Sgt.Gator

Next race is this weekend at Portland International Raceway. I'll be racing in the ST class on Saturday and Sunday. I'm forgoing the Mini Enduro. It's forecast to be 109 degrees on Thursday, hopefully a lot cooler by Sat/Sun. It will be another good test of our cooling setup.

The Blue Sake Bomber is back on track. Arcflash did an outstandingly quick job on the wire repair. We have put off the LINK ECU till November. I'm heading up to ORP on Friday to instruct for Star Projects the day before the 24hours of Lemons race. My intent is to use the BSB for my part of the lead -follow exercise with my students. It should serve well for a test to be sure it's ready for competition.

My helmet is just above the rear hoop because I didn't notice when we pulled the driver seat out to work on the fuel tank it didn't get put back in the same tilt bolt hole in the base. The stewards decided not to black flag me, but did meet me at my paddock space after the race about it! The Radical SR3 is almost always the overall winner in our Enduro race.

The races / new engine break in were going well. I'd do a 15 min qualifying, pull the AcceessPort data log, send it to Josh at Arcflash in Bend. He'd make a small change to the map, I go back out for the next session. Both the ST and Enduro qualifying went fine. In the ST race everything was fine then I saw my oil pressure had dropped a bit, then the oil temp alarm went off. Crap, somehow in the grid I had turned off the pdm switch for the oil cooler fan! I got it back on while running a couple 10 second slower laps and the oil dropped back down from 260 to 200. Then the Enduro, another map edit. 20 minutes into the one hour race I noticed that I was losing front grip which I thought was greasy tires, and my lap times were slower by 3-5 seconds. Then at the end of the front straight Bang!. . CEL and dash lights go crazy, almost no power. I pull off the track behind the turn 2 corner station. I figure I've blown the engine. Crap. Towed on a flatbed hauler to the paddock. Boxkita is right there......he's always there at Pacific when I blow engines.....I tell him he's banned from coming to another of my races there ever again. We discover the left front tire is shredded. The shredded tire has eaten into the wire harness that runs in the top of the wheel well. This may sound strange, but I was so relieved and even happy! We are going to redo the wiring and ecu anyway. This just moves the timetable up from next winter to much sooner, as soon as the wiring and ecu on the 818R is complete. There were some warning signs which I failed to recognize in real time, but I see now. More good judgement > experience> bad judgement.

I really hope not! Hope to see you and anybody else that wants to hang out.

The STI is headed to Pacific Raceways for the Saturday ST and NWMECS Enduro races. We're breaking in a new engine so will be running less than the ST class HP ratio, much less the SST class cars. So we won't be competitive in class but it's all in the plan to have either the STI or the 818R ready for the fall Cascades 8 hour enduro. Boxkita are you going to be there?

I can't think of a way the rtv can get from the AVCS into the pressure side of the oil system. Certainly the return low pressure side to the pan. But to get into the pressure side from there it has to go thru the oil pump, then the oil filter. The filter should catch it. It could come from the case halves rtv when manufactured. Some could get into the pressure side. This longblock is stock STI. Only the valve covers and oil pump have ever been off. Either of those send rtv to the filter first. On the STI IAT: Max IAT was 127 for just a couple seconds. Mostly IATs were 108 to 117. This was running Min boost. ORP is at 2,300'.

We swapped the failed turbo in the 818R for a new IHI VF48 High Flow. We now know the what caused the turbo to fail: A tiny RTV gasket plug stuck in the oil feed banjo line in the turbo. The oil feed line did not have the oem wire filter, most builders remove them. The plug was a little cone shape small enough to move thru the line from the engine, but large enough to completely plug the line into the turbo. I have no idea how it got into the pressure side of the oil system without being caught in the oil filter first. We are installing a Vibrant oil feed -04AN filter in the new line. A new LINK ECU is also going in along with a fuel cell. More on that soon. Meanwhile testing the new engine in the STI went well. No boost creep/spike. I'm really impressed with how cool the engine is staying. On a 100 degree day we ran 4 sessions for a total of 1.5 hours of track time. The coolant temp, oil temp, tranny temp, diff temp all stayed below 195 degrees! Oil pressures rock solid lap after lap in all corners. And for the first time I can ever remember on a 100 degree day, when I came off track after each session and idled across the grid and up into the paddock, at engine idle the oil pressure still read 25 psi! Normally it drops to 15 or even under 10 psi because the oil is approaching 250 degrees. I'm optimistic we have figured out the right recipe for keeping the engine cool.

Update on this: "Saturday at ORP was a downer. The STI was running lean and still has boost control issues despite installing a new downpipe and re-plumbed the Tial EWG. A compression test showed fine, but the leakdown test showed a leak in an intake valve. I have a spare engine ready to swap in, so we called it a day and took it to the shop to start the swap." 1) The Tial EWG was cooked to the point of the EBCS vacuum lines being brittle. They were literally toasted. We've rebuilt the ewg and and are running hard lines for the EBCS and coolant to it, see pics. The EBCS lines are stainless. The coolant lines are temporarily aluminum, we'll swap those out for stainless at the next service after we break in the engine at ORP. 2) We sent the heads and block to Outfront for their evaluation. They found one cam lobe and it's follower/bucket/lifter damaged. Did the bucket damage the cam or did the cam damage the bucket? Hard to tell, it's a chicken and egg thing. BC cams was contacted and they have agreed to replace the cam under warranty. Thanks BC for support! Outfront is doing the head work including replacing all the buckets. 3) Outfront went thru the block and although no damage we went ahead and replaced the bearings and rings. This block/heads will become the new spare engine. I hope not to need it for a very long time, but history says that's not likely between running the STI and the 818R. :o These pics are a work in progress on the engine stand. The lines will have heat protection and will be secured before it goes in the car. ...............

The weights went up and down based on which class I was mostly running in. SPM has no minimum, ST is 10/HP, SST is 7.5lbs/hp. And I used to have ballast bolted under the floorboards (under the rear seat). Not sure if there is any ballast still there, I think I took it out to run SPM. BTW I had the JRZ coilovers rebuilt. The rebuild cost as much as a new set KWs. Boxkita there's a Track Subies For Sale group on Facebook, you might get more action there. I'll invite you to the group.

Sorry for the delayed response. Why I don't use Shockproof....From the Redline Gear Oil Tech PDF: "ShockProofTM EP Gear Oil - a unique lubricant containing a suspension of solid microscopic particles as an extreme pressure agent. The viscosity characteristics allow the lubricant to resist throwoff and provide a film thickness greater than an SAE 250 grade, with the same low fluid friction as with the 75W90. Recommended for off-road racing and problem gearboxes. Also available in LightWeight and SuperLight viscosities." I don't Off Road Race (as in sand and rocks), and I don't have a problem tranny. And I copy now from this thread on NASIOC: https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=911946&highlight=shockproof "SuperLight ShockProof™ A unique product with the viscosity of 75W90 gear oil but lower internal friction similar to that of an ATF. Used when temperatures are not high and when the maximum power output is required such as in stock car qualifying laps. Used in two-stroke and four-stroke motocross transmissions (often mixed in equal parts with LightWeight ShockProof™ Gear Oil). Used in 80cc and 125cc shifter kart transmissions. Used in low-power road racing transaxles like Formula Vee and low-power SCCA Production classes (dog-ring type, generally not syncro application where this product can be slippery)." "LightWeight ShockProof™ A unique gear oil designed to lubricate racing transmissions and transaxles which see serious loads (not recommended for most syncro-type transmissions). It has excellent low-temperature flow which allows easier shifting when cold. May be used to obtain maximum power transfer in racing differentials which do not see high temperatures. Similar to a 75W140 gear oil, but with the lower internal friction of an SAE 30 motor oil. Used in two-stroke and four-stroke motocross transmissions (often mixed in equal parts with SuperLight ShockProof™ Gear Oil). Used in most road-racing differentials with moderate power and dogring racing transaxles." "Heavy ShockProof™ A unique lubricant containing a suspension of solid microscopic particles as an extreme pressure agent--unique solid dispersion which cushions gear teeth to help prevent tooth breakage and allows the use of lower viscosities. Recommended for heavily-loaded racing differentials and transmissions, Off Road racing and problem gearboxes. The viscosity characteristics allow the lubricant to resist throwoff and provide a film thickness similar to a 75W250 grade, while providing the same low fluid friction as an SAE 75W90." 75W90 NS This GL-5-type gear oil doesn't contain the friction modifiers for limited-slip hypoid differentials. This makes the transmission synchronizers come to equal speeds more quickly, allowing faster shifting and much easier low-temperature shifting. Can also be used in racing limited-slip differentials where weak spring design causes too much wheel spin." <<>> Finally, Redline posted in that thread: "Guys, there used to be issues at times with the medium coming out of suspension with Shockproof, but changes to the formula a few years back solved all of that. While the theory that Shockproof's medium could wear on syncros is realistic but seldom realized, it's more of an issue that this fluid doesn't work when filters, screens, pumps, or small lines are invovled. It can cause clogging due to its affinity for metal, so it's more suitable for dog boxes and/or really synchro splash boxes. We hate to be so vague with application data on this product, but it's tough to know the details of every gearbox and where complications could arise. However, we do hear from lots of happy customers with Subarus that use Shockproof. We still need to recommend the NS, as it's a GL5 that meets the Sube requirement. Best, Cameron Evans Red Line Oil And We won't tell you that Shockproof works in the STi simply because we haven't seen it for ourselves. There are some pumps and coolers that can use Shockproof, but you need to have a lot of pump pressure and pretty big lines to ensure that the cholesterol effect due to affinity for metal won't clog it up. Again, we're careful about our reputation and level of expertise. This is a relatively small gearbox and that little pump might not be able to push the fluid. There are many applications where we are very dialed in with the top builders or racers, so making an application is a no brainer. The coefficient of friction with Shockproof is actually lower than with 75W90NS, so wearing out synchros isn't very likely. When comparing Shockproof to our traditional gear oils, it's first a matter of making sure it doesn't get stuck in a pump, line or filter. When it's then deemed safe to use it's a matter of shiftability--if it won't shift the way you'd like, it probably isn't treating the syncros well. If all proves fine, then you're good to go. Does that help? Cameron Evans Red Line Oil" <<>> IMHO Shockproof may make sense for dog gear boxes, but not for production trannys like ours.

RE: the 818R 1) Raise rear wing above the halo roll bar turbulence. 2) lower front end, possibly with 15" wheels if I can make them fit. 3) Re position the front splitter angel. Right now it points up slightly. I need to get it flat or add a air dam. RE: the STI electric power steering: Pump on passenger floorboard: Reservoir mounted in air bag space:

Thanks! One more track note. I love the Garmin Catalyst. The little Garmin lady's voice..."next right turn brake later". "Good Job!". Amazing. Except at the re-fuel we took the rear wing off to see how it effected my lap times. This race is a non-chicane race at PIR, which means a very long front straight at WOT. Would the higher top speed make it worth it? It only took a few laps to say naught. At the end of the straight the braking was not nearly as solid, drastically reducing my braking confidence. So I started braking sooner and lighter. That meant each lap with no wing the Garmin Lady kept saying "Next Right Brake Later", "Brake Harder". After I spun out in another corner I pitted again and put the wing back on. Taking the wing off resulted in quicker acceleration down the straight 1-3mph faster, but ultimately with the wing and without the wing I hit the same top speed before the brake zone. The bad aero of the roll cage was limiting the ultimate top speed, the added drag of the wing didn't matter. My fastest laps were with the wing installed.

The Mini Enduro at PIR was great. The car ran well with just a minor boost spike issue that I'm sure can be tuned out. The 818R showed it has promise in the P1 class, running about 1.5 to 2 seconds per lap behind the class leader. The most important thing was the data image, if you race a Subaru powered car you know how sweet it is to have these numbers on the fastest lap, 17 laps into the race. Now that the critical temps and pressures are solid we can get on to tuning the suspension, tires, and most important, the nut behind the wheel! Thanks to our sponsors and partners at Subaru of Bend and Arcflash. The grid:

Yes on all of the above. Regarding fan shrouds: They make the fans far more effective when the fans are on. They are a hindrance when the fans are off. On my race cars I only have one fan, and no shrouds because at speed on the race track they get in the way. They only come on idling in the pits/paddock, usually while waiting to be weight scaled after a race. But you need them for towing up a mountain! Or idling in bumper to bumper traffic with the A/C on. One other interesting aero thing, the opening to any air duct that is "ramming" air into a duct should be smaller that the widest part of the duct, anywhere from 50% to 35% of the wide part. Think of it as a reverse cone shape. The small end is the opening, the large end is at the radiator.

IMHO you should seal up the spaces around the radiator edges first and see how it goes.

The warranties are very different. Mishimoto's is far better, especially if you buy direct from their website. Try to find Koyo's warranty and when you do read all the fine print....

The Mishimoto X-Line in the LGT and STI, although the Performance version would probably be fine. What I've figured out is that ducting into the radiator is most important, and extraction out the hood is also important. If you are running a TMIC the positive pressure it creates in the engine bay reduces the effectiveness of the flow into the radiator. I have an aero studies video where the air flow is actually going in reverse because of the big oem STI hood scoop. I've raced in ambient temps of 100 degress, the coolant temps stay fine around 200-220. So make sure to seal up all the spaces around the radiator where air can bypass going thru the radiator. And make sure you have the right caps in the right places. The one with ears goes on the burp/expansion tank, the one without ears on the radiator. That includes the supplied cap from Mishimoto. Here's what they say: "The provided Mishimoto radiator cap should replace the stock cap located on the expansion tank. The stock cap attached to the radiator should be installed on the Mishimoto Performance Aluminum Radiator. The Mishimoto radiator cap is a two way valve, while the stock radiator cap is a single valve. Due to the difference in construction, the Mishimoto cap cannot be used on the radiator. If the Mishimoto cap is fit on the radiator, overheating may occur." Hope this helps!

Prepping for the 1 hour Mini Enduro at Portland International Raceway on Saturday. We're taking the 818R and will be in the NWMECS P1 class. With R comps we'd be in P0, but we're trying out Toyo R1Rs 200TW tires which let's us drop down one class. There's several Spec E46 cars registered in P1 so it should be fun!

Scargo and White Zombie asked a couple of questions over on my NASIOC thread that I thought would be useful here too: The Video/Data integration is outstanding if you are using the Review function on the Garmin device. The AI software shows you specific places on the track where it suggests you can improve. Awesome! I looked further into downloading the video and data to post on YouTube and have on my laptop at the track and desktop at home. It's Awful! There is no explanation in the Owners Manual on how to do it, but I eventually found one on the Support website under the FAQs. It's possible to download the video as MPEG 4 files, but the data doesn't come with it. It's just raw track video with no data overlay. And the process is very buggy, it failed several times. There is a second micro SD card slot on the side of the Garmin where if you put in a card it will hold the video (they say). That would make it a lot easier to load the files in a PC/Laptop. I've loaded a card but not tested it. But it still won't have the data. Garmin spent all their engineering resources on the AI in this device for this first version. I expect updated software will make the video/data export a lot better eventually. The Garmin cloud account is not for video/data. It's a BS sharing web platform. Scargo, the 818R on 200 treadwear street Toyo Proxes R1R tires was consistently generating 1.4 to 1.6 Gs lateral and 1.15 to 1.17 braking. I'm sure I can do little better on the late braking Gs, I have yet to lock them up front or rear. I'm pretty happy with the lateral Gs on the 200 TW tires.

Saturday at ORP was a downer. The STI was running lean and still has boost control issues despite installing a new downpipe and re-plumbed the Tial EWG. A compression test showed fine, but the leakdown test showed a leak in an intake valve. I have a spare engine ready to swap in, so we called it a day and took it to the shop to start the swap. We spent Easter Sunday at Oregon Raceway Park running the 818R. It ran great other than a minor gas leak around the fuel sending unit when the tank is overfilled. 5 sessions. The first was with no wings, no engine covers, just to see if anything had sprung a leak or come loose over the winter. Then I did 4 more sessions testing wing configurations. It was a cool day, in the 50s and 60s, and very windy in the afternoon which made the aero testing not very valid. But I was sure pleased with the engine/tranny data: Coolant Temps under 190 all day, mostly in the 170-180 range. Oil temps 190 to 196 Oil Pressures rock solid thru all the high G turns tracking with RPMs, from 55 psi to 65 psi. Trans temps averaged 145. Never went over 155. Crankcase Vacuum was excellent, its stayed in the -8psi to -3.5 psi the whole time. It never went positive. It's so nice to track all day with solid temps and pressures! I hooked up my new Garmin Catalyst, along with my AIM data and Racelogic Video HD2 Vbox. Up until now I've considered the Video Vbox to be the best driver improvement tool but I think the Garmin has changed my mind. There's nothing quite like having the little Garmin lady's voice in you ear, "At next right turn brake later"; "At next left turn apex earlier"; "At next right turn brake softer".....and so forth. She seems to speak to you on no more than three places on the track on any one lap so she's not overloading you on instructions. And she even gives compliments when you follow her instructions! And the post session review process is so much less complicated than AIM and Vbox. It's miles better than an AIM Solo. It doesn't have al the capabilities of the Vbox, but the Vbox doesn't talk to you while your cooking around the track either. The Vbox has a predictive lap timer, and so does the Catalyst, but having the voice is incredible. It has an internal speaker and hooks up to Bluetooth thru your car's speaker system too, but in a race car there's no way to hear the internal speaker. So I bought a set of Bluetooth earbuds. They are uncomfortable under the helmet at first until the helmet liner compresses around them. but then the first time she says "Carry more speed thru the corner" she has you hooked. I haven't figured out how to download the data or save the video. Still working on that. Garmin wants you to save it in the their cloud account..... Next up is Test & Tune on Friday April 30 at Portland International, then racing on Saturday and possibly Sunday too in the 818R.

My Volvo electric P/S installation is not something you would do in a street car. Because it's a full on race car with no passenger seat too, we mounted the pump to the passenger side floorboard, close to the oem ecu. We drilled holes thru the floorboard to the Mooresport rack, which makes for very short lines. We remote mounted the reservoir up on the dash bar where it's easy to see the level and add fluid. Sorry no pics, I'll post a couple later. On the rack we used the Mooresport AN adapter: We have an issue with the Mooresport subframe fitment, it rubs on the steering rack rubber bellows and during the course of the race we wore a tear in it. We noticed this when we first setup the rack in the subframe and hoped it would take a lot longer to cause a problem, but no. We are hoping to find a smaller rubber bellows that will fit and not rub. Lots more upgrades happening over the winter. To start with we are probably going to entirely redo the wiring and gauges with the new AIM PDM + Display + Logger. Most of the aftermarket gauges will be replaced with AIM sensors and the display. Also a mount for the new Garmin Catalyst. We doing CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) now to see how they will all fit. AIM PDM/Logger https://www.aim-sportline.com/en/products/pdm32-pdm08/index.htm and Garmin Catalyst https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/690726 In the spring I'll be giving y'all a review on both products. We are also having an issue with boost creep. It doesn't show on the dyno but it does on the track. It may be related to the dyno being at 4,000' and racing at sea level. We have talked with ATP and have some options on how to fix that issue. Other mods: We are replacing the -AN line from the DS tank in the trunk back to the oem oil pump intake with solid tubing most of the way. More flow, less restriction, less weight. Rear Diff Pump & Cooler and sensor to the AIM logger. The windshield has taken a beating over the years and has a couple of cracks. We are debating replacing with a polycarbonate windshield from racingshields.com. We made our own rear poly windshield so we may make our own front one too. The issue is scratch resistance in a car that could go several hours racing in the rain with the wipers on. Racingshields makes strong claims about their scratch resistant coating. The flat bottom has some off track disturbances to it that need to be fixed.

Redline 75W90NS in both my Subaru powered race cars. 5 speed 818R, 6 speed STI. Do not use the Redline Shockproof.

Correct. The BSB & 818R (and my former LGT Race Wagon) use a hybrid system. The Aviaid Dry Sump empties the pan and now the heads to a tank, the tank supplies the oil to the oem oil pump. The new twist is the third stage for the heads. That was only made possible in the former A/C compressor location by using the smaller third stage so it will fit up next to the intake manifold. Subaru Kits ARE (Gary Armstrong), Cosworth, and Aviaid use the hybrid style. The Roger Clark Motorsport, Dailey Engineering, and Magnus are full on dry sump systems, replacing the oem pump.

We finally got in a new shipment of the DB20 clamps, it took months to get them. All available on our EBay store page: https://www.ebay.com/str/colonelredracing