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MK Indy Blade Road Car -> Race Car Suggestions Needed
alister667 - 10/9/06 at 10:54 PM

Well after plenty of track days a mate of mine has organised a BEC Sevens race with Sideways Racing on the 14th of October at Aghadowey raceway.
They do drift events but also proper races, and I'm turning out mainly to up the numbers.
The one thing is I'd like not to be last. Most of the other guys are quicker than me (at trackdays), so I'm making some changes to make me a bit more competitive.

1) Changing to 13" minilite style wheels
These WILL fit over my current Sierra calipers at the front. Reduce unsprung weight, lower car, reduce gearing. (from 15" wheels with soft rally tyres).

2) Slicks for the above. Second hand. £25 a corner.

3) Changing car battery to bike battery.

4) Remove passenger seat.

5) High octane petrol (Shell Optimax that sort of thing)

6) Going on a diet. No seriously!!



Basically does anyone have any other ideas suggestions?
Nothing too drastic, I'd like to be able to switch it back to a road car at the end of the "season". Ideally things I can do in about 1 month!!
Any tips for first time racing?
All help greatly received!!

Thanks

Alister

Crazy Jay - 11/9/06 at 12:48 AM

If you have a few quid (well loads!) to spare you should buy those alloy hubs and calipers from mnr, they look and 7kg lighter per side.

Or how about one of those kliktronic systems for much quicker gear changes?

But otherwise I cant think of much more

JamJah - 11/9/06 at 06:27 AM

I could be wrong but all the test results I've seen says that fuel makes very little difference.

Jon Ison - 11/9/06 at 06:34 AM

You will get more performance than all of the above if you get some tuition.
If its done in your car even better, he will prob give you some free tips on set up.

Be careful of slicks, they will need a totally different set up than what you currently have too work properly, and if they do work properly will put more stress into the car than you can imagine.

alister667 - 11/9/06 at 07:06 AM

quote:
Originally posted by JamJah
I could be wrong but all the test results I've seen says that fuel makes very little difference.


I'm basing it on THIS LINK

I read it off here orginally. Realistically I'll prbably get an extra 1-2 horsepower, but that's a fair chunk, it's easy and relatively cheap to do. You can't get Tesco 99 in N. Ireland yet to the best of my knowledge.

Tuition is a good idea, the only problem is I can't get tuition at Aghadowey, only at Kirkistown, but I'll do that anyhow. The tyres I have for track days are basically cut slicks, very, very soft and not road legal motorsport tyres, so I'm hoping for a bit more grip.
The alloy hubs and calipers I think is a project for the winter, but definitely do-able.

Many Thanks

Ali

Kissy - 11/9/06 at 11:40 AM

Headlamps off - huge amount of drag. Or put smaller lamps on if some sort is required

alister667 - 11/9/06 at 11:58 AM

Headlamps - Yes spot on! I made my haedlamp bar removeable and connector s on the lights so I can pop them on and off easily enough. Should be OK.
Forgot about that! Thanks.

3GEComponents - 11/9/06 at 12:43 PM

You could use the new bp stuff (102), after remapping a porsche to run on the fuel they saw a gain of 48bhp or something like that.

The downside is £2.50 or so a litre, and finding a garage thats got it in!

athoirs - 11/9/06 at 01:01 PM

I am with Jon on this one

I was sprinting with my Indy this weekend. My cousin, who has been sprinting for years, was 4 to 5 sec quicker than me in my car and he had never driven it before!

I am not as fast as I thought

gingerprince - 11/9/06 at 01:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by alister667
quote:
Originally posted by JamJah
I could be wrong but all the test results I've seen says that fuel makes very little difference.


I'm basing it on THIS LINK


The advantage of a higher octane fuel will only be realised by a car with knock sensors and ECU capable of adjusting the ignition timing to suit the characteristics of the fuel.

As you're running a 'blade, and I'd guess a carbed blade, there's nothing dynamic that will take advantage of the higher octane fuel.

I run my 'blade on standard fuel for this reason, and only pop in some Optimax every now and then in the vane hope that some of the inbuild cleansers will keep my engines guts clean

Hellfire - 11/9/06 at 04:00 PM

The benefits of higher octane fuel are proven beyond doubt...

But without doubt the best money you can spend is on tuition... seconds per pound it's the most likely way to reduce your lap times.

Steve

alister667 - 11/9/06 at 04:43 PM

I did have an instructor with me at Kirkistown once, a while ago, and he said bugger all while we were out, when I came in he just said "yes you seem to know the lines" or something, nothing constructive and frankly I wasn't that impressed, however at the trackday on Sunday there will be an instructor present who I'll make sure and get a run or two with.

StevieB - 11/9/06 at 04:48 PM

Knock up a simple race tonneau as well - bit more slippy through the air.

Other than that, take off anything you can that's unnecessary and get some tuition. Save the techy mods for later once you can get no more out of the car as it is.

DIY Si - 11/9/06 at 06:40 PM

The two main things to help you go faster are tuition and making it lighter. As said, bin anything not need and change what you can for lighter/smaller versions where poss.

skydivepaul - 11/9/06 at 08:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by athoirs
I am with Jon on this one

I was sprinting with my Indy this weekend. My cousin, who has been sprinting for years, was 4 to 5 sec quicker than me in my car and he had never driven it before!

I am not as fast as I thought


dont lend him your car again

to make it go faster take off as many bits as you can get away with.
passenger seat and seatbelts weigh quite a bit and will add to the drag.

mark chandler - 11/9/06 at 10:12 PM

Make sure you are drawing cold air into the engine, if its a set of socks then you need to box in and duct to infront of the rad, you will be surprised what you can gain !!!

alister667 - 12/9/06 at 06:57 AM

The Air intake is something I hadn't thought of. It isn't going to be easy to impliment, but I'll have a look, cheers!
Any thoughts on fitting an anti roll bar at the front?

chockymonster - 12/9/06 at 07:07 AM

Try and book a day with Andy Walsh at http://www.carlimits.com
He'll give you fantastic tuition that will help your driving.

procomp - 12/9/06 at 07:35 AM

Hi dont worry about an antirollbar on an indy the geometry they use dose not allow it to make much of a difference as mk themselfs have addmitted. Plus the fact antirollbars are not just a buy one of the shelf and fit it item but need to be worked out to go with the rest of the car setup.

A good setup of the car and driver tuition are the way to go.

cheers matt

gingerprince - 12/9/06 at 01:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by chockymonster
Try and book a day with Andy Walsh at http://www.carlimits.com
He'll give you fantastic tuition that will help your driving.


I'm doing that on the 25th in the Indy Not looking forward to the 300 mile round trip though :O

alister667 - 17/9/06 at 07:16 PM

I bought a set of 13"x7" wheels and 4 second hand michelin slicks (£25 a corner) and I was timed doiung 1:08 round Kirkistown today in my second session. That's about 3-4 seconds faster than I've done before.
I think my third session was sharper still, but my official time keeper was reading the Sunday Papers by that stage!!
I'm within 2-4 seconds of the quickest fireblade cars I've seen around Kirkistown. I'm very happy with that.
There wasn't that big an increase in grip - my braking points were still about the same (my old rally tires were very soft, and grippy), but the car was WAY sharper accelerating now I'm using all 6 gears.
I had an instructor out with me for a couple of laps, he was mostly complitmentary, but I was turning in too early on one corner, and need to be smoother on braking. Otherwise that's it.
I'm now at a similar pace to most of the other folks going racing on the 14th. I still have a couple more wee things to do - I didn't get the wings removed, the passenger seat can come out and the car battery needs replaced by a bike one.
The only downside is during my 4th session my gear lever broke, down by the weld. It was an MK supplied gear linkage kit, but will be easy enough to make a replacement.
Moral of the story - wanna go quick? Get 13" wheels!


With new 13
With new 13" wheels

Excuse the camera phone pic!

[Edited on 17/9/06 by alister667]

[Edited on 17/9/06 by alister667]