Man, those vids are so cool. Can't wait to get back to the track. So much fun. Glad you are having fun GW---it's what this should all be about---nice example for us to follow!

D

That's awesome!... Learning how to get around the track and drive the proper lines is a kick... but during the down time there is nothing more fun than tinkering and making the car just a little bit better for the next time. Glad to see your enjoying the new car so much... that's what it's all about.

:thumbsup:

Now -- everyone should know.... I don't have that great big shop and all those tools.... just to sit around and look pretty and twiddle my thumbs...


The cars are well serviced... and the set ups and motors and all the fixin's get well loved -- BEFORE I GET TO THE TRACK... not AT the track. At the track it's time to just drive 'em... If they don't work like they should - ya bring 'em home and figure it out before the next outing.

Why is it everyone thinks I was born an hour ago? :lol:

No it's more like 525840 hours ago.

Thanks buddy!


I love doing this stuff. I'm like Charley - Auto X is not my thing - but I love these track days.

I think the part I like about them is that there's no pressure to perform. You just go out and drive your car. Nobody is keeping track of anything... nobody is going to win or lose. This makes it pressure free and as far as I'm concerned RELAXING and ENJOYABLE. We're all competitive. I don't want people in front of me just driving away from me so I'm going to try to catch them if I can. But the only guy tracking that is ME. If I don't catch them - or some guy passes me - nobody cares. It's just a great way to spend a weekend.

The competitive part comes out -- in all of us -- in that we're all born "improvers". If we weren't - we wouldn't be on websites like this - and we wouldn't have any cars other than daily drivers. So we're always looking for ways to do it faster - more - better.... and that is also part of the fun of the whole gig.

I've been on line more this week than I have been in months -- shopping - reading - researching - emailing... and just trying to learn and figure it all out. I love it.

Good gawd! No wonder I feel so worn out!


Are WE really that old??


Please -- don't answer that! :action-smiley-027:

We as in Me..........only 486180 :mock:

Dale.... I've gone absolutely NUTS!!


So during the first track weekend -- it was obvious to me that the car was tail happy. Not sure why or what could be done about it - but it was a really sweet driving car - until you hit the magic limit and when you hit that - this thing was going to do it's best to come around on you.

It was equally obvious that the 'street/track' tires were just not going to get it. That's EASY to fix... But then I started digging. Turns out - many people bought the 2 Eleven only to promptly sell them = and the car quickly gained a reputation as being a tail happy POS. That's a bad rap for a "track car" to have.

Now - like most things - there's clever ways to fix this - or at least to get it under control - and a few people have stuck with it and got it down. The current Champ being one of them. All it takes is ordering a bunch of little things --- a few settings massaged -- and it turns into a wicked little track beast.

I'd missed a couple of shifts during the weekend.... thinking it's me and I need to get more seat time. Turns out that is ANOTHER issue that has reared it's ugly little head -- that and -- these tend to tear apart the exhaust system - either breaking it outright - or just twisting it until it comes apart. WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW -- during the last track weekend I noticed the exhaust had come apart!!! I thought WTF -- but just bolted it back together -- and upon return to the shop - some serious clamp work ensued. WELL -- turns out the real issue is the factory engine mounts allow the motor to move too much.... and low and behold --- there's someone out there making track versions. Yep - they're ordered. They fix TWO problems -- missed shifts under load -- and eliminate the exhaust issues.

Sticky tires finds the weak link in the oiling system -- the factory pan has no baffles and allows the oil to go up the sidewalls during hard cornering... Enter Moroso -- and BINGO a baffled pan... DONE.

The missed shifts cause an over rev problem - which blows up the factory sintered metal oil pump gears.... Yep -- billet versions just arrived today. Along with the fix for the missed shifts - this is also good insurance.

The factory aero wing -- is right in line with the roll bar. Dirty air. Someone makes an extension that raises the wing up a couple inches and bingo!

I was told to either do a Gurney flap -- or.... the same place that makes the wing extension - makes a wider wing. ALL of this adds downforce to help control that happy tail at high speed.

Guess what else I discovered.... which is about the dumbest thing EVER..... THE BRAKES DO NOT WORK IF YOU SPIN THE CAR AND ARE GOING BACKWARDS... this in a tail happy car. I didn't know this but have been assured it's a fact. It's a defect in the ABS system. They simply go into ICE MODE and all you have is a hard pedal but no braking. Hmmmmmmmmm No factory support for this anomaly. I'll discuss this with Mark at SEMA. Or ditch the factory ABS in favor of a dual master with a balance bar....

Then I discovered another brilliant oversight -- the factory knock mic is between 2 and 3 mounted outside of the block ----- and right under the blower. It picks up blower noise as knock and pulls out timing. The fix? Detach it from the block and zip tie it to the chassis..... and run good fuel. 100 octane. I can get a flash on the ECU to take advantage of the better fuel grade.

To some this might seem like A LOT - to me - it's only the beginning. I love this stuff! Make a list and get busy!!

Well crap!

You know
 

you would have been disappointed if it was perfect right out of the box. As fast as you thought the car was before, cannot wait to hear what it is like when properly tuned.

You must have been reading my mind. I was thinking about picking up the Longacre tire temp probe for Laguna. Even told Jerry to pick one up before he starts taking his beast out. :thumbsup:
You going to have both cars ready by the 26th?

Well that's somewhat true Payton... but I was just trying to buy a "spare"... so two things come to mind. A) It wasn't supposed to be able to pass anything and B) It's a Lotus factory built "track day car"

So I would have expected far less capability -- which would then mean that it's handling would have been more than adequate.

Given it's speed capability.. which is awesome... it then needs to handle far better than it does - even though it handles very well.

And you're right... WE (all of us) have that "make it better DNA"


:confused18: :drowninga:






Because other folks are reading these threads ---- The tire pyrometer is used to check alignment and chassis set up by reading the temperature of the tire in three places --- outside - middle - inside (tread) --- On the Lotus -- the factory wants to see about 10* centigrade HOTTER on the inside reading. Obviously if the center reading was higher -- that would indicate you're running too much tire pressure... etc. If you know chassis set up -- these temps can tell you a lot about what's happening with the car.


Gaetano --- Just so you know.... I'd absolutely love for you to be at Laguna -- there won't be any adjustments done to the car at the track. There's going to be TWO drivers (Alex in Yellow group) and if he doesn't wreck in his first session -- then myself (green group)...

I've gotten three pages of "set up" notes from the ultimate source - a guy that has many many hours of seat time in these cars - and has two championships in them. SO my seat time will be ascertaining the difference in what I started with -- and what he has guided me to do. It will now be running slicks -- completely different tire pressures (the Yoko's had 21# cold - the slicks will have 16r and 17f cold)... a completely new radical alignment ... and new aero wing settings -- and chassis height front to back rake settings. That should be enough changes given that I might get one or two sessions in since it's only a one day event.

I can only HOPE that the Mustang has a newly repaired motor in time. I'm not holding my breath. When one does that - one tends to turn blue -- starting with the dangling sack. I need it to be right rather than ready. I'm really really tired of leaving it behind after each event.

You're not alone Weldski. I saw this some time ago when searching for BB kits and replacement rotors:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f91/...-victim-70922/

This is not a good situation to have in a "race car".... where spins - if you're driving the f'n' thing at all... tend to happen once in awhile. In a spin - it's both feet in! I want brakes BEFORE I tap the wall.

It will be remedied. I'm not tracking/racing in the rain. It's not a street car.

Sometimes you MUST SPIN TO WIN.....

New spare set of TeamDyanmics forged wheels for the Little Lotus...





http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...us/file-21.jpg

Awe, to have Weld money lol :bigun2:

Loving the oil pan. Gives me a better idea on the baffling I need to do for my truck. The sloshing is so bad that I can't even panic stop without the dash lighting up like a christmas tree :twak:

The idiot that said "money isn't everything" or "money can't buy you happiness" ===== well ==== he was just that. An idiot.


:lol:

But it wont buy you height or good looks. That's what I tell myself at least.

If you want better pics I can take 'em -- it gets installed on Monday. Actually 425 Motorsports is coming to get the little POS and do the corner weighting - chassis height and wheel alignments - mount up all the new tires and wheels etc... then it goes to Lotus on Wednesday for the oil pump and pan... So if you need pics tell me!

You know - I think it wasn't long ago when you worked more and posted less.... oh yeah! That was when Shannon was still in the office....


That whole height and looks thing is way over rated -- just look at Lillard and Jody....

Yes I can see Gwen must be back state side as you not driving you big rig all of the North West.

She's outside washing it - as we speak....


I'm too busy posting.

Right......... I don't believe it till I see pics

Like the looks of those wheels. :cool:

They won't fit on any Ford....

As my daughter would say... 'No struggs'. :relax:

I jes like 'em. :D

Weld FTW!! Nice vid :lol:
Just a heads up.....I had no intention of even thinking about touching the Lotus. Way out of my league.
Definitely wanted to play around with that ass happy Muttstang of yours though. (Hence the tire temp probe).
Anyhow.....got a renter moving out of one of my rentals at the end of the month which means I've got more on my plate in November(clean up and upgrades). If I finish up in time I'll see you. :knokwood:

A few pics would be awesome. I'm most interested in the gaps around the main baffle plate (I'm sure there's a technical term that has been lost on me.) I don't think I'm going to get too fancy with it. My little POS Chebby won't pull hard to the side like most people here. :hitaxeonthehead:

Did you post this is the right thread Matt??


I've read this three times and still have no idea what you're asking about. WTF is the main baffle plate?? :BlahBlah:

I dunno either. Might have been talking to the voices again.

Do you have any more pics of the bad ass oil pan? I'm about to tackle this tyoe of setup in a stock pan for my truck and am interested to know what I'm up against. :wrongforum:

http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...us/file-17.jpg

I'll post up some pics today for ya Matt. If I can -- I'll get a feeler gauge in the shots so you can see what's up.

<3

Thank you sir. I've never done baffling before and I'm really unsure of how much of a gap I should allow where the baffle won't meet the pan.

Okay Matt -- just for you - I disassembled the pan so I could get better measurements and better shots for what's inside….

The BAFFLE HOLES are .250" (1/4") off the bottom -- so it takes 1/4" of oil to get to the bottom of the holes…. or thinking of it a better way -- there's always going to be 1/4" of oil in the little sump box.


The FLAPPER DOORS only open to the inside to let oil IN the book -- and they're also .250" off the bottom -- so the flaps are just right at the bottom of the holes.


The box is basically just creating a sump for the pick up…. I haven't dropped the pan to see what size the pick up is so I don't know how much room they're left "around" the pick up. My guess is 1/2 to 1" on all sides.




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...us/file-39.jpg





Trap doors are on the INSIDE of the "sump box" and only open inwards




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...us/file-30.jpg






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...us/file-38.jpg

And then for the rest of you suckwads :D that think I don't care about handling (I do -- I'm just not spending my track time messin' with stuff - I'm there to DRIVE).


The car is going for line up - corner balance - height set up - rake etc --- so since I have SPECIAL settings -- I've made sure they're there for reference….




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...us/file-36.jpg

Many thanks sir. I'm pretty sure this means I owe you pancakes or some sort of alcoholic beverage. :thankyou: :topic: :cheers:

So does this mean you will be driving in on a "SPECIAL NEEDS" bus. :lol:

You forgot an important part -- and that would be "a Special needs bus - BACKWARDS".

Fashion faux pas..........you really should be using yellow tape with silver Sharpie boarders for your notes. :whistling:

It was on Back-order