[eimarshall]

Thanks Tim! Ive seen the group but not joined. Ill give it another look.

[eimarshall]

One of the last little things I had on my list was to make a set of smaller canards. The ZLE canards are pretty aggressive and probably suffer from lots of drag, but given that that car(ZLE) makes 200 more hp, it can put up with a little drag. Lat year, when I swapped the ZLE wing for the GTC300 I added the ZLE canards to try to keep some semblance of balance. But in doing so, I lost ~5mph on the straight at the ridge. obviously the wing has something to do with that as well, but I think the canards are also a culprit

With the new splitter, end plates, and tire blockers, I figure I've reduced the drag a bit on the front end and made back some of the downforce. So bolting on the big canards may not actually gain me much. Maybe a little more DF but probably a lot more drag. In one of AJ Hartman's wind tunnel videos, he showed that adding a tire blocker and a large canard greatly increased the drag, but running only one or the other got you nearly the same downforce.

I figured my tire blockers are little different than the "spat" or "air dam" style blockers, so having both may not suffer from the efficiency loss AJ described.

Thus I threw together a simple model, 3D printed a mold and layed a couple layers of 12K carbon fiber onto the mold. The finished product is about 7" long with a taper from 3" to 2" front to back and total curve of about 30 degrees. I also mounted it at a slightly less steep angle as the ZLE canards. I think I might try to re-make them 4" wide at the front, but these will do for now.



I got her all shined up(before the canards) and ready for the first event.



Loading was a little tight with the splitter on. I also had to take off both trailer fenders to get it to fit width wise.



I did a quick Track Night in America at the Ridge for a little shake down. beautiful weather and chasing a couple of other fast cars(GT350 and a C6 ZR1) helped me knock nearly a full second off my best on 200TW RS4s. Last year I couldn't get those tires under a 1:50.5 to save my life. Second session out I clicked off a flier at 1:49.5. My optimal sector times had me closer to 1:49 flat even. So something is working!




3 days later I drove over to Pacific Raceways in Kent for a Time Trial. PR was hosting the SCCA Pacific Grand Prix on Saturday and Sunday but decided to add a time trial on Saturday. They only had 10 participants signed up but to make it more competitive they lumped many of the classes together. I qualify as Max 2, but ran in a group with Tuner 1 and Unlimited 2.

I had never been on track there before but used the practice and first session to get comfortable and learn the track. I ran the RS4s to start because they talk a lot and would let me know when I was hitting their limits. I was sitting in first overall by only 2 tenths of a second with a C8 Z51 and a tuned Audi TT RS hot on my heels.

I will say, Pacific Raceways is NOT a smooth track. I am spoiled at the ridge. It is butter compared to the variations at PR. PR has some crazy bumps, yumps, and undulations that look like they can get real hairy real quick given that the track has little to no run off. I forgot to grab my PDR recording, but there are a couple points where I know I could make time, ....... but the consequence could be a dirt berm or a tree..... only 10 feet off the asphalt....

That said, I wanted to push it a little more, so I swapped to my SC3Rs for the afternoon and knocked another 2 seconds off. That locked down first place and I took the top time overall with a 1:29.8! WOOHOO!!



I really want to dive into some of the data (a la KHCoaching) but I'll have to save that for another post. Plus I have another full track day booked in 2 weeks where I plan on doing a bunch of back to back comparison runs with various bits on or off the car. Hopefully that will shed some light on the efficacy and efficiency of various components.

[khcoaching]

Nice!

Send me the data.....

[That1guy_tim]

Congrats on the first place man!!

And again you are killing it with the aero components for our cars!

[VaporPressure]

Great thread! Really impressive craftsmanship and attention to detail. I'm just starting to go down the aero pathway and despite really wanting splitter tunnels, I abandoned the plan because of those aux coolers and some heavy metal framing further inboard that sits pretty low. I'll be interested to see if you're able to make something work there.

[eimarshall]

End of summer update and data dive!

I ran a couple of casual track days in June and July, with no real changes to the car. At the 2nd event in June I was feeling confident, so I requested a test ride to move up to the advanced group with Turn2 lapping. Unfortunately, by the time the primary instructor had time to do the ride along, it had started pouring. Doing a check ride in the rain with all the nannies off was a bit nerve wracking. I haven’t driven much in the wet and I think it showed. I slid and waggled my way around some pretty slow laps, but did my best to be consistent and aware. Thankfully, the instructor took mercy on me and gave the green light to move up!! Sweet!!



At the first track day in July, I enjoyed the pace of running with the A group, but never seemed to piece together a good lap. Right after to the lunch break, I was checking my tires before heading out on track and discovered that one tire appeared to have some cording. I swapped to my backup set of tires (RS4s) and discovered that 3 of the 4 SC3R tires had cording on the inside edge. I had been a little concerned about the wear and think this is due to a little too much toe in both the front and rear, but the car had been driving fairly well. I had been noticing a little mid corner understeer, but the car had been very stable under braking and on throttle. I have a couple sets of 3R tires ready to go since that crazy ebay deal...



A month later I decided to do some aero testing during an oddly cool august day. I spent the day swapping canards(small canard(SC) and Large ZLE canard(LC)), and tire blockers(TB), adjusting the wing angle(W#) and managed to beat my previous PB twice. I ran the same setup first and last runs of the day to try to bracket the data for environmental changes (intake temps went from 65 to 81 degrees F). It was a little difficult to pull consistent numbers from the data, but what I got seems helpful.



For drag considerations, I used top speed on the main straight and high speed acceleration rate (110-130 time delta to avoid the 3-4 and 4-5 gear changes) to find the effects of each component. Pulling the values from each sessions fastest lap, showed some decent numbers. My baseline top speed went from 136.8mph at the start of the day to 137.7mph at the end, which was the opposite of what should have happened given that it was nearly 20 degrees warmer. Maybe it was the ~hundred pounds of fuel? Idk. The data was consistent for wing AOA changes. Adjusting the AOA from 0 to 5 to 10 degrees lost me 1.7 and 2.5 mph respectively. Accel rates were a little less consistent but at least correlated with more drag slowing me down. Removing all front end aero bits(canards and tire blockers) and setting the wing to 0 AOA, did net me another 1mph on the straight and slightly lower accel times. I’m not sure why the tire blocker run went so poorly. But keeping the TB on and adding the small canards got me within a tenth on the 110-130 times and about 0.5mph at the end of the day. Maybe there is some sort of combined effect of the two. The ZLE canard lost a little top speed and accel compared to my SC/TB combo. Not surprising given the aggressive size and angle of the canard.



For lateral acceleration, the data was pretty noisy and harder to pull meaningful info from. I tried averaging the lat accel over a 2 second period to find a sustained peak G to help eliminate noisy peaks from bumps and drops. The Average lateral G and Average Combined G per lap might provide some insight but it really is hard to tell if anything truly stands out. I’m not sure why the ZLE canards showed so poorly, nor why the Average G per lap showed such little deviation. If you take the Average G per lap as real, then its clear the wing changes added DF, but it also shows that the changes at the front of the car had minor effects and the first and last runs establish a good bit of noise in the data.



I’m satisfied with the drag data but the DF data left me wanting more. So I found another possible solution and I……..leave you with a cliffhanger!!

[eimarshall]

Inspired by VaporPressure’s post (https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=626675), I researched some methods on finding ride height data. I unfortunately disconnected the ride height position sensors when I moved to the DSSVs and BMR arms, so those were no longer an option. One possibility that popped up was a little device called a Wheel Turtle from Team-Plus in Australia. It is a combo tire temp and position sensor. Each sensor records the tire temp in 8 zones across the face of the tire using a thermal camera and can detect the distance to the tire at a rate of about 15hz. The data is transmitted to either their CanGate system for CanBus integration, or your phone via Bluetooth. They listed it as compatible with RaceChrono Pro, so I ordered their budget “Club” system.



Install was easy as I could just poke tiny hole in the wheel well liner and zip tie the mounting brackets in place. The wheel turtles themselves are battery powered but only last 2-3 hours on a charge, so I had to remove them and turn them on and off between runs. On to the initial test!
At a Ongrid Time Attack competition at the end of August, I mounted up the wheel turtles and collected data on a few passes down the main straight at the Ridge. I had the small canards and tire blockers on the car, and the rear wing set to 0 AOA. The initial data shows a change in front ride height from 90mph to 130mph of about 0.15”-0.20”. This translates to a change of around 65-87lbs per wheel or ~150 lbs of total front downforce difference between 90 and 130mph. The rear showed slightly more height change. 0.17” to 0.25” equates to 58-97lbs per wheel or ~145lbs total change in the rear.



I am still skeptical because there are many confounding factors. Firstly, the data is still noisy. Static readings have fluctuations between 0.04” and 0.10 depending on distance and detector. Taking averaged readings helps calm some of this noise. Secondly, these measurements were taken during acceleration runs so the car was definitely not static and the car pitch could vary due to acceleration rates. There could even been tire stretch causing the distance to sensor to change with rotation rate.
The data provided by APR shows the GTC-300 wing generating ~80lbs at 80mph and 340lbs at 120mph. that is a delta of 260lbs. If it performed like that on my car, I should see a ride height change of around 0.375 inches at each rear wheel. Maybe the acceleration is accounting for the difference in the rear due to the squat at lower speeds? But then the front should overrespond since it would raise at low speed accel rates and drop at higher speed accel rates. Ideally, I could do this on a perfect flat road, with no wind, and perform measurements to the control arm, not the tire, at constant speeds. Or get a wind tunnel. Anyone got a spare?

I will say that the tire temp data was pretty sweet. Seeing the tires come up to temp and the loaded edge get hotter after longer corners was some cool feedback. I think adjusting the threshold temps for Green/Red could give some great insight to when I need to run a cool down lap.

The good news is that I got 2nd at the aforementioned time attack!! My time (1:46.3) was a little ways back from a 2023 GT3 RS(1:40.1!!) and I got a position boost from a local crazy fast supra driver’s absence (normally the guy runs 1:41s!). Second place might be the first loser, but I’ll take it!




Then last week I made an unexpected purchase….

[khcoaching]

Originally Posted by eimarshall

Then last week I made an unexpected purchase….
Attachment 1156522
Attachment 1156523

Congrats on P2!

HOLY CRAP - I want to hear about that thing....

[eimarshall]

https://youtu.be/zfde6jje1IQ?si=mAjkAEE5JW2QdM5M

[eimarshall]

Soooo..... Story time!
I had been playing with the idea of either finally doing some power mods on the Camaro(headers, tune) or changing platforms.

I was beginning to plan for power mods. I was shopping for deals and researching headers/tunes, and then thinking about eventually going heads/cam. SCCAforums build thread last year with the Katech package was a huge tease but that is also a huge $$ investment into a platform that has a significant and un-fixable handicap. Weight. I think the lightest 6th Gen SS I've seen on here was into the 3400lb range with a lot of gutting and loss of all amenities. Hell, the GT4 Camaro was still 3130 dry. I don't have $250K just sitting around though.

Alternatively, I was thinking of trying something different. Corvette C6-C7, Viper(GenIV), Cayman, Supra, were all options I was considering. Even a used TA2 race car was on the menu for a bit. I was watching BAT auctions and creeping on forums just to see what was out there and figure out some of the trade offs/benefits of each platform. I also talked with a guy at the SCCA time trials this spring that owned and raced a C6Z, a C7Z and a C8(Z51). He described the C6 as a lightweight scalpel but without the safety nets of advanced PTM modes, the C7 as a sledgehammer, with electronics to keep it from bludgeoning the driver(to a point), and the C8 as a different car entirely, more supercar than racecar. I also figured the C7 would be the smallest change given the shared components with the Camaro. But would it be enough of a change? I wasn’t sure. A Viper would be BAD ASS, but it would have to be one that had likely already been beat on. Cayman’s come with Porsche tax, but Supras(A90) have a pretty solid and fast reputation. Maybe even something totally different. Caterham? Ariel? Lotus?

Choices, choices…… Then, about a month ago, a corvette popped up on BaT.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...port-coupe-20/

I watched the auction with a bit of interest but issues came up. The seller was not responding to questions. Obviously, there were a few answers needed given the modifications. I figured it would either price out of my range (given the single reciept from Katech for $61K!!) or fail to meet reserve. So, I stopped watching it with a day to go to prevent myself from getting into some sort of auction bidding escalation trouble. Apparently with 5 hours to go, the seller popped up and said he had not been notified that the auction went live! He tried to answer questions, but it had already lost interest and did not meet reserve.

I saw the result a day later and did some research on the car. I found it posted on the corvette forum. The forum also popped up with details from the original owner. Apparently, it was not his first Katech Corvette, but it was one of the first C7s Katech had installed their 427 package in. SN 04 specifically. They had also used it as the promo car for the package, complete with an awesome 10 minute video, detailing the build!

https://youtu.be/XR4Mv7kyQck?si=Wc7sY_mdbIKPfXX-

Epic!! The dealer posted a price on the forum that I thought was very reasonable given the money dumped into the car!! But again, they were not responding the comments and DM! I googled the VIN and it popped up at a dealer in Kalispell, MT. I reached out through their website and finally got a response!! I had the dealer give me a good tour on a video chat and haggled a bit. Everything appeared to check out and they agreed on my offer, so I dropped a deposit on the beauty! WOOHOO!! A couple of days to drive over with my trailer and back and she was nicely parked in my garage!!

Honestly, this car is more than I am used to(obviously) and will definitely take some learning. The motor is ****in’ nuts! It pulls ALLLL the way to 7K, which doesn’t sound like that much more than 6.5K but this thing is so linear it feels like 9K!! The twin plate clutch is ahem….quite.. finicky and the cam is pretty aggressive. Getting it off the line is a balance of actually get moving and piss off the neighbors, or kill it and die from embarrassment. It does need a little work and prep for the track. New fluids, brake pads, maybe rotors? Front and rear tires are mismatched, and the cold idle surges a bit, not sure if it needs a tune up or that’s just the way this motor/cam/tune idles. But boy does it wake the dead!!

I loved cutting my teeth on the Camaro but this was a deal I couldn’t turn down. The Camaro was a fantastic and forgiving platform to be my first foray into the muscle car realm. It was my DD for 3 years and then a weekend toy for the last 4. It was an awesome machine that took everything a rookie driver could throw at it. It was a fun development platform for my aero experiments and carbon fiber creations! There are a laundry list of little things I would’ve loved to do with the Camaro, that I won’t get to. I have molds for splitter tunnels ready for layup and more little aero ideas that will never come to fruition (on the Camaro at least). but sadly I can’t justify 2 track cars. I’ll being posting it for sale shortly and hope to see it go to a good home with someone who will drive it like its meant to be driven!!

Also, a big thanks to EVERYONE on this forum, you guys have been inspirational, informative, encouraging and downright BADASS. I will certainly still be on here from time to time as this group has been one of the less dramatic, better organized and most supportive online communities I have been a part of. I hope to still see a few of you at the track and hope to come across more of you in the future!

Keep it on track!
Eddie

[Mi1lerTime]

Congrats, man. That Katech built GS is a machine to have had. Can't wait to hear it at the Ridge.

[eimarshall]

Thanks! The GS will be a ripper for sure!!

For anyone interested, here is a walk around video of the Camaro. https://youtu.be/fOOIZnuA0lw?si=iO5vZ2N9ohUVrye_

[KirillWA]

Originally Posted by eimarshall

Soooo..... Story time!
I had been playing with the idea of either finally doing some power mods on the Camaro(headers, tune) or changing platforms.

I was beginning to plan for power mods. I was shopping for deals and researching headers/tunes, and then thinking about eventually going heads/cam. SCCAforums build thread last year with the Katech package was a huge tease but that is also a huge $$ investment into a platform that has a significant and un-fixable handicap. Weight. I think the lightest 6th Gen SS I've seen on here was into the 3400lb range with a lot of gutting and loss of all amenities. Hell, the GT4 Camaro was still 3130 dry. I don't have $250K just sitting around though.

Alternatively, I was thinking of trying something different. Corvette C6-C7, Viper(GenIV), Cayman, Supra, were all options I was considering. Even a used TA2 race car was on the menu for a bit. I was watching BAT auctions and creeping on forums just to see what was out there and figure out some of the trade offs/benefits of each platform. I also talked with a guy at the SCCA time trials this spring that owned and raced a C6Z, a C7Z and a C8(Z51). He described the C6 as a lightweight scalpel but without the safety nets of advanced PTM modes, the C7 as a sledgehammer, with electronics to keep it from bludgeoning the driver(to a point), and the C8 as a different car entirely, more supercar than racecar. I also figured the C7 would be the smallest change given the shared components with the Camaro. But would it be enough of a change? I wasn’t sure. A Viper would be BAD ASS, but it would have to be one that had likely already been beat on. Cayman’s come with Porsche tax, but Supras(A90) have a pretty solid and fast reputation. Maybe even something totally different. Caterham? Ariel? Lotus?

Choices, choices…… Then, about a month ago, a corvette popped up on BaT.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...port-coupe-20/

I watched the auction with a bit of interest but issues came up. The seller was not responding to questions. Obviously, there were a few answers needed given the modifications. I figured it would either price out of my range (given the single reciept from Katech for $61K!!) or fail to meet reserve. So, I stopped watching it with a day to go to prevent myself from getting into some sort of auction bidding escalation trouble. Apparently with 5 hours to go, the seller popped up and said he had not been notified that the auction went live! He tried to answer questions, but it had already lost interest and did not meet reserve.

I saw the result a day later and did some research on the car. I found it posted on the corvette forum. The forum also popped up with details from the original owner. Apparently, it was not his first Katech Corvette, but it was one of the first C7s Katech had installed their 427 package in. SN 04 specifically. They had also used it as the promo car for the package, complete with an awesome 10 minute video, detailing the build!

https://youtu.be/XR4Mv7kyQck?si=Wc7sY_mdbIKPfXX-

Epic!! The dealer posted a price on the forum that I thought was very reasonable given the money dumped into the car!! But again, they were not responding the comments and DM! I googled the VIN and it popped up at a dealer in Kalispell, MT. I reached out through their website and finally got a response!! I had the dealer give me a good tour on a video chat and haggled a bit. Everything appeared to check out and they agreed on my offer, so I dropped a deposit on the beauty! WOOHOO!! A couple of days to drive over with my trailer and back and she was nicely parked in my garage!!

Honestly, this car is more than I am used to(obviously) and will definitely take some learning. The motor is ****in’ nuts! It pulls ALLLL the way to 7K, which doesn’t sound like that much more than 6.5K but this thing is so linear it feels like 9K!! The twin plate clutch is ahem….quite.. finicky and the cam is pretty aggressive. Getting it off the line is a balance of actually get moving and piss off the neighbors, or kill it and die from embarrassment. It does need a little work and prep for the track. New fluids, brake pads, maybe rotors? Front and rear tires are mismatched, and the cold idle surges a bit, not sure if it needs a tune up or that’s just the way this motor/cam/tune idles. But boy does it wake the dead!!

I loved cutting my teeth on the Camaro but this was a deal I couldn’t turn down. The Camaro was a fantastic and forgiving platform to be my first foray into the muscle car realm. It was my DD for 3 years and then a weekend toy for the last 4. It was an awesome machine that took everything a rookie driver could throw at it. It was a fun development platform for my aero experiments and carbon fiber creations! There are a laundry list of little things I would’ve loved to do with the Camaro, that I won’t get to. I have molds for splitter tunnels ready for layup and more little aero ideas that will never come to fruition (on the Camaro at least). but sadly I can’t justify 2 track cars. I’ll being posting it for sale shortly and hope to see it go to a good home with someone who will drive it like its meant to be driven!!

Also, a big thanks to EVERYONE on this forum, you guys have been inspirational, informative, encouraging and downright BADASS. I will certainly still be on here from time to time as this group has been one of the less dramatic, better organized and most supportive online communities I have been a part of. I hope to still see a few of you at the track and hope to come across more of you in the future!

Keep it on track!
Eddie

Sad news, just saw this! Hope to see you on the Ridge this season. Have you sold the Camaro so far?

[eimarshall]

Just thought I'd drop in and share an fun video. :-P

https://youtu.be/e-wPTLtIspQ?si=AHhnmDY_achMZ8dT