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 | | November 4, 2008 - The race might be over, but development continues.
The shocks are off at AFCO being tested and rebuilt, and they'll be reinstalled with a new bumpstop design. Whether we take part in the Targa again in the future or not, I'm going to keep working on fine-tuning the car.
entry 641 - tags: suspension | | |  | November 19, 2008 - The car's currently sitting on jackstands as the shocks are being repaired.
It'll be a while before they come back because I'm waiting for a newly developed part that will support the bumpstops. That was the source of our problems during the race - the bumpstops couldn't handle the impacts and deteriorated, leading to the damage to the shaft seals and also to the increased travel that gave us tire rub under braking (you can hear it in some of the videos, such as at the beginning of Mooring Cove) and helped the rear subframe brace ground out.
The good news is that there was no internal damage. There was some fluid loss, which would have led to low damping on small shock movement - but the big movements were still damped. So the suspension kept working despite the pounding. I knew this, but it's good to have confirmation.
Once the shocks come back, I'll reassemble the suspension and keep testing. I think I'm going to move to a stiffer spring rate to deal with the bigger bumps, and see if I can reach the alignment numbers I want at a taller ride height.
Why the picture? No reason, it just looks good!
entry 642 - tags: suspension | | |  | November 25, 2008 - New wheels for the Targa car!
The SSR wheels that we used during the race are going to California to be part of an endurance racer. So a set of Team Dynamic Pro 1.2 wheels were ordered to take their place. In white, of course. Rally cars have to run white wheels, it's an unwritten law.
They look the part and are very strong. Unfortunately, they're about 3.5 lbs heavier than the anorexic SSRs, but they're also less than 1/3 the price. And when you're buying your own parts, that's important!
Still waiting for the shocks to come back. Then the car will get back out there to have some fun. I'm expecting to be in both California and Texas with it in the next six months.
entry 643 - tags: wheels | | |  | January 2, 2009 - The shocks are back from being rebuilt.
After a long rest on the jack stands, the car is going back on the ground shortly. The reason the bumpstops failed during the race was because they were not properly supported on top. These blue cones are the solution. After testing on the bench, they've improved the function of the stops nicely. I'm also going to try a few different kinds of stops along with these, mirroring some testing I'm doing on Janel's street Miata.
The rear shocks were also rebuilt with an extra inch of extension. Just because! I'm going to reassemble everything with stiffer springs, going to 450/375 instead of the previous 375/300. Why? To see how it works and to keep me from working through all my travel no matter what. Now all I have to do is find a road that's as bad as some of those ones in Newfoundland. And that's bad.
Oh, and some wheels and tires I can use in sub-freezing temperatures.
entry 644 - tags: suspension | | | January 12, 2009 - The Targa Newfoundland TV schedule has been set!
Watch TSN at 11:30 am (Eastern, 1 pm Newfoundland) on February 8th to see the hour-long show. It's unlikely you'll see much of the Targa Miata because, well, we just weren't that dramatic! Unfortunately for those in the US - such as ourselves - TSN is not available south of the border. We'll have to wait until it gets shown on Speed, probably at 3 am on a Tuesday. Another option is to buy the DVD after the air date. Pay attention when you order, at the time of writing the only DVD for sale was the 2007 running.
In other news, the car is back on its feet with the new suspension installed. I'm working my way through the fairly short list of jobs to do, little things like fixing the wiring for the air temperature sensor and - apparently - the fans. Since the Toyo race rubber is at risk of cracking when used in sub-freezing temperatures, the car is confined to the garage for the time being.
The next outing for the car is the Miatas At MRLS 20th birthday party. That's a two-day track weekend at Laguna Seca, and I'm going to be there as a speaker, book signer and track weenie. If you can make it, drop by and get a ride on the track!
entry 645 - tags: announcements | | |  | January 14, 2009 - There was an announcement of a tire rule change for the Targa in 2009.
R compounds - such as my Toyo RA1s - are no longer allowed. In fact, the tires must have a wear rating of at least 200, which gets rid of a range of popular sticky street tires such as the Falken Azenis and the Bridgestone RE01R. There's an exception for cars built before 1950 and those with stock 10" tires. The number of tires available to be used for the event has also jumped from 6 to 8, although with the harder required rubber that's not a big deal.
This means I'd probably end up running on a Hankook Ventus R-S2, although I haven't done a big search for other options. It would also make it much harder to meet the target times, which is probably the goal. Is it an improvement? Well, it's certainly a change.
entry 646 - tags: tires, regulations, 2009 | | |  | January 18, 2009 - Out of the garage!
It's been a long hibernation, but the combination of sunshine and warm(ish) temperatures meant that I was able to pull the car out today. It was the first ride with the new spring setup and new bumpstops. I wasn't impressed at first, but after a couple of adjustments of the AFCOs I got my supple ride back. Next step is to find a place to open it up and see how it works at high speed and high bumps.
Before it went out, I spent a bit of time fixing little things like the air temperature sensor and the fans. For the latter, I started by hooking up the laptop and changing the fan "on" temperature to 10C. As soon as I hit enter, I could hear relays click underhood. First, that's cool! Second, that tells me that all of the difficult-to-reach wiring was working fine.
Next step, I decided to trace the power. And voila, one blown fuse. I'm running both my fans in parallel, and the startup surge must have been just too much for the fuse at some point. The Hydra has the capability to trigger them one after the other, looks like I'll have to take advantage of that. The car was getting warm while waiting to start the second stage in the Prologue, I wonder if the fans were out then? For most of the race, cooling wasn't a problem.
Boy, it's nice to get back behind the wheel. It's such a fun car.
entry 647 - tags: suspension, fans | | | January 20, 2009 - A beautiful day outside, so I headed for the Targa Simulation Road.
It's the first time I've driven it since the race. It's not a perfect simulation, mostly because it's fairly tight. And it is rough because of road slippage, not because of frost damage. So the bumps tend to be more undulations instead of sharp hits, although there are a couple of good ones that really test how the car deals with a dip mid-corner. So it's a reasonable test. And since it's about 5 minutes from my house, it's a lot more convenient than Newfoundland!
I took several runs through the worst section, playing with the shock settings. A couple of tweaks to the rebound and a big crank on the compression knobs, and the car's livened up a bit and able to deal with some really weird pavement. How will it work at Laguna Seca? Excellent question. I'm going to have some spare springs with me just in case the smooth, high-speed track needs a different setup than my battered back-road tune.
Really, this is just an excuse for tearing up and down a twisty, empty road on a sunny day. But can you blame me?
entry 648 - tags: suspension | | | February 6, 2009 - I took the car in to work yesterday.
It's been too long since I drove it much, I keep forgetting how much grip it has and how light it feels. What a riot.
It needs a bit of work before the Laguna Seca event, though. The windshield cracked at some point on the way home, so I need to get that replaced. More worrisome is a noise that sounds like it's coming from the rear of the car. My initial thought was "wheel bearing", but it's fairly noticeable and it just started. So something's rubbing or moving - possibly a brake dust shield on a rotor, for example. I can make the car make a weird noise about once per tire rotation by simply pushing it across the garage floor. I'll get underneath and have a look. I suspect it will be an easy fix if I can stop working on Janel's MG long enough to get under the white car.
I'm really wondering if I should keep these springs, too. The car feels very eager to turn and is fairly flat, but it's lost the suppleness it had. Maybe I'll play with the shocks a bit more and see if I can come up with something that will deal with cratered roads but still keep the ride fairly plush. I was happy with the 375/300 combination until we hit the really rough stuff in Newfoundland, but the car should like the stiffer springs at the track. So many options!
entry 649 - tags: suspension | | |  | February 8, 2009 - During the race, we discovered a need for a bit of comfort padding on the rollbar.
I put something together using memory foam and tape. The foam doesn't like being bent like this and it's been coming apart. So I took the opportunity today to clean things up a bit and put a bit of pipe insulation in its place.
I know, I know. Pipe insulation isn't roll bar padding. This stuff isn't meant to be for major impact protection, just to keep me from getting a sore knee when I brace myself against the bar.
Of course, as soon as I was done, I discovered there was some soft roll bar padding in the Camaro donor car for the MG. So I'll probably redo this. Although really, the non-SFI padding basically is pipe insulation.
entry 650 - tags: safety, comfort | | | February 8, 2009 - The Targa TV show aired today.
In Canada, anyhow. I haven't managed to see it yet, but I'm told we do make an appearance a couple of times. If you're able to get TSN, set your VCR (or DVR if you're one of those people who lives in the 21st century). TSN.ca says it's showing again at midnight on Monday (technically Tuesday morning, I suppose) and 3:30 am on Thursday, Eastern.
entry 651 - tags: TV | | | February 11, 2009 - The TV show has been scheduled on Speed TV.
Sunday, March 15th at 3:00 EST. Details. Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
In unrelated news, I think I found the noise in the back of the car. The first thing I did when investigating was to put a wrench on the lug nuts. Whoops. I'm usually very, very careful about the lug nuts so I can't come up with a good explanation. Heck, there is no good explanation. I haven't driven the car yet, but it would explain the nature of the noise. None of the wheels were actually loose which does explain the lack of vibration though.
entry 652 - tags: TV, suspension | | |  | February 16, 2009 - Part of the preparation for the Laguna Seca event is a new windshield.
When I took the car out of the trailer on the way home from the race, I discovered a crack at the driver's A-pillar. There was no big impact mark, but the glass installer did discover a very small mark that may have caused the initial damage. Regardless, it needed replacing. So now it's super-clean!
I also spent some time with Janel fitting her in the car. No, not in the navigator's seat, but in the driver's side. She's proportioned differently than I am (much to her relief, I'm sure) and she needs to sit higher in the car. We originally thought she needed to sit further back as well, but the first test showed this wasn't the case. A bit of work with the leftover Backsaver foam and now she has her own booster seat. This means she can come out to Laguna Seca with me and get a chance to drive the car. The intercom will make it easy to coach her.
This is going to be fun. I want to do pace notes for the track. "Over crest into hard left over crest into medium right..."
entry 653 - tags: laguna, ergonomics | | | February 19, 2009 - Road trip!
Not only am I travelling to Laguna Seca with the Targa car in a month, at the end of April I'm making the trek out to the GRM Speedfest at the Walter Mitty Challenge held at Road Atlanta. More details to follow, but I think the car will be displayed with a number of significant motorsport Miatas. How cool is that?
entry 654 - tags: events | | |  | February 19, 2009 - We finally got to watch the show thanks to a shadowy benefactor who shipped us a copy!
And I'm all giddy. It's more of a motorsport show than previous years, focusing on the race up front. Only about a dozen of the cars that ran the race got much airtime, either because they were leading or they suffered failures of the serious or humourous kind. But we managed some decent coverage without resorting to leading or breaking! The announcers were very flattering of the team, saying we looked good all week and using some of our in-car footage. Plus, I got to show the fun way to take a corner with some light gravel on it. Sure, it's only a bit more than 30 seconds, but it's a good 30 seconds.
Don't forget, March 15th on Speed at 3 pm Eastern. Or, if you can't wait, the DVDs are for sale on the Targa site. The DVD is simply the hour-long TV show, nothing else.
entry 655 - tags: tv, media | | |  | February 21, 2009 - Ever wonder what my Targa Simulation Road looks like?
Very little like Newfoundland, let me tell you. It's not a super-fast road, but it's fun to play on and fairly lightly used. I would recommend driving it slowly first so you get used to the scenery!
entry 656 - tags: testing | | |  | February 21, 2009 - A better look at the surface.
These patches are actually similar to those I remember from Newfoundland, but thinner. Still, it's enough to toss the car around on corners, especially when combined with a number of creases and lumps. In the winter, this road gets a fair bit of grit poured on it so it's a nice substitute for the gravel that gets thrown on to the roads in the race. Plus it's only a few minutes from my house!
I was up on the TSR testing a couple of video cameras. One is a cool little unit called the Motorsport Hero that comes with a suction cup and a fisheye lens. I'll put some of the results online - it's really fun to play with. The other is a cheap HD unit I picked up that records to SD cards. Unfortunately, while the video quality is okay, the sound quality is abysmal. The car is simply too loud for it. I'll have to see what I can do about that.
The car's working well. I'm pretty happy with how the suspension is working. It's going to be so much fun to get it back to sea level where it'll see a 20% power increase.
entry 657 - tags: testing, video | | |  | February 24, 2009 - I investigated the blown fan fuse a little more, and check this out.
That's some crispy wiring. A wiring expert was trying to tell me I'd used too small a connector, but I reached down and tried to spin the fan by hand. No go. It was seized solid. I figure the motor must have locked up and the resulting load melted the wiring and tripped the fuse. Based on how the car was behaving, I suspect this happened right about the time I got to Newfoundland.
There was nothing to do but to replace the fan. Luckily, Flyin' Miata has them on the shelf. A new fan, a couple of new connectors and it's sorted.
I've been driving the car to work the last couple of days. It was raining today - I'd forgotten just how happy the car is putting down power in the wet. The suspension's working pretty nicely, so it's all just about ready for the long trip out west. I just need to fine-tune the toe settings on the car, and I might give it an alignment just to make sure nothing got battered out of position during the race.
entry 658 - tags: cooling, fans | | | March 6, 2009 - I spent the afternoon at the local track, playing with the car.
It wasn't a completely satisfying day, as I was having trouble getting the handling just the way I wanted it with the stiffer springs. I'm really torn as to whether I should use the current setup or the Targa setup at Laguna Seca in a couple of weeks. Really, I need the extra stiffness for the track. And I probably could have used it in Newfoundland as well. I'll probably take it as-is and then stick the extra springs in the truck for a Saturday evening change if desired.
My biggest problem was getting the balance right. I think if I put the thinnest rear sway in my collection in the rear, that will do the job. The car was a little tail-happy with the current 14mm bar hooked up. My lap times were inconsistent, with a fastest of about 1:05.2 - a half-second slower than at the Open House just before the race. An ambient temperature in the 50s instead of in the 90s may be a contributor, as is the fact that the track isn't getting used much at all in the winter. I did spend a bunch of time trying to get that right rear wheel to hook up on corner exit. Again. Not liable to be a problem at Laguna though.
Janel took the wheel for a bit. She's not a huge fan of driving the car, it turns out. She's happier in the navigator's seat. The Targa car is just a bit overwhelming. The amount of information was a bit of an overload and the car was just too responsive. Her turbo Miata (which I compared to the race car back in August) is a little softer and a little mellower. Everything happens a bit more slowly and gradually, and that's more to her liking. At least, right now it is.
At one point, she was back in "her" seat watching my feet to see how I heel-toed on downshifting. She didn't feel the need to look up at all, as she was totally relaxed despite the fact that we were circulating the track fairly quickly. This is the result of the Targa.
And on a similar note, I have to say the Targa has spoiled me. I've got hundreds of laps at this track. I know it pretty well. And today it was all just kinda blah. The same dozen corners, over and over again. After you've come over a blind crest at 100 mph with your foot pinned to the floor because your navigator says it's clear, or changed your approach mid-corner because there's gravel at the apex, circulating around the same track over and over just doesn't carry a thrill. I'm sure it would be different if I was running wheel-to-wheel with someone, but we have to get back to the Targa. Janel feels the same.
entry 659 - tags: testing, suspension | | | March 8, 2009 - TV time update!
Speed TV has a listing online of when the show will be aired, including a back-to-back airing of the 2007 and 2008 shows.
Details
entry 660 - tags: TV | | |
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