AWD Civic Coupe Turbo Build
Discussion
I thought i would take my christmas day off to drop some updates on the build..
I havnt had a chance because of the weather but ive made SOME progress.
It turns out my next-door neighbor's husband is a welder on offshore rigs, he came home for christmas a few weeks ago. I asked him to take a look at the welds, from his point of view..
He agrees they look "less than attractive" but he believes they are strong enough. Pointed a few bits out to re-do but im pretty happy with that. My technique is improving slightly..
So some updates,
Ive finished (mostly) the rear subframe. I needed to put in the front diff and prop before i fixed the rear engine mount, so that is still to do.
I also scrapped my previous idea with the front diff.. I modified the original honda hydraulics to do the job but for various reasons i wasnt happy. So i acquired a concentric slave cylinder from a vauxhall corsa and modified it all to fit. Now that will actuate the clutch pack and will be more suited to the skyline controller and the piston size is similar now. So ill have better resolution.
The prop shaft adapter is on, thanks again to Martin from the Civiclife forum who made it for me;
The front diff is on its way, very crudely tacked together just to get the geometry right but its comign together now..
I managed to acquire a set of tarox 10 piston calipers. They were hand painted red and looked a bit worse for wear but i managed to clean them right back up to their untouched anodized finish;
These will be the new front ones, the wilwood ones will be relocated to the rear with some spot calipers for the hand brake.. Obviously ill need to be able to set up the brake bias to get it all balanced..
and then yesterday, i received a nice little surprise from FIBERWORX.. My sunroof intake/bung arrived, my solid carbon fibre front splitter which for optimum effect extends all the way back to the cabin, my fog light air intakes, and panels for the rear firewall all turned up..
Stunning work im sure you will agree.. I cant thank FIBERWORX enough for their help and hard work on all this. I only have a rear diffuser, and front lip to come from them now so its looking well..
Im hoping pretty soon to have the front diff, and fuel cell / radiator mounts done in the front. Finished the engine mounts, strip the engine out and finish welding / bracing it all, prime it, and then when i can now afford it- straight off for paint..
The wheels should be here soon too, looking forward to that..
I havnt had a chance because of the weather but ive made SOME progress.
It turns out my next-door neighbor's husband is a welder on offshore rigs, he came home for christmas a few weeks ago. I asked him to take a look at the welds, from his point of view..
He agrees they look "less than attractive" but he believes they are strong enough. Pointed a few bits out to re-do but im pretty happy with that. My technique is improving slightly..
So some updates,
Ive finished (mostly) the rear subframe. I needed to put in the front diff and prop before i fixed the rear engine mount, so that is still to do.
I also scrapped my previous idea with the front diff.. I modified the original honda hydraulics to do the job but for various reasons i wasnt happy. So i acquired a concentric slave cylinder from a vauxhall corsa and modified it all to fit. Now that will actuate the clutch pack and will be more suited to the skyline controller and the piston size is similar now. So ill have better resolution.
The prop shaft adapter is on, thanks again to Martin from the Civiclife forum who made it for me;
The front diff is on its way, very crudely tacked together just to get the geometry right but its comign together now..
I managed to acquire a set of tarox 10 piston calipers. They were hand painted red and looked a bit worse for wear but i managed to clean them right back up to their untouched anodized finish;
These will be the new front ones, the wilwood ones will be relocated to the rear with some spot calipers for the hand brake.. Obviously ill need to be able to set up the brake bias to get it all balanced..
and then yesterday, i received a nice little surprise from FIBERWORX.. My sunroof intake/bung arrived, my solid carbon fibre front splitter which for optimum effect extends all the way back to the cabin, my fog light air intakes, and panels for the rear firewall all turned up..
Stunning work im sure you will agree.. I cant thank FIBERWORX enough for their help and hard work on all this. I only have a rear diffuser, and front lip to come from them now so its looking well..
Im hoping pretty soon to have the front diff, and fuel cell / radiator mounts done in the front. Finished the engine mounts, strip the engine out and finish welding / bracing it all, prime it, and then when i can now afford it- straight off for paint..
The wheels should be here soon too, looking forward to that..
Sorry i just re - read all the again, my maths was rubbish!
Just to clear it up, there are 20 pistons on the front (10 x 2) and 10 on the rear (2 x 4, plus 2 handbrake) = 30 pistons total (28 hydraulic)
Not that the actual number of pistons matters too much. I believe the idea of increased piston number is to apply as close to equal force across the pad as possible..
I just had an email from the chaps making my wheels and all seems to be gonig to plan. The rears have been painted and the fronts should be done today..
Just to clear it up, there are 20 pistons on the front (10 x 2) and 10 on the rear (2 x 4, plus 2 handbrake) = 30 pistons total (28 hydraulic)
Not that the actual number of pistons matters too much. I believe the idea of increased piston number is to apply as close to equal force across the pad as possible..
I just had an email from the chaps making my wheels and all seems to be gonig to plan. The rears have been painted and the fronts should be done today..
that actually makes alot of sense..
i havnt measured but based on how small the pistons are, i cant see their overall area being much higher than the wilwood ones...
My new wheels should be here soon, im rather excited to see them to be honest because im not entirely sure if these brakes will fit under them lol..
Anyway, the weather has been awful so ive had no chance to work on the car over christmas.. I have some PU coming so im going to make my own solid engine mounts (for now), and get the engine mounted, finish mounting the front diff, add the bracing to the centre section of the roll cage (for seat belts .etc), plate the outside of the rollcage to the chassis and then fit the 2 fibreglass sheets i have for the middle..
Im not entirely sure about a window yet or how ill do it, but im seriously considering just using lexan bolted to the rear of it as the fibreglass isnt rigid enough to support for example the cabin window from a van..
I also need to measure up the driveshafts.. DSS in the US will be making hte new front ones and modifying the current rear ones..
What i tried to do is to keep the same length on one of them simply to save on postage (seriously). So the passenger side one should need shortening. Ill be measuring this my cutting down my current spare one and then telling DSS how much to remove.
For the front, i have to combine the spare ones with the CRV ones i also have. Ill be doing this by dropping it back down to the road, and sleeving the drive shafts with a steel tube.. This will be welded in place and the axles will be sent like that to the states...
Once i get those back and double check it all, it will be finally ready for paint..
I have also changed the dash computer.. In order to make it as visually appealing, and simpler to develop as possible.. Ive scrapped making my own OS GUI using PICs.. Ive bought a Raspberry PI which i will be either using linux or loading android onto it to develop a GUI. It will interface with a PIC which will control the basic display (for safety reasons) and interface with the CAN bus. The Raspberry will be responsible for all the "fancy" features, like graphs .etc but now this means, as the LINK ECU is on canbus, and all my electronics are on CANBUS. The Raspberry PI will now form a very advanced datalogger as well as display system.. So i will be able to record literally every single thing the car is doing, from wing angle, steering angle, throttle position .etc, my water injection system now wont even need to calculate the fuel flow rate itself as the ECU outputs that on the bus..
Its a much more elegant solution..
i havnt measured but based on how small the pistons are, i cant see their overall area being much higher than the wilwood ones...
My new wheels should be here soon, im rather excited to see them to be honest because im not entirely sure if these brakes will fit under them lol..
Anyway, the weather has been awful so ive had no chance to work on the car over christmas.. I have some PU coming so im going to make my own solid engine mounts (for now), and get the engine mounted, finish mounting the front diff, add the bracing to the centre section of the roll cage (for seat belts .etc), plate the outside of the rollcage to the chassis and then fit the 2 fibreglass sheets i have for the middle..
Im not entirely sure about a window yet or how ill do it, but im seriously considering just using lexan bolted to the rear of it as the fibreglass isnt rigid enough to support for example the cabin window from a van..
I also need to measure up the driveshafts.. DSS in the US will be making hte new front ones and modifying the current rear ones..
What i tried to do is to keep the same length on one of them simply to save on postage (seriously). So the passenger side one should need shortening. Ill be measuring this my cutting down my current spare one and then telling DSS how much to remove.
For the front, i have to combine the spare ones with the CRV ones i also have. Ill be doing this by dropping it back down to the road, and sleeving the drive shafts with a steel tube.. This will be welded in place and the axles will be sent like that to the states...
Once i get those back and double check it all, it will be finally ready for paint..
I have also changed the dash computer.. In order to make it as visually appealing, and simpler to develop as possible.. Ive scrapped making my own OS GUI using PICs.. Ive bought a Raspberry PI which i will be either using linux or loading android onto it to develop a GUI. It will interface with a PIC which will control the basic display (for safety reasons) and interface with the CAN bus. The Raspberry will be responsible for all the "fancy" features, like graphs .etc but now this means, as the LINK ECU is on canbus, and all my electronics are on CANBUS. The Raspberry PI will now form a very advanced datalogger as well as display system.. So i will be able to record literally every single thing the car is doing, from wing angle, steering angle, throttle position .etc, my water injection system now wont even need to calculate the fuel flow rate itself as the ECU outputs that on the bus..
Its a much more elegant solution..
Thats a really nice little case mate! Thanks for that, however because my pi is part of a bigger system, it will all be in a bigger box. But thanks again!
Just a small update tonight, the weather has been too bad to work on the car recently and my work is piling up at home..
I managed to get ahold of a new OEM bumper, unpainted. So ive fitted my new intakes into th enew one with PU sealant / bonding. A nice snug fit, thanks FIBERWORX!
Im just waiting for Fiberworx to send the rear diffuser and the front lip, then i can add the front splitter blade. In the mean time, i ordered some metal for the front diff frame. This will also support the fuel cell and the radiator.
Once ive done that ill be finishing the engine installation and then pulling it all apart again. Ill be finishing up with the welding / bracing, measuring up the driveshafts and then welding in the firewall..
All in all not too much left to do before its respray. Unfortunately i still need a miracle to happen for that one but im hopeful lol.. I approached a spray shop in Blackpool to see if they could help me out, im waiting to see what they say..
Just a small update tonight, the weather has been too bad to work on the car recently and my work is piling up at home..
I managed to get ahold of a new OEM bumper, unpainted. So ive fitted my new intakes into th enew one with PU sealant / bonding. A nice snug fit, thanks FIBERWORX!
Im just waiting for Fiberworx to send the rear diffuser and the front lip, then i can add the front splitter blade. In the mean time, i ordered some metal for the front diff frame. This will also support the fuel cell and the radiator.
Once ive done that ill be finishing the engine installation and then pulling it all apart again. Ill be finishing up with the welding / bracing, measuring up the driveshafts and then welding in the firewall..
All in all not too much left to do before its respray. Unfortunately i still need a miracle to happen for that one but im hopeful lol.. I approached a spray shop in Blackpool to see if they could help me out, im waiting to see what they say..
I think its time for a little update...
I havnt managed to do too much work as i have been working on S2000 and Coil On Plug converters.. However i do have a thankyou I want to say..
Firstly, i sold my intercooler in exchange for 2 smaller ones.. Ive decided to scrap the side intakes on the car as it is going to cost too much money to get a bodyshop to smooth them in.. And there is a weight penalty for the body filler- not really worth it..
Fiberworx are making me some intake scoops of my own design, similar to the Monster Suzuki SX4 PPIHC car.. Theyll be made out of carbon and duct air directly onto the intercoolers mounted in the rear wings.. Here is a pic of the two intercoolers;
And now the thankyou... I dont have the facility to mill or lathe parts here, i can CNC mill but its not upto steel .etc so i have to rely on people helping me out.. A chap called Marin "Civic-T" on the Civiclife forum has turned me these 3 parts;
The larger of them is a spacer to fit between the slave cylinder i installed in the front diff and conduct the load onto the aluminium structure below. I didnt like the idea that the 3 plastic mounting lugs were taking all the force.
The two other parts are identical, because the CRV wheel bearing is so much wider than the civic one, fitting the civic hub means when the axle is tightened it crushes the bearing. These shims will fit onto the driveshaft and make up the extra depth.
Marin and another chap Martin have both given their time to make me parts such as these and the transmission adapter.. A year ago i wouldnt have accepted help because i wanted to finish the car solely on my own. However, in the previous year i have resigned to accepting help, and to be honest its brilliant.. It feels great that so many people are willing to donate their time and skills to help me out wherever they can and for that, if the car is ever finished! i owe them massive thanks!
Also, my new wheels are finished... I have always always loved the banded steels found on older race cars.. Plus these are cheaper than alloys, and i was able to have them customised to perfectly fit my car..
The size is 16", and the rears are 12" wide, the front are 10". They are currently in transit and should be here soon..
Im hoping to finish the work i have on very shortly, and then i can finish the front differential frame, install the fuel cell, radiator, fuel pumps, swirl pot .etc then paint it all up.. Then i need to whip the engine out, finish up all the welding inside and prime that all up..
I havnt managed to do too much work as i have been working on S2000 and Coil On Plug converters.. However i do have a thankyou I want to say..
Firstly, i sold my intercooler in exchange for 2 smaller ones.. Ive decided to scrap the side intakes on the car as it is going to cost too much money to get a bodyshop to smooth them in.. And there is a weight penalty for the body filler- not really worth it..
Fiberworx are making me some intake scoops of my own design, similar to the Monster Suzuki SX4 PPIHC car.. Theyll be made out of carbon and duct air directly onto the intercoolers mounted in the rear wings.. Here is a pic of the two intercoolers;
And now the thankyou... I dont have the facility to mill or lathe parts here, i can CNC mill but its not upto steel .etc so i have to rely on people helping me out.. A chap called Marin "Civic-T" on the Civiclife forum has turned me these 3 parts;
The larger of them is a spacer to fit between the slave cylinder i installed in the front diff and conduct the load onto the aluminium structure below. I didnt like the idea that the 3 plastic mounting lugs were taking all the force.
The two other parts are identical, because the CRV wheel bearing is so much wider than the civic one, fitting the civic hub means when the axle is tightened it crushes the bearing. These shims will fit onto the driveshaft and make up the extra depth.
Marin and another chap Martin have both given their time to make me parts such as these and the transmission adapter.. A year ago i wouldnt have accepted help because i wanted to finish the car solely on my own. However, in the previous year i have resigned to accepting help, and to be honest its brilliant.. It feels great that so many people are willing to donate their time and skills to help me out wherever they can and for that, if the car is ever finished! i owe them massive thanks!
Also, my new wheels are finished... I have always always loved the banded steels found on older race cars.. Plus these are cheaper than alloys, and i was able to have them customised to perfectly fit my car..
The size is 16", and the rears are 12" wide, the front are 10". They are currently in transit and should be here soon..
Im hoping to finish the work i have on very shortly, and then i can finish the front differential frame, install the fuel cell, radiator, fuel pumps, swirl pot .etc then paint it all up.. Then i need to whip the engine out, finish up all the welding inside and prime that all up..
Hello chaps..
Good afternoon, my sincere apologies for not being on here in a while.
There has been no progress on the car at all recently. Unfortunately i dont have the time, i have had a chaps car on my drive since the new year trying to perfect my AEM EPM honda ecu interface. So ive been focused on that..
Also, i am now doing a PhD investigating the application of active aero systems on race cars. So much so that ive been using my spare time with looking for sponsors to fabricate the system and finish the car itself..
If anyone knows anyone who could help me with or donate;
1) a high performance PC with at least 8 cores
2) semi-slick tyres to fit 16" 235mm and 255mm wide wheels
it would be a massive help.. The computer issue is a big question at the moment as i need to do a fair bit of real time modelling, as well as CAD.
Ive been donated some large CF wings too, and there is some other stuff in the pipeline. However until im more sure about it there is no way i want to reveal the plan.
Good afternoon, my sincere apologies for not being on here in a while.
There has been no progress on the car at all recently. Unfortunately i dont have the time, i have had a chaps car on my drive since the new year trying to perfect my AEM EPM honda ecu interface. So ive been focused on that..
Also, i am now doing a PhD investigating the application of active aero systems on race cars. So much so that ive been using my spare time with looking for sponsors to fabricate the system and finish the car itself..
If anyone knows anyone who could help me with or donate;
1) a high performance PC with at least 8 cores
2) semi-slick tyres to fit 16" 235mm and 255mm wide wheels
it would be a massive help.. The computer issue is a big question at the moment as i need to do a fair bit of real time modelling, as well as CAD.
Ive been donated some large CF wings too, and there is some other stuff in the pipeline. However until im more sure about it there is no way i want to reveal the plan.
The software im using is;
Solidworks 13
Solid Edge 17
Matlab / Simulink (the most intensive one of them all for CPU, GPU and RAM)
Labview
and CATIA V5
I already have a beefy graphics card, i needed it to perform Open CL GPU computing for 3D scanning using the Kinect, so that isnt a worry at all. Its just the actual base computer which is stumping me.. Ideally im looking for something with a spare PCI port and PCI-x16 graphics.
It might not be something i can actually cobble together, i might be able to scrape through with what i have but its going to be difficult.. Ive asked around a few companies to see if they can help me but unfortunately it doesnt look good..
Solidworks 13
Solid Edge 17
Matlab / Simulink (the most intensive one of them all for CPU, GPU and RAM)
Labview
and CATIA V5
I already have a beefy graphics card, i needed it to perform Open CL GPU computing for 3D scanning using the Kinect, so that isnt a worry at all. Its just the actual base computer which is stumping me.. Ideally im looking for something with a spare PCI port and PCI-x16 graphics.
It might not be something i can actually cobble together, i might be able to scrape through with what i have but its going to be difficult.. Ive asked around a few companies to see if they can help me but unfortunately it doesnt look good..
I would prefer a bulldozer setup really. 8 individual cores.
None of the CAD packages support multi core operation, however, the CFD and stress elements do. The multi core requirement is simply due to Matlab. The system will be running multiple models for the aero data and the target wing angles .etc
The models in matlab can be set to run on multi core systems as well as leaving windows free to generate any GUIs / gauges or even the external hardware interfaces.
There is also alot of data being streamed back from the bus such as the actual wing positions, voltages, currents, temperatures from the more sophisticated actuators. The idea being i want to be logging all of this data and displaying it for monitoring purposes, all on the same system.
The graphics card is a semi-high end gaming card. 2gb DDR5, and overclocked memory and GPU. I had to get this to allow my current PC to run the 3D meshing / capture software for my ms Kinect scanner..
None of the CAD packages support multi core operation, however, the CFD and stress elements do. The multi core requirement is simply due to Matlab. The system will be running multiple models for the aero data and the target wing angles .etc
The models in matlab can be set to run on multi core systems as well as leaving windows free to generate any GUIs / gauges or even the external hardware interfaces.
There is also alot of data being streamed back from the bus such as the actual wing positions, voltages, currents, temperatures from the more sophisticated actuators. The idea being i want to be logging all of this data and displaying it for monitoring purposes, all on the same system.
The graphics card is a semi-high end gaming card. 2gb DDR5, and overclocked memory and GPU. I had to get this to allow my current PC to run the 3D meshing / capture software for my ms Kinect scanner..
ManOpener said:
You could do a dual-Opteron (socket G34) build. That would give you up to 32 physical cores. Wouldn't be cheap, mind- about £2k for processors and compatible motherboard. Single socket AM3+ board with the newer-generation Piledriver AMD processors will give you 8 physical cores and could be done for well under £400 if you were crafty and had bits like cases, hard drives ect lurking around. CPU/motherboar/RAM can be had for £200-250...
That isnt a bad idea, i could butcher a couple of PCs to build one decent one to keep costs down. The thing is im massively stuck for the funds on this aspect at the moment. I would certainly love a dual opteron system, or even equipped the TESLA computing cards which offer dedicated GPU processing. However youre talking thousands for that.. Ill probably have to make do at the moment, but ill need some upgrades lolEdited by ManOpener on Friday 14th June 21:59
Good morning all!
I know a few people have been asking about the build on the few forums the car is posted on and i thought it would be time to pick it back up again.
For the last year i have been a bit snowed under with a new job (among other distractions). But now hopefully things are alot better and the balance is right.
Since the funding was one of the things stopping the build, i have decided to take a rather drastic approach. As of now, the engine and almost all of its ancillaries are on Ebay for sale. I dont believe you are allowed to advertise on the forums so i wont go into any more detail.
The idea is that if i change direction with the engine, it will free up some money (providing i can get something decent for it) which i can then use to finish the build in general.
I think my new engine and transmission choice is a little bit special and i hope i can push on with it- but im going to keep the details to myself for now- at least until i get more of an idea if the plan is a starter or not..
I am hoping to spend alot more time working on the car and being present on the forums and thankyou for those who asked after the progress - its nice to hear!
I know a few people have been asking about the build on the few forums the car is posted on and i thought it would be time to pick it back up again.
For the last year i have been a bit snowed under with a new job (among other distractions). But now hopefully things are alot better and the balance is right.
Since the funding was one of the things stopping the build, i have decided to take a rather drastic approach. As of now, the engine and almost all of its ancillaries are on Ebay for sale. I dont believe you are allowed to advertise on the forums so i wont go into any more detail.
The idea is that if i change direction with the engine, it will free up some money (providing i can get something decent for it) which i can then use to finish the build in general.
I think my new engine and transmission choice is a little bit special and i hope i can push on with it- but im going to keep the details to myself for now- at least until i get more of an idea if the plan is a starter or not..
I am hoping to spend alot more time working on the car and being present on the forums and thankyou for those who asked after the progress - its nice to hear!
Thanks mate - i didnt want to post a link personally in case i ended up getting shot for it by the admins.. 
Hopefully the engine will sell, it hasnt this morning but there are a few people watching it so hopefully with a bit of time.. plus who can afford that sum of money out of the blue (wishful thinking!)
I cannot do anything until the engine sells, which will in turn fund most of the additional work including new engine.
Hopefully the engine will sell, it hasnt this morning but there are a few people watching it so hopefully with a bit of time.. plus who can afford that sum of money out of the blue (wishful thinking!)
I cannot do anything until the engine sells, which will in turn fund most of the additional work including new engine.
Hi there,
its been a while since ive made any progress on this build - mainly due to work commitments.
However i do have some progress to report. This is my new engine;
Its a W8 4.0 taken from a passat, ive been working on a brief rebuild and checked the engine for any damage / wear. I am just finishing up rebuilding it with the intent to put two turbochargers on it, for now i wont be decreasing the compression ratio but ill be designing a head gasket spacer to drop it to a sensible level. There are many reasons to be careful with this engine, its benefits of being compact also means thin connecting rods etc.
I have decided to move way from the transmission / engine combo and use this one. The audi 01e transmission is perfect and significantly stronger than the crv model. I have also managed to source a honda rdx rear differential to replace my crv differential which allows me to experiment a bit with torque vectoring
its been a while since ive made any progress on this build - mainly due to work commitments.
However i do have some progress to report. This is my new engine;
Its a W8 4.0 taken from a passat, ive been working on a brief rebuild and checked the engine for any damage / wear. I am just finishing up rebuilding it with the intent to put two turbochargers on it, for now i wont be decreasing the compression ratio but ill be designing a head gasket spacer to drop it to a sensible level. There are many reasons to be careful with this engine, its benefits of being compact also means thin connecting rods etc.
I have decided to move way from the transmission / engine combo and use this one. The audi 01e transmission is perfect and significantly stronger than the crv model. I have also managed to source a honda rdx rear differential to replace my crv differential which allows me to experiment a bit with torque vectoring
Hey all,
thanks for the comments, not the first time my sanity has been questioned - oh well im nothing if not eccentric..
I do look forward to the phone call with the insurance company, i think i might need to buy shares of some kind!!
I rather rushed me previous post as i didnt think people would be too interested, after all its more of an engineering project to me as opposed to a car :S
There are a whole raft of jobs which needs to be done, specifically;
Custom exhaust manifolds- not an issue however i do need to find someone who can machine me two flanges based on the exhaust gaskets as guides.. Then ill fabricate the stainless SCH10 tubing. Ive designed twinscroll exhaust manifolds so i will be aiming to still exploit the GT3076r and two of them..
Fabricate inlet manifold- need to blank off the single throttle body, procure a second throttle body and using a pair of custom ali flanges and ali tube i am going to add both throttles to the sides of the inlet manifold. One per turbo.
Engine management - ive scrapped the OEM VW ecu in favour of an adaptronic 1280s - which in my opinion is an absolutely staggering ecu.. FPGA based it is capable of almost anything. I have since programmed it with dual drive by wire throttles and also used my anti lag system from the honda engine. So this 4.0 W8 will still use the advanced, rally style anti lag system to reduce lag. I have also designed an algorithm and system which will control the wastegate dutycycle based on the rotational speed of the turbos, ensuring that although the net output boost control will be maintained the amount of bypass will be varied to ensure that both turbos shaft speeds stay similar - this should reduce the effect of one turbo slowing more than the other and having to recover that rotational inertia when the throttle is reopened..
Transfer case - since i am using the O1E transmission, the (was) front differential will now run the rear wheels - which i hope to upgrade at some point to a Quaife ATB. The (was) rear wheel output i am going to use a silent chain drive to offset it and feed it forwards, past the drivers side of the engine to the original Honda Prop shaft. This will then travel diagonally down the car to the modified Acura RDX differential in the front. The benefit here is that there is no actual differential - the amount of torque imparted to the wheels is controlled by an electronic clutch and planetary gearset. This will allow me to control the front to rear torque transfer as well as right to left. I will be integrating this with throttle input, steering angle etc. to give me torque vectoring. This should help pull the car through turns without the dreaded awd understeer issues. Since this is all my design i will also be able to change the control methods at any time and refine them over the coming years.. which is pretty nifty
thanks for the comments, not the first time my sanity has been questioned - oh well im nothing if not eccentric..
I do look forward to the phone call with the insurance company, i think i might need to buy shares of some kind!!
I rather rushed me previous post as i didnt think people would be too interested, after all its more of an engineering project to me as opposed to a car :S
There are a whole raft of jobs which needs to be done, specifically;
Custom exhaust manifolds- not an issue however i do need to find someone who can machine me two flanges based on the exhaust gaskets as guides.. Then ill fabricate the stainless SCH10 tubing. Ive designed twinscroll exhaust manifolds so i will be aiming to still exploit the GT3076r and two of them..
Fabricate inlet manifold- need to blank off the single throttle body, procure a second throttle body and using a pair of custom ali flanges and ali tube i am going to add both throttles to the sides of the inlet manifold. One per turbo.
Engine management - ive scrapped the OEM VW ecu in favour of an adaptronic 1280s - which in my opinion is an absolutely staggering ecu.. FPGA based it is capable of almost anything. I have since programmed it with dual drive by wire throttles and also used my anti lag system from the honda engine. So this 4.0 W8 will still use the advanced, rally style anti lag system to reduce lag. I have also designed an algorithm and system which will control the wastegate dutycycle based on the rotational speed of the turbos, ensuring that although the net output boost control will be maintained the amount of bypass will be varied to ensure that both turbos shaft speeds stay similar - this should reduce the effect of one turbo slowing more than the other and having to recover that rotational inertia when the throttle is reopened..
Transfer case - since i am using the O1E transmission, the (was) front differential will now run the rear wheels - which i hope to upgrade at some point to a Quaife ATB. The (was) rear wheel output i am going to use a silent chain drive to offset it and feed it forwards, past the drivers side of the engine to the original Honda Prop shaft. This will then travel diagonally down the car to the modified Acura RDX differential in the front. The benefit here is that there is no actual differential - the amount of torque imparted to the wheels is controlled by an electronic clutch and planetary gearset. This will allow me to control the front to rear torque transfer as well as right to left. I will be integrating this with throttle input, steering angle etc. to give me torque vectoring. This should help pull the car through turns without the dreaded awd understeer issues. Since this is all my design i will also be able to change the control methods at any time and refine them over the coming years.. which is pretty nifty
I hadnt realised there was a small update i missed a while back - quite a while back - hence the surface rust here..
I opted to replace the electro-hydraulic steering system i was using previously with this, its an electric power steering rack from an FN2 Civic Type R.. The logic being that the hydraulic system was a bit rubbish and this system seemingly the new standard uses a combination of electric motor and strain gages to determine the driver demand and reduce it using the motor.
What i have done is intercept the signals from the strain gages and run them into a ADC, DAC, this allows me to intercept and modify the signals. With this i now have a completely tunable power steering system which i can modify the "weight" of at any moment. The first job when it hits the road is to override the OEM map by providing an inverse signal which will give a flat response to driver torque over speed. Once this is done i will then be able to run my own map on top based on whatever sensors or parameters i want. This is a safety critical system so i also have a bypass switch to disconnect the interface and run it as normal once again.
Its given me a fair amount of control over the system without spending alot of money whatsoever. The only issue is that it isnt 100% physically compatible so i needed to have some adapter parts made.. Firstly it sits on a modified subframe - please ignore the surface rust, most of this is being scrapped for the new differential. To connect the rack to the hubs i had some spacers made from steel (safety sake over aluminium) and a set of rose joints on the end. The travel of the rack is actually slightly more than the original too, which will benefit the maximum steering lock- i cant quantify how much of a benefit this is at the moment though..
When the new differential arrives i shall be finishing up evertyhing in the engine bay and tidying it up - alot...
I opted to replace the electro-hydraulic steering system i was using previously with this, its an electric power steering rack from an FN2 Civic Type R.. The logic being that the hydraulic system was a bit rubbish and this system seemingly the new standard uses a combination of electric motor and strain gages to determine the driver demand and reduce it using the motor.
What i have done is intercept the signals from the strain gages and run them into a ADC, DAC, this allows me to intercept and modify the signals. With this i now have a completely tunable power steering system which i can modify the "weight" of at any moment. The first job when it hits the road is to override the OEM map by providing an inverse signal which will give a flat response to driver torque over speed. Once this is done i will then be able to run my own map on top based on whatever sensors or parameters i want. This is a safety critical system so i also have a bypass switch to disconnect the interface and run it as normal once again.
Its given me a fair amount of control over the system without spending alot of money whatsoever. The only issue is that it isnt 100% physically compatible so i needed to have some adapter parts made.. Firstly it sits on a modified subframe - please ignore the surface rust, most of this is being scrapped for the new differential. To connect the rack to the hubs i had some spacers made from steel (safety sake over aluminium) and a set of rose joints on the end. The travel of the rack is actually slightly more than the original too, which will benefit the maximum steering lock- i cant quantify how much of a benefit this is at the moment though..
When the new differential arrives i shall be finishing up evertyhing in the engine bay and tidying it up - alot...
hey mate, thanks for the comments.
I am glad we agree - although i hadnt thought about waterjet that is the exact method i was hoping to use - i kept my old gaskets to scan in at work whilst nobody is looking..
With regard to the turbo speed issue, i also agree, reliability is an issue. Depending on the material and the sensing method. Ive been doing work with VR sensors and hall sensors trying to get it bang on and reliable. Borgwarner's EFR turbos come with speed sensors, so i am hoping to use something like that.
Plus you can use a kalman type filter to predict the turbo speed based on previous samples. This will effectively ignore sporadic results and yield a quick response to change - although i am still yet to experiment with that i completely agree that it is a technical hurdle to overcome. In terms of computing the duty cycle changes i will be using a fixed positive pressure source in order to mitigate some of the changing variables and use fuzzy logic (or something similar) to compute the duty cycle changes based on demand.
As i say this is more of an engineering challenge to me than anything else, if i cannot manage to do it itll be a loss but i just want to rise to the challenge since i think the results will be worth it.. in the end... hopefully... with any luck...
I am glad we agree - although i hadnt thought about waterjet that is the exact method i was hoping to use - i kept my old gaskets to scan in at work whilst nobody is looking..
With regard to the turbo speed issue, i also agree, reliability is an issue. Depending on the material and the sensing method. Ive been doing work with VR sensors and hall sensors trying to get it bang on and reliable. Borgwarner's EFR turbos come with speed sensors, so i am hoping to use something like that.
Plus you can use a kalman type filter to predict the turbo speed based on previous samples. This will effectively ignore sporadic results and yield a quick response to change - although i am still yet to experiment with that i completely agree that it is a technical hurdle to overcome. In terms of computing the duty cycle changes i will be using a fixed positive pressure source in order to mitigate some of the changing variables and use fuzzy logic (or something similar) to compute the duty cycle changes based on demand.
As i say this is more of an engineering challenge to me than anything else, if i cannot manage to do it itll be a loss but i just want to rise to the challenge since i think the results will be worth it.. in the end... hopefully... with any luck...
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