Thanks to Paul at Zen for re-syncing my keys with my old ECU - the ecu that had been fried and now repaired by Tactrix over in the USA for a measly sum and loaded with my last iteration of my map for me.

Drove home from Northampton beautifully

Let the map tweeking re-commence 8)

 

Good stuff, now how about a DD roaddyno run in it's current state? Interested in how it compares to the recent Dastek run you had, I felt with 2.5ltrs and 2bar 440ftlbs was selling you a little short.

 

Still a bit of work to do on the map before it is safe to run up to the 2 bar level Zak. The map that is on the ecu was only tested to 1.5 bar (ish) on tesco99 before meltdown occurred.

I do agree though, 440 on the dastek is a little shy of what I wanted/expected.

Once I have finished (if it is ever possible to finish mapping it ) I will get it on Paul's rollers again to see if living and breathing the map makes a difference to the figures. It certainly felt different on the way home last night.

I will also get it on the weighbridge next thursday to get an exact weight for the DD run to make it as accurate as possible.

 

With some of the leftover ally/plastic composite sheet I decided it was time to make some end plates and canard type attachment for the splitter.

It proved quite tricky as the shape of the v limited lip on the bottom of the bumper was awkward but I got there in the end.

OSF one:


From above showing the upsweep of the canardy type thing (not sure whether this is a true canard) and the edge of the end plate:


The end plate nicely attached:


I doubt whether I will notice much if any difference but it beats watching euro 2008

 

Today was the day to go up to Area 52 to replace the turbo that decided that it didnt want me to go on track on Thursday... but all did not go to plan.

I wont go into that here, but I was greeted by Jase and with them being two men down today the choice was either to come back another day and change the turbo or do it myself with adult supervision I was feeling brave

So out with some tools and I proceeded to take my existing turbo off slowly and surely. Once off we could see the amount of play in the main shaft and the wear on the tips of the compressor wheel but that wasnt the end of it.... there was a chunk missing from one blade of the exhaust wheel. No idea at this stage which caused which or whether there was another external influence on the blade that caused this but suffice to say it is better off on the bench than on the car

Anyway, what to put on ?

FP red, GT35R, or ..... decision made, I liked the performance of the FP green but wanted to be able to run a little more higher up the revs. Forced Performance have just released an enhanced version of the Green: The HTA Green.





This has the new HTA compressor wheel. (full details here: Forced Performance Turbochargers: Subaru FP Green HTA Turbocharger)

The official feedback on this aero wheel is that it spools quicker than the green but flows more at the top aswell. Being a 57lb wheel compared to a 49lb wheel in the green. With the same 3 inch inlet and 8cm exhaust wheel but an anti surge housing.

So, to put it on.... what a bitch of a job !!! My forearms are raw, my knuckles are raw but I did it Without dropping oil everywhere too

Because of a recent oil feed pipe breakage we swapped to a braided hose for this to allow more flexibility in the pipework. All done up, tested and heated up and bolts re-tightened and I managed to do the in 5 hours I am knackered

Jase had told me that the HTA wheel sounds different to the original green. He was right 8) I cruised back home as the laptop battery died and I couldnt be 100% sure that it was going to be the same map wise but managed to give it some boost on the way back (1bar), which incidentally came in very quick and it felt lush with a completely different note to it. Cant wait to wind it up to 2 bar tomorrow

Thanks Jase and send my regards to Mike for a speedy recovery

 

You've only had the FP turbo on the car for 5 minutes, it failed I understand from oil seals last time, now has play in the shaft with damaged blades.

Unless you have been unlucky, I dont think FP turbos can take the pace.

Andy

 

It was the same turbo as before. Just replaced the bearings last time. Until full analysis done on the turbo, it is not for me to say why it broke now.

In common with most people doing Time Attack, i dont think luck has been on my side

All new unit now so can give it a fair run for its money.

 

First feedback from winding it up fully is mmmmmmm nice

2 bar is great but 2.2 bar is nicer

Some stats for the mappers:
- max g/sec 432 up from 410 before
- max load 4.73 (9.46 equiv on 16 bit ecu)
- boost - still some playing to do with the avcr duty cycles but it makes 1.5 bar at 3k and will hold 2 bar much longer than previously before tailing off.
- injector duty ran out at the top end which i have since adjusted by upping fuel pressure by 5% and leaning it by 5% too.
- det free in uncharted territory

Still some work to be done but def a step up from the original fp green.

I am liking the HTA Green a lot

Oh and the sound effects are stunning

 

Let me know when you want to use the rollers again. I do think the torque figures our rollers produces is on the lower side compared to other rollers. But I have played around with different gears and ramp rates which can affect higher powered cars, and very suddenly spooling cars in paticular.

 

Thanks Paul.

I will sort this out with you soon I am hoping that the results back up what the bum dyno is saying at the moment.

I have found that I am able to run higher timing with this turbo - not a lot compared to race gas timing but every little helps

 

In order to help draw air through the oil cooler I have built some boxing around the rear of the cooler from nice ally sheet. This sits around the extraction vent on the side of the front bumper.

A quick road test wasnt particularly conclusive, but it cant hurt.

One off the list.

 

much better!

 

thanks Paul.

I gave it a good testing today and once up to proper speed it seems to cool better than before even with 30C ambient today.

A few more little jobs done and mapping finally sorted again after the maf readings going haywire again...grrr. Trying to make this MAF last til I can afford Motec

 

Oh, forgot to mention that Launch Control and Flat Throttle Shifting have now been added

They are quite good fun

 

Into the armco but managed to drive home....

Thanks to.... well lots of people really but mainly Chris and Gary from APT for getting my car in a fit state to drive home. In normal APT style, no fuss, no panic just straight to work to find the broken bits give me a shopping/scrounging list and getting it put back together.

Thank you so much and also a huge thanks to; my mate Lee and his friend that came to watch me and in the end drove me over most of cheshire collecting parts, to all the teams that I scrounged various parts, washers, nuts, tools etc from. It was great to be able to get home under my own steam. :

As for the accident itself it happened very early in the first session of the day in the torrential rain coming out of Lodge with a power slide quickly (too quickly) turning into a huge tank slapper and before I had time to recover it the left two wheels were on the grass and I slid sideways into the armco at about 50-60mph.

This was the before thanks to Chungster:



This is after it was cleaned up, wheel changed and temporarily repaired enough to drive it home. Apparently one of the magasine snappers got the full sequence on his camera so I am looking forward to that.









I got off lucky compared to some but the shopping list is still pretty big in order to get back out there.

Front Bumper - Scuffed but repairable
Front Wing - still on but crumpled and stopping pax door from opening.
Front door - small scuffs and crease
Rear door - scuffs
Rear door surround - dented
Rear Wheel arch damaged
Rear Bumper - scuffed
2 wheels dead
Bottom Whiteline Roll Centre Adjusted ball joint
Front Whiteline extended trackrod end
Lower alloy wishbone has chunks missing but got me home
Brake disc missing a chunk
Oil cooler bent and leaking (removed and joined pipes together)
Splitter bent but will bend back

There are no other visible items that are damaged, even the wing mirror bent out of the way and didnt smash and all glass intact, panel gaps even or creases internally.

If anyone has a second hand alloy bottom suspension arm please let me know. (or front wing for hawkeye)

As for me I have a very stiff neck this morning but I really enjoyed the track day on friday and had a great weekend despite of this - the social/teamwork side of TA is superb.

In motorsport, stuff like this happens....unfortunately.

 

be interested to see the sequence when its available...great news you are not hurt and nothing too fundamental has been damaged

 

Sorry to hear about the off and subsequent damage ... hope it doesn't cost too much to get repaired
You have certainly had an interesting TA season so far! Although, as you said:

 

Bad luck mate - looks an expensive repair.


M

 

Some pics of the incident...

Starting to come out:


Snap back but pointing at the armco thank god it didnt go in this way:



The impact... I knew it went up on two wheels.



How the heck there wasnt more damage looking at that

 

Are classic bottom arms the same as newage Duncs? I have some if they are!

Looked alot worse than it is, still hard on the wallet though, at least your ok!

 

I have to be honest and say I dont know. I will be chatting to a few people tomorrow to start sourcing parts so will find out. Thanks for the offer.

 

Hi Duncan, I see you're selling your Brembo's ... what you replacing them with?

 

A nice shiney set of StopTech's

Chosen for :
- their braking performance on a par with AP's
- a great choice of pads (although performance friction will again be the pad of choice) but lots of other options are there if needed
- reasonable replacement pad prices unlike AP's
- reasonable replacement disc price

I will do a full review on my findings with them

As for the other bits that are needed to bring it back up to scratch, these are being gather slowly and with some gentle hammering, the bodywork will be back to shape enough to last the season before giving it some TLC in the off season.

Closer investigation of the damage from the accident have revealed how lucky I was. The silver scuffs that you see on the paintwork arent my paint, they are the paint from the barriers on top of mine so will clay bar out leaving remarkably few actual dents and scratches.

The front wing does need replacing but I was gobsmacked to find out that they are £71.08+vat from the main subaru dealer - BARGAIN !!

The only other two bodywork parts are the wheel arch protector and a side repeater which are £100 for the pair.

The alloy wishbone, ball joint and track rod end took the full force of the impact but it looks like the damage stopped there as there is no damage to the actual mounting points, chassis rails or steering rack. These Subarus are very well built

New wheels are on their way shortly to replace the damaged pair and it will be back on track soon

 

That is pretty good news in general, considering those photos. I must admit I was surprised at how cheap the Subaru replacement parts are (panels, bumpers, etc.). Just imagine the cost if it had been one of the German marques!! Looking forward to that Stoptech review.

 

Dunc, as and when you get the new suspension parts fitted, allow enough time for a full geometry long before your next outing, as I have had cars with similar damage need hubs/knuckles as well as struts...

Keep it up...

 

good point - I had of course planned on getting the geometry done again but will be worthwhile checking the other suspension/drivetrain components.

 

Glad you managed to scrounge the required parts to get back home mate.
After all that work on the canards and oil cooler ducting too.

See you at Brands if not before.

 

told you it wasnt bad

 

you did indeed

hopefully there are no nasty surprises when i start bolting on the new bits.

Grade A subaru have delivered a nice new bottom wishbone (thanks for that Andy ) just a few replacement trick whiteline bits to put on and see how far out the geometry is It will be nice to drive it without the wheel pointing to the right and it wandering all over the road and following cambers/white lines

Then set about prepping it for a trip to the ring in August for some R&R

 

You sure thats a good idea, there is loads of armco at the ring