When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have to ask, What organization will let you race without a cage? Why would anyone take this risk? Is this just an HPDE car?
I wouldn't even do serious HPDE without full safety! What is your life worth?
and we have the obligatory "you must have a full cage or you WILL die" post.
obviously there are lots of organisations that let you run without a cage if you are in timed lap/ HPDE / autocross etc type events. Other organisations allow street cars to run events without cages. Road cars are built to certain crash standards and have crumple zones as part of the crash safety factor. Just because they dont have a full cage doesnt mean they arent safe to track.
When you run certain types of competition a full cage is obviously mandated by all organisations.
If you will only track with a full cage then thats your decision and thats ok but the rest of the world is allowed some flexibility.
If you will only track with a full cage then thats your decision and thats ok but the rest of the world is allowed some flexibility.
This guy gets it.
We all take risks every day and some we select (riding a bicycle next to a major road, driving an un-caged car really fast, dating a hot chick) and some we don't. Freedom is a hell of a drug.
Sledgehammer is testing at COTA this weekend. Stay tuned for more updates since the car has been on JennyCraig and SlimFast both for the past three weeks. <EEEEEK>
Testing went really well. The GSpeed crew was prepared to test a lot and test we did. Ride heights, diffuser, wing angles, canards, splitter length, ***** on dampers....we have a LOT of data to sift through to correlate with the debriefing notes so we are fully prepared for NASA Nationals at COTA in a few weeks.
To say the car has undergone a transformation the last 3 weeks would be an understatement. Heres a few pics. Full write up with all info and knowledge gained AFTER NASA nationals next week. Thanks to all who follow, this car has pushed forward some cool ideas, and its neat to see our customers gain from it.
Heads on, measuring for pushrods.
Shortblock nearing completion at HPR. ATI balancer saved 2 lbs. Nice. Rotational too.
MAGNESIUM C6Z Cradle! Saved 12 lbs, and got us into a C6 rack as well, which are easier to find. Yes, it bolts right up. Lower control arms are IDENTICAL. Drop spindles added 1.2lbs per corner...
Engine out, 9 days before testing. The LS6 lived a good life, its actually going into a fellow competitors ST2 spares bin. It needed a clutch, balancer (Wobbled) and lifters refreshed, so why not change the whole engine?! LOL.
For weight, we chose the LS9 oil cooler setup. This combo is LIGHT (4.8lbs) and cools just fine for 285whp. Its also a lot less work for our condensed timeline.
Finally got the tilton on, what a relief. It drives nice. Stock master cylinder. Not to be driven on track. Thanks to our friends from Bruce lowerie chevrolet for loaning a nice trailer with good slope and a winch... Problems of being located at the track, I guess.. LOL
Cradle in, and engine bay cleaned. We took care to not break the brake lines loose, as the brakes on this car are from another world.
oil cooler packaging.
Checking header fitment. American racing C5 headers clear the LS9 oil cooler.
We chose the LS3 GS drysump for several reasons- it was the lightest drysump of all the options! since HP didnt matter, but packaging did, we have no concerns with it. Its backed by a 3 gallon peterson tank, so starvation isnt an issue. Were using a stock 09 pump/pump gear.
2014 NASA Texas TT1 Champion
2015 NASA Texas ST1 Champion
2018 NASA TTU & TT3 National Champions
2019 NASA ST2 National Champion
2019 NASA Texas TT2 Champion
2020 SCCA Majors COTA GT2 pole sitter
2020 SCCA Trans Am Road Atlanta SGT Winner
2022 NASA National Champion ST2
2023 NASA National Champion ST2
2023 NASA National Champion TT2
3 gallon tank. We moved it into the passenger footwell for weight distribution, and for future use of the area behind the tire for Aero, or headers down the road.
New C&R radiator saved approx 12lbs, no fan necessary, but we did lay it down and had to build this shroud.
completed shroud out of the car.
35lbs lost with this Braille G30. Wonderful battery, happy to have found a resilient battery that is light!
Fender wheel house spats. These are worth significant downforce.
Testing 335 clearance. we did not modify the horizontal most surface of the wheel well, per the rules.
more 335 testing.
Aluminum box around the drysump tank. Added 4.8LBS.
Completed laying the rad down, and a little shroud on the back side incase we have a pressure differential we dont know about, which would cause an increase in water temp. Rad is dual pass, extruded core.
Air intake complete. We opted to put the MAF back in, because we have low HP. It worked fine.
Carbon splitter in the works! End product saved 20lbs.
All done, 1am before heading to COTA for testing... 2650 full fuel, no driver.... NOT BAD.
We finished chassis testing early, and brought all of the parts to install the diffuser. It wasnt a bolt on affair, we had to literally transfer everything over and BUILD it at the track.
Diffuser on, her current state.
Showing big brother how to do it.
Getting a once over, and a good look at. ZERO mechanical issues. No oil drips or drops. Every session proved fruitful, exactly how you want testing to go, especially after you and the team have thrashed hard for a week.
Testing theory on splitter length, vs Drag... GOOD LESSON LEARNED. More on this later.
The car is setup fantastic. we picked up OVER 10 mph ENTERING the esses. Over our time from May, we picked up almost a second from turn 2 to turn 10. Incredible.
The purpose of the test went as planned. To work out the kinks, and make sure we had the data and results we wanted prior to heading into nationoals. Luck favors the prepared, and we feel we are very prepared. The car is fast, and the driver Paul Costas did a great job working through the setup and giving feedback as we progressed through the weekend.
We are down a few mph on the strait, which we have a few suspicions why, but we did pick up over 10 mph from the start, to the end of the weekend. 280 rwhp wreaks havoc on your aerodynamics, and COTA is 60% corners, 40% WOT, believe it or not.
I can't rid myself of that "pull key" message. I have tried slow turn of the key and that works. I have tried adding a resistor that matches my key into the circuit and that does not work...very strange! Anyone else have a fix?
Congrats to you, GSpeed and HPR!! Fantastic performance!! The Gspeed/HPR 468 car looked to have a championship winning weekend as well? What an awesome showing at Nationals!!
Congrats to you, GSpeed and HPR!! Fantastic performance!! The Gspeed/HPR 468 car looked to have a championship winning weekend as well? What an awesome showing at Nationals!!
Since Paul posted a little spoiler with the video.........your TT3 and TTU NASA champions, Paul Costas and Troy Messer.
Last edited by HP RESEARCH; 09-18-2018 at 10:25 AM.
08-19-2018, 07:18 AM
Good job guys.
