Sterling Doc

I've been too busy working on the car to post much, but I got the Franken44 on track for the first at Mid-O this weekend, and had a blast. It is all that is wonderful and friendly from the 944 chassis, with a large dose of aluminum V8 goodness. God I love this thing!



20 second clip of the drift over Madness - not the fast way over, but was exciting!

https://vimeo.com/130064840






Thanks to Pine Tree Motorsports, Peter Krause, Tim Olsen, Jim "Disasterman" and all those who helped get this little monster together and dialed in for a drama free/all fun weekend. Broke into the 1:35's. Need about 2-3 more sconds to compete with the ST3 Corvettes with aero, so wings & splitters will follow once the chassis is fully dialed in.

disasterman

We need to get you into the Aero package. Nice job with the new platform and the car looked great. Did you make headway on the vapor lock?

Sterling Doc

I think so, Jim. Shorty exhaust was causing the gas to audibly boil in the tank if we had no airflow, and pump/ and or lines in back were the problem. Venting in tank worked, thankfully, so no pressure buildup.

Aero package is coming. Thinks for the inspiration - your car is amazing!

ProCoach

Fire! Cool!

JustinL

How much will you have to weigh in ST3?

Sterling Doc

The motor was detuned was detuned to make about 340 RWHP/360 TQ. I had to weigh 3000 lbs, which required 200 lbs of ballast, and filling the 21 gallon tank to the brim. I will likely move to ST2, and run the car lighter. The car has a Tilton triple pedal manual brake setup, which works pretty well, but 10% less weight would make it a bit easier to stop.

David993S

Great looking and sounding car. Focus on that apex.

333pg333

lol...was Chris Harris driving your car Eric? ;-)

fatbillybob

How are you supposed to hit that section? I raced there for the 1st time a couple weeks ago (1st time seeing that track) and that was one tricky turn. It seemed like if I later apexed and stayed left on power up and over the hill and only track about 1/2 way to the middle of the track on the down hill side there was more grip there to get on power. If I went more right over the crest I would slide like in your video. I tried one aborted pass staying way right and straight over the hill (not sliding much) almost beating the car I was trying to pass to the bottom of the hill right hand apex. I think with some practice I could learn to make that pass work.

Sterling Doc

Madness is a ballot of changing inputs in response to topography.

Braking into 7 is is tricky - fast (140 in my car) downhill, and can end badly in China Beach if done wrong.

Just when you think you've hopelessly overcooked it, trail brake as you turn in and the camber in 7 will save you. Some head directly to the apex of 8, others try to get back to mid track, but in any case, not a full track out. You can carry a lot of speed through 7 into 8, making for a good passing opportunity.

As the car loads up going up the hill, you gain a lot of grip, and can get a lot of braking, and turning done in a very compressed time and space. This is important, because in a moment, you will go over the top, and suddenly be flying/gripless. If you are not on the right trajectory by this time, pinching the corner at the top will send you sideways (like in my video). So you aim the car up the hill, take wheel out over the top, and dial it back in as the car loads up on the far side of the hill.

Most don't track out all the way in 8, but throw it away a bit to set up for 9, where you can carry speed all the way through 10.

The pro coaches on board can tell you more/better, but that is my take.

jdistefa

^ yup, perfect

Eric - car looks great sideways