PRI 2021: What’s New and Cool
XS has some new trick batteries on the market.

We have been pleased as punch with the XS Power battery in Project SC300, but it might just be time for an upgrade. The new XV and Titan8 Lithium batteries from XS feature a lithium-titanate chemical composition that can tolerate deep discharge much better than other lithium formulations. Deep discharge toleration is really good, especially if you like to accidentally leave the master switch on the race car on for several months. Because maybe I did that. Or not.

The XV series battery has the same chemistry as the Titan8 but offers lower amp-hour capacities for alternative applications.

 

StopTech has a new STR caliper out, and it offers that super-attractive nickel finish.

The new “Street and Track” (STR) caliper offers more weight savings and stiffness than the existing ST model. While StopTech was redesigning the caliper body, they also changed the machining operations to make it look better. These aesthetic changes don’t increase performance, but they sure don’t hurt, either. One obvious example is that the caliper fixing hardware has been moved inboard.

Another change is the new “bi-slot” rotor design. This new design offers increased bite and better pad tapering performance while reducing noise. StopTech managed to achieve this trifecta partly due to careful attention to the slot volume. The pad is abraded equally across its face by ensuring that the volume of slots is the same across all circumferential paths. The bi-slot rotor ring directly replaces the existing StopTech rotor rings, and the interior aerodynamics are the same, too. Look for StopTech to begin incorporating this bi-slot rotor design into OEM replacements in the future.

 

FuelTech is kind of in my backyard. While I’m not a hardcore drag race kind of guy, they always have something interesting to show off.

For example, here’s an 820lb/h injector. No, that’s not a typo. Eight hundred and twenty pound hour. For those of us who don’t use freedom units, that corresponds to an 8925cc injector. EIGHT THOUSAND CC. PER CYLINDER.

 

FuelTech also has this new peak-and-hold injector driver for those who need to drive low impedance injectors.

If you happen to have an ECU that doesn’t offer low-impedance peak-and-hold injector control, or you just want more information about what’s going on with your injection events, this driver might do the trick for you.

4 comments

  1. 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.

    1. 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?

    2. 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!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*