Run and Gun 2003 Update
Discussion
After a round trip drive of 2400 miles we're home from a successful trip to Kit Car magazine's Run and Gun.
This is our second trip there, the first being in 1999 with the Cobra. Weather was ideal this time of the year, a far cry from the last trip which was held in July and temperatures were in the high 90's.
It's a 3 day event held for kit cars at Gateway International Speedway almost in the middle of the country just outside of St. Louis. While the majority of the cars are individuals like me, many kit manufacturers from all over the world attend to show off and demonstrate their latest creations.
This is a great venue. The NASCAR oval also has a road course, and on the same grounds outside the grandstand (seating for over 100,000 people)is a world-class drag strip. The huge paved parking lot is the site for the autocross which is layed out by SCCA Solo people.
The event consists of an autocross, road course, and drags. Points from all events determine the overall winner.
Classes were determined by engine size and tires being used. The CanAm was in Small block, with street tires.
Day 1; Morning
Autocross for small block street which at about 25 cars was the largest group.
4 timed runs were allowed, and we used the first runs to learn the course. As expected, the CanAm understeered but we were able to increase our speed every run by gentle throttle manipulation and hard use of the brakes (which impressed everyone by how straight and true it would decelerate).
Could not beat the Lola T-70 from Canam Exotics, which is smaller, lighter, more powerful, had tires better suited for the events, and has a suspension I wish the Ultima had. Finished a close second.
Day 1; Afternoon
Did 2-15 minute sessions on the track. Car set-up was cold 16 lbs in front and 18 lbs. in rear tires. Shocks were 10 clicks from full soft in front, and mid-point at rear. Front camber was 1.6 negative each wheel. Tires were Pirelli P Zero Rossos.
The course consists of many tight turns, and then turns 3 and 4 of the oval which leads to the main straight where you brake hard at the end, then turn into the infield. Reference the 1997 layout
www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/Gateway.html#TrackMaps
The car was solid through the banked oval and we were able to exceed 130 down the straight before coming to the braking zone for turn 1.
Once again the brakes were straight and true with no signs of fade, but require slightly more pressure than I would like. The only time that really bothered me was going through turn one and downshifting while braking with half my foot on the pedal.
Car was pushing on the slow sharp turns.
Could really use sway bars if this car was to see the track again. Not sure how much roll, but could really feel it.
Diced with the Lola for awhile. Decided to keep my promise to my wife and bring the car home in one piece.
Day 2 Time trials
Got 2 morning practice sessions, then 2 seperate timed laps in the afternoon, which consisted of a warm up lap, a hot lap, then a cool down lap.
Drove as hard as I had to, to get second place. Both hot laps within a third of a second.
Lola took first.
Day 3 Drag races, Awards
Several of the cars are set up mainly for this event, so we decided to just go out there and have fun. This would be only the second time I've been on a drag strip, the first being 4 years ago with the Cobra.
Because this event was being held on a Saturday, we had to vacate the strip fairly early because they have open racing there Saturday afternoon, and timed runs were limited to 3, of which I missed the first one because the car was being photographed for the magazine.
When I got on the strip, it was like the first time and the learning had to start all over. As I kept hitting the rev limiter, I remembered I'd forgotten to bump it up to 6500 rpm. Didn't even bother to shift into 4th at the end, and coasted across the line with the engine hitting the limiter. Time was 12.807 @ 112 mph. Adjusted the rev limiter for the next run, and while sitting there strapped in for the next run, remembered I still had track pressures in the tires, but no time to adjust them.
Actually used 4th gear this time. 1/8 mile was 90.72 mph, 1/4 mile was 117.35 @ 12.409.
This last time was not fast enough to qualify for the final 8.
Put down a time of 12.31 for the bracket racing. Adjusted the tire pressures, and even taking my foot off the gas before the end, I was going too fast and broke out. Time was 12.036 and 105.84. Day over, but not quite.
Was able to do another unofficial run.
1/8 mile in 7.6, 97.82 mph, 1/4 mile in 11.386 and 128.47 mph. We have 357.3 RWHP. on the dyno.
This time would have gotten me second place.
The Lola didn't compete because it broke it's Getrag transaxle.
Final results.
The Canam received the Editors Choice for Car of the Show, to which we're very grateful. Too bad that Ultima doesn't recognize it as a true representative of a Canam because of the few minor changes that I've made to it.
Second place overall, out of 60 cars
Second place road course
Second place autocross
http://home.comcast.net/~rosenracing5/wsb/html/view.cgi-photo.html--SiteID-1031934.html
A short word about Kit Car Magazine.
I'm not sure if it's available in Europe, but you could inquire if interested www.kitcarmag.com
It's the premier kit car magazine in the US with a circulation of about 30,000. In the early issues next year they will be featuring in the first one a report on a English Ultima build, followed by a 2 part article on my build. The editor, Mike Blake is a true car guy and puts 110% effort into the magazine and making sure Run and Gun goes on every year.
This year was the safest year yet, with the only fatality being a few engines.
Some of the cars that were represented by the company owners were from the U.S.--Shell Valley (5 cars), Dragon Cars (4 cars), CanAm Exotics (2 cars). From Australia was Roaring Forty (2 cars), and from South Africa was Backdraft Racing (2 cars). Obviously for the above mentioned reason, I was not representing the best of Ultima. Really enjoyed having a chance to talk to all the company owners, and most of the other individual car owners. One of the Cobra owners there from Texas is having a CanAm built right now by Craig Bramsher, so he expects to be there next year with it. Jeff Schwartz would have been there, but he had another commitment.
This was the second and last track event for our CanAm.
We've proven to ourself how fast it is with modest power, and it handles more than adequately on the street. We put close to 6000 miles on it this year, and hope to do more next year.
Tomorrow, we hop in the C5, and drive across the country to Arizona to play baseball for a week.
Sometime after our return, we'll get into the cockpit heat problem.. Sounds like a good winter project.
Regards to all
Jack
>>> Edited by USCANAM on Tuesday 21st October 15:04
This is our second trip there, the first being in 1999 with the Cobra. Weather was ideal this time of the year, a far cry from the last trip which was held in July and temperatures were in the high 90's.
It's a 3 day event held for kit cars at Gateway International Speedway almost in the middle of the country just outside of St. Louis. While the majority of the cars are individuals like me, many kit manufacturers from all over the world attend to show off and demonstrate their latest creations.
This is a great venue. The NASCAR oval also has a road course, and on the same grounds outside the grandstand (seating for over 100,000 people)is a world-class drag strip. The huge paved parking lot is the site for the autocross which is layed out by SCCA Solo people.
The event consists of an autocross, road course, and drags. Points from all events determine the overall winner.
Classes were determined by engine size and tires being used. The CanAm was in Small block, with street tires.
Day 1; Morning
Autocross for small block street which at about 25 cars was the largest group.
4 timed runs were allowed, and we used the first runs to learn the course. As expected, the CanAm understeered but we were able to increase our speed every run by gentle throttle manipulation and hard use of the brakes (which impressed everyone by how straight and true it would decelerate).
Could not beat the Lola T-70 from Canam Exotics, which is smaller, lighter, more powerful, had tires better suited for the events, and has a suspension I wish the Ultima had. Finished a close second.
Day 1; Afternoon
Did 2-15 minute sessions on the track. Car set-up was cold 16 lbs in front and 18 lbs. in rear tires. Shocks were 10 clicks from full soft in front, and mid-point at rear. Front camber was 1.6 negative each wheel. Tires were Pirelli P Zero Rossos.
The course consists of many tight turns, and then turns 3 and 4 of the oval which leads to the main straight where you brake hard at the end, then turn into the infield. Reference the 1997 layout
www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/Gateway.html#TrackMaps
The car was solid through the banked oval and we were able to exceed 130 down the straight before coming to the braking zone for turn 1.
Once again the brakes were straight and true with no signs of fade, but require slightly more pressure than I would like. The only time that really bothered me was going through turn one and downshifting while braking with half my foot on the pedal.
Car was pushing on the slow sharp turns.
Could really use sway bars if this car was to see the track again. Not sure how much roll, but could really feel it.
Diced with the Lola for awhile. Decided to keep my promise to my wife and bring the car home in one piece.
Day 2 Time trials
Got 2 morning practice sessions, then 2 seperate timed laps in the afternoon, which consisted of a warm up lap, a hot lap, then a cool down lap.
Drove as hard as I had to, to get second place. Both hot laps within a third of a second.
Lola took first.
Day 3 Drag races, Awards
Several of the cars are set up mainly for this event, so we decided to just go out there and have fun. This would be only the second time I've been on a drag strip, the first being 4 years ago with the Cobra.
Because this event was being held on a Saturday, we had to vacate the strip fairly early because they have open racing there Saturday afternoon, and timed runs were limited to 3, of which I missed the first one because the car was being photographed for the magazine.
When I got on the strip, it was like the first time and the learning had to start all over. As I kept hitting the rev limiter, I remembered I'd forgotten to bump it up to 6500 rpm. Didn't even bother to shift into 4th at the end, and coasted across the line with the engine hitting the limiter. Time was 12.807 @ 112 mph. Adjusted the rev limiter for the next run, and while sitting there strapped in for the next run, remembered I still had track pressures in the tires, but no time to adjust them.
Actually used 4th gear this time. 1/8 mile was 90.72 mph, 1/4 mile was 117.35 @ 12.409.
This last time was not fast enough to qualify for the final 8.
Put down a time of 12.31 for the bracket racing. Adjusted the tire pressures, and even taking my foot off the gas before the end, I was going too fast and broke out. Time was 12.036 and 105.84. Day over, but not quite.
Was able to do another unofficial run.
1/8 mile in 7.6, 97.82 mph, 1/4 mile in 11.386 and 128.47 mph. We have 357.3 RWHP. on the dyno.
This time would have gotten me second place.
The Lola didn't compete because it broke it's Getrag transaxle.
Final results.
The Canam received the Editors Choice for Car of the Show, to which we're very grateful. Too bad that Ultima doesn't recognize it as a true representative of a Canam because of the few minor changes that I've made to it.
Second place overall, out of 60 cars
Second place road course
Second place autocross
http://home.comcast.net/~rosenracing5/wsb/html/view.cgi-photo.html--SiteID-1031934.html
A short word about Kit Car Magazine.
I'm not sure if it's available in Europe, but you could inquire if interested www.kitcarmag.com
It's the premier kit car magazine in the US with a circulation of about 30,000. In the early issues next year they will be featuring in the first one a report on a English Ultima build, followed by a 2 part article on my build. The editor, Mike Blake is a true car guy and puts 110% effort into the magazine and making sure Run and Gun goes on every year.
This year was the safest year yet, with the only fatality being a few engines.
Some of the cars that were represented by the company owners were from the U.S.--Shell Valley (5 cars), Dragon Cars (4 cars), CanAm Exotics (2 cars). From Australia was Roaring Forty (2 cars), and from South Africa was Backdraft Racing (2 cars). Obviously for the above mentioned reason, I was not representing the best of Ultima. Really enjoyed having a chance to talk to all the company owners, and most of the other individual car owners. One of the Cobra owners there from Texas is having a CanAm built right now by Craig Bramsher, so he expects to be there next year with it. Jeff Schwartz would have been there, but he had another commitment.
This was the second and last track event for our CanAm.
We've proven to ourself how fast it is with modest power, and it handles more than adequately on the street. We put close to 6000 miles on it this year, and hope to do more next year.
Tomorrow, we hop in the C5, and drive across the country to Arizona to play baseball for a week.
Sometime after our return, we'll get into the cockpit heat problem.. Sounds like a good winter project.
Regards to all
Jack
>>> Edited by USCANAM on Tuesday 21st October 15:04
gtr-tt said:
USCANAM said:
1/8 mile in 7.6, 97.82 mph, 1/4 mile in 11.386 and 128.47 mph. We have 347 RWHP. on the dyno.
Very impressive! How did the Pirellis grip? Can they hold even more power?
Mikael
On the first run, I went full rpm in first gear and was getting some wheel hop. After that I found the best way to start off was to rev the engine to about 2000 rpm and start. This kept wheelspin at a minimum and I shifted into 2nd about 4000. I couldn't believe G's as I got pushed back into the seat on every shift. My engine puts out 368 pounds of max. torque at 3600 rpm. The torque is 335 at 2400 and is pretty flat across up to 5800 rpm.
The Pirelli Rosso's have fairly soft rubber, so I'm sure they can handle more horsepower without spinning if the clutch and throttle are handled properly.
Just checked my dyno sheets, and the correct horsepower is 357.3, which I've corrected in the post.
Jack
>> Edited by USCANAM on Tuesday 21st October 16:18
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