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My NASA TT1 Build

49K views 187 replies 47 participants last post by  LotusCC 
#1 · (Edited)


Thought I'd toss up some pics of my 2014TT build.

Little history, BOE stuff aside, the reason I do what I do is largely about loving to study and engineer the car to get around the esses faster and more reliably tomorrow than I did today. I surely enjoy the design/build process equally as much as the driving.

I won 2012 regionals in TTU (which is now TT1) in 2012. I took 2013 off to enjoy time with my new son and prepare the car for the 2014 season. My competition has become much faster this year as I knew they would.

My plan for '14 was more downforce, more tire, better data acquisition, more safety (caged), more reliability, better cooling, and replacing the remaining wear items still on the car from 2005 when I purchased it new!

It was a lot of work. Thought I might share a few pics....

In this first set, I focused on more tire. I've not had much luck with diffs. Tried a couple and not getting to where I want with my power and sequential tranny. So this year, the diff is open. I wheeled down to 15 inchers but 10 inches wide so that I could run 275 hoosiers int he rear to help get the power down. To do this, the 949 rear wheels needed some spacing. Lathed out some billet spacers that are hub centering on the car and to the wheel. Pretty slick really. The studs are ARP and pressed in. The spacers are secured to the hubs with ARP fasteners. Not worried about strength! The wheels only weigh about 13lbs each and the spacers are about 1.5lbs... not bad!

To cover the wheels, Some reverie flares are crudely added. The car is off to the body shop this winter to make it an acceptable 10 footer--- which is all that is needed for track duty, IMO...
 

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#36 ·
Finally found some time to dial her in reasonably well and on the stock 2005 T4 ECU... Nice cool run here... Once I account for 190-110F ambients and roasting on the track for several laps, she'll be legal again in the power department...

I'll still need to bake her on the dyno while holding load to get things ultra toasty so I can dial in my temp compensations for engine safety and then it's on to sorting our the flat shift for the stock ECU:shift:

Fun fun! :D

-Phil
 

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#38 ·
Sure--- for your car, just change the left and right scales down by a factor of 100 or so :D

Can't commit to a timeline for you right now. Shop is jamming at the moment and not tuning black dash cars at the moment either... want to switch over to an AIM dash? If so, can get you booked for late Feb tuning (next opening)...

-Phil
 
#40 ·
certainly don't need a sequential to run that wheel...... the paddles are an option, FWIW.
 
#42 · (Edited)
Hi Phil
Really enjoying this thread and thanks for sharing your info.. It has been very helpful with the mods I am doing to my 211 at present .. Quaife sequential and Dry sump .
Also looking to swap out the OEM radiator and really like your setup ... but just wondering about the sizes of the two rads.
The CC Rad in the pics is slightly shorter than the main water radiator which then results in the pre-rad end tanks obscuring some of the airflow to the either end of the core on the main water radiator. Would it not be better for both Rads to be the same size and not restrict the airflow .. or have i missed something here ?




The engine radiator is from Brent B. Very large rad that has been converted to single pass. We were careful to seal things up well to help ensure most all the air coming into the front of the car was forced through the radiators...

What thickness did you go to for the main Rad ..
I am thinking 50mm [single pass ] on the premise that more surface area gives more cooling.
Looking to upgrade the SC in the near future and will go to a CC Rad then .. but a bit concerned that if I make it to "thick" [ Rad 50 mm / CC Rad 35mm] this may actually impede airflow?

Appears also that you do away with OEM ducting surround completely or have you fabricated up another system to channel air out of the clam .. or is this not a concern ?
Some info I have shows ducting from the top of the cooling pack to the underside of the front clam is beneficial, as the low pressure created over the top of the front clam helps hugely to draw the airflow through the cooling pack.

Be interested to see what your setup is ..

p.s received the dry sump tank and swirl pot .. look great ..thanks
 
#44 ·
Worked up some new wing mounts.

1/2 inch honeycomb core and 14 layers of carbon on the struts. VERY STRONG. The only flex in the system is actually in the subframe. Amazing how much deflection is in the chassis with a 35 inch lever attached to it :)

The wing and struts actually slip out of the aluminum "saddle" very quickly and easily with removal of 4 bolts from inside the boot area. So removal of the rear clam will not be a difficult task for service.

I contoured some mounting plates for the top side of the wing that have adjustment holes. Starting with just two settings to keep things simple and will fine tune ("slow track" and "fast track") as we get more experience with the setup.

Here are some pics...

Phil
 

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#47 ·
Thanks!

Phil, how are you fixing the splitter to the crash structure? There are 3 holes and speed clips on either side of the crash structure for the undertray panel, but surely those 6 little clips on their own aren't enough to support 200lbs of Phil from ripping the clips through the crash structure.
Good question...

So under the crash structure, there are 4 aluminum supports that run the length of the CS, which connect the CS to the splitter. The splitter also ties into the tow point. There's a triangular support that connects the CS to the outboard of the splitter just in front of the front tires. This is also where the clam is fixed to. I can have front clam off in about 3 minutes now-- The headlights no longer need to be removed to release the clam.

The far front of the splitter is secured with two fixed rods I made with some fender washers, 4130 0.250" rod, and some quick work on the TIG machine.

I had to trim 1-2 inches of the front clam since the clam sits atop the splitter rather than the splitter hanging from the clam...

Not sure how much DF an 8" splitter creates, but I fugure it's enough that the clam wouldn't hold it well, so I'm not asking it to:D

I've since fashioned some panels from black ABS to block off the OE oil cooler holes in the clam to aid in DF generation.

Have also cut the bodywork off behind the rear wheels with the idea of reducing drag and add to the Mad Max feel:eek:

Playing around with springs and chassis AoA, as the wing was causing the car to "wheelie" at the shakedown run (GPS says 140mph on the straights). Trying a bit more chassis angle before I swap out to heavier rear springs or reduce the AoA of the wing (800lb rear springs at moment). Also tweaking the splitter here and there to try and generate more DF to help balance the wing at higher speeds... This is all part of the fun of this sport for sure!!!:up:

Car is in pieces again prepping for race #1. Soon as she's back together I'll snap some more pics.

She's also over power or under weight. 5.5:1 is my class limit and I have some P/W penalties assessed from things like the seuqntial...
I need to strike a balance between adding ballast and reducing power... good problems to have.

Still in draft form is my closed loop flat shifting GCU integration into the stock ECU. Shooting for mid season on that. Parts here, but short on that little thing called time :)

-Phil
 
#46 ·
Phil, how are you fixing the splitter to the crash structure? There are 3 holes and speed clips on either side of the crash structure for the undertray panel, but surely those 6 little clips on their own aren't enough to support 200lbs of Phil from ripping the clips through the crash structure.
 
#49 ·
Spent the day trying to break the car... no luck! lol

Mad Max is starting to feel like a respectable race car again...

Aero balance is making sense now! The car has grip for days even on overly cycled rubber from last season! Suspension is coming together-- albeit a few more pieces to that part of the equation.

The wind gusts were beyond terrible today. Driving straight into a head wind of 40mph going down the front straight:facepalm

But all in all, a great day of sorting things out and me trying to learn to drive again since I've only negotiated the esses 1 time since 2012!

Car ran like a top with the only "Work" to do was taping off the air opening so she would come up to temp. Was only 68 today. Most of our events are in the 100+ range where this wont be an issue...

Nearly done integrating flat shift to the stock ECU, but ran short on time so still doing it the "slow" way. lol...

Few pics and a quick vid...

 

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#50 ·
Great vid .. Looks like a lot of fun !
Did you notice that your knee is close to making a few shifts .. I have moved my lever further away (to the left I'm my case ... RH drive) and positioned about 80mm higher .

That steering wheel looks good .. Just enough info and easy to read ... What steering rack do you run ?
I have used a flat bottom wheel previously but this was a pain at a slow hairpin on the local track ... steering wheel changed shape half way through a turn .. A quick steer rack would fix it but concerned about geo changes.
 
#51 ·
Yes, it's a blast! All new suspension and setup, reversion back to the Lotus ECU, and new aero (again) left a lot on the table to go wrong, but it's actually been smooth sailing so far:shift:

Still many things to do... one of which is moving the shifter higher... It would pretty much impossible for my knee to actually shift it. It requires a very deliberate pull/push for engagement of the sequential. You might also notice that the shifter is completely modified from what Quaife provides. The lever is a good bit shorter and that phalic looking lever knob is is a load cell to talk to the GCU...

I LOVE the wheel... AIM is so easy to interface with the Lotus ECU as well, so setup is quick and easy... The print is large, not too busy, and the pages are easy to scroll through while driving (big red buttons with positive feedback). I don't think I was doing it on that particular vid, but all through the day, I was scrolling through the screens on a lap by lap basis to monitor various items (this was just a testing day). As far as the rack goes, it's actually the stock ratio! There's one turn on that track where it's slow and greater 90 degrees. I was worried about not being able to shuffle, but it's not a problem at all. The diameter of the wheel is small enough that you've got a good bit more arm crossover available than with the stock wheel. As far as effort goes, there is a good bit of feedback of course, but not so much that it's exhausting. I think the stock ratio rack is probably perfect for this smaller wheel.

-Phil
 
#55 ·
Montrose Trailers

Home - Custom Aluminum Trailers

Yes, I have been wanting a Montrose trailer too. They look perfect for what I want. Not cheap, but it looks like they are less than a similar Trailex. I like the light weight, aero and quality.
 
#56 ·
Early Season Update

  • Fixed the suspension geometry with EP drop 40mm uprights
  • Added very custom Penske Suspension (thank you Blackwach Racing)
  • Setup, Setup, Setup changes

Been hitting the local track days between NASA races for seat time and chassis setup. The car is getting a lot of track time this year for sure. Still feeling a bit ham-fisted and still over-braking, but not nearly as bad.

Race 3 was this weekend. We did well! Saturday and Sunday are two different events with two different track configurations: 2.1mi and 2.5mi tracks respectively (Heartland Park).

The event was full and lot of national talent there.

Greg Vannucci showed up with his V6 Exige (conversion) Cup car. He's certainly one of the best NASA racers in the country with a national championship under his belt among others. He's running TT2 and ST1 (W2W). Jim Lipari was there in his TTB Elise and I rounded it out in TT1.

It was absolutely spectacular to have all 3 Lotuses there not only win their respective classes but set track records on each day:up::shift:

I managed to set fast lap of the entire event on both days.

For HPT vets, I did a 1:38.1 on the 2.5mi corse and a 1:22.3 on the 2.1mi course.

Here's a quick vid of the 2.1mi course and a pic of all 3 happy Lotus owners!



-Phil
 

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#57 ·
That is ABSOLUTELY flying...
:shift:

As a personal reference point my best respective lap times with were a 1:52.62 on the long course and a 1:34.63 on the club course - both way back in 2009/2010 (my God has it been that long since I've been to the track?) :huh:

Phil has 10x more track miles and operates at a much, much higher level. He's got Titanium Balls! His car is also not his daily driver anymore :)

GREAT JOB PHIL!!!!
 
#58 ·
Thank you sir!:bow:

It takes a good bit of car to break 1:40 on the full course. I THINK the fastest lap ever by a "classed production car" was a 1:38.3 in a 997 Cup car driven by a pro driver... 'er atleast that was the story floating around the pits. If so, I just edged him out with my 38.1:)... That said, I'm sure that rumor isn't correct, and there's some other nutso production car that has done better (but in what class, I dunno!-eek-). That 38.1 is certainly a decent time to be sure. Looking at my data, there are plenty of places to improve by a good margin. Best theoretical lap on AIM was, well... embarrasing:eek:... lol... but we may be nearing the limits of my abilities! We're back there in October when the weather will be cooler and dryer-- looking forward to see what can be done then!

Honestly, the best part of the weekend was the Lotus sweep the three of us pulled off. I doudbt there will be many times that we will have 3 Lotus at one event, in 3 classes, with 2 course configs, and 6 lap records set all by Lotus!

-Phil
 
#61 ·
Update...

Still fine tuning suspension, but can't really complain since we're winning and setting records :eek: :cool:

Expecting to get beat up pretty bad this weekend at Hallatt though. I'm still a greenhorn at this track and it has a blind corner that baffled me two years ago when I was there last, which left me "parked" waiting for the apex to show itself. Argh. 150 cars entered... hope it's not too embarrassing!

Figured it's better to look pretty if you're not going to win than not, so tidied up the exterior:up:


-Phil
 

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#62 ·
Diggin the new paint scheme Phil!

Liking the nightfall blue in the background too :D
 
#64 ·
Ha, good eye there guys.

Glenn never misses his diffusers;)
 
#65 ·
Love the new graphics!

10 cars signed up for TT1.... wow!
7 = Corvette
1 = Viper
1 = GTR
1 = Very cool Lotus

Looks like all the "Goliath" cars have something to worry about. I had planned on being there in TT3 but have been too lazy to buy a trailer and get my act together. Good Luck Phil !!!
 
#66 ·
Thanks!

Ya, it's nuts!

I was there two years ago last and it was a big dual region event then too. Track record was set by an unrestricted C6R:drool: with a 1:18.9 as I recall (you TX boys and all your oil money showing up to am racing with a C6R. What's up with that! :D))... I just never figured out the blind right/left combo at the top of the hill which cost me a lot of time so best I managed was a 1:21.0. The car is faster now and hopefully I can get enough seat time in to sort that hill out to find the needed 2+ seconds...

I'll let ya know:eek:

-Phil
 
#67 ·
June 22 Update- Hallett Track Record

Just back from a two day race at Hallett.

Huge dual region turnout with over 150 cars on the race grid!

This was Texas and Central Region combined. The texas guys are brutally fast and come in vast numbers. My hat is off to Texas region for not only knowing how to run a well organized event with 150+ but also for some brutal quick cars:bow:

For those that don't know, Hallett is a memory track and one that takes PRACTICE. Unlike the other tracks in our region where looking ahead is all you need to do, Hallett is rough, full of blind corners, off camber, and LAAAAAAATE apexes. Looking ahead means nothing here. You just have to memorize exactly how to execute every turn, where the visual markers are, etc... Suffice to say, I had low expectations for myself going into this event. The track record was 2 years old and set in a C6R (yes, a factory C6R minus the restrictors-eek-) by a driver much more familiar than me with this blind cornered beast!

I qualified for p1 Saturday morning with a 1:22, but mainly because I lucked into a clean lap. Everyone else got jammed into traffic. I knew this time wasn't anywhere close to pace, as the record was 1:18.7. By the end of Saturday, I was in 4th place in my class and 5th or 6th fastest car of the entire event. The cool thing is that all 4 of us were in the 1:19s---- granted I was at 1:19.8, but still 1:19! :) So things were close but still more than a second off the record...

Saturday night was margaritas and time to reflect. Sunday morning was going to be the time to win this deal, set a record if possible, and get my free set of hoosiers :cool:

Sunday morning, I slapped on some A6 stickers and went after it from P4.

I left a massive gap before the green flag dropped and hit it--- still never using the same line twice:facepalm and feeling like I was all thumbs with this complicated track:facepalm:facepalm. Somehow or another if I was able to string 10 corners together with enough ham-fisted brute force that I saw a 1:18.6 show up on my dash:crazyeyes:clap::panic:. At the conclusion of my session, I was forced directly to impound for scrutineering. Our regional director came over and went through the times while I waited..... Bam! We did it. New track record and fastest lap of the 150 car weekend. I was stoked. :coolnana::shift:


Short of running over an original front fender liner from when I purchased my car new in 2005, the car never missed a beat.

That's my little weekend story.

-Phil

PS- A couple pics from the event...
 

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