Speed Ventures @ Buttonwillow - March 11th & April 15th

[PAI Racing]

Katz,

I've destroyed a car at Willow too, but that wasn't my fault...



Mark's car looks so freaking bitchen! I really dig it. It looks like a mondern TransAm car hiding under a street car, but not as overtly as some of the more popular cars (Bob Owen's or Big Red).

The DSR lap that I included in that list was a 1:28ish as I recall. So, the Radicals at SV (I'm assuming they are the DSR Radicals and not the faster models) are about 4-8 seconds off a race Cheetah (which are really cool aluminum tub cars). That Viper at SV sounds like it was doing a decent job!

All in all those lap times were a real eye opener. I can't believe how fast the ALMS P2 cars are! They look so dang slow when you see them on TV and they are still over 5 seconds a lap faster than a DP at Laguna!

[Salt Racer]

Katz,

I've destroyed a car at Willow too, but that wasn't my fault...

That's one thing I worry about, not my own car but destroying somebody else's car due to my mistake.

...Mark's car looks so freaking bitchen! I really dig it. It looks like a mondern TransAm car hiding under a street car, but not as overtly as some of the more popular cars (Bob Owen's or Big Red)....

Hell yes!! It definetely has "form follows function" look, and that's what a well-executed PT car should look like! I really like the rear shot, with fuel cell and bell crank peeking a little bit. If anything, I'd lower the ride height a touch more. Maybe I'll talk him into that when we do subframe. There should be enough adjustment in 3-link to compensate for height adjustment.

...The DSR lap that I included in that list was a 1:28ish as I recall. So, the Radicals at SV (I'm assuming they are the DSR Radicals and not the faster models) are about 4-8 seconds off a race Cheetah (which are really cool aluminum tub cars). That Viper at SV sounds like it was doing a decent job!

All in all those lap times were a real eye opener. I can't believe how fast the ALMS P2 cars are! They look so dang slow when you see them on TV and they are still over 5 seconds a lap faster than a DP at Laguna!

I think that particular Radical is a regular SR3 (it just says SR3 turbo).

I really need to get cable TV...The only time I can watch road racing on TV is when CBS covers F1 or ALMS, which doens't happen very often. Watching NASCAR bores me after a while.

[PAI Racing]

Its funny, I grew up around road racing, but worked on stock cars from a fairly early age. I still enjoy stock car racing, but I can't take the "cult of personality" and "Entertainment" aspects of NASCRAP (as Paul Tracy once called it).

I was racing at Willow when I lost my first RX7. Stuff like that can happen. I think it is a lot less likely to kill someone else's car at an open track event.

I think the SR3's are supposed to be hotter than the DSR Radicals. Is that the one with that pretty little V8 that Radical builds?

[Mean 69]

Thanks for the compliments on the car, guys. The front wheel offset is what makes it look a lot different than typical car's, but I have a very strong feeling that this look will become very popular in the near future when parts/subframes with a wider track become available in the marketplace. I dropped a pic of the rear under the "Safety" section, in the Fuel Safe thread the other day. Here is a shot of the car from the front. My current limitation to making the car lower is the exhaust, specifically the stepped headers. They fit really well, but the collectors point down at a pretty good angle, so in order to mate the x-pipe up to them, well, didn't leave too much to work with. It sounds so vicious that I am not going to touch it for now though. I need some aero pretty soon too, so it'll all come together at that point.

Mark

[Q ship]

Thanks for the compliments on the car, guys. The front wheel offset is what makes it look a lot different than typical car's,

Ohhhh geeez-I have many many questions for you Mark! Very nice looking car, I like the ones that have a lot going on "under the skin".

[Salt Racer]

Thanks for the compliments on the car, guys....

You deserve it! Dig the license plate too.

[Salt Racer]

I think the SR3's are supposed to be hotter than the DSR Radicals. Is that the one with that pretty little V8 that Radical builds?

Hmmm, not sure. But based on HP number (320hp), I'd say yes. It's gotta be tough to squeeze that kind of power out of a 4-cycle 1300-cc 4 cylinder, even turbo charged. But I could be wrong...

[Salt Racer]

Fastest lap of the day.

http://www.wurthwines.com/wms/videos...5_Fast_Lap.wmv

[MrQuick]

John is a monster on the track, can't wait.
Mark your car is looking good. Are those true 3 piece rims?

[jeffandre]

Thanks for the compliments on the car, guys. The front wheel offset is what makes it look a lot different than typical car's, but I have a very strong feeling that this look will become very popular in the near future when parts/subframes with a wider track become available in the marketplace. I dropped a pic of the rear under the "Safety" section, in the Fuel Safe thread the other day. Here is a shot of the car from the front. My current limitation to making the car lower is the exhaust, specifically the stepped headers. They fit really well, but the collectors point down at a pretty good angle, so in order to mate the x-pipe up to them, well, didn't leave too much to work with. It sounds so vicious that I am not going to touch it for now though. I need some aero pretty soon too, so it'll all come together at that point.

Mark

Nice wheels Mark! I like the high offset look, have a set on order from CCW right now. What size and b.s. numbers did you use? Any rubbing up front?

[Mean 69]

The wheels are from Kinesis, they are true three piece-rs, really light and very tough (not that I have tested the latter). They can provide darned near any offset you like, Alan is the main sales guy and a super cool person to boot.

I am running 9.5" on the front, with a 7" backspacing. This is an oddball setup, as I am running some wheel adapters in the front knowing that the "new" front suspension will have a wider track, I am hoping that I won't have to buy the front's again. I am running 275 KD's, and yes, you bet, I get rubbing. It looks like the first rub point is on the inner wheelwell, passenger side, in the back area. I pounded it in a bit, and it helped, but there still is a little rubbing. I thought about heating it up and then whacking it, but there is this stuff called paint, sealant, etc on the other side that might not like orange hot metal! I have been pretty careful about tight radius turns beyond that, but the next spot on my car seems to be the sway bar. I run the GW uppers, I think that gives a lot more clearance than the stock style. Overall, I am really not too worried about rubbing so far. I have driven the car maybe 100 miles with these, and aside from turning into the garage, etc, it is not that bad at all. No U turns though!

Mark

[Salt Racer]

www.speedventures.net

Keep clicking on Refresh button, and you'll eventually see it on upper right corner.

[alcino]

I'm jealous

[jeffandre]

The wheels are from Kinesis, they are true three piece-rs, really light and very tough (not that I have tested the latter). They can provide darned near any offset you like, Alan is the main sales guy and a super cool person to boot.

I am running 9.5" on the front, with a 7" backspacing. This is an oddball setup, as I am running some wheel adapters in the front knowing that the "new" front suspension will have a wider track, I am hoping that I won't have to buy the front's again. I am running 275 KD's, and yes, you bet, I get rubbing. It looks like the first rub point is on the inner wheelwell, passenger side, in the back area. I pounded it in a bit, and it helped, but there still is a little rubbing. I thought about heating it up and then whacking it, but there is this stuff called paint, sealant, etc on the other side that might not like orange hot metal! I have been pretty careful about tight radius turns beyond that, but the next spot on my car seems to be the sway bar. I run the GW uppers, I think that gives a lot more clearance than the stock style. Overall, I am really not too worried about rubbing so far. I have driven the car maybe 100 miles with these, and aside from turning into the garage, etc, it is not that bad at all. No U turns though!

Mark

I also had rubbing at the same two areas. I removed the inner fender bracket that bolts to the firewall area and shortened it an inch or so, pulling the inner fender in towards the firewall some, which stopped that rubbing. The sway bar is a different story, and since I have 7.5" bs on my 19x10's I will also utilize a thin spacer if needed (need my front rotor hats first before I get into the spacer thing). I have Vette Brakes UCA's and LCA's and they do not get in the way like the stock arms did, otherwise I would be removing aluminum from the wheel on tight turns (the sway bar provides a nice steering stop before I contact the LCA's...). I may get the steering box 'adjusted' at some point if the rubbing poses any problems.

[PAI Racing]

Katz,

Awesome! I clicked through the refersh button and saw a photo of both the spec Miata and the Datsun 510 that I drove a couple of years ago... Rent-a-racer flashiback!

[dennis68]

Hey Katz, I checked the results from that event...that is a pretty impressive list of cars you whooped on. The 02 Vette and 99 Mustang owners must feel like junk getting their tails dusted by a 35 year old 2 ton barge. Smacking down a few Evo's and 300Z's doesn't hurt either.

Congratulations on either tremendous driving skills or more impressive chassis tuning skills getting that thing around the track.

[Salt Racer]

Actually, I wasn't happy with my lap time at all. Most of those slow people were in yellow group (first timers). I think there are only 3~4 cars in white that were slower than me.

I need more seat time, and I really need wider tires. 4300 lbs are lots of weight for a set of 245/255s. Those hard compound (tread wear rating of 300) street tires got quite greasy after few hard laps.

The fact is, I'll probably never be satisfied with my own lap times. If I managed to pull 2:10:xxx someday, then I'd want to go 2:05:xxx. I'll probably quit driving if I ever get satisfied.

EDIT Looks like there are about 6~7 white group cars behind me, and one blue group car. Not bad, but I know I can do better than that next time.