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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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#175 ·
A few action pics...

FYI- Still quite a bit of platform movement with 1,000 pound springs, good roll centers, and a super heavy 1.25 inch roll bar set stiff... Amazing what some aero and tires will allow you to do!:cool:

-Phil
 

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#177 ·
Yes. Yes you should have! :D
 
#178 ·
Had a good weekend of running again. A quick vid...

While we reset the track record, we opted to not tear the trans down to move to taller gearing since we have events shortly after and a full shop of work to do for customers. So we were way under-geared and found the top end of the RPM range in 6th before T1 of the oval! Ouch!

What a great test of the motor to sit at redline around the speedway oval!

There's always room for improvement, but not a lot of point in pushing too hard in the Speedway's concrete jungle of walls...



 
#179 · (Edited)
More Engine progress to round out the season....

...and more engine progress to round out the season....


We've been working with Jim of JCR for years on perfecting the 2ZZ head. I believe we're the first on the planet to be running these little gems from Ferrea as part of their development team alongside JCR.

Many thanks to Jim for pushing on Ferrea so hard to get these to the market.

Also, testing and tuning has shown that on a supercharged engine, we were able to negate torque loss down low and pickup nice power all the way from 5500 RPM to redline. These rockers DO change the ratio and increase the valve lift, while decreasing valvetrain inertia and friction. These are the last step to fixing the weak links in the 2ZZ head!

There will be more cam shafts to follow, but I can say for certain they will work just fine on cams configured for the OEM rockers.

Substantial ECU remapping is/was required for those interested at home....

-Phil
 

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#180 ·
Enjoying watching your build and getting ideas for my car, 2008 S240 which I run in TT3. Like you, I use AIM data which I like very much. My question is this: I added an oil pressure sensor using a T fitting with the stock oil pressure switch. MXL2 dash reads 0 engine off and 1-2 psi engine running. Sent the sensor and the dash back to Josh at AIM, both check out. Had my local AIM dealer check the install, we can't figure out why this won't work. Any ideas?
 
#181 ·
I suppose it's possible that you only have 1-2PSI oil pressure!-eek-

Are you finding that the pressure comes up with RPM?

Have you verified the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge?

Additionally, are you mounting the sensor right on the block or from a hose? The sensor should not be mounted right on the motor, but rather remote mounted on the firewall. The vibration from the motor can cause them to give odd readings and/or fail early....

Hope that helps,

Phil
 
#183 ·
Ah. Well, there's your problem. The sensor on the head is just a VVL verification sensor. It only receives pressure when the "big cam" is engaged. The proper location is just above the oil filter on the block. You'll find another pressure switch there. You can tee off it. The thread is 1/8 BSP taper.

-Phil
 
#187 ·
So I sold my precious race car a couple weeks ago... Kids, family, etc, etc... Time for a change... and then there are the Evoras too! :)

The new owner posted up his comments after getting it to the track for the first time.... His most precise comment to describe my old car, "This car was insanely fast, requires 100% concentration and the harder your push the more it asks for."

...Going to miss that chapter!...


Buddy Boyter is with Phil
9 hrs
So as some of you may know, I have owned and raced my 2005 Lotus Elise since 2012 and just built it to competitive @ SSM level (FYI it is for sale if anyone is interested). While the engine was being built by Phil and team at BoE, Phil decided to sell his full race Elise and unbelievably I won the auction and picked it up Labor day weekend. Since then I have been working on selling mine and getting my tow rig repaired so Sunday was my first day actually starting it up and running it. Keep in mind this is Florida and it was 100 degrees outside and sunny so temps are hard to keep down so I only was getting 5 flying laps per session.

I went into this event with the mind set that this is a new car to me, double the HP from the old build of mine, mechanical brake bias system with no ABS, sequential transmission with no LSD and all kinds of aero, so my wish was just to drive 7/10th, learn the car, have fun, don't blow it up and don't wreck it. Phil has owned this car from new, built it from the ground up to be the beast it is today and it performed exactly as advertised. This car was insanely fast, requires 100% concentration and the harder your push the more it asks for.

I ran at The FIRM, which is semi local 1.6 mile road course, that in my old Lotus on the Rev400 setup, my personal best was 1:18.2. This is after hundreds of laps on this course and hundreds of hours in my car. Yesterday in the new to me Lotus from Phil, this car ran a 1:15.492 out of the gate (although apparently my video feed had issues the entire session). This was not only almost 3 second faster but I wasn't even touching the limits of what this car can do. I could easily see 1:13s in it on cooler days with more seat time. I was also informed later from the guys at the track this could be the fastest non open wheel lap set at this track.

Just wanted to share the experience that I had yesterday grinning from ear to ear, and also say what many of us know that there is no substitute for experience and dedication to a chassis like Phil and BoE have to get the most out of your car. This video is from my second fastest lap that the video recorded at 1:16.206. Enjoy the glorious sounds from this Lotus I now call "End Game".

Phil don't beat me up to much on driving this monster, I know I could be braking much later and using every inch of the track :)
 
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