April 2019
29Apr
Fan tested
I ran the engine yesterday and tested the fan out, and it works really well now. In the graph below it shows the temperature is rapidly pulled down from 91 to 86°C and although the water temperature rises back (as you'd expect) to 91C, the fan just gets on with the job. The yellow line is the ECT with the new fan fitted, and the red line is the ECT from Anglesey with the smaller fan failing to bring the temperatures down.
26Apr
Fan upgraded
I've fitted the SPAL 10" fan (VA11-AP7/C-57A), having first removed the radiator. The new fan is only approx 30g heavier than the 9" fan, which is surprising considering it's size. I've wired it in, and refitted the radiator, and I now need to replace two smaller water hoses, which have gone brittle. They both lead to the header tank, one is 6mm ID and sits at the top of the radiator, and the other is 8mm and leads from the end of the cylinder head. I'll drive over to Parkers tomorrow to see if they have anything suitable in stock. Pete had a leak on one of his hoses at Anglesey, and as both cars are the same age, sharing the same type of hose, I'll not take the risk of leaving them alone. If I can get it all sorted today, I'll run the engine and make sure the fan works.25Apr
Javeline Croft Sprint
I'm going to Croft on May 12th for some testing, at my first Javelin Sprint. I'll get one practice and six timed runs, on the fresh Croft Tarmac. I'll be trying the Supersoft tyres, combining the Supersoft with the Ultrasoft, and checking out further changes to the launch control and the front wing angle. Good value for £169. Better value than the MSA events usually provide. I'm car 813 in Class T1, so I'll print a couple of stickers off to cover the large number 9's on the rear wing.I've bought a replacement cooling fan for the radiator. The fan on the car is a 9" and pulls 625cfm through the radiator, drawing 8.1Amps. The replacement is a Spal 10" and is rate at 28% higher flow, of 802cfm, and draws slightly more current at 9.2A. Hopefully, it'll keep the engine cooler when its ticking over.
Nice to see a mention from the Motorsport UK Instagram feed today.
17Apr
Anglesey National lap comparison
This is my quickest run on the Saturday (47.76s), vs Matt Hillam's FTD run (46.07s), and although there was over a second between us, you can see he just carries more speed around the bends, as I have more power than the SBD car, and on the straights we're equal. So I need to work on braking less, and my cornering. Thats all. I'll try again at Blyton when we next get to race against each other. My car did feel like it was understeering, so either I need to run even more front wing, or, add some camber to the nearside front to see if that increases the front end grip.09Apr
3rd overall in the BSC
I'm 3rd overall in the Championship, and Pete Goulding is one place ahead in 2nd overall. Thats not bad is it :DHere are the 360 degree videos from the National and International Circuits.
Round 2
Round 3
08Apr
6th overall, twice
Really pleased with the way that the launch control worked over the weekend at Anglesey. On the Sunday I did two back to back launches of 2.07 and 2.09s for the first 64ft which is probably about as quick as it gets. I was nervous on Saturday when I did my first launch, but after a few goes and finding the car stayed straight and narrow, I relaxed and gained confidence and the whole weekend was a great success, with two new PB’s, broken records, and 6th place in the run offs on both days. The International circuit on the Sunday was very exciting to drive. It rewarded the brave, and on my 3rd ever lap I broke the class record by almost 2 seconds, but couldn’t break in to the 79’s. The car just didn’t feel like it had the grip, and it wasn’t a circuit to make another mistake on. Pete and I both scored 20 points each (he was 7th on Saturday and 5th on Sunday) and we both broke records both days. So that’s another good haul for the two EcoBoost cars. The next event was meant to be at Croft on Easter Monday, but that’s been cancelled, and the next time we get to compete is at Blyton in May, the venue of my first FTD last year.The only issue on the car all weekend was the radiator fan wasn’t powerful enough to keep the water temperature below 90C when the engine was ticking over. I’ve seen this before, on a hot day, but wasn’t expecting to see the same issue at the weekend. Its only April! I’ll check the spec of the fan that I bought, and see if there is room for a second one, or a more powerful one, so the problem can be solved.
The Ultrasoft tyres didn’t fare too well on the Sunday. My first run off after lunch, as I crossed the line, the timing gear showed a time 4.5s slower than I was expecting, and sure enough I was given a rerun. But on the rerun (bearing in mind I’d only filled the car with 7l of fuel), the traction control started kicking in and the rear of the car was sliding around. I recorded an 80.68 which was slower than my T2 time, but before I knew it, it was my turn again, and the third run was too much for the now very warm tyres. The car was understeering and oversteering and the traction control was kicking in, and I was slower recording an 81. Not good. It looks like the tyres are not up to 3 back to back runs, without being allowed to cool down between. I did bring the Supersofts, but didn’t try them. Its going to be a tough call to decide, quite when, running the Supers instead of the Ultra’s for the run offs, is worth the risk. But a re-run, the Ultra’s don’t like.
05Apr
