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Finished another event this weekend, #7 of the series. I had a co-driver (read: tire warmer ;) ) this time around to see if I could get some more heat into the tires but it was a marginal difference at best. Tire temps never reached 100, even with 2 drivers, which seems worse than a 200 treadwear tire to me temp wise. Both my competitors were on super sticky autox R-comps again, but I really narrowed the gap this time. I ran a 52.63, vs a 52.6 for 2nd and a 51.8 for 1st. I was also one of the fastest cars down to 100 ft. slalom topping out at 80-82mph going into the braking zone.
Here's a couple videos I got... I was playing with camera angles and these were my fav's Bumper cam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egYoJtQ7akc Wing cam facing backward http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhM1Vx5tVGM |
Nice work. Thanks for the vids.
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Here's a few pics from the last event that finally got posted...
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 |
Another autox event and finally a first place finish! This is Lucy's first top spot this year and it felt good to know she's finally coming together. What started off as a cold and crazy morning (CHP blocked the highway for nearly an hour trying to round up 3 loose horses) ended up with perfect weather and a great event. I finally had Sean (my co-driver/tire warmer) take the race tires down in his car while I drove the bug. Mind you this is about 130 miles round trip, on the street, and the bug gets lots of attention.
We swapped tires at the event, Sean drove first, then me. I don't know about you guys but I'm conflicted about someone else driving my car. On one hand, I don't want someone else to break something (I want to do it), but on the other hand I love watching and hearing it from the sidelines. Sean scrubbed the old rubber off the tires (7 year old, barely touched, hoosier r3s03) and got them warmed up, and I managed to shave a second a run as the tires gain heat. They are still too cold for autox but 2 seconds faster than the medium-hard yokohama A048s. I had the camera on the fender with the intention of moving it around but didn't get the chance. Here's the only pic I have so far and the video of the fastest run :) http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4..._MG_4713_i.jpg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fhHh...6ACsixGLuJisYg |
Congrats man! Must be great to gain so much so quickly.
'I love Lucy'! :D |
Oh wow man... Awesome! Just awesome!
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Here's a few shots from the last event that finally got uploaded, and there's another event this sunday. The season is winding down with 2 races to go :)
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...i.jpg~original How about a front wheel up at 1+ lateral G's? 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 |
Well, the 2012 racing season is now under way! First event of the year was new years day, double points too.
Had a bit of a panic moment a couple days before the race when the alternator failed while i was out on a test drive. Got back home in time, and luckily I had a spare high amp alternator on the shelf, but this isn't what you want to see a day before the race. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original Had a mixed field with regulars and non regulars, and I think I managed 3rd on the old slicks. It was sunny but only about 55 (13C) degrees with a good breeze going, and despite 8 back to back runs the tires only got up to about 85-90 (29-32C). Grip was hard to find in the bug and I was sliding around a lot looking for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvVOtOGhViw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR2B3077hX4 |
Nice vids... did look a little slick :) Electrical problems suck in "under the gun" times.
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Time attack beetle
This car is just Brilliant, it really makes me realize that when my car is finally set up right my choice to fit big wheels was a good one.This looks like it handles so well.At one point I was worried that 18 inch rims where too big but this proves otherwise. Great car, love it.
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You can run 18's just fine, but I've stepped down to a 17" for autox since it's a bit rougher and the extra sidewall helps. I'll probably keep my 18" for track duty unless I find another deal on 17" track rims.
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2012 autox #2
I was racing in the afternoon, in the very last group this time. That worked to my advantage since I didn't get my new tires in time for the autox and the heat would help me. The weather was perfect in the mid 60's F (17-18C) and I loved cruising out with the windows down. The course was a weird one and didn't work well for 2nd gear, but had a lot of short sprints. I have so much power in 1st gear it's too easy to over-drive the car but it rotates so well with the smallest lift of the throttle. I managed a 1st place finish by .5 sec with a passenger, which makes me wonder how faster i could have gone without him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8A3rBTq7zk |
Hey Humble,
First I'd like to thank you for all your hard work that you've shared with us. Now you can just pay for my car to be finished and I'll really respect you! Seriously though, I've got a few dozen questions for you. How are your tire temps with the 17's and 18's in a car that 'light'? What does it weigh, and what is your weight distribution? Are you able to get the temps stable across the tread / face of the tire? I noticed you mentioned them not getting up to temp, is this because of the outside / surface temp being too low? What compound are you currently running front and rear. I'm planning to use the Lotus Elise tire size/spec for my Ghia with 16x7 - 195/50/16 front, 17x8 - 225/45/17 rear. Thanks |
The reason I went with 17s or 18s was to get additional width and better tire choices. You can get 245's in 16" sizes but it's a disappearing tire size. The 17" Fikse wheels are very light for their size but are not cheap. I think 17's are the sweet spot for weight vs. tire choice, and personally I wouldn't go with 18's again.
Weight: My bug weighs 2050lbs (930kg) with a full tank and a fat driver (the Stig's fat American cousin is 235lbs/106kg) after being stripped and caged. I've got a 45F/55R weight bias, and a 50.5% cross weight with driver. The bug is actually setup pretty damn well and is fairly well balanced. Tire Temps: I've struggled with tire temps for a few reasons but first the setup: Front: -2.5* camber, 0 toe, and as much caster as possible Rear: -1.5* camber, 0 toe I expect to have higher inside temps due to the camber and I based my settings on the PCA 70's porsche RS cars. Those cars tip the scales around 2200lbs(998kg) and run 17x10-11" fronts and 17x13" rear full race slicks. I'm running 245/40-17 front and 275/35-17 rear which I think is about as wide as I can go and get good tire temps. That being said I've had a hard time getting the right compound under the car. The 18s I was using had a medium-hard compound which were just too hard really, even in very hot weather. The older race tires on my 17's were a medium compound and good for warm/hot (75F/24C+) weather but wouldn't warm up fast enough for autox duties. I plan on getting a soft compound next which should work for autox and hillclimb sprints, as well as a set of soft-medium compound for track days. I've got a set of Hankook Z214 c71 soft compound tires on order and they should be mounted before the next autox. I haven't decided on a track tire yet and I'm still shopping around. For tire temps to get into the right range you have to bring the right tire, and I just haven't done that. If you bring too hard a tire out it will feel greasy and just slide around. Street tires can be faster than the wrong race tire. For the ghia, if you haven't bought your rims yet I'd rethink your sizes. It would be better in the long run to get the same diameter all around either 16's or 17's rather than split sizes. Also do a lot of shopping to see what compounds are available, but I wouldn't run anything harder than a medium compound. The Lotus comes with medium compound yokohama A048's which wear like butter and grip like ducttape (60 tread wear rating), but, those tires don't work below 70F/21C. If it's cold, those tires are icy, I've driven an Exige S 240 track model in the cold and I had more than a few pucker moments. I would suggest a staggered size like 205 front/225 rear but again the same caveat of available compounds, so do some research. Lastly, if it's not an all out track toy, consider the same size all around, easy to find tires, easy to rotate tires (which goes a long way in extending the life of a set of tires), and you can get the same compounds. I go through 4-5 sets of tires a year so if you have a question of particular brands or tires feel free to ask. Kind of a long answer but I hope I covered it all for you :) |
I'm running 205/225 C71s on 16x7 and 16x8s on my '73. My car is a little bit lighter but I have way less power. The tires barely get warm on a cool day spent autocrossing. I should have gone with 15s though to help keep my momentum up.
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yeah, I thought I might have the same problem with c71's which is why I'm waiting to buy track tires. If the c71's don't warm up at an autox or with 2 drivers autoxing the same car, they'll be good for the track, and I'll wait for more c91 sizes to come out.
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Humble,
Check your private messages. |
Last week I met up with DORIGTT when he was in town for work and showed him the local B.L.T.N aircooled meet. Also took him for a ride in the race bug, a short sprint up the road and back, he screamed the whole way... j/k ;) We ended up chatting until way late and I think we were the last ones to leave the meet.
I've been pending more time and money on the race bug lately solving problems that have persisted until now (deferred defects we used to call them). Dropped the bug off at the shop to have a custom turbo header built that would relocate the waste gate to the collector, and route pipes more efficiently. Currently the header puts the waste gate on the #2 primary, which is a terrible location, and it causes extreme boost creep. Initial estimate was $800-1000 which is high but reasonable, but then later updated the quote to $1700 which is borderline retarded. For that much I could buy a welder, all the tubing bends, all the flanges, make the header, and then have it coated. So I nixed the header build and had them give the bug a quick once over. In the check-up they found the compression was very low, 120-60-60-15, like how could it run, low. After a couple tests they found the rockers were a little tight, which means the motor hadn't fully cooled the last time I adjusted them. After a quick valve job compression came back and it's 125-130-125-130 now. Since I needed a header still I called around and found a built but unused and uncoated header that might work for $400 but it will need some more work. A new waste gate and flanges are on order so when those show up I can mock everything up. Once the header is ready I may get some help at the same time and mock up the intercooler so it goes on with the new header. Once everything is plumbed it goes back to the dyno to shoot for 400hp. Things on the to do/to get list: --A new set of track wheels, I just picked up a set of Fikse profil 5 18" wheel centers that need to be built out. --A tow rig, either a an ex fleet truck or fleet van will do for now --Finish front aero treatment and side skirts --Replace driver's side rear trailing arm with updated abs ready unit (passenger side already done) --get new 935 style, adjustable rear monoball spring plate replacement --have new rollcage built that fits tight to body --install stock dash again and modify to fit new cage --install racetechnology digital dash and data logger --rewire car for new dash and data acquisition Here's the new (but abused) wheel centers I picked up, Fikse Profil 5s 18" http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original You can see they're a little chewed up by a wheel gun but they're straight and crack free http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original New header, covered in a little surface rust but otherwise good http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original New stack of race rubber, 245/40 17 and 275/40 17 Hankook z214 c71 Soft tires. If these don't work, Hankook is starting to roll out c91 super softs, and I'll use this set for the track. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original |
Great updates!
Love the Fikse wheel(center)s; good to hear your compression is back there. Big relieve I'am sure. Will help power and low down torque immensely too. Funny thing that header looks like what I ended up with my 1200 T1 :) |
LIAR!:angry:
I wasn't screaming...that was the high-pitched squeak that was created when I was pooping my pants after my bung-hole had slammed shut.:lmao: Great meeting you Humble and I'm setting up my travel arrangements to stay an extra day to come hang out with you and the gang again. I'll shoot you pics on the Eberspacher to see if you're interested. I just got back from a week in Denver...24 degrees vs. 70 degrees when in your town. |
Ha! I'm glad you had a good time and I can't wait to have you back out again. I'm still interested in the eberspacher so shoot me pics asap. Have you tested it, or do you know if it needs to be rebuilt? Also, you left at the right time because it cooled off the day after you left, though not quite as cold as Denver, Brrr.
In other news, I finished up another race weekend but this time on the new race rubber. This was the first scrub so I wasn't expecting ultimate grip but there was still a 2-3 sec improvement! I was probably more reserved than I needed to be and I wasn't fully trusting the tires yet, so I'm sure I left some time out there. I managed 45.25 with wastegate issues and it probably could have been a high 44 without having to back out of it twice. Still I took 1st in class by 1.5 sec or more and moved up the overall standings quite a bit. My co-driver took 3rd I think and he's making the 2nd place flyin' miata earn it now :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjohNCZ7Bm0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwU0ZzMhtEs |
Awesome results and congrats on the best time!
From the outside you hear the tires scream, but not so from the inside I noticed. |
Those weren't my tires squealing that's why :) Actually it's very loud inside the car and you can't hear much over the motor.
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Nice run. Good to see an aircooled classic taking it to them like that. Thanks for the vids.
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Been a while since the last update. Nothing much really happening with the bug lately. I sorted out a cold start problem that ended up being a bad starter. Weather here had been very rainy, which is good because we needed it badly, but it has prevented me from getting work done on the bug. It also kept me from taking the bug out to the previous event and instead I took my mazdaspeed 3 (my rain car). Long story short, despite my rain dancing, the sun came out, dried the course, and left me in the wrong car. I still managed a very fast time in the MS3 and had I been in DS instead of OSP I would have pax'd in the top 10 so I was still proud of the result.
Here's my latest autox in the bug on 4-15-12. It was a fairly quick course with a slow finish but was very active at the end. I'm still having a couple problems with the bug, boost issues and rear suspension hopping with high grip tires. I managed to pull out a 52.3 and the fastest time in the morning was a 50.1. I finished 2nd in class, but beat my points competitor, though I think I trail for class lead by 8 or 9 points after 5 races. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jjk6SSvzl4 |
nice Run..sounds real nice too ;)
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Good run.
You made it look too easy.:lmao: |
A fine drive. Looks like a blast.
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Here's a couple pics from the Kelley Park Spring Meet on sunday. I was safely the fastest car there at least until the battery died. All the time spent idling with the oil cooler fan running waiting to get in killed the battery. I ended up getting a jump so I could leave, such is the life of a race car, they don't like going slow :)
Here's a few shots with the semi-complete airdam in place. The splitter isn't on yet and the front suspension needs to come up about an inch or so but It looks good all blacked out. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original Finally, I got the official results from last weeks autox. I did finish 2nd behind a nationals driver in my main competitor's Flyin' Miata turboed miata. He's really fast and knows his ****, and the miata he was in was a very capable car. But, he only beat me by .18 sec and without the boost issues the race would have been even closer. That was a huge ego boost for me and I could wipe the smile of my face all weekend. Ian, my main competition finished 4th, while a shelby cobra split us in 3rd. I managed 13th overall at the event, and I now lead the points race by 1. This has been a fun and exciting season so far :D |
Nice pics, looking great! I like that you added the running boards. Looks almost like a normal beetle now ;-)
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I've have the running boards on it, just hard to notice them with the huge fenders ;) I think the running boards with be next to get a refresh along with the door and hood handles.
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Good result at the AutoX. I like the airdam. I am working on one for my car but it will be a bit more "Curb/speed bump friendly" as mine is a street car. I just have not had time to get very far with it.
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Race #6 this year, super nice weather on sunday and a large turnout to the event. I wasn't really happy with the bug's performance this time around, and I know I could have gone nearly a second faster. The turbo seals have pretty much given up and I tried to get one more event out of it. It did okay but not great and I smoked out the grid after each run. The boost issues are killing me the most and that will be one of the next issues to get sorted. We're now on our summer hiatus and don't have any more points events until mid-august, so I have plenty of time to re-work the bug. The good news coming out of this event is that I came in 2nd again and beat my points competitor so I stretched my lead to 10 points.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=steFWDnuVy4 |
Quick update...
Haven't done much with the bug recently, I've been rather pre-occupied with moving my boyfriend 3000+ miles across the country to live with me in CA. It was kind of a crazy adventure, flying to Philadelphia, exploring NJ, PA, and DE for a week, buying a new tow rig and race trailer, then driving them home to CA. The coast-to-coast drive is one that everyone should do, and one that I want to do again. Though next time I want to do the traditional LA to NY route. The much needed tow rig (I haven't had one since I sold my truck in '09) is a 2000 Ford Excursion Limited V10. It's fully loaded, leather, dual A/C, 3rd row seat, and for a PA truck has almost no rust. It has 180k on it now and performed flawlessly on the trip. The trailer is a custom built low-deck, steel 21' car hauler. It's got a tire rack, secured battery box, brakes, tons of tie down options, and (my favorite part) a winch. Because the Excursion is a V10 gas, I got both for less than 7k, and we managed 11mpg-21.4L/100K for the entire trip. Here's the new tow setup with the BF's track toy miata on the trailer. This was in Wendover, UT after surviving a 60 mile stretch of perfectly straight road through the salt flats. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...o.jpg~original Now that we're back home I've already started collecting parts for the bug, so expect a rash of updates soon :) |
Cool he likes to drive track days too!
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-Dave |
This past weekend the bug went up on jack stands and I started pulling parts. First to go was the dead turbo and the header responsible. There is so much play in the turbo it's a wonder that it didn't blow more oil when the car was running, it is obviously done.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original Here's the new unit from AGP, another t3/t4 hybrid to get me through the end of the season. I tried to get a rebuild kit but it was cheaper to buy a new turbo than to rebuild/rebalance. Also new is the tial 38mm v-band wastegate, with a base spring pressure of .5 bar/7 psi, I plan to keep this around after the future motor swap. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original Got the DRD header on for a test fit. I'll need to modify the lower oil cooler support to give more clearance for the header and wastegate, but the fitment is good. I was worried it wouldn't clear the oil sump, which it cleared just fine, but it actually didn't clear the bugpack kafer brace. The brace didn't really work so it's coming out and getting replaced. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original Next up was the front suspension which has needed new struts for a a shamefully long time. How long? Long enough for the blown out shock oil to have dried into power and collected at the bottom of the strut tube. These inserts have been in there since 02/03 when I had the struts fabbed up. They are sectioned 944 n/a struts with about 4" cut out of them to use a rabbit gti strut insert. After 10 years of racing they still look good, but I did find one problem. Weld on the inside of the tube kept the new koni adjustable inserts from going in. New long reach bits for the die grinder are on the way and should be here tomorrow. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original I had to stop there for the day, kind of frustrating hitting blocks with everything but that's the custom fab life. Still in the mail is header wrap and ties, a new Mendeola stiffy 5-bar kafer brace, and some exhaust bends. I've also got a new berg mid-mount that needs to be welded in though I'm not sure that will get done in time. |
More progress since Friday, though not enough. Everything so far has been 5 steps forward, 5 steps back. Finished the front struts fairly quickly once I had the extended die grinder bits, so quick that I forgot pics until they were both assembled.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original I swapped out the front 7"/300# springs w/ helpers to a 10" 300# spring to get some height on the front. I should be able to fit a splitter under the nose now http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original Here's where things started going less than perfect. Pulled out the old bugpack kafer brace that didn't work and started putting in the new mendeola stiffy brace. The mendeola piece is very nice, and money well spent but I found a problem with it once it was 90% installed. If you have a high torque starter the top cross bar that goes between the shock towers won't fit. I had to pull the tower plates out, re-drill new holes 1" forward and then put it all back together. It barely clears now but everything mostly fits... http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original Next it was time to weld up the waste gate flange on the drd header. Fair warning: all I had was a flux core welder which isn't the prettiest thing but it got the job done. I went through a few weld-grind-weld processes just to make sure it wouldn't leak. I also had to do a little cleanup on the sealing surfaces from the spatter. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...4.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original Finally some easy small projects to make me feel better. First was a new lower brace for the oil cooler to push it out a couple more inches to make room for the new wastegate. Second, I had to turn the oil sump 180 because the oil return fitting was uncomfortably close to the hottest part of the header. I also replaced the brass oil drain fittings with some nice AN hardware. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original That's it for now but I'll be back under it today. The goal is to drive the car tonight if possible, but we'll see. Race day is sunday bright and early so I'm counting the hours now. |
Didn't get as much done as I wanted but I also had to make a quick trip to the local speed shop for more header wrap. Got the wrap finished and spent too long getting the header in the bug. I had to pull one of the kafer brace bars to get the header in and once it was tight I could put the bar back in with barely any clearance.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original Next up was the new turbo, wastegate, and a new -10 AN turbo drain line. The gold piece on the feed line of the turbo is the new .065" oil restrictor. Originally I was going to run a 90* -10 AN fitting directly on the bottom of the turbo but that made the fitting the lowest point on the back of the car. I ended up re-using the old 90* drain pipe piece, put a second 90* AN fitting on it and run the line to the passenger side of the sump so it tucks up a bit nicer now. The new turbo has a different "clocking" on the exhaust side so the old exhaust had to be cut up. It might remain a loud downturn until after the next event while i figure out how I'm going to route everything. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...8.jpg~original Lastly got the new manual boost controller in place until I get the megasquirt control figured out and put the wideband back in. I still need a small ntp plug for the turbo and put some new oil/filters in then it's ready to make some noise. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...5.jpg~original http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...1.jpg~original |
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