George D

Tony,

Are you coming up to the White Mtns this winter? PM me if you are going to be up that way. I'll be there from the 26th through the 3rd.

George

VWaddict

...I believe that's known as the "laxative line"

Keith

TonyG

Uh yeah.

The track is stupid fast. Unfortunately it doesn't look fast on video. This is definitely the track that separates the men from the boys.

My best lap time that session was "only" a 1:31.9, which is not as fast as I wanted to be at the end of the race (which didn't happen), but fast enough around turn 8 & 9, with the rain coming down (did you see the windshield???), to really get my attention. Seeing that on the windshield definitely slowed me down. I'm chicken in the rain

I'm hoping to get the car down to a sub 1:30. That's the target for this car running R compound tires, street legal, driven to and from the track.

Yeah... nothing compared to the lap times of the bikes... but I'm not crazy. To race those bikes you have to have a couple of bent cards up stairs....

TonyG

Jeff Lamb

Tony, great video. Very cool to see you give the 911 cup car a good run. How many were behind you? Too bad you don't have a camera facing to the rear too. I'm assuming that yellow/black 911 was staying close to you for most of the race. It would have been cool to see that car moving around behind you.

I watched the portion of the video over and over where the 911 passes you and the interesting thing is the flag station. The guy throws the yellow flag BEFORE there was the impact between you and the 911. Do you think the flagger noticed one or both of you sliding and then just threw the yellow flag immediately? Or, was it something else that caused him to throw the flag?

The 911 driver, once he was under you, definitely drove it in too hot. Once he was under you, I heard him give the loud pedal one more quick stab and that seemed to be the issue that significantly contributed to putting him in too deep. Did he finish the race and take the win?

What tires were you running? And, what tires was that 911 running?

Another interesting part was where you were going around the section of the track with the very high speed corners and there was a 944 (I'm assuming a 944 turbo) that held you up for a bit longer than I would have liked (had I been driving your car).

Also, in a prior post, you mentioned something about the Turn 1 pump solving some problems. What is a Turn 1 pump? And, what problems did it solve?

Oh . . . one other question -> what video camera are you using? I need to install video cameras in my 911 race car for the 2009 season and I am evaluating my options right now.

Keep the videos coming!!!

Thanks,
Jeff

TonyG

38


I'm getting this for Christmas to address the rear facing camera problem. I plan on having two wide angle lipstick cameras on the rear wing up high (one forward, one backward), one in the cockpit on the drivers hands/gauges, and one inside the car facing the drivers feet.

The box is slick and allows you to use just about any old video camera. http://americanraceday.com/item.asp?ItemID=22 It's a bargain at $499 compared to other solutions out there.

Actually he wasn't. I put about a 1/2 a lap on him and that white 911 (both of which started in the 2/3 position) until I ran into lap traffic around lap 9, which was he gained on me and knew it was going to be a battle. So I tried to watch him and be smart, take it easy, save the tires, and use the slower traffic to block him as much as I could. I figured that I could hold him off until the last lap or two then race him to the end. He was faster on corner entry and was braking later. But I was faster in the turns and down the straights. It would have been fun to see how it would have turned out if I had finished the race.






The yellow flag had nothing to do with us. The funny thing is that I never saw the yellow flag until you mentioned it :-) I just watched the end of the video and it appears he threw the yellow flag just as the cup car passed me.

Addressing the last portion of your question... I wasn't sliding. What appears to be a slide on my part is really my moving over right, a little more right, a little more right... as far right as I can get without going off the track, then bam... the hit pushed my front end over off the edge of the track... you know what happens after that.

Yeah... he came in too hot in conjunction with lifting, is what caused him to get sideways.

He went on to win the race

I was running Nitto NT01's 275/315. I think he was running a Hoosier.



It's really the camera angle. The video makes it look like there's more track than there really is. Yes he was holding me up, but I was holding up the cup car :-)


Turn 1 is a manufacturer of Nascar powersteering pumps and racks. The custom built a power steering pump for my LS1 951. The reason is that the stock LS1 power steering pump, puts out too much volume and no enough pressure. The result is that at high rpms the pump was internally bypassing large amounts of power steering fluid which was overheating the powersteering fluid and causing problems (boiling of the power steering fluid out the reservoir, blew a power steering rack seal, etc... Adding a large power steering radiator did not help because the fluid was being overheated inside the pump itself.

Anyway, long story short, Turn 1 built a custom pump (which is a new stock pump, internally modified, then dynoed), which is a direct replacement, which solved all the problems.

One thing to note is that the LS1 951 uses a hydraulic assist rather than the factory vacuum assist due to engine clearance issues. So the power steering pump powers both the steering rack and the brake assist.



Just a plain old Sony mini dv camcorder on a roll bar mount (DCR-HC21 about $275). But I did buy a big *** battery for it about 1.25" thick. It will power the camera easily for a weekend of practice and racing.

Anyway, I plan on using this camera with the G-Box Track Data Overlay Device (see link above) with this camera.


TonyG

Jeff Lamb

When I asked how many were behind you and you replied "38", that is a good one!! I should have been more clear . . . I was wondering how many cars were able to stay close to you? However, you answered that by confirming that you put something like a half a lap on the second place car!!! That is quite good!!!

From what I recall, the 911 that passed you was a Cup car wasn't it? If you are putting a half lap on well driven Cup cars, you have yourself an amazing combination of driving skills along with a very capable car. I don't know Willow Springs but you mentioned running 1:31 lap times with the capability of running sub 1:30s. Out of curiosity, have there been any 911 Cup cars that have been able to run sub 1:30s at Willow Springs? I haven't been able to take the time yet to find any lap times for Willow Springs to compare.

I raced with NASA in 2008 (my car produces 250hp to the rear wheels and is in the GTS4 class) against some well driven Cup cars (I think most of them end up in GTS5) and they can be incredibly fast when in the right hands. But, I love the 944 platform and it is cool to see that you are doing well with one.

I'd sure like to race a 944 with a V8 but, unfortunately, the two main racing clubs that I plan to run in the Southeast are PCA and NASA. PCA will not allow the non-Porsche engine and NASA no longer allows the 944 V8s in the GTS classes. You are very fortunate to have the POC folks to run with out West. With my normally aspirated 911, the cool thing is that I can run with PCA, NASA and POC (if I ever moved West OR if the POC ever started running in the Southeast).

Regarding the G-Box device, that does look interesting. I will need to study that a bit more. I am assuming you would record the data produced by the G-Box on your front facing camera.

Regarding your other cameras, you mentioned running lipstick cameras up high on your rear wing. I think your avitar shows your car only having a stock looking rear wing. Have you installed a different wing since your avitar picture? Will you use some sort of a video box to blend the output from all of these different lipstick cameras into one video recorder? Or, will you have each camera on a separate recorder and then use post production software to sync the video data and produce various split screen outputs? When I took a quick look at the G-Box device, it did not look like it enables you to blend together the outputs from various lipstick cameras, but I might have missed something.

Oh . . . and thanks for the Turn 1 clarification. You've gotta have a reliable way to turn the steering wheel!!!

Jeff

Jeff Lamb

I just noticed the link to your car specs page. You were probably referring to the Kokeln rear wing for mounting the lipstick cameras up high. Makes sense now.

Your car specs page is great. It is laid out well and very informative. Your 390 rwhp and 372 ft/lb of torque are fantastic. Especially once I noticed that you basically have at or above 350 ft/lb of torque from just over 2,500 rpm all the way up to about 5,700 rpm!!! I agree that putting a properly built V8 in a 944 produces a very potent package. What compression ratio did you use with your engine?

I hope the damage wasn't too bad from your recent incident and you can get back on track soon!!!

Jeff

TonyG

The 996 cup car was the only one that stayed up with me.


That was because the cup car was tangling it up with that white 911 that you see in the beginning of the race.

The cup car is a faster car than my 951. Not down the straights, and not in sheer corner speed, but in corner entry speed and threshold braking... which is enough to make it a faster car.


A well driven, well prepared 996 cup car, with race slicks is a 1:25 car at that track.

A well driven, well prepared (full race) 951, with race slicks is somewhere around a 1:26 car at the same track. Not many 951's can run that fast. I've only seen a few. Most full race 951's run around a 1:29 with a competent driver on Hoosiers (not race slicks).



Refer to above. Lots. But typically they are running race slicks which is probably worth a couple of seconds at least over say a Hoosier.


Yeah.. I know what you mean. A 951, in any configuration, is really no match for a cup car in the right hands with the right tires.

Heck... I don't even have ABS!

Unfortunately for them (the PCA and NASA), it's a dollar thing. Out here, their events aren't exactly sold out. If they need bodies, they'll have to make exceptions. It's only a matter of time. With the economy the way it is, and will be for the foreseeable future, it won't be long.

Combine that with the fact that there are a LOT of LS1 944s in the process of being built right now.

Practically nobody races 951's (turbo 944's that is...) anymore. You see one or two here or there, but 99% of the cars are 911's, Boxter BSR, 944 Spec. Why? Not because the 951 is a bad car. It's because everybody has been around the block with the head gaskets, oil leaks, fluid leaks, exhaust leaks, bla bla bla.... People get tired of throwing big sums of money only to have something break and end their weekend early. It just never ends with those engines.

Honestly, the only reason I'm running a 944 now is because of the LS1. I have no hassles. Zero. At least none that area engine related.


The G-Box allows you to plug in 4 cameras, and a data input. Then, you can adjust the G-Box to say record 1 camera 1/2 screen, then the other 3 in the other 1/2 of the screen, etc... in many different configurations. The data input allows you, if you have a data acquisition system, to output that data so that it's overlayed on the video.

Then, you simply plug the output of the G-Box into your regular camcorder. You camcorder becomes nothing more than a recording device and does not use its lens.


That wing was the GT Racing 944 LeMans wing. It has since been removed and replaced with the Kokeln 944 wing which has the uprights and is mounted up high.


That's what the G-Box does. Unfortunately the web site doesn't describe what it does. See my comments above about its functionality.

yeah... and to power the brakes.



TonyG

TonyG

The engine is a bone stock LS1 with a mild cam, larger throttle body, headers & dual exhaust, reprogrammed ecu (still runs 91 octane pump gas), Ti valve springs and retainers. I think the stock compression is 10.3:1

With a simple set of bolt-on heads and aftermarket intake manifold the car would dyno around 450RWHP on 91 octane.

Remember, the LS1 is the smallest of the LS series engines. It's 5.7L

There's the LS6 which is a 6.0L
The LS2 which is a 6.2L
The LS7 (factory dry sumped) 427cu in (7 liters?) 505HP stock

All of those engines weigh the same, are the same exterior dimension, and would bolt straight into my car.

It's pretty easy to get 500+RWHP out of a LS6/LS2 and 575RWHP out of a LS7



It broke the bracket on the other side of the car where the fiberglass header panel bolts to the fiberglass fender under the headlight on the side. I'll have to remove the fender and re-fiberglass it back... No biggie.


TonyG

Jeff Lamb

Tony, thanks for the additional info on lap times between the cup cars and 951s. My take away is that if you converted your car into a full race car to lose some weight (stripped interior, etc) and stiffen the chassis (full roll cage, etc) you would be very competitive with the top Cup cars running their best lap times for a fraction of the cost. Heck, even in your car's street legal form it is an amazingly capable race car. Very nice.

I am going to keep an eye on the evolution of the allowance / disallowance of the 944 V8s in NASA and/or PCA. If (or should I say when?) they become legal, it will seriously have me considering the switch. I was building a very serious 944 turbo race car, however, I sold it (unfinished) because I just couldn't seem to find the time get it finished the way I wanted to. Plus, I did have some concerns about being able to have a powerful and reliable 951 engine built. This all happened right around the time I bought my 911 race car . . . but I have never forgotten how much I enjoyed driving my 944 turbo on the street and at DE events before I tore it apart. Hmmm . . . the LS7 option sure sounds nice!!!!!

Thanks also for the clarification of the capabilities of the G-Box. That thing sounds like it might be exactly what I am looking for. Please keep in touch regarding how well you like the G-Box after you get one.

Best regards,
Jeff

porshhhh951

ls6 isn't a 6.0ltr. Its a 5.7 and yes the newer ls2/ls3 motors make far more power than the old ls1 motors due to new head flow characteristics and more displacement.

my buddies ls3 makes over 500rwhp with head/cam package from LG. I've been around lsx's for 10 years now and have seen just about every configuration. While you can make 450rwhp outta a ls1 you give up some down low.

Most cam full bolt on ls1's make 420-430hp. Its hard to make good power on 91octane. Everyone I know that makes 450hp outta their ls1 is running 93octane fuel and has major headwork and a BIG cam.

TonyG

Sorry,

LS1/LS6 are 5.7L
LS2 is 6.0L
LS3 is 6.2L

And, BTW, we've already made over 440+RWHP on a LS1 on 91 octane with heads, intake, cam, throttle body, headers, exhaust. Stock short block. And the cam had a fairly wide LSA.

But... it won't matter much as the LS1 in my 951 will be a twin turbo setup here in the very near future


TonyG

porshhhh951

nice

pete95zhn

So you're going to give up the reliability and start messing with boost...

It seems that you and the car do quite well already.

anders44

how much did you pay for the turn1 pump tony? who should I contact to buy one?