[Madmac]

With the bumper made and the floor section repaired, I needed to address the front floor to exhaust clearance issue. I've made a new shape in carbon fibre to lower the tunnel which gives me clearance for the exhausts. It was too tight to allow the floor and bumper to slide on easily so it needed fixed. I didn't want to have to make a new mould, so adding in this section is the next best thing. I considered a carbon splitter but it would be too easily broken and a plywood splitter takes a good bit of road rash, plus it's cheap and easy to make

Am working on moulds for bespoke canards now :coolsm:

 

[VIIIMREvo]

Awesome as always Donald!

 

[Madmac]

Update time:

Engine is bedded in, running at 2.2bar the response is simply incredible

No power figures yet as we're not finished the mapping. Had it a very short drive at 2.2bar and all I can say is it's almost terrifying how quickly it accelerates and the throttle response is very impressive in every gear.

I'll have it at Doune next weekend, mainly to get seat time and setup the traction control, refine the gear change and have a play with suspension. I'm not going out to try and break the record, i've hardly driven her in the last 5 years so I need to get comfortable with it again. The old Avons I have from 2015 are past it so I'm going to try a new tyre this year.

I'll get it back on the dyno as soon as I can and finish off the high boost mapping. Hopefully i'll have a proper power figure and curve to post here then :smthumbup

 

[strange_days_uk]

Do you have any pics of the car as it stands?

 

[Madmac]

I have this one from the test day but it's still to be cleaned ready for the start of the season so I haven't taken any others yet. It's still covered in dried mud from my excursion at Doune last year

 

[strange_days_uk]

Mate.


That thing is bad ass! Like something out of the original Mad Max. And bang! now I understand your username. :handsup:

 

[uga31]

I have this one from the test day but it's still to be cleaned ready for the start of the season so I haven't taken any others yet. It's still covered in dried mud from my excursion at Doune last year

Hello

The rear wing is from carbon fiber?
i need one for my evo 6 if you have!

thx

 

[Madmac]

Hello

The rear wing is from carbon fiber?
i need one for my evo 6 if you have!

thx

I make the rear wings from pre-preg carbon fibre but can't guarantee i'll be making any more this year. PM me your details and i'll let you know :smthumbup

 

[Madmac]

Back from the Doune weekend with a complete car

I'm trying a set of Extreme VR2 R5 compound tyres this year, mainly due to them being cheap but I've heard good reviews on them. The Avons have to run extreme camber which was making it difficult to get traction and the Extremes need less camber. So far i'm impressed with them. The car felt planted and stable. My Avons are 5 years old and have gone hard so they aren't very good as I found out on the Boyndie test day 2 weeks ago. I wasn't pushing hard over the weekend as i've not had much seat time over the last 5 years and the car is very different to how it used to be.

Both days the track was dry but cold. I didn't use the launch control on Saturday and refined the traction control and gear change initially. Normal launches are difficult as the wheels are spinning up on the line. Saturday was spent getting a feel for the new suspension and tyres. Ended the day on a 47.06s and stalled it on the line trying to just drive it off , luckily the rear wheels never went over the line so I was lined up for another start. The TC was working out of Junction and the Esses over the line but it feels like it's holding it back a bit.

Video here:

Sunday, similar conditions. The drive belt for the alternator and PAS snapped on run 2 but I had a spare which was an easy fix. Last run of the day I tried the launch and it didn't go into launch mode so the engine revved to the red line dragging me over the start beam. By the time I composed myself and got moving the clock had been ticking. I finished the run on a mid 48s.

Overall i'm happy with the weekend. It was all about collecting on-track data and setting up functions that can't be done on the dyno. The engine sounds healthy and the Twincharger is performing well. Throttle response is incredible, just instant and there is no sign of any turbo lag . The whole weekend was at 2.1Bar.

I'm still very much learning the new ECU and functions so it'll take time to refine it. The gearchange is causing bangs out the exhaust which needs changed. This split open one of my aluminium exhaust boxes on Sunday morning.

I'll be going through all the data soon to get more of an understanding of it and making changes from there.

Some trackside clips:

Next up Fintray hillclimb in 5 weeks

 

[7722adam]

That car is a weapon!!

Love it!!

 

[Mr Ralliart]

Awesome Donald! Onward and upward :smthumbup

 

[Tom Dick]

The in car video looks speeded up not a lot of room spare on the hill :naughty:

 

[Madmac]

The in car video looks speeded up not a lot of room spare on the hill :naughty:

It felt fast at the time but now I watch the video it looks slow! I wasn't out to break records, more to get seat time and data. Having only been out a couple of times in 5 years it's fair to say I'm a bit rusty. Doune isn't the place for heroics but it's still one of the best hillclimbs in the UK

 

[TimC]

Sorry if I have missed it, what changes to suspension have you made now?

 

[Madmac]

Sorry if I have missed it, what changes to suspension have you made now?

I've changed geometry for the new tyres to a rough guess starting point. I need to make slight adjustments to rear but otherwise felt good at Doune.

 

[TimC]

How much front castor do you run?

I know you altered your front roll centre but did you manage to get much out the rear too?

 

[Madmac]

Front castor is a couple of degrees more than standard. Front roll centre is corrected as is bump steer, all done through the tubular subframe.

Rear is standard geometry which hasn't given any issues with the front geometry change.

 

[Clivew]

Car looks awesome Donald, sounds like a shotgun going off every gear change, no wonder it did some damage!

 

[GUM EVO]

Awesome stuff as usual what a car you've been developing over these years... great to see someone who does most things themselves... seriously cool

 

[Madmac]

Update,

After Doune I noticed some white smoke from the exhaust, not all the time but only when I started it from hot. Investigation found a hairline crack in the head casting in an exhaust port allowing coolant into the turbo so I took the head off and have now scrapped it. It's been repaired 3 times now. The plan is to get a new head casting and get the car onto Ricky's new dyno in November to spend some time refining the setup.

I haven't had much time this year to take the car out due to other commitments but I hope next year i'll be able to commit to the Scottish Championship and get a few trips down south to Loton park, Prescott, Shelsley Walsh and Harewood hills as well :smthumbup

The car is more or less where I wanted it to be when I started the Twincharger project. I just need to get out there and learn/use it! It's like an on/off switch on wheels :lol:

In hindsight, the Extremes I used this year. although very good tyres, aren't able to put the power down. I'm hoping there will be more choice than just the Avons for next spring