Modified Magazine Cover Story: FD Testing Event Virginia International Raceway
05-16-13, 10:55 AM
#251
PS No Doubt Leh Keen, Mike Skeen, James Clay etc..... are superior drivers to most everyone but this isn't about that. However I'd suggest that Neil ask Mike to give him a hand the next time he visits VIR or I'll be happy to volunteer as well and I'm free
[/QUOTE]I know this event isn't about that but it might be a good idea to have an unbiassed stig like driver for next years event to give their input on how each vehicle handles and performs. All these 3 & 4 rotor conversions is gonna make each vehicle have it's own unique handling characteristic. It would really be nice if that driver had experience with vipers corvetts and such to give their opinion on how a large displacement rotary powered car performs with todays beast on the road. If such info gets published and their really positive reviews, then Mazda would have to take notice since their in development of the next Rx7. I mean there isn't a single publication out there testing rotary's to this level so we should take advantage of what ever info we get from this event.
05-16-13, 12:02 PM
#252
All out Track Freak!
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On a serious note this isn't about racing or which car is the fastest and if it was we'd all have the same tires same power, same rules etc..... I REPEAT it's just some dudes in some modded FDs having a good time and appreciating the greatest rotary powered car on the planet (some may go as far as to say greatest car on the planet PERIOD), it's about NOTHING ELSE!!!!!
PS No Doubt Leh Keen, Mike Skeen, James Clay etc..... are superior drivers to most everyone but this isn't about that. However I'd suggest that Neil ask Mike to give him a hand the next time he visits VIR or I'll be happy to volunteer as well and I'm free
PS No Doubt Leh Keen, Mike Skeen, James Clay etc..... are superior drivers to most everyone but this isn't about that. However I'd suggest that Neil ask Mike to give him a hand the next time he visits VIR or I'll be happy to volunteer as well and I'm free
I agree but this year it's just me, I'm free and I'll get a vibe on each car and report as best I can. In my experience tracking 20 plus different FDs each car has it's own personality for sure and I expect each of these car to feel very different other than my car and peter's car which are very similar handling and power wise. Also Logan will drive his own car (we can rely on his driving and GPS data etc.. to compare) because he has a dog box which I'm not familiar with which is yet another reason why a more experienced driver would be nice but $$$ are always a consideration and this is funded by Gordon alone AFAIK so lets just be happy it's happening at all and also be thankful modified mag is willing to cover it
For the record I've also tracked a GT3 (will have one there this weekend) and a Cayman and briefly a spec miata.
Also note that in my own car I'm up against the best cars out there all the time. Here's a vid from my last time trial. I was 1 second faster than the C6 in the vid and you can see he has more power etc.... the FD is a wonderful car and I'm sure Mazda is fully aware of what it's potential is and hopefully they won't dishonor it if they make a 4th generation.
If you care to watch the full vid click on the link at the top of the vid
05-17-13, 10:13 AM
#255
LS what?
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That is a bummer!! Are you still planning on attending? Can you bring the car(s) so we can at least see them?!! 
He would probably be dumping oil into his cooling system or onto the track. Given the amount of money in both of these cars, and the risk posed to other cars if the oil is going on the track, not worth it. In my opinion anyway!
He would probably be dumping oil into his cooling system or onto the track. Given the amount of money in both of these cars, and the risk posed to other cars if the oil is going on the track, not worth it. In my opinion anyway!
05-17-13, 10:33 AM
#256
That is a bummer!! Are you still planning on attending? Can you bring the car(s) so we can at least see them?!!
He would probably be dumping oil into his cooling system or onto the track. Given the amount of money in both of these cars, and the risk posed to other cars if the oil is going on the track, not worth it. In my opinion anyway!
He would probably be dumping oil into his cooling system or onto the track. Given the amount of money in both of these cars, and the risk posed to other cars if the oil is going on the track, not worth it. In my opinion anyway!
The 4 rotor simply isn't finished! We had very little extra time. It has no issues, and is using the updated design.
05-17-13, 06:49 PM
#258
Unfortunately these small setbacks happen. Hindsight being what it is, it probably would have been better to have several months of trouble-free operation on all cars before scheduling the event, but oh well. It IS what it IS. Should still be a ton of fun!
05-17-13, 07:08 PM
#259
Well I am oh so close to being good to go. Have never seen so many coolant issues. Small one and its like whack a mole. Get one solved and the next one pops up. Just picked up some fox radiator hose and some better clamps to solve the slight AST drip. My positive thinking says this will be done tomorrow morning and then after some tuning by Steve Osley it's on the trailer and up for the event. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.
I would lobby hard for Gordon to have his car trailered to th event so we can all check out the awesome eye candy. Hey Logan why not bring it down as well as the 4 rotor engine? Put that on an engine stand and we can all drool over it as well.
Just a thought and hoping it can be done.
I would lobby hard for Gordon to have his car trailered to th event so we can all check out the awesome eye candy. Hey Logan why not bring it down as well as the 4 rotor engine? Put that on an engine stand and we can all drool over it as well.
Just a thought and hoping it can be done.
05-17-13, 07:16 PM
#260
oh jeez... So still in the running: there's stock (see guys stock always works 
) single turbo, and 3 rotor single...I thought the NA guys were the reliable of the bunch 
All joking aside thats too bad, as I and I'm sure just about all of us were looking forward in seeing the tests from all of those cars.
) single turbo, and 3 rotor single...I thought the NA guys were the reliable of the bunch All joking aside thats too bad, as I and I'm sure just about all of us were looking forward in seeing the tests from all of those cars.
05-17-13, 08:08 PM
#262
LS what?
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i would lobby hard for gordon to have his car trailered to th event so we can all check out the awesome eye candy. Hey logan why not bring it down as well as the 4 rotor engine? Put that on an engine stand and we can all drool over it as well.
Just a thought and hoping it can be done.
+1
05-18-13, 12:29 PM
#263
**** happens. Still super cool that Gordon covered the event. I hope everyone is having a fun safe day. Miss my 'Almost' Racing crew of Fritz and Pete. Oh how I miss VIR... the uphill esses... oak tree, that tight right hander at T14 that you just throw it in and floor. Sigh. Always glad to see Robin and Adam out and about as well. I know the last couple of years have been a long, hard road for Adam... as well as the short term with him burning the midnight oil to get the car ready.
Look forward to hearing how it went for everyone.
Look forward to hearing how it went for everyone.
05-18-13, 11:02 PM
#267
For now though, we'll turn up the boost and have a good time
As far as a schedule of events, I need to check with Gordon about Monday. He was handling the dyne runs and I think Fritz was looking into a skip pad session. Regardless, we start with track time at noon so that is locked in. My best guess is starting at 9 am at the North Paddock dyne and then we will move over
to the South Course.
Gonna be fun.
05-19-13, 12:35 PM
#268
Yes, just arrived. Crazy amount of rain.
What an interesting couple of weeks for me. Car is all back together and seems to be all right from a coolant perspective. As Jonathan alludes to, then engine is not healthy. It's back to Kilo Racing after the event to pull the engine and see what is going on with the center housing. Definitely down on power right now.
For now though, we'll turn up the boost and have a good time
As far as a schedule of events, I need to check with Gordon about Monday. He was handling the dyne runs and I think Fritz was looking into a skip pad session. Regardless, we start with track time at noon so that is locked in. My best guess is starting at 9 am at the North Paddock dyne and then we will move over
to the South Course.
Gonna be fun.
What an interesting couple of weeks for me. Car is all back together and seems to be all right from a coolant perspective. As Jonathan alludes to, then engine is not healthy. It's back to Kilo Racing after the event to pull the engine and see what is going on with the center housing. Definitely down on power right now.
For now though, we'll turn up the boost and have a good time
As far as a schedule of events, I need to check with Gordon about Monday. He was handling the dyne runs and I think Fritz was looking into a skip pad session. Regardless, we start with track time at noon so that is locked in. My best guess is starting at 9 am at the North Paddock dyne and then we will move over
to the South Course.
Gonna be fun.
The 4 rotor is in the car, need to build the headers and wiring...... So close. Oh well.
hope the rest if you guys have fun, and the cars hang in there for testing!
05-19-13, 12:39 PM
#269
Yes, just arrived. Crazy amount of rain.
What an interesting couple of weeks for me. Car is all back together and seems to be all right from a coolant perspective. As Jonathan alludes to, then engine is not healthy. It's back to Kilo Racing after the event to pull the engine and see what is going on with the center housing. Definitely down on power right now.
For now though, we'll turn up the boost and have a good time
As far as a schedule of events, I need to check with Gordon about Monday. He was handling the dyne runs and I think Fritz was looking into a skip pad session. Regardless, we start with track time at noon so that is locked in. My best guess is starting at 9 am at the North Paddock dyne and then we will move over
to the South Course.
Gonna be fun.
What an interesting couple of weeks for me. Car is all back together and seems to be all right from a coolant perspective. As Jonathan alludes to, then engine is not healthy. It's back to Kilo Racing after the event to pull the engine and see what is going on with the center housing. Definitely down on power right now.
For now though, we'll turn up the boost and have a good time
As far as a schedule of events, I need to check with Gordon about Monday. He was handling the dyne runs and I think Fritz was looking into a skip pad session. Regardless, we start with track time at noon so that is locked in. My best guess is starting at 9 am at the North Paddock dyne and then we will move over
to the South Course.
Gonna be fun.
How many miles on the engine? Were you running race fuel any? Water/meth? Pump gas? What boost? What premix? Id love to see how the housings look. You don't need to answer all this here but its information I would like to know for my own personal research. Look forward to updates in your build thread.
05-19-13, 05:19 PM
#271
Hate to hear about the engine. Some kind of warranty offered by Kilo? If not what is the reason you just don't have Steve take care of it, Im sure you know at this point he is plenty capable. Best of luck either way.
How many miles on the engine? Were you running race fuel any? Water/meth? Pump gas? What boost? What premix? Id love to see how the housings look. You don't need to answer all this here but its information I would like to know for my own personal research. Look forward to updates in your build thread.
How many miles on the engine? Were you running race fuel any? Water/meth? Pump gas? What boost? What premix? Id love to see how the housings look. You don't need to answer all this here but its information I would like to know for my own personal research. Look forward to updates in your build thread.
As for miles on the engine, it has less than 7,000 miles. Not running race fuel, just 93 octane. Yes, AEM methanol injection with a 50/50 mix. Boost level is only 12 PSI unless it's on the dyno then it's up to 18 PSI. Did 575 WHP at 12 PSI last year and it's nowhere near that now. I'm game to dyno it tomorrow am so we shall see what it does. My guess is 500 at 18 PSI.
For premix, I use Idemitsu. I've been trying to use the Haltech to control an external reservoir through the Rotary Aviation adapter but it's going crazy and just injected 22 ounces in a matter of a few miles. Totally fowled the plugs out and I just put in a new set. Still a bit smoky from all that gunk in the engine but slowly clearing out.
I'll post an update once the engine gets pulled and inspected. My guess is the RA Super Seals are the culprit but that is just speculation until we see what is up.
On an event note, it's been a good pre-day at VIR. Some cool rotary guys here which makes it nice to hang out. Fritz had a Porsche GT3 (his other car) issue as his back bumper flew off the car at 140 MPH. He went drifting right before then and hit a cone which he thinks took out some of the back end. And who said it's just rotaries that are unreliable?
On the rotary front Adam (Carpenter) blew his engine on his awesome titanium grey FD. With all of our problems, I think we are reaffirming the perception of unreliable rotaries.For tomorrow, we plan on getting started at the dyno at around 9 am. The dyno is located at the North Paddock. When you enter the paddock, take an immediate left and then look left for the "VIPER" sign on the dyno building. It's out by itself so you might be better looking for the other rotaries or the big cloud of rotary exhaust.
As for the track sessions, those will start at noon. The course (The Shrew) is beautiful so we will have a great time. Bring plenty of drinks and rain gear just in case. There is a 40-60% chance of rain from noon on. Pending the condition of my car, if I can't drive it, then I'll most likely do some drink and food runs. For those that are staying the night, then we will find a place to go out for dinner as well.
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!