownst to me, I went into Sunday 2 points behind Finch and what I thought was a huge gap behind Hobaugh. But his Camaro's Design score was hurt by the lack of a some street car parts and the resulting ranked score was only a 6.95, which hurt him.
End of Saturday
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vNw66Xk/1/S/_DSC6922-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vNw66Xk/1/X3/_DSC6922-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-qrq5rj6/1/S/_DSC6926-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-qrq5rj6/1/X3/_DSC6926-X3.jpg)
Jason and I checked the car over at the end of the day, fueled up again for Sunday morning, and we left the car parked in the garages for the night. The BFG tires looked EXCELLENT at this point and I felt like we'd get several more weekends like this out of them, at this rate. I was tired - between shuffling back and forth from the Autocross and speed stop events I was rarely unstrapped and out of the car most of about 6 hours that day. We did get a nice lunch break and the rain delay for about 90 minutes, so we relaxed in the garages and shot the bull with everyone during that down time. We had a BOATLOAD of fun that day. I have never taken so many autocross runs in a single day, and never had to work course - sweet!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-g3j6HqZ/1/L/_DSC6582-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-g3j6HqZ/1/X3/_DSC6582-X3.jpg)
They had all of the events wrapped up by about 4:45 pm and we buttoned up the trailer and loaded bodies in the BMW to head home after a long day with lots of wind and cold, some rain, and a mix of frustration and elation. The E85 fueling mistake ended up not being a big deal after all, as we had been diluting the tank all day with more and more 93 octane. By Saturday evening we had it virtually purged of ethanol (well, other than the 10% that most Texas gas pumps include, for a normal E10 mix).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-T3PV74s/1/S/_DSF2783-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-T3PV74s/1/X3/_DSF2783-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cBFZZCF/1/S/_DSF2874-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cBFZZCF/1/X3/_DSF2874-X3.jpg)
My mind was spinning about how badly I got beat in the autocross (in raw time, 7 tenths is an eternity) and what that could mean for what Hobaugh had in store for the road course? While I was still hopeful Sunday would be the one event I could possibly still win, my thoughts of an overall win for the class/event and SEMA invite were nil (at that point I had no idea what any of the Design scores were). I was resigned to maybe place in the top 3, which would be a good placement with these Pro built cars and top drivers in attendance.
But Sunday was a whole new game... :D
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZGg5P2V/1/L/_DSC6966-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3167602105&k=Q3c7VC4&lb=1&s=A)
Click image above for a "fly by" video on the main straight of the TMS Infield Road Course
More next time!
Project Update for April 21st, 2014: Time to play catch up on the build posts! We've done yet another event since USCA, this time an autocross with the Texas Region SCCA in their new "MAM" class - in addition to the TrackGuys event at TWS last month. I've written and posted two job listings here at Vorshlag (http://www.vorshlag.com/jobs.php) this week. I've also written and posted the mega-sized Vorshlag Scion FR-S LSx Alpha Project (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8275) build thread since my last S197 post, and I need to update the Alpha Miata LS1 thread as well, too. So before I get any further behind I'll try to catch up on Day 3 of the USCA/Optima Qualifier event held at TMS March 21-23rd, 2014. This is where things got... interesting.
A Brief Look: GTA @ TMS, Sept 2012
First, let's back up just a tick. If you've been reading this S197 build thread since we started (2010) you might remember that we ran our red 2011 GT at TMS on the infield road course back in 2012. That year was a turning point for this car: we had finally switched form running on 265mm street tires in SCCA's STX class to running 315mm R-compounds in SCCA's ESP autocross class and NASA TTS in time trial. The move out of STX was long overdue, as we fought badly for traction in this heavy (3440 pound at the time) car on those super skinny 265mm street tires. Every event was like driving on ICE. When we moved up to 315mm R-compound tires the Mustang CAME ALIVE, so we quickly did a single autocross test - where we made some set-up changes based on measured lap times - and took the Mustang to the SCCA Solo Nationals to run in ESP class against the best pony car autocrossers in the nation.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2012-SCCA-Solo-Nats/i-BhB4kJr/0/S/DSC_4613-3-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2012-SCCA-Solo-Nats/i-BhB4kJr/0/X3/DSC_4613-3-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-wft8RQ2/0/S/_DSC0251%20copy%203-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-wft8RQ2/0/X3/_DSC0251%20copy%203-X3.jpg)
Left: Our brief foray into SCCA ESP class in 2012 was decent but under-developed. Right: Our NASA TTS set-up in 2012 also worked well enough in GTA
We did fairly well at that 2012 Nationals, scoring a 3rd out of 47 cars in ESP and winning ESP-Ladies, after almost no changes to the old STX suspension set-up. Looking back now we know this was a very compromised set of spring rates, among other items. The suspension then was still on AST 4150 singles with soft-ish 450F/175R rates, which worked great for street tires and daily driver use but left the car under-sprung for foot wide wheels and uber-grippy tires, in autocross and especially road course use. The car had LOTS of body roll that we couldn't tune out with the swaybars (we had the massive Whiteline bars at full stiff on both ends, which our one test day showed to be fastest).
We entered this Global Time Attack event at TMS (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/) a couple of weeks after the 2012 Solo Nationals on a lark, mostly to help bolster the entries for this event so the GTA series might come back in the future. We never hoped to beat the top cars prepped for this series or even get in the top 10. The turn-out by locals was somewhat poor, and even with a couple of dozen series regulars attending they couldn't afford to risk it on a low turn-out again and GTA has not returned to Texas. This is what prompted my series of calls to try to support the USCA event locally - we didn't want to lose a big event again. I'll talk about the SCCA Texas Pro Solo at the end of this post, because we need local entrants to sign up to this one, too!
Anyway, 2012 was our first year to dip into R-compound territory and we used the following winter to test a better suspension set-up for the wider tires that led to a string of wins in TT3 for 2013 - where we won 13 of 15 NASA races and set track records at every track on the NASA Texas schedule. We still had a relatively poor showing at NASA Nationals (3rd) due to a poor rear aero set-up for the speeds seen at Miller, but we finally have a better solution for that coming in the next week or so (see details in my next S197 build thread post!). So 2012 was a "building year" and the crude TTS/ESP set-up we had was somehow still good enough to win Unlimited RWD class at this GTA round in Texas and set the 5th fastest time of the event.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/i-9LC66kC/0/L/Day2Session3-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Global-Time-Attack-TMS-092112/25502108_Mt6CqK#!i=2130985221&k=9LC66kC&lb=1&s=A)
Some laps from GTA in 2012. Look at how much high speed understeer the car has! (with the old plastic LS front splitter)
Still, that event was riddled with mistakes: 1) I drove erratically (as usual) and was constantly over-driving the tires. 2) I forgot to plug-in the wired AMB transponder before the best track session on Sunday, when it was 78°F. That was a huge mistake, as the on-board AIM Solo lap timer showed several sub 40 second laps in an early Sunday session, with a best of a 39.8, but with our ghetto-wired transponder left unplugged it was all for naught (we have since added a lighted switch on the dash to show me when the transponder is on!).
I had to make up for that missed session of times by driving like a wild man in a nearly 100°F session late that afternoon, where I barely eeked a lone 39.975 second (http://www.globaltimeattack.com/2012-rd-5-texas-motor-speedway-sep-21-22-2012/) official lap time, using all of the track surface and then some. The 315mm Hoosier A6 tires were overheating but I kept pushing and found that time in the closing minutes of the event. It was nerve racking to know I left more time in the car, but it was all I could get in those circumstances. With our current aero and suspension set-up, plus the wider 335/345 Hoosiers, what would the Mustang run there now? No telling... but probably a good bit faster. We found 1.4 seconds just going from 315mm tires to the wider set at MSR this year, about one month apart. Bigger is better!
Anyway, at that event two years ago I logged two days of lapping on this 1.1 mile TMS road course, but on very different tires and a softer suspension set-up. It wouldn't hurt knowing the various corners and pavement sections of this track, of course.
USCA at TMS, Sunday March 23rd, 2014
So as you've read in my previous set of posts covering the USCA event above, we rolled into Day 3 of this weekend not knowing exactly where the Vorshlag Mustang was placed. We were doing somewhat OK after having scored a 2nd in the autox, a 3rd in the speed stop and a 4th in the Design challenge - but we didn't know any of that. I thought my ranking was about 4th in the autocross and 4th or 5th in the speed stop, with no idea of how the design challenge went, so I was a bit pessimistic about our chances at the win in the GT3K class. I really wanted that invite to the SEMA show/Optima Shootout, but at this point I just wanted to redeem myself and try to pull out the win at Sunday's BFG Hot Lap event. I had no idea that I still had a real shot at the overall win...
Event Results: http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/power-source/2014-optima-ultimate-street-car-invitational-field-adds-four-more/
BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge
We got to the track Sunday morning early, cold and tired, but I was still looking forward to this Time Trial portion of the event. Even if I didn't have a snowballs' chance in hell of the overall win, I was damn sure going to try to win this ONE single event. Sure, I was down 500+ whp to some of the entrants and had NO idea how these guys would do on the road course, but I knew this track. That was my one advantage. Would it matter after each competitor had their 6 sessions of 15 minutes each? That's a lot of track time to learn and master this little 1.1 mile road course.
Maybe our "wild aero" - which did virtually nothing for the car at autocross speeds nor in the speed stop, except make the car wider and grab cones - would finally show it's worth on the TMS infield course? We ran the same APR rear wing (mounted higher) back in 2012 at GTA but then we had the much less effective plastic Laguna Seca OEM front splitter and none of the other tricks we've since added, such as: the front wheel spats/flares, ducted hood, blocked off upper grill, and full depth splitter. We also have nearly doubled the spring rates on the suspension on both ends, so maybe that could allow the BFG tires to stay flatter and work more efficiently? We had the same Whiteline bars, control arms and Watts link, then as now.
The question was: Could I approach that same 39 second GTA lap time on 200 treadwear street tires? I sure hoped so, because this group of Pro Touring competitors looked fierce and I knew that a 40 second lap wasn't likely to win it.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/L/TMS-map-USCA-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7NcPC2f/0/O/TMS-map-USCA.jpg)
You can see the layout of the 1.1 mile, 7 turn road course above.
continued below
continued
It looks fairly straight forward but there are actually some very tricky spots on this track. I've seen a few too many cars crashed out there, as this course is lined in concrete barrier walls in many places. A few corners also have some run-off areas that you don't want to get out into (Turn 1!). And while it looks totally flat, it is far from it - some corners have a tick of camber that works in your favor (Turn 1), but one corner is off camber (Turn 7) - especially if you go wide, like the textbook line would lead you to think - and others have lower grip asphalt, which makes for a very slippery situation.
Vorshlag event Photo and Video Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GW6HCbg/1/L/_DSF2858-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-GW6HCbg/1/X3/_DSF2858-X3.jpg)
We had another driver's meeting that morning and the USCA organizers told us that there would be a yellow C7 Corvette "camera car" out in many of the sessions. We were told to "ignore this car as much as possible", as he would be making passes and/or pointing cars by to set up shots with both forward and rearward facing cameras. Turns out the driver was none other than local LGM business owner and former Pro racer Lou Gigliott. The C7 Corvette was one of his own test mules equipped with his coilovers, aero and headers, among other bits. That should be fast, especially in Lou's hands, and I mentally noted to be on the lookout for this Corvette - as I was always trying to ham it up for the camera! When you run a business you gotta get in the free marketing whenever you can, you know?
USCA Rules: http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/USCARules_v7-1.pdf
They had us split up into 3 types of run groups on Sunday based on previous road course experience levels: Novice, Advanced, and Expert. The differing groups had slightly different safety requirements as well, which are explained in the USCA rules. For the Expert group I was slotted into, we had to have the following bits of safety gear:
Helmet – SA2005 or better
Neck restraint – Hans style, or SFI certified neck collar
Properly mounted 4 or 5 point harness
SFI 3.2A/1 rated single layer fire suit or better
Nomex fire retardant gloves
Fire retardant shoes
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HrSvPg7/1/S/_DSF2894-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-HrSvPg7/1/X3/_DSF2894-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-BgTPNqP/1/S/_DSC6921-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-BgTPNqP/1/X3/_DSC6921-X3.jpg)
A lot of the local entrants we motivated to sign up had to make some hasty purchases at a local circle track supply house (Smileys) - to get racing suits, Nomex gloves, fire proof shoes and neck collars. One such entrant that had to get "geared up" was Shannon (above right) and her mom and sister, who both also entered. But like I told them, some HPDE groups and tracks are starting to require a full driving suit to run their events; I know MSR Cresson requires that sort of gear for their member days and at any other weekday track session, so their new gear wasn't a wasted purchase. And as cold as it was Sunday at TMS most of us stayed in our suits all day and were glad to have the warmth. Luckily I had all of this safety gear already, except a HANs, so I used my $25 SFI neck collar. Maybe not the smartest choice, and my helmet is already set-up for a HANs (which I've borrowed for LeMons racing) but I have yet to use one and not limit my ability to see laterally, so I haven't pulled the trigger on a HANs system yet.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-hBHFgjd/1/L/i-hBHFgjd-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-hBHFgjd/1/X3/i-hBHFgjd-X3.jpg)
Please don't use my example of safety gear choices to influence your choices. But please DO realize that there is more to using and picking a HANs device than just "swiping your credit card". There are many variables involved in the various brands, sizes and model options, plus other things that need to be checked, like shoulder harness and seat compatibility, and tethers vs quick releases. Its not a "no-brainer" choice to pick a HANs device. On a race car with a limited door opening in the roll cage (see above), or especially with the door closed and a cumbersome window net added - try to get out THEN when you have a big HANs device strapped to your back, while the car is on fire. Many variables... but then again, ripping your spinal column out of your brain stem can also ruin your day (aka: end your life).
At this event I knew the track had lower speeds, and the fact that there was going to be a good bit of passing, so being able to turn my head fully was more important - this time. But yes, I know, it is more dangerous than w/o a HANs in a big crash. I'm going to reassess my own safety equipment later this year and at the very least step up to a better fire suit than the inexpensive off-the-shelf Simpson suit I have now (we're a dealer for Puma, Sparco, OMP, Momo and Alpinestars suits) as well as possibly adding a real neck restraint system of some sort.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9GntL7C/1/S/_DSF2799-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9GntL7C/1/X3/_DSF2799-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Cz7vpJW/1/S/_DSF2802-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Cz7vpJW/1/X3/_DSF2802-X3.jpg)
They had us go out briefly before our official run groups began for a lead/follow teaching session where we all followed along single file, to "learn the line". I went out with Marc Sherrin and Jerry Cecco behind me and I drove the line I remembered from before, at about half speed behind the lead car. Those 8 or so slow laps didn't show me much, but we came back in and waited for everyone else to get their reconnaissance laps in. We next lined up in our proper run groups, but in a random order for the first session. There were more expert drivers so they split us into two sessions, for a total of 4 run groups.
For the first timed Expert session I got to grid after some other cars had lined up, so once on track I was stuck in traffic. I made several passes, but after 15 minutes on track I never had a single clear lap. We were also playing with shock and tire settings in the hot pits. In this session my AIM Solo lap timer would show a fast lap but would always get held up at some point. I tried building a gap on a few laps but the session was packed and there were a couple of cars that were well off the pace. Best time I could manage was a 41.325 second lap, passing someone on that lap.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WqJTWgx/0/S/tms-usca14-day-3-015-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WqJTWgx/0/X3/tms-usca14-day-3-015-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-njCkJwD/1/S/20140321_134056-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-njCkJwD/1/X3/20140321_134056-X3.jpg)
The fastest car in that Advanced session was Ryan Matthews in the white, DSE-prepped 5th gen Camaro race car. Yes, I said race car, as this one had a full cage, gutted interior, big crazy motor, big aero and big tires. Nobody else would argue that term on this one. Not knocking their entry, just jealous. ;) Ryan (a former Pro NASCAR circuit driver) went out first in that session, and with clear track and clean air he knocked down a 40.990 second lap. He was the car everyone was talking about all morning as the car to beat, and one of his buddies saw me in the hot pits following this first session and said "You don't have a chance of beating him... you ain't got the power!" I smiled, agreed about not having a lot of power, and just waited until the next run group to see if I could get some clear laps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vgpw8wR/1/L/_DSF2969-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-vgpw8wR/1/X3/_DSF2969-X3.jpg)
While Ryan's 40.99 first session best lap was quicker than my 41.32, I had to deal with massive traffic throughout the first session. Amy and Jason were watching live timing via the Race Monitor app and I came in halfway through that session to check on everyone's times, while also trying to find a gap. I went back out and immediately got stuck caught in another pack. After the 15 minutes was up it felt good to only be 3 tenths back from the lead, considering I never got an unobstructed lap. The other Expert group then ran and was led by Marc Sherrin in his Z06 with a 40.336 and followed by Kyle Tucker with a 41.049 second lap, so I made sure to keep an eye on them as well. The Advanced and Novice groups ran, and while there were not any eye opening laps from those groups yet we still watched them all day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-szsBksv/1/L/_DSC6592-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-szsBksv/1/X3/_DSC6592-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
Fellow TT racers Marc Sherrin (above) and Todd Earsley (below) were getting quicker all day, and we kept an eye on each other from our friendly NASA TT rivalries. Marc started out fast and lead everyone after the first sessions. He was on only 315mm wide Rivals in his TT1 prepped C6 Z06 (he normally runs a 345mm Hoosier) while Todd was on 265mm Hankook RS3s in his TT1 prepped EVO, and both of them knocked down very respectable laps. Todd has been practicing for this event this year, running NASA TT1 class on his RS-3 street tires just to work on his USCA set-up. That's dedication.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-RPkXwMd/1/S/_DSF2902-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-RPkXwMd/1/X3/_DSF2902-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-8bZHt2f/1/S/_DSC7282-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-8bZHt2f/1/X3/_DSC7282-X3.jpg)
It was a long day, with laps from 10 am until 4:30 pm. Our Mustang struggled with rear grip all day and the car was very easy to step into power-on oversteer. And they had cameras out on course which of course encouraged me to drive like more of a jackass than normal. It felt a little like driving in the wet, but with 447 whp on street tires and a solid axle, what can you expect? I don't know how those guys with 700-1000 whp made do out there - this course definitely took some serious throttle restraint with 200 treadwear tires. Most of the corners were fairly low speed and we didn't have much aero advantage in those. The "switchback" (T2-T4) in the middle of the back section was maybe the only place where our little rear wing was working. Maybe also in the big high speed offset (T6-T7) just before the start/finish line as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Q3c7VC4/0/L/Vorshlag%25281%2529-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3167602105&k=Q3c7VC4&lb=1&s=A)
Fly-by video from the start/finish area. The bark of the Magnaflow exhaust sounds good!
I guess this paid off with the highest trap speeds into the braking zone of turn 1, according to someone who told me they were checking speeds with a radar gun. You can see the cones on the apexes of each turn in the fly-by video above, and the USCA folks also laid cones down in walls to denote brake markers into the big high speed braking zones, of which there were several. They said we were entering T1 at 117 mph (our GPS data showed 114). The next fastest entry was Marc Sherrin's Z06 at 116 mph, also at a power deficit to at least a dozen cars in attendance. What's amazing is there were much more powerful cars in attendance not hitting the same terminal speeds as the two of us - and at least one competitor was SPRAYING NITROUS OXIDE on the straights. You heard that right - Nitrous is allowed in USCA. This is the only series I've ever run on a road course that allows that type of power adder. Crazy, and it gave me some really BAD ideas for future events!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Vw6zfFS/1/S/_DSC7149-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Vw6zfFS/1/X3/_DSC7149-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-dqL8p25/1/S/_DSC7198-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-dqL8p25/1/X3/_DSC7198-X3.jpg)
Mike's stock motored Miata (left) didn't need nitrous to best his LSx powered GT2 class competitor on track (right) by 1.5 seconds
One of the tricks I had learned running here in 2012, and that I do regularly in Time Trial competition (and many W2W racers do in qualifying sessions) on certain tracks where it works, is where I would throw away every other lap by taking a very different line into the last corner. This would add distance but also allow for a super late apex which then helped set-up a faster corner exit into the next lap, and this paid off with a savings of a couple of tenths each time this was used. I also knew where to use the curbing, and how much - many competitors surprisingly kept a wide berth of the curbing, which was a "chopped" style of FIA curbing, but was still usable with decent dampers on the car. It didn't even touch my splitter, so the curbing serrations weren't that tall. The USCA was smart and set-up cones to denote the track limits, and we used the curbing to full effect where we could but I stayed out of the grass where they hadn't. I didn't want a corner worker to call in a DSQ after fighting with wiggling cones in the Speed Stop on Saturday.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xzb54Bc/1/S/_DSC6932-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xzb54Bc/1/X3/_DSC6932-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Vr36ptn/1/S/_DSC7250-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Vr36ptn/1/X3/_DSC7250-X3.jpg)
Todd Earsley started out in his first session at 42.131 but ended up with fast laps in the 40.xx range for sessions 2-6 and easily outpaced his AWD class competitor in a GTR on the Hot Lap Challenge. His best was a 40.268 sec lap on the 6th and final session, and I got well out of his way on his fastest lap. He bested his AWD competitor in 2 of 3 driving competitions (Speed Stop and Hot Lap) but lost in the autocross and design competition, and ended up tying for the lead on points. USCA settles all ties with the design score, so he ended up in 2nd overall. He's not giving up and will be at another USCA qualifier to try to get that SEMA invite!
Full Event Results: http://ultimatestreetcarassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014_Texas_Results_Continuous_Update_All_Classes.p df
Marc Sherrin ended the day in 2nd place in the Hot Lap challenge with a 40.236 second best, and that was after only taking laps in 3 of the 6 possible sessions due to a front rotor that came apart. It was a 2-piece StopTech rotor that got a little too thin and showed a massive crack and split apart in his 3rd session. Up until then he and I were battling for the Hot Lap lead in the GT3K class, after he led after the first session. If we would have been able to get him 335mm Rivals (which were on National backorder) and with more laps available he could have fought for top time. His strong showing in the Hot Lap challenge (20 points) and solid finishes in Speed Stop and Autocross (12 points each) led him to a 6th place finish overall in GT3K class, with 82 points. Not too shabby for an otherwise stock Z06 with a built LS7 motor!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9xcx9Gr/1/S/DSC_2049-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9xcx9Gr/1/X3/DSC_2049-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WGBGxvQ/1/S/_DSC7336-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WGBGxvQ/1/X3/_DSC7336-X3.jpg)
So I mentioned that first session, where I was mired in traffic. Luckily they used our best times from that session and each successive session to grid us in order, just like we do in NASA TT. So I started in P2 behind Ryan Matthews for the 2nd session and after a couple of laps of dogging the big white Camaro he pulled offline and pointed me by. Then I laid down a series of 40.xx laps with a best of 40.115 seconds. The cool morning air was working for the rear tires, keeping them from overheating too quickly.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-XHJFsRX/0/L/USCA-timetrial-session3-pluscameracar-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3145915163&k=XHJFsRX&lb=1&s=A)
Terry playing around with Lou in the Camera Car C7 during Session 3
In Session 3 I got a little quicker before spending the latter half of that session goofing around with Lou Gigliotti and the camera car C7 Corvette. I had already banked a 40.052 lap but that boiled the rear tires, so after I came back out for the second half of the session I was 2-3 seconds off my previous pace when I was lapping with Lou. I spent time both in front of and behind the C7, trying to get some on-car camera time, and pushed the Mustang's very hot tires as hard as I dared - which you can see in the video above. Almost drove off track on two occasions and our lines were so different that I kept running up on the back of Lou in a couple of corners and had to back off. This is probably where I damaged the rear tires a bit, but like I've said, shove a camera in my face and I drive like an idiot, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-w6G2Ld9/1/S/_DSC7022-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-w6G2Ld9/1/X3/_DSC7022-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-CrwtVqK/1/S/_DSC7079-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-CrwtVqK/1/X3/_DSC7079-X3.jpg)
Left: This truck had some SQUAT in the rear on corner exit. Right: Doing some lead-follow with Lou's C7 camera car
continued below
continued from above
The sun came out and drove up track temps in session 4 and I slowed down to a 40.166 best. Session 5 was much of the same but I got a hair quicker with a 40.026 best, only 3 hundredths quicker than session 3. I was beginning to think we'd never break out of the 40 second zone, but the AiM's predictive lap timer kept popping up with a 39.9 every once in a while, but then I'd blow it in Turn 5 - which was the toughest corner to master due to a lower grip surface and an off camber slope. I had to keep the rear from sliding too much in this corner, as oversteer would overheat the rears and they would then lose grip badly. I was also putting a lot of heat into the front brakes, but kept pushing my braking into Turn 1 later and later during each session.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-n5gTbnf/1/L/DSC_2052-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-n5gTbnf/1/X3/DSC_2052-X3.jpg)
I never stopped pushing until Ryan Matthews came off track for the last time - that Camaro was FAST
By session 6 somehow I was in the overall lead, but not by much. Ryan Matthews had laid down a blistering 40.119, and that was too close for comfort (I was in the 40.0 range by then). Thanks to my faster times I was gridded P1 and out first in sessions 2-6, which let me set the pace on the out lap and gave me clean air for my first several laps. We got into a pattern where where I'd take 4-5 hot laps, 1 cool down lap, then dive into the hot pits and park, check competitors' times and let my tires cool for a couple of minutes.
I would talk to Jason and Amy, they'd check the tire pressures, brake temps, tire temps, and then wait for a gap to send me back out in the second half of the session. Invariably a big portion of the field would quit early, about halfway through each session, then I could go out for more clear laps. This was a good strategy and with such a short lap time (40 seconds) the out lap and cool down laps didn't eat up substantial amounts of track time.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cchDWPL/1/S/_DSC7153-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cchDWPL/1/X3/_DSC7153-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xjNWCwm/1/S/_DSC7140-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xjNWCwm/1/X3/_DSC7140-X3.jpg)
It seemed like the fastest 2nd gen Camaros in the world were all here this weekend!
I knew the car had a 39 second lap in it so I planned on trying to put in a flier on my first couple of laps in the last session of the day. The attrition had taken its toll by days' end so USCA combined the two Expert groups for our last session, but I was still gridded P1 and the first car out, and got my clear laps as planned.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-TNCDsDj/1/S/_DSF2892-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-TNCDsDj/1/X3/_DSF2892-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ThwNpFb/1/S/_DSF2958-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ThwNpFb/1/X3/_DSF2958-X3.jpg)
Being this event was in my home town I had lots of friends there giving me advice all weekend
Jason and I talked strategy before the last session, and he and Amy both kept me calm and my mind clear all weekend. We had a plan to use a bluetooth phone call via MySync in the Mustang to set-up 2 way comms, like we have done before in TT events - but only if things got really close and I wasn't finding any time. I was ready to take that call, but it wasn't needed because I went out first in session 6 and laid down the only 39 second lap of the weekend.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-zmNxvWz/0/L/USCAFINAL2-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/38020624_9SJwZx#!i=3155464305&k=zmNxvWz&lb=1&s=A)
In-car video of my fastest lap in the final Expert track session, session 6
Once I saw that 39.77 lap on the SOLO I knew our lap goal was met - faster than even the AiM had predicted. Man, I was PUMPED and Brandon had to bleep out my voice for the entire cool down lap when he edited the above video. The official lap time was 39.803 seconds, which was close enough. As soon as I saw that 39 lap I immediately took a cool down and dove into the hot pits to wait. Jason and Amy were high fiving me, but it wouldn't be over until we saw time expire and if nobody beat that time. If Ryan managed a faster lap time I was ready - strapped in, engine idling, tires cooling, and ready to go back out and look for more time. Where I could find it, I had no idea...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rmfWDhc/1/S/_DSC6658-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rmfWDhc/1/X3/_DSC6658-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-qRbg28X/1/S/_DSF2988-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-qRbg28X/1/X3/_DSF2988-X3.jpg)
About 10 minutes into the 15 minute final session, after about 4 minutes of waiting in the hot pits, we saw Ryan Matthews' Camaro come into the hot pits.... and turn left into the garage area!!! Jason looked at me and yelled, "Its OVER! You won it!" WAAAHOOO! The rest of the field came in within the next lap as well, but there were still about four minutes left in the final session and a completely empty track. Amy said "put it in the garage", but I told her that it would be a shame to waste an empty track with TV cameras looking at nothing. I went back out and took some victory laps with the ass of the Mustang hanging out so much that it was good enough for the drift circuit. I was hooting and hollering, drifting and sliding around, so excited to have finally won ONE dang event that weekend!!! We cannot show this video at all because the audio would be one continuous censored BLEEP, hehe!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-3T2r7D3/0/L/Results-HotLap-BySession-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-
Car/i-3T2r7D3/0/X3/Results-HotLap-BySession-X3.jpg)
Each driver's fastest session times are shown in the chart above
Looking back in hindsight it appears that my best lap from all the way back in session 2 was just good enough for the Hot Lap overall win, but it wasn't at all obvious to us at the time, so we fought hard all day long to break into the 39s. I took close to 90 laps on Sunday hunting for that lap, but we see now that the fastest laps on these BFG Rivals were taken just like on the Hoosier A6s - they came within the first 2 laps of going out on track with cool tires, or within the first 2 laps after my regular mid-session break cool-downs.
Seems that the BFG tires liked to get their best time when semi-cool, yet the rear tires needed some "slip angle" to get the best out of them. It was tough to balance tire heat with the right amount of tire slip. We had dialed the final tire pressures in at 31psi front and 33 psi rear (hot) on our best laps and the rear wing was set at maximum AoA (about 12 degrees). We dumped the rear shocks' compression to help with corner exit and ran about -3° front camber. My driving technique was simple: keep pushing the braking zones, use all of the available track and curbing allowed, stay off the grass, don't EVER go off track or spin, and focus on keeping the rear tires on the limit of their friction circle.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-LHmSXM6/0/L/Results-HotLapStanding-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-LHmSXM6/0/X3/Results-HotLapStanding-X3.jpg)
The chart above shows our placing in the GT3K class, which was quicker than the GT2K and AWD classes. You will notice on the "per session" chart, two above, that Brian Hobaugh had only one session with lap times. This was because he shattered his driveshaft about 5 laps into session 1, miring his times at 7th fasted for the class (see below, right).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WqJTWgx/0/S/tms-usca14-day-3-015-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WqJTWgx/0/X2/tms-usca14-day-3-015-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7qbWqZk/0/S/1549338_10203335177288290_1916438553_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-7qbWqZk/0/X3/1549338_10203335177288290_1916438553_n-X3.jpg)
Left: Ryan Matthews' DSE-prepped Camaro was 2nd quickest overall. Right: Hobaugh's driveshaft 'sploded during the first track session, which sucks
Danny Popp had no Hot Lap times, due to a CV failure from Saturday. Attrition played a part in the overall placements and worked in our favor. Tucker and Finch ended up 4th and 5th, a half second back from Matthews and Sherrin. This Hot Lap's final ranking ended up being a huge boost for me in the overall points battle for GT3K class, but we didn't realize that until later.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-x2KDrxL/1/L/20140323_153404-L.jpg
After I pulled in following my "victory laps" in the final Expert track session there was a camera crew in our garage. I apparently talked to those guys while adrenaline was still pouring through my veins, and I hope I was at least vaguely coherent. I remember nothing of this interview - these pictures don't bring back any memory whatsoever. None. I have no idea what they asked nor what I said! It was probably some Ricky Bobby "I felt like I was in a space ship" mumblings.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-MrCtb6Q/1/S/_DSF2997-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-MrCtb6Q/1/X3/_DSF2997-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Z4WdRQ6/1/S/_DSF3005-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Z4WdRQ6/1/X3/_DSF3005-X3.jpg)
Here's pictures from an interview I have absolutely no memory of - thanks, adrenaline!
After we had finished with the Hot Lap battle we waited for the USCA folks to tally the scores after 3 days of competitions. I remember sitting with Jason in our garage and trying to calm down, and I remember Sofi showing up for a while. Amy and Jason and I tried to figure out how we placed, assuming I might have jumped into 2nd or 3rd overall, based on the guesses of where I ended up on Saturday's Autocross, Speed Stop and Design competitions. They purposefully don't show everyone the rankings for each event in real time, so we tried to have spotters watching times and keeping a running score as we went, as best we could.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-gJr6sn5/1/S/_DSF2869-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-gJr6sn5/1/X3/_DSF2869-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-dRZcc62/1/S/_DSF2873-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-dRZcc62/1/X3/_DSF2873-X3.jpg)
While we waited Amy and Brandon set-up a group picture of the 8 Vorshlag entrants and cars, other than Marc's C6 which was already loaded up in the trailer for the tow home. This was the result, below - a great picture! Seven cars and eight local drivers who all had the times of their lives! Every one of them said they had a ton of fun at this event, even the folks not battling to win their class.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9nmwJ5d/1/L/_DSC7353-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-9nmwJ5d/1/X3/_DSC7353-X3.jpg)
Michael Minor's nearly stock Miata did well and tied for 1st in the GT2K class. He lost the tie on the design award score - bummer! Shannon, Heather, Jan, Jon and Jerry were all fighting amongst themselves, and compared their times all weekend. Each of them are HPDE drivers that have since found a new reason to hone their autocross and track skills and each vowed to enter USCA events in the future. Jan, Shannon and Heather got the star treatment and we will likely see their many interviews when this episode of the TV show airs - more likely than we will see mine, heh. Marc was excited to have finished 3rd in the Hot Lap Challenge with a broken brake rotor and on skinnier tires than he wanted to show up on, too. My main regret of the weekend was not finding a car for Amy to enter, as she could have fought hard for a win in GT2K or AWD classes, with a bit of luck.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-KMSJVDJ/1/S/_DSC7363-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-KMSJVDJ/1/X3/_DSC7363-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WcnfM7b/1/S/_DSC7360-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-WcnfM7b/1/X3/_DSC7360-X3.jpg)
Event announcer Dennis asked to park all of the cars in front of the Optima trailer for a group picture, so after our Vorshlag group photo we motored on over and parked in a big grid. The crowd of entrants and spectators started to gather and we all anxiously awaited the final event & class results as well as the four coveted Optima/SEMA invites.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-k2MFPTs/1/S/_DSC7377-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-k2MFPTs/1/X3/_DSC7377-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-v7zzWzs/1/S/_DSC7374-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-v7zzWzs/1/X3/_DSC7374-X3.jpg)
Jimi went over the closing announcements of the event and talked a bit about the TV series that would air on MAVTV covering the 10 USCA/Optima qualifiers plus the Vegas Optima Invitational. They gave out the spirit of the event award (1 invite of 4 to be awarded) and then they started the individual class awards (1st-3rd for each competition).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xQHvJH7/1/S/_DSC7394-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xQHvJH7/1/X3/_DSC7394-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cF2Dtk2/1/S/_DSC7389-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-cF2Dtk2/1/X3/_DSC7389-X3.jpg)
They did the GT2K and AWD classes, handing out winner certificates for each event: Autocross, Speed Stop, Design and Hot Lap. It was here that we found out that our friends Todd and Michael, who had both won 2 of 3 driving competitions in their classes, ended up both losing the overall class wins with TIES for 1st in class - due to their design award scores. Doh! That cost them both invites to SEMA, which was the suck. I figured my design score (which I had no idea of) wouldn't help my overall ranking either.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ckMZmKm/1/S/_DSC7423-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ckMZmKm/1/X3/_DSC7423-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rMqN4jw/1/S/_DSC7415-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-rMqN4jw/1/X3/_DSC7415-X3.jpg)
Next up came GT3K awards: 1st through 3rd place certificates for each event, and most of these were a shock to me. I was awarded 2nd fastest in the Autocross, when I thought I had only scored 4th. A 3rd in the Speed Stop was also a welcome surprise, and that got my hopes up a little. Maybe I will break into the top 3? Then our Design ranking of 4th, yet Hobaugh's badass Camaro wasn't in the top 3?? That was a shock. The BFG Hot Lap Challenge win was already pretty well known, as they had live Race Monitor times up all day. By now Amy, Jason and I were frantically redoing the math - where did we finish?!?!?! Maybe we got 2nd overall, which would be great! They started to call out the overall GT3K class winners.
They called off 3rd place: Brian Hobaugh.
Wait... what?!?! He was third. I figured he was the winner... How in the...
Then they called off 2nd place: Brian Finch.
What in the.... I stood up and looked around at Jason and Amy and silently mouthed, "WTF?" My mind was spinning - we hadn't done the math right. I thought that Hobaugh would be 1st and Finch was 2nd, but we got their order backwards and still left out the actual winner. Who in Hell did we miss?! Did I end up taking 4th here, or did I....
No.
NO WAY!
I looked at Jimi, he cracked a knowing smile, and the only possible conclusion now became clear.
They called the GT3K class winner: Terry Fair.
BOOM! I honestly nearly fell over in shock. This was such an unexpected surprise of epic proportions! I had only won the Hot Lap competition, how did I win the whole event?? I was hoping they wouldn't change their minds while I shoved my stuff into Todd's hands and headed up onto the Optima trailer.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-57zx894/1/S/_DSC7446-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-57zx894/1/X3/_DSC7446-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-4R57WJ5/1/S/_DSC7458-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-4R57WJ5/1/X3/_DSC7458-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
I was still in disbelief as I climbed the stairs. No way this is happening! Jimi Day congratulated me on the overall win and asked me if I'd be in SEMA in Novem... "OH HELL YES!" I didn't even let him finish the question. We would have a lot of work ahead of us to get the Mustang presentable for the SEMA show, tons of testing to fine tune the street tire set-up, and this meant I couldn't sell the car before November, but so be it. The weight of that huge chunk of billet aluminum that the folks at Ridetech CNC machined into the class winner trophies sure felt good in my hands. Its sitting in our lobby and I crack a wide smile every time I see it.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-J9ck5S9/0/L/Results-Overall-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-J9ck5S9/0/X3/Results-Overall-X3.jpg)
The overall lead was by 7 points, so I could have slipped down a spot in one event and still won. Four solid finishes with steady top 4 placings just added up for the win. The Design Challenge and Hot Lap Challenge scores saved me the most. People were congratulating me below the Optima trailer, but I was speechless. They shuffled the class winners over behind the trailer for more interviews with the TV show's host, Chad.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZXKhT6d/1/S/_DSC7473-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZXKhT6d/1/X3/_DSC7473-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xSvmKG3/1/S/_DSF3120-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-xSvmKG3/1/X3/_DSF3120-X3.jpg)
After a few takes (due to outside noises) we finally got this 20 second interview in the can and I stumbled back to the garage - to see the REAL star of this event, the big red Mustang! I cannot thank our crew here at Vorshlag enough for all of the hard work they put into this car over the past FOUR YEARS to get it where it is today. If a no-talent-hack like me can win against a field with this much talent and top dollar iron, then we must have made one helluva car!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZGg5P2V/1/L/_DSC6966-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-ZGg5P2V/1/X3/_DSC6966-X3.jpg)
We came up with a package of the right parts that was just easy enough to drive, with a touch of downforce when it mattered and just enough power from the stock 5.0 Coyote engine to get it done. This set-up isn't even remotely perfected for street tires, but I guess it was good enough this time. The Mustang was rock solid reliable all weekend, even when we dumped in E85 ethanol. The brakes worked through 3 days of abuse (after we replaced the very worn front rotors that I let slip by after the last track event), and the Carbotech XP20 compound just laughed at the abuse I threw at them. The stock clutch was solid, and the Vorshlag/Moton/Whiteline suspension handled everything we threw at it and did so with ease.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-zMNr5xW/0/S/i-zMNr5xW-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-zMNr5xW/0/X3/i-zMNr5xW-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-NnQDpwd/1/S/_DSF2888-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-NnQDpwd/1/X3/_DSF2888-X3.jpg)
The most amazing thing was: these 200 treadwear BFG Rival street tires were fast enough that I beat my best GTA time from this track in 2012 when it was on 315mm Hoosiers! Even if you count my un-timed best 39.8 lap from 2012, we were still quicker on the BFG streets here. I guess we have refined the overall suspension and aero package THAT much to overcome a grip deficiency to gumball A6 compound Hoosier race tires. Wow. Sure, I did some damage to the outer tread blocks on the rear 335 Rivals, but most of that was done in the closing "victory" laps of the last session - where I kept the rear tires spinning through most of 3 laps, heh. We flipped these tires on the rear wheels and ran them at another event a few weeks later without a worry. Other than the outer tread wear the tread depth left over after 3 days of brutal abuse was remarkable and I won't bat an eye about using Rivals again at the Optima Invitational. Look for more street tire testing from Vorshlag soon!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Xm986CP/1/S/_DSF3129-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Optima-Ultimate-Street-Car/i-Xm986CP/1/X3/_DSF3129-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pD2DF56/3/S/20140331_095328-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pD2DF56/3/X3/20140331_095328-X3.jpg)
When we went to go pull the Mustang back in the trailer after the USCA event on Sunday night the battery to the winch was dead (someone left the interior lights on overnight) so we had to push it up the ramps and a series of moving wood planks we use to keep the splitter from dragging (thanks for the help guys). We've since upgraded to a set of 2-piece foam Race Ramps that are twice as long as before, so the car drives into our rather tallish trailer easily now.
After we were all loaded up the whole Vorshlag contingent of 15+ people met for dinner and Amy and I headed home, utterly exhausted yet elated. There were more events coming up and we had to get ready for them both. We had a new focus for the rest of this year, other than just doing well in NASA TT3: we had to get a second set-up tested and perfected for street tire use in USCA... because we were going to the big Optima Invitational! That is going to be SO much fun. Amy has already reserved a condo with multiple rooms for the week of SEMA and the weekend after. Lots of mods to do, lots to test.
continued below
continued from above - last one!
Upcoming Competition Events YOU Can Enter!
Our next events are fast approaching, and some are crucial for testing our TT3 set-up and/or for developing new parts to sell. Click on the links for the events below (in the dates) to see about coming out to watch, or better yet - to enter your own car!
NASA @ Texas World Speedway April 26-27th (http://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1767). This could be one of the last ever TWS events, as this speedway is slated to be parceled off into residential home plots. We have this NASA event TWS in April (http://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1767) and another on October 10-11th (http://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1770) to set and lock down TT3 track records for TWS - possibly forever. This track's high speeds are also good testing ground for NASA Nationals at Road Atlanta in August. It will be a BATTLE as we already have a record SEVEN entries in TT3 class! I sure hope that new wing helps...
GTA at Road Atlanta, May 9-10th (http://www.globaltimeattack.com/event/road-atlanta-formula-drift/). We loved running with the GTA guys in 2012 at TMS and this is the first time we will have had a chance to run with them again, at this East Coast GTA Pro / Drift event. We will be testing a new aero set-up and learning this new-to-me track for NASA Nationals while also trying to win the Unlimited RWD class at the GTA event. There are some serious GTA cars attending so we might be lucky to get into the top 3, who knows?
SCCA Texas Pro Solo at Mineral Wells, May 2-4 (http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=6978). Due to a conflict (below) we cannot be there one day so we did not enter this event, but Vorshlag is hosting the Friday Night Welcome Party. Amy and I will be manning the grill and talking to local and out of state autocrossers that show up for this drag-race-start, side-by-side two day autocross event. If you are local, and even if you're not, PLEASE sign up for this one at the link here (http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=6978).
24th Dallas Spring Nationals Classic Car Show hosted by the Sam Pack Ford Auto Group, May 3rd (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-BmCnhQF/0/O/24th_Dallas_Spring_Nationals_2014.png) at the Sam Pack Car Museum (http://www.packautomotivemuseum.com/sampack.html) in Famers Branch, TX. We will be at this event with our Mustang - yes, we're missing a Pro Solo for a car show. BUT... there will be a 2015 Mustang at this show, and we've been promised "a closer look" since we'll be an event sponsor there. This is a recon mission, pure and simple! Come out and see the show, and enter for only $25. More details at this link (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-BmCnhQF/0/O/24th_Dallas_Spring_Nationals_2014.png).
What's Next?
That was a big event post, so thanks for sticking with me on that massive post-race recap. It was the biggest competition win of my life to date, so that might explain the length, heh. Again, we should see the TV episode covering this event around August 15th on MAVTV, and I'll share the YouTube link for the show after its released. I'm STILL pumped about this one... :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9PWW8ZJ/1/S/_DSC8731-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9PWW8ZJ/1/X3/_DSC8731-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Moton-Club-Sport-Shocks/i-Ld74c5S/0/S/DSC0704-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Moton-Club-Sport-Shocks/i-Ld74c5S/0/S/DSC0704-X3.jpg)
The new MCS doubles are on and have been run at 2 events already. We also have a new rear wing in the works that we will show at the end of our next update, a massive 14" chord x 72" wide carbon fiber wing made by AJ Hartman Racing (formerly known as Fulcrum Aeroworks). Vorshlag is now a dealer for AJ Hartman aero products and we will be developing wing mounting packages for a number of new cars - starting with the 2010-14 Mustang of course. The set of our S197 Moton Club Sport remote reservoir doubles is also still for sale (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=653), and I've lowered the priced a couple hundred bucks. Had some solid bites but nobody took the plunge yet. We've also now got a new rear adjustable height spring platform solution to work for the S197 Mustangs, which can go with this set of Moton shocks or anything from MCS. And yes, the old APR GTC-300 wing and uprights we built will be for sale in our Clearance page (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) soon - I'll post it up when it is ready to be for sale, so stop PMing me about it already!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-TqnnZrL/1/S/DSC_2329-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-TqnnZrL/1/X3/DSC_2329-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-9xzk77G/1/S/_DSC8576-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-9xzk77G/1/X3/_DSC8576-X3.jpg)
Tune in next time when I cover the Track Guys HPDE event at TWS, where Amy drove the Mustang over two days. We also competed in a local SCCA autocross on street tires... in a down pour. Lots of splashing and sliding around. And I'll briefly talk about Vorshlag Kart Fight 3 - a karting challenge we hosted recently with 38 entrants one night at Dallas Karting Complex. It was a tough fight for the coveted Kart Fight trophy (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-pNTfNxZ/0/X2/10259068_10154064122615113_8644260534658201368_o-X2.jpg), but it went to a deserving winner and fellow NASA TT racer.
Until next time,
El_Tortuga
04-23-2014, 02:00 PM
Congrats.
Have you decided where you are mounting the blue bottle? Spray and pray!!! ;)
Crimson600+HP
04-23-2014, 04:18 PM
I love that GT. If I had more money, I would buy that car as a track toy...but then again...I am poor.
Project Update for May 15th, 2014: I am way behind on this build thread - 5 events behind and counting - and cannot seem to catch up. Instead of one MASSIVE post I'm going to break it up into smaller chunks. When I first started writing this, a week ago, we were loading up the car to head to Road Atlanta to race with Global Time Attack. That event was... memorable. Long story short: I overcooked the brakes, had a 150 mph shunt, the car and my back were a little banged up, but I will cover all of that in a forum post next week. In this installation we show the new set of MCS double adjustable shocks added and detail one track event where we tested these at (TrackGuys at TWS).
MCS RR2 Dampers Added
Due to supply problems from Moton we haven't been selling these in 2014. My goals with this 2011 Mustang include to "race what we sell" and to "actively test the parts we recommend", and until that brand comes back online (maybe by July 2014?) we needed to make a shock change. So we called up the guys at Motion Control Suspension in Georgia and had a set of remote reservoir double adjustable monotube shocks built for our S197 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=647), which we call the RR2.
After these arrived we had Stuart of Maxcyspeed & Co dyno test them. I wanted to see how close they were to the custom valved Moton Club Sport remote doubles that were coming off (shown above) and possibly have Stuart re-valve them. Stuart was the one that had valved our Moton doubles two years ago, and that set-up was working VERY well. That set of Moton dampers has sold, but we hung onto them long enough to make sure we were happy with the MCS set. He added some rear rebound before we installed them and I'm glad he did - the car feels mostly unchanged from before, which is exactly what I wanted.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Moton-Club-Sport-Shocks/i-Ld74c5S/0/S/DSC0704-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Moton-Club-Sport-Shocks/i-Ld74c5S/0/X3/DSC0704-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/MCS-RR2-Shocks/i-KKSCP9c/0/S/_DSC0932-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/MCS-RR2-Shocks/i-KKSCP9c/0/X3/_DSC0932-X3.jpg)
These two brands look remarkably similar, and they should - the same principles that ran Moton-USA for a dozen years now run MCS, so the products from both companies share many characteristics. Both are monotube dampers with remote canisters, both are rebound and compression adjustable, and both have similar piston sizes, housing wall thicknesses and construction. But there are some notable improvements to the MCS models.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-4tJTNwm/0/S/i-4tJTNwm-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-4tJTNwm/0/X2/i-4tJTNwm-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/MCS-RR2-Shocks/i-zTWH62J/0/S/_DSC7499%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/MCS-RR2-Shocks/i-zTWH62J/0/X2/_DSC7499%20copy-X2.jpg)
Left: The old set of Moton Club Sport 2-ways with remotes. Right: The new MCS RR2 2-ways with remotes
First, the rear shocks are NOT eye-to-eye shocks on the MCS set we ordered (although you can order them that way) like the Motons were, so they don't require a special rear shock mount adapter to fit the back of the S197 chassis. It might seem "cool" to have eye-to-eye shocks but on a street car with OEM upper sheet metal mounts it has downsides. Two reasons: First, the added height of the eye-to-pin shock mount adapter eats up shock stroke. Second, the rebound adjustment on the eye-to-eye shock is only accessed underneath the car via a special tool. For the past two years if I wanted to adjust rear rebound I had to jack up the car, remove a rear wheel, insert a small pin drive tool into a hole on the shock and rotate the adjuster. PITA.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-v4QGCcd/1/L/_DSC7524-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-v4QGCcd/1/X3/_DSC7524-X3.jpg)
Adjusting the rear shocks is now just opening the trunk and turning a knob. Remotes are compression, rebound on the shock tops
Now, with the MCS RR2 rear shocks I can just pop the trunk, pull the trunk liner out of the way, and rotate the adjuster knob that stays on the top of the shock. That adjustment just got a whole lot easier. I've never been a fan of removable knobs or special tools needed to adjust your shocks, and the Moton needed that at both ends. The problem is the special knob or pin tool is always hard to find when you need it most.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Instructions/Moton-Install-Mustang/i-rxnxvJ5/0/L/DSC_0718-L.jpg
Moton rear shock shown with "divorced spring" in OEM position w/ ride height adjuster
The MCS RR2 rear shock and spring was left as a "divorced" set-up, just like the stock rear dampers and the old Moton set. This means the spring stays in the OEM location, not converted to be a "coil over spring" mounted over the shock. Why? Three reasons. The first is losing inboard rear wheel room with a shock mounted spring, and with 18x11 or 12" wheels we have to use every trick possible to stuff the wheels inside the stock rear fenders. Even with our new rear flares we use all that room near the rear shock to clear the big 345/35/18 Hoosier tires. We have shown time and again that you can never have too much tire on the back of an S197. As we have moved this car up from 255-345mm rear tires the lap times have dropped every single step of the way. The car gets easier to drive as rear traction increases.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Test-N-tune-Sept-30/i-G69xkjZ/1/S/DSC_4852-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Test-N-tune-Sept-30/i-G69xkjZ/1/X3/DSC_4852-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Test-N-tune-Sept-30/i-3j35NpZ/1/S/DSC_4822-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Test-N-tune-Sept-30/i-3j35NpZ/1/X3/DSC_4822-X3.jpg)
An advantage to divorced springs is ease of rear spring replacement. We can a pair of rear swap springs track side in under 5 minutes. With a coilover spring mounting it is a lot more work, and the shocks have to come off and be partially disassembled. The final downside by moving the spring onto the rear shock is the suspension loads are now moved to the OEM sheet metal upper shock mount. Ford designed this car to have suspension (spring) loads going through a different load path (in the factory "divorced" rear spring location), and only damping loads were designed to pass through the upper shock mount. The only time we recommend gong to a coilover spring on these cars out back is when you have a roll cage tied into a reinforced shock mount. Even then there is very little upside to doing all of that work... it would have a tiny bit more spring rate in roll relative to the divorced location. That's it. But less inboard wheel/tire room. No thanks!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZPXdkmk/1/S/_DSC7509-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZPXdkmk/1/X3/_DSC7509-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-h4pr6dX/1/S/_DSC7521-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-h4pr6dX/1/X2/_DSC7521-X2.jpg)
Up front the MCS front strut is very similar to the Moton unit that came off. The MCS units do have a slightly different lower bracket but we keep the slots pulled out to increase front wheel room. Every time we've seen someone use "crash bolts" or slotted strut brackets on a McStrut to increase front camber they lose front wheel room, which again - is a huge draw back. We use every trick in the book to squeeze an 18x11" wheel under a stock front fender, and even with our custom front flares on this car it is tight fit with our 18x12" wheel and big 335/30/18 front tire. A shorter-than-stock Whiteline adjustable endlink and Hyperco 800#/in spring (same as we used before) wraps up the front end. As you can see getting to the front shock adjusters is as easy as out back - open the hood and turn a knob. No need for removable tools or knobs that can be lost. We already had brackets to mount the remote shock reservoirs and just re-used them for the MCS units.
I was happy with the install and the guys here at Vorshlag had it knocked out in only a few hours. They re-cross-weighed and balanced the car and got the two crosses to 50/50 with me in the driver's seat + the TT3 ballast in the trunk, with a 1/2 tank of fuel (as low as we dare run it in road course use with the stock tank/slosh issues). The only other substantial change was moving from a 350 #/in rear spring down to a softer 250#/in spring, to try to increase rear bite. We wanted to test these new springs at an event that didn't affect our preferred competition series record for the year (NASA TT3), so we signed up for this...
TrackGuys HPDE at TWS, March 29, 2014
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-qxW2MZ4/1/S/DSC_2280-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-qxW2MZ4/1/X3/DSC_2280-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-F9JsXKT/1/S/DSC_2284-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-F9JsXKT/1/X3/DSC_2284-X3.jpg)
see below
Amy and I motored down to TWS for the weekend of March 29-30th to do a little testing before the NASA event a few weeks later. This HPDE club was running the 2.9 mile course in the counter clockwise (CCW) direction and the next NASA event there in a month would be running CW, but no matter. We just needed a higher speed track event to test the new MCS dampers and softer rear spring rates at, so this event worked well for that. We signed up with Amy as the only driver, since she hasn't taken as many laps at TWS and needed more seat time at these speeds.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-JVvrNGL/1/S/DSC_2104-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-JVvrNGL/1/X2/DSC_2104-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-zBPcgLD/1/S/DSC_2198-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-zBPcgLD/1/X3/DSC_2198-X3.jpg)
Amy drove the Mustang for two days, 7 sessions on track totaling and about 3.5 hours of seat time this weekend, burning up a lot of fuel and completely used up a set of Continental DP tires in the process. She got a lot more familiar with the TWS 2.9 mile course and the higher speeds seen here after that many hours on track. The brakes did great with this much abuse, but she used up a good bit of the brake pads. American Iron Camaro racer Mike Patterson rode with her and even drove our Mustang with her in the right seat for a few laps, giving her some excellent instruction. Amy picked up a lot from Mike and she ran some 1:59 laps afterwards, dropping 3 seconds almost immediately - this is a sport that is very difficult to "self-teach".
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-092113/i-DJc8j4t/0/L/V1TWS%20Track%20Map-L.jpg
The TrackGuys crew had a record number of entrants for this TWS event and ended up being just barely short on instructors, so I filled in for an instructor that had trailer trouble on Saturday and arrived several hours late. I rode shotgun with two Mustang students for a couple of sessions each - one was in a '04 Cobra street car making 550 whp, yikes! Lucky for me they both did great. Since I instructed this allowed me to take a few laps in an instructor only session using our car, and I took exactly 3 laps both days. The Conti slicks felt OK but I was definitely slower than my previous laps on 315mm Hoosier A6 tires, with a best of a 1:56.2 lap with a student riding along.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-95GPxLg/1/S/DSC_2147-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-95GPxLg/1/X3/DSC_2147-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-mJ3KQfT/1/S/DSC_2153-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-mJ3KQfT/1/X3/DSC_2153-X3.jpg)
Left: Mike Patterson's AI Camaro was quick. Right: Amy in grid for the red group
We ran this event on the same set of 320/650/18 Continental DP slicks we ran briefly at ECR on Dec 28th, back when it was so cold we couldn't get any heat in the tires. These tires were now used with the above mentioned new set of MCS RR2 shocks and 250 #/in rear springs, but the rest was the same from previous events this year. We ran the hot pressures in the mid 30 psi range and they felt much better in these warmer ambient temps, and didn't have the funky feel from December.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-WWKbSXZ/1/S/DSC_2164-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-WWKbSXZ/1/X3/DSC_2164-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-5wCV34c/1/S/DSC_2186-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-5wCV34c/1/X3/DSC_2186-X3.jpg)
Matt White (at left) was quick in his ST1 classed 5.0 Coyote powered Mustang and Misty White (at right) was moving in her ST2 Camaro
According to our previous lap time data these tires were about 5.5 seconds slower than the 315 Hoosier A6 (previous best at TWS 2.9 CCW last September was 1:50.675 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-092113/), which was a new TT3 track record then). That seems like a lot, and maybe it is, but the A6 is a one or two lap "sprint only" type of tire and this Conti DP slick is made to go for many hours - which it did.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-cnmLnVk/1/S/_DSC7737-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-cnmLnVk/1/X3/_DSC7737-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-2mrHs5c/1/S/_DSC7735-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-2mrHs5c/1/X3/_DSC7735-X3.jpg)
Looking at the pictures of the tire wear we definitely got our money's worth on this set, ha! The fronts might have had a tick too much negative camber, as the insides are worn more than the outsides. We actually took these a into the cords and could have easily suffered a blowout - not a pretty sight at 150+ mph. We saw a Corvette do that (pop a front tire at high speeds) during this TWS weekend, and it destroyed the front bodywork and some other bits.
Photo Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/
Amy and I took pictures so they aren't as good as what Brandon would have shot, obviously. We took video during each session but its pretty boring stuff so I'm not going to bother editing and posting up a lap.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-bSx6tJz/1/S/DSC_2213-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-bSx6tJz/1/X3/DSC_2213-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-TPwRB5d/1/S/DSC_2205-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-TPwRB5d/1/X3/DSC_2205-X3.jpg)
There were Mustangs from all eras and types: race cars, street cars, and everything in between
This TrackGuys group put on a good event, but a handful of the drivers were a bit reluctant to give point-bys in the faster run groups. Amy got stuck behind a couple of Corvettes for too many laps in a couple of run sessions - she was held up in some corners, but they had enough power on the straights to prevent a clean pass. Oh well, it happens. She doesn't push cars in front of her hard enough to really "get the point across", but she's always safe and calm on track.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-LPVwzZf/1/S/DSC_2151-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-LPVwzZf/1/X3/DSC_2151-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-j9JgD4h/0/S/i-j9JgD4h-S.jpg
This C6 Corvette had an off in the wildflowers and we cleaned his grill, heh
Amy had fun and I got a few laps in: enough to know that the Continental DP slicks aren't going to be replacing our A6s any time soon, and also to know that the new MCS RR2 dampers feel as good or better than the customized Moton doubles we had on the car before. The new softer rear spring also seemed to put down power a bit better on corner exit as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-3BWbmm2/1/S/DSC_2244-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-3BWbmm2/1/X3/DSC_2244-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-wkfCSpL/1/S/DSC_2248-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-wkfCSpL/1/X3/DSC_2248-X3.jpg)
The rear definitely has some more roll, as shown in the picture above, so we might look at bumping up the Whiteline rear anti-roll bar settings. But we've driven the car several times since this and it actually feels great. Having the ability to quickly and easily adjust the rear rebound settings of the MCS shocks is a welcome change, and it allows for more shock adjustments to be made.
What's Next?
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-TqnnZrL/1/S/DSC_2329-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-TqnnZrL/1/X3/DSC_2329-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-pNTfNxZ/0/S/10259068_10154064122615113_8644260534658201368_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-pNTfNxZ/0/X3/10259068_10154064122615113_8644260534658201368_o-X3.jpg)
I'm already working on write-ups for these events, which have come and gone:
SCCA at TMS, April 13th, 2014 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/)
Vorshlag Kart Fight 3, April 17th, 2014 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/)
NASA at TWS April 26-27th, 2014 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/)
Sam Pack 24th Dallas Spring Nationals Car Show, May 3rd, 2014 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/)
GTA @ Road Atlanta, May 9th, 2014 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-f9vPqwW/0/M/Drift%20Smoke%20-6-M.jpg
The crash at Road Atlanta was pretty bad - but it is all fixable
More soon,
Project Update for May 21st, 2014: So where were we? Ah, yes... April events and development work on the 2011 Mustang. First we ran an SCCA autocross in April on street tires - and all of our runs were during a downpour, so that was fun. There was an informal kart shoot-out we hosted the next week, then we created a new mount for a massive new (AJ Hartman) rear wing. Let's play catch up!
Texas Region SCCA Solo at TMS Bus Lot, April 13th, 2014
So there was a Texas Region SCCA event in April that we wanted to use for dry weather BFG Rival autocross testing with the new MCS coilovers. Amy and I co-drove in the 2011 Mustang on this rainy Sunday in April. We both ran in the first heat, in a steady rain that left little grip on for the BFG Rival 200 treadwear street tires. We both raced in the local "MAM" class (Modern American Muscle - a supplemental class to the new "CAM" Classic American Muscle class).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-WBKnTt9/2/S/20140413_081700-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-WBKnTt9/2/X3/20140413_081700-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-nc39tm4/2/S/20140413_094653-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-nc39tm4/2/X3/20140413_094653-X3.jpg)
The club had 122 registered entrants, which was pretty dang good for a day everyone knew would have rain. We got there and it was still dry, unloaded the car and applied the hastily made "MAM" class letters (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-Cn4nFZf/2/X2/20140412_212122-X2.jpg) that I hand cut the night before. I had Olof mount the same set of 315/335mm BFG Rivals that we used at the USCA/Optima event weeks before. The tires still looked good but the rears were flipped and run inside mount, since I kind of mauled the outer tread blocks on the right rear in my 90+ laps on track at the USCA event.
Results: http://texasscca.org/2014_solo_results/tr14_2_final.htm#MAM
PAX: http://texasscca.org/2014_solo_results/tr14_2_pax.htm
Photo and video gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/
We had 5 runs each and Amy took 4 of hers first, then I took a couple of runs, then she took her last, and then I took my final 3. The rain was pretty hard at the beginning of the 1st of 4 heats and we still had to run the wipers on our last runs in the heat. It rained even into heat 2, stopped raining finally sometime in heat 3 and by heat 4 it dried up completely and times dropped by 10 or more seconds.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-qcLq9Nq/1/S/DSC_2325-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-qcLq9Nq/1/X3/DSC_2325-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-R3qJcwL/1/S/DSC_2326-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-R3qJcwL/1/X3/DSC_2326-X3.jpg)
I worked in the trailer in heat 2, announcing, and took lunch with 2nd place MAM finisher Jay Payson from HP Tuners. He was in town for business and rented a Penske Mustang GT, which he enjoyed running in MAM. Since we left the rain gear box at the shop I still goat soaking wet, while taking pictures of Amy while she drove in heat 1.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-zQ4sr5p/0/L/results-trscca-041314-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-zQ4sr5p/0/O/results-trscca-041314.jpg)
Just a sample of the results showing how slow MAM was running in the wet compared to CAM that ran in the dry
I ended up getting fast time in the 4 car MAM class with the rental Penske 5.0 Mustang in 2nd place and Amy in 3rd. The Penske car had fresh Goodyear 220 treadwear tires and Jay said it was remarkably easy to drive. He normally races an M5 in FStreet class but he said liked the Mustang a lot and we discussed the merits of an E92 M3 and an S550 2015 Mustang for F Street at lunch.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-TqnnZrL/1/L/DSC_2329-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-TqnnZrL/1/X3/DSC_2329-X3.jpg)
Normally I -love- racing in the rain but as usual, the conditions varried too much to compare with other classes/run groups. And at this particular event we were definitely at a disadvantage here, with too much power and tires with too much width. See, in the rain it actually helps to have more pressure on the tires, just like in the snow, so you want a narrower tire with deep tread voids - which we definitely did not have on the well worn 315/335 Rivals. The new, deep tread, 255mm tires on the rental car were what you wanted in this instance, as strange as that sounds.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-9mg4ZhZ/1/S/DSC_2337-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-9mg4ZhZ/1/X3/DSC_2337-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-hcgfBqM/1/S/DSC_2340-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-hcgfBqM/1/X3/DSC_2340-X3.jpg)
And Jay almost whipped me in a car he had never driven, so I felt lucky to come out ahead. Everyone else in the class ran their fastest run on their 5th and final attempt, except me. I was 3 tenths quicker on run 5 but stepped on a cone, so I had to settle with my 4th run. I had to drive on my best behavior in these conditions, which was driving me nuts, but I managed to "throttle" my normal tendency to over-drive and just did the rain dance. Tip-toeing on the gas and smoothing out my inputs as much as possible. We also ran a tick more tire pressure than normal, and dumped the compression damping on all 4 shocks to zero.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-Fvj7FsZ/0/L/Terry-run5-TMS-041314-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/38476916_KvrJcZ#!i=3251306462&k=Fvj7FsZ&lb=1&s=A)
This was the slow in-car video from my 5th run. Its not very impressive, trust me.
The rain lessened all day and by the 4th heat we heard it was completely dry and times dropped dramatically, so the PAX results aren't very representative for everyone. Heck, the only group I'd want to compare any times with was the first heat, of which I think there was one car quicker than us in the 59.8 second range (STS winner JJ). It got progressively drier in heat 2 and 3 but by heat 4 it turned into a beautiful day and was fully a dry weather autocross. That would have been fun to make a few blasts around the course, but you run in the heat you are assigned. Oh well.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-SGdZ2hn/1/S/DSC_2331-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-SGdZ2hn/1/X3/DSC_2331-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-s9q9Vqp/2/S/20140413_143504-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-TMS-041314/i-s9q9Vqp/2/X3/20140413_143504-X3.jpg)
Left: We got to slog it out in deep puddles while... Right: The 4th run group had completely dry runs by day's end
Overall this event was a bust for testing with the Rivals. Why? Well we're only testing these with tires to use at the Optima Ultimate Street Car shootout in November, which is held in Vegas. The chances of rain for the ENTIRE day of that event in Las Vegas are virtually ZERO, so wet weather testing does us no good for that series. I will say the Rivals have surprisingly good grip for as wide and as bald as they were on this day.
Oh well, we got to see a lot of old friends and drive around really slowly. At least we didn't have any tire wear, ha!
Vorshlag Kart Fight 3
We are lucky to have a world class outdoor karting facility on the East side of Dallas called Dallas Karting Complex (http://dallaskartingcomplex.com/) (DKC). Virtually all of the track, autocross, time trial and karting racers in DFW know about this place and have driven their rental karts before. We had a couple of Vorshlag sponsored Kart Challenges in 2011 and I was on a team of 4 in the first DKC 4 hour enduro in December of that same year. We got really busy in 2012 and 2013 and didn't have another Vorshlag-sanctioned karting competition for those two years, but I drove rental karts there many many times.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-4g3ddqg/1/L/kart%20fight-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-4g3ddqg/1/X3/kart%20fight-X3.jpg)
Instead of the structured, all day Saturday, 3-round shootouts we held in 2011, this time Vorshlag just held an informal night competition event at DKC on April 17th, 2014. This was a Thursday night and we posted up a Facebook event (https://www.facebook.com/events/542111029240123/) on our main Vorshlag page a few days beforehand just telling people, "hey, come join us from 6-9 pm, run a few races, turn in your time sheets, and the fastest time of the night gets a trophy".
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-ZG9cnrG/1/S/_DSC8490-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-ZG9cnrG/1/X3/_DSC8490-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-dhCDx5k/1/S/_DSC8530-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-dhCDx5k/1/X3/_DSC8530-X3.jpg)
We called it the Vorshlag Kart Fight 3, as this was out 3rd karting competition event since 2011. For something kind of thrown together at the last minute we had a surprising number of racers show up. By the end of the night we had nearly 40 people who came out to fight for the VKF trophy.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-pNTfNxZ/0/S/10259068_10154064122615113_8644260534658201368_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-pNTfNxZ/0/X3/10259068_10154064122615113_8644260534658201368_o-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-cTbxWZS/1/S/_DSC8543-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-cTbxWZS/1/X3/_DSC8543-X3.jpg)
Kyle and Olof built this awesome trophy out of some broken Subaru drivetrain parts, TIG welded together and bolted to a base. The competition format was simple: show up, pay $15 a race (each race is about 10-12 minutes in length), and your best times run that night from 6-9 pm in the regular We had some swag and gift certificates for 1st through 3rd places. We also used NASA TT rules for offs and spins: if you put 4 wheels off or spun 180 degrees or more on track ALL times from that session were voided for that driver. We all spotted for each other.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-WPrCMFZ/1/S/_DSC8495-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-WPrCMFZ/1/X3/_DSC8495-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-7GmCWpB/1/S/_DSC8704-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-7GmCWpB/1/X3/_DSC8704-X3.jpg)
Left: I went over the driving line, as I run it, with anyone who'd listen. Right: Fastest time of the night went to Alpha LS1 Miata (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8142) tester Jason Toth!
I kept getting the same slug of a kart all night (excuses - I has em!) and while I had an early lead, I never improved on my first session times and could only manage 2nd quickest time of the night, a couple of tenths back from 1st. NASA TT racer Jason Toth was the winner, and (taking myself out of the running) 2nd place went to Billy Jack Smith and 3rd place swag went to NASA TT racer Jefri Tan (who runs in TT3 with me in a red EVO). We had one guy flip his kart (no injuries) and another NASA racer who put his kart so far off track (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-9JRbbLC/1/X2/_DSC8674-X2.jpg) he ended up in the sippy hole, and went home sopping wet. But no injuries and everyone had smiles on their faces.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/i-j22Q5rW/0/M/kart-fight-3-M.jpg
"Helmet-Cam" Video from Marc Sherrin (https://tinyurl.com/puryunq)
NASA TT1 racer Marc Sherrin took the video above with a Go Pro strapped to his helmet, which is a compilation from about 3 sessions. As you can see we started off in daylight but it quickly got dark, and the track cooled off. They have excellent night lighting, so that made for extra fun NIGHT RACING! He even caught a glimpse of the kart that flipped in his video. We had 6 NASA TT racers, a lot of SCCA autocrossers, and various other local gear heads in attendance.
Vorshlag Kart Fight Photo Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Vorshlag-Kart-Fight-3/
Five people from Vorshlag were there and Brandon managed to snap some pics while we were there. Thanks to everyone that came out to join us - we'll do it again soon!
New Massive Rear Wing on Mustang!
Let me first start off saying: I am not an aerodynamics guru. I have a mechanical engineering background/degree, and I understand some basic concepts of aero, but Jason here at Vorshlag studied hydrodynamics in college and I rely on his expertise. I also know other people are aero gurus that I listen to, and read from. So I will try to cover rear wings in this section without butchering the science of it too badly.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E30-V8/i-ChWq3Sb/0/S/DSC_1161-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/E30-V8/i-ChWq3Sb/0/X3/DSC_1161-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-RCN8fkn/0/S/JPGcropped_DSC6696%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-RCN8fkn/0/X3/JPGcropped_DSC6696%20copy-X3.jpg)
We have had an APR GTC-300 "3D" wing on our 2011 Mustang for the past 2, almost 3 years? This was supposed to be a temporary fix until we found a better 2D wing, from APR or another source. At the time APR was only making 3D wings, but have since come out with their own carbon 2D design. I initially bought this 67" wide GTC-300 carbon fiber wing element to use on another car, and we actually did use it on Brianne's Pikes Peak Subaru (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8124) in 2012 for the PPIHC event that year. It is a good low speed wing (PPIHC is fairly low speed, as are many of our Texas tracks like ECR, MSR-C, MSR-H, HHR, TMS and others) but is somewhat "draggy" at higher speeds, and never was meant to work at the heights we ran it with on our car.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TXxpHh3/0/S/DSC_0247-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TXxpHh3/0/X3/DSC_0247-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TCmbhJr/0/S/DSC_2333-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TCmbhJr/0/X3/DSC_2333-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
We designed and water jet cut that original wing mounting set-up very quickly, over the course of a few of days. The goal was to re-use these uprights with a 2D wing to be installed later that year, which never materialized. Because we had planned to use a 2D wing with these, and from my insistence, the APR 3D airfoil was mounted about 6 inches above the roof line - against the wishes of Ryan and Jason. At this height about half of the GTC-300 wing was doing nothing but generating drag.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-QhrgGRp/0/S/gtc-300_04_center12.2_outer27.5-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-QhrgGRp/0/X3/gtc-300_04_center12.2_outer27.5-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-89MqHc8/0/S/_DSF1281-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-89MqHc8/0/X3/_DSF1281-X3.jpg)
Testing at both high and low speed tracks showed we were faster at max AoA on the APR wing: 12 degrees at the center
After we kept this GTC-300 wing on the car for a year, and after constant advice from aero folks, Jason and others, we eventually cut down these uprights by about half to lower the 3D wing element below the roofline. It seemed to work a little better at this lower height - which is the opposite of what you normally want to do with an airfoil.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-VbC2xbZ/0/L/_DSF1357%20copy-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-VbC2xbZ/0/X3/_DSF1357%20copy-X3.jpg)
Moving this 3D airfoil lower actually helped, due to the curved center shape of the wing
Why is this rear wring shaped this way? Answer: To meet certain class rules. This "3D" wing profile was made to help improve downforce when used in some racing classes on sedan-shaped cars that limited the mounting height of the wing element at 6" to 8" above the rear trunk lid height. This rule was made to limit rear downforce and slow cars down, so aero engineers came up with a way to trick these low mounted wings into producing more downforce at this low height by tilting part of the airfoil element upwards by 10-15 degrees right behind the greenhouse (aka: the bubble of glass and steel above the shoulder line of a car that houses the passenger compartment).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-sLJjSmH/0/S/i-sLJjSmH-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-sLJjSmH/0/X3/i-sLJjSmH-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-LGbBSZK/0/S/i-LGbBSZK-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-LGbBSZK/0/X3/i-LGbBSZK-X3.jpg)
I always look at the C5R, C6R and C7R Corvette race cars for some of the latest aero tricks - not ashamed to admit that!
So the center section of this type of wing is angled upwards compared to the outer edges, to grab more airflow coming down over the roof and following the rear window. It really only works well when mounted low, and should only be used when class rules mandate a low wing mounting height. But this became so widespread in professional GT racing and looked so "high tech" that they caught on with racers who didn't need to mount them low.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-VKgFrmS/1/S/2009-Chevrolet-Corvette-C6R-GT2-Image-03-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-VKgFrmS/1/X3/2009-Chevrolet-Corvette-C6R-GT2-Image-03-X.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-BC3rZtM/1/S/911-gt2-wind-tunnel-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-BC3rZtM/1/X3/911-gt2-wind-tunnel-X3.jpg)
CFD data shown on GT2 classed Corvette C6R race car (at left) and a striated smoke wind tunnel picture on a 911 GT2 at right
I've even heard other racers try to tell me that this type of 3D wing is better than a high mounted 2D wing. Which is wrong. Don't confuse popular solutions for another set of rules to mean that there isn't something better for your class. It is always worth looking at the "why" of a design.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-9vxJQmz/0/L/AJHartman-wing-CFD-data-L.png (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-9vxJQmz/0/O/AJHartman-wing-CFD-data.png)
Here is a chart of Drag (HP), downforce (pounds) and AoA for the 14" x 72" AJ Hartman Racing wing run through CFD software
You can see the CFD data on the GTC-300 airfoil at this link (http://www.aprperformance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181). And remember to look at the same units - the APR data is shown with speed in MPH (SAE) but force is shown in Newtons (metric), so you have to divide that Force data by 4 to see it pounds of force. The AJ Hartman wing just has better data, as you can see when comparing the two.
When to use a 2D vs 3D airfoil: http://www.aprperformance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=176
Even APR admits as such in the article above, and now that they make a 2D wing again they are pushing that design. And yes, we could have picked up a carbon APR wing, but when we were looking for one last summer they were having supply and manufacturing problems. Its no secret where their airfoils come from, and I would rather have a U.S. built carbon wing than one from an overseas factory. So we started looking at different wing manufacturers...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-7SsgPGC/0/L/_DSC8731-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-7SsgPGC/0/X3/_DSC8731-X3.jpg)
After a lot of phone calls, emails, investigations, spreadsheets, data investigations and personal inspection of various brands of U.S. made carbon fiber wings we honed in on two brands. The final decision was a close one but we picked the wing with the biggest span and chord available: AJ Hartman Racing. Their 14" chord length (the front-to-back size of the wing) and the massive 72" max width were simply unmatched by anything in this category for anywhere near this cost.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-N8mDZHC/0/S/DSC_0468-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-N8mDZHC/0/X3/DSC_0468-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-B52Bd4G/1/S/DSC_2163-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/TrackGuys-HPDE-at-TWS-March-29/i-B52Bd4G/1/X3/DSC_2163-X3.jpg)
The Fulcrum wings are super popular here in Texas and I see them used to great effect on ST, AI, and other race cars
This hand laid carbon fiber wing is molded by AJ at his shop in New Jersey. He installs the saddles (bonded and riveted) to the wing at your specified widths, trims the span to your specs and the final wing just looks amazing. They weigh 9 pounds, total, and his wings can support the weight of a full sized adult. You may not know the AJ Hartman Racing name now, but the original airfoil design and molds were purchased from Fulcrum Aeroworks, which was a company formerly based right here in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-tMGcjmm/0/L/_DSC1634-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-tMGcjmm/0/X3/_DSC1634-X3.jpg)
The retail price for this AJH wing is only $1300, which is insanely low (this airfoil easily compares to $2500-4000 U.S.-made wings), and now Vorshlag is their first ever dealer. AJ didn't yet have a wing mounting kit for the 2010-2014 Mustang trunk shape so we started designing one as soon as our first 14x72" AJH wing arrived.
continued below
continued from above
In NASA Time Trial we are only limited on wing mounting to a height of up to 8" above the roof, which is WAAAAAY up there, and FEET higher than what the 3D wings were really designed to be used at. A 2D wing is simply more efficient than a 3D wing, when mounted above the roof. This means: they produce more downforce (negative lift) and less drag at a given speed and angle.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-JgW379W/1/S/20140419_144300-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-JgW379W/1/X3/20140419_144300-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bDg8pKN/1/S/20140419_153447-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bDg8pKN/1/X3/20140419_153447-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-T2F4JHJ/1/S/20140419_153951-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-T2F4JHJ/1/X3/20140419_153951-X3.jpg)
I spent most of a day on 4/19/14 making cardboard mock-ups for the 6 mounting pads, then making the trunk profile for the uprights
Since we weren't restricted on mounting the wing anywhere close to the rear trunk lid, we figured we would see more downforce with a 2D wing mounted at or near the upper limits for NASA TT. The higher you can mount the wing, and the farther behind the car, the less turbulent the air will be that is going over and (especially) under the wing. We had originally looked at making a wing that met NASA American Iron and NASA TT/ST rules, but they were conflicting. TT specified a maximum height but AI specified a maximum of 1.5" behind the car.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-R72ZNVr/1/S/20140419_163959-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-R72ZNVr/1/X3/20140419_163959-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rqsBHJN/1/S/_DSC9760-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rqsBHJN/1/X3/_DSC9760-X3.jpg)
I transferred the cardboard to thin sheets of wood, cut those out for prototype templates and then bolted up the wing
My first mockups (above) were both AI/TT legal, shown above in wood. After staring at it for a while it just didn't... look right to my engineering eyeball. It was too vertical and not swept back enough.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-nFLKSHG/1/S/_DSC9798-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-nFLKSHG/1/X3/_DSC9798-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VH4XLbq/1/S/_DSC9796-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VH4XLbq/1/X3/_DSC9796-X3.jpg)
If we see any trunk deformation at high speeds we will add tubing to brace to these two plates (at right) from the ballast weight bracket
So when I gave the upright layout to Jason I told him to just centrate on the trunk shape and approximate height (we pushed it up to around 6" above the roof, within 2" of the TT max height). He transferred the trunk shape into SolidWorks then moved the actual upper wing mounting portion rearward about 8 inches, which put the wing too far behind the back plane of the car to be AI legal. I kind of knew this first aluminum unit we made would be a prototype that we would later need to tweak, so we will go back and make "production pretty" wing mounting kits for AI and another for TT/ST use on the 2010-14 Mustang trunk.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bz5rRjG/0/L/20140422_151931-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/14599286_2tnnDT#!i=3199014273&k=bz5rRjG&lb=1&s=A)
Check out the video above showing the CNC plasma cutter making a wing upright in about half a minute
After Jason had turned the trunk shape into a CAD drawing I ran to our metal supplier and picked up some aluminum plate in two thicknesses, then rushed over to Friction Circle Fabrications in Lewisville. There Todd Earsley used his brand new CNC plasma machine (see video above) to cut the aluminum I brought into the shapes from the files we sent to him. He cut the six mounting plates and two uprights in less than 35 minutes on his machine, and I was loaded up and racing back across town with the parts still hot.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vDfrBBV/2/S/_DSC9822-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vDfrBBV/2/X3/_DSC9822-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-XtdgkFp/1/S/_DSC0108-S.jpg
Once we got to Vorshlag the crew cleaned up the edges and started mocking up the mounting plates. We were super busy that week on customer cars and it wasn't until Friday afternoon that everything was finished, welded, painted and bolted together. We set-up the upper mounting holes with 3 initial Angle of Attack (AoA) positions: 6, 10 and 12 degrees from level. We left the wing at the lowest angle setting we made, 6 degrees, for our first TWS laps with NASA.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-Mr8Lxnk/0/L/10293779_10154132242540113_4880207215021335930_o-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-Mr8Lxnk/0/X3/10293779_10154132242540113_4880207215021335930_o-X3.jpg)
Me (at left), AJ (middle) and Jason (right) posing for a quick pic with the new wing when AJ Hartman stopped by Vorshlag
A couple of weeks after we built this wing, just after our TWS race, AJ Hartman happened to be flying through Dallas after a test with a customer down at CoTA. He stopped by the Vorshlag shop to check out our prototype mounting for our first AJH wing. He pointed out a few things we could tweak to make it better, but overall he liked the set-up. We showed him two more cars in the Vorshlag shop that need to get AJH wings, and he is making those for us now.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rbCZdtc/0/S/DSC_3898-X2-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rbCZdtc/0/X3/DSC_3898-X2-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-59VFHJb/0/S/904788_687316194668194_6620652149953356549_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Aerodymaic-Aids/i-59VFHJb/0/X3/904788_687316194668194_6620652149953356549_o-X3.jpg)
That's all we have time for in this installment. Tune in next time when we cover the NASA TT race at TWS with this new wing installed. This Saturday is Five Star Ford at ECR - see ya there!
Project Update for June 3rd, 2014 Let's cover two final April events - NASA @ TWS and ordering a 2015 Mustang - then get to the May events to get more caught up. We had two events on the same weekend of May 3rd - double booked! - and I missed competing in the SCCA ProSolo to be able to attend a car show. It sounds crazy but there was a good reason for that. Let's hit it...
Ordered a 2015 Mustang GT - April 21, 2014
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2015-Mustang-Build/i-sTt22rG/0/S/2015-mustang-vorshlag-specs-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2015-Mustang-Build/i-sTt22rG/0/X3/2015-mustang-vorshlag-specs-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-95rkncT/1/S/DSC_2583-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-95rkncT/1/X3/DSC_2583-X3.jpg)
I ordered a 2015 Mustang GT in late April. I ran over to Five Star Ford of Plano and met with Corey White on April 21st to pick the options on our 2015 5.0L 6-speed Performance Pack GT, to get first in line at this dealership... before they even knew prices on anything. "Real" ordering started on May 20th, but they had options listed as of that April day, without prices or many stats, so we made some educated guesses and got our order staged in line FIRST! As you can see from the screen shot, there are some extra options we added to the Performance Pack, which include: leather Recaros, touch screen NAV, and the 401A interior package/equipment group.
There's one reason why we got the car a little more loaded than you'd think for a "Race Car" - resale value. As long as it took to sell the base model 2013 GT we picked up, and in case the rumored GT350 voodoo engined car comes out within the next 12 months, we want to keep this 2015 as sell-able as possible. We have no idea when we'll see this 2015 GT - it could be late July to as late as the end of August. I will post up here the MOMENT it arrives, and quickly start a new S550 build thread. Our initial development plans include wheel and tire fitment, immediate camber plate development, weighing and track testing. We want to test it against a stock 2012-13 Boss 302 at a local road course (ECR) within days of arrival.
NASA at TWS April 26-27, 2014
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fF7NTV8/1/S/_DSC0118-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fF7NTV8/1/X3/_DSC0118-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-6fdDnZP/1/S/_DSC0112-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-6fdDnZP/1/X3/_DSC0112-X3.jpg)
The rear uprights was the last project Ryan Begham worked on - sad to see him leave us but we wish him the best of luck in school!
Once we had the new AJ Hartman wing installed the next big test for the 2011 Mustang was NASA at Texas World Speedway at the end of April. Since Amy and I both knew this track fairly well we didn't go ahead and sign up for the Friday Test-N-Tune event. With a competitive car that has recent changes you would normally do that, but NASA Texas had an 8 hour enduro event scheduled for 2-10 pm on Friday, so we would have had to arrive very early to get any testing in. Driving from Dallas towing our rig takes over 3 hours, so we'd have to leave by at least 7 am to get any testing in... and Amy didn't want to burn a day off of work (she works 2 jobs: her normal day job and also at night, here at Vorshlag) so we blew off the test day. Our replacement front 18x12" wheel also still hadn't arrived, so we only had one full set of race wheels. We mounted up a set of new sticker A6 tires (winnings from the last NASA event, thankfully, as these are $1710 per set!) and hauled down to College Station.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-PdNdQ8R/2/S/20140425_174618-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-PdNdQ8R/2/X3/20140425_174618-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-FzcC5TZ/2/S/20140425_174626-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-FzcC5TZ/2/X3/20140425_174626-X3.jpg)
With the decals still wet and backing paper drying I drove to the local Shell to fill up the tank with 93 octane. #becausestreetcar
Getting the car ready on Friday was actually pretty tricky, as we were still finishing the wing install until around 6pm. Amy, Jason and I were also having a bit of trouble with some new material purchased to use in our vinyl cutter, but we got the old TT3 number boards re-created and installed. Ended up leaving the Optima door decals on, after removing them (carefully) and moving them back about 4 inches to make room. Some Hoosier decals, NASA decals, and the car went onto the trailer and we were rolling out by around 7:15 pm. Then we stopped at a Sam's Club to get drinks, snacks and ice for the weekend which put us on the road by 7:45 pm. We got to Costas' place by 10:45 pm and stayed up late talking about work, racing and stuff for another hour and a half. Late night!
Vorshlag TWS Photo and Video Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/
Note: with no Vorshlag crew, and no Brandon here to shoot his amazing pictures, and Amy feeling under the weather, we didn't get a lot of great shots from this event. Luckily Anna and Paul Costas shot a lot of pics and I used a number of their images in this event write-up. Matt Ruiter (a local TAMSCC racer) also took some great shots, which I have used with his permission as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-83WBfTw/0/L/DSC_3898-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-83WBfTw/0/X3/DSC_3898-X3.jpg)
My favorite shot of our car all weekend was this one taken in our paddock by Matt Ruiter.... Full rez version in our TWS event gallery
We got out to the track EARLY Saturday morning and dropped the trailer next to Costas and Matt White's trailers, who got a great paddock spot next to grid days earlier. Unloaded the car, topped off fuel, and got the sticker backing off, and went to a very brief TT driver's meeting where I handed our our TT maps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-n27Bx9q/0/S/20140426_080834-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-n27Bx9q/0/X3/20140426_080834-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-zkhH2FJ/0/S/20140426_175338-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-zkhH2FJ/0/X3/20140426_175338-X3.jpg)
Our paddock housed: our Mustang, Costas' GT1, Matt's ST1 Mustang, Misty's ST2 Camaro, Adam's E36, Toth in a Supra, and Norm's TTD BRZ
Amy and I decided that I would drive in the first TT session, which on Saturday is always a TT Practice that doesn't count towards anything except grid placement. But that still makes it pretty important, as gridding poorly only makes it harder to get a clean lap all day. You have to earn your place up the grid, and getting stuck behind slower cars can ruin your best TT laps. If you do poorly in Practice Saturday you often spend most of the remaining 3 sessions "working your way up the grid". As driver's get faster the grid placement shuffles, hopefully to keep faster drivers always ahead of slower drivers for the first few hot laps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-K7WGVD4/0/L/reverseTWS%20Track%20Map%20copy-L.jpg
This first Practice TT session was super packed, with 61 cars on grid. Yes, not only did we have a record number of TT drivers but we also had all of the Competition school students joining us. TWS is only 2.9 miles so you can imagine that with 61 cars out there at once it was going to get crowded. NASA TT driver and instructor Jason Toth rode shotgun with me in the TT Practice, to see the driving line on this configuration before he hopped in with his students and in his TT ride later that day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-sDtt8FG/0/S/DSC_3885-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-sDtt8FG/0/X3/DSC_3885-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-vqCQ3pv/0/S/DSC_3901-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-vqCQ3pv/0/X3/DSC_3901-X3.jpg)
Getting ready for that first session, Costas took off these Goodyears and ran his this weekend on Hoosier slicks
See, we can take students or others with us in TT, but if we set our fastest lap of the day with a passenger our times will be automatically DSQ'd. They actually encourage some TT drivers to take HPDE students along if we are instructing that day but we only told to drive no faster than about "8/10ths", for safety reasons. Since this was just a TT Practice it wouldn't hurt, and I knew it would be slow, so Jason rode along. We got to grid pretty early and luckily started out in 5th place. There were two TT1 Corvettes and two Vipers ahead of us, and a whole bunch of cars behind us.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-qbKvvZ3/0/S/ch220pic06-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-qbKvvZ3/0/O/ch220pic06.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-jJhkNb4/0/S/ch220pic04-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-jJhkNb4/0/O/ch220pic04.jpg)
We had quite a variety of cars in the first TT practice session, with the Comp School thrown in the mix!
continued below
continued from above
Then this mess happened...
A Spin, A Wrecker, Several Passes Under Yellow and two DSQs
During the TT Practice there was a spin and a flat bed wrecker was called out on course for an extraction. There were then a number of Passes Under Yellow that were not appreciated by the track workers. Not one bit.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-Cwf5JDB/0/L/practice1-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/38822271_vK43zz#!i=3259432412&k=Cwf5JDB&lb=1&s=A)
If you watch the video linked above you will see that we had a front row seat to a big nasty spin by a Viper Competition Coupe from the comp school group, about 30 feet in front of me at the 3:00 mark, entering T11. See, during the entire warm up lap this driver was scrubbing his tires like mad. I commented that maybe that was a bit much, but overall I just had a bad feeling - my Spidey Sense was tingling - so I backed way off this car when the first four cars ahead of me went Green during the out lap entering Turn 3, to give this guy some extra room. And I'm glad I did, because even through all four TT1 cars in front of built a big gap on the main straight most of them braked VERY early into Turn 15, where we're all doing about 150+ mph. The big gap I left quickly vanished and I had to back off into Turn 15 then 14 to avoid catching him. No big deal, it happens when we aren't gridded up in order by times - which is why the first session is called PRACTICE, so we can get gridded up in order by the first timed TT session. :)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-kbHpCLr/2/S/20140427_075416-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-kbHpCLr/2/X3/20140427_075416-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-vJHK9Dv/2/S/DSC_8813-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-vJHK9Dv/2/X3/DSC_8813-X3.jpg)
Left: We have to run a nearly full tank and several weight plates to make our 3802 minimum weight
In the video the Viper slammed over the left curbing hard at T14, which may have damaged something. I pointed out the hard curb hit in the video. We caught up to him a bit in T12 then he braked pretty early into T11, and by this point I felt something was going to happen. Sure enough, the rear tires locked and he spun under braking into T11, first this way then that, on track and off. The spin was actually telegraphed pretty far in advanced and I had actually told Jason "Watch this", but the mic didn't pick it up on the video. I got the Mustang slowed down in plenty of time, and when he couldn't get going (he broke a half shaft) we threaded our way around him and got up to speed again.
Luckily I had pulled bit of a gap to the cars behind me, who probably didn't even see the spin happen, and I didn't impede anyone. The Viper pulled to the outside of the road in Turn 10 under momentum and parked - and without any halfshaft or drive, he was stuck. Everyone saw the Viper parked in T10 for 2 or 3 laps, with a waving yellow the whole time in this corner station. After getting back up to speed we took a leisurely hot lap 2 with an indicated 1:51.63 on the AiM SOLO, all while getting held up behind slower lapped traffic, making a pass, slowing heavily for Turn 10 (still waving yellow), and not really pushing it hard.
Funny thing was, that very compromised lap damn near matched my TT3 lap record time from this event in April 2013 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-TWS-April-20-21-2013/), where I ran a 1:51.530 and won TT3 both days. That best lap in 2013 (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-TWS-April-20-21-2013/29042487_3bCWFH#!i=2476530689&k=968Z9KX) was with me pushing hard, going 10/10ths on fresh 315 Hoosier A6 tires, using the APR GTC300 rear wing, the same power level, but the stock hood and the Laguna Seca plastic front splitter. Watching that old video I can see the front end wanted to push a lot at speed on corner entry and the rear was loose at speed, such as entering Turns 2 and T1 before the front straight.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-pWp6Sqh/0/M/first-yellow-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-pWp6Sqh/0/O/first-yellow.jpg)
After I ran that lap and saw the 1:51.6 as I crossed the start-finish line, I backed off (as you can see above, to about a 2:00 minute lap pace) and we immediately saw a waving yellow AND an EV/Ambulance flag added at the corner station before Turn 10, located inside Turn 13. Two corner workers there were waving two flags vigorously and that got my attention fast, even when slowing down from 150 mph. In the video I noted the yellow and the newly added Emergency Vehicle flag to Jason (at the 4:13 mark) and you can see that I backed way off, anticipating something new at the next corner station. We both knew what the two new flags meant - the TWS track crew must have rolled a wrecker out to Turn 10 to attempt a "hot extraction" of the Viper, which was stuck on the racing line in that corner for the past 2 laps. The entire session of 61 cars had already driven by the parked Viper, TWICE, so this shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. Once you see waving yellows AND an EV flag AND a wrecker on course, that TT lap is OVER, if not the entire session.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-rgRkmDb/0/M/swcond-yellow-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-rgRkmDb/0/O/swcond-yellow.jpg)
At the 3:38 mark in the video you see the second corner station in a row with waving a yellow flag and an obvious wrecker extraction going on. With the corner worker moved out of his protected corner station next to the track waving vigorously he really wants us to slow down for the wrecker driver, who is standing on the track and nearly right on the hot driving line. At this point I backed off even more as I approached this chaos, before T11. But there were some drivers blazing up in my rear view mirror between Turn 12 to T11, and I'm looking back and wondering if they had seen the flags at T13 and ahead at T10?? Nope. They are going full tilt, nose to tail in a major battle. It wasn't until the entry to T11 that I realized - these guys are about to pass me! Between a corner worker violently waving a yellow flag outside of his protected berm and right next to a wrecker driver trying to load the Viper - which has been sitting in the same spot now going on 3 laps - onto his flatbed.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-FN2fC6R/1/S/DSC_2516-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-FN2fC6R/1/X3/DSC_2516-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-Q7vdgCJ/1/S/DSC_2519-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-Q7vdgCJ/1/X3/DSC_2519-X3.jpg)
Left: Jefri Tam drove to 2nd place in TT3 both days. Right: John Roberts placed 3rd Saturday then 2nd place in TT2 in his LS1 Miata on Sunday
I quickly pulled even father to track left, let loose a stream of expletives as the two drivers pass me going 10/10ths, mid-corner next to the wrecker, and watch as yet another driver behind these two also takes Turn 10 flat out then blows by me before we've even left the "danger zone" of this corner workers area (aka: 90 degrees from the corner station). Remember: this is a Time Trial practice session, the times during which don't even count, and nobody is racing for position. This exact corner has had a yellow flag flying and a car stuck on track for going on 3 laps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-5RSxTLf/0/L/10256391_10202990063664914_7545692114254358396_o-L.jpg
I got back up to speed after this corner, stayed out of everyone's way, and dove into the hot pits. Once there the TT director asked me how the session went, and I told him what happened with some colorful language to emphasize my point. Later I found out the TWS wrecker crew was furious and wanted a handful of people thrown out of the track for the weekend. It wasn't just 3 cars that passed under yellow near the wrecker, it was closer to 6. These track workers literally put their lives on the line for us, and deserve more respect from the drivers.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-NGPQ53Z/2/S/DSC_8814-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-NGPQ53Z/2/X3/DSC_8814-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-2v23427/2/S/DSC_8816-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-2v23427/2/X3/DSC_8816-X3.jpg)
Pictures in Turn 10 from another session. At right you can see some power on oversteer and counter steering going on...
There was a discussion about this incident on our local TT Facebook group a few weeks later. Some of the more experienced TT racers got pretty fired up when they saw the video and proposed some changes for the TT group. At a minimum we expect to have more post-session TT driver's meetings and hopefully some increased flag awareness from the drivers.
And Now.... Back to The TT Action on Saturday
I tried to stay focused and since I was gridded in P4 after the practice, which was good placing for the first timed session. Temperature was stable at 76°F, as it was overcast and relatively cool almost all day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-WP3W5gm/0/M/20140426_091036-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-WP3W5gm/0/O/20140426_091036.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-zZQ8JCf/0/M/20140426_115819-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-zZQ8JCf/0/X3/20140426_115819-X3.jpg)
Left: Times from the gigantic clusterf*ck TT Practice session. Right: Times from TT Session 1 that followed
Amy and I agreed that I would go out in this first timed TT session to try to put in a good hot lap or two. We were on the new sticker set of 335/345 A6 tires, which I scrubbed in during the TT Practice. I went out with cold tire pressures of 28 psi front and 26 psi rear, which gives me hot pressures of 35 psi / 33 psi. We left the new wing at 6 degrees AoA, as it felt pretty good during the practice session and I wasn't even pushing hard yet. Not too much drag, with just enough rear bite at high speed exiting Turns 2 and 1 onto the main straight.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-8q5kmqG/0/L/DSC_3764-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-8q5kmqG/0/X3/DSC_3764-X3.jpg)
I had clear track and put in one good hot lap at a 1:48.440, more than THREE SECONDS quicker than our best lap here last year! That was exciting. As I crossed start/finish and saw the lap time I had the TT1 Corvette of Marc Sherrin tuck in behind and start drafting me, but I was pointing him by to pass, because I wanted to bank that lap (in Time Trial if you have a 4 off or spin on track your session times are DSQ'd). He figured it out and went on by me. Took a cool down lap and came in, figuring this would be my last laps of the day. That time went on to put us 6 seconds ahead of 2nd place in TT3, and we had 5 entrants in class on Saturday, so that meant we won 2 tires.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-BF3LBKr/0/L/session%202--L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/38822271_vK43zz#!i=3261018938&k=BF3LBKr&lb=1&s=A)
Maybe I could have made an even quicker lap 2, but I figured I would just catch traffic anyway and I didn't want to waste the tires. Amy went out in an HPDE 3/4 session just before lunch, to put in some laps, learn the line and get her up to speed, then she planned on running the two remaining TT sessions after lunch. But she wasn't feeling good, with crazy sinuses and a massive headache, and didn't feel well enough to drive after lunch... which meant that I got to drive in TT session 3 and 4, if I wanted.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-8NvXTBb/0/M/20140426_151007-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-8NvXTBb/0/X2/20140426_151007-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-WZMn7kc/0/M/TWS-April26TT-SaturdayFinal-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-WZMn7kc/0/X2/TWS-April26TT-SaturdayFinal-X2.jpg)
Left: Saturday TT session 2 results. Right: End of day Saturday TT official results
I went out in TT session 2 at 2:10 pm and put in a 1:48.481 lap, nearly matching my time from the previous session (.04 difference). I was on a good hot lap 2 but had to abort the lap when I came upon a inattentive driver on a cool down lap ahead of me. I assume he clearly saw me gaining on him for 4-5 corners and he sort of pulled to track right, so I attempted a pass in a high speed corner (T7). In the middle of the corner he just came over on me and I had to put 2 wheels in the dirt track left to avoid a collision. This isn't the first time this has happened with this driver, and I hope he becomes more aware of his surroundings before he causes an accident. I'll just keep giving this driver plenty of extra room.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-c3bwXgs/1/S/DSC_2373-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-c3bwXgs/1/X3/DSC_2373-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-TzR3g9c/1/S/ch220pic05-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-TzR3g9c/1/X3/ch220pic05-X3.jpg)
I wanted to note that this blocking situation is highly unusual in our NASA TT group, and the vast majority of our TT drivers have excellent situational awareness and go to great lengths to cooperate with other drivers, so that everyone can get their fast laps in.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-fQXB33r/1/L/20140426_094254-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-fQXB33r/1/X3/20140426_094254-X3.jpg)
There was plenty of carnage out at EVO Island, with one poor guy wrecking or blowing up BOTH of the EVOs he brought
The weather was still overcast and 77 degrees, but we started to get a hint of a sprinkle of rain at the very end of this second lap, so I took a cool down lap and came in. The final TT Session (4th) of the day got hot, after the sun had come out, and temps went up to 83°F. Everybody that ran this session slowed way down. We saw this coming and I'm glad we didn't go out in the session and waste the tires and brakes. With a 3800 pound Mustang you have to conserve these consumables when you can!
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-LgwVB2K/2/S/20140426_182429-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-LgwVB2K/2/X3/20140426_182429-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-Kq7vR2Z/2/S/20140426_191912-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-Kq7vR2Z/2/X3/20140426_191912-X3.jpg)
By 6 pm the racing was wrapped up and NASA threw a great Saturday night party, as always. This one was special: they had a massive crawfish boil, lots of beer and soft drinks, chicken cooked on a grill, and the School of Rock kids ROCKED THE HOUSE for almost 2 hours. We had a great time relaxing, bench racing, drinking and eating with racers and friends. After the Passing Under Yellow Practice fiasco and then getting run off track only two sessions later, I was more than ready for a few stiff drinks, heh. What a crazy day!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-QpSkctp/2/S/20140426_173606-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-QpSkctp/2/X3/20140426_173606-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-tDCs9ZL/2/S/20140426_193925-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-tDCs9ZL/2/X3/20140426_193925-X3.jpg)
Left: They had an amazing spread of food. Right: I got another TT3 lap record certificate and trophy - wish that 1:37.790 lap was mine, tho!
An old college / racing buddy Chris Ramey (who is a National Champion autocrosser and who also spent several years racing wheel to wheel in SCCA) did his first NASA TT event in his red C6 Z06 and he had an absolute blast, so I'm sure we'll see him back. We had a big group at a table eating and drinking, with Marc Sherrin, Jason Toth, Adam Faust, me, Amy and Todd Earsley... then Ramey started making Scotch and Sodas and we floated a keg of Shiner. Amy was still feeling cruddy so we left early and crashed out at about 9:30 pm.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-BJqwVkQ/2/S/DSC_8975-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-BJqwVkQ/2/X3/DSC_8975-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-JCS2BPh/0/S/CSC_3927-2-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-JCS2BPh/0/X3/CSC_3927-2-X3.jpg)
Left: Chris Ramey was always known as Captain Oversteer - and he didn't disappoint! Right: Jamie Beck's 2013 GT has all of our goodies
This was an unusual day for Time Trial - TT1 had an astonishing 9 entries, TTB had 6, TT3 had 5, and every class was unusually brimming with drivers. I was happy to end up in 5th overall out of the entire TT group, to win TT3 and to reset our old lap record by such a large margin, which was even quicker than the new TT2 lap record. They gave out trophies and lap record certificates - and while our's had the wrong time and even Vorshlag was misspelled, its the thought that counts.
NASA TT - Sunday at TWS
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-RcpjrDr/0/S/CSC_3940-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-RcpjrDr/0/X3/CSC_3940-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-mL9Brh3/0/S/10270541_10202981794458189_7431955472844674434_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-mL9Brh3/0/O/10270541_10202981794458189_7431955472844674434_n.j pg)
Left: Spec Miatas "bump drafting". Right: The Costas "ResQ" Supra, former stage rally car, made its asphalt debut with Jason Toth driving
We got to the track early, Amy was still under the weather and not driving for the day, so I went out in TT Session 1. Well, before that it got a bit crowded and busy in our paddock area, Amy was kind of out of it, and we brought no crew with us. So I'm doing my pre-track checks: tire pressures, fluid levels, visual inspection of tires, torquing lug nuts, and put about half a quart of oil in.... and apparently left the oil fill cap off. Someone was talking to me and I got distracted.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-GMFpxpB/0/L/10257458_10202982127506515_8734456862415243384_o-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-GMFpxpB/0/O/10257458_10202982127506515_8734456862415243384_o.j pg)
I went out in the first session and felt like it was a little down on grip in left hand turns. Never saw any smoke or indication that anything was wrong. I put in a 1:48.712 lap, throwing away some time in Turn 14 where I slid the car and lost time - its obvious in the video but not worth editing and trying to match the data to. Speaking of that, Brandon is having a helluva time with the data merge and it is apparently due to the abnormal video file format that my Sony HD vidcam puts out, so we're on the hunt for a new video camera that uses the same SD cards. I don't want a GoPro, but something with a real lens and that can use a remote start/stop/off like our existing unit.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-722b5T3/0/M/20140427_095728-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-722b5T3/0/X2/20140427_095728-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-wqKTDqJ/0/M/TWS-April27TT-SundayFinal-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-wqKTDqJ/0/X3/TWS-April27TT-SundayFinal-X3.jpg)
Left: Sunday's TT Session 1, my only session of the day. Right: Sunday end of day TT official results
I tried a second hot lap in that session, it was a clear lap but I slowed down to a 1:49 and change and it was obvious the car was slowing down. I took a cool down and came in. I hopped out of the car while Amy opened the hood - "Terry, COME HERE PLEASE." She showed me that there was OIL EVERYWHERE. The oil cap, that I had left off, had fallen down in the engine compartment from where I left it. I checked the oil level and the engine was about a quart low (but we run this motor with +1 quart over full). Its amazing what a TOTAL MESS you can make with quart of oil! I fished out the oil cap, undamaged, cleaned up some of the oil mess, but it had pumped engine oil down and through the wheels all over the right front tire. This was big old mess that could have been bad. Didn't hurt the motor, never lost oil pressure, but this explains why the grip fell off in hot lap 2.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-d5Gs3F4/1/S/DSC_2486-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-d5Gs3F4/1/X3/DSC_2486-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-M6phXLV/1/S/DSC_2485-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-M6phXLV/1/X3/DSC_2485-X3.jpg)
Left: Leaving the oil cap off for 2 laps spilled a quart of oil out. Right: It was pumping through the wheel. This was my own damned fault!
Hot engine oil on a brake caliper could have flashed over, caught fire, and ended up in a very stupid mistake. It was still 77°F and overcast in that session, so we had the same conditions as Saturday. I thought about it and I could have gone out in TT session 2, but there was so much oil all over the car and I was once again about 6 seconds ahead of 2nd place that we didn't risk it. Amy still felt like crap, so after we stuck around to watch TT session 2, we loaded up and headed back to Dallas before lunch. TT1 got faster and their times dipped into the 1:45s to 1:46 range, but we just weren't going to catch them at our power levels on this high speed track. Any why should we? Those cars have nearly double the power per pound carried.
It looked like it was going to rain any minute, and sure enough, after we got 10 minutes from the track it started to rain and continued to come down throughout most of our 3+ hour trip back to Dallas. I really wanted to save this set of Hoosiers for the Global Time Attack event at Road Atlanta in a couple of weeks, so it was a good decision to opt out of the last 3 TT sessions of the day. Conserving consumables.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-ZQQq9Gp/0/S/10265550_10202981795818223_405107425498855997_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-ZQQq9Gp/0/O/10265550_10202981795818223_405107425498855997_o.jp g) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-3JnLzsG/0/S/10312573_10202990146146976_703815457584122910_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-3JnLzsG/0/O/10312573_10202990146146976_703815457584122910_n.jp g)
We watched live timing for the remaining TT sessions and SU races via Race Monitor on the way back, which was pretty exciting. TTB was a heck of a battle with our customer Allan Page in an E46 M3 fighting against Dysen Pham in an S2000, which has been almost unstoppable in our region ever since these cars got a "dyno reclass" and essentially 12 free points to play with for mods. Allan had taken the lead early on, reset the TTB record, then Dysen switched from Maxxis tires to a sticker set of Hoosier A6s and retook the lead and got down to a 1:52.824 for the win with Allan at a 1:52.972 - close finish! Another customer of ours, Norm Wilhelm (shown above), had a dominant win in TTD in a BRZ on MCS dampers and Vorshlag plates we supplied him with. Norm ended up besting the 2nd place TTD FT86 chassis twin by 2 seconds.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-ST383K2/3/L/20140426_091624-L.jpg
Mike Patterson won all 4 American Iron races on new 18x9.5" Forgestar F14s he got from Vorshlag, with a fastest race lap of 1:53.0
Looking back at the weekend I took two hot laps in the TT Practice (1 aborted), one hot lap in TT session 1 and two laps in TT session 2 (1 aborted) on Saturday. For Sunday I took all of one hot lap, in TT session 1. That should leave us plenty of tires left for GTA, other than Amy's entire HPDE 3/4 session she took - but since she was mired in traffic it kept her speeds and tire wear down. Our new wing worked great, even through we only tried it at one position (6 degrees AoA). We made mounting holes for 3 positions - 6, 10 and 12 degrees - but the car felt so good I didn't want to mess with it, and with as few laps as we took here we didn't get in much testing - we were hoping to do that at Road Atlanta.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-LLNN4qn/1/S/DSC_2440-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-LLNN4qn/1/X3/DSC_2440-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-9C8wsP4/1/S/DSC_2478-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-9C8wsP4/1/X3/DSC_2478-X3.jpg)
Amy running in a DE group was pretty funny, traffic-wise
We did make several shock adjustments on the new MCS RR2s during the weekend, and with easier access to the rear rebound knobs that was a welcome improvement. The dampers felt great with our Maxcyspeed custom valving, soaking up the bumpy pavement from this old track. New mechanical grip from the wider tires was evident in the slow turns and the added grip from the new rear wing helped at higher speeds. Its notable that we run the AJ Hartman wing at 6 degrees and it has more stick than the GTC-300 had at 12 degrees, and lots less drag. Last year we were "dirt tracking" through Turns 1 and 2 up onto the banking but this year the car was a lot more stuck down and confidence inspiring.
I like the car with more downforce. Unlike true "aero cars" that have very narrow speed ranges of effectiveness and HUGE downforce numbers, our splitter and wing combo seems to just make the car easier to drive, makes the brakes more effective at high speeds, and we're dropping major time from last year's lap records with almost the same set-up and power levels. We won TT3 by about 6 seconds again on Sunday and with 5 cars in class won another 2 tires for a total of 4 over the weekend. This might have been the last time NASA ever runs TWS 2.9 going ClockWise, as there are serious rumors of the owners selling the track and turning the land into a housing development. The MUD passed by the city a few weeks prior to this event, so who knows? We might be back in 2015 for a final time, but if so I think this 1:48.4 lap is more solid than the 1:51.5 lap I ran last spring in 2013.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-35q7BXC/1/L/DSC_2487-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-35q7BXC/1/X3/DSC_2487-X3.jpg)
It was a record attendance for TWS with NASA, with 335 entrants. Will and Dave and all the folks from NASA Texas did a great job with the racing, paddock, Saturday party, and I heard the Friday 8 hour enduro was a blast. We had a good time, with two solid wins and a new track record, especially considering the strange events on Saturday.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-LHsvbsv/2/S/20140426_124046-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-LHsvbsv/2/X3/20140426_124046-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-wPGv5Tz/2/S/20140426_124100-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-wPGv5Tz/2/X3/20140426_124100-X3.jpg)
Costas had a great weekend in his GT-1 car, putting in TTU wins both days and winning several of the SU races on new Hoosier tires (switching from Goodyear). In SU qualifying he managed a 1:45.0 lap, which was the quickest lap recorded all weekend - nice! He had a nasty blowout at one point but it didn't phase him and he just swapped on some other tires. I can't do it justice here, so check out his write-up for the TWS weekend is located at his Witchdoctor website (http://witchdoctormotorsports.com/ch220.htm), which is always fun to read.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-f9BW7SF/0/L/ch220pic01-L.jpg
Texas SCCA ProSolo - Welcome Party - May 2, 2014
the following weekend Vorshlag sponsored the Friday night welcome party at the Texas Pro Solo held out at Mineral Wells on May 2nd, 2014. This event was within days of the the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo) that is huge in Texas, and was the theme of the event. Contrary to what you might think, May 5th isn't "Mexican Independence Day" but actually a celebration in both Mexico and the USA of our thanks to Mexico for fighting off the French, who were invading their lands in 1862 and threatening to support the Confederates in the American Civil War. The Mexicans were outnumbered 2 to 1, and the French hadn't been defeated in battle in 50 years. This battle also marked the last time any European force has invaded the Americas. The more you know...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Texas-ProSolo-2014/i-4D2FKgc/0/S/10157395_698102136915742_504763807715816570_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Texas-ProSolo-2014/i-4D2FKgc/0/X3/10157395_698102136915742_504763807715816570_n-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Texas-ProSolo-2014/i-7RGX2mB/0/S/10247479_698102310249058_1578553600344070557_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Texas-ProSolo-2014/i-7RGX2mB/0/X3/10247479_698102310249058_1578553600344070557_n-X3.jpg)
All that might explain why someone put a Mexican sombrero on me while I drank German beer and cooked American burgers and dogs for about 200 people over the course of a few hours. Jason went with me and talked to a number of folks at this Friday night event as well, and our shop foreman Brad Maxcy was running the event, as he does for all Texas Region SCCA Solos. Special thanks to Jen Maxcy, who helped me work the grill and serve the meats. The competition for the ProSolo was on May 3-4th, but we were double-booked with an event (see below) on Saturday, so we couldn't compete in this event. Bummer, would have been fun to run in Street Mod.
continued below
continued from above
Sam Pack 24th Dallas Spring Nationals Car Show, May 3, 2014
And this is the event we missed the ProSolo for, held on the Saturday following the ProSolo Welcome Party. Seems a little nuts to miss a ProSolo for a car show, but I had ulterior motives: they had a pre-production 2015 Mustang on display, and I was hoping to both weigh and drive this car, or at least measure a few things and sit inside of it. Corey White from Five Star Ford convinced me to enter and even sponsor this car show, so we showed off our TT3 prepped Mustang that day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-MzGRkNC/1/L/DSC_2594-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-MzGRkNC/1/X3/DSC_2594-X3.jpg)
Photo gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/
We got there around 8 am and set-up our trailer then unloaded the Mustang, just as it was prepped after the TWS event. I cleaned it up a bit on site and then set up our tables and some demo parts. We talked to about 60-70 people that day, which is good for a typical car show, I guess. Saw several of our customers there, but many of them didn't show up until after 10:30 am as there was a Cars & Coffee event that morning (these events are HUGE and draw in 1200+ cars and thousands of spectators). Having this car show on the same day as C&C was a bit odd, but hey, its not my event.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-7Xx2vMJ/1/S/DSC_2606-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-7Xx2vMJ/1/X3/DSC_2606-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-VLBhM4R/1/S/DSC_2604-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-VLBhM4R/1/X3/DSC_2604-X3.jpg)
There were some beautiful cars at this car show, like the various C2 Corvettes above. And the typical, garish, silly car show stuff... loads of chrome ding-dongs and add-ons, little turntables with model cars under hood, every other car had a supercharger, etc.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-PfHcxNP/1/S/20140503_100913-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-PfHcxNP/1/X3/20140503_100913-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-42dgx4X/1/S/20140503_101144-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-42dgx4X/1/X3/20140503_101144-X3.jpg)
I have to admit, this is not my scene. At. All. But we were there for a better reason than entering a car show... to see another pre-production 2015 Mustang and hopefully measure, weigh and drive this thing.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-VF29jph/1/S/DSC_2600-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-VF29jph/1/X3/DSC_2600-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-NWG6Jvk/1/S/DSC_2598-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-NWG6Jvk/1/X3/DSC_2598-X3.jpg)
This pre-production vehicle was locked up all day and nobody could find the handler that Ford sent with this car to get us inside it, to ask if we could weigh it, or drive it. Aaron Sockwell from Dusold Designs and I took matters into our own hands and just went over and measured a few things...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-6Dw3Nq3/1/S/20140503_094844-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-6Dw3Nq3/1/X3/20140503_094844-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-Q62rzGp/1/S/20140503_095959-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-Q62rzGp/1/X3/20140503_095959-X3.jpg)
We crawled under the car and snapped a few pictures of front and rear suspension, but they show little more than we already knew. I did manage to snap a pic of the front strut to inner wheel distance, but it wasn't much. Discouraging.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-9VGKHNf/1/S/20140503_094849-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-9VGKHNf/1/X3/20140503_094849-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-Xsd4n2J/1/S/20140503_094757-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-Xsd4n2J/1/X3/20140503_094757-X3.jpg)
We measured outside track widths and the front was over 2.25" narrower than the rear outside track measurement on this car, which was equipped with 255/40/ZR19 tires at both ends (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-W4JZS59/1/X3/DSC_2584-X3.jpg). That's likely going to make the car understeer more, of course. Staggered track width or tire width set-ups are almost always done by OEMs to "insure understeer". Oh well, one more thing for us to fix.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-CC8MnDL/1/S/DSC_2591-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-CC8MnDL/1/X3/DSC_2591-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-R935HtC/1/S/DSC_2593-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-R935HtC/1/X3/DSC_2593-X3.jpg)
Corey called in some excellent food trucks and we tried a little bit of food from all 3 of them, including some amazing ice cream from the truck at left. The wood fired pizza truck was a huge hit as well. We killed most of the day waiting to try to get inside this car, hoping to weigh and drive it, and saw some neat stuff in Sam Pack's personal collection with the included museum ticket that all car show entries got.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-ChSZ4PV/1/S/20140503_132520-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-ChSZ4PV/1/X3/20140503_132520-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-Zvb9kNk/1/S/20140503_132439-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-Zvb9kNk/1/X3/20140503_132439-X3.jpg)
I Look Inisde The 2015 Mustang - Video!
Finally, at around 5:30 pm, the Ford handler showed up to load the Mustang onto his trailer, and we were waiting for him. There were about 6 of us hounding the guy and we got to at least look inside the car's interior and trunk. I brought our Sony 1080P vidcam and we shot about 8 minutes worth of video, linked below. He wouldn't open the hood for us (in fact the hood latch was disabled) and refused to let us weigh the car (we can probably guess why). It was a pre-production and "very early build" car show model at that, so it had extra welding and bondo to smooth all sorts of sheet metal seams in the door jambs and trunk that would never be done on a production car. Turns out it was a 4 banger, which sounded like a vacuum cleaner when revved up, which we heard when Corey got in for a few seconds as well as when the Ford guy drove it away.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-rjQd9qW/0/L/Vorshlag-2015-Mustang-preview-040514-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/38990982_WBCZMT#!i=3290117818&k=rjQd9qW&lb=1&s=A)
In the ~8 minute video above, Jason and I walked around the car discussing several items on the S550 chassis, and were actually pretty impressed with some of the aero and drag reduction tricks they have done. Sure, it might gain some weight, but it will likely be the most fuel efficient Mustang ever built (esp. the turbo 4) and a lot of that is due to the hard work of a lot of body and aero designers at Ford. The clean trim work, tight body lines, divorced mirrors and some other tricks will also benefit racers like us as well. The interior room was remarkably bigger, and 6'6" Corey White fit well, and even had to move the seat up a notch. I did my "helmet test", and at 6'3" I fit easily with my full face helmet on and sitting comfortably upright.
Sure, I was pretty bummed about the lack of a weighing or test drive, but what do you do? Ford is being pretty sly with this one, and could be covering up a whole pack of lies (weight claims) or... maybe they just want to save the surprise for when these are released. Who knows? We will see soon enough.
Kind of wished I would have entered that ProSolo, though.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-FcCCZWH/1/L/DSC_2607-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Sam-Pack-carshow-050314/i-FcCCZWH/1/X3/DSC_2607-X3.jpg)
By the end of this very long day they had awards to present for "class winners", and we won a 3 foot tall trophy - along with about 1/3rd of the attendees. I guess you could call it an attendance award.
What's Next?
GTA @ Road Atlanta - May 9-10th, 2014. This is where I crashed hard on Day 1, broke my back and damaged the car. That really sucked.
NASA @ Hallett June 21-22, 2014 - Hopefully I will be cleared by the doctors to race at this event, and I'm really looking forward to that!
That's all for this installation of the S197 build thread. I'll cover the GTA event at Road Atlanta in my next post, hopefully later this week, as well as more of my thoughts on the upcoming S550 Mustang and the rumors of it weighing "XXX" pounds over the S197 model. I won't bet the farm on the weight claims just yet - not until I see one or more of these cars on my scales with my own eyes.
Thanks for reading!
Project Update for June 16th, 2014: Been a busy couple of weeks since my last S197 post. We've had major progress on some V8 swap and other race car projects here, which I will cover briefly. Our summer intern has helped us clear out some pallet racks of "Stuff" and we found all manner of things worth selling on our Clearance page. There's a brief video where Jason and I show the tips of fitting 18x11" wheels on an S197 Mustang. My back is feeling better so we signed up for NASA @ Hallett next weekend, and are finishing pre-race prep and some additional brake upgrades/testing on the Mustang before we head out to Oklahoma on Friday. And now I'm finally covering the GTA event at Road Atlanta from May 9th, including the crash - I'll try to keep that brief. Let's get to it!
Other Projects at Vorshlag
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Uhlmann-E36-DSP/i-tmgtcJc/0/S/photoshoot1-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Mark-Uhlmann-E36-DSP/i-tmgtcJc/0/O/photoshoot1.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/McCalls-BMW-E367-M-Roadster/i-4dHWmpr/0/S/_DSC0781-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/McCalls-BMW-E367-M-Roadster/i-4dHWmpr/0/X3/_DSC0781-X3.jpg)
If all you care about is Mustangs just skip this section. Some of you only know about Vorshlag from this S197 build thread, so you might not know that we have a service and fabrication prep shop that performs race preparations and track tech inspections, some repair work, full suspension/chassis/brake/wheel/tire installation services, and more. The "and more" part is really a lot more than you'd think - we're well versed in engine swaps and we like to swap V8 engines into cars that never came with them. We've now exceeded 100 kits sold for our BMW E36 LS1 swap, our E46 LS1 swap is selling well, and we've done swaps in BMW E30 and Z3 chassis. But we do more than that...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-FR-s-LS3-Vorshlag/i-8ttDzwQ/1/S/_DSC7711-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-FR-s-LS3-Vorshlag/i-8ttDzwQ/1/X3/_DSC7711-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-BRZFR-S-LS1-Swap-Kit/i-cJMQsMz/0/S/_DSC3416%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-BRZFR-S-LS1-Swap-Kit/i-cJMQsMz/0/X3/_DSC3416%20copy-X3.jpg)
Our first or "Alpha" LSx V8 Scion FR-S swap (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8275) development is moving along nicely and we just made an update to that build thread (on 7 forums, including at Vorshlag). The motor and transmission mounts were just completed and they look great (top right). The LS1 V8 adds barely more than 40 pounds to this little car, yet triples the engine displacement. Sound like fun yet?
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-Miata-LS1/i-wr7kPNH/1/S/_DSC3706-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-Miata-LS1/i-wr7kPNH/1/X3/_DSC3706-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-Miata-LS1/i-frw7v6j/1/S/DSC_2909-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Alpha-Miata-LS1/i-frw7v6j/1/X3/DSC_2909-X3.jpg)
Our Alpha LSx V8 NB Miata project (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8142) development has reached a milestone, with the custom tubular rear subframe and rear suspension design now completed and ready for final welding and fixtures. This bolt-in subframe assembly houses an aluminum 8.8" IRS diff housing from a 2004 Mustang Cobra, which it needs to withstand the 450+ whp that the built LS1 motor it has will put out. Our new head fabricator Ryan H, who just joined us from a Daytona Prototype race team, has done all of magic to this car over the past month. Look for an update to this build thread soon (here (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8142)). Zoom-zoom....
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-BgLg2BP/0/S/_DSC2862-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-BgLg2BP/0/X3/_DSC2862-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-cN4n4Xd/0/S/10333318_10154222496885113_1284310927123492641_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-cN4n4Xd/0/X3/10333318_10154222496885113_1284310927123492641_o-X3.jpg)
This Pikes Peak Subaru (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57886#post57886) just came to our shop for a hair over two weeks to receive nearly 100 hours of custom fabrication work, including this new giant wing, a fuel cell install, custom firewall mods to accept a Tilton 3 MC pedal set-up and remote adjust brake balance bar, and more. This was a car we did a steel wide-body conversion on 2 years ago that our friends at Heritage Collision have now body worked and painted a few weeks before we got it. With all of the aero work completed it now looks like a million bucks.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-W4Xt96x/1/S/i-W4Xt96x-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-W4Xt96x/1/X3/i-W4Xt96x-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-kPDZzkW/1/S/i-kPDZzkW-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-kPDZzkW/1/X3/i-kPDZzkW-X3.jpg)
There's a 5.0 Coyote V8 swapped German vehicle in our shop now getting a lot of work, but we didn't do this swap. We are doing some safety updates and fabrication work on this car, mostly by our new head fab guru Ryan H. When we had the motor out for extensive firewall rework (top left) we got a chance to weigh a Coyote 5.0 without a flywheel or clutch and it was 427 pounds, or almost exactly what an LS1 weighs in the same form. Interesting...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/BMW-E36-LS1-Alpha-car/i-DRmbgdR/0/S/e36-alpha-weight-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/BMW-E36-LS1-Alpha-car/i-DRmbgdR/0/X3/e36-alpha-weight-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-E46-330Ci-DSP-Build/i-CKsh2zr/0/S/jpg_DSC4036%20copy%203-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-E46-330Ci-DSP-Build/i-CKsh2zr/0/X3/jpg_DSC4036%20copy%203-X3.jpg)
We have a BMW E36 LSx coupe (like above left) chassis already started, as well as an E46 coupe (like above right), a Z4 and an SN95 Mustang
Last but not least, we are doing more and more turn-key V8 swaps for customers, for both street and race cars. We're about to kick-off a new program where we take a rolling chassis we've acquired, set-up a plan for customers to pick the various drivetrain/suspension/safety options, and sell the build to the customer. This way they can choose the exact power level, suspension style, wheels and colors they want - and we build it. I've accumulated four really nice rolling chassis for this "Build a Racer" (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=37) program, which I talk about more here (http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=37).
Each one of these builds, and more I'm not even allowed to show, get the same type of photographs and "build thread" treatment for the owners, via giant emails. This takes a lot of time but it allows the owners to see their cars being built along every step of the way - just like our forum build threads.
House Cleaning - Vorshlag Clearance (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51)
We hired a summer intern and she 's helped us "find" a lot of Mustang parts in our shop that we have used and removed, or that some of our customers discarded after upgraded to something else. These parts are all still in great shape but just don't have a good home right now so we're blowing them out on our Clearance page (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51). These are the Mustang related parts:
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-HqwZwHv/0/M/i-HqwZwHv-M.jpg
Lots and lots of used 315mm Hoosier race tires, in A6 and R6 flavors. Amy used up 4 of these doing about 7 sessions that day at Full Tilt speed at an ECR track event 3 weeks ago, and they were still very fast. We have dozens left. I've just removed all of the Hoosier entries from the actual Clearance page (no longer willing to ship) because I lowered the price on these by 75% to only $100/set cash. This gets you a choice of the best 4 we have, but we won't ship them at that price - you've got to stop by and pick them up in person. We need the shop space more than we need the extra scrub tires for our own cars.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g4P6LsB/0/M/DSC_7396-M.jpg
Custom dual 3" stainless rear exhaust system for 2011-14 Mustang's. This is what we built using 3" 16-ga 304SS mandrel bends, two Flowmaster Series 44 409 stainless mufflers, two V-bands at the front, and with minimal work it should fit an OEM system at the "axle-back" connection. Fits better than any off-the-shelf ale back system with the stock Panhard, Whiteline Panhard or Whiteline Watts Link rear. We're blowing this one out cheap, and it could be shipped.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pgWJGN9/0/M/DSC_9956-M.jpg
The custom 10" plexiglass rear spoiler we built for our time in SCCA's ESP class has been sitting on a shelf since late 2012. I forgot we even had this until something on a shelf in front of this part was moved out of the way. It is in perfect shape and we would charged 2 or 3 times this much to hand make one like it. It is built to fit a 2010-12 rear trunk and is made to the absolute limit of the rear spoiler rules for Street Prepared category. Comes with all of the hardware needed to bolt it to the trunk (note: a handful of nut-serts will need to be added for the lower rear strut mounts)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-kQRQzkT/1/M/i-kQRQzkT-M.jpg
If that spoiler isn't your thing, maybe the big carbon fiber APR wing we used from 2012-2014 suits you better? Like the spoiler above, this also only mounts to the trunk so you don't have to cut into your fenders or anything else to add this. If you pick up a spare trunk, like we did (for $150), you can mount this wing to the spare and "swap trunks" between track days and street use.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-KcCsWVp/1/M/i-KcCsWVp-M.jpg
We acquired a brand new Magnaflow X-pipe for 2011-14 Mustangs that we're selling discounted by $100. It wasn't used on a customer's install and had been sitting on a shelf for months. It is brand new.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-W7GqgT6/1/M/i-W7GqgT6-M.jpg
This was one of the many Upper Control Arm and UCA mounts we tested in our car. This configuration is an unmodified UPR brand bolt-in upper mount with a Spohn Performance adjustable UCA with a Del-Sphere upper joint, also known as a Johnny Joint. Vorshlag customized the upper mounting bolt (larger) and made custom mis-alignment spacers. It works better than Spohn ever intended, but it makes a little noise, like many aftermarket UCAs do.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-r6B9fMn/1/M/i-r6B9fMn-M.jpg
Spohn Performance adjustable Panhard Rod, M5-105, built with 4130 chromemoly steel tubing and Del-Sphere ends. This unit worked fine and we used it until we upgraded to the Whiteline Watts Link kit.
Mustang 18x11" Wheel Fitment Video + New Sizes
When we bought this 2011 GT and started racing it immediately, in mid 2010, I was shocked at the utter lack of wide wheels that were offered to fit the S197. I mean it had been out since the 2005 model, but most folsk were still jacking around with 8 and 9" wide wheels, or worse, using 18x10 or 10.5" wheels that POKED out the fenders like mad. I bought a variety of wheels (1 of each) to test 18x9, 18x9.5", 18x10 and 18x10.5" sized on the front and back of our test mule, trying to fit as much as possible under stock fenders.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-sgwRDXw/0/S/DSC_5690-S.jpg http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-XpV2p5M/0/S/DSC_9794-S.jpg
After coming up empty handed we finally decided to pull the trigger and had our own 18x10" wheels made, which we calculated and verified would fit easily under stock fenders both front and rear. This D-Force 18x10 ET43 wheel was a success and now lots of other wheel makers have this exact same size. But I knew that we could fit more, so we did some more calcs and ordered 18x11" front and 18x12" rears, and made some suspension tweaks to make them fit with a 315 at both ends. We ran on this set-up for much of 2012-2013 before finally deciding to flare the fronts then the rears to fit 18x12s and even wider tires (335F/345R). the car only gets faster every time we up the tire and wheel width.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Forgestar-Wheels/i-x3h6Mzs/0/L/18x11a-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Forgestar-Wheels/22903835_kD44kk#!i=3297145675&k=x3h6Mzs&lb=1&s=A)
Click above for Hollywood quality video showing the tricks to install 18x11's on a Mustang (hint: its not Hollywood quality)
During 2013 we decided to try an 18x11" wheel for both ends, and came up with our proprietary fitment that uses radically different offsets on each end of the car. We have sold lots of 18x11" wheels now and have all the tricks and tips and this video above explains where the clearance is closest and the best way to have maximum room for street an track use. Jason and I made this video in about 10 minutes, so its not exactly Oscar worthy, but it gets the info across. We also touch on tire sizes to use on 10 and 11" wheels.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Forgestar-Wheels/i-F7jnfc5/0/L/_DSC7546%20copy%202-L.jpg
17×8.5 offsets from +6 to +50
17×9.0 offsets from +12 to +58
17×9.5 offsets from +19 to +65
17×10 offsets from +25 to +72
In addition to the many 18" sizes we've run on various cars, Forgestar has launched an F14 wheel in several new 17" sizes. We begged them to do this for racers that were asking for their style of "custom built" flow formed wheel process and these are finally coming on line. There is also another F14 size we've been asking them to make that is about to drop - an even wider 18x13" size. Look for this big 13" wide wheel on our 2011 Mustang soon, and we've got sets being built for C6 Z06 customers as well. Bigger really is better in this instance.
Global Time Attack at Road Atlanta - May 9, 2014
The two weeks after TWS and before our trip to Road Atlanta were extremely hectic at the Vorshlag shop. We had customer cars with insane deadlines and our guys were working extra hours to get caught up. That meant our pre-race prep on the Mustang was very very delayed.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-FqsBhcB/1/S/_DSC1296-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-FqsBhcB/1/X3/_DSC1296-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-CfC2ZfJ/1/S/_DSC1313-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-CfC2ZfJ/1/X3/_DSC1313-X3.jpg)
Since we were leaving on Thursday at 3 am, the car was quickly prepped and loaded in the trailer on Wednesday. The guys pushed some fresh Motul RBF600 fluid through each corner to make sure it was bled and clean, the same set of 335F/345R Hoosier A6 tires from TWS were left in place, 8 fresh quarts of Mobil1 15W50 synthetic oil and a Wix filter were swapped, and the car was given a good pre-race tech inspection. Shop Manager Brad noted the XP20 Carbotech front brake pad depth was only 1/2 thickness, and asked me where the spare pads were.... err... good question. "I think they are in the trailer". I went to get the trailer, no spare pads. Crap. This WAS the spare set of pads. "No worries, we'll manage", I said. We have 3" front brake ducting, so the pad won't get that hot. Ha.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Fluids/i-XZLZrQv/0/S/DSC1002-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Fluids/i-XZLZrQv/0/X3/DSC1002-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Fluids/i-m5KftV7/0/S/DSC1007-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Fluids/i-m5KftV7/0/X3/DSC1007-X3.jpg)
Note: getting in a rush does not excuse the mistakes I made in this pre-race prep. We tend to push our own car to the back of the line when it comes to shop time, behind paying customers. My not taking the braking system needs and consumables seriously enough led to the accident below. Our Motul rep was shocked that we were still using RBF600 fluid on this somewhat fast and heavy Mustang. "You should ONLY use RBF660 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=275&products_id=548) on that car!" Motul RBF600 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=275&products_id=547) is great brake fluid, and appropriate for 90% of our road course customers, but the boiling point is a touch lower than their 660 fluid. We've been pushing the limits of brake system sanity in this 3800 pound car and I knew that our measured caliper temps were nearing the boiling point of RBF600. Don't ignore advice from your suppliers and don't ignore the data you are taking. Learn from my mistakes.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SrW9Mzj/0/L/Road_Atlanta_track_map.svg-L.jpg
This Road Atlanta GTA event was the only "close" event on their 2014 schedule, and its at the same track as NASA Nationals East this year. It made sense early in the season to add this GTA @ Road Atlanta event to our own 2014 race schedule. Having never even been to Road Atlanta, much less driven it, we knew that I needed to get some track time there before going to NASA Nationals. This road course is notoriously tricky, and ATL locals tend to have a massive advantage over newbies at this track.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-hgRW5Sw/1/S/_DSC1378-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-hgRW5Sw/1/X3/_DSC1378-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-w7qZKhk/1/S/_DSC1366-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-w7qZKhk/1/X3/_DSC1366-X3.jpg)
Even though the GTA series is ultra competitive, we were there for NASA practice more than anything else. Our car isn't built around the GTA rules/tires and the Hoosier A6 tires we run dumped us into their top class, Unlimited RWD. Turns out that the top 2 fastest cars for the entire GTA field of 43 competitors were in this class, hurray. This was a crazy "combo" event weekend with GTA, Formula D drifting, and 3 classes of Trans Am racing all happening over the same 3 days. GTA was to run a compressed schedule with one early morning Thursday practice, then 3 timed sessions Friday (almost back to back), and three more on Saturday (also within quick succession). The drifting was off and on all day and went late into the night, and the Trans Am practice, qualifying and racing was in between. It was a hectic schedule, but our GTA bits were all grouped together.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-XV6Xzxq/1/S/_DSC1342-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-XV6Xzxq/1/X3/_DSC1342-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-9GKMzgD/1/S/_DSC1301-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-9GKMzgD/1/X3/_DSC1301-X3.jpg)
Todd Earsley drove the 15 hours solo from Dallas to run GTA in his street tire shod EVO
Since we had a 15 hour tow from Dallas to Atlanta, and Amy was already taking 2 days off work, we wouldn't make the early Thursday practice. We left in the trailer from our house at about 3 am Thursday morning with Amy, shop manager Brad and photo guru Brandon in tow. We drove 850 miles across 5 states, straight through and arrived in time to eat dinner near our hotel Thursday night. We got up and made it the 10 miles to the track early Friday morning to find a paddock spot and unload. Once there we found a few Texas folks in attendance, including MyShopAssist/FrictionCircleFab/NASA and USCA competitor Todd Earsley in his EVO, SPL Parts/NASA racer Sean Farrah in his boosted Nissan 300ZX, and NASA TT competitor Josh Garcia in his Toyota V8 powered AE86.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-RH2rQtV/0/L/RoadAtlanta-L.jpg
We got to the track Friday morning with plenty of time, found the registration center and got our credentials to get in the gate, then we worked our way through the maze of infield roads trying to find the paddock. We asked directions from parking folks 3 times and were told to go 3 different places. We even found Todd Earsley in the infield maze of roads, who threw his hands up and just followed us. It was crazy confusing, and after coming back from this event I've found a map of the RA paddock areas and better understand why - there are TWO pit rows and TWO separate paddocks. The "infield" or "Pro" paddock and the "TT" paddock and pits set outside the track, across the T12-T1 front straight. If you learn anything from reading this post, it is to learn to ask WHICH paddock you need to pit in at Road Atlanta, and to NEVER underestimate this track's abuse of your braking system. More on that in a moment. They put all of the Trans Am and GTA cars in the left "TT" paddock and the Formula Drift cars were in the right or "Pro" paddock.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-tSh4GzZ/1/S/_DSC1451-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-tSh4GzZ/1/X3/_DSC1451-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-Tm9TshK/1/S/_DSF7028-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-Tm9TshK/1/X3/_DSF7028-X3.jpg)
Josh Garcia's Toyota V8 powered AE86 Celica is always a popular car in the pits and on track
We unloaded the car from the trailer, and while I went to the driver's meeting Amy and Brad gave the car a quick wash at a nearby garden hose. They were drying it off, applying the GTA number boards, and checking fluids when we I got back. At this meeting the GTA staff warned us that this track was pretty treacherous and that they wouldn't be surprised if there were multiple crashes and car carnage. They were right.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-q59Rbcq/1/S/1499000_687314144668399_4921311928526972890_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-q59Rbcq/1/X3/1499000_687314144668399_4921311928526972890_o-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-Krm3GSs/1/S/1913431_687314888001658_2928426589861380486_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-Krm3GSs/1/X3/1913431_687314888001658_2928426589861380486_o-X3.jpg)
Left: I'm talking with Sean Farrah in the pits before we went out in session 2. Right: Sean is a behind me here in his 300Z TT
We brought two sets of wheels and tires with us - a fairly well abused set of Hoosier A6 tires that had 2 hard weekends on them already and the semi-fresh set of 335/345 A6s that we had used for one weekend with NASA @ TWS two weeks earlier. The older, scrub set was a mis-matched mess: I had loaned out one of these 18x12" front wheels a while ago to Todd to test on his EVO, and it still had an old 315/30/18 A6 mounted to it. The matching 18x12" front wheel was brand new from Forgestar and not even powdercoated yet, and mounted with an old 335/30/18. We didn't realize we were missing the 315mm mounted wheel until moments before we left Dallas, but Todd grabbed it and brought it to Road Atlanta with him.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-z5sPdDS/1/M/20140509_103938-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-z5sPdDS/1/X2/20140509_103938-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-rB59GgS/1/M/20140509_124118-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-rB59GgS/1/X2/20140509_124118-X2.jpg)
Left: After the GTA Session 1 results I was in 8th overall. Right: I found a 1.4 seconds in session 2, moving up to 7th
Vorshlag Photo and Video Event Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/
The above photos by Brandon Lajoie, Brad Maxcy, J Deck Galery, and some re-posted from social media sources
Results: Not yet posted so we made this Unofficial Results Sheet (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-qkbMzMK/0/X2/GTA-RA-results-2014-X2.jpg).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-73mrjC4/1/S/_DSF7014-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-73mrjC4/1/X3/_DSF7014-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SQ4RRSK/1/S/_DSF7018-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SQ4RRSK/1/X3/_DSF7018-X3.jpg)
After swapping to our "test" tires, which were terrible, we never got a chance to put on the good ones
I figured Friday's first 2 or 3 sessions worth of laps would be throw-away times, since I was a total newbie here and intended to make as many laps as possible to learn this new track layout. So we mounted the worst set of mis-matched tires and put the 315mm on the inside (RF) corner, since it would see the least lateral loading. Contrary to what the sidewall numbers might lead you to think, the 315/30/18 and 335/30/18 Hoosier A6 tires are both exactly the same diameter (25.6" tall (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hoosier&tireModel=A6)), so it shouldn't throw off speed sensors/ABS system due to side-to-side tire diameter differences.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-QtTZ8dD/1/S/10344295_687314271335053_8509870563243325554_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-QtTZ8dD/1/X3/10344295_687314271335053_8509870563243325554_o-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-5NSMdCB/1/S/10355497_687314528001694_2055069581487935140_o-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-5NSMdCB/1/X3/10355497_687314528001694_2055069581487935140_o-X3.jpg)
They put us into two run groups sort of at random for the first session, and told us that based on those time's they would split the field in half and grid us by speeds. We got to grid early and got out first for the first session. There were a few faster cars that I let by immediately, during the warm up lap, who obviously knew this track better than I did. I tried to keep up with one of those but he checked out going over the "bridge" turn (T11). I quickly pointed by then tucked in behind Sean Farrah to follow his 300Z through this unfamiliar course. Unfortunately he was just as new to RA as I was, so it was more of the blind leading the blind, heh. We had a long first session and I ran until the checkered flag came out. The tires got greasy after the first 2-3 laps but they are A6s and I'm used to that. I still managed a 1:38.434 best lap, which was 8th fastest overall for the first set of sessions, and that put me in the "A" grid. This was one of my last laps in that long session and the tires were VERY hot by that point, so I knew there was a lot left in the car once I gained some course familiarity and confidence on the 5 or so TOTALLY BLIND corners. I had taken 11 laps in the first session
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-r9SdWBc/1/L/_DSC1467-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-r9SdWBc/1/X3/_DSC1467-X3.jpg)
After making 11 hot laps and seeing the checkers for session 1, I took a cool down lap and came into our paddock spot. I hopped out, yanked off my heavy driving suit, had a quick download with Brad and Amy. "MAN this track is intense!!!", I kept saying. Even through ambient temps were around 77°F it was VERY HUMID and my driving suit was soaked. My laps from this session were pretty ragged and I had failed to watch enough lap videos or practice this course in any driving simulators - mistake. I had some great track notes from TT racer Marc Sherrin, who had driven here at a Chin Motorsports event in a rental 5.0 Mustang just two weeks prior, but it wasn't gelling in my brain AT ALL and I had no idea where to turn in for T1, T3, T6, T11 or T12. Turn 11 was especially daunting, which is the uphill, blind, FAST turn over a hill as you go under the famous bridge that cross the track. I'm not ashamed to say that Turn 11 was absolutely terrifying - fast, completely blind, soaked in danger if you screw it up, and with virtually no visual clues to learn from. "Take it flat", they all said... "Are you NUTS!?!" my id replied, on every lap.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-HgbC93d/1/S/_DSC1617-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-HgbC93d/1/X3/_DSC1617-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-bGsx7D5/1/S/_DSC1605-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-bGsx7D5/1/X3/_DSC1605-X3.jpg)
We topped off the fluids and fuel and got ready for session 2, about 30 minutes later. I noticed zero fuel slosh problems on this mostly right hand turn track, by the way - even getting the fuel somewhat low in the long first stint I took. We checked the front brake pads and they were looking a bit worse for wear, but we didn't have any spares in the trailer like we thought. BIG mistake. "Don't worry", I told them, "I just need to take a few more recon laps, then I'll bring it in". We would then have just enough brake pad left for a few sessions of 1-2 hot laps on Saturday, if I could just pick up this layout today. Famous last words.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-nvX9sXX/1/S/_DSF7042-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-nvX9sXX/1/X3/_DSF7042-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-CxC3KbB/1/S/_DSF7002-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-CxC3KbB/1/X3/_DSF7002-X3.jpg)
The Trans Am cars were paddocked all around us. We met some nice folks with good advice about this track
Grid A second session almost got rained out, and the B Grid got some sprinkles when they went out. This time I got to the pits early again, but they lined up cars sort of in order of times and I went out in a pack of cars about the same speed as me. I think I made a few passes and was passed about 3 times, and again stayed out and made a lot of hot laps in a row. More than I'm used to doing in this heavy car, but the brake pedal felt fine. The same well used A6 tires worked great for the first two laps, then fell off heavily to a certain point and stayed there. I slowed down after lap 2, as expected, but after about the 4th lap, the longer I stayed on track the faster I was getting. Corners were finally stringing together, I was "less lost" in Turns T2 through T5, I felt like I knew what to do to put Turns T6 and T7 together, etc. Turns T11 and T12 were still kicking my ass, but I had one more session Friday and 3 on Saturday to get that right.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-S8D23GF/0/L/GTA-Session2-Terry-050914-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/39065467_sGv9pN#!i=3239748436&k=S8D23GF&lb=1&s=A)
In-car video from my first hot lap in session 2 is shown above. It was a 1:37.28, which was with the same very worn mis-matched A6 tires at their best temperature. More importantly I was keeping up with the blue 350Z of Sasha Anis ahead of me, which was a more powerful car and he ended up with a 1:28.0 on day 2. A lot of drivers made significant time drops on the 2nd day, with the rain gone and the track rubbered-in from the Trans Am and GTA racers. Todd dropped 10 seconds from Day 1 to Day 2 best times, as did many others.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-wHzGdFL/1/S/_DSC1480-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-wHzGdFL/1/X3/_DSC1480-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-PBmXJqR/1/S/_DSC1666-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-PBmXJqR/1/X3/_DSC1666-X3.jpg)
According to the data logger I took 8 hot laps in session 2. Then all Hell broke loose.
So after the Hoosiers fell off a bit I kept making laps, pushing 9/10ths or so, desperately feeling my way through T11 like a blind man. With walls surrounding both sides of nearly the entire track, steep elevation changes everywhere, BIG nasty curbs that could upset a battleship, and five corners that are over rises, it was the hardest track I've ever driven. Cars were dropping like flies - blowing motors, ripping splitters off, going off track, etc. By the end of day one I heard that half the GTA cars had dropped out (some made repairs and got back out on day 2). I kept pounding out laps, trying to soak it all in.
Again, in the 2nd session the car felt pretty consistent after the tires fell off about 2 seconds, after the first lap in this session. But learning the track was making up for the tires falling off and still I was dropping time late in the 2nd session. I made a 7th best lap time of a 1:37.015 with tires that we later noticed were absolutely FRIED. Down to the base rubber, zero tread left on the fronts or rears.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-qNpSpLB/1/L/_DSC1549-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-qNpSpLB/1/X3/_DSC1549-X3.jpg)
I still hadn't taken turns T11 or T12 at any respectable rate of speed, since I couldn't seem to find any visual markers to "line me up"... yes yes, I had 20 people giving me advice about "go under the red light" under the bridge, or "aim for the top left window in that medical building" over the horizon. It just wasn't working and I was still very slow through these last 2 corners. And those corners dictated the next long straight past the start finish.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SWb5DkD/1/S/_DSC1634-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SWb5DkD/1/X3/_DSC1634-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-fHgCmzc/1/S/_DSC1661-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-fHgCmzc/1/X3/_DSC1661-X3.jpg)
On lap 8 I was on a good lap, finally seeing a 1:36 indicated on the predictive lap timer, finally with no traffic, but I wasn't pushing it any harder than I had been the whole session - the corners were just finally coming together. I was motoring down the LONG back straight and could see two cars entering Turn 10A as I went to go grab the brakes, doing about 150 mph. WHOOMP! Pedal goes straight to the floor, nothing happened. No brakes. Shit!
Most racers will mentally practice for this very situation. You should also practice a stuck throttle pedal, having a flat tire, and a few other "bad things might happen" scenarios. This way, when Bad Things happen (given enough time, it all happens) you know what to do automatically. In 27 years of driving on road courses I've had exactly one other sudden and complete loss of brakes before, in my 2013 Mustang on the OEM pads/small front rotors, I went off track after a 120 mph braking zone at ECR, and I was doing about 80mph when I left the track. I had time to downshift, pump the brakes a bit, try to use the E-brake, etc. THIS time it happened FAST and the loss of brakes was COMPLETE. I was going a lot faster here, the braking zone was steeply downhill, and the run-off area option was not very friendly. This wasn't just loss of pad material like last time, it was a total and immediate loss of hydraulic system pressure.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-7zWbM79/1/L/10257914_687315381334942_2984025744976640444_o-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-7zWbM79/1/X3/10257914_687315381334942_2984025744976640444_o-X3.jpg)
Last time we saw the front end intact and all one color for a few months...
As it often happens in a crash, my perception of time Slowed Down: I quickly evaluated options. There was a wall immediately off track to my right, a gravel trap just off track ahead, and two cars negotiating Turn 10B to my left. Pulling an e-brake could shed a tiny bit of speed but potentially lock the rear tires, put the car into a spin, and likely punt me into a wall. Or into the gravel trap sideways - and flip. Going left and "short cutting" Turns 10A-10B through the grass wasn't an option because I'd likely collect one if not both of the cars slowly exiting 10B right in front of me. So going off track straight ahead was my safest option. I managed a quick 5-4 downshift, as I would normally here while braking (and even go down to 3rd gear), but grabbing 3rd at 150 mph would only mechanically over-rev the motor and lock up the rear tires. According to the Solo DL, I left the track doing 142 mph, so the downshift was good for a tiny reduction of speed via engine braking.
Now of course we always video EVERY lap of every session Amy or I drive, to catch good laps as well as bad things like this - to hopefully learn from it. But we goofed didn't pull any video off the same SD card in this vidcam for 4 race weekends in a row, and the 1080P camera filled the card during the 2nd hot lap of this session. So we have no video of the crash. Sadly I always check the vidcam before a session starts, and would have realized "oh, this won't record, it must be full" and swapped cards before the next session. Just happened to fill up during the worst session of the weekend. We still have plenty of pictures of the shunt thanks to some sharp eye'd shutter bugs.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gbTmzhC/0/S/Drift%20Smoke%20-6-X2-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-gbTmzhC/0/X3/Drift%20Smoke%20-6-X2-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-FDChGVq/0/S/Drift%20Smoke%20-11-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-FDChGVq/0/X3/Drift%20Smoke%20-11-X3.jpg)
I hit the gravel trap and was going through it at an angle towards the bridge. There were big berms/walls on both sides of the bridge span that I didn't want to nose into, and my hope was to shed speed in the gravel, likely lose the splitter, and get back on track and under that bridge without hitting any walls or the 2 cars ahead of me. And that's what happened, but the impact LEAVING the gravel trap was INCREDIBLE. There was about an 18" earthen berm that marked the border of the gravel trap and that's what got me airborne....
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jKrBSFM/1/L/GTA-crash-RA-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jKrBSFM/1/O/GTA-crash-RA.jpg)
This vertical impact is what broke my back, and while I didn't know that for certain for a few days, I knew a new level of PAIN. The hit knocked the wind out of my lungs and I couldn't breath for about 90 seconds. My entire spine started spasming and it was the most intense pain I've ever felt. The left front tire blew and both front wheels bent going over the 18" vertical berm, but I still left the gravel trap with the ability to steer, doing about 90 mph, with no brakes. The momentum took the car up the hill to the bridge and I was just coherent enough to know that I was closer to the pits than a corner station - I remembered seeing where the ambulance was parked. I checked and since nobody was close to me from behind, I rolled into Pit In just past T11, rolled down and then up the pit road and pulled over right next to the Medical Building. I shut off the engine in gear to slow then stop, and was less than 5 feet from where the ambulance was parked.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-KCG6C4z/1/L/_DSC1750-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-KCG6C4z/1/X3/_DSC1750-X3.jpg)
Brandon was sitting on pit wall and snapped a few pictures of me coming off track. It took him a second to realize that the car ... didn't look right. The splitter was gone and part of the lower bumper and front flares were ripped off. He saw me pop the belts, roll out of the car and lay on the ground, which I did to try to get my diaphragm working and to be able to draw a breath. He thought I was checking under the car, walked up and then heard me moaning in pain.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-n42L5mt/1/L/_DSC1754-L.jpg
It felt like someone was stabbing me in the back, and I still couldn't breath. The ambulance crew was on me in about 20 seconds and tried to immobilize me, learning that I had intense back pain. They checked me out for feeling in my legs, but by then I could breath and talk and kept trying to stand up - against their wishes. They wanted to load me into the ambulance and cart me off to a hospital but I was having none of it. I waited until the next Monday to get X-rays, and then saw the broken bones. It was a hard hit, and I think most of my damage (compression fracture to vertebrae T-11 and broken rib at T-12) happened where the pictures show me coming OUT of the gravel trap. There was about an 18" high ridge of dirt they cut into the ground for the hole for the gravel pit which launched the car about 2 feet into the air.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-PwCDS5q/0/L/GTA-clouds-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-PwCDS5q/0/O/GTA-clouds.jpg)
After 27 years of doing this stuff, dozens of offs at all sorts of speeds, this is the first time I got hurt. I was drenched in my driving suit and badly overheated, but they got me into the air conditioned medical building 20 feet away, cooled me down, and gave me two bottles of water which I guzzled. Getting out of the drenched driving suit helped cool me down, and they checked my vitals a couple of times. Amy was on the scene pretty quickly and wanted me to go to the hospital, but I was stubborn and stupid, and walked the 1/2 mile back to our paddock spot. Well, limped back while leaning on Amy. ;)
This all happened at about 11:45 am, and while there was one more GTA session left there was no way I was driving and the car looked like crap. Brad came to fetch the car from Medical and after about 30 minutes it has SOME brake pedal and could be stopped, carefully. He pulled remnants of the brake ducts and splitter mounts off, noting some green fluid and a crushed air conditioning condenser. We don't run any anti-freeze and we figured out later it was just freon and whatever crud they use in the A/C system. Amy limped it back to our paddock spot with the mushiest pedal EVER.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-NDx6Cck/1/S/_DSC1474-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-NDx6Cck/1/X3/_DSC1474-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-sBR23kz/1/S/_DSC1591-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-sBR23kz/1/X3/_DSC1591-X3.jpg)
These two cars went on to clobber me 1-2 in Unlimited RWD. Somehow my limited running time still held onto 3rd place
The car was relatively fine, but I was not, and I was pissed - at myself for not feeling any drop off in braking, not feeling any warning at a total brake system failure, and ignoring the other signs (pads). Looking at the brakes after the shunt, the rear pads were down to about 1/4 thickness but the fronts were down to 1/8th, at best. While they loaded up our gear and got another tire & wheel installed I fought through pain and brief stints of back spasms for a few hours. Somehow in there I did a 10 minute videotaped interview with Whiteline, standing in front of the car. I don't remember much of that. I mostly just lied down in the trailer that afternoon, and we knew our weekend was over.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-6cJQPnC/1/S/_DSC1763-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-6cJQPnC/1/X3/_DSC1763-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-BfSgngh/1/S/_DSF7045-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-BfSgngh/1/X3/_DSF7045-X3.jpg)
Brad was shoveling gravel out of the car and removing the brake duct hoses - there's still gravel coming out weeks later
Amy and Brandon had called our hotel and managed to check out of our 2 rooms by 12:15, raced into town and got all of our gear, while Brad and I watched part of one of the Trans Am races. We stuck around for another few hours so Brandon could shoot some more pics of the GTA drivers and paddock, but we decided to leave early and head back to Dallas by about 4:30 pm. I was a wreck and that was the most miserable drive. We made it about 5 hours, with me downing Advil and applying Icy-Hot patches several times, then stopped for the night. We got back on the road Saturday morning and made it back by about 3 pm, and I laid on the couch for the next 36 hours.
When I got back to shop on Monday I made a doctor's appointment and the guys unloaded the car, and we saw the extent of the damage. It wasn't as bad as my back, that's for sure, and we had it fixed and back on track for Amy to drive a mere 10 days later. The actual repair work only took about 2 days and not many parts.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-qkbMzMK/0/L/GTA-RA-results-2014-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-qkbMzMK/0/X2/GTA-RA-results-2014-X2.jpg)
I'm trying to see the good side to this event, so please humor me while I bench race a bit here, heh. Since there's not a results page up on the GTA website for this event yet I put this page (above) together from a Facebook data dump they posted. Looks like my session 2 times from Friday were still faster than about 29 other GTA drivers (14th overall) with only 19 laps taken on this course, using a very worn out set of mis-matched tires. Many drivers picked lots of time on Saturday, including fellow NASA Texas TT competitor Todd Earsley, who dropped a staggering 10 seconds on Day 2.
The TT3 track record at Road Atlanta is a 1:29.64 (linked here (http://www.nasa-tt.com//Southeast_Track_Records)), so I needed to drop about 8 seconds to be competitive, yet the ST3 track record is a 1:35.3, set just this last weekend (same rules as TT3). Knowing where I typically place relative to Todd's EVO when he is racing on street tires, like he was at GTA, I think I can bench race my way there. For a few weeks after this event I was NOT going to ever go back to this track, but after a bit of time and healing, I'm now thinking... yea. Gotta get back on that horse. We'll do NASA Nationals, and the Test day before. I am hoarding sets of Hoosiers now to be able to take at least 2 sticker sets + a set of R6s to test on for Nationals at the end of August. Its gonna be hot!
Lessons Learned + Brake System Upgrades + Safety Gear
We've had 5 weeks to investigate the car, and think about what went wrong. Please learn from my mistakes.
1. Don't ever take your braking system for granted. If you are tracking your car at a road course, make sure you have adequate and fresh brake fluid. Fresh brake pads and un-cracked rotors. For heavier and faster cars, seriously consider brake cooling. And if you have one of the heaviest/fastest cars on the grid, consider MORE brake cooling.
2. Don't skimp or shortcut on your safety gear. Fires, rollovers and crashes don't care that wearing all of that gear is inconvenient, costly or cumbersome. Get a quality set of 6-point racing harnesses and make sure they are TIGHT. Wearing a Head and Neck device is a pretty smart use of safety gear, and a fire-retardant driving suit/gloves/shoes is also a smart investment.
3. If you are to the point of investing in aerodynamic aids and aero testing to lower lap times, its probably long past time to have already installed a full roll cage.
4. When going to a new (to you) track and you want to get up to speed quickly, watch some good in-car videos and/or find this track in a driving simulator video game and invest the time to learn the track before you arrive.
Yep, I know... I'm not following my own advice here, but I'm working on all of these things.
continued below
last one for the day
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Gn2ZzwZ/1/S/_DSC2621-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Gn2ZzwZ/1/X3/_DSC2621-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VP8mdQt/1/S/_DSC2645-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VP8mdQt/1/X3/_DSC2645-X3.jpg)
The front pads were very worn after the Road Atlanta event. There was less pad thickness than backing plate thickness, as shown above. The front rotors were also DONE, with massive heat cracking on all of the surfaces. Those were both replaced with fresh Centric rotors and Carbotech XP20 pads and we won't do any more TT events without NEW pads at all four corners, and we'll keep full spares in the trailer (we usually do that already). The rear brakes looked fairly worn and after the first HPDE session at ECR 2 weeks later they were replaced at the track with a new set of spare Carbotech pads. The brake pedal was still mushy as crap after we got the car back from Atlanta, and the fluid looked like coffee. It had gotten HOT and boiled, as simple as that. THAT is what ultimately caused the loss of brakes...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-FjtzKFx/1/S/i-FjtzKFx-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-FjtzKFx/1/X3/i-FjtzKFx-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-6Qp947b/1/S/i-6Qp947b-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-6Qp947b/1/X3/i-6Qp947b-X3.jpg)
But why did they boil? Two reasons: 1) I was driving longer stints than we designed the car for and 2) the worn and thin brake pad material wasn't thick enough to insulate the brake fluid in the calipers from the 1000+ degree rotors. We have since upgraded the Mustang to Motul RBF660 with a complete fluid flush. The Motul 660 looks light brown right out of the bottle, not clear like the RBF600 does when new. We had just flushed another car (see above pics) with 660 and that's what it looks like, fresh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-t4FMkxg/1/S/_DSC2624-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-t4FMkxg/1/X3/_DSC2624-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w6XddGV/1/S/_DSC2639-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w6XddGV/1/X3/_DSC2639-X3.jpg)
And even though these extended driving stints are very atypical for us in NASA TT, we went ahead and upgraded the front brake ducts from 3" to 4" on the front of the car, and plumbed the system with 4" flex tubing.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-6txhL8f/0/L/_DSC4856-L.jpg
For 99.5% of you reading this the 3" backing plate + hose kits (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=634) we already make (we now have the hoses as an option) are more than adequate for HPDE or even TT use. Our shop guys are building the 4" backing plates now (below right), but we ran it with the 4" hoses and front openings at ECR already and saw a 60 degree drop in front caliper temps. This weekend at Hallett will be an even better test.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-s6DMGzM/1/S/DSC_2939-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-s6DMGzM/1/S/DSC_2939-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-DMGsGCs/0/S/DSC_2941-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-DMGsGCs/0/X3/DSC_2941-X3.jpg)
Safety Gear Upgrades
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-w35qQF9/0/M/_DSF1268-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Toy-Run-ECR-12013/i-w35qQF9/0/X3/_DSF1268-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-hG3Pz2G/0/S/simpson_hybrid_pro_rage_fitted_L-S.jpg
I already wear an SFI 3-2A/5 driving suit, but its a very heavy material (read: cheap suit) and I'm going to upgrade to a more modern style that is about half the weight, and fitted better to my body than this giant Simpson STD.19. Having a lighter weight suit will make me wear it more often, especially during hot events, and reduce my chances of overheating my body. We're not going to use a cool suit, as that is overkill for our typical 2-3 lap stints. I borrowed a Simpson Hybrid Pro HANS device that I will use this weekend at Hallett, and if it works well I'll buy it for use for the rest of this season. Wearing a HANS device wouldn't have helped with the GTA shunt, which was an unusual force vector going almost straight up/down, but it would obviously help in a head-on or side impact crash.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Racing-Suits/i-vwDqHTN/0/L/SofiSuit-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Racing-Suits/41813211_5DB6Bp#!i=3313737565&k=vwDqHTN&lb=1&s=A)
I'll go with a new Alpinestar, Puma or Sparco suit soon. People might not know this, but we sell driving suits (it would help if they were listed on our website, I know), harnesses and all sorts of other safety gear - but we do. And if a driving suit comes in for local pick-up, our Operations Manager tests them out (see Sofi being a goof, above).
I've got a little bit more written but this post is getting too long, so I'll save that for another post later this week.
What's Next
More post-Road Atlanta Repairs - Pictures and details of the somewhat simple repairs + a short video showing what worn front S197 hubs sound like
FSF @ ECR - Track test after the car was repaired, where Amy drove the Mustang
Gas Monkey Bar & Grill Moto GT Bike Reveal / Car show - Sofi's charity bike build was unveiled at GMBG
NASA @ Hallett - Amy and I are racing the TT3 Mustang at the Hallett circuit this weekend with NASA and a record 41 TT competitors for this event
More soon,
Jucostud
06-22-2014, 09:22 PM
Good job at hallet this weekend! Was your back a problem? Or are you feeling better now?
Project Update for 28, 2014: In this project build thread update we will be showing more details of the repairs and upgrades to the TT3 Mustang after the shunt I had at RoadAtlanta in May. Next we cover another track day two weeks later at ECR, where Amy drove and tested out the repairs and brake system improvements. I talk a little about wheel bearings and have a video of what a bad S197 front wheel bearing sounds like. We also had a car show to attend in June with our Mustang to support a Vorshlag team member's custom Cafe Racer charity bike build. Finally I'll "weigh in" with more of my thoughts on the S550 Mustang's latest weight revelations. We'll save the NASA event at Hallett for the next installment.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g35GQQC/0/L/_DSC1549%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy%202-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-g35GQQC/0/O/_DSC1549%20as%20Smart%20Object-1%20copy%202.jpg)
Injury Report and Car Repairs after Road Atlanta Crash
When we got back from RA the car was a bit of a mess, but my back was in a little worse shape. I made a couple of doctor visits, where they X-rays and some pokes and prods, but not much else. I was determined to avoid any surgery and especially spinal fusion surgery. Both doctors said "avoid any load on your back, don't go to the gym, lets look at you again in about 6 to 8 weeks", so I've been sticking to that plan. I dealt with the pain by taking Aleve daily, used an ice pack at night to reduce swelling, wear a lower back almost brace every waking hour, and had to take Hydrocodone about a dozen times when the pain got really bad (all from my doc's advice). Never missed a day of work but there were probably a few times I should have gone home early. Pain makes me more of an a-hole than normal, but Sofi would just yell into my office "you need take a pill!" when I got too far out of hand.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ggNf4mW/1/S/20140513_172412-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ggNf4mW/1/X3/20140513_172412-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-W9tzTd4/1/S/20140522_072143-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-W9tzTd4/1/X3/20140522_072143-X3.jpg)
Sleeping has been very difficult, as all I had to do was roll on my side and the broken rib would spear me awake. I mostly slept sitting upright for the first 3 weeks and was getting about 2-3 hours a night. The rib finally felt like it was mended at about week 5 but the fractured vertebrae and nearby disc are taking a bit longer to heal. I don't have to exert myself or lift much weight to aggravate my back, so I keep the brace on most of the day. After 5 weeks away I finally made it back to the gym for some self-imposed physical therapy by week 6 and was off the pain pills and Aleve by then. It is week 7 now, I'm doing better, and have already completed two race weekends without any incident since the crash. It actually feels fine in a proper race seat and 6-point belts. With the next two months devoid of track events I can concentrate working at the gym to strengthen my back again.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bT8Xmnw/2/S/20140513_172432-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bT8Xmnw/2/X3/20140513_172432-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-CNh22S2/1/S/_DSC2600-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-CNh22S2/1/X3/_DSC2600-X3.jpg)
The damage to the car actually wasn't nearly as bad - after a lot of checks and measurements it is still perfectly straight and unbent, just taking some superficial, cosmetic damage. This level of vertical impact could have turned many chassis into a banana, but the S197 unibody is a tank. After 4 years of just calling it "The Red Car" around the shop, I think a nick-name of The Tank is more appropriate now. ;)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-PHPwxwF/0/S/i-PHPwxwF-S.jpg http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-f9vPqwW/0/S/Drift%20Smoke%20-6-S.jpg
The gravel trap took the splitter off, and when that left the car it damaged some other bits that were bolted to or nearby it. The bottom edge of the front bumper cover was ripped off, which is a section hidden by the CS lower fascia but still integral to its attachment. The left side's black factory "side skirt" was also mangled and half torn off, plus the lower portions of the front flares were damaged.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-37mf4sz/1/S/_DSC1984-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-37mf4sz/1/X3/_DSC1984-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-KPQtHFM/1/S/_DSC2607-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-KPQtHFM/1/X3/_DSC2607-X3.jpg)
The splitter we built is stout, and when it pushed back and came off it poked a hole in the A/C condenser, so that was removed and the lines capped for now. A replacement isn't costly (less than $120) but we have only used the A/C system once this year, during the Optima Street Car road rally, and it is limiting airflow to the Mishimoto radiator. One step of the repairs were to make some templates for patches of red race roll (plastic) to fix the flares. These fender flares are going to be completely replaced at some point (likely with a composite front fender that a buddy's shop is working on) but for now we just patched the broken lower edges - you can't even see the repairs at speed, not with the unpainted black bumper cover on the front to distract you.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-547VBc2/2/S/20140522_185004-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-547VBc2/2/X3/20140522_185004-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vHvdcQZ/1/S/_DSC2580%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-vHvdcQZ/1/X3/_DSC2580%20copy-X3.jpg)
A new front bumper cover and side skirt were acquired from Ford, then the bumper cover was modified on the upper edge to fit around the aluminum airbox we have built to route air from the lower grill opening to the (now) front of the radiator. This detail is hidden behind the upper grill block-off plate. We had a spare CS lower fascia (that a customer discarded due to a minor scratch) so that was attached to the new bumper cover and splitter before it was all re-installed. Some minor repairs to the radiator's aluminum duct work were needed as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZxbNNmZ/1/L/_DSC1986-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-ZxbNNmZ/1/X3/_DSC1986-X3.jpg)
The same splitter that came off in the crash was virtually unscathed, save a couple of rear mounting holes that tore out along with the mounting bolts. We made some new holes to move the rear mounting plate 1/2 inch forward, sprayed some paint on the scratched lower face, and it all went back on. Nobody said 3/16" 6061-T6 aluminum plate was light, but it is damned sure strong. I've seen plastic and composite splitters that came off in similar crashes, usually doing as much or more associated body damage, but the splitter is almost always completely destroyed in the process. Not this beast - it also cuts grass like a mofo!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TJgkLpb/1/S/front-repairs-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-TJgkLpb/1/X3/front-repairs-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-t4FMkxg/1/S/_DSC2624-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-t4FMkxg/1/X3/_DSC2624-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
Of course I am determined to not have this type of brake system failure again, and we've taken measures to that end, as shown in my last post. The 3" brake ducts, while more than adequate for so many S197 track drivers and racers, were not keeping the 14" front Brembos cool enough on our exceptionally heavy TT3 car (3802 pounds with driver). The Alcon temp strips indicating 490°F temps at the caliper should have been a BIG red flag, which I ignored (and we saw the results of that). That's near the boiling point of most hydraulic fluid and was just not a safe condition to leave the brakes at. So we have upgraded to larger 4" front bumper front duct opening using aluminum tubing and opening up the CS lower fascia from the 3" foglight hole with some careful cutting. You can see the new rear splitter mounting stanchion in the picture above right, and also where the old mounting holes in the splitter were torn out in the crash. That's all of the damage the splitter took.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bkWsvpX/0/L/mustang-fixed-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-bkWsvpX/0/X3/mustang-fixed-X3.jpg)
The new front brake cooling duct openings were routed with 4" hoses but necked down onto the old brake backing plates' 3" ducts. We ran out of time to make new brake backing plates before the ECR track event. I was also curious to see if the larger hoses and front openings would help the brake cooling when even with that smaller restriction at the rotor. Our guys here at Vorshlag got everything repaired, new brake pads/rotors/fluid, nut-and-bolt checked, re-aligned, weighed and corner balanced, and the front brake ducts/hoses upgraded in about 2 days time, then loaded the car into our trailer to verify the repairs at a local HPDE event at Eagles Canyon on May 24th - less than 2 weeks after the crash.
Front Wheel Hubs - Diagnosis and Repair
One of the common wear items on an S197 Mustang, and all cars for that matter, is the front hubs. We recently had to replace the fronts, so I made this little video to show what bad bearings sound like, and what it takes to replace them.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Tech-Tip-Videos/i-m8gW53B/0/L/Vorshlagb-s197-wheel-hub-repair-061814-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Tech-Tip-Videos/41952767_dJGF9k#!i=3328102311&k=m8gW53B&lb=1&s=A)
The video above shows what you should do for quick diagnosis, and should be on your pre-track check list. Every. Time. We check the hubs whenever we do any track inspections here, and we've found bad front hubs on Mustangs a number of times. This is actually the 4th set that we've replaced on our 2011 GT since we picked it up in August of 2010. As the grip levels and brake heat go up the lifespan of the hubs goes down. 4 sets of hubs in 4 years ain't bad, considering the lap times this heavy beast puts down and the brake heat numbers we've seen.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Ford-Racing-Products/i-FtFSBNh/0/S/j_DSC6333%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Ford-Racing-Products/i-FtFSBNh/0/X3/j_DSC6333%20copy-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Hnxwv53/1/S/_DSC6353-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Jan-Maher-50-Mustang-GT/i-Hnxwv53/1/X3/_DSC6353-X3.jpg)
We actually replaced these hubs after the ECR event (detailed below) but before we went to Hallett. They were fine before ECR but they weren't afterwards. Vorshlag stocks and sells this FMS-M-1104-A motorsports hub kit (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_270&products_id=658), which comes with the 3" ARP hardened wheel studs installed plus new spindle nuts (which are one-time-use nuts that need 250 ft-lbs of torque to seat). This kit is cheaper than buying new hubs and wheel studs separately, and they are already pressed in place.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Wheel-Spacers-Gallery/i-jGJ364d/0/S/_DSC7094-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Wheel-Spacers-Gallery/i-jGJ364d/0/X3/_DSC7094-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Wheel-Studs-and-Lug/i-cxss7mm/0/S/DSC2263-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Wheel-Studs-and-Lug/i-cxss7mm/0/X3/DSC2263-X3.jpg)
We also have a variety of wheel spacers for the S197 and our reduced (17mm) hex/enlarged taper lug nuts for this chassis. These are the same 1/2"-20 right hand lug nuts a Ford uses, but with a smaller hex drive to fit inside aftermarket "lug wells" with a deep socket with more clearance to the wheel. The larger OEM (19mm) hex lug nuts often won't work with some wheels with a tighter lug well (like Forgestars). These lug nuts and wheel spacers are what we use on our car, and they are located in a new section of our shopping cart we have created here (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=141_142_270).
Five Star Ford at ECR, May 24th, 2014
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-nRXTtCp/2/S/20140524_142736-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-nRXTtCp/2/X3/20140524_142736-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-SrfTMRv/2/S/20140524_142728-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-SrfTMRv/2/X3/20140524_142728-X3.jpg)
We had planned on attending this event many weeks earlier and I was bound and determined to make it back out there in our car, even if I wasn't going to be doing any driving. A big chunk of the Vorshlag crew came out to this Five Star Ford sponsored event at ECR on what turned out to be a beautiful Saturday in May.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-TMNDfqP/1/S/B61G1675-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-TMNDfqP/1/X3/B61G1675-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-KzrHH4L/1/S/B61G1643-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-KzrHH4L/1/X3/B61G1643-X3.jpg)
We brought our 2011 GT test mule to test the new brake upgrades and to verify the repairs after RA. Amy was driving all day and gave lots of people ride-alongs. Our crew worked on nearly 20 cars during the day, doing a lot of brake fluid flushes (replacing crap fluid), Carbotech brake pad swaps and other various trackside repairs.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-tWB99d7/1/L/B61G1605-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-tWB99d7/1/X3/B61G1605-X3.jpg)
Since Amy drew the short straw and didn't get to drive at Road Atlanta at all, this was to be her day of testing and track fun. We mounted up a set of 315mm A6 scrubs and had her on track for over 6 sessions that day - taking runs in all of the Red group sessions as well as some in Blue group.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-WfBXPrj/1/S/B61G1669-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-WfBXPrj/1/X3/B61G1669-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-VcH45qt/1/S/B61G1743-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-VcH45qt/1/X3/B61G1743-X3.jpg)
She took over a dozen riders that Saturday, which Jason and I kept funneling into the right seat of the Mustang - as well as funneling fuel into the Mustang's gas tank.
continued below
continued from above
I was also taking some pictures, talking to customers, and trying to help the guys work on a few cars (more on that in a second). Brad Maxcy, our shop manager and a racer himself, shot most of the pretty pictures in this write-up while working a long day fixing cars and brakes. You can see the images and video from this event in the gallery below.
Vorshlag's ECR picture and video gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/
I was itching to drive but Amy was hearing none of it, and in truth my back wasn't up for the somewhat bumpy ECR circuit. That didn't mean I took it easy, oh no... I was seriously stupid and helped work on a handful of the 20 cars that needed brake flushes, brake pad replacements or other work that day. Fully one third of the cars at this event needed help from our crew, and I'm glad we were there with some parts and the technicians to help install it all.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-6GMCMPF/2/S/20140524_140136-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-6GMCMPF/2/X3/20140524_140136-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-kxDpHVJ/2/S/20140524_114612-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-kxDpHVJ/2/X3/20140524_114612-X3.jpg)
Brad, Kyle and even our sales manager Jon were busy all day wrenching on cars, from the moment we got there until we left at around 5:30 pm. We knew we'd work on a few cars but this was a bit more than expected. Luckily we brought two cases of Motul brake fluid, lots of Redline synthetics, and 4 sets of Mustang brake pads - and we sold and installed every single one. I had warned the entrants at the driver's meeting that ECR would eat stock brakes, and we always try to put the word out beforehand to warn people to upgrade at least their fluid, but it still happens. Stock brake fluid SUCKS and has no business on a race track.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-hQK5kQK/2/S/20140524_101455-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-hQK5kQK/2/X3/20140524_101455-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-jMFJfDV/2/S/20140524_142740-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-jMFJfDV/2/X3/20140524_142740-X3.jpg)
It ended up being a long day for our guys, and my back was killing me from even just working the jack or some other trivial tasks. I didn't drive or ride in any cars that day, which hurt me even worse, though. I was going nuts just watching all of these folks have fun. I am a terrible spectator and a worse patient, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-6swHCKs/0/L/FSF-Amy-compilation-52414-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/41057591_BgSnZj#!i=3271982003&k=6swHCKs&lb=1&s=A)
Amy drove in fairly heavy traffic all day, and managed only one or two clear laps. She had riders on every session so she was only pushing the car 8- to 9/10ths but still managed a 1:59.0 on a lap shown in the video above. There's also some shots in there of Mike D spinning in his twin turbo 67 Camaro and some footage of my old ChumpCar teammates in the 1998 Firebird I helped them with for a bit before bowing out and letting them take over.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-tvrXqVZ/2/S/20140524_165723-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-tvrXqVZ/2/X3/20140524_165723-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-4FQScFD/2/S/20140524_165832-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-4FQScFD/2/X3/20140524_165832-X3.jpg)
This gutless 3.8L V6 powered 4th gen Firebird Chump racer looked pretty good out there and I was glad to see them finally get it back on track, as it hasn't run in about a year. The cage was welded in and completed by our friend Kurt at Janco Fab, using a cage kit I had purchased from Blainefab. Paul and Jason (shown above) took over the remainder of this build and finished up a lot of safety upgrades and other little odds and ends. It held together almost the entire day before the old transmission mount broke - and yet they kept driving it, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-4M7twBJ/1/S/B61G1619-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-4M7twBJ/1/X3/B61G1619-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-5QshgsC/1/S/B61G1637-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-5QshgsC/1/X3/B61G1637-X3.jpg)
I won't give away their lap times but they passed a lot of cars and a few 5.0L Mustangs in this 200 hp behemoth. Above right you can also see Shannon's 5.0 S197 on track; she had just started working at Vorshlag as our summer Engineering Intern. Her new True Street built motor was roaring down the front straight and she ran strong all day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-cMsBVTM/2/S/DSC_2745-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-cMsBVTM/2/X3/DSC_2745-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-8dW47kD/2/S/DSC_2731-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-8dW47kD/2/X3/DSC_2731-X3.jpg)
Mark C was quick, when he managed to stay on track and get a clear lap, heh. He had a quick off-and-on in Turn 11 and I barely caught the pic! Heather (Shannon's sister) was darned fast in the V6 5th gen Camaro, but she keeps burning the brakes off of this poor car. It needs a boatload more negative camber up front, as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-9h5B7tm/1/S/DSC_2654-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-9h5B7tm/1/X3/DSC_2654-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-QVnWQDz/2/S/20140524_181949-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-QVnWQDz/2/X3/20140524_181949-X3.jpg)
By the end of the day we were all exhausted but we had a lot of fun. Corey White and Jerry Cecco put on a heck of a good event and with 60+ drivers there were lots of smiles to go around that day. Thanks to Five Star Ford for sponsoring the lunch, too! A bunch of us went into town and ate dinner at Fuzzy's Taco Shop before heading home, which was delicious. The food was great and Jason somehow managed to keep the queso from that giant burrito out of his beard. ;)
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-CjJ9tdS/2/S/20140524_142118-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-CjJ9tdS/2/X3/20140524_142118-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-8dL38cL/2/S/20140524_141933-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-8dL38cL/2/X3/20140524_141933-X3.jpg)
We had some good test data and learned that the larger brake cooling ducts in the bumper cover and the 4" hoses made a significant difference, with max temps at the caliper seeing only 430°F all day, and Amy was brutal on the brakes.
She actually finished off the rear pads we had on from Road Atlanta after her 2nd session and our guys put on a fresh set of Carbotechs to let her finish the day (and they are still on the car 2 events later). We also learned that we can NEVER bring too many sets of brake pads to an event like this held at ECR... it we would have had 4 more sets we could have installed them all for folks. This track eats brakes, and the car's wheels above were gold before the day started.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-qhCTC6F/2/L/DSC_2696_1-L.jpg
Lots of fun and I'll post up the next time FSF holds an event at ECR. Great place to do your first event, and you'll see a lot of pony cars and other vehicles at this low key fun track event.
continued below
continued from above
GT Moto Bike Build Reveal at GMBG, June 15, 2014
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-8bZXWSF/1/L/20140615_124002-L.jpg
Vorshlag's own Sofi had an event we attended at Gas Monkey Bar & Grill. This place hosted her "bike reveal" where the Cafe Racer style motorcycle she and her dad hand built on June 15th, 2014. Many of the Vorshlag staff and friends came out to support this charity event, bought shirts and raffle tickets, and had a great time.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-2ktBqKQ/1/S/20140615_122337-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-2ktBqKQ/1/X3/20140615_122337-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-ptdkCfQ/1/S/20140615_123646-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-ptdkCfQ/1/X3/20140615_123646-X3.jpg)
"Texas Dave" was in town with his Pikes Peak EVO and he brought it out and showed it in the GMBG parking lot. We brought the Vorshlag TT3 Mustang and had it parked in the the small show area during the party as well. KC from the Fast-n-Loud show had his truck in the same area later that day, as he knows Sofi and came to the party.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-n5r9WT8/1/S/20140615_122321-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-n5r9WT8/1/X3/20140615_122321-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-LGFw4FV/1/S/20140615_124000-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-LGFw4FV/1/X3/20140615_124000-X3.jpg)
Sofi is our operations manager here at Vorshlag and schedules customer service work and supplies our shop guys with parts. She is also a decent fabricator and bike mechanic and races her various motorcycles as well, including her throw-back Cafe Racer style Honda (the blue one, shown above left). A lot of her friends and fans came out to support this event, and she's raised over $25K for charity with this bike build so far. We're all proud of her and respect the cause she's raising money for.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-nDtm5s7/1/L/DSC_2756-L.jpg
She and one of our fabricators Olof built the exhaust for this new bike at Vorshlag a couple of weeks earlier and used the same ICE Engine Works kit we use to make custom headers for our V8 swaps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-MbMWj59/1/S/20140615_150504-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-MbMWj59/1/X3/20140615_150504-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-WZkB2Q9/1/S/20140615_150550-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-WZkB2Q9/1/X3/20140615_150550-X3.jpg)
The bike reveal went really well and there were close to 100 people there to see the bike for the very first time. I hadn't seen it with the painted tank and trim work installed and it really came out looking amazing. This bike is being given away via a raffle, with a drawing on July 5th, and all proceeds go to St. Jude's hospital for cancer research. You can see more info about the raffle here: https://rafflecreator.com/pages/1379/gt-cafe-for-cause We all bought several tickets, and if I win it I'll do wheelies in our parking lot, then probably fall off and break my back.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-fBVb4pg/1/L/20140615_124330-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/GT-Moto-GMBG-091514/i-fBVb4pg/1/X3/20140615_124330-X3.jpg)
GMBG itself was actually really nice, even on this super hot day (it was well into the high 90s). There was a 90 minute wait to get a table inside but luckily for us, all of the folks who came for the Moto GT bike reveal had a private 2nd story air conditioned bar with front row seats to the bands that played on stage that day. The deck out over the pond surrounding the restaurant was also pretty nice. We ate and drank and had a great time. We've met most of the guys at GMG and they are all friendly, professional and passionate about hot rodding - and they provided the facilities for this party and raffle free of charge. He might be a little abrasive on the TV show but Richard Rawlings knows how to party and his bar and grill is a hopping place. I'm glad we could come out and bring a lot of friends to help support Sofi's charity. Again, if you want to purchase a raffle ticket the drawing is this weekend on July 5th, so good luck!
The New 2015 Mustang - What Does The S550 Chassis Weigh?
The last few weeks have been full of rumors and speculation about the new 2015 Mustang and what it will weigh. Steeda got a huge black eye when they "guessed" it the S550 would actually be gaining a few hundred pounds over the last generation, contrary to Ford's pronouncement of a weight loss. Motor Trend also had some guesstimations that were apparently pretty unflattering, and also not based on fact. Turns out Steeda never actually weighed a car, and the whole thing became an internet scandal labeled "2015 Mustang Weightgate" (http://jalopnik.com/mustang-may-weigh-a-few-hundred-extra-pounds-says-moro-1584907584).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2015-Mustang-Build/i-FFwxDCr/0/L/3704pounds-L.jpg
image above found on Jalopnik
The automotive car websites were going nuts, and even I got a call from a reporter at Jalopnik looking for real data - of which I had none. Turns out they finally got to the root of all of the mystery, the car gained less than 100 pounds (http://jalopnik.com/the-2015-mustang-gains-less-than-a-hundred-pounds-1590194961), which was shown after Ford leaked some semi-official weights, shown below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2015-Mustang-Build/i-wbB9TCb/0/L/2015-mustang-weight-chart-L.jpg
image above found on Jalopnik
So it was much ado about nothing... of course the S550 didn't lose weight. That wasn't really a possibility, and few if any new car models are getting lighter than any older generations - due to rising crash standards, technology complexity, and customer demands for more creature comforts. The Mustang would have to make a radical change in the chassis goals to lose pounds (remember the Ford Probe disaster??). No, the S550 is staying somewhat the same in size and power but getting new features and upgrades - like the Independent Rear Suspension and bigger 15" front brakes - so it gained a few pounds in the process. The 3704 pound number being thrown around is still 130 pounds lighter than a stripped 2014 Camaro Z/28, a $75K track toy that comes with race tires but no air con.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Subaru-Toyota-FT86/i-bc75s3w/0/L/GT86size-L.png
What strikes me as the most odd is the wild variety of car models that some folks are comparing the Mustang to, or trying to. Look at how much bigger the S197 is compared to a Genesis Coupe (which is fat and heavy too), a BRZ and an MX5, above. Am I supposed to believe that car people cross-shop Miatas with Mustangs? If they do, then they are VERY confused about what they want from an automobile. Even the turbo 4 and V6 Mustang will be so far removed from a flyweight 2 seat roadster like the MX5 as to be not in the same league. The S550 is really more of a new and improved S197, which itself was a RADICAL improvement over the Fox/SN95 chassis it replaced. The Fox/SN95 was based on a 1977 Ford Fairmont, and that's saying a lot.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/2014-Dallas-Auto-Show/i-Sfsz92R/1/S/20140223_105026-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/2014-Dallas-Auto-Show/i-Sfsz92R/1/X3/20140223_105026-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/2014-Dallas-Auto-Show/i-FhNhp3Q/1/S/20140223_105212-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/2014-Dallas-Auto-Show/i-FhNhp3Q/1/X3/20140223_105212-X3.jpg)
Of course Vorshlag will weigh several S550s when the first ones arrive at local dealerships, and our car will be here hopefully before the end of August. We have aggressive plans for track testing then upgrading the suspension, wheels, tires and more. Stay tuned for that new build thread, which I will link in this S197 thread.
What's Next?
NASA at Hallett, June 21-22 - This event went really well, and we beat our 2013 lap record by 3 seconds, but I borked the splitter in an "off" during the first Saturday session!
Repairs and Improvements after Hallett - I'll cover the upgrades and repairs we made after this last NASA event. My hack driving knows no limits... not even the TRACK limits.
Lone Star Drift at TMS, June 29, 2014- Drifter vs Road Racer Battle, aka: Drifters go Derp!
As the summer gets hotter here in Texas the track schedule falls way off, to keep drivers from overheating, so we don't have any NASA events scheduled again until September (unless we go to NASA Nationals East, August 31st at Road Atlanta). The "summer track break" around here means we have some openings on our service schedule. If you need some race prep, fabrication, seating, cooling, brake system or safety upgrades you've been putting off, let us know. Several of our long term development projects for V8 swaps are getting more attention as shop time is freed up, so we'll stay busy either way.
That's all I have time for in this sitting, but I'll cover the Hallett event and the TMS road course "drift vs grip" event in my next write-up.
Thanks,
Project Update for July 17th, 2014: Wow, I'm so behind. I wrote most of this entry two weeks ago but was waiting for some pictures and got busy doing other things. It ran long so I pulled a few events out and will show them in the next update. In this build thread entry we show upgrades to the TT3 Mustang after ECR, including a new driveshaft, new tires, new brake fluid, aluminum lower rear wheel spats added, and more. Then we cover the NASA at Hallett event write-up. the car was overheating (explained below), a bit pushy with too much wing, and we got rain in final CW session laps. Then we will talk about stuff for the next entry.
More TT3 Mustang Updates + New Parts
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Zh5R4Rp/1/L/_DSC4185-L.jpg
At long last we have ditched the stock 2-piece driveshaft and center bearing and replaced it with a 1-piece aluminum driveshaft. We used a Driveshaft Shop aluminum 3.5" diamet6er unit with a CV joint at the front, which is rated at 1000 hp.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fvr9Bdx/1/S/_DSC4183-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fvr9Bdx/1/X3/_DSC4183-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rQrmP9C/1/S/_DSC4187-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rQrmP9C/1/X3/_DSC4187-X3.jpg)
So, how much weight did this save us? Sadly, I don't really know. My shop guys forgot to weigh the new and old driveshafts when they did the swap - it was a hectic thrash to get ready for Hallett and weighing this was overlooked. The Driveshaft Shop website shows this to weigh 19 pounds, but you know how I trust everything I read on the interweb.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jLzt3VX/1/L/_DSC6964-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-jLzt3VX/1/X3/_DSC6964-X3.jpg)
The stock 2-piece driveshaft on the 2011-14 GT/Boss is HEAVY
The old stock driveshaft was still here so I just had our guys weigh it today. A hair over 37 pounds, so this upgrade might have lost 18 or so pounds, if the stated weight of the 1-piece unit is correct. Driving the car after this mod produced no adverse effects, or any noticeable benefits. A customer sold this one to us after we did a Tremec Magnum XL swap for the stock Getrag MT-82, so it was a cheap upgrade for us. We actually sell Dynotech Engineering driveshafts and will get them on our website eventually.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pT6qGkM/0/S/_DSC4397-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-pT6qGkM/0/X3/_DSC4397-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VQ4MVdn/1/S/_DSC4351-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-VQ4MVdn/1/X3/_DSC4351-X3.jpg)
I've spoken about the upgrade we made to the 4" brake ducts at the front bumper opening and the hoses but before we ran the ECR test we ran out of time to make the new 4" ducted backing plates. Well now we had the time, and engineer Jason had procured a new Ford part number to test with. This OEM stamped steel backing plate is a different diameter than the one we used for previous batches of 3" ducted plates (based off the 14" Brembo equipped cars) and turns out it was easier to use with the 4" hole than the smaller 3" hole, plus it had some other advantages.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-sVqGjGN/2/S/_DSC4425-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-sVqGjGN/2/X3/_DSC4425-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rKBzT5n/2/S/_DSC4429-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-rKBzT5n/2/X3/_DSC4429-X3.jpg)
This different OEM backing plate version has a deeper dish to the hub clearance area which allows for more even flow inside the rotor ring itself, and should get more air to the hub bearing. We have tried 4 different backing plates from various S197 cars and this one fits the tightest to the rotor and has more room inside to spread air to the right places, so we've switched ALL of our S197 ducted backing plates to this new part number. We have a big batch of the OEM back plates being bead blasted this week so we'll make a run of these 4" ducted plates soon and put them in the same section as the 3" plates. The production 4" plates will have an oval duct on the backing plate, and not round like the prototypes built for our TT3 Mustang.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2013-NASA-Nationals-at-Miller/i-4CpBg9m/1/L/_DSC2750-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2013-NASA-Nationals-at-Miller/i-4CpBg9m/1/X3/_DSC2750-X3.jpg)
Again, unless you are KILLING your brakes and already have 3" ducted fronts, the 4" plates might be overkill plus they require some additional front fascia work to attach the 4" hoses. And the stock windshield washer bottle is not possible with 4" hose, whereas a 3" will barely fits around it. Some folks do like overkill, though. And you know me - I'm a hack driver and I tend to overdrive everything, so I use more brakes than most. We checked the front caliper temps with a fresh set of Alcon temp strips at Hallett, to see if we could reduce the max temp from 490°F we were seeing before with 3" and 430°F we saw at ECR with 4" front openings and hoses but the 3" backing plate ducts, and I will talk about the gains we saw below in the race report.
Towing and Strapping Down an S197
Whether you tow or drive your car to a race track, or what your choice of tow vehicles is, are two discussion I try NEVER want to wade into. These are no-win arguments that will put people against one another looking for blood, like the Hatfields and McCoys! But if you've made the decision to start towing your car to the track instead of driving it to the track, which does relieve a LOT of stress and allows you to focus on your driving and pushing the car rather than saving enough brakes and tires to get you home, there are some new things to learn.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Time-Trial-Eagles-Canyon/i-M798Tt6/1/S/DSC_7460-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-Time-Trial-Eagles-Canyon/i-M798Tt6/1/X3/DSC_7460-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Penn-April-11-2010/i-6MXMbJw/0/S/DSC_9729-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/SCCA-Penn-April-11-2010/i-6MXMbJw/0/X3/DSC_9729-X3.jpg)
When towing one of my least favorite things after a long race weekend is loading the car into the trailer and strapping it down. Every car has a "trick" or two that you might learn from someone else. Like when it comes to E30/36/46 BMWs, which I have towed hundreds of times, I tow them via "T-hooks" slotted into the 4 factory under-chassis slots (hidden under 4 plastic jacking point pucks) and I will always cross both the front and rear straps. On the S197 Mustang, it has its own set of tricks to strapping the car down safely. I've seen some janky set-ups and have learned what to do (and not) over the years by watching others' tow their cars.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2007-SCCA-Solo-Nationals-Sept/i-zbVkLBj/0/S/DSC_5533-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2007-SCCA-Solo-Nationals-Sept/i-zbVkLBj/0/X3/DSC_5533-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2007-SCCA-Solo-Nationals-Sept/i-3qTKtdN/0/S/DSC_5535-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/2007-SCCA-Solo-Nationals-Sept/i-3qTKtdN/0/X3/DSC_5535-X3.jpg)
The front is relatively easy, as we use 3" ratchet straps with a C-hook end and "hook" into some big slots in the front lower subframe structure. The same "T" hook ends also work here very well. But when towing inside an enclosed trailer it takes some finesse to throw the straps under the car to where you can reach them behind the wheel and then you have to hook them into the slots blind, but once you've done it before its fairly easy.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Towing-Accessories/i-JZTPmK9/0/S/F57990384-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Towing-Accessories/i-JZTPmK9/0/X3/F57990384-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Towing-Accessories/i-F44Pvg2/1/S/1011sr_33_o%2Bjimglo_tiltbed_trailer%2Bpadded_axle _strap-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/Towing-Accessories/i-F44Pvg2/1/X3/1011sr_33_o%2Bjimglo_tiltbed_trailer%2Bpadded_axle _strap-X3.jpg)
Left: Mac's Custom Tie-downs (http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/category/TieDowns) are my favorite. Right: I hate strapping through wheels, but these padded axle straps "could" work
continued below
continued from above
We always cross the straps up front, to keep the car from shifting laterally on the bed of the trailer. I've seen the results of a poorly strapped down car inside an enclosed trailer... it can turn into a costly mistake to your bodywork or aero, especially on a long tow. I always like to check the straps, and tighten them if needed, during our first stop heading out of town to get ice and fuel for the outbound leg of any road trip. In 27 years of racing I've never had a car come loose in an enclosed or open trailer, or worse - had one fall off of an open trailer. I've known 2 friends that had that happen to them, though!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-n93LBPk/2/S/20140524_054352-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/i-n93LBPk/2/L/20140524_054352-L.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-dVFtfq4/1/S/20140619_200103-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-dVFtfq4/1/X3/20140619_200103-X3.jpg)
Strapping the S197 down at the back is a bit trickier than at the front. There are several ways to do the rear straps, but for the past 4 years whenever we towed this stick axle Mustang we have been using 3 foot long "axle straps" wrapped around the axle tubes then using 3" ratchet straps hooked to these and securing them back to D-rings in the trailer floor straight behind. This was a compromise set-up, and we had to be careful not to wrap the axle straps over or near the rear axle vent or it could get knocked off - that happened once - made a huge mess.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-hHK7hS2/1/S/34_MG_5182-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-hHK7hS2/1/X3/34_MG_5182-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7tGzQLx/1/S/_DSF8923-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-7tGzQLx/1/X3/_DSF8923-X3.jpg)
Left: With a Watts Link you need to keep the tow straps from bending any tubes. Right: This is the section to wrap the axle straps around
When we made our remote axle vent catch can and hose, that hose and fitting had to be avoided with these straps also - which happened once and made a huge mess. The ratchet straps themselves have to route around, over and through the next of Watts Link tubes and rear exhaust pipes or you risk bending or at least scratching something under the car. And since axle straps just wrap around the axle tubes you can't "cross the straps" at the back, or risk having the straps slide inboard towards the "pumpkin" on the axle, which then makes the straps loose during your tow (not good). Some folks like strapping cars down by looping an axle strap through a wheel or around a wheel spoke, but that is a TURRIBLE idea and can both stress crack a wheel spoke, scratch the crap out of your $$$ wheels, or allow the wheel to rotate during the tow and loosen the car against the straps.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-R2P6jpF/1/S/_DSC4409-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-R2P6jpF/1/X3/_DSC4409-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-87gC5J8/1/S/_DSC4336-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-87gC5J8/1/X3/_DSC4336-X3.jpg)
So there are lots of "gotchas" on strapping the rear of a Mustang down. We have been fighting it for 4 years, but now we have a better way. We designed and built the tie-down brackets above for the S197 chassis and then tested them on our way to and from the Hallett, which was 10+ hours of towing. These new rear tow strap tie down brackets are made from beefy alloy steel and bolt to the rear lower control arm location. Olof hand cut this prototype pair based off of CAD drawings Jason drew up, but the production versions will be laser cut and powder coated red. The kit will come with a pair of new, 5mm longer, grade 12.9 bolts and nuts as well.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-gJCQ8P4/1/S/20140622_164243-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-gJCQ8P4/1/X3/20140622_164243-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-QxDMXG6/1/S/20140622_164247-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-QxDMXG6/1/X3/20140622_164247-X3.jpg)
These should be available from us later this summer and the 22° bend shown here will be the right way to tie down a Mustang with crossed rear straps. We will make them in flat (un-bent) form for those that want to orient the tie down straps straight back, too. Strapping the rear down went from a frustrating 5-6 minutes with my upper body wedged under the back of the car to a simple 30 second reach around behind the tie and clicking the strap ends into the new brackets. The 10 hour bumpy round trip tow was flawless, and the car didn't move a millimeter on either trip.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Kb38M6M/1/S/_DSC9955-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Kb38M6M/1/X3/_DSC9955-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Brakes/i-ZHGFg2W/0/S/_DSC0672-Recovered-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Brakes/i-ZHGFg2W/0/X3/_DSC0672-Recovered-X3.jpg)
Our popular GT500 rear brake upgrade kit (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_280&products_id=606) has gone DOWN in price by $140. You heard that right.... out price on this kit just dropped over 27%. Why? We were previously sourcing the GT500 rear rotors from the only source we could find - Ford (read: expensive) - but have since found them made by Centric in their Premium line, which is the line we use on all of our race and street cars. This dropped our costs enough to be able to pass along this big savings. We have the replacement rotors available in this same S197 brake category location (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=141_142_280).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-Rh4xvhz/0/S/J_DSC6911%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-Rh4xvhz/0/X3/J_DSC6911%20copy-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-HdN4nRn/0/S/J_DSC6904%20copy-S.jpg
(http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-HdN4nRn/0/X3/J_DSC6904%20copy-X3.jpg)
We have our first batch of Vorshlag adjustable rear spring ride height platforms (aka: "rear ride height adjusters") that finally arrived. These were drawn up a while ago after the supplier for a similar style that we had been using dried up. Now we make this Vorshlag version and they work on several chassis including the S197 Mustang rear.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-k2LZ63c/0/S/DSC_6331-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-k2LZ63c/0/X3/DSC_6331-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-vss3xWf/1/S/_DSC7006-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-vss3xWf/1/X3/_DSC7006-X3.jpg)
We make these work on the S197 (at left) with a Nylon adapter and various BMWs (at right), also in the stock rear spring location
These adjustable platforms and adapters allow us to remove the fixed length, stock "Beehive" style spring (or lowering springs of the same shape) and replace them with shorter 60mm ID coilover springs, which come in infinitely more lengths and spring rates. Then we can adjust the ride height at the rear corners independently, for corner balancing. We can use these in conjunction with coilover style front strut/springs or by themselves, to work with a budget racer who still has OEM style springs and struts up front but wants to play with new rear spring rates and adjust ride heights out back.
Look for these coupled with MCS, Moton and other shock kits we sell as well as by themselves with the "Rear coilover spring kit" for the S197 Mustang.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-j4vwkWR/1/S/DSC_3298-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-j4vwkWR/1/X3/DSC_3298-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-dBqLLxT/1/S/DSC_3299-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-dBqLLxT/1/X3/DSC_3299-X3.jpg)
The last upgrade before Hallett was a simple set of rear lower tire spats. These are small little air deflectors that Ryan fabricated out of aluminum to smooth the transition from the flare to the side skirt, both visually and aerodynamically. He bent and welded this pair and made them attach to the back of the factory black plastic side skirt. These were painted black but the racing at Hallett took their toll on the finish (I shot the pics above after Hallett), so these will come off and get a stronger semi-flat black powder coating before we go to SEMA. Like everything else, the finish of much the exterior of this car will need some touch-ups before its ready for the week long SEMA show or the televised Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational event held immediately after in November.
continued below
continued from above
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-cGf9CMB/1/S/20140619_161436-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-cGf9CMB/1/X3/20140619_161436-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-kRsMjwN/0/S/DSC_1110-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/TechArticles/S197-Mustang-wheel-teesting/i-kRsMjwN/0/X3/DSC_1110-X3.jpg)
The guys here at Vorshlag had everything prepped before Hallett in about a day. The brake pads and rotors looked great but they pushed a little fluid through anyway, to make sure it was bled. The Carbotech XP20 pads were brand new before the ECR test day and they swapped in fresh Carbotech pads out back halfway through the day there. Car was nut and bolted, I drove down to the local Shell to fill the tank with 93 octane (and we brought 20 gallons more with us, as Oklahoma only has 91 octane for premium), and a sticker set of Hoosier 335/345 tires were mounted. This was the winnings from TWS, and I almost took a scrub set to Hallett and saved these.... but I got nervous at the last minute and had Olof mount the new sticker set.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-QwLh2qS/0/S/10154236_10202990077185252_4408957163964920446_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-TWS-042614/i-QwLh2qS/0/X3/10154236_10202990077185252_4408957163964920446_n-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-RstCLff/0/S/jeff-evo-326whp-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-RstCLff/0/O/jeff-evo-326whp.jpg)
Why? I was worried about two things: getting beat in TT3 at Hallett -or- maybe barely winning but not resetting our old track record there. My main TT3 competitor Jeff Tan had just had new aero installed front and back, new suspension spring rates added, and a stroker 2.3 liter motor drinking E85 in his red EVO 9. Our friends at Evolution Dynamics (https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionDynamics) had just put a new custom tune on Jeff's TT3 EVO that made 300whp from 3200rpm to 8000rpm, peaked at 326 whp and 410ft lbs of torque. In this much lighter car it could be a killer in this class. They use a boost trick to make constant "max power" across a huge rpm range, - and meets the letter of the TT rules. Nothing I can do about it except - build a similar turbo motor. Jeff was coming equipped for a battle! We also had 7 cars entered in TT3, including Boss302 driver John Scheier who I've known for 15 years and co-driven with at the Solo Nationals more than once. He's always fast. There were 10 cars in TT1, and I was worried about getting stuck behind some of the slower TT1 Corvettes if I didn't qualify well in the first TT practice session. And the 2013 TT3 National Champion was hinting on Facebook he might show up at Hallett, so I had all sorts of threats looming.
The last mod we made was to my helmet - adding the D-ring hardware anchor mounts needed for the Simpson Hybrid Pro I was borrowing. I wanted to test this Simpson head and neck restraint system at Hallett, and the HANS quick-release post anchors I already had installed in my helmet were swapped out for these. No, you won't find these D-ring mounts at a local hardware store, like a friend told me, they have to be special ordered (http://www.racedaysafety.com/hyheha.html). I got a pair from RaceDaySafety over-nighted after we struck out at all of the local race shops.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Helmets/i-tT6Bc5L/1/S/DSC_3417-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Helmets/i-tT6Bc5L/1/X3/DSC_3417-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Helmets/i-hfqwT9J/2/S/DSC_1259-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Helmets/i-hfqwT9J/2/X2/DSC_1259-X2.jpg)
I have used a HANS branded device twice before (see above right) and absolutely hated the experience, so I was hoping the Simpson Hybrid Pro would work better for me - to actually allow me to turn my head, look down more than 1 degree while in the car and strapped in, etc. As an autocrosser I'm used to having my head on a swivel and looking way ahead, sometimes 90 degrees from the direction I'm traveling. I even autocross many times with an open faced helmet, for better visibility. The HANS I used back in 2012 was not a sliding tether style that allows you to rotate your head, so that was part of the misery. At Hallett there are a few corners where you have to turn more than 90 degrees in a very short span of track, so looking out the side window to check and set-up corners would be crucial.
Still, I was determined to try to set a better example with my safety gear, vowing to run all of my sessions wearing my 3 layer suit, Nomex lined shoes and gloves; the Hybrid Pro attached and my Schroth 6-point belts secured tight. I was already sporting the back injury and this was my first event back, and I didn't want to make matters worse if I had a crash. Also, I was keeping an eye on the pain - if it got bad, I promised my wife Amy that I was going to hand off driving to my TT3 team mate (Amy). She wanted the seat time, too, so I had to watch my mouth and NOT complain unless it got really bad!
NASA at Hallett, June 21-22, 2014
Amy didn't have enough time off from work to go up a day early and run the Friday test-n-tune. That's a shame, as we both needed the seat time at this track. I had run the CCW 1.8 mile Hallett circuit all of about 15 laps that one day in 2013, and Amy had no laps at all. My friend John and another buddy of his (and MCS customer of ours) Garrett arrived on Thursday night and had a good paddock spot set-up for us outside of Turn 9 (aka "The Bitch"). TT1 racer Marc Sherrin was also on site and paddocked with them by Friday morning and taking laps, and TTU racer Paul Costas was there as well in his GT-1 Camaro.
Vorshlag Event Picture Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/
Note - these pics are by me/Amy, Paul Costas, or Hallett's photographer (I bought a CD of pics)
We left Dallas plenty early at 2 pm, took our usual route north to Oklahoma City on I-35 and .... stopped. For an hour. There was massive construction traffic north of town that delayed our arrival by an hour, so we didn't get to the track until 7:30 pm. Luckily June 22nd is the longest day of the year so it was light until 9 pm, which allowed us plenty of time to unhook our trailer and... cart everyone to dinner 25 miles away. See, the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit is located in a remote part of rural Oklahoma and the nearest hotels are 25-35 miles away.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-7PKJmMF/1/L/hallett-parking-L.jpg
Marc had heard of some restaurant "on a lake" called Freddie's Steakhouse that was supposed to be good - and once we found it, it was actually pretty awesome. Amy and I were joined by racers Marc, Costas and HPDE director Scott for a solid 2 hour dinner where we laughed ourselves silly. Since we drove them to dinner we took another hour of driving to take most of them back to the track, then we went off in the opposite direction to our hotel in Sand Springs, 30 miles away. It made for a long day and late night but we had a good time.
Saturday June 21st - TT Day 1
Back at the track by 7 am Saturday morning and we quickly unloaded the Mustang. Finally saw John and Garrett from Colorado, who were paddocked next to us and Marc. We did some quick checks of the car, mounted the vidcam and AiM Solo DL, then went up to the club house for the TT meeting at 8 am. We had 44 TT cars entered, which made for a huge field. We were to go out together in the first TT Practice as a group but then the TT group was split into two groups for the rest of Saturday: TT1/2/3/U in one group and TTB-TTF in another.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-HjN34p7/1/S/20140622_164620-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-HjN34p7/1/X3/20140622_164620-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-PFD6f4p/1/S/20140621_105822-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-PFD6f4p/1/X3/20140621_105822-X3.jpg)
There was ample coverage of the Passing Under Yellow issues we had at TWS and what was acceptable and what was not for this weekend. Dave B, Ken B and Scot Adams all put their foot down about PUY, not blocking, how to take a cool down lap without impeding, and where to safely pass at this track. It was a good meeting and I hope we can continue to have these open discussions amongst the TT drivers like this before each day of racing.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-nMHLxZx/0/S/IMG_1937-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-nMHLxZx/0/X3/IMG_1937-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-hSmmcS6/0/S/IMG_1941-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-hSmmcS6/0/X3/IMG_1941-X3.jpg)
continued below
continued from above
All 44 TT cars went out in the practice sessions with me driving and Amy riding shotgun. We were on the sticker set of Hoosiers with a plan to set an aggressive lap time and try to grid ahead of as many TT1 and TT2 cars as possible, to avoid traffic in later sessions. Amy has never driven this track before and I have only taken about 20 laps or so, so it was still a learning experience. Not to mention the radical changes we had made to the car since we raced here in 2013 - new aero, wider tires, new suspension and more weight.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-n8sdJ9h/0/L/IMG_1224-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-n8sdJ9h/0/X3/IMG_1224-X3.jpg)
This session started at 8:40 am, 77 degrees but humid, and I went out 3rd in grid (getting to grid early in these free-for-all first practice sessions is key!), behind Paul Costas TTU Camaro in front and Marc Sherrin's TT1 Corvette in 2nd. They both checked out and we were driving with a good gap in front and behind on the first lap. I was hoping I could show Amy a good line in this session without crashing, hitting a curb or going off track. Which did NOT happen, unfortunately! hehehe... I actually did go off track at Turn 6 in the 2nd hot lap.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-5gwxmbK/0/S/IMG_1223-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-5gwxmbK/0/X3/IMG_1223-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-wSJD84f/0/S/IMG_1245-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-wSJD84f/0/X3/IMG_1245-X3.jpg)
The TT Practice on Saturday is critical to get a good GRID PLACEMENT... which is why I was pushing so hard and went off, heh
My first hot lap was a gentle 1:26 lap and then I was stepping it up in speed for lap two. We had the rear wing set at 12 degrees AoA which was a bit too much, and it was pushing at speed. There's also no more reference markers on track, as it had just been fully repaved about 6 weeks before. I turned in a little early in T6 and just got on the throttle a bit too early and just drove off the end of the turn. Not normally a big deal, as there's some smooth run-off here, but with the new paving there's a bit of a drop to the nicely mowed grass at the edge of the track and the "Drop" caught the leading edge of the splitter and pushed it back about 5 inches. Unbeknownst to me the splitter also acted as a mowing blade and gave the landscaping a closer cut, which packed up the lower grill's mesh with grass almost completely.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-Fc7TM8Z/0/L/IMG_1266-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-Fc7TM8Z/0/X3/IMG_1266-X3.jpg)
What's wrong about the picture above? The grill is PACKED full of grass! #fairslawnservice
This cuts off all airflow to the radiator. Amazingly we finished that lap and one more before it started to run hot. I was exiting Turn 9 (The Bitch) on this 4th hot lap and I was catching the back of the TT1/2/3 field. As I crept up on a C5 Z06 I starting seeing spitting of water on the windshield. I made it around the final Turn T10 and on the front straight I looked down and saw the temp gauge starting to move quickly into the red. I was already past pit in and going 100+ so I shut off the motor and pulled offline, pointing everyone I had just passed back by me. Got around Turn 1 and there's no good place to pull off, so I briefly re-fired the motor, got around turns T2-T3 and pulled off, track right. By now the radiator cap had popped and it was gushing steam out of the hood vents and onto the windshield. I went off slowly enough not to damage the splitter further but it was pouring smoke and for a second there I thought it was actually on FIRE.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-H2nxm8X/0/L/HallettTRACKMAP-CCW-2-L.jpg
(http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-H2nxm8X/0/X3/HallettTRACKMAP-CCW-2-X3.jpg)Saturday-Sunday's Hallett CCW track map. Ignore the "bunch up" and "go green" markers, which I royally screwed up on this version
Luckily it was just steam, but we had both already bailed out and the car was a good 50 yards off the track. We walked over behind a tire barrier and a corner worked came trotting over from Turn 4 to check on us, fire bottle in hand. I was wishing I had a bottle in the car at that very moment (more on that in a bit). I assured him we were OK and would stay behind the tire wall until the session ended, and that we didn't need a tow. I was just going to let it cool off, cleared the grill mesh of grass, and would limp it back to the paddock. While we were standing that the corner worker got a call on his radio and went running back to Turn 4. We couldn't see what had happened but as the cars went streaking by we noticed Jeff Tan's red TT3 EVO was missing....
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-5DQzxmQ/1/S/20140621_113259-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-5DQzxmQ/1/X3/20140621_113259-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-3xrNBv7/0/S/DSC_3117-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-3xrNBv7/0/X3/DSC_3117-X3.jpg)
One of our strongest TT3 competitors (Jeff) ended his day early with tire wall contact. Luckily this is a fully caged race car
Shortly after there were black flags at all corner stations and the workers at T3 waved us back on track as a pair of wreckers went racing to T4. We drove around and saw that Jeff's EVO had plowed straight off of T4, went through/over the tire barrier and through the catch fence, and it looked ugly. He was out of the car and looked OK but the car looked pretty tore up. The course workers and wrecker crew spent a while rebuilding the tire walls here, something we saw another 3 or 4 times this weekend. Since Hallett is built in the rolling hills amidst a lot of trees, they have tire walls and barriers on many corners which you don't want to find your way into. I got a series of pictures of a BMW that had an off in Turn 8 and took out a tire wall as well, shown above and below.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-LxnTBqM/1/L/DSC_2988-L.jpg
Boss302 entering Turn 9 (the Bitch) with the typical OEM suspension S197 brake dive
I was wearing my full driver suit, gloves, shoes and the Simpson Hybrid Pro during this full session and I was miserable, hot and soaking with sweat by the time we got back to the pits. I could not turn my head AT ALL using this Simpson and I generally hated wearing it. The D-rings were rattling and driving me nuts, and I tried wearing it again in 3 other sessions but it was so constricting that I couldn't see from T2 to T3 and it negatively impacted my driving each session I wore it. I also gave up on the driving suit by later that afternoon, as it got DAMNED HOT at Hallett and racing in this entry level 3-layer suit was unbearable. At another drivers meeting I noticed about a dozen of the TT drivers were using cool suits, even in only 3-4 lap blasts, and now I see why. And we just became a Coolshirt.com dealer, so now we might add one of these systems to our car... even after I said I'd never do that for TT. The heat and that damned suit was sapping the life out of me.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BL6JDhb/0/S/DSC_2997-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BL6JDhb/0/X3/DSC_2997-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-pw8tm2d/0/S/DSC_3171-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-pw8tm2d/0/X3/DSC_3171-X3.jpg)
Hallett Eats Cars. I personally snapped pictures of these two cars destroying tire walls. With no run-off, that's what you tend to hit
The front of Jeff's EVO is pretty much destroyed. That really sucks, but its another reminder of what can happen when you lose your brakes. Luckily ours worked great during that first session and the only failure was of my hack driving. We got to the pits and put about a gallon of water into the radiator and reservoir, then we thrashed on the car for an hour straight trying to fix the splitter. We had help from Patrick Lipsinic, Doug Worth, John and others. Time was running out and I was going to miss the next session if we didn't hurry, so we hooked up a strap to Doug's Raptor and pulled the splitter back into place.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-pG2qNmK/1/S/20140621_093558-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-pG2qNmK/1/X3/20140621_093558-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BSswMDg/1/S/splitter-repairs-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BSswMDg/1/X3/splitter-repairs-X3.jpg)
My little "off and on" caused a good bit of damage. It took 4 people and a Ford Raptor truck to get the splitter pulled back out
continued below
continued from above
Amy got all of the front supports off first, which we easily straightened. It wasn't perfect but it was at least level and enough forward so that the front tires didn't rub on the flares/splitter. That would have to do. We had checked times in the TT Practice and out of 44 cars I was still 6th fastest, with the off and overheating? I was hoping to make it to grid and I jumped in the Mustang, drove up to the hot pits just before the field was about to leave. Costas had the field pretty spread out and we had caught the back of the field on the 2nd lap, where I ran a best time of 1:23.469 with a pass on that lap. This was a solid second faster than last year, but I knew the car had a lot more in it. I made a total of two hot laps in this session and the car started running warm, so I came in early.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9qVVzJd/1/S/DSC_3287-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-9qVVzJd/1/X3/DSC_3287-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fp9jNBS/1/S/DSC_3286-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-fp9jNBS/1/X3/DSC_3286-X3.jpg)
If you ever pop one of these radiator caps, throw it away. We now keep a spare in the trailer
It was after this point that John Scheier mentioned that the radiator caps on these cars are a one time use cap - after they "pop" once from an overpressure condition, they never hold pressure again. Turns out he was right - we kept having to add water all weekend and it never would hold pressure again. Amy went out after that TT session in the HPDE3/4 group and made a bunch of laps, getting to a 1:29, but when it started to run warm she came in early. Since Hallett is remotely located in the "Oklahoma Outback" a quick trip top a parts store wasn't an option.
After lunch it was over 90 degrees, but I went out in the 3rd TT session anyway to see if I could find some time. Tires got super hot, and I got stuck for 2 laps behind some TT1/TT2 cars gridded ahead of me, which was very frustrating. One of the cars holding up me and a train of cars behind us made a mistake in T1 so I made a pass on him into T2, outbraking this much lighter car. He immediately tried to take the position back and was making some VERY high risk moves for the rest of that lap trying to overtake, which were uncalled for - this is supposed to be TT, not W2W. This happens sometimes when Wheel to Wheel racers pay extra to also run in Time Trial - they don't turn that "attack for position" goal off and it has actually caused some accidents in TT before. Anyway, I finished the lap, with a pitiful 1:23.6 lap, then "pointed him by" on the front straight. I may have... used the wrong finger to point him by. I was pretty upset at the 5-6 near misses we had with him driving like a jackass behind me on the 2nd half of the lap after I passed him (cleanly). And of course the trackside photographer got a great picture of my angry "point by", which got me into all sorts of trouble with NASA officials. I won't get into all of that drama, but it was a dumb thing to do and I won't do it again.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-RdCzgSn/0/L/angry-bird-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-RdCzgSn/0/X3/angry-bird-X3.jpg)
My "angry bird" point by got me in a bit of trouble. Stupid mistake and very unprofessional. DON'T DO THIS (especially next to a photographer)
I won't be showing the video of this Lotus driver's ass-hattery because for one, all of this happened behind me after I passed him (I need a rear facing vidcam), and also because I lost my cool and the audio from my in-car camera was "too colorful". Due to the heat and massive traffic issues, this session ended up being a total waste of time and consumables. It only got hotter the rest of that day, so I sat out TT session 4 and let Amy make more laps in DE 3/4 and where she found two more seconds after finding some confidence. Before that session started she got stuck on grid belted in for 20 minutes (while yet another tire wall was being fixed after a Spec Miata smash-up-derby, wadding up one chassis) in 95 degree heat and she got overheated herself, with some signs of heat exhaustion after she came in from driving and got out of the car. We ended up putting 2-1/2 gallons of water in the car and we drank as much or more ourselves that day.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-nNmc8Lp/1/S/DSC_3091-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-nNmc8Lp/1/X3/DSC_3091-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-NhKDWjL/1/S/DSC_3108-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-NhKDWjL/1/X3/DSC_3108-X3.jpg)
Amy ran in DE 3/4 sessions all weekend but likely took more laps than me, at this, her first Hallett event
Nobody went faster in TT sessions 3 or 4, and we wisely skipped session 4. Lots of crashed cars, and I got pictures of cars going through tire walls at T2 and another at T8. A Miata rolled after it was tagged from behind, Jeff's EVO, and our off and overheat. This track will really bite you in the ass if you go off in the wrong place, that's for sure. Big classes, with 10 in TT1 and 7 in TT3. We managed to win TT3 and ended up 7th overall in TT times, but it was not my best driving (or behavior) that day and we were really exhausted by the time the Saturday night party started at 6:30.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BQvZBL7/0/S/P1120075-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BQvZBL7/0/X3/P1120075-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-KMWZsg3/0/S/IMG_0022-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-KMWZsg3/0/X3/IMG_0022-X3.jpg)
After racing was over I broke out the beer and we hung out and cooled off with friends parked nearby in the paddock (John, Marc, Garrett) and saw Oklahoma residents Mark Council, Pat, and Brandon Jung who came to the track to watch the track side action. We stuck around long enough to get to the party, ate some good barbeque provided by NASA, drank some more cheap beer, then bowed out early to get Amy back to the hotel and cool her off. For some reason the Hampton Inn gave us a jacuzzi suite so I took a long soak that night and got cooled off myself, too.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-csqVB8F/1/S/20140621_142222-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-csqVB8F/1/X3/20140621_142222-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-dVnjsq4/0/S/IMG_0003-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-dVnjsq4/0/X3/IMG_0003-X3.jpg)
Left: its always more fun when you can paddock with friends - John (Tt3 Boss302), Marc (TT1 C6 Z06) and Garrett (TTB E36 M3)
With as poorly as I drove that day -including the "off" in practice and "angry bird" session that nearly got me DSQ'd for the day I was downright LUCKY to pull off the TT3 win that day. My best lap was a 1:23.469, which was a solid two seconds back from the TT2 winner (Josh Dunn) and nearly four seconds back from the TT1 winner (Marc Sherrin). I'm usually not that far off these guys and had to wait for Sunday's TT event to try to better my overall placement. It looks like I won the class by 3.5 seconds but in reality I was chasing John Scheier, who had a 1:25.7 best lap but was switched to TTU for non-competition reasons. John had some off-track troubles in some sessions, but I knew he could drop 1-3 seconds if he found the right line here. With 7 in TT3 class at least I scored 2 Hoosier tires for the win. I vowed to Amy that Sunday would be "drama free" and faster.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-PKtrJG4/1/M/Hallett-TTSaturday-pg1-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-PKtrJG4/1/X3/Hallett-TTSaturday-pg1-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BzWDkTQ/0/M/Hallett-TTSaturday-pg2-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BzWDkTQ/0/X3/Hallett-TTSaturday-pg2-X3.jpg)
Official End of Saturday TT Results (link (http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2014%20-%20Official%20Results/4%20Hallett_June/June%2021%20TT%20Saturday.pdf)) are copied above. We had a NASA Texas record of 44 competitors in TT at this event
Sunday June 22nd - TT Day 2
Sunday went a lot better than Saturday. There was a bit of a panic in the morning when a "end of Saturday" TT results sheet showed me as DSQ'd but it was only a typo. Before the day started we refilled the radiator once again and finally adjusted the rear wing, to dial out a lot of the angle I had dialed in (went from 12 to 6 degrees), and the balance was a LOT better. I also removed the ballast plates in the trunk, which NASA's scales said were not needed. I went across the scales at Impound at 3864 pounds during a session Saturday (on a 3802 pound minimum), then after pulling the weight plates out and running less fuel it was 3812 pounds at another morning impound check on Sunday (that was close!), so I ran with a tick more fuel after that.
continued below
continued from above
I went out in the first session and put down a 1:22.4XX, which was already a second quicker than Saturday. It felt decent but I got held up a little on my first lap by a wicked little TT2 Porsche 944 LSx swap car, but he was cool and pulled offline to let me by on the next lap. Got my best lap in on lap 2, then came in to hand off the car to Amy, who immediately went out in DE 3/4 and dropped a second herself from Saturday.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-Fpr2LRK/1/S/DSC_2983-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-Fpr2LRK/1/X3/DSC_2983-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-bm5Sjr3/1/S/DSC_2990-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-bm5Sjr3/1/X3/DSC_2990-X3.jpg)
I went out again in a hot TT session 2 (92 degrees!) before lunch and ran my best time of the weekend, following Josh Dunn's TT2/ST2 EVO for a couple of laps. See the real "bitch" corner for me at Hallett wasn't Turn 9, which has always been easy to me, but Turn 4. When going CCW T4 is a tricky, decreasing, blind, uphill turn that totally dictates how you enter T5 and then T6 immediately after. You have to set-up out of T3 SUPER wide track left (on the rumbles) for the late entry to the right-hander T4, then give T4 a SUPER late apex. I hadn't seen anyone else do this turn as well as Josh had and following his line allowed my time to melt away - but some that have seen my video say it could have been even later, and I'm inclined to agree. My lines aren't ever perfect, I'm just a hack autocrosser, and I'll be the first to admit that I suck at Hallett. This car was capable of 1:20 or even 1:19 laps, but... I was a bit timid in my braking zones after having the off in my first session of the weekend and nursing the back injury.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-KMrH62w/0/L/Hallett-Terry-TT3record-062214-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/41981064_S3Kh5n#!i=3342331372&k=KMrH62w&lb=1&s=A)
For you Hallett regulars, yes - I know my lines are not ideal and there is room left in the car
Still, my second hot lap of a 1:21.751 in this 2nd Sunday TT session was good enough for a win and was a solid 3 seconds quicker than our best CCW lap from 2013. Josh Dunn ran his best TT2 time of the weekend in front of me, a 1:21.2, so I think we kind of pushed each other (you can see him pull away from me in the laps above). Running a 1:21 had been a secret goal of mine all weekend, and it felt good to hit that. The AiM's predictive timer kept showing me 1:21s but I couldn't seem to hit that until Sunday. I came in after this lap and called it a day for CCW laps and Amy went out once more in DE 3/4 after lunch and got down to a 1:26 lap. While she was out on track I rode along with James Wester (in his 5.0L S197, which he's modded with many Vorshlag parts) and did a check ride for him in HPDE3, and signed him off for HPDE4 - coming from an autocross background and previous track experience he was obviously fast and he was ready.
Sure, TT1 was 3 seconds faster and even TT2 beat our times at this event as well, but I was still happy to walk away with the 2nd class win of the weekend against some tough competitors. John Scheier had moved his Boss302 to TTU to help the class count there but he was really the TT3 car I was pushing to stay ahead of. He runs TT3 in the Rocky Mountain region, I've known him for 15+ years, and he runs on AST double adjustable coilovers that came off of my 2013 GT plus seats and wheels he got from Vorshlag. Behind John's Boss302 in TT3 was a Porsche 930, a GT3, an M3 and a C5 Z06. With only a narrow 2 second gap to 2nd place Scheier on Saturday it had stretched to a nearly 5 second lead on Sunday, when I finally pulled my head out of my ass and drove a little better.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-FHMxmbK/0/S/DSC_3014-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-FHMxmbK/0/X3/DSC_3014-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-szF9g7q/1/S/DSC_3015-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-szF9g7q/1/X3/DSC_3015-X3.jpg)
Doug Wirth brought his TTB E36 M3 up from Dallas but broke a pressure plate and headed home on Saturday
We skipped TT session 3 as it was even hotter at 94 degrees, and not many went any faster in this session. We did stick around for the TT trophy presentation, after the 3rd TT session. They handed out trophies down to 3rd place and we got to take pictures with the trophy girls who had some Big Texas Hair, hehe. They were good sports and we had fun, even sneaking our cars into the winner's circle for some shots. We all ate a bunch of ice cream from the clubhouse, and ice cream makes everything better.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BDbChNR/0/L/HallettTRACKMAP-CW-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-BDbChNR/0/X3/HallettTRACKMAP-CW-X3.jpg)
Final TT session on Sunday... "Reverse Skate!"
There was a merged TT session 4 at the end of the day Sunday at 4:30 pm, that was to be run in the OPPOSITE direction. Going Clock Wise at Hallett is extra tricky, as entries into Turns T9, T7, T5 and T4 are all blind and the runoff at T3 pretty much puts you into the middle of T2 if you overshoot. Not too many folks race Hallett in this direction but it was a "non-points" session just for fun... but new lap records would be acknowledged. And you know from reading this build thread, I'm all about the lap records.
Luckily I already held the CW TT3 lap record because it started raining as soon as we took to the track. 10 cars went out and I gridded up 3rd behind Raymond and Marc's TT1 cars, who were pitched in a heated battle all weekend - Marc won TT1 by .03 sec ahead of Raymond on Saturday, then they switched finishing positions in class on Sunday by .1 seconds but trailed a Lotus who took the win. Marc went out first and Raymond followed closely on his heels and the two of them flat out left me. I couldn't get the Mustang to stick in the spitting rain and I wasn't about to risk the car for a non-points session, especially since I already held this lap record. There was no driver confidence left once the rain started after this trying weekend, heh.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-nMHLxZx/0/S/IMG_1937-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-nMHLxZx/0/X3/IMG_1937-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-C9g8vbX/0/S/P1120135-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-C9g8vbX/0/X3/P1120135-X3.jpg)
Left: The TT field was big all weekend, even split in half! Right: The clouds rolled and sprinkled rain in for the one CW Sunday TT session
After two laps behind a pace car to show driver's the unusual CW driving line before they went 10/10hs, Raymond's Viper put down a 1:23.3 and Marc was two tenths back, both of them driving like mad in the rain. I was very slow with a 1:27.6, and after 2 laps it started running hot again. The vidcam's SD card had filled up (Amy forgets to turn off the thing every time) and I forgot to turn on the Harry's Lap Timer video/data logging app on my Samsung S4 for this session, so there's nothing to see. That's probably good, as it was slow (results here (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-MhCxShq/0/XL/Hallett-TTSunday-CW-XL.jpg)), about a second slower than I ran in 2013 going CW. I wasn't about to stuff the car off into a tire wall in the rain, what with so little to gain in this "non-points" session (especially since we already have the CW Hallett TT3 track record).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-9JmH2s7/1/S/20140622_162747-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-9JmH2s7/1/X3/20140622_162747-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-3QLSVZf/1/S/20140622_163000-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-3QLSVZf/1/X3/20140622_163000-X3.jpg)
Left: Front brake caliper temps were down 80 degrees from 3" ducting! Right: Our paddock was next to this picturesque pond
We let the car cool down while we hooked up the trailer to the F350, while it really started to rain. I was still a little baffled by the overheating issues after filling up the coolant, but John kept saying the coolant reservoir cap was indeed a "one pop then done" deal, so we have since replaced it and now keep a spare in the trailer. Good news - the 4" brake ducting really worked. The brake temps were way down, only peaking at 410°F on this brake intensive track (an 80°F drop from the 3" ducts/hoses/plates). The Motul RBF 660 brake fluid did great and I never once lost pedal pressure. We even had a LOT of brake pad left after this event - enough to do at least 1 if not 2 more track weekends, which is a big $$ savings. I've said it before but brake ducting pays for itself quickly, in saved brake pad/rotor wear and avoided crashes. :)
continued below
continued from above
We used maybe 15 gallons of 93 octane Texas fuel all weekend and added 1/2 quart of oil over about 9 sessions driven. The tires looked great after all of this abuse and looking back we probably could have won both days on a scrub set - but hindsight is always 20/20. If 2013 TT3 National champ Chris Mayfield had shown up (as he threatened) I would have needed every bit of grip advantage of sticker A6s, and then some!
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-WCM2gwB/1/L/20140622_163025-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-WCM2gwB/1/X3/20140622_163025-X3.jpg)
Our paddock space was perfect for the weekend as it gave us nice views of the track and the lush green hills of Hallett. The new paving on the track and infield roads was much appreciated and lap records fell left and right in TT and other classes.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-mLKrf67/0/L/tt-records-hallett-2014-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-mLKrf67/0/O/tt-records-hallett-2014.jpg)
New Hallett track records were set in all 10 TT classes going CCW and 5 classes going CW
The track folks served great food all weekend (awesome "track burger") and we ate some damned good catfish and Cajun jambalaya on Sunday, skipping our normal "lets make a sandwich" lunch. The rain let up quickly after the racing stopped and cooled us off while were loading up. We rolled out at 5 pm, so it was a long HOT day and we were ready to head back to Dallas. Marc took us on a new route home (highway 99 to 75 through Ada) using lots of 2 lane highways straight south, avoiding the bumpy, nasty Indian Nation Turnpike and the traffic of Oklahoma City and Denton in Dallas. This lopped an hour off our normal 5 hour I-35 route, which was nice.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-QFwjw3r/0/M/Hallett-TTSunday-pg1-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-QFwjw3r/0/X3/Hallett-TTSunday-pg1-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-Qxc2N5B/0/M/Hallett-TTSunday-pg2-M.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-Qxc2N5B/0/X3/Hallett-TTSunday-pg2-X3.jpg)
Official end of Sunday TT Results (link (http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_Texas_Region/2014%20-%20Official%20Results/4%20Hallett_June/June%2022%20TT%20Sunday.pdf)) are copied above. We did a LOT better on Sunday
Anyway, with another win on Sunday we snagged two more Hoosiers for a total of 4 tires. It looks like we are the first TT entry in Texas to snag a regional championship for the year (the only team to place first at all 8 of the regional TT dates in 2014). We've had quite a streak of wins this year but we haven't "banked" any sticker tires yet, so this set will be saved for our next NASA event - which is unknown at this point (more on that below). Amy has been trying to talk me out of going to NASA Nationals, with the crash I had there and all. Might be a wise choice, but I've been fighting to get us there. The BIG event for us this year really is the SEMA/Optima Shootout November 8-9th and the next NASA Texas events after Nationals is Sept 20-21 at NOLA and Oct 11-12 at TWS, which I hope we can make.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-xWJgwNZ/1/S/hallett-winner-circle-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-xWJgwNZ/1/X2/hallett-winner-circle-X2.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-TxzH7NR/1/S/10464400_10204046759439861_5734774383313148366_n-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-TxzH7NR/1/X3/10464400_10204046759439861_5734774383313148366_n-X3.jpg)
Two TT3 wins, 4 tires, and resetting our 2013 TT3 lap record by 3 seconds works for me!
My back did great all weekend right until I wretched it working on the damned splitter repairs on Saturday. Once again I regretted not bringing someone else from Vorshlag to help, over did it, and had to deal with some pain that I could have avoided. The driving itself was fine, and caused zero back pain. Wearing the somewhat constrictive back brace, the constrictive Simpson Hybrid Pro, and the heavy/thick driving suit all added up to "too many layers" - which made it difficult to breath and my body got too damned hot in the 96°F heat we saw. I really have GOT to get a better 2-layer driving suit, soon, and will keep trying different Head and Neck Restraint Systems until I find one that allows me to turn my freagin head just a little.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-vwwFqrK/1/S/DSC_3119-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-vwwFqrK/1/X3/DSC_3119-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-9JkRQPb/1/S/DSC_3138-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-9JkRQPb/1/X3/DSC_3138-X3.jpg)
Paul Costas had a good weekend, winning TTU both days and setting the fastest lap time of the weekend in his 1997 GT1 Camaro - you can see his write-up on his blog (http://witchdoctormotorsports.com/news.htm) (when he gets around to adding it). It was fun seeing folks from 4 different regions all come together at Hallett as well as our Texas TT racers, who all did really well. Thanks to all of the NASA volunteers and race directors who put on a great event. The Hallett folks also went all out, were super nice and accommodating, had the track and grounds looking great all weekend, cleaned the bathrooms every day, had ice for sale at the track, and provided excellent food.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-VQTv5Ps/0/S/IMG_3295-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-VQTv5Ps/0/X3/IMG_3295-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-5tjTKH9/0/S/IMG_3280-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/NASA-at-Hallett-062114/i-5tjTKH9/0/X3/IMG_3280-X3.jpg)
Left: Costas took home several trophies and had an epic shirt. Right: Dave and Will from NASA Texas
A lot of records were broken in TT and Spec Miata as well as some other classes. Yuri Kouznetsov made some laps in TT2 on Sunday to test his Pikes Peak set-up, then he and TT1 racer Raymond left Hallett and went directly to Colorado Springs. They both raced at the 92nd running of the PPIHC starting a couple of days later and both not only finished but good finish times, so congrats to them.
What's Next?
This write-up has gotten a bit too long so I am going to wrap it up. Here's a preview of what will be in the next S197 Build Thread installments as well as a final word about NASA Nationals.
continued below
Continued from above
+ ST3/TT3 2013 Mustang GT Build - We will keep adding to this S197 build thread with new content, like the race prep we are doing to Jamie Beck's 2013 Mustang for NASA ST3/TT3. In the next few weeks this car is getting an AJ Hartman wing and custom uprights, custom end plates, then a cage and starting on a major diet. We've already got it down to 3276 pounds and haven't even touched the glass or removed any stock sheet metal - this is all from just removing factory interior parts. We will document every pound coming out of this car from here on out (and will show how it is already at 3276).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jamie-Becks-S197-Mustang/i-v3tptLK/0/L/starting-weight-L.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Customer-Cars/Jamie-Becks-S197-Mustang/i-v3tptLK/0/X3/starting-weight-X3.jpg)
+ Repairs and Updates after Hallett - After my simple "off and on" at Hallett I damaged a few exterior bits. The "pushed back" splitter was removed, some duct work was replaced, and we even added and upgraded some aluminum panels hidden under the bumper cover (a lower panel was added), the splitter mounts were fixed, etc. I tear up things and Vorshlag techs fix it. Rinse, repeat.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-R5SM9QC/1/S/DSC_3301-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-R5SM9QC/1/X3/DSC_3301-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w7thQkQ/1/S/DSC_3303-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-w7thQkQ/1/X3/DSC_3303-X3.jpg)
+ Adding a fire bottle & quick-release mount - After seeing the smoke pour out of the hood on our Mustang at Hallett (luckily it was only steam), then seeing cars at Pikes Peak + Hallett get burned from small engine fires that turned into larger ones due to a lack of a fire bottle, I figured it was past time. We have rounded up an affordable 2.5 pound bottle and it will be mounted in the car on a quick-release mount at the passenger side of the trans tunnel. That way I don't have to drive a car ON FIRE to a corner station to try to find a fire extinguisher if something happens. The fireball below was from a car we worked on (aero work + cage mods) that since entered the 2014 Pikes Peak event. About $120 investment in a fire bottle & mount can potentially save you thousands in fire damage. Will cover this more in the next update (they just finished it an hour ago - looks great).
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Fp2hqMf/1/S/DSC_3511-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-Fp2hqMf/1/X3/DSC_3511-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-gZmGknb/0/S/brianne-corn-fire-ppihc2014-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag-Test-Pilots/Brianne-Corn-2005-STi/i-gZmGknb/0/X3/brianne-corn-fire-ppihc2014-X3.jpg)
+ New search for a HANS continues - I've scratched two off the list but there are many more. I know about all of the options, but what I would like is to borrow a couple more and try them out. So far I am thoroughly unimpressed with how much these restrain my head movement in the car.
+ Two sets of prototype AST S197 coilovers - These just went up for sale today in our Clearance (http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=51) section. There's also some other new additions for slightly used S197 parts in there. Vorshlag is once again an AST/Moton dealer but the new U.S. distributor doesn't have any inventory in the USA yet (and might not for weeks or months). But we have recently taken in (on trade) a couple of special sets of prototype ASTs, including the first (and possibly only) set of AST 4200s for the S197 chassis as well as the first set of 4150 prototypes that we used on our 2011 GT for two years. Both sets have been checked out and are good to go, and you can add camber plates, springs and ride height adjusters to get a killer set of monotube adjustables on your car for a big savings over new AST or MCS prices. Details are at the links below for each set.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-zxMBFx8/0/S/i-zxMBFx8-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=696) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-hgB6rKr/0/S/i-hgB6rKr-S.jpg (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=697)
Left: Prototype AST 4150 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=696) shock set for S197 (from my car!). Right: Prototype (and only) AST 4200 (http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=697) shock set for S197
+ MCS deal for BMWs and S197 from July 7th to August 4th - If you order an MCS set for any S197 Mustang, BMW E30, BMW E36 or BMW E46 during this time frame there is a $100 savings on the optional rear spring kits, to help introduce the new Vorshlag rear ride height platforms.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/MCS-TT1-Shocks/i-TgRRVxP/0/S/_DSC7481%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/MCS-TT1-Shocks/i-TgRRVxP/0/X3/_DSC7481%20copy-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-wrLTb3w/0/S/j_DSC6913%20copy-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Product-Pictures/Vorshlag-Ride-Height-Adjusters/i-wrLTb3w/0/X3/j_DSC6913%20copy-X3.jpg)
+ New S197 Fender Flare Kit Under Development - Our friends at Heritage have taken what they learned making the custom steel rear flares on our Mustang and have replicated this for another one of our customers, but also added custom front flares and a lot of "Extra Aero Pieces" to finish the wide body look off. They are pulling molds off of this car below and will offer composite offerings for all of this "soon". I will cover more of this in my next update, when hopefully the car below is painted/finished and the molds are ready. The plan is to get them to make the first set of composite front fenders for our car before SEMA. Fingers crossed...
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-hjc4d6W/1/S/i-hjc4d6W-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-hjc4d6W/1/X3/i-hjc4d6W-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-bVqSjLt/1/S/i-bVqSjLt-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/photos/i-bVqSjLt/1/X3/i-bVqSjLt-X3.jpg)
+ Vorshlag Attends Drift vs Grip Event - I was going to cover that in this update but ran out of time. This was a Lone Star Drift event with a "5 lap battle" between the fastest drift cars and a few NASA TT drivers. It was UGLY, but we all had a lot of fun, and I'll show video and pics of this event next time. Here's some preview pictures of me driving like a jackass.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Lone-Star-Drift-TMS-062914/i-VJn3n9t/1/S/B61G2222-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Lone-Star-Drift-TMS-062914/i-VJn3n9t/1/X3/B61G2222-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Lone-Star-Drift-TMS-062914/i-XRCZH4q/1/S/B61G2001-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Lone-Star-Drift-TMS-062914/i-XRCZH4q/1/X3/B61G2001-X3.jpg)
+ Vorshlag Skipping NASA Nationals East
After a lot of internal debate we have decided to skip the NASA Nationals event being held August 31st at Road Atlanta. There are several reasons. First, this "split Nationals" (East and West coast) is kind of lame and winning either one only makes you a "half champion". It was a novel idea but I don't want to spend the money and take the risks to do just the East event. That's the second reason - Risk. After looking at the carnage from Hallett, which has very little runoff area but low overall speeds, I am not comfortable going to Road Atlanta without a cage. This is another track with little runoff but HIGH speeds. Too many concrete K-walls and rough gravel traps (there should not have been an 18" drop into/out of that gravel trap) will keep me away until we have a caged car, and a better reason to go back and risk breaking something on my body again. Third is - Car Damage. I have a buyer lined up for the 2011 Mustang after SEMA, and I cannot afford to wad it up at Road Atlanta and ruin the car and the buyers future plans for it.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SrW9Mzj/0/S/Road_Atlanta_track_map.svg-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/GTA-Road-Atlanta-050914/i-SrW9Mzj/0/X3/Road_Atlanta_track_map.svg-X3.jpg) http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-nZ4MFnR/0/S/LVMS_road_course_map_BFG-S.jpg (http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Projects/Vorshlag-2011-Mustang-GT-build/i-nZ4MFnR/0/O/LVMS_road_course_map_BFG.jpg)
Road Atlanta (left) is hilly, fast, and unyielding. The LVMS 2.4 mile outfield course (right) is flat, slower speeds, and much safer
Instead of spending thousands of dollars going to Road Atlanta we are going to focus on the 2014 Optima Ultimate Street Car shootout (which we snagged an invitation to after winning the March USCA event) at LVMS in November. We will go and do a test event there as well. After that event the 2011 GT will be sold so we can focus on other projects (like the 2015 Mustang) and to help expand our business. Selling this 2011 Mustang helps us get into a bigger building, which we badly need. Ideally we would go to NASA Nats and give it a shot, but the reward just isn't worth the risk this time. Sorry...
So that's enough for this time. Stay tuned for more!
Vorshlag decided not to sponsor the forum any longer.
You can read our S197 build thread, and lots of other tech threads, on other forums and our own website forum, http://www.vorshlag.com/forums/
Thank you,
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.