DaveK

iTrader: (21)

While the stock turbo may find its way back into the car for Rally Colorado in September when we're forced to run a 34mm restrictor , we are thrilled to announce that we will be running an AMS turbo kit for all of the other events on our schedule!

After disussing our needs with AMS, we have settled on the HTA3076 turbo kit for our hillclimbs and for the PPIHC. This turbo kit should give us plenty of pull out of the hairpins and still have enough power up top to spin the gravel tires all the way down the straights! I can't wait...subies beware!

Dave

Makkinen II

Are you guys going to have some in car to share? Anyway, don't worry about the restrictor, you have to give the subies at least some chance to keep up LOL.

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

Yes, I'll be sure to have some in-car from testing at CORE and Pueblo Motorsports park. Hopefully in the next 2 or 3 weeks. First real test of the year is Temple Canyon Hillclimb the weekend of May 10-11 and I will get in-car posted up for most of our races this year. Unfortunately PPIHC won't allow competitors to release videos. Kind of funny I think...I pay thousands of $$ for access to race up the road, pay $$ for my camera, and I can't do anything with the footage. A spectator can show up, pay $30 for a ticket and do whatver they want with their footage. All I get to do with my in-car is submit it to the sanctioning body and show it to people who come over to my house. Youtube is strictly forbidden.

In my signature I've got a link to my in-car and bumper-cam from our 2007 season in the Mazda 323 GTX.

Dave

Makkinen II

Wonder why they are so *****y about competitors showing what they can do at their event? Can you duct tape a spectator to the roof and tell him to hold his camera? LOL. Oh well, there is always the rest of the season. You are getting me nostalgic, I miss my old 323. That car could survive things that no car should be capable of surviving, jumps, boulders, trees, even a stone wall. I want to find another one strictly for RallyX.

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

Sounds like I have my first crew member!

Dave

dsycks

iTrader: (10)

No, if he is a crew member than he is bound by the rules listed above.

He would have to be just some average Joe that just happened to get stuck to the front of the car.

When did they change the rules on Pikes video anyway? I know that I have ummmm seen some video out there that was done by some folks but am just not sure where I saw it. Where would that have been?

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

You're right

I've only run the event one year, but I was under the impression that it was a new rule for the 2007 Event. There was lots of groaning in the driver's meeting about this. Rumor I heard was that the rule was put into place because an unknown driver sold their in-car footage to Sony for the new Gran Tourismo game, and the organizers of the event didn't get a dime. They also claim this is the same sort of agreement most sanction bodys use including NASCAR and others. My personal thought is that PPIHC could use as much press coverage as they can get, and if youtube is a great way to get people psyched on seeing the race in person...but hey, I'm not in marketing. According to my understanding, I can use my video for personal use with no issues, meaning I can show it to anyone I want to, its just uploading it onto a youtube is forbidden.

There is a video of Quad footage on one of the online video services and they have a disclaimer flashing across the bottom of the video saying "this is for entertainment value only" or something like that. I'm going to specifically ask this year if that sort of disclaimer is ok.

Dave

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

I've had many people who've recommended builds in this order:

1) safety equipment
2) brakes
3) differentials
4) suspension
5) power

Typically I follow this route too, but for PPIHC, I thought it might make sense to bend the rules a bit and skip over #3. After all, the event starts at over 9,000 feet in elevation, and you only lose power once you leave the start line. After giving some consideration to the fact that I'll most likely be running all-season tires on tarmac and dirt, I decided it might be wise to step back and re-evaluate.

My plans going forward are to stick to the order listed above. We may have slower straight-line speed, but I think building in the proper order will pay dividends by the time PPIHC rolls around.

1) Safety equipment is already taken care of (roll cage, seats, harnesses, fire systems, etc).
2) AMS is currently looking at making a rally brake upgrade.
3) Cusco front and rear diffs. Based off recommendations from fellow rally drivers, I got the 1.5 way front and 2 way rear.
4) Ohlins TPX/TTX Suspension.
5) Sticking to bolt-ons with stock turbo for the first event or two. This will accomplish a few things. It should make adjusting to the Evo a bit easier, as I can focus my efforts on tweaking the spension and diff settings. Then when we're ready for some more boost, we'll get that HTA3076 turbo kit on there. We've got a 1 month gap between the Gold Camp hillclimb and PPIHC, so that should allow for plenty of time to get the kit installed, tuned, and get used to all that power.

Dave

peter*g

iTrader: (55)

Why those Cusco diffs?

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

I'm assuming you're meaning why the 1.5 way front and 2 way rear?

I spoke with a few of the guys I rally with, and with the active diff systems, I'm told this is the best combination. With the 1.5 in the front, it'll lock up some under decel and braking, but still allow enough slip that the car won't suffer from terminal understeer. Having the 2 way rear will keep the backs locked, which will help promote rear-end rotation.

FWIW, the Ralliart front diff is $3200, so I figured the Cusco stuff for 1/2 the price should do just fine. The subie guys I race with all use Cusco fronts, so I don't think I'll be giving up much/if any performance.

Dave

WheelGap

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the info on the Cusco diffs. I'm glad to hear there are people that are having success with them because price just goes up from Cusco.

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

After finding the Cusco diffs on the AMS website, I figured a thorough review of the entire website was in order to see what other parts might be fit for a rally car. While they don't have rally suspension on their website, they do carry Ohlins products. Eric did some availablilty checking on the TTX/TPX dampers, and I ordered the suspension first thing this morning.

These shocks/struts are so new, there are no sets currently in North America for the Evo. Aparently a few teams have been using them in Europe and have reported improvements vs. the previous model, so I think its worth the wait. I can't find any good pictures of these online that are small enough to post, so I'm including the link to the Ohlins website where great pics can be seen.

http://www.ohlins.com/ms/am_tpx-ttx.asp

http://www.ohlins.com/Automotive/Pro...2/Default.aspx

They are works of art, and its almost a shame to put somthing so pretty on a car that's going to play in the mud...almost.

Dave

Makkinen II

No shame at all. Proper engineering can be pretty until it gets muddy doing what it was built for LOL.

peter*g

iTrader: (55)

Are the external reservoirs really in the wheel wells like that? That just seems like trouble waiting to happen...

I've been using the single-adjustable Ohlins shocks on my Evo for a while and really love them. I have an older set of steel-bodied shocks (the newer ones are aluminum) for the durability. I'm sure they wouldn't survive gravel, but they kick *** on tarmac.

WheelGap

iTrader: (4)

If the damper body can survive living in the wheel well, so can the remote reservoir. The tubing used on gravel dampers are quite thick.

Gravel dampers that come to mind that use that layout are Hotbits, RS&SP, EXE-TC GrN, BOS Engineering (rears only), Reiger (rears only) and Ohlins. Pretty much all the top stuff with the exception of Hotbits.