OLC 2012 - Reinventing the OneLapCamaro...

[James OLC]

As many already know, the OneLapCamaro has been at Best of Show for the last couple of months getting some “tweaks” prior to testing for next year’s Tire Rack One Lap of America. I had originally planned to keep this quiet until it was “done” but as the project has moved forward I’ve had a couple of people asking for details so I figured that since some pics are already out there anyways so… here it goes…




Long story short – our performance at this year’s One Lap of America was really encouraging (in the big scheme of things). We were competitive in our class and, with the exception of a couple of “melt downs” (not always in our control), we were not far off of a really promising finish in most individual events, as well as overall. I’m well aware of the limitations of the car (mostly related to the front end) and as Mary and I were driving away from South Bend we started to discuss how we could improve the car for 2013…


I knew that we needed more front tire and better overall geometry. We have been talking for 3 years about changing the sub-frame but for me that was too complex (read expensive and risky) a change on its own – it would have required new headers, steering, inners, mounts, and cutting off the old one – so that was “off limits” for now. I also didn’t want to risk “messing up” the car by doing anything that could not be undone or put back. So we formulated a plan…


The front tires and “geometry” could be achieved in one of two ways – subframe or sheetmetal – and since subframe was off the table the decision was to try sheetmetal and so my first call was to the guys who I would trust with any project incorporating tin and paint – **** and Jon and the crew at Best of Show.
Another piece of the puzzle was weight and we identified some of the heavier pieces that could be replaced or switched out – like the rad support and AC components – to take some physical weight off the nose. Carbon was off the table for me (I haven’t had a lot of luck with it) so everything that we were doing would be mindful of excess weight.


The third leg was Aero… David, Carl and I did a fair bit of background work, testing, and experimentation and determined that there were some (predictable) aero shortcomings with the car (in general) that we hoped we could improve on. I made the decision to change the front end (a fair bit), alter the hood for better air flow and cooling, and add some downforce front and rear. There is more room for experimentation but that will be in the future and on the track.


Piece by piece the process has seemed fairly “minor” but taken overall I think they are fairly dramatic. And… to be completely honest… some of these changes won’t be for everybody. Function is trumping form in most cases and that leads to some… different… styling in places.


The process started, predictably, with disassembly (well to be honest the process started with aero testing, wool string, and video) at Best of Show. I made the decision to replace all of the front sheetmetal – packing and boxing all of the original pieces so that they can go back on to bring the car back to “original” some day.


Disassembly:

[James OLC]

The first part of the project was the front end. The goal was to move the front tires out to balance the front and the rear track width and improve the inner clearance to the subframe – all while increasing the tire width to better balance the rear. As it sat the front track width as 2.5 inches narrower than the rear – most of that was related to the offset (about 1.5”) and the balance came from the difference in rim widths. We estimated that we needed to move outside of the tire out by 1.5 to 2.0 inches to match or slightly exceed the rear. This meant building new front fenders that would accommodate the space.

That’s not a revolutionary change with what’s been happening in our community for the past couple of years but we had a couple of specific constraints. I wasn’t going to do any bodywork behind the fenders so no reworking of the doors or quarters was in the card so the stretch on the fenders was going to have to be subtle and entirely done within the confines of the fender. **** at BoS came up with a simple and efficient technique…

They started by separating the inner and outer structure of the fender:




Then they went to work with the English Wheel

[James OLC]

I think that everyone was surprised at how effective this was – we were able to get all of the room that we had hoped for and a bit more.

Just the inner structure in place:


And mocked up for the first time:




pictures are a bit deceptive and it's hard to really see all of the change.
At this point the front end is approximately 0.5" wider than the rear (or 0.25" wider per side).

[James OLC]

With the English Wheel we were able to get 2” more width without changing the height or shape of the wheelwell itself.

Measurements Before:





Measurements After:

[James OLC]

How much room is that? As a test fit we tried putting the current rear wheel/tire (19x11 with a 325/30-19) on the front just to see. The backspacing wasn’t ideal but we had to start somewhere…

"Lot’s" of room:







Not ideal but as I said – just a test. I wasn’t planning on the 325 tire up front and the backspacing is off by about 0.5” so our target tire should fit fine. HRE is just down the street and around the corner so they were going to stop by when we were ready to get specific.

And just for comparison - with a current 275/30-18 front

[srh3trinity]

Wow, that is a big improvement. I love how this car is never sitting still. Progress!

[James OLC]

So from there things got a bit more complicated…

It’s going to be a big change:







I'm biased but I love it... it's about 0.5" lower than the old one (valence plus spoiler) and should be slippery...

[James OLC]

Which I think works just about perfectly:







You can really get an idea how much wider the front end is compared to "stock" or the old one with the old splitter in place.



The air intake has to be relocated but it clears all of the accessories and provides significantly more airflow then the old ones. It's also directly feeding out of the radiator and should fit the bill perfectly. The flat hood's going to take some getting used to but I think it will fit the overall package.

[James OLC]

And here is where we take a big step…

Pics say more than words – love it or hate it, we’re trying it:



Aeromotions S2 Active Downforce Rear Wing





It has a split element - each side can work ”independent” of the other



The wing works through a combination of a VSS tie-in along with a 3-axis G-meter. It senses speed and vehicle dynamics and adjusts itself to respond... providing a programmable combination of downforce and drag. Where downforce is desirable - i.e low speeds, cornering, and braking - the wing will provide a user programmed amount of downforce. It will even provide split downforce in the turns depending on the direction you are turning. On high speed straightaways where you don't need downforce it adjusts to minimize drag.

I knew going in that this would be a controversial element but as I said... function first. We're shooting for every last bit we can get and this is a serious tool to help with that.

We'll add a short Gurney Flap to the trailing edge of the trunklid once we're happy with everything back there...

[Hotwhilz]

First car was just amazing, the second one a bit more down for business, reminds me a bit of Agent 47 Harbinger, good feel! Hope all those changes will open a new path to better performances!

Keep us posted

[James OLC]

With the fenders well on their way we moved to the lower valence. I wanted something similar to the OLC2 concept to blunt the overall front end and improve the aero. Testing found a couple of dead spots in the old setup that I thought could be improved upon.

Our first shot started with modifications to the stock valence and fender extensions.

We started simple:





Test fitting required use of the Track Rat's grill... well it didn't specifically require it but what the heck, it was there...



Subtle and maybe appropriate for a different setup but not quite what we were looking for...

[James OLC]

As lots of people have found before, it’s easy to design a hood on paper… but it’s really hard to find a design that works with the realities of accessory drives, air intakes, and actual aero influences. We spent a fair bit of time looking at how air moved over the hood and went through a lot of design iterations. Ultimately I turned to a design that Tyler had sketched up for 50/50 at one point; he was kind enough to allow me to try a rendition of it…

[tazzz25906112]

James I have to tell you that I think this is awesome.... You're forging new ground in the first gen arena,, and I'll be calling for some aerodynamics/wing/ground effects advise when I approach the second gen builds I'm considering currently....

[compos mentis]

Great thread James.

[Vicinity]

What did you do with the old rear spoiler?

Looking good. I actually really like the new hood.

[dylanCamaro582]

Love it. The OLC has been a huge influence to me as it have given me a idea for how to build what i consider the ultimate pro-touring car. Additionaly, I love the fact that you are pushing the envelope of an already amazing car.

[LeighP]

Awesome...forget what people might say about the "look", let function determine the form. Love the technical aspects of the wing.
Since you're going to so much trouble, have you considered a 2nd gen Trans Am style wheel spoiler for in front of the rear wheels?

[sik68]

Everything looks awesome, James! This is the stuff that has been kicking around in many of our brains for years, but you're actually DOING it!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

[John Wright]

I'm diggin' this wide track camaro.....