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Thread: Swiss Trackday Nova

  1. #381
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    thank you very much.

    No, not yet. I hope to attend a trackday later this year to get the first impression of its handling characteristics aswell as a base for future improvements regarding enigine mapping and suspension setup.

  2. #382
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    Really enjoyed reading your build, cant wait to see it stretching its legs.

    One question - are you sure your air intake is going to work ok at high speeds? It follows the contours of your arch which makes me thing it might want to suck out more than flow in, could be wrong though

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    That's actually a good question and to be honest i'm not quite sure either. I will let the intake temperatures decide whether the cooling is sufficient or the intercooler needs to be fed additional air from somewhere else. But i already got a backup plan if it should be the case, i indentified a solution where an additional intake can be made. Let's see how things turn out

  4. #384
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    Small preview of whats coming



    more to come as soon as possible...

  5. #385
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    There was a bit of a knot in my stomach prior to the first drive on the track, dozens of questions in my head, have i forgotten something? Did i really recheck all the bolts? Do i have to expect catastophic understeer?

    Luckely the first preparations on site distracted me somewhat and my doubts quickly vanished as i started to press the gaspedal more and more towards the floor and no parts flew across the track

    To my suprise the handling was very comfortable and there was no understeer detectable despite the light front axle. But i must admit i was very cautious when driving around a bend or thight corner to prevent to experience something unforseen.

    After just two runs the first areas for improvement made themself aparent which makes driving in the future less stressful. Things i defenetly have to adress are:

    - Cooling in the engine bay, heatsoaking and rising engine temperature after stopping.
    - Brakes, astra 16v brakes are not suitable for the power available
    - Gearshift somewhat vague and unprecise
    - Tankenlüftung, austreten von Kraftstoff in engen Kurven.
    - Gas tank ventialtion, leaking petrol in corners

    Engine mapping proved it self as quite challenging as it is difficult to simulate all driving conditions without being in everybodys way. Despite that i was able to find a lot of areas where the mapping could be improved and make it more refined. Luckely my roughly handmade mapping made prior to the trackday wasn't much off and the full throttle part proved it self as quite accurate which resulted easely into good acceleration.

    Unfortunately the gearshift became more and more vague towards the end of the last drive which led me to leave the track. This proved it self as a good idea as one of the push-pull cables decided to disintegrate just as i left the track.
    Luckely i was able to put it in gear manually using the manipulation on the gearbox which made it even possible to easly drive onto the trailer.

    In total i'm very satisfied with the result, every important thing worked, sometimes even better than expected. All the hours which i spent for information gathering, engineering and put into reality have really paid off.
    Despite heading home having a "defective" car on the trailer i was really happy and found new motivation to carry on...

    Pictures are in short supply, although i will provide them as soon as some can be found on the web.
    Something i can provide are some videos

    Trackday Video
    Best of all scenes, emotions and events


    Check also the videos promoted at the end, there are all uncut runs including the fourth one where the push-pull cable ripped

    See you next ime

  6. #386
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    Cool project. Congratulations on achieving! You must be very pleased.

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    Thank you, yes i'm so far pleased as it moves and most of it works as intended.

    Here are some pictures taken at the tack:








  8. #388
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    Still alive and going even stronger



    I will update this as soon as possible

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    Wow that looks like it goes very well. Much better than previous rear engine attempts I have seen.

    This is is a great achievement.

  10. #390
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    Saturday 6 o'clock in the morning... departure towards france.

    After not quiet 2 hours driving and some waiting in front of the entrance to the racetrack, I used the short break to shoot a photo of my temporary parking spot before the gates were opened.

    In the middle of the street




    After the gates opened and a somewhat hectic unloading of the race car everything was prepared to start.
    The joy did not last long because, before the first run, a noise measurement was carried out and my inconspicuous, small, improbable Corsa roared as loud as 102db into the microphone.
    Although various solutions have been developed in my head to eliminate the difference of 2db in order not to exceed the required maximum of 100db, I was not denied to drive and I was able to ride shortly thereafter without further measurements taken.
    The morning went quiet unspectacular apart from the fact that the heat thermoband caused a lot of smoke and I shortly worried and thought something caught fire. In addition to that, the first strong braking maneuver revealed that the brake pressure adjustment of the rear axle was way too low.
    When braking into a slow right turn the front locked up, however, there was little total braking force. The reason for this was that I chose to adjust the brake pressure regulator to the absolute minimum to avoid possible brake lock up at the rear. As it turned out in the course of the day, the rear axle is capable of delivering more braking power than anticipated, at the end of the day the regulators were already set to about 70% of the maximum pressure.
    In the future i will try to slowly raise the pressure to find the limit.



    In the afternoon I was able to get to know the car and its driving characteristics a bit better, the confidence rose and the fun increased steadily. Some changes i did to the ignition mapping made a noticeable difference, especially starting from about 6000rpm. Depending on the engine speed, the injection values ​​now dropped by approx. 8-10%, although I think the exhaust still receives a good portion of the remaining injection quantity and uses it for a spit of flame.

    The later the afternoon the bolder the driver, this is true for many and definitely hit me too. Flooring it resulted in acceptable acceleration but also made the rear axle to step out. The curiosity to find out if it is possible to go full throttle as early as possibly rose steadily, as the front axle reacted immediately and without delay to any input coming from the steering wheel the enticement to overdo it was very strong. The knowledge of sitting in an oversized go-kart and drive it that way resulted in a sloppy driving style but also offered a huge ammount of fun.
    To tame the rear axle a limited slip differential will certainly be necessary... but thats something to adress next winter.

    One of the runs I had to interrupt early because I had problems with the shifter, again. Fortunately, only one screw came loose which could be fixed in not time.

    Fixing the shifter on the spot.


    As well as a hose clamp of the crankcase ventilation, which I forgot to fix, still needed some attention. However, this had little impact except for some leaked oil vapor.

    This was a very successful and educational day which showed where there is still a room for improvement. The next tasks will include details and adjustments. Oil cooler, wiring, additional ventilation to the engine and what ever comes to my mind....

    And for those who have read the text here is a video of the Trackday and of course for all others who have skipped the text as well.






    Have a great week and drive safetly... if not, at least take a video of it

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