Safety Gear for Track Days

Far too often we focus on performance improvements for our cars and overlook key areas like coaching and even more importantly safety gear that we wear while driving on track. Our Balanced Approach lays out a simple upgrade path for you and your Lotus that helps rectify our often slanted view on faster lap times. This post will be focused on things that you should consider wearing before venturing out on track. Dave Thilenius - 2010 Continental Tire Champion - preaches that you should prepare yourself as though you will crash. He sagely reminds us that cars break and drivers make mistakes - so be ready!

What are the basics that you should consider? Here are the items that I feel should be a requisite for all:

1. Closed faced Helmet
2. Racing Suit
3. Racing Shoes
4. HANs device or similar
5. Racing gloves
6. Optional: Fireproof undergarments & earplugs

I am guilty as most, when I started doing track days with the BMWCCA

in the mid 90s, I simply followed the club's requirements which were a Helmet (Snell rated) and long sleeved shirt and pants made out of cotton. Over the years I added driving shoes and gloves to my attire. But not much more.

Four years ago I began upgrading my gear significantly after attending a Safety Seminar put on by Stand21 and CORE. Stand21 is a 40 year old company that focuses on driver safety gear from head to toe. They work with safety experts in the industry and academia to develop some of the best products. At this seminar, they brought in a professor from Wayne State Univ. to discuss various aspects of safety. I soaked up the info from this seminar like a sponge. Many of you have likely watched our safety seminar video and know that we take track safety very seriously.

I was thoroughly impressed with Stand21's approach and their service focus and decide to upgrade my gear. Their products are approved to the highest standards, FIA, SFI & SNELL. I also learned that they are one of the only companies licensed to produce HANs devices. Their focus on issues like Heat Stress was also important to me as we have serious heat in the summer here in Southern California that makes driving on track a true test of endurance!

From Stand21's Website:

Inside a racing car:
- Temperature can exceed 70°C (158°F)
- Humidity often reaches 60%
- Air flows are very limited
- A driver can expend as much as 400 calories per
hour

I made a decision to begin buying their products, one by one, as my budget allowed. So each year, for the last 3, I have purchased their products. Another key reason I chose them is their custom sizing for their gear. I am short so usually have a hard time finding clothes that fit off the rack. They measured me and built gear that fit perfect - now I just need to stop indulging myself with too much of my lovely wife's cooking!

Here is the Stand21 gear I now own and use:

1. IVOS Helmet
2. HANs device 20deg Med - a good compromise for both Elise & Atom
3. ST3000 suit - custom for my non-average build!
4. Outside Seam gloves - an Ayrton Senna innovation
5. HSC Fireproof Underwear - top, bottom, socks & balaclava
6. Le Mans II Boots

The LeMans II boots are my latest addition. They offer a very narrow toe and a thin - yet stiff - sole. These are key features as the Lotus & Ariel pedal boxes are very tight! The stiff sole is something many driving shoes lack and it is an important feature to reduce foot fatigue. They will customize the boots to your needs as well.

Fire safety is a key area that many trackday enthusiasts overlook. Race cars are required to have plumbed in fire suppression systems for a reason - cars catch fire when run on track! Sometimes they can also explode, as one Exige S did at a Lotus Challenge event last year. The explosion shattered the rear glass as it engulfed the driver. He had an open face helmet and luckily only suffered some singed facial hair. I prefer full faced helmets for this reason (among others). He was wearing a fireproof suit as well. So please make sure you are clothed from head to toe with gear that will protect you!

I watched Boris Said extract himself from his race car at an ALMS race as shown in this picture - he was glad to be wearing a Stand21 suit. It takes more time to extricate yourself from a caged car with racing seat and harness than you may imagine. Our cars are especially small so it makes this a serious challenge. A fire can spread very quickly. Wear fireproof clothing to buy you extra time for these critical moments!

I list earplugs in my required list for a reason. I suffer from tinnitus - which is constant ringing in my ears. Loud cars, motorcycles and music have done me in, so don't suffer the same fate. Use ear plugs to muffle the sound while on track - especially if you have one of those loud pipes! There are some very good ear plugs that still allow you to hear the important noises while reducing dB levels. So don't forget ear safety!

There are many companies that produce good safety gear for all budgets. I chose Stand21 because of their focus, quality and approach with custom fitments. I would like to admonish each of you to invest in the proper gear so that you are fully prepared. Yes, buy safety gear for yourself BEFORE you spend money on Sector111 parts. Driving cars on track is a true joy - just be ready in case it breaks or you make a mistake.

Type 49 Evora at the Dyno

We visited K&N, the world-renown high-flow air filter & intake company, with our Lotus Evora to see where we are at with our current exhaust setup.

Our car, the "Sector111 Type 49 Evora," has a Larini Sport Evora cat-back exhaust (you can hear the difference between this setup vs stock HERE). This exhaust has been installed and run for a few thousand miles. If the ECU was going to dial back power, it would have done it by now. Here's what we learned...

...Our Evora dyno'd at 253 rear-wheel HP & 240 lb-ft of torque. Compared with the stock Evora's 244 rear-wheel HP (based on the standard 12.5% drivetrain loss), thats an increase of just over 8HP. When you couple that with the 20 lbs of weight savings, this is a nice upgrade.

Evora & Atom Brake Rotors

We've taken the rotors off our Lotus Evora & Ariel Atom 3 to be sized up for some lighter and better-ventilated two-piece rotors. We love saving unsprung weight. Our ULTRAdiscs & Monolites having been saving unsprung weight for years now on Lotus Elise & Exiges. It's time for the Evora & Atom to enjoy the same benefits!

The pictures below show the Evora's suspension (front & rear respectively) unobstructed by the factory brake rotors. http://www.sector111.com/podcast/GirodiscPODCAST.mp3, the man behind our brake rotor offerings, was impressed with the Evora's OE rotors but says there are great weight savings and cooling improvements to be had. The fronts will utilize a two-piece, floating rotor design like our CUPdiscs & ULTRAdiscs. The rears however may use a different design to accommodate for the drum-style parking brake.

Our Atom 3 is fitted with the optional Alcon racing brakes. These are fantastic brakes that are virtually fade free on or off the track. The rotors however have a lot of weight-saving potential. We'll fit two-piece floating rotors on all four corners which give us a significant loss in unsprung weight.

We'll post the final weight saving figures when we get the finished rotors.

KATANA26X Initial Dyno Results

We recently dyno'd KATANA2's track-oriented, evil, brother which we have been referring to as "KATANA2track." After dynoing this setup, we realized we need a new interim name. "KATANA26X" will be more appropriate because it's putting down 235hp at the rear wheels. If you calculate for 15% drivetrain loss we're looking at 270hp at the crank. A more conservative 12.5% drivetrain loss puts us at just under 265hp at the crank. The calibration needs a couple of small adjustments until we can officially give it a number. The results, so far, look great!

The KATANA26X kit is similar to the KATANA2 but adds a cold-air intake and a Larini Header & Decat. A larger fuel pump is recommended as is uprating your trans gears as we are now entering gear eating torque territory.

The dyno graph above compares the KATANA26X's rear-wheel horsepower (rwhp) and rear-wheel torque (rw lb-ft) with the KATANA2. The KATANA26X is about 20hp stronger at the rear wheels than the CARB-pending KATANA2.

This upgrade will be perfect for you track-rats looking for more power than the KATANA2. While retaining all of the driveability you've come to expect from calibrations completed by our engine calibrator Steve. We'll have it available soon...and will be sold as a track-only solution.

New Partnership with PB Racing in Italy

A key strength of Sector111 has been the various partners we've developed over these last 7 years - all over the world. This has allowed us to introduce many new products to this tiny Lotus market. Leveraging the talents and expertise of our partners has been a huge benefit for all of us. To that end, September was a crazy month for me as I traveled all over including NY, MI, VA, England and Italy.

I went to visit PB Racing outside of Milan to discuss some of their new products and brainstorm ways for us to cooperate. PB Racing are a Lotus Dealer and also manage the Lotus Cup series. PB is run by a cool guy, Stefano d'Aste, who has a racing resume that is quite impressive. He and his Engineering Manager Dr. Federico Turrata are true Lotus enthusiasts. Their shop is full of S1 & S2 Elise, Exige and 211s. PB have developed many items for various Lotus models as well as providing development support to Lotus on cars like the 211 GT4.

Racing is a key part of PB Racing. In addition to racing themselves, they manage several arrive and drive clients within the Lotus Cup Italy. This affords them a clear view on what can fail in these cars when subjected to serious race conditions. Similarly, we found our participation in Lotus Challenge in the US has given us even more insight on product needs than regular HPDE days can. Racing against the clock truly requires a different perspective and different products.

One of the items that most racers need are multiple sets of wheels. PB have a very nice wheel that caught my attention. We will be getting a few sets of them as I think they are an excellent solution. These cast wheels are made in Italy and are very affordable. The quality is superb and unlike some other cheaper options, were designed to fit the Lotus. PB have been running them successfully in the Cup series for two+ years with no failures. I like the way they look and think they will become quite popular here. The sizes are 16x7 & 17x8 with offsets that are fairly conservative. We expect the pricing to be less than $1500/set but will know soon once we have the final landed costs.

One key product that they have developed is a TVS supercharger kit for the Evora. They've cast some nice manifolds and are now finishing the brackets and engine mounts. We will get this kit over here soon and will plan to offer it to Evora customers. We will need to sort the ECU tuning for our lovely 91 octane fuel but should be able to use the rest of the kit.

I'm pretty excited as I expect some very tasty bits will be the fruit of this partnership. Stay tuned.

Video Chat with Sector111

We are always trying to improve our communication with our customers. For clients who can't just stop by our shop, video chatting can provide more clarity to many questions. To this end, we now have the ability to FaceTime & Tango with our customers. If you have an iPhone4, new iPod Touch or an Android Smart Phone, you can get live video support from Sector111 from anywhere in the world for free! If you have a tech, installation or product question, e-mail us at info@sector111.com to schedule a video chat appointment.

FaceTime is a new Apple application that allows you to video chat using the iPhone4 or new iPod Touch and a Wi-Fi connection. FaceTime requires no setup, no new account or no extra charges. Its as easy as placing a phone call and is free no matter where in the world you are.

Tango is new video chat application for Android phones or previous generation iPhones. Tango is also free and downloadable from your phones app store.

Seats & Safety

I visited Ralph@ V2 Motorsport in Detroit last week and also stopped in and visited Roush Industries. I'm a big believer in safety in our cars and am constantly looking for best practices and learned some new tips from each visit.

Ralph supports two Exige 'S' cars that are being raced in SCCA T2. The cages and seat arrangement in these cars are truly amazing. I wanted to share some pictures of his cars. Seat back reinforcement is becoming the norm in serious racing. We had installed a ReVerie race seat in my Atom a couple of years ago that had it's seat back bolted into the chassis. It was seriously rigid! The cage in these Exiges featured extra gussets and had double door bars that extended out further from the stock sill. He has also installed interior head nets that are a smart solution and becoming required in many series.

As it turns out, these cars set track records at Waterford Hills Raceway this past weekend turning 1min 15sec times. Fast AND safe!

I toured Roush courtesy of my grade school friend, Dennis who happens to be the son of a Roush co-founder. Dennis has been working at Roush since we were teenagers. He was gracious enough to give me a great tour of their museum and race shop.

Roush is an impressive company with extensive capabilities. Many cars that you see on the road feature products that were in part developed by Roush. They have been active in Stock car racing for many years and had quite the collection of cars.

I had the pleasure of sitting inside a Fusion stock car. The seats in these cars are amazing. They feature bolstering and support unlike any other sportscar race series. They are awesomely safe. Climbing in and out through the window was a kick. I suspect more of the features displayed in these seats will trickle their way into other forms of racing. I'm sure we will incorporate some of them for sure. Look for some future cooperation as well between Sector111 & Roush.

Brake Pad Testing

Here at Sector111, we are always testing something that will make your car handle better, be faster, create more grip to the track or stop quicker. It is the last point that we concentrated on for our last test at Buttonwillow Raceway.

We took a Naturally-Aspirated Spec Elise that races in the Lotus Challenge Series and used it as our test car. This car started with Hawk HT-10 brake pads with stock Lotus rotors.

Our test drivers ranged from one pro racer/ driving instructor (a real expert at Buttonwillow having raced there since the opening of the track), one leading Lotus Challenge Series contender (our fast amateur driver), one mid level driver with very good knowledge of the Lotus cars and the braking characteristics, and one driver that is new to driving Lotus’s in particular on the track.

We were able to test two new sets of brake pad options. The first test of these new pad options was set up around the feel of how the brakes were on the track. The four criteria that we used for each driver was:

• Initial Bite
• Modulation
• Pad Release
• Resistance to Fade

Durability and wear characteristics will come later if they are able to pass this first test. Luckily the pads that were chosen for this test all passed and are scheduled to be used in our next stage of development.

Spec Elise Build

After the Laguna Seca Lotus Challenge Series(LCS) race, one of our clients requested that we build him another Elise for wheel to wheel racing. He was currently running an uncaged Elise SC in LCS that he also drives on the street. He was having so much fun that building a car that was even safer seemed to be a prudent decision. Developing a car that would qualify for the Spec Class within LCS was his request to us in mid July. He also wanted to be able to run at the next LCS event in early Sept. Time was clearly too tight to start from scratch.

To expedite this build, we bought an Elise that was already track prepped but needed some tweaks to make it compliant with LCS rules. This car came from our friends at R3 Motorsports who used it as a school car and also for arrive and drive. It had a cage and fire suppression system already. We stripped the car down to assess it's condition. It had seen some serious track days but was in decent condition. The car had a salvage title so had some minor chassis damage that R3 corrected.

The parts that we changed included the suspension, steering arms, gPAN, brakes, RTVbrace, airbox, hubQR, Nardi F1 steering wheel and added a fifth point harness. Several of the ball joints were torn or worn out so we simply replaced them with some of our components like our Nitron S99 kit. We gave the car a full fluid flush, including our transELIXIR and alignment. We added a set of stellaCORSE wheels from the clients SC. Since the car is not street legal, we had to wait until a track event to test her out.

The car was originally Chrome Orange but the client and his business partner wanted a yellow car. They christened it 'Saffron'. The stripe scheme was our 'Blade' design that was

first developed on our Exige. I'm pleased to report that several client's have copied this design around the country. We chose red and white as these colors were in the client's race suit and helmet. After adding the stickers the car really looked sweet. The 'Toyo' & 'R888' were sprayed onto the tire sidewalls for that finishing touch.

Of course the proof is always in the pudding so we needed to run her to see if she was fast. Steve brought her to the Streets of Willow LCS event. Our client and his partner hired a pro to coach them. The coach is a Skip Barber instructor at Laguna Seca with experience in their Lotus school cars. He was very happy with the car. So much so that he did not want to give it back! He managed to run some fast laps in the 1:32sec range with a safe margin. Saffron ran without a hitch in 105degF track conditions. Ultimately the track race was cancelled as the corner workers were getting sick from the heat.

Our client and his partner were pleased with the car and raved about its performance. We managed to deliver a track ready Elise to them in 1.5months. So give us a call if you are interested in a track focused Lotus, we can build one to suit your specific needs.