September 27, 2008

First Impressions of the New 2009 Car: 

I ran a few laps following the final night of racing at Sweet Springs Raceway.

The eight or so laps were used to bring the new brake rotors/pads up to temperature - they really didn't have much braking power since they were ALL brand new!

The last six laps were run at speed and I found a lot out about the new car.

First: It is going to handle real well. The car turns into the corner quick and straight and it went where I wanted it to go. The setup on the car was perfect for turns 1 & 2, but I was extremely loose from the middle out of turn 3 & 4.

Second: The engine was far too rich from 10,000 to 13,000 rpm and thus killed my corner exit speed. It is so rich that I actually went from 185 degree water temperature warming the engine in the pits to 172 degrees following the last five laps!

Third: I missed the gearing by at least a rear gear tooth. We only turned 14,800 rpm where we should be in the 15,500 to 15,800 range.

Fourth: I love my MoTec with it's data logging capability! The data log shows EXACTLY what I felt (rich and wrong gear) and re-enforces what must be done to correct the issues.

Fifth: The wing adjuster worked perfectly and held up to the forces of the wing. The wing mounts are far superior to my previous design. They much more secure and do not allow the wing to dance around like my old car's design.

The shifter/clutch handle need to be moved and most of all I need to work on some driver comfort issues - basically, I need to loose about 15 pounds from my gut before next season!

All - in - All an extremely successful night. Even with all of the incorrect settings: Too Rich, wrong gear etc... we turned laps within .2 seconds of the feature winning cars best laps. Man, I can hardly wait until the 2009 season -- this car can get the job done!