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Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:42 am
by Ryan @ GWR
Superlap Battle USA 2019. We brought the HyperMiata to a power track to battle against 600, 700, and 800 hp cars. Day 1 we got down to a 2:23.4 and surprised a lot of people that we could be so fast with just 300hp. I am pretty sure we had the lowest hp in out of all 19 cars in Limited. The fact that we got protested in this field of monsters is both comical and a compliment. We're doing things right. Competitors are taking the Miata seriously, even at COTA.

After the Saturday night data and vid review we found a lot of areas where we could make improvements. Day 2 we had the setup dialed and I had all the places to find time on the track hammered into my brain. Unfortunately the transmission had an issue that ended our day early, but we’re coming away from COTA with a solid 5th place out of 19 cars!! It was an awesome event, amazing track, and we can’t wait to return next year.

I will have more to post soon, trying to clean up our Airbnb and get on the road this morning. Lots of miles to cover back to CA.

The cars ahead of us had no less than 650hp, and word is a couple were over 800. I'm curious to find more info on them. We learned a ton. We had more in it. We'll have to wait until next year to find it.

There have been tons of people reaching out on social media, forums, etc. following our efforts and I want to thank everyone for all the well wishes and support. It's been a truly epic weekend. I also can't thank my crew enough; Moti of Blackbird Fabworx, and Greg and my awesome girlfriend Bri, both of Goodwin Racing. The four of us were in constant motion and full attack mode all weekend. No way could I have done this without them. Here are a couple more pics grabbed from various locations for now, will have more soon.

Miata Is Always The Answer!

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Me being awkward, no idea what to do with my hands!

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Texas BBQ!

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Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:26 pm
by raamaudio
Congrats, superb results!!!!

I always root for the underdog as have been one many times by building cars I wanted to build and running whatever class they fell into. I have had many 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the wrong car for the class and always way under powered and find it far more satisfying than winning with the right car. Most put to much time and money into power and not into all the details that make the car fast in all aspects which you know and do and have the results to show it!

Tough luck with the transmission issue, sure you will sort it out and be even faster next year.


Rick

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 4:53 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
Thanks Rick! I agree, I would always prefer to be the underdog finding clever ways to defeat the cars that most would expect to win. :mrgreen:

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 4:56 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
Photo of the dash in Hyper for a customer asking about the Wilwood proportioning valve extension knob.
hyper dash.jpg

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:16 am
by Ryan @ GWR
Trying to get caught up with stuff now that I'm back in town. More to come on SLB USA.

Interview in the pits!


Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:41 pm
by MitchC635
The LFX is a fairly stout engine with forged crank and sinter forged rods, so there appears to be room to get more out of it. The integral exhaust manifolds and fairly high 11.5:1 compression ratio appear to be limiting factors for how much more you can get out of it and maintain reasonable reliability. A relatively small supercharger to get up to the 400 to 450 HP range seems to be a reasonable path to make up a portion of the HP gap you are battling. Is that in your list of options, or are you leaning in a different direction to gain HP?

Bummer about the transmission issues when you knew you had laid a path towards cutting a couple or more seconds per lap. Any diagnosis on the transmission yet?

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 2:34 pm
by Brian
MitchC635 wrote:The LFX is a fairly stout engine with forged crank and sinter forged rods, so there appears to be room to get more out of it. The integral exhaust manifolds and fairly high 11.5:1 compression ratio appear to be limiting factors for how much more you can get out of it and maintain reasonable reliability. A relatively small supercharger to get up to the 400 to 450 HP range seems to be a reasonable path to make up a portion of the HP gap you are battling. Is that in your list of options, or are you leaning in a different direction to gain HP?

Bummer about the transmission issues when you knew you had laid a path towards cutting a couple or more seconds per lap. Any diagnosis on the transmission yet?
Similar thinking and discussions here....

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:15 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
Don't know yet on the transmission, but these things cost about as much to just replace as they do to dismantle, diagnose, repair, and reassemble... so I'm probably just going to get another transmission and pop it in.

We're using our experience and data gathered from COTA to guide the development plans this year, with the primary focus being a return to COTA in 2020 with significant updates. Astonishing how much drag plays a role at this track, we're hitting a major wall on the straights. In some ways, the ideal COTA setup and even overall car approach is massively different than other tracks we frequent more often. It's a new challenge that puts us outside of our comfort zone. I'm quite excited.


Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 6:52 pm
by Chuck H
Wondering if you can come up with more of a fastback type top than the conventional hardtop and maybe more undercar aero at the back. That might let you lose a little bit of angle of attack on the rear wing and still get similar rear downforce with less drag on the straights. You need to make friends with someone with access to a wind tunnel to do some real aero testing. Any contacts at Lockheed Martin or Boeing or anything like that??? :wink:

I'm still constantly amazed at how much of an absolute track monster you've turned that little NA into. Can't wait to watch it continue to evolve over the next couple of years!

Re: LFX Engine Swap (GM V6) at GWR

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:11 pm
by Ryan @ GWR
Time to get cracking. Now with GTA Finals @ Buttonwillow in November followed by Superlap Battle at COTA in February, I'm shifting to a winter-centric test/race schedule with a break in early summer. It's been refreshing, but it's time to get to work. Lots of stuff on the to-do list and time is going to start flying.

Before doing anything on the car itself, I had a side project to tackle. So far, removing the drivetrain required a lift; drop the subframe onto a dolly and then lift the car up and off. I wanted to be able to drop the assembly with the car sitting on jackstands, making it something I could do anywhere. 

Started with a Harbor Freight motorcycle lift. For stability I made four legs with casters on each end. The legs are removable so the lift can store easily. Then built a simple base on the lift that bolts to attachment points that I added to the V8R front subframe. 

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Works like a dream. Can drop the assembly out of the chassis, roll it around the shop, lift it up to work on it easily, etc. It's stable even with the suspension and transmission attached.

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