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  #331  
Old January 4th 2012, 17:40
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Humble Humble is offline
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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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  #332  
Old January 31st 2012, 23:04
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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
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  #333  
Old February 1st 2012, 02:52
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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
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  #334  
Old February 1st 2012, 15:08
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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
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  #335  
Old February 1st 2012, 18:34
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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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Last edited by Jadewombat; February 2nd 2012 at 09:28.
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  #336  
Old February 2nd 2012, 13:53
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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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  #337  
Old February 2nd 2012, 22:19
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DORIGTT DORIGTT is offline
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Humble,

Check your private messages.
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  #338  
Old February 16th 2012, 23:28
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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"


You can see they're a little chewed up by a wheel gun but they're straight and crack free


New header, covered in a little surface rust but otherwise good


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.
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  #339  
Old February 17th 2012, 05:01
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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
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  #340  
Old February 17th 2012, 13:48
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DORIGTT DORIGTT is offline
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LIAR!
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.

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.
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  #341  
Old February 27th 2012, 12:51
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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
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  #342  
Old February 27th 2012, 13:21
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Awesome results and congrats on the best time!
From the outside you hear the tires scream, but not so from the inside I noticed.
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  #343  
Old February 27th 2012, 17:39
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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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  #344  
Old February 28th 2012, 08:45
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NO_H2O NO_H2O is offline
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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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  #345  
Old February 29th 2012, 22:35
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DORIGTT DORIGTT is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Humble View Post
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.
I can attest to the fact that its almost as quiet as a new Lexus...right up until you start it.
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