carmudgeons.com  

Go Back   carmudgeons.com > Automotive Forums > Going Faster

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-18-2019, 07:48 AM   #291
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
Ha, that's nice of you to say but I lack most of those qualities except persistence, and I make up for the shortfall in the others with persistence.

I'm pretty happy with where the car is, given how few events I've been able to do, and given that the car wasn't even running six months ago. Now I'm in the mode of trying to make it competitive with the top cars in the class, knowing that typically this process takes years.

So plans for this weekend (we have an event Sunday):

* Fix a persistent leak in the power steering. I machined a fitting to adapt the 13mm Mazda PS fluid return line to the 10mm return port on the Toyota PS reservoir, and it leaks. Need to re-engineer that.
* Work on the cam phaser tuning in the Haltech. It still doesn't work like I would expect
* Work on the boost control setup. I think I have a good idea how to fix this but it's going to take tuning.
* Fix the corner-entry to mid-corner push. This could be from the wing or it could be that the front end is just too stiff, while the corner-entry part is probably too much front bump damping. I think I'll take a little wing and front shock out of it and see if it improves on Sunday.
* Need to come up with some sort of fluid reservoir for the differential vent. The Ford 8.8 IRS diff is notorious for spraying gear oil out the vent, which I just have open to the atmosphere. It leaves a couple drips on the ground after every run, which is no good. Not sure I can fix that this weekend, probably need to remove some stuff from the rear end to get to the diff

Stuff I probably won't fix before this weekend but I'd like to address before the Oscoda pro at the end of the month:

* Relocate the battery to the passenger's side to help the weight balance and make it easier to work on the fuel pump as needed. I should have done this to begin with... sigh.
* Start tuning in the traction control. Maybe I can get to this during the event sunday, it's mostly just laptop time.
* Make some pieces to tie the corners of the front splitter to the bumper to deflect air around the tires
* Make some heat shielding around the turbo and possibly heat-wrap the downpipe. It gets HOT in the engine bay from the turbo and manifold hanging out in the open. Need to get that heat under the car, away from the ECU, hoses, etc.

I'm already thinking of stuff I want to do over the off-season, like a line lock, lighter brakes, and some other front-end weight reduction stuff. But mostly I don't expect to do a lot of major re-engineering.
John V is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-21-2019, 08:37 PM   #292
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
Power steering leak fixed. I re-routed both the feed and return hoses to the pump. Big improvement.



Cam phaser is working better. Not perfect. But better.
I spent most of Saturday afternoon tuning the boost controller. It works super well now. The controller now holds the wastegate closed until it's within 15% of the boost target then ramps it open. At the event today the boost response was incredible.

I took front sway bar out of the front to make it a little more free steady-state, and took a lot of rebound damping out of it. It definitely rotates a lot better on corner entry. Maybe a little too well, but I can take it back the other way.

I made a catch can for the rear diff. It caught maybe 1tsp of fluid at the event today, which is better than that 1tsp being on the rear subframe.

The car was freaking awesome today. I didn't drive super great, but pretty well. Definitely getting the thing dialed in. I got FTD (fastest time of the day) today but by index I was about a second off the top guy. I still feel good about where the car is.

John V is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2019, 10:05 AM   #293
ff
.
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 13,514
That's impressive looking. It has to be easier from the driver's seat, but as I watch the videos it's always difficult to pick out where the course route is. i.e. knowing where to point the car next, as you're dealing with the current apex. You must get have an opportunity to walk or drive the course beforehand? But also have trained yourself to look far enough ahead to see where you need to go?
ff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2019, 10:16 AM   #294
Nick M3
Relic
 
Nick M3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,439
Quote:
Originally Posted by ff View Post
That's impressive looking. It has to be easier from the driver's seat, but as I watch the videos it's always difficult to pick out where the course route is. i.e. knowing where to point the car next, as you're dealing with the current apex. You must get have an opportunity to walk or drive the course beforehand? But also have trained yourself to look far enough ahead to see where you need to go?
Walking the course beforehand is important, but mostly it comes down to learning to read the cones. Do it enough and you can pretty much drive it cold. Visualization makes *some* difference if you’re serious enough (and good enough), although being able to read the course live and look ahead far enough is the big key. (The value of a course walk ranges from near zero when I do it, because I can’t be bothered to even attempt to memorize, to very valuable when someone intellectually dedicated to the exercise does it.)

One conepacking school at least used to cover up the bottom half of driver’s windshields to force student’s eyes up.
__________________
2011 M3
2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison
2004 X5 3.0i 6MT
1995 M3 S50B32
1990 325is
1989 M3 S54B32

Hers:
1989 325iX
1996 911 Turbo


Nick M3 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2019, 10:47 AM   #295
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
I typically do two walk-throughs of our local courses before running, with five or six mental course run-throughs at 3-4x speed before I drive (i.e. my mental run takes about 15 seconds on a course that is 60s long). Those mental run-throughs are the most valuable part because it lets me remember the five to seven things I need to know to navigate the course quickly while discarding the 100 cones that are just distracting.

I typically don't have any problem remembering courses anymore, whereas back in the day when I just did ten course walks and tried to memorize the course, I would make big mistakes often.

You do not get to pre-drive the course, however.
John V is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2019, 11:23 AM   #296
Nick M3
Relic
 
Nick M3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,439
Quote:
Originally Posted by John V View Post
I typically do two walk-throughs of our local courses before running, with five or six mental course run-throughs at 3-4x speed before I drive (i.e. my mental run takes about 15 seconds on a course that is 60s long). Those mental run-throughs are the most valuable part because it lets me remember the five to seven things I need to know to navigate the course quickly while discarding the 100 cones that are just distracting.

I typically don't have any problem remembering courses anymore, whereas back in the day when I just did ten course walks and tried to memorize the course, I would make big mistakes often.

You do not get to pre-drive the course, however.
The difference between me and someone who takes it seriously.
__________________
2011 M3
2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison
2004 X5 3.0i 6MT
1995 M3 S50B32
1990 325is
1989 M3 S54B32

Hers:
1989 325iX
1996 911 Turbo


Nick M3 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2019, 07:52 AM   #297
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
I bring it up only because I compete with a lot of people who strongly believe they "take it seriously" and yet in my opinion and based on my experience they don't prepare in ways that are likely to help them achieve their goals.
John V is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2019, 08:49 AM   #298
Nick M3
Relic
 
Nick M3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,439
Quote:
Originally Posted by John V View Post
I bring it up only because I compete with a lot of people who strongly believe they "take it seriously" and yet in my opinion and based on my experience they don't prepare in ways that are likely to help them achieve their goals.
To be honest, a lot of people simply can't remember a course well enough to visualize it effectively. I can't. The difference between a course walk for me and driving cold is pretty much nil.

There are a number of F1 videos of drivers doing blindfolded laps, which really drives home a lot of the mental preparation and focus and memory needed to perform at the top level.
__________________
2011 M3
2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison
2004 X5 3.0i 6MT
1995 M3 S50B32
1990 325is
1989 M3 S54B32

Hers:
1989 325iX
1996 911 Turbo


Nick M3 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2019, 09:10 AM   #299
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick M3 View Post
To be honest, a lot of people simply can't remember a course well enough to visualize it effectively. I can't.
I suspect you could if you changed the way you walked course. I've had a bunch of Evo students who have said the same thing and after working together and then on their own, they've come back and told me that my approach works.

But, everyone's brain works differently.
John V is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2019, 09:11 AM   #300
Nick M3
Relic
 
Nick M3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,439
Quote:
Originally Posted by John V View Post
I suspect you could if you changed the way you walked course. I've had a bunch of Evo students who have said the same thing and after working together and then on their own, they've come back and told me that my approach works.

But, everyone's brain works differently.
I'm not going to rule it out. But that also requires taking it seriously, and I'm not there.
__________________
2011 M3
2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison
2004 X5 3.0i 6MT
1995 M3 S50B32
1990 325is
1989 M3 S54B32

Hers:
1989 325iX
1996 911 Turbo


Nick M3 is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:11 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Forums © 2003-2008, 'Mudgeon Enterprises - Site hosting by AYN & Associates, LLC