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Car 986 Scion FR-S NASA PTD Race Car Build
It's more of an "I gutted my car and turned it into a race car as quickly as possible... and now that it's actually completed a race, I can share it" story, but here it is.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...62544677_o.jpg While I did have occasional help along the way, this was mostly a one man effort in my tiny townhouse garage (except for the professionally done roll cage by Mark Cooper at Performance Chassis. Therefore, there are very few actual build photos since I was all hands on deck. My usual helper (my wife), was the better part of 6 months pregnant and sadly :( unwilling to work on a car. We did have a race to see if the birth of my daughter or the completion of car would come first. I let my daughter win! :) I haven't fully thought this out yet so expect a few edits over the next few days. And I've been around racing long enough that looks don't really matter to me so my car isn't the cleanest or prettiest, but I'm working on that. 1. #trackcar 2. #rollcage 3. #racecar parts 4. #racecar |
I wanted a Firestorm Red M/T, my wife wanted a Raven A/T. We couldn't find either anywhere in Raleigh the day we decided to pick it up, so the Fred Anderson dealer said he had both being delivered in 3 days and we could come reserve either. We got there and the Raven MT with 15 miles was sitting on the showroom floor with borla catback, tint, bespoke headunit, paint protection, toyoguard elite and he tossed in a few additions (lojack, free 1-day car rental for every service at the dealership etc.) so we both compromised. The plan was to drive the wheels off it for a year before deciding if it would be a race car or not.
Took it to Road Atlanta 6 days after buying it and loved it. We drove through the NC and TN mountains. We did a 7hr 15min bull run from Raleigh to New York. Covered 3000 miles in a 10 day trip from Raleigh - Charleston - Savannah - Gainesville - DisneyWorld - Miami - Key West - Tampa - Atlanta - Raleigh. And just before our Route66 trip, we found out my wife was pregnant so that was the end of the fun and games... racecar time. Here are some random road trip pics, autox, and track pics. Straight to the track at 987 miles. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...-42-30_907.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...00534580_o.jpg This was probably my favorite trip. Here's the google maps link if you want to try it out. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...nforgetrip.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...132742_201.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...8061413956.jpg Carries race tires, and race bikes very well. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...114156_504.jpg Hanging out with my partner in crime at Petit Le Mans https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...103223_075.jpg NASA MidAtlantic Autocross with the pTuning crew https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G...115933_751.jpg Coilovers came late so installed at the track with no testing :(, but there was beer and friends :) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K...21960520_o.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...01433673_n.jpg Test day with coilovers at NCCAR https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...%2B%281%29.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...160733_203.jpg Last pic before the gutting begins! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...073943_264.jpg Dyno runs to make sure we're legal for TT https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...%2B%281%29.jpg TT fun at Road Atlanta https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/iC...=w1043-h586-no https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...45662524_o.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9...64478278_o.jpg Giving some rides, and pace car duties https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...5-no/esses.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...5-no/gary1.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...o/pacecar1.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...-no/rides1.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...5-no/rides.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7...5-no/ttfun.jpg Charlotte Motor Speedway testing https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...09772771_n.jpg |
Reserved for Race Car Parts pics
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Reserved for Completed Race Car pics
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Reserved for Testing Videos and Pics
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Reserved for applause gif
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roll cage pics updated - @Piercemotorsports @philooo
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awesome picture of the cage building, nice ! you did that yourself..R-E-S-P-E-C-T ...for not messing it up ;)
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Didn't do it myself. I can't weld for nothing. I pre-bent the main roll hoop and down bars using some muffler tubing so the cage builder knew exactly what I wanted. Then I stood around like a kid in a candy store as he translated that to the actual cage. :) I like to do as much of anything as I can and give people as little work as possible.
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Looks great!! I'm trying to see in the pics. Did you remove the oem dash bar or put another bar in front it it?
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I thought TTD was time attack, not "race"
What race series are you in? Sick car regardless :) |
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TTD is Time Trial "Class D". PTD is Performance Touring "Class D". The car was only in TT until it was paid off and because I hadn't completed all the safety stuff needed to pass race car tech. (fire system, kill switch, cage, window nets, etc). I personally don't care for Time Trials, prefer wheel to wheel racing; however, you still earn contingency and there's an official time sheet results to show to sponsors. |
Looks all types of rigid!
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Very cool project! I would love to someday go beyond the occasional HPDE and have some serious fun but I guess I'd need to get my wife a replacement daily ;)
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Post #2 updated with moah pics!
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I drive a crappy $1k jalopy as a daily. My tow truck is her daily, and if she doesn't go with me to the track... $150 4-day wknd rental from Hertz ~5 times/yr is a cheaper than insurance/taxes/maintenance on a 4th car. I've been pretty fortunate thus far because it has worked for us, but it's not easy. Plus even though my name's on the car, we both know it's really her car... I'm just shaking it down and working out the bugs. |
Is your ac still functional or did you delete? Have you tried putting dash back in yet over the front bar?
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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ZM7GTkfVw[/ame] |
Awesome. Are you going to do lexan windows? Can you get a pic of where the down bar meets the dash. Great cage!
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I'm out all day, so I'll try to take pics of the dash when I can. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9..._082852261.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r..._090555324.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B..._203609611.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W..._203629986.jpg |
Sweet. Well now I need pics of inside of door how the windows connect. Lol
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How much ballast (if any) did you have to add to stay in (P/T)TD? I know the cage adds a fair amount of weight, but stripping the interior and going to race seats has to remove quite a bit as well. I'm already having to add 70lbs. of ballast to my car for TTD and I haven't touched the interior of my car.
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I can easily get the car down to dry 2750lbs comp weight with me and cage so I plan on adding 3x 45lb plates in front of the passenger seat. To be honest, I don't know exactly what my final weight will be. One option involves blowing all my points on lightweight performance parts, the other is leaving my stock parts, tuning for power with E85, and spending the points on tire and suspension. I'll be wasting money next year figuring out which is the faster of the 2. You have any thoughts? |
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Ohlins Road & Track - 8 points (+5 > 40mm shaft, +2 springs, +1 inverted fronts) Essex AP Racing Sprint BBK - 2 points 225/45 R17 Hoosier R6 - 4 points Delicious Tune - 0 points (Still stock exhaust, just a drop in filter. Making 184 to the wheels). I've done a number of other point free mods (CF driveshaft, lighter clutch/flywheel, lightweight battery) and currently I have to run with 70lbs. of ballast. So far things have gone pretty well. This has been my first year in TT (and only 2nd year tracking a car) and usually I'm competitive enough to come in first or 2nd in TTD, depending on who shows up. I'd say currently my car and I are slightly better than average but if a fully optimized car and a good driver comes along I don't stand much of a chance. For example, last weekend I was at Summit Point I was a good 1/2 second to 1 second in front of everyone else in class except for a certain E36 M3 who set the track record for the class that weekend. I was about 2 seconds off his pace. After comparing his data with mine, while I'm probably leaving about a second in the car, I simply can't compete with his extra torque. Running E85 might change that, but it just seems like too much of a hassle for me to haul around gas containers and stuff. So next year my plan is to go full exhaust and run a 225/45 Maxxis RC-1 (how do you like yours by the way?). I figure this I'll be sacrificing some grip, but should at least be able to compete on power now and won't be down 5-10mph on the straights. Time will tell if this is faster or not. I think it will be, but even if it isn't I'll probably still be winning tires thanks to how generous Maxxis' contingency program is. My rough guess as to what the fastest setup would be is probably just be +5 suspension, +5 full exhaust, +9 for a 225 Hoosier A6. If I was starting over again, I think this might be the path I would take, but I had started my mods before I knew about the TT program and its rules. |
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5/5/9 is what I started out with but E85 can free up those 5 engine points for other mods, without a performance hit. I'm seriously considering it even though I absolutely don't want to deal with carrying fuel. Since I have to consider the running costs of racing, inverted shocks, endlinks, swaybars (my car has stupid amounts of oversteer since the cage), all seem enticing. BTW, 225 R6 are +6pts. The maxxis contingency is amazing, so 235 RC1s at 6pts will lose out to hoosiers, but makes up for it in the contingency. I'll be doing Al Driveshaft, and 10lb flywheel as well. The stock endlinks are pretty flimsy for w2w racing, so I may be taking the 2 pts for those with sway bars. Since the battery is on the right, and I'll be adding weight to the right anyway, I'll probably leave that alone for now, even thought that's the best weightloss mod of them all. There's certainly a lot to play with, so I'll be taking my time and not really getting any results for a few months. Every weekend is basically just an experimental test session for me now. |
First time I have seen this post. Love that Rustoleum Hammer finish. I used it on my cage as well:
http://spece30.ridedomain.com/cage_passenger.jpg |
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this makes me moist.
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Nice!
What kind of lap times are you turning at Road Atlanta? |
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U..._202134387.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v..._202156104.jpg Lexan Attachment points: Inside the door, there are 2 ledges. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-p..._202211391.jpg The base sits on the ledges https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-A..._202234202.jpg Then I begin tucking the front corner inside the window trim. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e..._202242096.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-P..._202304313.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j..._202309895.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S..._202319017.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J..._202337228.jpg |
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Stock with Coilovers and old set of RC-1s: 1:46.905 Going back this weekend stock with continental scrubs. I feel there's a low 1:47 there. Once I get that, I'll switch back to RC-1s to see the actual difference between the 2. I'll be using the national championship event as my tire comparison weekend. :) |
I am curious to see if there is a good thread on the best NASA TT mods for the FRS.
There are so many possible choice, it is tough. to decide. I like the idea to go the lightest way + suspension VS more power. Seems like less maintenance problem that way. |
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Im actually in this conundrum right now... Spend points on lightweight but stock drivetrain or spend points on bolt-ons and tune to give more hp. Going to look for a specific thread for this topic now... And love the build! :respekt: |
Right now, there isn't a clear distinction. Go for the 0pts mods first. Air filter, driveshaft, clutch etc. The main discussion points so far break down as follows.
TIRES. If there's real competition, you can't win TT without being on the fastest tire. Start your build around the tires. If you go with a 225, still get a 9" wheel for maximum contact patch. So far, testing shows that 245 is faster than 225 at every track tested. Next year's tires are still in question... so can't do much until the 2015 class rules come out. 1) The hoosier A7s are now a 22pt tire, and the R7s are a 13pt tire. 2) This car could likely get a * for next season as well, taking 7 pts away from the 19pts available. POWER/ENGINE MODS/WEIGHT. If you have access to E85, tune to 199hp on stock and avoid any engine mods. That's 0pts to get to the max power to weight ratio on this car. 199whp/@2885lbs. Headers are great for torque dip, but that's 3 pts on this car as opposed to 2 on others and can be managed. This car is already below the current minimum competition weight, so trying to go lightweight doesn't really net any benefits. You'll have to add weight so just corner balance the car and don't go crazy on a diet. My car with cage and no lightweight mods is already at 2580lbs dry. I need ballast to make the 2885lbs minimum competition weight. SUSPENSION RCE TIIs, KWs, or any 5pt suspension using stock end links would be the way to go. I'm going custom here, but that's because I'm playing with it to gather data for a future spec series. Ohlins & etc are great, but not worth the extra 3 points for Inverted and Shaft diameter greater than 40mm in TT but could be for racing since they'll last longer between rebuilds and can take more abuse. End links are another 2pts (sucks). Bottom line is, depends on your region. Who you're racing against (what tires they have), and if your tracks are mainly high HP tracks. Don't expect to win TTD in an FR-S at Road Atlanta against E36 M3s... it just won't happen... but expect to demolish them at Roebling Rd. I'm staring at 2 data files of the M3s and it's depressing. Exit speed at T7 of 48mph and top speed at T10 of 132mph vs FR-S exit speed at T7 of 53mph, and top speed at T10 of 127mph. sigh! |
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All that rambling = there's no set way to do it yet. The more cars we have trying different things with the points, the more we'll know.
Only concrete info I can share is that for NASA TTD, skip the following: BBK (RBF660 + ceramic pads work. No cooling *required*) Control Arms Sway Bars Aero Bump steer kits |
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Good idea on the thread. I'm always interested in gathering more feedback. |
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