Season End - Results In

I've been slacking a bit on posts... Ok, more than a bit - a lot. This winter will bring some interesting mechanical changes to the car and some new sponsors who you'll like to know.

2011 was a good season and the final results are in! I ended up securing a regional class championship (NASA Northeast PTC Champion) as well as a podium spot in the overall regional drivers championship (Over 150 drivers). I missed out on Rookie of the Year by a measly 10 points (out of a total of 950 or so) but I won't complain too loud about runner up. All-in-all it was a great year.

Some new things to look for on the blog soon enough; Aerodynamic Modifications, Transmission Modifications, New Suspension and Spring Rate Setup and more. Should be an interesting rush for the first shake-down of the season in April!

New Improvement

Battling with some other "quicker" cars I've come to realize the RS really struggles on the straits. Although I'm dealing with some aerodynamic issues (driving a brick), a lot of the challenge has been just being 40-50 down on horsepower. The solution was to change a few items on the suspension to gain back some class "points" and modify the motor's compression ratio in exchange. Now to see how she does on the dyno. I'll also be changing a few aerodynamic items including removing the hood scoop and adding an under-tray but larger modification will take some time - most likely in the off season.

Another Trip To Pocono

So another trip to Pocono Raceway ended the same say it did last year... bent wheel. Same corner of the car, same date, same track. Arg, at least the suspension and other bits are ok. Onward to wheel repair shop...

Doing Ok

So far I've had a few races under my belt winning my class at Summit Point, and coming in a close second at NJMP. Pocono most recently was successful placing on top of the podium on Saturday but I had to step out of Sunday's race due to the track conditions.

Next up is NJMP Lightning in August. Hopefully I can bring another 1st place finish in!

Passed

Finally finished up the car and have a short list of things to do before the first track day at Lime Rock. I headed over to EFI Logic's this weekend to go through the NASA Competition Race Tech Inspection. I did pass which is a relief, but still have a few tidbits to finish up. After a garage clean, maintenance on the tow vehicle, and a few other misl. quick projects I'll be back on the RS for a fuel system make over, minor tweak of the suspension and the general maintenance needed for the track day. Official Weigh In was 2600 lbs with about 5gal of fuel in the car. Looks like I'll need some ballast :)

Window Net (1)

Last night I finally finished re-designing the window net for proper operation. When DSX originally installed the window net it was on the inside of the cage and considered illegal. It also did not fully drop away from the driver to allow for proper egress.
I used an amazon.com belt buckle and latch and welded it to a threaded rod. Attached that to the cage for easy disconnect/connect. Also fabricated a few brackets to bolt up the heim joints on the rear connection points.

Here's what the window net looks like now:

Seat Bracket Almost Done

So the welds didn't come out as good as I'd hoped. Mostly due to my bad TIG skills and running out of gas 3 times during the project (3 tanks, all partially full, uggg).

Anyway, it's in and I just have to stitch weld up the mounting plates, drill a few holes and move on to the next project.

Seat Mounting

So more work is being done to the seat now.

Basically when DSX did the seat mount, they built off the cage and tied it into the stock mounting points for the stock seat (front cross member). I originally told them I didn't think it would work due to needing a slider at some point (the short co-driver ) but whatever. Now that I've determined it WONT work - I need to re-do it.

So far I've cut out the existing seat brackets and mounts and will re-make the 1-1/4 seat mounts to support the sliders AND brackets. I'm going to tie into the body with a single bar and run the bars off the cage at a 45 like the

existing setup was, only extend them by about 4 inches. Also the mounting plates for the seat will mount perpendicular to the tubes coming off the cage so i can alter where the seat mounts if needed down the road WITHOUT cutting the whole damn setup out... grr.

Oh - and Myles from RaceComp Engineering and Charles from SafeDrives hooked up some new parts too.

500/500 lb/in springs Front and Rear and window nets.

More Offset

So as the season open gets closer, the time to start working on the RS has begun. Just a small modification to the overall track of the car. Here's a shot of 15mm wheel spacers kicking the track out enough to fill the wheel wells as well as get some extra stability. I just hope the scrub isn't too bad and wheel bearing life is maintained.