I can't wait for the Targa Oregon.......oh wait, this is the U.S. and We can't do cool stuff like that here.

Good news, Bad news
 

This is the final update on the Targa Camaro Project, since it no longer is a project.

The bad news is that I am sitting here at home, instead of competing in the 2010 Targa Newfoundland. The lack of seat time and development work to dial in the car properly were the main factor. We could not put all that time and effort and money into getting there and not be at the top of our game.

The GREAT news is that the car is on the road and driving great right out of the box.

This picture is now my desktop background. The reason for the weird wheels is that we have been experimenting with low cost wheels to get the sizes exactly right.

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...erior020-1.jpg


On Sunday, after putting about 70 kms on it (going to the alignment shop, calibrate the speedo, bed the brakes) I drove up to Mt. Tremblant, in the hills north of Montreal, using all the backroads. Some of them unpaved ! I got to test out the hand brake, sliding around some tight turns. I was thinking to myself that all I needed was a flag on the roof!

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...aRide009-1.jpg

We broke off from the main pack and went on some pretty wild roads. I was keeping up pretty well with both a modded EVO X, a modded Sti and a VW VR6. The turbo cars are cooling off after a pretty wild stint. These roads are so twisty, that even at the speed limit it can be quite entertaning.

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...aRide013-1.jpg

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...aRide025-2.jpg


As far as driving impressions go, I am literally blown away by the handling and braking of this car. I have not really pushed it anywhere NEAR it's limits and I am already past my abilities. Hopefully, I will have a track session before winter sets in, and get an opinion from a "real" driver ( i.e. someone with more experience with a track car).

As far as negatives aspects go, there are a few. I would not duplicate this car for anywhere near a daily driver. It is noisy, since there are no rubber bushings anywhere in the suspension, the fuel pump is loud, and I don't have much room for mufflers. The turning circle SUCKS ! I can't even get it around my circular driveway without backing up three times !

The ride is very good so far. With just the initial adjustment of 3/4 soft, the car is a gem on the road. We have perhaps the (in general) worst roads in all of North America. The Penske shocks are soaking it up beautifully, while keeping me planted in very demanding conditions. I put 175 lb springs in the back and it seem good, at least initially. The Hotchkis front bar seems to be doing it's job so far.

The rear suspension is working beautifully. Needless to say, it is the best solid axle car I have ever driven over expansion joints in corners. I have enough expertise with those that I don't need anyone else to tell me. Since this was a prototype suspension from Lateral Dynamics, I did expect some problems above and beyond the ususal "yah it's BOLT ON" ones. We did find that the differential cover was too close to the Watts link, a situation we were warned about by LD. We were forced to shorten the upper link a bit to enable proper pinion angle adjustment. We used up all the adjustment just to move the differential forward.

The alignment guy was amazed at how straight the back end was, especially after I told him how far we had come from an empty shell. That was a BIG moment of relief, finding out that after all that, it turned out square !

We now have a whole summer ahead of us next year to tune and dial in the car properly. Budget permitting, I may try and take it to some events down south of the border, as part of our preparations.

Thanks for all the kind words from fellow members here. I have tried to show people who are interested, some of my mistakes and problems, in order that they may avoid them or at least be informed of the consequences.

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...raRide2010.jpg

When the car is further along in the development, hopefully before the snow flies, I will post more pictures and video. And learn how to recharge my GoPro.......

cheezer

Nice looking car. Gotta love the orange/white color combo. Congrats on finishing it.:thumbsup:

Awesome car :thumbsup:

What spec Penske shocks did you go for on the LD 3-link? and what springs did you opt for in the end?

Cheers,
Mark

Looks like it finished up great! Look out Targa next year:thumbsup:

Thanks for the encouragement. It would have been a loooong daaaaark winter had I not driven it this year ............

The body is EXACTLY the way I bought it: nicks, scratches and everything. But pretty enough for a track car. The floors were rotten, but the rest of the car was quite nice. The seller thought he was ripping me off. He did not realize that I was going to be ripping most of the floor out anyway. It was like buying a Dynacorn body that's already painted ! It saved me a lot of hassle not having to worry about bodywork or paint schemes. The hood is a little high for my taste, but it came like that and it seems to get rid of underhood heat at idle.

cheezer

Well, I have 175 lb springs in it right now. But I have not driven it all out yet. But I did give it a bit of a work out and see no reason to change.

As far as shocks go, this is the part # PS 8300 RM 18

Meaning it is an 18" shock. But like James OLC has said many times, what works in my particular set up , may or may not work on yours, especially since mine was a 12-bolt prototype. I also asked for the most travel and a higher ride height than the usual customer on this board, but I do not know if that was taken into consideration or if they just copied the 9" Ford specs.

My car weighs about 3300 lbs. without the driver, with about a 53/47 % weight balance. The shocks are set at 3/4 soft and seem to be just right for me so far. I am awaiting my driver's opinion and track time for better feedback.

cheezer

We've enjoyed watching your build. The car looks amazing. Of course, we are partial to orange Camaros ourselves.

Glad the sway bar is working out for you.

Off topic, but you can recharge your GoPro by simply plugging it in to your computer with the usb cable.

To me that race looks like the most fun a person can have in a car - and it being open to various levels of participants makes it seem even more fun and much less intimidating. They'd never let us do something that cool down here in the states. Car looks great, can't wait to watch the videos!

Wow!! what an awesome build.Sounds like to do one of those targa run's.Scott:thumbsup: :thumbsup: