Lotus challenge series

[jplotus]

Originally Posted by mlk_f1

AJ's right. I have larini decat and stage II. never had anything else.

Manly i just watched your vid on you tube. Nice job driving. My question to you is with the amount of down shifting you do have you had any tranny issues? My first elise lasted about 3000 miles before second gear was gone. Other than that the did you have any additional tuning done to your car. You are in mod n/a so its open for that.
It seemed that i was not pulling on you that much on the straights. My car weighed 2032 plus 220 for me saying that yours weighed 2000 plus 165 for you the difference is minimal not enough to change the power to weight ratio.
When i ran a 2:34.? you ran a 2:37.? By the way the track record for a stock elise has never been taken so we will just say its yours for now.They say its the driver and not the car so well done. As we discussed make sure you have your safety equipment installed as well as the suit you were buying. See you at buttonwillow. Jim

[mlk_f1]

Hey Jim,
I lost 2nd gear synchro on two trannies. Never loose an actual gear though. only synchro. If i do double clutch downshift, it is fine. Here is the story. My car came with the first gen crossgate shifter cable with heat shield at the wrong place. So the exhaust manifold melted the cable and seized it. This was the reason my second gear synchro when bad on the first tranny. Dealer did not catch the cable problem. A new tranny went in under warranty. And I had a factory LSD put in at the same time. Now the new tranny is in with the bad crossgate cable. After a few thousand miles, the second gear synchro went out again. I replaced the bad crossgate cable. But I still have the 2nd tranny dealer replaced under warranty, with the bad 2nd gear synchro. Since I already have LSD install, and I'm pretty comfortable doing double clutch downshift. I did not bother putting a new tranny in.

And to your question regarding tuning. Nope. I only have de-cat and Stage II. Not even the ECU flash. Still have LSS suspension and stock Aribox. I think I can qualify to be in Stock NA class if I put back my stock Cast LSS wheels with R888s or A048s.
I don't know about the NA track record at SM. I never said anything about it. I even mentioned that on trackHQ when a few ppl mentioned over there. But it would be nice if it was. But I think there is still a couple secs to gain with more practice and consistent driving.
Thanks for the complement Jim.
And I will have the Fire Extinguisher install correctly next time. I might or might not wear the suit depends on weather. But I will not wear shorts for sure.
Thanks

[Patricko]

Originally Posted by jplotus

...saying that yours weighed 2000 plus 165 for you the difference is minimal not enough to change the power to weight ratio..

Did Manly's car get weighed? I would think his car is less than 1,900 lbs. My NA Exige was 1920lbs.

[jplotus]

Originally Posted by Patricko

Did Manly's car get weighed? I would think his car is less than 1,900 lbs. My NA Exige was 1920lbs.

No he did not have the key to the car and the weekend was to busy.

[Patricko]

Originally Posted by jplotus

No he did not have the key to the car and the weekend was to busy.

I know what those cars are called

[Pestodude]

Jim, what did you type into YouTube to find Manley's video. Also, what is the web address of the photographer who was out there so I can buy some pics.
Randall (Camelot Randall)

[MikeP]

Originally Posted by Patricko

Did Manly's car get weighed? I would think his car is less than 1,900 lbs. My NA Exige was 1920lbs.

??? You honestly think Manly's speed is due to car weight? Beyond the fact that a few lbs aren't going to make any noticeable difference to lap time, the guy is faster than others because he gets closer to the limit of grip. If S/C cars can't catch him on the straights that's surely because the drivers aren't equalling his exit speeds, not because he has more power - unless you believe he's blessed with some miraculous engine.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by Pestodude

Jim, what did you type into YouTube to find Manley's video. Also, what is the web address of the photographer who was out there so I can buy some pics.
Randall (Camelot Randall)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHWWWFmZ_wo

[Jack]

Originally Posted by MikeP

??? You honestly think Manly's speed is due to car weight? Beyond the fact that a few lbs aren't going to make any noticeable difference to lap time, the guy is faster than others because he gets closer to the limit of grip. If S/C cars can't catch him on the straights that's surely because the drivers aren't equalling his exit speeds, not because he has more power - unless you believe he's blessed with some miraculous engine.

Exactly.... it's about exit speeds. At WSIR, I've been able to pull on 996 Turbos on the front straight because I got a better exit off of Turn 9. Manley is just a great driver and he'd be even faster in a s/c car.

Manley did a fantastic job learning the track in one weekend (no easy feat) and turned in some great times. I was thrilled just being able to run within 1.5 seconds of him.

[jplotus]

We need to sign up asap for buttonwillow if we want to have a dedicated lotuds run group. I committed to AAron that by the 23rd of March that we would be able to commit to the run group. If we dont have a dedicated run group we would run in one of the other run groups and have the time trial at the end of Sunday. Just letting everyone know. Jim

[CountTracula]

How do we specify the Lotus-only run group? In the comments?

[MikeP]

Originally Posted by CountTracula

How do we specify the Lotus-only run group? In the comments?

It should be one of the run group options when you register.

[jplotus]

Originally Posted by CountTracula

How do we specify the Lotus-only run group? In the comments?

Select lotus challenge and also in comments. Did you join on the lotuschallengeseries.com site. That is step one . There are different safety requirements for the buttonwillow event.

[CountTracula]

Originally Posted by jplotus

Select lotus challenge and also in comments. Did you join on the lotuschallengeseries.com site. That is step one . There are different safety requirements for the buttonwillow event.

OK - it was not an option last week. I'll do that.

And, yes, I joined the site long time ago.

[John]

Manly, does your car have different gearing or does the LSD provide a different final drive ratio? My shift points are nearly the same at many places (well actually, there are a few places where I have no more gear)...

[badhorse]

Originally Posted by John

Manly, does your car have different gearing or does the LSD provide a different final drive ratio? My shift points are nearly the same at many places (well actually, there are a few places where I have no more gear)...

I believe the rocket fast Manly ran 15-16 inch wheel set up. That may account for the difference.

[John]

Ah true - I forgot about that. I was going to say because I was out of third gear on the pit straight and several other places that he remained in gear.

[badhorse]

Originally Posted by John

Ah true - I forgot about that. I was going to say because I was out of third gear on the pit straight and several other places that he remained in gear.

I think it should work the other way around. You should be able to stay in gear longer than Manly.
I stay in third on the pit straight. What rpm are You shifting at?

[John]

8400... What profile tires was he running though?

Another general question, I've seen Aaron's great photos thus far, but what about the trackday.net photos? I haven't seen anything on their website - plus I wouldn't mind seeing my photo with the trophy girl...

[badhorse]

I am assuming the circumference is a little smaller than stock, but I don't know for sure..
However, and more importantly, You raise an important question. Where are the pictures of us with the trophy girl?