The Battle of Wit and Brawn

[Advancedynamix]

My friend Kevin has a Camaro SS, and he is not afraid to use the go pedal. Well, I have so much footage of his car that I decided to put a little video together. The new Camaro makes for a pretty good track car, and it's a stunning car to see pounding corners. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od2tsxS6j9I

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maro vs tweaker? I'm not clicking unless I get to see a white Festiva showing a camaro who's boss!

[Advancedynamix]

Tweak works Kevin's Camaro pretty good, but there are times when I can't seem to shake that dang bow tie off my tail. On uphill straights he has the torque to easily leave me, but I can enter corners much faster and my braking distance is less than half of his, so in fast technical sections I leave him like he's going backwards. Unfortunately, passing in those sections is much more risky and I don't want to risk putting a scratch on his car, so I have trouble getting by him. I need another 100hp, then passing on straights will be easier. He usually lets me by after a couple laps of a rearview full of festy. When he's chasing me his lap times improve by a couple of seconds, but he gets tired quicker. The stock Camaro SS seats are not good for hard driving, his arms get tired from holding himself in the seat. With stickier rubber and a proper seat, he'd most likely turn faster lap times than Tweak. I need that extra HP before he gets better tires and a seat. Lol.

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Time for BP!

[Advancedynamix]

Nah, she's just got a basically stock B6t in her now (stock ECU and stock Turbo). I didn't want to put a lot of money into the engine until I knew the chassis could handle the power on the track. Now the fun begins. She's only putting 161hp/160tq to the wheels and the fun cuts out by 6200 rpm. Just need to build an engine and turbosystem that'll pull to 7500 and put down another 50-80 ft.lbs. Shouldn't be difficult. If I can pull for another 1500 RPM between shifts then that will improve my lap times considerably. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for that.

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wouldn't a megasquirt+bigger turbo get you where you want to be? maybe a miata cas? Did ya get tweak dyno'd?! are those official numbers?

[bhazard]

BP, Holset, MS3...

That way you will have the potential for 300hp...but can keep it turned down to your liking.

[freshtiva]

[DriverOne]

AD, do you figure 260hp is within the power range for continued longevity of the Festiva, or does it matter? I imagine a roll cage would be in the works?

[Advancedynamix]

wouldn't a megasquirt+bigger turbo get you where you want to be? maybe a miata cas? Did ya get tweak dyno'd?! are those official numbers?

I'm going to see how far I can take the factory management before upgrading. I already have a EFI systems (italy) euro4 ecu for the car (same ECU that is used in the British touring car championship). Going to work with Rocketman to get the ultimate power from the XR2 ecu first.

160 ft lbs of TQ was my seat of the pants guess at first, but it was then verified later on a chassis dyno. I don't typically publish chassis dyno charts because they can be misleading, but here it is.

The erratic curve is a result of my less than perfect boost control. It was also over 100 degrees out when this was done. Keep in mind, this was done with a completely stock ecu and injectors and stock vj14 with 140k miles on it.

BP, Holset, MS3...

That way you will have the potential for 300hp...but can keep it turned down to your liking.

Don't want the added weight and rotational mass of the BP, though it would be the easy way out since there are a dozen BP FWD engines at the yard I was at this morning:p I have a holeset in my bedroom, it's one of my bookends (former VW turbo project that was out of control and needed to be toned back, lol). This car will get a top secret ball bearing turbo that spools faster than the vj14 and flows almost the cfm as a p trim t4. Stay tuned for this top secret weapon. Hint: It bolts right to the factory b6t manifold!

AD, do you figure 260hp is within the power range for continued longevity of the Festiva, or does it matter? I imagine a roll cage would be in the works?

Tweak will never get a roll cage, she is a daily driven street car, and that cage would get in the way when I go to get mulch at Home Depot. Her chassis is plenty rigid to out corner almost any street car at the track, her downfall is the lack of room for more rubber on the ground.

There are a pair of caged race cars that are being carefully planned here at Advance Dynamics. I'm working with Gilamonster Racing to build some great caged cars. Tweak is the test bed for these cars, her purpose is to explore the capabilities of the factory chassis so that the race cars will improve on those attributes rather than just be a overly stiff and heavy festiva shaped nascar. When she has done her job, she will be stripped down, straightened and double pinch welded, then re sprayed and adapted to be a little more street friendly (carpet, and a couple speakers for my mp3 player, trailer hitch like the one on Creampuff) while still being a head turner on the track. She's close! Her chassis is showing very little objection to my abuse. The sign of a good junkie is the ability to withstand years of abuse without displaying the signs of stress that life in the fast lane tends to put on ones body. She's strung out, shes driven hard and she begs for more!

260 HP is usable and well within the factory chassis capabilities when A: tuned for a smooth and controllable torque curve, B: used in road racing scenario, where there will be no launching the car from a standstill. We have seen what happens when 260hp is launched repeatedly (thanks JT and all of the rest of you BPT guys for testing the factory pinch welds!:p)

[DriverOne]

There are a pair of caged race cars that are being carefully planned here at Advance Dynamics. I'm working with Gilamonster Racing to build some great caged cars.

260 HP is usable and well within the factory chassis capabilities when A: tuned for a smooth and controllable torque curve, B: used in road racing scenario, where there will be no launching the car from a standstill.

Good deal. I'm looking forward to seeing your work.