Buttonwillow Results + Prep, Tuning & Coaching

We had great results at the second Lotus Cup race weekend at Buttonwillow. We managed to secure two Open class victories and one overall win.  We also secured the fastest lap all weekend again - beating the entire field including the 211s that we're attempting to compete against.  Our driver Glen is doing a superb job along with the team in prepping the Art Car.  We also had help from our friend and driving coach Dave Thilenius.  

Challenges
The weekend did not run 'issue-free'.  We suffered from an electrical cut that killed the car on the first day during practice.  Patrick managed to figure out that one of the wires in our ignition was loose and secured it.  We have kept the stock key and start button on our car.  Glen's knees are quite close to these wires and he believed his knees were brushing the wires causing the cut out.  Unfortunately for us, the problem cropped back up on the second race - while we were in the lead, on the last lap!   Luckily Glen had a clear enough mind to wiggle the wires under the steering column and get the car started.  He managed to get in behind Andy and secure the Open Class victory and second place overall.  Eliminating this wire is now high on our list of reliability improvements.

AiM Data Coaching
We're big advocates of using data to lower lap times.  We also use it as an R&D tool as we develop our products.  At Buttonwillow we were graced with Dave T's presence and benefitted from his extensive expertise with coaching via data.  Reviewing the data allowed Glen to adjust his shifts, braking points and more in order to achieve the fastest lap of the weekend.  Our friend Andy has used data to secure LCU championships with his 211 and is one of the fastest drivers in our series.  We have a new AiM product that makes getting into data much more affordable and practical for track day enthusiast and racers alike.  See the new Solo DL.

Adjustments     
The guys were taking tire temps and pressures and adjusting pressures and camber.  Amazingly we are running less than -2deg of Camber with this kit and getting even tire temps.  Typically these Yokos require -3deg.  We also softened the High Speed Compression to improve our grip over the curbs.  In doing so, we stiffen the Low Speed Compression as well to quicken the turn-in.  Buttonwillow is a much bumpier track than Chuckwalla so a softer set-up is ideal.  Our new raceUPRIGHTs are running beautifully and allowing for an amazing low ride height.  We kept our ride height at 103mm/110mm to insure we did not bottom out.  These ride heights can not be achieved in an Elise or Exige with stock uprights.  We are now conducting our Set Down process to see how the raceUPRIGHTs are fairing.  I peeked at them and they remain in great shape after 5 track days.  Expect another Blog posting reviewing the condition in more detail.

Car Prep
A key tool that we use to prep and insure our car is running well are simple Checklists.  We use these lists to confirm that we checked critical areas on the car before it leaves for a practice session, qualifying or race.  Every time - not just at the beginning of the day.  It takes a bunch of time to run through these checklists but we've found it is a key way to ensure our car runs as well as it can.  Since we are running with the LCU leaders, we can't afford to make mistakes with the car prep.  If any of you would like copies of our Checklists, let us know.  They are an effective tool for the casual track day enthusiast to the hardcore racer.

What's Next?
We can't be happier with our results so far this season.  We have some work to do before the next race - including a Lexan Optic Armor windshield that should shave another 16lbs from our Art Car.    Infineon is the next race in mid May and we will be competing against a bunch of NorCal locals who know the track well.  We'll need to bring our 'A' game to keep our track record as it will be very competitive!

 Now watch Glen turn the record lap...

Dry Sump Track Testing & More

We conducted track testing this past Sat. at Spring Mtn with the Lotus Cup racers.  We tested a few products:

1. S111-Dailey Dry Sump
2. ETHOS 16x8 & 17x9 wheels
3. DSbrace - affordable toe link brace
4. TRACKpipe - track muffler

We made a quick video to share some info:

Overall we had great results with the Dry Sump and are ready to release it to other race teams and shops.  Amazingly we ran the car with no oil coolers.  Oil temps slowly climbed over the course of the day to about 280degF.  Clearly a small cooler will be a good idea when the ambient temps are hot.  I think a laminova oil cooler will be perfect and should allow us to delete the front coolers.  We think the complexity of a Dry Sump does not lend itself to the average shade tree mechanic.  If you are interested in a solution, give us a call so we can discuss your needs.

The TRACKpipe is our new track muffler.  We've been running it for a few weeks and have shown sneak peeks of it and sound clips in recent videos like this and this.  The sound is not loud and has a great tone to it.  We think track guys are going to be pleased with the price and quality.  

The DSbrace is our new affordable toe link brace.  It uses the same components as our tried and true RTD & RTVbraces.  We eliminated the central brace and added lower cost, but still effective, brackets to place the toe link joint into double shear.  This product also bolts on with absolutely no modifications to the chassis. This kit delivers the highest joint strength of any solution we are aware of.  

The ETHOS wheels ended up coming off the car as we experienced some rubbing at the rear.  We ran 245 Hoosier A6s at race ride heights and experienced some rubbing on the outside fenders.  We took them off and installed our back up wheels/tires.  We think these will work with Lotus that are running flares.  They are perfect for their primary application: the Ariel Atom.

We recruited our good friend Dave T. to push the car hard.  He turned some of the fastest times of the day with only 211s beating his times.  This allowed us to push the car hard and see how it would perform. He turned 2min56s times on the 3.5mile config.  Overall it was a long but productive test day for our team.

Dry Sump Dyno Results

We had the opportunity to dyno our Elise at K&N Engineering this past weekend. This was the first dyno run on her since adding the Dry Sump kit.  We expected to make some power but that was not our key goal with the kit.  The chart below shows the power that we made.  We are are quite happy with the results as it translates to about 275hp at the crank.  More track testing is planned for Jan 7th.

We created a quick video of the run:

Lotus Dry Sump Testing 12/6/11

We have been diligently working on our drysump system for the Lotus Elise/Exige/211 throughout this year. Our last test brought out two issues to sort:

1. Low hot idle oil pressure
2. Excessive oil blow-by from the tank venting

We made a few changes to the system and brought The Art Car (akaThe Blue Car) to test at Willow.  We recruited our friend Jack, again (Thanks Jack !) to handle the driving duties.  Overall the results were good and we were pleased with them.

Since our last track test, we made a couple of changes to address the low oil pressure.  We changed the gear in the pump but that was still not enough.  So we then disconnected the oil cooler lines/radiators and added a remote oil filter.  The pressures still remained low so we began questioning the accuracy of oil pressure readings from the point in the block that we are measuring from.  As it turns out, our hot idle oil pressure was actually within Lotus spec. Lotus states hot idle oil pressure at 39 kPa min, which is 5.65 psi.  


We redesigned our tank to address the excessive blow-by problem.  Our original design allowed oil to creep into the vent line.  We had it remade by Petersen and reinstalled it.  Space for a tank is the biggest challenge but we managed to keep things tidy even with the new filter location.

One new product we also tested was a 7" muffler that exits above the diffuser. This muffler will be tested over the course of the next few weeks.  It sounded great throughout the test.

 The weather at Willow Springs Big Track  was on the other end of the temperature spectrum than our last test at Spring Mountain. The weather gave us a chilly 55 degrees with just a bit of wind.  Jack made several short runs (1-4 laps each) in the morning so we could check the operation of the system and ensure everything was working well.  We experienced very little blow by about (1/2oz) while oil temps were stable around 220-240F and most important the oil pressures were quite good.  We completed a quick inspection in the garage for leaks and car condition.  Everything looked good for a longer session.

  After lunch Jack ran a couple of longer 20 minute sessions for us and the results were very promising as well. We had a bit more blow by (approx 2 oz) in the catch can but nothing compared to our first test in September.  Oil pressure at idle remains low when rpms drop but were excellent at higher rpm where it is critical.  Oil temps rose to 240degF and remained stable throughout the entire 20 min sessions.  We obviously had a bit of help with the cool ambient temperatures  but were happy with the stability of the temps.  


Jack ran the car at moderate speeds per our instructions so we could load the system and monitor it carefully.  He did a great job and delivered very consistent laps.  Our syncros on our trans are giving up due to an overly aggressive clutch we had previously run earlier this year.  This made the 5th to 4th downshift much slower than it should be.  We could see this clearly in the AiM data with spikes in the rpms and oil pressures.


We reviewed the data back at the office with Bill Dailey and did not see anything that would make us change the current system.  Oil temps were good and oil pressure is fine.  We will add another oil pressure sensor to a spot suggested by Bill and compare the readings with the original.  We will then be ready to go hammer the car and see if the system can live with 10/10s driving.  We'll recruit our good friend and professional ride and handling engineer for this task....oh, and we have a Hewland Dogbox in transit that we need to assemble and test.