Different R8 intake manifold plenums with intercoolers await being shipped out.
An R8 customer car awaits a few finishing touches before delivery.
Here is the Shop demo car, it has a mild bolt-on turbo kit with a stock engine. It makes about 1400 whp! I got a ride in it and got to experience a 2.8 second 60-14o mph pull. Although this is super fast, the car made it seem easy and not a big deal. The car exhibited OEM-like drivability and streetabilty. The car is so tame yet so fast! It really makes you want one badly.
I saw this Sentra SE-R out there. I wonder if this was some sort of registration or insurance thing?
I think this is some sort of low downforce wing. It was made out of real carbon fiber.
5 comments
I saw you there on Saturday, Mike. Like you said in one of the pics, you didn’t look happy, though, so I left you alone. Congrats on finding the time on the Tesla. I was so confused on why I never saw the Tesla out on track more, but now I know!
It’s hard doing 4 cars!
Not sure about that splitter on the Tesla. AFAIK, the Tesla has a completely flat bottom, which is perfect for ground effect. The middle section of the splitter should be turned up and radiused to enhance airflow to the underbody. As it is now, it’s effectively reducing airflow to the underbody, especially on corner entry (when all that weight transfers forward) and you are losing downforce when you need it most.
Also, by adding side skirts you can move the CoP rearward and make a ton more downforce with very little drag penalty (the most efficient solution.) These are super low buck modifications, so they should be simple to do. It won’t look great, but you can use fiberglass lawn edging from Home Depot to make very effective side skirts. Don’t ask me how I know. 😉
I helped design the aero and it works just fine. There is more to it than meets the eye including suspension tricks. Also a lot depends on what the owner is willing to do the car cosmetically and spend and how sophisticated of a shape that we can create with our homemade molds and bucks. We are actually trying to reduce drag as we have more than enough downforce. Our aero is currently pretty slippery. With 440 hp we are only a few mph slower than the stock car at this slightly uphill straight.
Great article! Thanks for all your hard work.