Since all my road course events have been canceled I decided to make the 1 1/2 hour trip to the Sneaky Racing track rental.. $50 and you run all you want. I made 15 passes tonight. The good news is I didn't have any 15 second passes. I had a 16 at 105! My car shot out sideways in first and second. Then came a bunch of 14's at 107 to 109 with the car in drive and the traction control on. The track was like ice for me. I lowered the air pressure to 32 psi and I just left the car in drive with the traction control off and that resulted in a bunch of 13's at 111. I decided to stop hot lapping and put some weight in the back of the car. I lowered the air pressure to 30 psi and put my 50lb. jack in the back and went back out. I could see where the track prep had worn off and decided to stay out of the sticky stuff. Guess what, my tires didn't like that sticky stuff. After finding that out I ran a low 13 at 112. Traction control still off and back to manual mode. 12.9 then 12.8 then 12.7 all at 111.9. I really wanted to open the cutouts and see how many 10ths I could pick up but it was getting late and the long drive home was daunting so I packed it up and went home. I raced with 2/3 tank of gas, full size battery and a jack in the back of the car. In the beginning I couldn't go full throttle until 3rd. without getting completely sideways in first and second. I never got my foot to the floor in first all night long. When I started sticking better I managed to get it to the floor eventually somewhere in second. I was extremely disappointed in the early hours of the night. I felt like poo poo as a driver and the Wavetrac only made things worse. As traction began appearing however, I could feel it working. It almost feels like a bit of tire hop but it's the differential working. On a tragic note the wavetrac is singing around 2200 rpm. If you've ever had a transmission with a noisy gear, that's kinda the sound I'm hearing. I really tortured it tonight. If it was going to break it should've tonight. Lots of burnouts and dry hops. Oh, your not going to believe me ..... well you may, my best 60' was around 2.2. If I ever decide to drag race, well it's imperative to get some proper 1/4 mile rubber.

Les

 

Thanks for the report Les. I know exactly how you feel in regards to sliding all over the track, it's definitely not any fun. I'm sure with rear tires we'll both do much better at the straight-line events.

 

Hey Gripster. Guess what was at the track tonight? A turbo Jeep SRT-8. I ran him once. He red lighted but who cares. He pulled oh, 3 Jeeps on me at the start but it didn't grow. Real nice guy. I think he's giving the Jeep to his wife and looking for a SRT-6. The real Wavetrac test will come when I can take some corners no holds barred. I expected it to be subtle, you know what I mean. In the corners it needs to be or else ....... bad things could happen.

Les

 

Nice report Les. Drag racing has it's own kind of feel. Sideways is normal when both tires are spinning coming out of the hole. But, that is two tires trying to hook up, not one. Once you have the proper rubber, and track prep, then HP becomes a need to launch hard and sustain a good 60'. The better the grip, the more HP, the better the 60'. For your round tracking, again, you will have two tires trying to hook up, so when you take those turns hard, lifting one wheel, you should notice a more stable, but quicker car thru the corners. Quicker thru the corners, means more push on the front end. That is what you will more than likely have to compensate for. It's going to rocket you forward more than you have ever experience before, just like at the drag strip, when it wants to walk sideways. I can't tell how much I want that feel back into the cars I own. I miss that sideways motion...but, with the right rubber, it's more of a rocket launch I am looking for...

 

I'll post up the slip later today. Based on the 1/8 mph and 1/4 mph if I could drive, or had drag radials, didn't add weight to the trunk, or if if if and what if, a 12.2 more or less is what my car is capable of. Now, to get the driver up to speed. BTW, 4 GTR's were running. A white one, black one, 2012 blue one and one of those special paint silver ones. The black one ran a 9.98 at 142. The white one did 10.1 at 142. Geez!

Les

Added time slip to first post.

 

yeah, they are screamers Les...turn the r's....and gearing...we have neither...

 

if the diff is singing the backlash wasnt set correctly. was the gear mesh checked when installed? also side bearing spacing and again backlash all have to checked and adjusted for. not sure how that will affect the wavetrac warrenty les.

 

kind of what I was thinking...shouldn't be any noise...hard running or not...I'd say something wasn't tightened, torqued correctly, or something has come loose. I'd take her back to where you had it installed and have them re-check their work...

 

I talked to the installers at the track ..... they said the bearings were a little "loose" but not bad but if it's making noise it could only be the bearings or the Wavetrac was defective. They also said when they drained the diff it was real low which is why they wanted to change the bearings but when they couldn't source them quickly they put it back together because in their judgement they were fine for reuse. Personally I don't see how the backlash could be off, the pinion didn't come out and the Wavetrac spool is identical ..... well, what do I know. The differential doesn't seem to be running hot. I put my hand on it after driving 1 1/2 hours that included climbing and descending a mountain. It was hot but I could keep my hand on it for 3 seconds or so. I hope it's only the bearings. These guys normally do top notch work. All the fastest Suby's, Evo's, GTR's are modified by them which is why they got the job from me. I'm taking it back to the installer for them to identify the noise. I'll have them pull the cover and we'll see what's up.

Did you look at my log? Thoughts? I have lots but I waiting so as not to lead.

Les

 

Shouldn't have any gear noise Les. I agree with the shimming, but I won't know until I am in there what will be necessary. Wouldn't hurt to have them take a look, especially if they are used to racers.

 

32.3 boost? were in the world are you getting that reading from!! cant be right

 

You have to subtract 14.7 to get the real boost. There's a way to set it in the Dashdaq but I'm still figuring it out. Doing the math 32.3 = 17.6 lbs. of boost. You can see that I really came out soft and even then I had to feather it. The ECU partially closes the throttle during shifts. More in the lower gears. 3rd to 4th is only 5%. What do you think of the AFR's? Too lean? Too rich? I plan to send the log to Clint for some feedback but I'm curious what the racers with more experience think too.

Les

 

ok thats better! my dashdaq is calibrated at -psi to start then reads pos boost after 14.7 so i dont have to do the math. overall it doesnt look to bad with the afr maybe a tad fat at wot but that isnt a bad thing

 

I just returned from a track day whos main purpose was to probe the Wavetrac’s benefits in a race course setting. I had considered making lots of changes during the day to the suspension settings and tire pressures but I decided to leave it alone and concentrate on learning what could be done differently with the new spool.

Cold pressures were 36.5 psi front and 34.5 in the rear. The suspension was set up soft in the front and firm in the rear. I like to trail brake into corners with too much speed and when I get it right the front grip is pheonomal. It’s slightly loose while maintaining speed in a higher speed corner and again slightly loose accelerating out of the corners. Tight corners like a hairpin, frustrating understeer. (I need to left foot brake so I can brake and accelerate at the same time in the hairpin, I’ve done it before and it works if done right)

Where the Wavetrac shines is when you push the car beyond a normal mans reason. I’m guessing that would be a true racers norm. As the rear tires begin to slip in the esses or exiting a corner and you decide to stay in the gas, a gentle rear drift continues and then regresses. Holy smokes! As long as the slip is a slip and not out and out spinning you can stay in the gas. No abrupt snapping back. It’s also much easier to steer with the throttle. I didn’t have much luck in the hairpin. I was too aggressive.

Unfortunately my car is running a little warmer than usual while racing since my Eurocharged tune. But today it led to an interesting encounter. When the water temperature reached 245º I ran a lap or so, nice and relaxed, so the temperatures would drop but what do I see in the mirror? A GTR! He was coming fast and I was poking along but game on! The only part of the track where he made up ground was the longest straight. I only reach 135 to 140 mph, sad, and he told me he was reaching 145 or so. He ended up dive bombing me at the end of the long straight. This guy was doing 4 wheel drifting trying to catch me. He got a black flag for passing under braking and I appologized to him afterward. I was interested in where he was faster and where I was faster. You never know how much the guy in the mirror has to lift which is why I wanted to make him work another lap. He usually runs on Hoosiers and today he was on Toyo 888’s. Overall he was a little faster but I was thrilled to watch him struggle to keep up with his 4 wheel drive everywhere but the straights.

I have the benefit of running with a lot of these cars frequently so I can gauge my progress. And don’t think for one minute that the target isn’t getting faster too. I’m pleased with the Wavetrac. I didn’t feel it working at any time but I noticed the difference in how the car reacted in low grip and loss of grip situations. A worthwhile modification for the racers.

I’ll be draining the coolant and replacing it with distilled water and water wetter. I hope that will be enough to keep the temperatures reasonable.

Les

 

les thats exactly how i totalled my old 32. car got loose and as i tried to correct it snapped back and came completely around. this is great news for me as it sounds like the diff gives a smoother transition when trying to correct. thanx!!

 

I've got a video of my car doing a 360 and another one porpoising after a corner so from experience I can console you and say, there was nothing you could do. I'm liking the Wavetrac so far. The only scary moments were in the 1/4 mile where I had total loss of traction and I was 45º looking at concrete. I've never had a LSD so I'm in a learning phase. But I see victories in the future.

Les

 

well i have had my wavetrac installed for almost a month and still havent driven it yet!! after complications with the caliper powdercoat im hoping rob has my 6/4 calipers will be shipped this week. ceramic thermal coat on the calipers in gold tint. then i can get my car on the ground and see how the diff reacts to my style of driving.

 

I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about the brake upgrade. I have the stock rear brakes and stoptech 4 pot on the front (355 mm rotor) and frankly, I have much more braking force than tire grip and I have lots of tire. But I'm always looking for something better.

Les

 

i posted on this on other places but im running the racing brake 2 piece 340mm rotors on front and oem slk55 330mm rotors on the back. 6 piston slk55 calipers up front and 4 piston rears. after riding with 13dog in his slk55 and feeling the amazing way the car scrubs off speed i was hooked and vowed to finish my setup which i have been collecting for 2 yrs. i sent the calipers off for powdercoat and they came back as huge white paperweights!! at least 1/8" thick everywere. so off to rob for chemical strip (took almost 2 weeks !!) and after returning them to raw metal the gold tinted thermal coat was applied. hopefully i will have the car on the road this weekend, if the new prototype fuel rail doesnt arrive! (yet still another mod!)

 

Nice report Les....I was sure you would like the feel on the track... Taking blue in tomorrow night to start to tear her down...new front pads, metal brake lines, high performance brake fluid, resonator delete, bung welded into the exhaust for future gauges, and of course, the wavetrack....getting a little excited...