Lotus 7 D mod. - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

97 SL320 · #46 05-04-2015, 06:17 PM

Or consider altering throttle ratio to something progressive / adding a stiff spring that only engages in the last 80% of throttle travel.

Also having something to rest your right leg against does wonders for throttle control.

t walgamuth · #47 05-04-2015, 07:55 PM

One thing the car lacks is a place to brace my heel. the FF had a nice bar across there so you could brace under braking and steady the throttle foot. It is one thing I am planning to remedy.

Also I'm coming around to the idea that you might be right about the rear brake bias for rotating the car. I find I can rotate the car this way so I am gonna try putting more rear brake back in (like it was when I got it).

DieselPaul · #48 05-05-2015, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panZZer

uh there are basically two different ecotech's the original and the later 2.4 / 2.5's. they are different animals.

over yonder opel even has an econo 3 cylinder one and there is also a 6 cylinder version.

And his comment holds true for and variant of ecotec. Also the 2.5 ATS motor is far from a common swap at this point, the overwhelming majority of ecotec swaps are the earlier ones. There are actually 3 generations of ecotec

The 3cyl and whatever 6 cyl you are referencing are entirely different "animals" are not part of the L850 engine group.

t walgamuth · #49 05-07-2015, 07:31 AM

The local club website got the official results out today. I was second fastest on raw time and 20th on PAX. Got beat on raw by a hotshoe in an F mod (which is a small car sort of between the size of a formula ford and a go kart. They have a snowmobile motor and are very very quick.

My main D mod competitor's first run was 36.9 and his last was 36.05. My first run was 40 something; with each run getting quicker. my last was 35.7. I see he can get there and run his car fast immediately because he has ten years in his and knows how to drive it. I am just learning in mine.

t walgamuth · #50 05-09-2015, 10:01 AM

No racing this weekend but two days of running next weekend. Today I'll be doing some maintenance things.

t walgamuth · #51 05-09-2015, 04:43 PM

I removed the cover of the seat with its padding so I could fit my wide torso into the 15" wide seat. I'd buy a 16" seat but it does not look as if there is room. So today I took 3/8" and 1/2" sticky-back dense foam and lined the aluminum seat tub. I made patterns from newspaper and made the individual pieces of foam with that. It looks fairly decent. I used my wife's kitchen shears to cut it. I'll post pics when I get my camera back from the repair shop.

Hoping to change the rear end gears next week before running on Friday....and possibly change the engine oil.

t walgamuth · #52 05-14-2015, 03:34 PM

Working on the car now in preparation to run tomorrow and sunday. I just changed the rear end ratio using the quick change. Pretty cool! I also aired the tires and loaded the rain tires into the trailer since it may rain tomorrow.

Wooo hoooo!

t walgamuth · #53 05-15-2015, 07:30 PM

It didn't rain on the test and tune. It rained before we got there and there were wet places on the course but not in critical places fortunately. I got in about 20 runs and made real progress with becoming accustomed to driving the car. I was using the acceleration and braking in places that were never possible with any previous car that I have driven. I also debuted my left foot braking. It worked just fine. Only thing was once I got off the course and wanted to shift to a lower gear I would stomp the brake pedal (instead of the clutch).

I improved all morning but did not ever match my morning times in the afternoon. Two guys from another region showed up with a very fast Lotus elan in my class and ate my lunch pretty well....well one guy was about equal to me and the other beat us by 1.5 seconds on a 40 second course.

I got enough confidence to keep pushing the car....enough I spun twice, both times under braking. Neither time did I hit any cones. The finish line had a STUPID 90 degree turn about 50 feet past the clock. I spun after the finish line once trying to make the 90 and managed to not hit any cones then either.....

At one point I was at the starting line ready to go and got a cramp in my right hand. Fortunately there was nobody behind me and I sat there and wiggled it around until the cramp went away.

The car never missed a beat. I used the brakes enough the front wheels became too hot to keep my hand on them.

I ran about six gallons of E85 through the car.

I'll sleep well tonight!

Chris W. · #54 05-16-2015, 07:58 AM

Man, compared to the old FF this is night and day. I think you've gotten far more use out of this new beast in a couple days than you had with the FF the whole time you had it. Nice to focus on driving instead of wrenching. Back in the day I tried autoX and I'm very bad at remembering/following the course. I know that looking and planning ahead to the next maneuver is so important and I was always behind. I have read that east coast courses use far less cones than west coast courses which almost line the whole circuit with cones. Don't know if it's true, but it would have helped me for sure!

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 441K

t walgamuth · #55 05-16-2015, 11:59 AM

We tend toward the less cones usually in the Indy region. A wide open course is nice.

Yeah, In another month or so I will probably have more runs under my belt in this car than in the FF. I plan to try to get my driving chops current.

t walgamuth · #56 05-16-2015, 07:09 PM

Heading out in the morning to run up in Gary at the majestic star casino parking lot. Chance of rain. I am taking my rain tires but I really don't have any enthusiasm for running in the wet.

97 SL320 · #57 05-16-2015, 08:19 PM

I've road raced a Formula Ford in the rain a few times and maybe autox once. The problem with autoxing an open wheel car in the rain is water coming off the front tires in tight corners.

With either venue, rain lowers grip and allows you to explore balance of the car. You won't get as much frontal weight transfer under braking because you won't be able to brake so hard in the wet. Given you have heavy rear brake bias things might even out.

Do you have adjustable roll bars? Running them softer will help because the car won't have as much lateral weight transfer in the wet as well.

This can turn into adjusting a bunch of stuff so running the car as is at first is a good idea.

t walgamuth · #58 05-16-2015, 09:02 PM

Well, I have fenders on the front that cover the whole wheel. At the rear they lack covering it by 3". There is a bar on the front but its not readily adjustable. I can adjust the brake bias easily but I'll just run It as is if I decide to run in the rain.

t walgamuth · #59 05-17-2015, 07:08 AM

One thing I worried about on the car is my back. Other seven replicas I have driven seemed to make my back sore, and my FF did as well.

After 20 runs on Friday my back did not hurt at all. I do still have some sore muscles though and I found a sore muscle on my left leg which must be from left foot braking...

sloride · #60 05-17-2015, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

One thing I worried about on the car is my back. Other seven replicas I have driven seemed to make my back sore, and my FF did as well.

After 20 runs on Friday my back did not hurt at all. I do still have some sore muscles though and I found a sore muscle on my left leg which must be from left foot braking...

As the old saying goes "no pain no gain". A functional strength exercise program should help.