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build diary April 23, 2006: Tuning troubles. I did manage to get out on track at one point. Brian from World Class Motorsports took me out in one of their Ultralites. The Motorsport Ranch is a fairly quick track but one that has a lot of very odd corners. The most impressive things about the car were the brakes and the unchecked acceleration above 100 mph. Where my car is running out of steam, the S2000 engine goes into VTEC mode and leaps forward. A very compelling ride. We took the group of four Locosts out for a few little photo shoots and to let Larry drive them. He commented on the hot footwell in my car (true, especially in the 90F Texas heat) and on the poor idle. He was happy with the way the car handled the bumpy back road we were using for the test drive. It was a good test of compliance, that's for sure. The new suspension did a great job of sucking it up despite the high spring rates. When Chris Fiaccone had the chance to drive the car, he was really impressed with how well it braked and how well it rode. "It feels like a real car" was his comment. He also felt it made his car feel unfinished, but then again I've had an extra couple of years to tweak mine! The brakes were what really seemed to get his attention. It appears my work here has been worthwhile. While Mark had no problems with his manic turbo Locost, Chris was having some teething problems. He'd been battling with them yesterday but I'd been too busy to pay much attention. I was able to donate a couple of fasteners to the cause and help him find a major running problem that had the car immobilised. Once that was sorted out, he was able to take to the road to the sound of cheering from the spectators who had watched his long battle. Unfortunately, he discovered that the car got very unstable on deceleration. We spent some time looking at the front suspension to try and find this and it wasn't until late in the day that someone discovered play in the rear suspension. It turns out that one of his wheel bearings was completely shot so the left rear wheel was flopping around. A local Spec Miata race shop was willing to help us out with a new rear hub but they'd just used up their last spare. It's a real shame that Chris will have to miss out on the drag strip session tomorrow but I think he'll be just as happy to go home and sleep for about a week! I'm glad I got a chance to see his car though, it is a beauty. I even had the chance to get behind the wheel and try it out. It's almost 400 lbs lighter than my Seven - yes, that's right - and it feels as if it's going to be a total riot when it's all done. The car is a rocket and a real looker. Tomorrow we head to the drag strip for some instrumented testing. My car will likely end up in the middle of the three as it's the lightest and has a bit more power than Jon's gorgeous low-budget build, and of course I can't touch Mark's car for horsepower. My car's still not happy at around 4000 rpm but hopefully that won't be an issue in this sort of testing. I guess I'll know soon enough - the laptop will be busy! An interesting side note - neither Chris nor Mark had ever seen a Seven before, never mind driven one! They decided to build their cars based on other reasons. I've been a Seven enthusiast for a long, long time. I guess it does show that if you're looking for a cheap sports car (ooh, subtle plug there!), the template is a difficult one to ignore. entry 1217 of 1439 |