R400D to R500D Anyone done it?
Discussion
I made this graphic that compares the wheel HP at the various stages of tune the car has been in. Firstly theses are from different dyno so don't take the too literally, but they do give an idea of how things have changed. The new engine has exceeded previous power graphs at all speeds above 3000 rpm. It is a bit bumpy in places but is essentially straight. The BTB exhaust has done to two things - its bigger diameter has released more power, and the 4-2-1 has lifted the the torque and filled the dips below 6000 RPM. Theoretically, the roller barrels are in tune around 7500 to 8500 rpm, and you can see evidence of this with the second bump at peak power. I was thinking of changing the barrels but looking at the graph they do seem to work well with this exhaust (by happy coincidence) and may leave them for the time being.
OK, it time for an update as the project seems to becoming to a natural end by driving the car for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVM6hCwQoXc
Although the weather conditions were appalling, it was an excellent test of the car's drive-ability which had been my main worry about the upgrade. In fact, it seemed better behaved than the old engine. . The Clutch was fine too, maybe a little off or on, but I quickly got used to it.
As the trackday was halted after these laps because of fog, I went to the local rolling road to do a power check for the Super Lap Scotland championship that I'm enetering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXVF6Z6ehbc
It gave a wheel HP of 240.2 HP (on a later run not shown in the graph below) which was within a 1 BHP of Northhampton Motorsport figure (in the region of 270-280 BHP at the flywheel). But more importantly, it allowed a direct comparison of pre (red) and post (Blue) exhaust upgrade. I am please with the power, particularly as there's still another 1000 RPM to explore, but it is a little off target for the SLS class B upper limit of 375 WHP/tonne (it came to 386WHP/tonne). I'll either go up and play with the big boys in Class A, or put some ballast in.
The exhaust works well and effectively solved the torque delivery issues - easily the single most important component in the upgrade. Also, as it was not cheap, it was a great relief that I made the right call in terms of what was wrong after the initial dyno work.
I've learnt a huge amount doing this - maybe not in putting it together, but certainly in the concepts of tuning and what it really works in the real world. The process of manipulating the torque curve hadn't really been fully appreciated by me at the start. The process of using exhaust primaries, secondaries, and induction length all tuned to different RPMs to make a flat torque curve just makes so much more sense now.
Things I would do differently: I wouldn't have bought a new engine, but would have upgraded the old one. Maybe, kept the old flywheel and clutch. Taken more time to research things. But that's about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVM6hCwQoXc
Although the weather conditions were appalling, it was an excellent test of the car's drive-ability which had been my main worry about the upgrade. In fact, it seemed better behaved than the old engine. . The Clutch was fine too, maybe a little off or on, but I quickly got used to it.
As the trackday was halted after these laps because of fog, I went to the local rolling road to do a power check for the Super Lap Scotland championship that I'm enetering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXVF6Z6ehbc
It gave a wheel HP of 240.2 HP (on a later run not shown in the graph below) which was within a 1 BHP of Northhampton Motorsport figure (in the region of 270-280 BHP at the flywheel). But more importantly, it allowed a direct comparison of pre (red) and post (Blue) exhaust upgrade. I am please with the power, particularly as there's still another 1000 RPM to explore, but it is a little off target for the SLS class B upper limit of 375 WHP/tonne (it came to 386WHP/tonne). I'll either go up and play with the big boys in Class A, or put some ballast in.
The exhaust works well and effectively solved the torque delivery issues - easily the single most important component in the upgrade. Also, as it was not cheap, it was a great relief that I made the right call in terms of what was wrong after the initial dyno work.
I've learnt a huge amount doing this - maybe not in putting it together, but certainly in the concepts of tuning and what it really works in the real world. The process of manipulating the torque curve hadn't really been fully appreciated by me at the start. The process of using exhaust primaries, secondaries, and induction length all tuned to different RPMs to make a flat torque curve just makes so much more sense now.
Things I would do differently: I wouldn't have bought a new engine, but would have upgraded the old one. Maybe, kept the old flywheel and clutch. Taken more time to research things. But that's about it.
Edited by DCL on Sunday 30th March 14:11
Edited by DCL on Sunday 30th March 14:24
After one aborted track day due to fog, I finally managed to get the car out on track on Saturday evening. Conditions were dry but windy and cold, so it was not going to be a perfect. But first session went without a hitch and two more followed where I was beginning to get my eye in. I felt really rusty after the winter break and the impression was that the car was harder to drive. Perhaps though, things were just happening a bit qicker than before. . .
http://youtu.be/7S4QlDTrJM0
Taking the Knockhill pit lane straight, here's a comparison of pre and post up-garde.
http://youtu.be/nir65SiShy0
The data from last year, and Saturaday night, shows the improvement in acceleration and top speed. Well over 10 MPH and 1.7 second up on the pit straight alone. But this needs to take account of the wind on Saturday which (from my experience) was probably worth .5 second.
So in conclusion, I think I've achieved what I set out to do. The car is definitely an R500+ now
http://youtu.be/7S4QlDTrJM0
Taking the Knockhill pit lane straight, here's a comparison of pre and post up-garde.
http://youtu.be/nir65SiShy0
The data from last year, and Saturaday night, shows the improvement in acceleration and top speed. Well over 10 MPH and 1.7 second up on the pit straight alone. But this needs to take account of the wind on Saturday which (from my experience) was probably worth .5 second.
So in conclusion, I think I've achieved what I set out to do. The car is definitely an R500+ now
GreigM said:
Great read and results....look forward to seeing it on sunday. Have you decided to stay in class A or ballast up for class B?
After testing this evening with ballast, I've decided to go with Class A. The ballast took the edge off the braking and general handling which I think was more of a disadvantage that moving up a class. As a close to this thread I though I'd post a report of the first competitive event . . .
(copied from the SE forum)
This year has flown by and before I knew it the SLS round 1 was upon me. This year the power band have been narrowed and I had hoped to be in the top of Class B, unfortunately the power increase on the new engine was a little too much and I found myself at the bottom of Class A. On the positive note, it does leave a bit of head room to develop things further.
This was the first event with the new engine so I was particularly nervous. Also the high workload to get the engine ready meant the rest of the car was under prepared. In particular the suspension and geo needed a check. The engine is still limited to 8000RPM as a precaution, which did compromise gear ratios.
Free Practice:
http://youtu.be/vqvrFx4m4eA
At this point things were looking good with the car being the quickest non pro entry, and a new PB in the bag. But I was surprised that the pace wasn't quicker - maybe my expectation of an extra 50 BHP was too much and, in hindsight, my tyres were beginning to take a dive .
Qualifying
http://youtu.be/RbNNMJvECR8
This didn't go my way, my first two runs were blocked by traffic so last session saw me in an agitated state and not at my best. I got low 58 and 8th place. The surprise was Fee Kindness had found a whole chunk of time and got a 56 - territory beyond me at this stage.
I knew it would be down hill form now on as the Caterham just can't warm the ZZR A60 compound tyres I am using in the 'single lap' format but I was hoping for at least a 58.
The final
http://youtu.be/0KaZ_T6cMOc
I was out on track with Pro Class drivers, Charlie Shaw, and Graham Davidson, so feeling a bit nervous about getting in their way, so the tyre warming probably wasn't as thorough as it should have been. The rear was also looser than usual - I now suspect the rear tyres were past their best having been on the car for over a year of hard tracking. Anyway, the lap started well but I shifted up (old habbit) after MacIntyres, a mistake that cost me all the way through to Clarks, but I was releaved to get a 58.6 which put me in 7th overall and 2nd in Class
Good points for going to round 2. Fourth equal in the championship
Full results here: http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/1005418
(copied from the SE forum)
This year has flown by and before I knew it the SLS round 1 was upon me. This year the power band have been narrowed and I had hoped to be in the top of Class B, unfortunately the power increase on the new engine was a little too much and I found myself at the bottom of Class A. On the positive note, it does leave a bit of head room to develop things further.
This was the first event with the new engine so I was particularly nervous. Also the high workload to get the engine ready meant the rest of the car was under prepared. In particular the suspension and geo needed a check. The engine is still limited to 8000RPM as a precaution, which did compromise gear ratios.
Free Practice:
http://youtu.be/vqvrFx4m4eA
At this point things were looking good with the car being the quickest non pro entry, and a new PB in the bag. But I was surprised that the pace wasn't quicker - maybe my expectation of an extra 50 BHP was too much and, in hindsight, my tyres were beginning to take a dive .
Qualifying
http://youtu.be/RbNNMJvECR8
This didn't go my way, my first two runs were blocked by traffic so last session saw me in an agitated state and not at my best. I got low 58 and 8th place. The surprise was Fee Kindness had found a whole chunk of time and got a 56 - territory beyond me at this stage.
I knew it would be down hill form now on as the Caterham just can't warm the ZZR A60 compound tyres I am using in the 'single lap' format but I was hoping for at least a 58.
The final
http://youtu.be/0KaZ_T6cMOc
I was out on track with Pro Class drivers, Charlie Shaw, and Graham Davidson, so feeling a bit nervous about getting in their way, so the tyre warming probably wasn't as thorough as it should have been. The rear was also looser than usual - I now suspect the rear tyres were past their best having been on the car for over a year of hard tracking. Anyway, the lap started well but I shifted up (old habbit) after MacIntyres, a mistake that cost me all the way through to Clarks, but I was releaved to get a 58.6 which put me in 7th overall and 2nd in Class
Good points for going to round 2. Fourth equal in the championship
Full results here: http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/1005418
Edited by DCL on Monday 21st April 12:34
Edited by DCL on Monday 21st April 15:12
Well, now my season has ended, it's time to report how the engine did.
Following the mapping at Northamptom Motorsport, the engine hasn't been touched and it has ran faultlessly the whole season. It delivered 4 SLS class wins, SLS Class Championship, 2nd overall in the 'King of the Hill' championship, class lap records in both directions at KH. A few trackdays thrown in too. I'm happy with that .
The main issues I had was with tyres - I ended up using the the soft compound Kumho V70 as the harder compound tyres just didn't give me the traction I needed to compete with the big power 4WD cars.
But things don't stop, so I going to fit the SBD taper boddies to see if I can improve the lower end a bit. I will update when it's done. Also there's the Sadev which I'll cover in my other thread
Following the mapping at Northamptom Motorsport, the engine hasn't been touched and it has ran faultlessly the whole season. It delivered 4 SLS class wins, SLS Class Championship, 2nd overall in the 'King of the Hill' championship, class lap records in both directions at KH. A few trackdays thrown in too. I'm happy with that .
The main issues I had was with tyres - I ended up using the the soft compound Kumho V70 as the harder compound tyres just didn't give me the traction I needed to compete with the big power 4WD cars.
But things don't stop, so I going to fit the SBD taper boddies to see if I can improve the lower end a bit. I will update when it's done. Also there's the Sadev which I'll cover in my other thread
Edited by DCL on Monday 22 September 18:44
With the season over I'm enjoying a caffeine overdose in the workshop and have started planning the next upgrade campaign.
I removed the roller barrels and started to look at what will be required for the switch the taper bodies. I've chosen to make significant changes to the fuel supply by adding a return and fuel rail regulator. Maybe that's normal in turbo charged cars but Caterham use a single line.
Here's them side by side - the taper bodies slightly longer but the main difference is the injectors being further out and underneath.
l
This means that I need to block the old injector hole in the head. Rather than just fit a blanking plug, I decided to make some dummy injector blanks to fill the injector cavity. I'm not sure if the cavity would have any detrimental effect but it was a good excuse to play with the lathe
To make these:
That fit here:
They are a tight fit and will be locked in with loctite and a punch.
I removed the roller barrels and started to look at what will be required for the switch the taper bodies. I've chosen to make significant changes to the fuel supply by adding a return and fuel rail regulator. Maybe that's normal in turbo charged cars but Caterham use a single line.
Here's them side by side - the taper bodies slightly longer but the main difference is the injectors being further out and underneath.
l
This means that I need to block the old injector hole in the head. Rather than just fit a blanking plug, I decided to make some dummy injector blanks to fill the injector cavity. I'm not sure if the cavity would have any detrimental effect but it was a good excuse to play with the lathe
To make these:
That fit here:
They are a tight fit and will be locked in with loctite and a punch.
Now that is proper OCD...great work! What kind of times are you hoping for between this and the sequential?
Sorry I missed you last time round at knockhill, I was up doing the hot hatch sessions and was going to talk to you but one of my oil hoses decided to work loose and cover my back wheels with oil - made for an interesting lap! So went home with my tail between my legs. No damage other than the shame of leaking fluids on track.
Sorry I missed you last time round at knockhill, I was up doing the hot hatch sessions and was going to talk to you but one of my oil hoses decided to work loose and cover my back wheels with oil - made for an interesting lap! So went home with my tail between my legs. No damage other than the shame of leaking fluids on track.
I honestly don't know. The data suggest it would be around 2 seconds, but I think other factors will come into play that will peg that back a bit - so maybe a second. The main problem I have is that the car is harder to drive consistently with more power. You just need more throttle input to optimise traction. And little mistakes just have a bigger impact on the lap times as you get quicker.
Just a little feedback on the BTB exhaust. I decided to have a look inside before the new season . . .
It has done some serious events but no indication of any distress.
I'm sure the packing would have gone on for many seasons with only slight discoulration at the silencing end. The cat looks like new but has must have been getting hot as the E-glass packing around it was beginning to break down. I've ordered some new packing as the the old stuff is really too fragile to slide back in. A quality item - one of the nicest things on the car
It has done some serious events but no indication of any distress.
I'm sure the packing would have gone on for many seasons with only slight discoulration at the silencing end. The cat looks like new but has must have been getting hot as the E-glass packing around it was beginning to break down. I've ordered some new packing as the the old stuff is really too fragile to slide back in. A quality item - one of the nicest things on the car
Edited by DCL on Wednesday 21st January 21:59
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