485 replies to this topic

[Johnny D]

Drago has his rental for sale.

 

http://mazdaracers.c...-new-esr-build/

 

J~

[John Costello]

That is a great story John, I wished you would have stayed at the track so we could have talked about it then.      My view is a little different of course.  Turn 1 you go about 20 yards to the right of the white line and come back in on turn 2.   You will see my car stays on its line , but you move to the left once you see the contact in front of you, causing the initial contact between our cars.   If that hit caused you to have suspension damage, then it was almost ready to fail before hand.   Also , If I slam on the brakes once the green car comes across the nose, then both he and I get ran over from behind. 

 

At what point did you realize you had suspension damage for real ? I wasn't driving your car, but it looks like you are trying to dive bomb the 69 car and are not even hitting your brakes until the last second.  If your car was wounded, why would you drive in so hard to that corner, especially under a car that's already mid track?  I would imagine you hit me going about 50-60 miles an hour.  I was able to continue despite having to hold the steering wheel 40 degrees to the left to go straight.  I also had a cut tire from the right fender that I did not know about until I got in the pits.  If my car was able to continue after getting hit as hard as you hit me , then there is more to the story of your suspension breaking.    I would say there is a high likely hood of everyone's cars breaking , if we had jumped the curbs in turn 1 or 12. 

 

Make sure you watch the video on the computer so you can actually see the 360 video, and not just the fish eye....

I have watched the video several times and I wish we could have talked before I left too. I had a plane to catch and left shortly after getting off track. I didn't appeal because I agreed with the SOM's on the fact that I should have slowed sooner I  just made a heat of the moment decision on track.  I followed Jim and Mike through 1(this wasnt my first runoffs and have seen many pileups in turn 1 over the years and when I saw them go I was going too). When I came back on I was clear.  If you had backed off the throttle as Mike and the 27 were getting together the contact with me was totally avoidable. There was limited room for you to attempt to squeeze between Juan and I. When Juan hit my car it was a direct hit to the left front wheel. As far as the condition of my car anyone that knows my car and myself knows there is no expense spared. It is completely rebuilt suspension wise every season AND before the runoffs. Going through 6B you can see something come off the left front of my car(not sure what that was..but obviously not something metal). I was in no way shape or form attempting a pass into 12(I knew my race was over before the braking zone for 12 hence the reason for going all the way to the inside). I hit the brakes before the blue car and would have made the intended move with no issue if the tie rod wasn't broken. The idea was to go to the inside of the curbing and continue in the grass to pit lane. I realized the car was not going to continue on the back straight before the braking zone (felt and heard a snap/pop). I should have just pulled over before 12 and that's where I made my mistake.  I have to go back and look at the data to get a speed at impact. 

Turn 12 was my fault and I was penalized for it. Turn 2 was all you. And if I had seen video before I left you wouldn't have been the only one to throw paper.

[Cnj]

It is a 360 fly  , the 4K version.

Interesting. Really good image stabilization.

Some questions for you (cause I don't know anyone else using a 360 in a car). Answer as you wish.

The 360 Fly appears to not actually be a true 360 but a hemispherical. Yes?
I assume you installed it upside down in the car? Certainly it's seems to do the job really well.
I'm wondering how it would look if mounted on rooftop with respect to clarity of seeing all around. As good as the inside view is for seeing what the driver is doing, it's still a little hard to see/gauge the surrounding cars.
Are you happy with the amount of on board memory?
What about battery life?
Are you transferring via wi-if?
Have you looked at the video in VR? (I have a HTC Vive but have not yet watched race video in VR - and wonder how my inner ear will feel about it )

We recently bought, and returned, a Ricoh Theta 4K 360. Gorgeous images, but terrible image stabilization. Have a Insta 360 on order. If that does not work will return and try the Virb 360. If not happy with that will wait for the Go Pro 360.

I imagine that within the next year or so many/most drivers will shift to 360 video. It makes too much sense. No more fighting with camera angles or rear/forward camera edits.

CNJ

[5X Racing]

John Adamczyk, would it to your knowledge be correct in saying the bump stops procured from 5X, MiataCage and Advanced Auto Sports are all the same material and even with different cut processes they are equal in set up and handling?

 

Second question, if a Portable Durometer is used on new bump stops and bump stops used for 3 years (6 weekends per year) is it likely the test results will be the same or different (different being enough to allow difference in set up/handling)?

 

Assuming they're all produced from an original 78mm Speedthane Blue density bump stop, that would be the same material, and if cut to exact heights, should be the same handling-wise. I know Miatacage bump stops are the same because they buy the parts from us. 

 

This is a tough one, as the MCU (micro-cellular urethane) foam composition of the bump stops is a dynamic material, which means it is meant to flex and compress over, and over, and over again. I've not done tests for this and have only focused on the weights of the different densities (between red, white, and blue) which is a sure cheat by way of spring rate adjustment. I'd have to imagine it would be tough to create a narrow tolerance spec spanning the durometer of a new bump stop vs. heavily used X aged bump stop. This issue might also happen with other flexible parts, like suspension bushings and engine mounts. 

[Brandon]

Assuming they're all produced from an original 78mm Speedthane Blue density bump stop, that would be the same material, and if cut to exact heights, should be the same handling-wise. I know Miatacage bump stops are the same because they buy the parts from us. 

 

This is a tough one, as the MCU (micro-cellular urethane) foam composition of the bump stops is a dynamic material, which means it is meant to flex and compress over, and over, and over again. I've not done tests for this and have only focused on the weights of the different densities (between red, white, and blue) which is a sure cheat by way of spring rate adjustment. I'd have to imagine it would be tough to create a narrow tolerance spec spanning the durometer of a new bump stop vs. heavily used X aged bump stop. This issue might also happen with other flexible parts, like suspension bushings and engine mounts. 

 

I guess the question becomes, if not durometer but weight - does it change with age/use?

As with all things, that then begs for a tolerance (GCR specifies limits generally unless noted to not) for manufacturing differences and the human error factor of getting a few more grams of MCU in any particular corner when they're cut down.

 

Are the weight differences that dramatic between the densities to be measurable making any human error mooted with a tolerance?

[5X Racing]

I guess the question becomes, if not durometer but weight - does it change with age/use?

As with all things, that then begs for a tolerance (GCR specifies limits generally unless noted to not) for manufacturing differences and the human error factor of getting a few more grams of MCU in any particular corner when they're cut down.

 

Are the weight differences that dramatic between the densities to be measurable making any human error mooted with a tolerance?

 

I'm going to be testing these things on our inventory of brand new bump stops, and find some old ones to see if there's a measurable difference. I'm also going to measure the weight differences between the three different compounds that could be used, as I think that is the biggest factor in what tech should be looking for, and one that would make the most on-track difference.