Bitchin Camaro: A look inside Conrad Grunewald’s pro drift car

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 Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car

Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
 Blue 808 front spindles and lower arms add the needed adjustment to the front end of the car.  Camber, caster and steering axis can now be adjusted.  The spindle also increases steering angle, quickens the steering and increases Ackerman which is really important for a drift car to work correctly.
Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
Here are the components in place, you can see just how much the steering is quickened and Ackerman increased by the shortness off the steering arm and the angle of the tie rod.  The lower control arm gets rid of the Camaro’s huge mushy rubber bushings to greatly increase precision and feel.
Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
The stock spindle is milled away on the backside and the Blu 808 part bolted in place.  This is a really clean way to modify the spindle.  To clear the front part of the LCA bump steer is increased slightly but it is a sacrificed to get more steering angle which is critical in a drift car.
Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
You can see that the tie rod is out of plane with the lower control arm.  We would have engineered the LCA with an end to clear the tie rod to reduce bump steer.  The Eibach sway bar is visible in this picture.
Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
Another view of the lower control arm, tie rod and swaybar.  Everything is pretty tightly packaged which makes tie rod placement difficult.
 Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
 The GM performance LSA engine is quite a package.  It is supercharged with a water to air intercooler producing plenty of power with all day long reliability.
 Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
 A drift car must spend a lot of time idling in the heat with a lot of heat soak, only to be brutally punished while sliding sideways with poor airflow through its heat exchangers, then idle again.  It is really hard to keep a drift car cool.  The Camaro uses a Fluidyne NASCAR aluminum double pass radiator with duel SPAL fans and a shroud for maximum cooling efficiency.
 Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car
 The heat exchanger for the engine’s water to air intercooler is located down low in the chassis with its own fan.

 Conrad Grunewald camaro drift car

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