Oh oh, The IAG STI split a 4 ply coupler. This might have disrupted the AFR as the coupler could have been tearing over several laps. The car was also developing a mysterious severe understeer issue which I think is probably due to failed sway bar mounts. We didn’t catch it because it was under the diffuser and the team was scrambling to find a spare and fix the coupler. The coupler caused a lean condition that resulted in engine damage in the next session which ended IAG’s day. That sucked.
The Spoon car was dead reliable running many sessions with a few different drivers, what you expect, it’s an enduro car. I was pretty surprised that the car responded so well to changes. I have some ideas on how to make it a little faster too.
We all had to work tightly as a cohesive team because of the Tesla’s limited ability to run consistent laps. Every lap was precious for achieving our test goals. Dai also had to click off perfect mistake-free laps and give good feedback. Having pretty good data also was a great help. We managed to improve to the 2:23 second range which was 2 seconds better than the Plaid which had the track electric car record. The Plaid was hitting something like 180 down the straight which was 50 mph faster than us. Dai was making it all up in the turns.
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.