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So without a muffler on the car, and just a down turn after the turbo, the car is incredibly loud but the turbo chop is awesome. My friend followed me down to the gas station and back, and according to him the exhaust is "all fire, all the time". He mentioned something that hadn't occurred to me, the color of the flames coming out of the tail pipe change color from red/yellow/orange to blue/purple/white which I can guess is the water/alcohol kicking in. I'm not going to leave it like this it's just too loud, there's just not enough time to get a new exhaust fabbed up.
On the short jaunt I had a chance to adjust the front shocks and they're good enough for the autox. I have no idea why it took me so long to swap those out, and it was clear to me last night that I've been driving around the front grip problem for years. I played with the manual wastegate controller and slowly dialed up boost until it was around 22psi. Boost is now rock solid, no fluttering from the blowoff valve or wastegate and no spooling or surging problems from the turbo. It almost feels like the turbo spools smoother and quicker than it used to. I am happier with everything right now than I have been in a long time and I want to get some more seat time to get used to the new norms. Right now the car is all loaded up ready to head out before dawn to start the 2nd half of our race season :D http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original |
So the autox went off without any mechanical issues. It was soo nice not driving the bug an hour each way to the event, enjoying heat in the morning and a/c in the afternoon. The exhaust wasn't as loud as I feared it would be but it's still pretty noisy. Lucy, though, has never felt so good, and if you compare this video with my last one it's very clear she's running much better. Unfortunately due to electrical issues some of my gauges weren't working (boost, speedo) so I didn't get all the data i was looking for. I gotta figure out why the battery can't get voltage to the starter and why it's not charging. If I jump the bug it starts just fine but it won't start on its own, and the battery tests fine at the parts shop.
Here's the video from my 3rd and fastest run. I was on a fast sprint on my 4th run and over cooked it into a hammerhead type corner sending me into the cones. I carried a couple cones with me under the car which popped out later in the course, and got my rival red flagged. He got a free run on hot tires right after and beat my best time by half a second. The points race is close again, and I'm now only leading by 1 with 5 races to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF4zG57EK_U |
A two-fer this time around! A couple weeks ago I did a test day with the lotus club so I could dial in the new wastegate and turbo. Turns out I did more for my tires then my turbo. I was having problems gripping the cold concrete and talked to a couple of national competitors (champions too). They suggested that the tires aren't heating up in autox because the sidewalls aren't moving enough. So i kept dropping tire pressures until i hit 16psi in front and 18psi in back. I was picking up more grip and started messing with the MBC to dial back the boost.
At the previous autox my gauge cluster wasn't working so I couldn't record boost pressure. After a frustrating day during the week, i discovered the red top optima battery was toast. New battery under warranty and everything is great now. At the lotus event i couldn't get any less than 24psi no matter what i tried with the MBC. I'm going to by-pass it and run the line right to the wastegate with it's 7psi spring and see if there's any change. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB0-murW6NA At the double points race this past sunday it was on! My main competitor and I were tied in points after a close year so far. We raced in the afternoon and my nemesis was on fresh new hoosier a6 tires that had already been scrubbed. We had a large run group and that killed my usual 2-driver advantage of warm tires so we were neck and neck. We traded half second drops each run but in the end he beat me by less than .1 sec. Damn... I have 3 races left to try and make up the points gap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB-Ck6rOFbs Same course, but this camera is at the top of the windshield so you can see the course a better, and hear the engine a bit better. I really love the way the car sounds with the new header and turbo, but it's soooo loud without a muffler. I really, really need to put that back on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z87IicpkaY |
Got some pics of the bug on course from the last event, sadly it's my co-driver at the wheel and not me. Hopefully I'll have some better shots at the next event this sunday.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...i.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...i.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...i.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...i.jpg~original |
I absolutely love the track footage, this is probably my favorite thread to follow. Keep up the good work.
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I've had a crazy month and I've got some catching up to do starting with the event in september. We were running in the afternoon, so it was nice to sleep in. I gave the front struts a little more rebound damping to see if it would help the front end stick better. They were too soft previously, and I hoped that this would make a difference. They ended up being still too soft but I was no longer locking up the front tires on hard braking. Before the front suspension would bounce off the stops and the wheels would lock up, but not this time. Awesome! However, I noticed hesitation again trying to go from part to full throttle but it could be a fuel slosh issue. I'm going to run a mostly full tank next time and see if the issue persists.
Lastly, after my co-driver/tire-warmer's first run he shut down the car. When he hit the starter button to fire her up again, the guts of the button shot out of the back of the dash. We scrambled to get the bug started again but that Painless button will have to be replaced. The starter engaged during his run, and ran until he got back to the grid where I pulled the back of the starter button off again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rymkcAR1PyU First October event: My front damping improvements helped but I might add a bit more to see if front grip starts falling off again. Overall the bug is very predictable and easy to place in line, however the open diff is still a big achilles heel. With a nearly full tank I didn't get the hesitation issues I had before, so I'm pretty sure I was starving out the pickup in the fuel cell. After replacing the starter button, I discovered that the starter motor was cooked from engaging while the bug was racing around. The new starter is in but its planetary gearset makes the worst noise. During this event our group was seriously short, and we basically hot-lapped 8 runs between 2 drivers. It didn't leave much time for tire pressure checking or adjustment, and the tires were gaining 2psi every couple of runs or so. All in all I finished just behind my nemesis by .3 sec, and barring him missing an event, he'll take the championship this year. Well fought! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LwpUI6ZtUg Lastly, I have a new project I'm working out. Just bought a 71 super from the original owner, clean straight body, no accidents, and it's never left the SF Bay area. I'll get a build thread started once it has a name and direction, but I'm leaning toward a J-spec germanlook build. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...d.jpg~original |
Nice 71. Should be a great platform to work from.
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Did a little bit of work to the bug on Sunday, and the trailer too. One of the tires on the race trailer has had a leak, so once the bug was off the trailer I took the opportunity to patch the tire. Also fixed the trailer brake on that side, looks like something had cut the wire.
As per my autox organization, I had to put the muffler back on, Lucy is just too loud without it. Spent the afternoon cutting and re-welding the old setup to work with the new turbo, and not hit the decklid. I borrowed my buddy's gasless mig (which i really hate) and I had a hell of a time with it burning through. The welds are hideous but it'll hold until the end of the season. While I was making sure the exhaust wasn't leaking I noticed the BOV was not doing it's job. Turns out I plumbed the sense line wrong when I put the new wastegate in, oops! Hopefully any damage to the turbo was minimal. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...d.jpg~original |
Event #11 is now out of the way and into the books. Results aren't in yet but I believe i had 1st by more than half a second. It was a very technical course this time with some very tight gates that meant threading the needle at speed. Victory comes with some bad news though, the new starter crapped out in the middle of the event. It's supposed to be a high torque high rpm starter but after 10 or so starts it died. It looked cheap when I got it so I'm not surprised and it's covered under warranty. Since we couldn't shut down the car between runs the oil and heads started getting hot, with the heads clearing 410F and the oil touching 250F. I chanced a 3rd run, which was my fastest, then trailered the bug and it sounded rough until I shut it off. The oil pressure light came on a couple times while idling but pressure was fine during the run so I hope nothing was damaged. I'm going to drain the oil and take a look at it to make sure there's no glitter then it's off to the last race in 2 weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfOMESTj6rc |
End of the 2012 race season!!
First off, the starter replacement and the oil issues. Last week I pulled the starter, again, and replaced it in about 20 minutes now that I have the process down. Checked the oil and it was fouled but glitter free, so I left the filters alone and topped it off with fresh oil. It seems like a waste to just run the oil for 1 race but oh well. She fired right up and sounded fine. Oil pressure was good but oil temps stayed cold so I'd have to wait for the race to see if she over heated again. As a precaution, I reconnected the oil cooler fan just in case. On race day it was cold, very cold for California any way. It was 29F when I rolled out of the driveway at 6AM and was 35F when I rolled into Marina, CA after 7AM. It was raining on Saturday and I was expecting it to be damp Sunday morning but it was dry and cold. The course was designed to be a wet one, which means it was open, but in the dry it was fast. I got up to almost 70mph down the straight mid-course. The cold air was great for a power boost, but did not help the tires at all. My tire pressures stayed about 14-14.5psi in front and 15-15.5 out back. I found it better to bog the car at the bottom of the power band than to rev it out and make her nervous on cold tires. I had top time of day for while in the morning and it felt so good. I'm hoping I finally broke into the top 10 this event, if not I was very close. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwl7-Vi-mRQ At the end of the day I had 1st in OSP by .6 seconds, but my nemesis squeaks by with the OSP championship this year by 9 points. I finished 2nd in OSP and 9th in the overall standings, and my co-driver finished 4th in OSP which is not too shabby. Even though it was a 2nd place finish, this has been one of the most rewarding and fun racing seasons I've had. Lucy has proven to be a great bug and with a little more development she will be a serious force to be reckoned with. I'd like to thank: Sean my co-driver for helping out, ferrying parts, and warming tires. CB Performance for supplying much of the motor, fuel injection and turbo, as well as Pat for his thoughts on the motor build. Bugformance San Jose for helping me with the odds and ends, and Jeff for being a sounding board for my crazy ideas. Rancho for building a fantastic race tranny that won't quit that has done over 3000 race miles now. Mendeola for helping give me the edge back with a suspension brace that performs awesome. |
Hey Humble,
IIRC you installed a DRD turbo header correct? What's it been like for you from installation to fit to performance? Thanks, |
Congrats on a fine season. I have enjoyed all the videos and look forward to next season.
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2012 Season wrap-up!
I learned a lot this season, about the car, and her drivers: -I really miss driving her on the street, more than I thought I would, which is why I picked up a new street bug. -Riding with my co-driver/tire-warmer and then driving has given me more insight on my own driving style. -An upgrade for next year is data acquisition and logging to improve further. -Sticky tires are a lot of fun... when you get heat in them, and tire pressures will be watched more closely next year. -Shocks and sways make a difference, but balancing them make magic happen. -A tow rig and trailer are not only worth their weight in gold on cold mornings and hot afternoons, but go far in reducing driver fatigue at the end of the day. We had our club year end awards party on Sunday where I was pleasantly surprised and humbled. First off I was given the Spirit-of-George award, which is given to folks who over come medical problems for the chance to go racing. The award's namesake had a brutal battle with cancer, enduring aggressive chemo treatments, but he fought hard just so he could go racing again. I remember seeing George when he returned after a year hiatus, and I joked with him that his diet was working so much better than mine. He was in such great spirits just being there you would never have known he was sick. He succumbed to cancer about a year and a half ago and this award was created in his honor. I was given this award for my multi-year fight against blindness. The past 5 years of detached retinas, eyes surgeries, infections, and corneal defects, could not stop me from getting behind the wheel. Even if I did go blind, I'd be driving with a cane, and put my seeing-eye-dog in the passenger seat. I am truly humbled to receive this award, and it means a lot to me. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original In class results I finished 2nd for the season by 9 points, or 1 race deficit, what a close year. It was back and forth all year but in the end I couldn't pull off the upset. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original The surprise came in the overall results where I finished 8th in the index out of 160+ runners, but I managed to beat the top buggy runner Greg McNair. Greg drives a balls out manx buggy built for hill climbs, and gives me a good ribbing for driving a fat chick. We have a standing bet for $50 if I can beat his raw time and I've come close. I wonder if index points count? ;) http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original |
Great report, very deserved and what a cool pics that first one especially!
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Nice story. It's good to see that all of your efforts made everyone take notice. Keep pushing and I am sure you will edge out the old manx.
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Shut Off valves. Sorry.
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It seems like every winter I put the race bug into hibernation, and every year i forget how much fun she is to drive. I pulled the bug out and took her for a spin to cycle the fluids. I needed to put some fresh gas in her anyway so why not. I happened to run across a worked over e36 m3 and we had a bit of fun in the mountains. We chatted for a bit and he was surprised that a bug could be so quick. The autox season doesn't start until later february this year due to fallout from an event with a karting club last year, so I have plenty of time to give the bug a once over.
As a side note, I was going to put this up before and never did. It's a little trick for pulling rubber and gravel out of sticky rubber after a track day or autox. This works with slicks or sticky street tires. Find yourself a curry comb, used for dogs or horses, with rows jagged teeth like this one: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8...cf05c85b_c.jpg Be rough with it and drag it across the tire to pull the gravel and rubber out. It easier if you do this while the tire is still hot, but it'll still work if the tire has cooled off. Here's a pice that's half and half so you can see how well it works. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8235/8...a114d1fd_c.jpg |
Great idea! Im always wearing out my gloves brushing off the pebbles...
Jason |
Big updates are looming! I have purchases pending and soon parts with be shipping!
Looking to get: beautiful tubular arms from vw1303 hopefully some 935 style spring plates from Alex subaru swap wide sump and maybe radiator from bug@5speed Already ordered: US spec 2005 EJ25 sti motor Subaru gears, mounts, flip r&p, stubs, and trans conversion bits ty754xxxx sti 5spd trans I haven't received anything yet but this will be a crazy process. The race bug gets new race bits and subaru motor, and the street bug gets a lot of race bug hand-me-downs. I promise lots of updates and video on both cars very soon! |
AWESOME!!!!!!!! Let the CAR PORN begin...
can't wait to see all this happen :) Chris. |
Hi
Regarding your curry comb idea, a lot of the local hill climbers wrap their tyres in Gladwrap after a run and before entering the pits, you need a lot of Gladwrap and helpers to do this. Steve |
humble...IM SOOO EXCITED FOR THIS!!! soo stoked! ill surly be watching.
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Vow...subaru drivetrain:) I kinda liked your turboed vw engine. If with vw engine it was fast, it be a whole lot faster with subaru sti 2.5 engine:lmao: Are we talking about close to 300hp engine at stock form?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_EJ_engine#EJ25 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...J257_turbo.jpg |
Nice cut-away! With only 2wd through the subaru gearbox I'm expecting similar numbers from the stock sti ej257 that I get from my built race motor, around 330hp/300ft.lbs. Not really a fair comparison as the ej257 will be intercooled and my current race motor is not. With only a few upgrades one of my competitors is getting 420whp from his sti on E85.
Ultimately my goal with the sti motor is 400-450hp, all day long at the track without overheating. Then I think I'll be happy... for a while ;) |
Awesome! Welcome to the dark side!
Jason |
I don't even know where to start with this. First off, I don't condone this behavior, but I am a tame racing driver, so I'm not perfect.
I took Lucy out for a spin this morning, to meet a friend for breakfast at a well known restaurant in the mountains. I like going there because all manner of machinery, car or bike, shows up or drives by. After a nice breakfast I headed back home along a lazy winding road that follows the ridge line. Now I will admit I was driving quickly and having some fun but as I settled down I noticed a sleek black car gaining on me. I fed Lucy a little more go juice, and the black car followed. A little more from me, a little more from him and so on until we are at unreasonable/imprudent speeds. Race track speeds. We continued for a couple miles then I slowed down for him to pass, and I followed him for a bit. Now I could see clearly what had been chasing me, and I smiled wide at the back of a McLaren MP4-12C. Now it was my turn to chase, and he was quick. The driver knew the road and the car, but not as well as I knew mine. Again we continued into unreasonable/imprudent speeds but he couldn't shake me. I noticed that even on crap tires, I could corner harder than he could, and we accelerated at the same rate until aerodynamics started holding me back. He would start to inch away but I could out brake and out turn him. This continued for another 5 miles until we came to a little turn out area, he pulled in and I followed him. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...f.jpg~original When we popped out of the cars, I told him he could tell all his friends what just happened and no one would believe him. :) We chatted for a bit and I grabbed some pics of his car and he got a bunch of the bug. He said he was driving the McLaren fairly hard and if I had to guess we were both at around 8/10ths. Below 90mph the two of us were pretty evenly matched. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original Then, after about 5 minutes his friends started showing up, more, and more, and more! I felt like a kid in a toy store. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...b.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...a.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...b.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...f.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...c.jpg~original A bunch of folks were asking about the bug, and the McLaren driver did tell everyone that he couldn't shake the bug but no one believed him. As it turns out the whole group was out for a cruise and the McLaren driver was trying to "catch up" with them. Some how he ended up in front of them and that's when he found me. We all chatted and stretched a bit before heading down to Boulder Creek, another stop in their cruise and some much needed gas for me. I split off from the group there and headed back home, but not before trading emails with the McLaren driver. I know the bug is fast, scary fast, but now I can put that into a bit of perspective. Lucy is as quick as a McLaren MP4-12C :eek: The biggest downside to this story? I left my gopro at home *facepalm* PS: Don't do any of this, ever! Holy sh*t we went fast, like one-mistake-and-you'll-ball-it-up fast. |
Very cool!! :yes:
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Hi
Great read, there is the US National debt in that car park. Steve |
wow humble, im sitting here reading this with my gf, we where amazed, truly inspires my build i got going on. a once in a life time chance to really see how a once economical car with a little bit of money, a skilled driver, can go a long long way. humble...im so jelious of your run in with the super car club.
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Awesome! I love stories like that! That is what makes such a build worthwhile! Nice of the Mclaren guy to chat with you about it and not be pissed off because he spent hundreds of thousands on his car.Cool stuff!
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Very cool story and awesome pics of these multidollar supercars, but where's your beetle? A pic of the 1303 with those cars in the same shot is even cooler of course.
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Wally, You can see the bug off to the side in a couple of the shots, I was parked next to the testarossa and 458. It's a small car in this crowd :D
Steve C, this group isn't the type to put a loan on a car, it's either leased or purchased out right. cookvw, I'm still jazzed about it. I've lived here 7 years and dreamed about something like this happening but I never thought it would. 70Turbobug, I was afraid that they would be a snooty bunch, but a lot of them were car guys and very cool. Lots of them came over to check out the bug and they were genuinely interested in it. |
Found her! The guy on the pole is standing mostly in front of your car and you didn't even see it when you took the pic haha!
Being chased by a MP12C and talk with the owner afterwards about it, how cool is that! |
I just read this whole thread. Very funny because I have had a Manx project and my 79 Convert project going for too many years. As the Manx went from mild to wild then wilder and got a Mendeola suspension the MBT with Kerscher coilovers suspension went to the Bug and have followed the same process as you. The Bug gets the hand me down race car parts. Thought you might want to see a shot of the STi setup we are building for the Manx. As the fabricator Tigwerks does this in his spare time, it has taken us over 14 long months to get this far. It is killing me. If you get a chance post up some shots of your buddys autocross Manx. I have a Manx build thread on NASIOC Conversions but have not taken the time to put one up here. Let me know if you guys want one here.
Oh and the muffler will swing up when done. http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/...4.jpg~original |
I love hearing that. I've been on several drives over the years, my favorite was in the Arizona desert very late at night up in the hills and mountains with friends.
I've also seen several high-dollar cars with owners that CFD. Like you said though, not that it's a race, it's just fun to go out and open things up a bit. It just sucks when you get stuck behind someone really overcautious or likewise someone who does think it's a race and rides a little too close really spoils the mood. |
That is just awesome!!!! I love it when all the stars align and something so magical happens with timing. I've been blessed to be hounding some Mc's in the last few weeks, thought you might want a peak!
Laguna Seca ThunderHill Keep your GoPro handy at all times ferchrisake!!!! Jason |
Jason what car are u running.
Think u may have mentioned it before, sur looks like a roundel up front. If I had to guess an e35 but the sound did not match? Regardless nice line and runs at those cars Alex |
SuperRSi, I've been following your build on the NASIOC for a while, and I have one concern. It seems like the front tires are wasted since they will never be on the ground... ;)
Jason, you should have hit me up when you were at laguna seca, my house is about an hour north of there on your way home! Also, what groups were you running with at laguna seca and thunder hill? |
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