After a few busy weeks we finally got a chance to get Project 996tt on the dyno for some initial tuning with our new K24/18G+ kit. After a few busy weeks in the shop working on customers cars and a short weight for a few final missing parts we strapped her on our in-house dynojet in RWD format to begin tuning and get some power to the ground.
We’ve slowly been turning up the boost on the car and dialing in the tune with the help of Tony Chick from EPL’s using their new dealer flash tool. The flashing has been flawless and the process of uploading a new file to the car takes mere minutes. We’ve seen great results so far at lower boost levels and will be turning the boost up a couple ticks in the next week or two to get even more power out of the setup. Using our new fuel system is working great and ad 1.31 bar we where only at 55% duty cycle on the injectors, so we have plenty of room to go for more boost, we’ll likely stop at 1.4-1.5bar on race fuel as this should be a good point for hard usage on the stock engine.
We’ll be doing a bit more tuning this week, hopefully turning the wick up for a bit more power. Chris Green @ USP Motorsports is sending a set of his intercoolers for us to use on the car, that should help keep the intake temperatures down as the boost gets turned up. Now that we’ve gone quicker than 11.5X twice, the track has also requested we install a roll bar. We’re going to take some time to install our GMG cage and new Status seats and try to get rid of some more dead weight in the interior. Progress is always a good thing and with a near 10 second pass on only our 2nd pass, I’m quite happy with where we’re heading.
This past weekend we were invited to watch the Nascar Truck-Series from the FedEx suite for the first race of the season. I am no stranger to Daytona International Speedway, having been there for many Rolex24’s as well as SCCA races and various other events however this was the first time I have seen the action from the famous “Super-Stretch”.
After arriving to the suite and putting our cameras and jackets down we made our way to the buffet. They had a great selection of various goodies including stuffed chicken, steak in a wine sauce, salad…and even fried mac-n-cheese. It was a good meal and a nice way to start off the evening. Beer and soda were graciously provided by our hosts and the suite was decorated with various images of the FedEx fleet of cars, trucks and planes as well as the race cars they sponsor.
We watched the first 30 or so laps of the race from the suite before moving down to the grand stands so we could get right next to the fences. Around the half-way point of the race we decided to take the shuttle over to the infield and watch from the garages (something I would latter regret). The shuttle that took us from the back stretch to the infield was a pretty long ride as you have to go half-way around the track, change busses and then go infield thru the turn 1 tunnel. It was actually pretty neat to take that route as the shuttle drives on part of the road course that I just saw the Daytona prototypes and GT cars of the Grand-Am series running less than a month before.
Once we got to the Fan-Zone we made our way to the roof top of the garage’s to see the action. You get a good view of the cars coming off turn 4 onto the front stretch as well as a decent view of the pits. The moment I started to regret coming over to the fan zone was when one of the trucks spun out coming off turn 2 and smashed into the wall RIGHT where we were standing just a few minutes before. It’s not that I want to see anyone get hurt, but I will admit that I enjoy seeing some the pile-ups in Nascar.
The race was over shortly after that and the night came to a close. It was great to get to hang out in a suite again and watch the race. The last time I was at the track in a suite was for the 2006 International Race of Champions (IROC). Watching from a suite is a totally different animal than being on the infield, or even in the grandstands. You can still hear the wail of the cars as the go by (especially in the tight packs that the stock cars run in) but it is fairly subdued. Also, having multiple TVs to view all the camera feeds that you would see at home is nice and you never have to worry about the weather.
I’d like to thank FedEx for the tickets and the hospitality (and the free beer!).
As project 996 evolves, we’re finding that with more power, we need more grip. This applies to both street and track, as the 600+ HP we anticipate to make will overpower our 19″ PS2s with ease. This car will be used for highway racing, drag racing, road racing, and still needs to be streetable enough to drive to local shows and select events. We decided it was time to get a track wheel setup for the car in a 18″ sizing that offered a much wider tire selection.
We’re fortunate to have CCW Wheels located less than an hour from us in Daytona. We’ve used CCW wheels on many of our personal and customer Supras in the past as they offer very aggressive fitments in a lightweight reasonably priced package. We’re trying to get the car ready for a track day at Roebling Road this weekend and wanted some wheels quick, we gave John @ CCW a call on Monday and had our new wheels here on Wednesday. The wheels are the CCW C2K, the latest in the forged Corsair line which is machined from a single 6061-T6 aluminum forging. This wheel takes some inspiration from the original CCW Classics and applies it to the forged track wheel lineup available in a 18″ size allowing for plenty of tire choices. We needed a sticky tire for this application and gave our good friends at Toyo a call, they supplied their latest R Compound tires the R888s in 235/40zr18 and 315/30ZR18 sizing. I’m anxious to get the car tunes and put our new track wheel and tire setup to the test, results to follow.
Turns out that some people in this world can be bought. In the case of Mr. White he is considered guilty of that fact.
Mr. White’s family has had struggles with his facial hair. Being in the military for 6 years and a pilot for another 3 meant that he had to shave every day for the last 9 years of his life. As such, he felt as though shaving could be something that he could do when he felt like it. Often times the man would look like something more at home at an Ozzfest concert than at home with his 2 children. The beard contest was to be an homage to men around the world who just don’t care about what they look like (flame away metrosexuals…flame away).
Money changes all. Mr. White was given an offer he couldn’t refuse, a sum of money greater than what he would have made by staying in the contest. Mr. White’s dues for the contest come to a total of $11. There is also another unmentionable person in the contest who also dropped out of his own accord. Couldn’t hack it we guess. That brings the pot total to $22.
Who has the intestinal fortitude to hold out? Time will tell. Stay tuned…
We finally got the car back from the exhaust shop yesterday afternoon. We didn’t have time to do much with it because it was close to quitin’ time so we left it till this morning to strap it down to the dyno and see what this engine can do once it can breathe.
As you can see from the photos of the exhaust, it can be tricky to route the piping properly under the car. At a glance everything looks symmetrical, but that is far from the case. The differential is off center and the spare wheel recess in the trunk is also a bit different from one side to the next. Either way, Hector at Exhaust Depot took care of the Challenger and everything fits together perfectly. We decided to go 3″ from the header manifold all the way back. This includes a pair of Catco 3″ hi-flow catalytic converters and a Magnaflow muffler which has the X-pipe inside of it. Stock tips were reused, and the pipes where painted black with high heat paint so that people wouldn’t think anything out of the ordinary at first glance. Sleeper style…(if an SRT8 could ever be considered a sleeper)
If you look at max power and torque gains it really isn’t that impressive. But the gains across the rev range were impressive. At 4200 RPM gains were 15hp and 20 ft-lbs, not to shabby, and right in the area where it’s usable.
Titan Motorsports will be competing once again in ADRL, in the Extreme 10.5” class. We will be competing throughout the 2009 season. We would like to take an opportunity to show you a small token of our appreciation for your loyalty to Titan Motorsports. Titan Motorsports will be participating in the ADRL Dragpalooza V at Houston Raceway Park, in Baytown Texas, on March 6-7. On behalf of ADRL and Titan Motorsports, we would like to extend to you free tickets to the race. Simply email JonS@TitanMotorsports.com with your name, address, and the amount of tickets you need. The tickets are good for both days of the event. Please join us in Texas (wearing your Titan colors) for what is sure to be an exciting weekend. For times and specifics, visit http://www.adrl.us/index.php/main/insidepage/schedule/ for more information. We’ll see you at the races!
STATUS Racing sent over there new 5 point harnesses today to put in Project 996. I had high expectations after originally seeing their product at SEMA, however the quality of their delivered product has blown my mind. Every detail from the outside textured box with recessed logo, to the branded carrying bag, to the quality stitching and brand was top notch. You can tell a ton of though has gone into every aspect of the product, something that I find very important given the products is intended to save lives. These harnesses are currently available in 4 / 5 / 6 point offering in Red and Black. Limited edition versions in Blue and Silver are on the horizon. All versions are FIA approved which should meet or exceed most sanctioning bodies requirements.
Titan Motorsports is now the East Coast distributor for Status Racing, we will be adding their line to the site soon and will stock their seats and harnesses once we move to our new location. If you are looking for a great seat or harness setup for your car give us a call and we’ll get you setup with a set. Custom colors and options are available, and Status Racing takes great pride in offering a 1-2 week or less turnaround time on custom seats, something unheard of from most seat manufactures. We’ve got a custom set of seats on the way for our Porsche project, keep any eye out on the blog as I’ll be posting pictures as soon as they arrive.
Who of these four rough looking gentlemen will be able to hold out the longest? We don’t know but we have money riding on who will. Each of us had to put up $10 to enter the contest. $20 if you didn’t shave the night before the contest began. By the end of the year we should all me looking like cave men.
But who cares, it’s all for charity of our choosing, and we’re all choosing our own bank accounts. Go Figure…
Somebody better call the feds, we got our hands on a Challenger SRT8. In the coming week we’ll be bringing you news on our plans for this car. Nothing too drastic, but power should be bumped up by about 150 or more.
This last Friday we took the car to Orlando Speed World for some baseline runs and the car performed admirably. My best run was a 13.550 @ 104.12. Over the course of the evening track conditions were deteriorating quickly and could never quite muster the same time. Although they were consistent, I kept losing a couple hundredths per run. So, we decided some wieght loss, and a drop in tire pressure was in order. I got out of the car and sent in the owners son, Josh, to handle the strip. Although it was his first time down the 1320, you wouldn’t have been able to tell. With 50lbs less wieght and 22psi in the tires he managed to pull out a 13.511 @ 104.33. Hopefully the next time we take the car to the track we’ll be able to track down a set of drag radials.
R/T
0.648
0.649
0.585
0.658
60′
2.412
2.133
2.217
2.137
330
6.154
5.842
5.925
5.869
1/8
9.114
8.800
8.869
8.831
MPH
82.59
82.66
82.98
82.53
1000
11.682
11.363
11.422
11.399
1/4
13.835
13.511
13.563
13.550
MPH
104.08
104.33
104.73
104.12
All in all the evening at the track wasn’t a disappointment (except for the track condition itself). The car did exactly what was advertised. Although we missed the claimed 13.3 second 1/4 mile, we couldn’t blame the car. It did have some unwanted weight in the back (7/8th a tank of gas) and my heavy ass in the driver’s seat.
Monday began with some baseline dyno pulls to see what the Challenger is capable of at the wheels. We did two pulls, the first one being the best. I think the engine fell victim to heat soak on the second pull and lost a few HP and lbft. Tomorrow we should be doing a couple more pulls after the 3″ header back exhaust from Exhaust Depot is installed.
You can see from the pull just how quiet the factory exhaust system is. I’m sure there is quite a bit of restriction that we’ll be getting rid of once the 3″ exhaust system is installed and this beast can breath a little better.
After a successful showing Saturday at Cars for the Cure it was off to Central Florida Road Course on Sunday for our meet and greet. Everyone who made it out got to take a few parade laps and experience the track at a pace that was 60-70% of full speed. I want to personally thank everyone who came out and made the event such a success. We had a great safe day and probably 100-200 people who circled through during the day. Everyone got a chance to experience the track at a good pace (we only had one spin the whole day which happened on the 2nd lap), those who want to turn things up a bit I would urge you to head out for the next school on the 28th. Matt and the gang at CFRCwill be honoring the $150 Titan special, and I’d love to hear it get filled up with people who attended today. To those who get qualified we will likely have other events at the track that will be open to those who have completed the school, and licensed drivers. To register for the next school on February 28th visit this link : http://cfroadcourse.com/schools.aspx
