The COVID pandemic put the kibosh on the 2020 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show, but the auto racing gods managed to shine upon us and allow the 2021 show to happen. Unfortunately, it didn’t allow for all vendors to be there. Many companies were conspicuously absent for one reason or another. Despite the absences, the show was still quite large, filling up most of the convention center.
As I have for many years, I selfishly but sacrificially subjected myself to the torturous walking that is this veritable smorgasbord of auto racing stuff. I do it all for you, reader, really I do. Hopefully, you’ll like the new and interesting things I found this year.
Technically speaking, some of these things may not be all that new, as there was no 2020 show, and the last time I walked the aisles was in 2019. However, for simplicity, anything that had debuted since the 2019 edition was considered new, and-or cool.
And, now, on to the show!
Piggybacking on the success of the Nexus R5 ECU, Haltech has released a PDM-only unit called the Nexus PD16.The PD16 offers many of the same power distribution features of the Nexus R5 in a stand-alone unit, compatible with all Elite and Nexus ECUs. You can use the PD16 to add additional power handling to a Nexus R5 or add PDM features to your existing Elite ECU (like the Elite 2500 we have in Project SC300). As the Elite ECU family has recently received a firmware update allowing it to be controlled with the new NSP software, you’ll be able to control and configure both your Elite ECU and your PD16 from a single, improved interface. The market price is TBD, but it sounds as if the Nexus PD16 may eventually be operated in a stand-alone fashion without a Haltech ECU.
Turbosmart and other manufacturers have had EWGs on the market for a few years now. However, regular ECUs may not have the current-handling capabilities to drive the EWG directly, or you may simply be lacking sufficient available outputs to do the job. The DMCD is a DC motor driver that can handle the high-current job for you, easily integrating with your Elite or Nexus ECU as needed.
The NTK sensor is commonly used for alcohol applications. Haltech found, though, that during initial cold start-up that you can extreme evaporative cooling on the sensor tip, resulting in it cracking. So Haltech sells customized NTK sensors that have this nifty shield welded on, which doesn’t interfere with the readings but does prevent cracking. The current-generation WB1 and WB2 can drive either Bosch or NTK sensors, while previous-generation WB units can use an adapter harness to allow working with an NTK sensor.
4 comments
Thanks for the summary! I have only been to PRI once sadly, and I think that was back in 2008 when it was still in Orlando. Interesting about the Precision, the end housings look very EFR-like. Well, only so many ways to do the same feature set. I know the owner of Dyme PSI, he’s very active out here in SoCal helping with builds. The rattle snake kit would be awesome for any shop that builds cars. It takes all the guess work out, reduces wasted material, and all the stuff they send is tested for quality to ensure there are no leaks (maybe the most important part). I was wonder how the Miata Cup cars were keeping from grenading the manual transmission… I see they just replaced it completely, ha! I bet Hunter will sell a ton of those tire change machines. The EV conversions are coming… the tricky part right now for the DIY’er is the battery pack and thermal management. AEM was smart and jumped on it early, getting their ECU and BMS stuff going. Now the OEMs are doing crate motor/inverter setups. The last piece really are battery modules/packs.
Khiem, to answer your “question” on the Miata Cup car transmissions: they obviously weren’t doing anything to keep them from grenading- but they were covering them under warranty and contingency. I had a friend go through 2 transmissions- completely covered under warranty. Mazda told him they would not cover the 3d one if it blew as well.
But, isn’t that one of the best benefits of selecting the Mazda as a track toy? Things are covered under warranty just like on the street car, and for things that aren’t- you get a discount on the parts- 2yrs ago replacement crash parts for cup car owners was cost plus 10%! What other auto manufacturer is supporting their grassroots motorsport customers like that?
Part of the reason for the change from the OEM transmission to the SADEV was that the OEM trans were not holding up to the rigors of racing. However, it was usually the front-pack racers who were flat-shifting and driving the cars to 99.99% of their capabilities that were destroying the trans. I don’t think it was 100% of the cars that were grenading transmissions all the time, but rather the most abusive drivers were guaranteed to kill one.
I don’t think your casual weekend warrior or track-day enthusiast is going to kill an OEM trans.
I definitely see the value in the Dyme system for volume. For one-sy two-sy kind of hose work, though, it may not be worth the entry price.
I was definitely at a few of those Orlando-era PRI events!
I believe this is basically the same transmission in the FR-S/86/BRS and if so its is pretty fragile.