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Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:00 am
by Brian
Update on World's Oldest Supercharged NC.

Part of our secret sauce to the result over 300 hp with just 2.7 pulley was an HKS ignition booster that got us a good 15hp. We put that on the car and took it off during several dyno days...and it added a good 15 or more hp every time. And....it finally died, and that item is long out of production. So, we started over, testing some Holley LS coils, didn't get much today...went from best of 305 on stock coils up to 310 hp. More work to do. Also hope this setup solves issue we have at track days when this car gets hot.

Nonetheless thrilled that this old girl still can lay down the big numbers....this was a unicorn full race build, not a typical 2.0 with effective compression of just 9 to 1, we are over 11 to 1 with this motor and every trick in the book that Cosworth could add at the time including billet crank, forged rods and pistons, ported and flowed big valve head, race bearings, on and on. Duty cycle was intended to be 25 hours of racing and then pull for fresh rings and we have NEVER done it because it keeps making good power, been in the car 10 years now.....best race motor I have ever had.

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 6:19 am
by Brian
This project at LAGUNA for MRLS event!

Time to see if the prototype ignition has cured our issues with this car here. In the past it runs fine cold here but once hot the stock ignition would cut out, seems we were boiling both the coils and the ECU. So we are here with new ignition setup and ducted fan on the ecu (and heatsinks on the ECU case) to see if we can run it hard all weekend.

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:59 am
by DanielS172
Brian,

You mentioned that your ECU has a cooling duct. I noticed during the install of my Koyo rad that the battery and ECU have what appear to be air ducts, but they don't fit well with the Koyo rad. Are these necessary for a mostly stock car?

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:18 am
by Brian
It's only proven to be an issue with boosted raced cars like ours. Nonetheless, doesn't ever hurt to cool electronics.

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:18 am
by Brian
Starting last day of the all Miata Laguna event, thanks to customers who stopped by our more humble display this year, it's been a great weekend so far. There was a ton of NC love for us at the event since we made the choice to bring just 1 car this year instead of the usual 4, and we made that 1 car an NC. Thanks to all the NC owners who came to say hello and check out this classic project NC of ours.

Happy to report our Supercharged Silver 07 had a great first day, gave rides to lots of customers and some members of the Press. Didn't bother bringing out the aero bits we have for this car (like double element rear wing we have for it) and it still cruised as quick as 1:37 with passenger on two year old tires, most laps in the 1:40 to 1:44 range depending on traffic....there was a ton of traffic in the B group, much more wide open in A.

It has been a few years since I pushed this car here and it took me three sessions to get back in sync with the feel of it but by end of day was having a great time driving it track edge to track edge. The only real issue first day was tire rub, could have used some spacers in the rear to keep the 38mm 17x10 setup from rubbing inside at the corkscrew and needed tall bumpstops all around which we typically install for Laguna and just didn't have time before the event to get that done. Ryan Passey keeps some packers in our general track box that have a cutout so they can snap onto the shock rods and I did add two per side at the front after first sessions and that helped the rub a lot but the rub still had me taking a more conservative line at turn 6 and the Corkscrew to reduce the rub.

Testing potential new NC ignition setup and so far that is working great. Customers with boost and north of 250 hp have reported they are at the limit of stock ignition system and it has been an issue on this project car for many years with me roasting the stock coils every few thousand miles in track use. On the car currently is essentially a Corvette coil and wire setup, perhaps take it all the way to finished product if it continues to perform well.

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:12 am
by Brian
Big love all weekend for our Project NC. Thanks to all the NC owners dropping in to talk all things NC. Super proud of this old project, it was tagged in for the event with just a few hours of notice as demands of our new build out of the new building kept distracting me right up until we needed to load a car and hit the road. My only regret was not picking this car earlier in the week so we could get the extra tall bumpstops in it that we usually add just for Laguna to limit tire rub at the bottom of the Corkscrew. Prior appearances of this machine at Laguna had been less than perfect as we kept having issues with stock ignition at the 300 hp level, prototype Corvette coil setup by our Ryan Passey worked flawlessly (only burb I had all weekend was when I let the fuel get low, high grip NC is really 'out of gas' at Laguna turn 6 with 3/8ths of a tank).


Thanks to all the customers who signed up ahead of time for "Golden Ticket" ride and came by our spot for some NC fun!

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:13 am
by Brian
Home from Laguna!

Amazing weekend, thanks to all for the fun! The track is rarely this good, it was amazing. Normally foggy mornings mean a few hours of drying the track and laying rubber for it to get fast but sun was bright by 7am each day without any hint of overcast or fog and it was dry and fast from 9am first runs and just got faster and faster....ideal conditions.

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:45 pm
by DanielS172
Thanks for the ride, Brian! Glad to see you're still showing love and support for the NC. I was going to drive in group B on Sunday, but unfortunately someone crashed into me on the way to the driver's meeting, and my car was totaled :cry:

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:31 pm
by Brian
DanielS172 wrote:Thanks for the ride, Brian! Glad to see you're still showing love and support for the NC. I was going to drive in group B on Sunday, but unfortunately someone crashed into me on the way to the driver's meeting, and my car was totaled :cry:

Ahh...that's crazy, on the way to the event. Terribly sorry to hear that, sorry you missed the fun AND get to deal with insurance now and starting over on setup. Hopefully you can find a way for SOMETHING good to come of it, like you get a version you prefer now, color you like better, etc.

Re: SUPERCHARGED NC Racer Project!

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:26 pm
by DanielS172
Brian wrote:Ahh...that's crazy, on the way to the event. Terribly sorry to hear that, sorry you missed the fun AND get to deal with insurance now and starting over on setup. Hopefully you can find a way for SOMETHING good to come of it, like you get a version you prefer now, color you like better, etc.
Yeah... Don't mean to get off topic here but you're right. If there's one thing I hated about my car it's the color combo; white with saddle brown interior? :? No thanks.

Thankfully it looks like all of my "go fast" parts are undamaged, so theoretically I should be able to transfer them over to another car and keep the NC love going!