This weekend at TWS I had the distinct pleasure to run a session in a Gen3 for the first time. Spec Racer Sports (Dave Perkins) has a beautiful black and blue SRF that they had converted. It was being rented for the weekend by Lee Romine. Mike, Lee, and Dave all agreed that letting me take the car out for a session would be ok, so I was all set.
We were a bit rushed so we weren't able to get the pedals all the way forward for me. This caused me some braking and shifting issues as my knee was hitting the steering wheel. Older test day tires meant that the car wasn't on rails, but it handled more than well enough to highlight the differences between Gen2 and Gen3.

So how was it?
It was awesome. Pure and simple. I didn't get out of the car thinking "the power difference is PHENOMENAL"... I got out of the car stating "it's a Gen2 that's been hyper-testicled" (Mike laughed at that visual).
By that I mean that it just (as others have stated) brings the car *to life* in a way that the 1.9 doesn't. The aural stimulus is so vastly better that I don't even have the words for it. I was never one of those "our 1.9's sound like asthmatic tractors" guys, but let me tell you... hopping out of the Gen3 and into my car the first thought that went through my mind was "omg now I know why everyone else complains so much".
I could definitely feel the difference in the weight out back. Mike described some required changes to driving style which, after promptly forgetting them while pulling on to the track, several laps in I found that I had naturally adapted to in order to get the car to do what I needed it to do. With good tires and a setup tailored to your individual driving style, my gut feel is that the car is just going to be a joy to drive. It's already a blast, but I think once dialed in it's going to just *be more racy* from the sense that it'll be more responsive to input, both steering and throttle.

Back to the power. Had I gotten out of the car thinking "the power difference is just phenomenal" I am certain that I would have also thought "and the balance has suffered for it". Instead, the power differential is noticeable and the power band is awesome. Mike said "try to keep it above 5000" so I did. I probably ran a couple of corners around 4800 in 4th gear and rolling from 4800 to 6600 the car demonstrated a rock solid power curve. It should be noted that I was running on the 3.85 (?) demo R&P as opposed to the standard one in our cars today. With that R&P, the on-track shift points were very similar to the 1.9.

Another huge difference... that flywheel. Man oh man what a different feel. I will say this - if you're not a rev-matcher in the 1.9, it doesn't punish you as the heavy (now that I know) flywheel doesn't allow engine RPM to drop as quickly. In this bad boy, you hit the clutch and the engine immediately drops to idle. It's really noticeable. This, imo, will put a higher premium on effective rev-matching so be working on it now if you want to optimize this new package! I freaking love it.

Based on some anecdotal evidence, I am thinking that the Gen3 will be perhaps 3.5 seconds per lap quicker at TWS, which is a LOT. With the 3.85 R&P the gearing is all the same as in the 1.9 (with a couple of "I could go either 3rd or 4th" corners). The standard R&P (can't think of the ratio) does change corner gearing and I think it might be faster at this track than the 3.85. Other tracks may be very, very different. TWS is all 3rd and 4th gear corners, very "swoopy" and rhythmic with no corners any where near 2nd gear in a Gen2.

So, after my first experience I'm at least as excited to get a Gen3 as I was before, if not more so. Mad Scientist Mike has truly improved the overall package while not sacrificing the essence of that spec racer feel and that is an achievement to be lauded. Well done, Mikey.
When I get back home I'll try to post a lap of my run in the Spec Racer Sports Gen3. Be excited, folks. This is a crazy fun car to drive.

Denny

Video is up: http://youtu.be/EOKPOFABgaU
Watch it in HD... GoPro ftw!

A couple of notes:
- I ham-fisted a bunch of the corners due mostly to learning the balance of the car and my knee hitting the steering wheel when I went to the brake. Both easy to fix . As such, this is far from a tutorial of how to drive a fast lap.
- I chose this segment of video because it shows me catching the fastest Gen2 on the track in that session, Matt Hart. Matt's an excellent driver with a great car from Spec Racer Sports under him (potentially blown motor from Sunday notwithstanding ) and you can see how quickly the Gen3 reels him in.

I ran my last couple of laps at 1:56.5 I believe and Perkins told me everyone else was in the 1:59-2:00 range at that point (late) in the session.
(Ferguson is gonna love the text )
Enjoy!

Very cool...very much looking forward to getting the Gen III installed in my car.
What video editing software are you using? And when are we going to get the video of the start of the race on Saturday?? Amazing drive on Saturday by Denny.

Matt,
I use a suite called AVS. It's fine for my purposes.
I'm working on the Saturday race right now. It takes a while, but it's definitely fun video to watch. Of the 14 laps, there will only be 2 of them I think where there were no passes, and I'll likely just skip those in the video.
I hope to have it posted soon. Now I just have to pretty my nose up for Houston!

Thanks for the kind words Denny, we are really proud of our Gen3 car.

I didn't know you had never driven a Gen3 before. I had it in my mind that you had Driven Mike's in Colorado. I can only imagine what you could have done in the car with good tires and knees not under your chin. Lee ran half a session after you ran the car and got out and said "I'm done these tires are total crap"

Romine went a second faster than you did on stickers first thing the next morning so I think it is safe to say you were limited by the composite set of rubber I provided Lee for the test day. Considering he had run 7 sessions on them Friday and they started the day as used tires I had pilfered off the scrap pile (after you had already hit it I might ad lol) they were probably 17 or 18 cycles by the time you got in the car.

Kudos to Mike Davies on his tuning efforts. The map you were driving was by far the most driveable map we have had yet. Performance Electronics has done an awesome job listening to Mike and giving him what he needs in the software to adapt it for our needs. The idle quality and off-throttle response characteristics you drove were the best yet and we have tested a myriad of iterations for him. I can only imagine where he will have us in another month at the rate he is going.

Spec Racer Sports is just about to finish up a clean, virtually new looking frame-up Gen3 this week. We have another new Gen3 build in works, another Gen3 conversion kit for Lee Romine sitting here and Matt Hart's is about to ship. I think it is safe to say that there will be plenty of Gen3's circling the track at our next August race!

"The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!!!"

Spec Racer Sports wrote:Thanks for the kind words Denny, we are really proud of our Gen3 car.
... "I'm done these tires are total crap" ...

That's perfect for Denny.

Spec Racer Sports wrote: Matt Hart's is about to ship. "

Wahooo!

I'm curious about the ongoing discussion of development of fuel maps (or reflashing the ECU) for the Gen 3. If customer kits are being shipped, shouldn't the ECU programming be locked down? My kit's not coming for over a year, so it's probably not a concern for me. I'm looking forward to installing my own Gen 3 kit (definitely the biggest mechanical job I've undertaken), and with a new wiring harness, I am hoping it is relatively turn-key.

My guess and it is only a guess is that if required all ECU's will be returned to Enterprise prior to 2015 to be reprogrammed and resealed prior to competing as an official Gen 3.

The locking out will occur...BUT...the fuel & ignition map is not changing in the overall sense...the tuning maps have not changed for a very long time...it is the transitional areas. Certainly WOT is unchanged. Idle and part / transitional throttle have interactions. The car has run at exactly the lambda Mike wanted from almost day one. There will always be a specific initial start up process and warm up sequences. That won't change in 5 years much less by next year.