dallasdude

Yes it is good to be able to re-tune yourself. Most of these setups on Caterhams use TPS only for load sensing....no MAP sensor so they make no allowance for altitude....MAP sensors (manifold air pressure) are commonly used in other applications and always with turbo setups, but hard to implement with ITB's. In this case, if your engine was tuned in Colorado, then if it's at WOT (wide open throttle) it is always going to expect that density of air molecules when the TPS tells the ECU WOT. It's going to get a lot more of the molecules at sea level and the ECU will give the same fuel, so it will be lean. You could do an alternate map to upload for big changes in altitude. The T2 is a very high quality "mil spec" ECU, but not a lot of development since I think Cosworth bought the company. It is the spec ECU for FF2000, so a lot of them are used with Zetecs. Quicksilver has worked with them quite a bit. Once you get it tuned it will last forever. The two of the best features of the Haltech I am now using is, it has a built in MAP sensor which can be used to provide secondary air density information even with TPS, and a direct USB (and CAN bus) inputs. The USB to serial adapters are often a PITA with any ECU.

klasik-69 is correct....tuning almost any ECU is the same. Tuners usually feel more comfortable with one or another, but if parameters are set up for the engine to start and run, it comes down to ignition and fuel tables. Basically a spreadsheet with vertical and horizontal columns. Average size may be 16 cells by 16 cells . Engine load goes one way, rpm the other. In the average case idle is in the lower left of the table and full RPM full throttle is in the upper right and everything else is in between. The cells tell the injectors how long to stay open at the point based on load and rpm, or the coils when to fire. So what you need is The tuning software from the company that made the ECR (usually downloadable) The cable to connect the computer A dyno with wideband sensor A tuner willing to nose around in software he hasn't used before, and find where the tables are to tune. Yes lots of tuners won't want to use something different.....full engine load at too lean a mixture can detonate an engine to pieces. There are people who password protect their software....and some you can't download the existing file to edit. But mostly you can download the file and tune it. Save a duplicate also to a jump drive or CD before you start. If klasik-69 found someone to tune his Pectel, then you should be able to. Last Pectel I used was a T2, and the software is DOS based and it uses a strange cable to connect. Usually you just need a USB to RS-232 adapter to connect the computer to the ECU.

You guys have hit of one of the limits of corner weighting.....you want to try and keep front left right balance within 50 pounds or so on a 2500 pound car, probably a lot less on a Caterham. Everything is a compromise, especially with the driver not in the center of the car. I think you give up a little bit of perfect crossweight to get the L/R front balance closer.

I was ordering parts from Mick at Redline this morning and asked about axles. He said they will have both sides in stock Friday. I have never had a problem dealing with them. 011 44 1883 361515 mick@redliinecomponents.co.uk

It will be interesting to see what you come up with. We have come up with ways to substitute or alternate source a lot of parts, but other than buying Caterham boot kits and rebuilding originals, we have not found an alternative for the axles. The Rover direction makes sense, except I believe de dion cars started delivering in the early 90's and it looks to me like the first generation Freelander was not produced until 96.

Sounds like a good setup. If you do use a tape based system like the Longacre, be sure you aren't getting a deflection of the rear tape by the sump. I normally only use this type setup at the track in an emergency....our toe plates are marked for the offset for the pan, based on testing right after the car was done with a laser setup.

The knockback is generally form long sweeping corners....which flex the spindle/wheel bearings and pushes one of the brake pads back in the caliper just so slightly so in the next braking zone, it a takes a little more fluid to bring that pad in contact with the rotor. You will notice people doing a quick double pump to bring the pad back into place before the braking zone. The later updated spindles(2003 up) are beefy enough I think the have no flex, but the wheel bearings still flex and get loose. I use Motul 550 brake fluid. It has a good high temp boiling point, and a better wet point than most so it is practical for street use also.

For me the rears are not so much a problem I do repack the rear wheel bearings every year or two (lets say 10=15 race weekends) with Redline grease. You do have to replace the seals to do that. The fronts we have to adjust a lot.....to keep the just tight enough. I think probably repack them more often than the rears. When the fronts are too loose you get pad knockback (causing a soft pedal and uneven braking) and an out of balance vibration. I let one get loose at COTA and it was pretty miserable most of the race Saturday.

I believe the lower spring collar is from the top of a rear shock for clearance. Not a huge savings in unsprung weight, but I think this is standard procedure on Academy cars.

Congratulations on your record, sounds like you had a fun, safe weekend. As far as SRF traffic, it is a great class, but fortunately in our part of the country they have their own run group. They get lined up in a row on the straights and it is hard to see past the first one. We did have IT and STU in with our run group this past weekend however. Forty cars total (10 EP cars) and some IT cars you lapped a couple times. Andrew and I didn't have as good a weekend (i don't think his dad would mind me saying that)at Texas World Speedway. Andrew had mechanical problems and I could not touch the two guys in front. TWS has to be one of the very most difficult tracks in the country. In my opinion, way more difficult to get right than COTA 100 miles away. I'll never get it right. Andrew is better than me most tracks, but the way better there. Didn't help that I stuck it in fifth instead of third going on the infield on the first lap. A lot of it is about the braking zones and going way deeper than you think you can. It would be great to see video from Andrew. Larger wheels might me nice, but getting a 15X7 or 8 wheel that keeps the wheel weight to 10 or 11 pounds is pricey. Your really need three sets of wheels to go racing, so it adds up pretty quickly. The larger Hoosier Radial slick would work a little better with a 13X7, but the 13X6 is adequate. From when Chip Bond did the series 11 years ago there most be a hundred of those 13X6 wheels lying around. You go to 15's and you start creating problems with aero and roll centers, not the mention the stresses rubber this size puts on an S3 chassis when used to the maximum. Here's a link to the GCR. The part particular to racing Caterham specififications for EP is on pages # 596 and 597 (600 & 601 for the document) http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/2013%20GCR%20-June.pdf If you want to race a Caterham in the US....buy Bob's car. A fresh build done by a Caterham expert and a National Champion. And have fun.

For safety and performance.....in addition to the the other things mentioned, I woud look at updating the Dedion tube and front spindles and hubs. I think there are 7 revisions of Dedion tubes, and you want to want to check into the latest that will work with your shock setup. Earlier ones are prone to failure, especially with stickier tires and track usage. Running over curbs at the track doesn't help either. If the updated front hub and spindle (2003 up I think) will work with your setup, I would consider that. It is stronger for safety, and from a performance standpoint a good upgrade. The standard Spitfire spindle/bearings hub have a certain amount of flex, which in high speed corners can create pad "knockback", giving you a soft petal in in the next breaking zone unless you do a double pump on the petal. Even with the newer setup keeping your wheelbearings adjusted correctly and in good shape is one of the most important components of the braking system. If you don't upgrade this stuff before serious track work, I would at least inspect it closely.

I think the SCCA is trying to be very inclusive on cars and classes, but to have a car in any class that is reasonable to drive as a weekend crusier, and be fully race ready is not very practical anymore. The SCCA was founded with participants driving to the track a long ago, and they have tried to develop classes over the years to stay with that (Showroom Stock, IT and SM), but rules creep and more so the level of competition have made that a thing of the past. To be honest most of your cars are far too nice to subject to the cosmetic and physical abuse of SCCA racing. There is very little metal to metal contact but stuff that gets thrown up off the track from following closely with slicks, racing in the rain that would make it a shame. The passenger side of my car has an Accusump, a halon fire system, the battery, ballast and a cool suit cooler part of the year, so converting back and forth would be a real pain just from that standpoint. I don't mean to disparage anyone here or come off as a smart alec....just trying to pass on what knowledge I have. I think if I was going SCCA (or maybe NASA) racing and was starting again, I'd probably just order a new bare S3 chassis and build up from there. Or call Criag Chima and have him do it. Might be cheaper in the long run...and the front hubs, dedion tube, etc would all be the latest spec.

The car from Ohio went off on the first lap of qualifying at the runoffs last year or would have been at the very front. One of the guys from Houston finnished 5th or 6th. Caterhams have the SCCA EP lap record at: Carolina Motorsports Park 1:41.8 Eagles Canyon Raceway 2:00.32 LaJunta :56.6 New Jersey Motorsports Park (Lightning) 1:13.8 Lime Rock Park :57.9 Miller Motorsports Park East 1:45.7 New Jersey Motorsports Park (Thunder) 1:30.3 Pikes Peak Int'l Raceway (w/Oval 1-2) 1:05.3 Pocono 1:44 Pueblo Motorsports Park 1:39.8 Road Atlanta 1.35.4 Roebling Road 1:17.2 Texas Motor Speedway 1:32.4 VIR - North 1:38.9

I'm a little lighter at 6 feet and about 190 pounds but I am 60 years old. It's really pretty easy to step on the side bar and drop in through thorough the top. One of the guys in Houston racing one outweighs me by probably at least 30-40 pounds and is older than me by several years. One of the other guys from Houston posts on this board occasionally and is about the same size or a little smaller. Both are well over 6 foot. You can go in and out through the side bars but not with a Hans and a helmet on. In through the top is one quick easy motion.... The spec for these cages and cars was developed by the former Caterham distributor in Atlanta and submitted to the SCCA for approval for E Production. The were shipped from England as factory race cars with this cage, an ATL fuel cell, a Firebottle fire system and a master switch on the cowl. From 1999 to 2002 there were about 10-12 built and all but a couple had a Stack 8100 dash. They all had a basically stock Mystique/Contour or Focus engine. They were also raced also outside SCCA in a series that a Caterham dealer (GT Classics) put on across the US. I don't believe any were ever licensed or driven on the street. Five of the cars are being raced with SCCA in Texas and one is in Ohio. One is in the Dakotas. Several have been pretty throughly crashed including one that went off at the kink at Road America last year. Several years ago someone petitioned the SCCA for an alternate cage, and a couple were changed to different cage that was lighter and more aerodynamic, but it was still a full cage quite a bit of side protection. Looked to me like it was would be harder to get in and out of.

I would check with Criag Chima and see what you can build a cage for. He has an imperial dedion available to build it to for Kalsic-69....This is a picture of the cage almost all the cars racing in SCCA use. Caterham had them built by Caged and they were shipped with the "Factory race cars" so freight was not so much an issue. If they have to crate it, crating can be as much as freight. This one has a harness bar added for Hans usage.

I have never had anyone in the Focus community admit it, but I do think the the aluminum crank underdrive pulleys a lot of them use make the potential for oil pump disaster much worse. Inline fours have some harmonics that no matter how well the engines are balanced, you can't tune out. I have read the crank can flex a degree or two every time a cylinder fires. The stock crank damper or harmonic balancer absorbs some of this...it has a certain amount of mass and a rubber isolator between inner and outer sections. On Zetecs (and Miata engines) the oil pump surrounds and drives directly off the crankshaft nose, so it is where a lot of these hammer blow type forces wind up....although it goes throughout the engine. Bottom line is if I was building an 8000 Zetec rpm engine from scratch, I'd probably use the billet gears if it was going to spend much time at close to those speeds....but in any case I would not be tempted to install the aluminum pulley on a wet sump engine......dry sump you normally use an external oil pump so vibration is not so much an issue. I would imagine the power on the Supersport engines drops off past 7500, especially with a stock muffler, so no reason to run past that anyway. Dyno will tell the real tale.

Its pretty easy to install the gears if you have the oil pump in your hand. Not so easy to get the oil pump in your hand. I wouldn't worry about doing it unless you doing something else where you have the engine out. Where you have the rev limiter set now is plenty safe. I don't know who built these Supersport engines....there might have been an alternate solution installed when they were put together.

Hoefi is correct....the stock Zetec oil pump gears are made out of powdered metal and can shatter. My experience with Miata engines this usually only happened if someone used an aluminum underdrive pulley on the front of the crank instead of the stock damper....creating a resonance at high RPM that the nose of crank transferred to the oil pump gears. The billet gears are very good insurance for higher RPM Zetecs They are sold by a couple people but Central Florida Motorsports is where they all come through as far as I know. I have used a couple sets and just ordered some more...

As far as your VCT question....there are three different Zetecs used in Caterhams. Mystique/Contour Variable exhaust cam timing (commonly referred to as VCT) Focus No variable timing on either cam Focus SVT Variable intake cam timing (mostly just called SVT) VCT/SVT is easily identified with a "bump" on the plastic timing belt cover over the variable camshaft nose. All three cylinder heads and cam covers are different also. Yours should be Focus with a black plastic cam cover. No bumps. As far as tuning your car, knowledge of your ECU and software is a definite plus, but the basic principles are the same for most all ECU's....especially if you have a file that already works. If the dyno operator worked with that ECU software before than everything goes much faster. Some are more open to working with new ECU's so ask around.

Pectel was bought by Cosworth. The dealer in the US now is Apexspeed Technology. [/url]http://www.apexspeedtech.com/ The guys at Quicksilver know quit a bit about the T2 also. I have a copy of a later manual somewhere if you need one. You probably don't need to run 60 psi for fuel pressure. I suspect the injectors in your Supersport were upgraded from the factory Focus grey tops (19lb) to something larger. FF2000's/Continentals I believe mostly use stock injectors, but they make about 20 hp over the stock Focus so the higher fuel pressure makes them act like a larger injector than they are. 60 PSI is about 20 more than stock, so it makes a 19 pound injector act like about a 25 pound injector. If you already have a 25 or 30 pound injector (rated at 43.5 PSI), then 60 PSI would give you too much fuel. Bottom line is if the plastic part of the injectors are grey you need every bit of 60 PSI. If not they are probably uprated to a larger injector with a design pressure of 43.5 PSI. 200 NA HP normally requires 25-30 pound injectors. SVT injectors are about 28 pounds. Since you are in the development stage, I would suggest you consider a WB with a direct display. It will let you know what's really going on in real time. You can output the 0-5 volt to the ECU at the same time. Hope this is of some help.

Pretty sophisticated race car. The 016. Whats the speed on the back straight at Road Atalanta?

The Zetec setup Birkin (Dick Brink) was working on was going to use water or water/alcohol injection because it is hard to put an intercooler in a Seven. As scannon said it can be done. There a lot of Focuses (Foci?) with superchargers or turbos. I think packaging and intercooler makes people people leery about using in a 7. The Mazda 1600 and 1800 engines are very robust, especially the 1800, but the thing that makes them especially nice for turbo/supercharged applications is they all come with piston squirters....nozzles that spray oil on the underside of the piston for cooling. The Flyin Miata guys can tell you way more than I know about Turbo Miatas. These squirters can be added by a machine shop to other engines, but they come on Zetec SVT blocks. So if you were building a boosted Zetec, it would be ideal to start with a SVT block (with aftermarket low compression pistons and hd rods). I don't think this setup gives up much to the Miata engines for a boosted application. Funny I just moved one of each across the garage this morning and I can tell you which one weighs more. With 15" DOT tires and the stock fifth, you are still probably going to be a little tall for maximum top speed with 200 hp at 7000, even with the 3.92. The HP you are dealing with is not very different from what we have in our restricted Zetec SCCA EP cars. We do over 125 on longer tracks with a cage almost as big as the car.

Here's the chart and a graph also. Note the nice short drops especially in the higher gears on the 6 speed. The final result at max speed is however the same as your current rear end with the standard T-9 in fourth (both are 1-1 there). You'd just be able to get there faster with the six speed. On a track only car, you could probably accomplish the same thing with a Quaife Rocket. I spoke with Dick Brink about the turbo Zetec when I was at his place a couple months ago and it seemed to be on the back burner, but you should check with him. He was making progress on the the Duratec. combogear.pdf

If you are going to use fifth, even a .87 fifth with 15" DOT tires you probably need a 4.11 with a Zetec for maximum speed. None of the factory Sierra rears I think came with anything below a 3.92. Raceline has sold a 4.11 and some other lower ratios, but right now they are out and looking for another supplier to manufacture them. A group buy would certainly help them. If you have your tire diameter I'd be glad to run the numbers on for you for your actual current combo or an alternate. I'd see where the dyno says your power peak is and be sure you are optimized. Aero tweaks here and there will certainly help, but it would be good to get input from other people on this board to see what 140mph takes. I would think its probably over 250 hp which is almost out of reach for a streetable NA Zetec (TurboFocus1 is the expert on that), but a moderate build for a Duratec. All other things being equal, about 35+ hp more and 35 pounds less weight for a Duratec vs Zetec.

For maximum speed you want to be able be at the power peak of your engine at what the maximum speed for the car is. I think 202 hp at the crank is going to push a Caterham to about 130 mph or so. I suspect the hp peak for this engine is about 7000 rpm, although the dyno will tell the real story. This calculation shows that in fourth with a 3.62 and a 185/70-13 (or any 1815 mm tire), you are about optimized. If the power peak is above or below 7000, you could benefit from a change in gearing to be at your max hp when everything equalizes (hp vs drag). The bad thing about using this combination on the track (3.62 with the stock T-9 gearset) is you have to use second at some tracks.....and the gap from second to third on a standard (non BGH or Quaife) T-9 is big. The drop from third to fourth also hurts because the drop occurs at at a higher speed with the 3.62 and hurts acceleration getting to the top speed. catgearing.pdf