[Roadsters] End of the season

[Embarq Customer]

The autocross season is officially over.  The last event was this Sunday.  The supercharged KA24DE had quite a few problems this year.  Rolling out a new car with rear half tube frame, coil overs, huge rubber, big brakes, and big swaybars proved to be quite a headache.  It seemed that every event the car performed better but there were still many problems to fix.  The motor ran really poorly for most of the year.  I got the problems fixed just in time for new ones to present themselves.  The brakes have two modes, none and locked.  The suspension was very difficult to tune.  It was lifting a front wheel under acceleration and lifting a rear wheel under braking.  I now have a three month off season to fix some of the major issues. 

The last event was a two day event.  On Saturay the car started overheating.  We were able to nurse it along by refilling the radiator between runs.  It also threw the supercharger belt and broke the bracket that holds the belt tensioner.  I worked for several hours on Saturday night and got it fixed.  On Sunday I made it through most of my first run before it blew the head gasket the rest of the way.  It started running on two cylinders and blowing oil and water everywhere.  I decided that I still had two cylinders left (140 hp) so I was gonna use them.  Foot to the floor I scored a 98.3.  The competition tried his best but could only muster a 98.7.  I ended up winning the event and the year end championship by a 0.40 second margin.  That is cutting it close.

In the off season I plan on building a new motor and rebuilding the brake system with a dual master and balance bar.  I also have some aluminum Legend car front hubs and spindles which weigh about 10 pounds.  They should allow me to cut bunches of unsprung weight off the front.

I'll keep you posted.

Later,

Andy