DTE Powertrain

FYI~ We have just completed a specialized C5 Corvette IRS differential for one of our customers who will be competing for a high-speed record run at the Bonneville Salt Flats this year during Speed-Week in his twin turbocharged 400+c.i. LSx powered C5 Corvette!
http://www.scta-bni.org/Bonneville/Bonn_main.html

The differential built for him doesn't appear to be any different from our other differentials we build by looking at it on the outside; however, the fun stuff is on the inside~ Low drag custom bearings/races, light weight lubricant, altered bearing oiling metering, unique assembly setup to sustain very high speed operation, 2.xx gearing, etc. etc. among other things... Ultra-low parasitic drag is the key here for this application and his target is 257 MPH if I recall correctly... Also, as I understand it, he has already competed in the Texas Mile high-speed event last year with our HD driveline products/differentials with very good success and competing at the BSF is a natural step for him this year, as he was unable to attend last year as he planned. (He's raced BSF before..)

We're very excited for him and his racing endeavors! We'll be attending Speed Week this year (in August) in support of him, so if any of you would like to attend to see this car run, come on out- as Bonneville is a *must-see* if you've never been there. Absolutely awe-inspiring, hot as the blazes of hell and salt as far as your eye can see is the only accurate description I can think of that even comes *remotely* close to describing the real thing... You can't even see the shut-down marker on the other end with high powered binoculars due to the curvature of the Earth!!

We would like to thank Mr. Pilgrim for choosing DTE to build him a high performance Corvette IRS differential for this unique application and we look forward to building on that success by expanding our HD driveline product presence in other unique racing area venues in the future that we're working on now.

Good luck Mr. Pilgrim and we'll see you on the salt in August!


Best Regards,
Phil Rickard
Dynotech Engineering Inc.

DTE Powertrain

G'Morning.

No Go

257 mph is smoking! Faster than a Bugatti...

Good luck!

Slalom4me

Are you able to discuss absolute or relative HP numbers that such
modifications lead to?

Do the changes relegate the diff to top speed (5 to 7 mi) usage only,
or can the same modifications be applied to track cars?

.

steve40th

Its good to see some serious engineering going into the C5/C6 diffs.
When Callaway did their Sledgehammers 254 mph, was there anything done different to the D44 back then?

DTE Powertrain

We're uncertain what the power output of that car is, but suffice to say- it's got to be quite a bit to propel a full-size, full-bodied sports car in the soft salt, at very poor DA's in the 100*+ Summer desert heat at those speeds!

The differential is specifically built to reduce heat generation and increase vehicle speed due to reduced parasitic/frictional drag. A number of the metallurgical treatments, diff. build techniques and so-on that we've developed over the years in building these differentials for street/track applications, have been derived from what we've learned from our customers using our products in the field at various racing apps. of some sort.

All of these techniques/modifications, etc can be applied to any differential we build- regardless of application to the benefit of the customers.

DTE Powertrain

Don't know.

They did 250+ on pavement, which is *drastically* different and much easier to do than a similarly prepared car would do at the B.S.F. The DA out there can change as much as 5300+ ft. from the morning to the mid-day because of the heat! Tough to tune a car succesfully when the elevation target the car is tuned at is constantly moving and that's why it's such a big deal for *anyone* to break/set a record in anything out there. That place is really something to see...

steve40th

I can attest the air being thin up there. I knwo there are variables etc, especially on the surface itself. I was just curiousas the differnence of the build up back then with the D44 as opposed to what people are able to do now.

Pumba

Phil,

Congratulations on your Salt Flats Diff.

Can you let us know your progress on the Cast Iron C5 differential that you showed at last November's PRI show?

.

DTE Powertrain

When the time comes, yes. One can't possibly imagine what it takes to develop something like this and I'll post new information on this product as it unfolds and/or when I have the time to dedicate to the computer screen here to answer questions.

We're *VERY* busy here right now...


Best Regards,
Phil

DTE Powertrain

We're going back to Bonneville this year!

DTE Powertrain Inc. has built our open speed racing customer another unique, custom DTE Corvette IRS Differential for this year that is designed for high speed, extreme heat desert operation and he'll be competing at the Bonneville Salt Flats World Finals in a couple of weeks.

He's added more power to this year's combination in an effort to break his own previous World Land Speed record using our driveline products of 236.663 MPH in his class and the new target is 250+ MPH, which he had the capability to do last year, but time ran out as the weather conditions soured.

We wish him the best of luck in his racing endeavors and we look forward to assisting him once again in setting another World Land Speed Record using DTE Powertrain Corvette IRS Driveline Products!

We'll keep everyone posted in another thread when the time comes.


Regards,
Phil