I have just put together a new site with photos and video of my Touring 1 Class RX7. It is available at www.motorpride.com/NummelinMotorsports/ . Go to the site and enjoy. Let me know what else you guys would like on the site and I can try to add it.

I also have converted a ton of video from tape to disc and if anybody would like to host it I can forward a few segments over e-mail for you.

As always, thanks for your support.

Eric

 

really nice pics, vids didnt work.

also i noticed your on 4 bolts, do you have upgrade brakes to the 4 pot ones or your tracking with the base ones.

good pics either way

 

wow
nice vids!
the incar one especially.

 

Yep, still on the 4 bolt wheels and single piston brakes. They are lighter (less unsprung weight), they allow me to race at a lighter car weight and they have never, ever faded on me.

I expect that this year, with my new motor setup, I may have to switch to bigger rotors and 4 pot brake calipers, but I will stay on the 4 lug hubs as I have 5 sets of wheels.

Don't know why the videos don't work. I will look into it.

 

is there that big of a weight difference? it's not the calipers but the rotors that would be heavier...i wouldn't think that would be worth not having the better brakes? but maybe i have been wrong on doubting the stock single pistons...guess i have never driven ones that actually work fully.

- Aaron

 

The vids work just fine. Azads 'computer' is an old TV set with some hamsters running around in it, that's all.

 

Cool, I was concerned as the videos seemed to work fine for me. Regarding the brakes, there is no doubt that the 4 piston and larger rotors would work better (or at least offer more heat sink capacity) however as I race at Mosport mostly and Mosport is one of the easiest tracks on brakes, I have never faded the brakes even using them as hard as I can. I can usually run 4 - 5 weekends on the same pads and rotors.

At Shannonville I can use up the rotors and pads in one weekend. This year I may need to add water injection to the fronts to keep them alive for 2 hours.

With the Touring GT weight calculator, 4 piston brakes and the 9 inch front rotors add almost 100 lbs to my minimum car weight. That is the critical issue at this point.

 

100 lbs? really?
where are you getting all this extra weight from?
the 4-pot are aluminum compared to the steel single piston, so the weight might even be lighter (i never measured them exactly).
rotors there are more options sold in that size for cross drilled rotors and lightened rotors...in the end i bet you could make it work out so that you don't gain any weight at all going the larger brakes.

- Aaron

 

It's in the rules, he has to ADD the weight himself because of the calipers to meet the minimum weight requirement.

 

Tyson, thanks for explaining it for me. It is kinda surprising to a lot of people when they look at race rules versus what makes sense from a performance point of view. A lot of times the rules are written to control a certain type of major performance upgrade in a couple of models that really impacts on another car in a way not anticipated. As our rules are pretty open versus Solo 1 and 2, they really only control the cars with the broadest rule adjustments.

As I am the only rotary running and I have a separate spec line, they control my car pretty closely by balancing weights, options and performance gains. For example this year they are starting to control aero as I was seriously fast in some corners at Mosport over the last couple of years. They are concerned that if I ever put a real race motor in my car, I could dominate. Therefore , they control my aero grip, lighten the car a ton and still allow me to build a gonzo motor and I am expected to be able to compete with heavier BMW's/ Honda's/ VW's.

Well, if I can get my weight down and get my HP up to a reliable 220 horse RWHP and claw back some of the aero grip lost, we should be pretty competitive in 2006.

FYI, a couple of new teams will be out for next year. A Lexus Team will be running both of the ex- Franz Blam IS 300's (destroked 2.7 litre I-6's), a Honda S2000 and the Factory Acura will be replaced with a Factory Honda Civic. A couple of teams have really upgraded equipment with different engine chassis pairings (actually one team is running a V6 and an I4 depending on the track they will be running at). An ex- factory Turbo Protege will be running a full season next year as well as the turbo Mini and the Turbo NX2000.

With the addition of 2 enduros and the long track at Shannonville, it should be pretty busy and fast next year.

 

Hmm Andrew did buy the World Challenge Lexus's... interesting... I could have gotten him a better deal! Mind you they have been for sale FOREVER. Great site Eric. Hope to provide you with some competition visa vis me or an experienced arrive and drive in my car.

 

ah, i see now what you mean about the 100 lbs. thanks.

 

Yeah, rumour mill has it that he also bought a shell or 2 out of England as spares. Could they be the ex-BTCC IS 300 shells that weren't turned into cars after the Lexus Privateer team collapsed in 2004????

Great to see some other Touring 1 RX7 competition. Jason, you may want to look at running T2 as the rules are the same, you just have to run 205's instead of 225's. The competition will be a little less aggressive and a 1:38 should win it.

 

Just to let you guys know that in discussions on the CASC website, it looks like the target speed to win in Touring is going to be a 1:30 - 1:31 (!!!!!!!!!) That is only a couple of seconds off of the Speed WC times. FREEKIN FAST. It looks like a major jump in speeds from last year.

Oh well I can look forward to finishing 5th to 10th again next year with times in the 1:35's (hopefully).