I have no idea of Danny's opinion, but "I" felt that we were as close on power as we have ever been, I think he actually drafted past me as easily or perhaps even easier than I did him. I would say we are within 1/1, but that is my opinion, not sure on his, maybe he will share.
hey Jim
First let me answer your question. Yes I think both our cars are really close now, closer than ever. Not too much difference, but I do think your car was a bit off this past weekend at Road Atlanta.
Second let me say thanks for posting the relative dyno plots. There is a LOT of information in those comparative plots, most already widely understood, but perhaps not by all
So let me ramble on with my own opinions, for those that have any interest ...... as I said just my opinions
- The 01 era car appears to be the easiest car to drive, I have also heard that it handles well, and I suspect that there are several 01 builds in the works. It just that the HP falls flat at high RPM, but people have noticed that the 01 can be competitive.
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The 1.6 car is down on torque low down, but its torque survives better in the important RPM range where all the others are falling off quickly, and its horsepower continues to build. To get the 1.6 car to work, you have to keep it “on the pipe†(old two stroke terminology for peaky engine). If you can keep it on the boil, with the low weight and better handling characteristics, it should be a decent weapon. (see talent comment below)
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IMHO the 99 era car is currently the best of both compromises. It builds its torque low down, so if you screw up you can get yourself out of it (where the 90 will require a down shift) but in reality its torque falls off fairly quickly in the RPM range we spend most time in. But its horsepower is decent in this RPM range, whereas the 01 falls off quickly after 6,000 RPM
So if we raced on a track
- with lots of time spent in the 4,000 – 5,500 RPM range, consider an ‘01 or ‘99
- with lots of time spent in the 5,500 – 7,000 RPM range don’t get an 01, consider a 1.6 or 99
- and on a really tight track where handling, weight transfer and agility is required, consider a 1.6
So here are my observations on what has been revealed by those willing to share, and what I have learned myself.
- I am fortunate that my cars typically sell what it costs me to build them, so if I suspect that there is a faster model year for me, then I will sell mine and build another.
- Drago and others are in the same category. This category is simple..... and states that those that can, will always select and build the best car to make it easier to win. NO ONE ever does the opposite.
- My advice to anyone who wants to listen, is ….. take a look at the dyno curves above, factor in your skill level and your penchant for making minor but still time wasting mistakes, look at the tracks where you will be spending most of your time, and decide what weapon you want to bring to this fight.
- Then sell your house, sell your wife, sell your first born, and build the car think it’s gonna take to win.
- Set aside a small fortune to fund the travel, entry fees, test days, and tires its gonna take to win.
- NOTE - never forget that some drivers are way more talented than others. Buras has way more talent in his pinkie than I have in my whole body. Buras can get the performance out of his 1.6. I know I cannot, and believe me, I tried. Back in 2009, I thought the hot ticket to win the SIC would be the 1.6. On the test day, Fowler was lapping his 1.6 rental faster than I could lap my ’99. So I rented the 1.6 and never came within 2 second of what I could do in my ’99. Not enough talent, plain and simple.
So, if you have a car, and it may or may not be the car to have for the track you are racing, how do you make up for the deficiencies in horsepower/torque/tire budget/talent/setup and all the other variables that ultimately decide your finishing position?
I can only tell you what I am doing, and what I am listing below is actually quite embarrassing, as I wish it wasn't quite this difficult.
- In order for me to run up front with the fast guys in SM, I have to spend lots of time on pre-race test days, iRacing simulator time, data analysis and other prep. The test days cost money
- Buras can show up anytime and be fast. I cannot. So I typically put in around 20-30 hours in the weeks leading up to a race in studying my previous video and data, other people's video and data, lots of YouTube videos of other car classes’ lines around the track, and if the track exists in iRacing, then I spend a lot of time in iRacing.
- In the week before the event, I attend Two-Three University every single day. Or more to the point, I take out my daily driver Miata and spend many hours doing hundreds of 2-3 up-shifts if I am going to a track with 2-3 up-shifts. I am embarrassed that I need to do this, but if I don't, I screw up my shifts. And at the front it only takes one missed shift to lose the draft.
- My personal track-notes are copious. Literally hundreds of pages acquired over the last few years, with lots of annotations from instructors and pro drivers giving their approach to each turn. When I was starting out I watched Lamb, Buras and the Pombos, and they made me aware of just how much detail they put in to their track notes.
- In several cases I have vastly different track notes where one drivers emphasis is completely at odds with the other. Note my previous comments to Drago on the Pombo Turn 3 approach a Road Atlanta. Randy Pobst made some really interesting observations on the Spec Miata platform after driving Roger Burdette’s car there (relative to the accepted wisdom pertaining other cars he has driven there).
- In the weeks leading to a race, I call or email the Grand-Am racers and instructors I know, and ask if any track conditions changed, or if they noticed a change in the way that the rubber laid down during their race, or if any changes that surprised them, etc. Very often a DE event or even Grand-Am was on our tracks just before us.
- I speak to the tire reps to find out if they are hearing anything different from their drivers at the track this weekend. Often tires will respond differently to expectations and drivers will go to the reps to ask what others are doing. At COTA the Hoosier guys were very helpful and their knowledge paid dividends. And at the recent Road Atlanta Majors, the Hoosier tire performed exactly the OPPOSITE of what it had done every previous weekend at Road Atlanta. But we fortunately had learned about this earlier on.
So for a relative newbie, what I am trying to do is surround myself with lots of data, as well as lots of experience and advice (much of it contrarian) and I am hoping that great car prep (courtesy Tom Fowler at OPM), a great engine courtesy of Mike Rossini, and a superb data system courtesy of Traqmate, will compensate for any innate talent deficiencies on my part.
I am in awe of those who can just show up and whip my ass without putting in the time. Some things you just have to accept, not matter how difficult it is. Yup there are several drivers in this class that are just flat-out better drivers than I am, and some have whipped my ass with way less car and motor than I had, but that’s not gonna stop me trying to beat them……… blah blah blah
Have fun, tear at it guys....