GregCirillo wrote:

Jerry A. wrote:Nice lil burnout. Love the exhaust noise, can't wait to hear 30 or 40 so Gen3's drop the hammer when the green flag drops

Based on that alone, we should consider standing starts!

Bet that would make an interesting poll...

Wow. Cool things in the pictures, (literally). The exhaust exiting toward the rear will keep the alternator and other components cool while allowing for easier inspection of the header and its location should eliminate SR Gen 3 racing as being a team sport, i.e. bump drafting - which is fine with me. The plug wires will no longer risk being fried by the exhaust and the air intake which is not near the heat of the exhaust will no longer involve a snake made of custom rubber hose covered with expensive insulation. Very well done! It seems to present some of the advantages of the Renault layout with the reliability and ease of use of a fuel injection system and electrinic ignition.

Am I confused or does this setup use the Ford transmission? I thought they were scarce. If it does then what is the plan concerning future supply? If not then what is being used?

Loved the burnout. I have been warned not to do that as it might over tax the drive train or half shafts. "Urban legend"?

Jim

Jim I'm glad you approve, it’s the same gear box, mounts, axles and shift linkage.
The conversion is almost 100% bolt in, as of now the only thing that needs a welder is the coolant tank. The exit fitting needs to be moved to the drivers left end.
We will supply a new weld on fitting and a -12 cap or a new tank built that way.

We should be safe for the next phew years with gear box parts, I have talked with an aftermarket company about making our trans parts…I may start that project soon. We don’t break cases very often…we should be good for 3 to 5 years maybe longer without any major changes.

As far as the little wheel spinning vid…it was very cold and low grip. I wouldn’t do that with warm tires…we may have gear box problems sooner than we want too…

I’ve been working in the shop today…trying to finish up the header configuration.
Spent many days and hours of tuning with lengths and sizes. The low straight secondary has more to do with what’s easy to change on the dyno than how it fits on the car. It should be above the rear sway and out of the way of most toe bars. The Prototype is off for production quoting first of the week. Just for reference the current header configuration is within 4 pounds of peak torque from 3200 to 6100. The 1.9 is within 4 pounds of peak only from 3600 to 4700 rpm on avg.

It should be forgiving to drive in race conditions…Time will tell !

Jim Marinangel wrote:Wow. Cool things in the pictures, (literally). The exhaust exiting toward the rear will keep the alternator and other components cool while allowing for easier inspection of the header and its location should eliminate SR Gen 3 racing as being a team sport, i.e. bump drafting - which is fine with me. The plug wires will no longer risk being fried by the exhaust and the air intake which is not near the heat of the exhaust will no longer involve a snake made of custom rubber hose covered with expensive insulation. Very well done! It seems to present some of the advantages of the Renault layout with the reliability and ease of use of a fuel injection system and electrinic ignition.
Jim

Agree with above and 2 thoughts.

Will the intake driver's left get rain spun on it from the left wheel?

A lot of hedder designes call for "2 into 1 - 2 into 1" rather than "4 into 1"
Was that considered? (It might be smaller and less weight)
I realize pulse frequency, scavenging and efficiency are not an issue here.

Mike D wrote:Just for reference the current header configuration is within 4 pounds of peak torque from 3200 to 6100. The 1.9 is within 4 pounds of peak only from 3600 to 4700 rpm on avg.

It should be forgiving to drive in race conditions…Time will tell !

That's great news! Fabulous job on the development work.

Mike D.

1. "On most tracks Gen 3 will likely be 4 to 6 mph faster on medium length straights. That is about .15 / .3 time savings per straight. Not overwhelming but a nice boost in performance."

Those performance numbers alleviate my concerns about adding too much power and speed - thanks.

2. "I believe we should target 230 lb. to meet minimum class weight with a fresh car.
Much heavier than that and I believe we pose a serious safety issue with drivers of 150 lb. and less. I know we don't have a lot of small build men or women in the class but 130 / 150 lb. drivers would have to carry 80 / 100 lbs of ballast. I really don't want to test the Safety margin. We talked briefly of ways to carrying ballast in that range safer."

There are many more drivers over 250# than under 150#. You can solve the ballast safety issue by adding weight to the body sections. You remember we started with very heavy noses. You could easily add 60# just in resin in the 3 body sections - a 1 time and economical fix. The rules were changed to lighten the body sections - certainly those rules could be changed to increase the weights. And I speak for all the fat guys when I say we won't care that adding weight to the nose or tail will give skinny guys an advantage in weight distribution.

The 230# may be reasonable except for the fact that there is a 20# variance in chassis weights over the years. Heck -what did you weigh in 1985? 140-150#? Now you are 182#?

And thank you very much for all your efforts in the new engine project. I have gotten on board and will make the change - but maybe in the 2nd year.

Regards - Clay

Mike seems to be enjoying talking about his baby. So I won't dive back in. I got a kick out of the no welding notes I got...Mike mentioned a welded part...it does not count. Because it is the coolant tank, a small piece you can send out, deliver to a local welding shop or buy from us already welded. So HA!

Please DO ENJOY this project and the great step forward that it represents, please do not try to enter into the development cycle with us via chat. The team is chosen, the next round of testers are chosen. When you get up close to one of the Gen3 R&D cars, talk to the team and send us a note if you see something that peaks your interest. I will make sure to communicate more formally now that paths are clearer (me - so that Mike can work). Lastly please read all the posts, at least from Mike and myself. Example: I said right in the intro points where the exhaust would be. ABOVE bump draft level and tow bar level... if you don't expect to have to read all the relevant posts please don't expect us to keep track of repeat inquiries we have already answered....again ABSOLUTELY, it comes back to we should (and will) tell you what we can as early as we can. We don't leave you starving for more as a tactic; it is the normal course of a project.

Above all else, be excited! Even if you want to run the 1.9L through 2017...because the value of your car is going to be protected via several methods we have now shared and several more to come!

Yep, I missed that one, Erik. I hadn't been to the site in weeks and in the process of catching up with an already three page long thread, (not to mention all the other threads), I missed the exhaust pipe mention during the excitement of reading your first post. In re-reading it after I had posted the comment I caught it but by then the horse was out of the barn and my foot was in my mouth. Don't feel you need to keep up with every post - ignore dumb ones like mine. As Hal might say;

Jim (Did you hear that we might get new motors?) Marinangel

Any ideas on a market for our existing engines or are they boat anchors?
Kevin Treffeisen

Treff wrote:Any ideas on a market for our existing engines or are they boat anchors?
Kevin Treffeisen

I'm thinking a most spectacular destruction of an engine award from Enterprises might be worthwhile? 25% off a new engine kit??????? Some pretty creative people on here. Could be fun.