skivittlerjimb
New member
- Joined
- May 10, 2011
- Location
- California
The car - 1981 262C Bertone with a B230FT out of a '93 940 Turbo with 200k+ miles. LH2.4.
The goodies - 15G, MBC, T5 swap, 225s on Hydras (yep, tires too wide for the wheels), Hawk HPS pads, cut stock wagon springs, IPD bars, KYB GR-2s, welded diff, 20-ish gallon fuel cell (well it's technically a 24-gallon cell, but we've never been able to pour more than 20 gallons into it)
The past - 2009 to 2011 NA B230F in a 1992 245 w/M47 trans:
Stafford Springs '09 - 5th overall; Summit Point '10 - 8th overall; Stafford Springs '10 - 6th overall; NJMP '11 - 10th overall, Class C Win; NHMS Spring '11 - 8th overall; Class B Win, Summit Point '11 - 8th overall, IOE; Stafford Springs '11 - clobbered by our friends' Firebird while in 1st place two hours in.
2012 - warmed over B230F (VX cam and decked head) in the Bertone chassis w/M47:
NJMP Spring '12 - 6th overall, Class C Win; NHMS Spring '12 - 10th overall; Summit Point '12 - 25th maybe? (RF wheel fell off with 30 minutes to go in the race, but welded back the sheared hub and took the checkered lap); NHMS Fall '12 - 8th overall.
2013 - B230F+T for first two races, then B230FT thereafter in the Bertone chassis. T5 swapped in after first race, 15G swapped in after the third race.
Monticello '13 - 79th overall, M47 munched 2nd gear; NHMS Spring '13 - 77th overall, rear end locked up + coolant leak = engine fry; Summit Point '13 - 23rd overall, T5 puked 5th and reverse gears; NJMP '13 - 7th overall; NHMS Fall '13 - 27th overall, rear end let go with 40 minutes left; Arse Freeze Sonoma '13 - 94th overall; didn't run most of Saturday after the driveshaft fell out of the car.
2014 so far - 2-Hour Sprint Race Sonoma '14 - 22nd overall, did one driver change; Sears Pointless '14 - 35th overall (we were headed to 25th-ish overall until I spun and stalled with 40 mins left), Gingerman '14- 2nd overall
So we never expected to get so close to an overall win with this car, but were ecstatic to get a 2nd place in a small field (50) cars last weekend in Michigan. We would have been beaten by two E30s and a 944 if they all hadn't had mechanical issues of some sort. Now we need to figure out both how the make the car handle better and use less fuel if we have a prayer of winning an overall in the larger, faster fields (125+ cars) in the east coast and west coast races.
At 15psi (just before fuel cut on the stock 940 turbo computer) we get just under 2 hours of drive time on a full fuel cell, even with a few yellow flags during our stints. We can also pass all but the fastest V8s and turbo cars (like Towery's) on the straights. At 8 psi we can get 2.5 hours of drive time in a normal race, a bit more if we short shift from 3rd to 4th at 5k or 5.5k. At this boost level we're usually on pace with the E30s on the straights, but the V8 302s and 350s and fast turbo 4-cyls. are walking us. On the NA B230F with the fuel cell, in theory we could have gotten 3.5 hours per stint with a bit of fuel saving and a few yellow flags, but it's rare a driver can keep driving fast and safe for much more than 2.75 hours, especially on a warm day, in our experience. Longest stints we ever did were 3.25 hours a couple of times, and those weren't exactly "safe."
So we're planning on finally doing the lower ball joint / control arm mod to get more camber in the front, and we're planning on getting stiffer springs as well, and are going to experiment with dual rear bars and are willing to try no rear bar on a test day. We're also going to try to pull a few more pounds out of the car if we can. Maybe 10-15 more lbs. could still come out of it with a plasma cutter. We're right around 2,475 lbs. right now as my best guess.
Question is, is their any safe way to keep the power levels up but use a bit less fuel? To be competitive we really need to do 2.5 hour stints without short shifting. Would the combination of adjusting the cam timing and an ECU chip get us closer to our goals if we can safely monitor AFRs? Should we just be happy we what we have and hope the stars align and we get an overall win someday if all the BMWs and Hondas break? What about aero? At NJMP we're pushing 120mph at the end of the straight and we don't have any sort of front air dam or rear spoiler. School us. Should all but our hotshoe driver spend $1,500+ on a Skip Barber or weekend school to get faster?
We want to put a 4-cylinder Volvo in the winner's circle at a Lemons race. We've lurked on TB long enough and want to help either our team or another Volvo Lemons team reach that goal. A 745 turbo did it in Chump Car, so we know it's possible. And yes, we are nuts.
The goodies - 15G, MBC, T5 swap, 225s on Hydras (yep, tires too wide for the wheels), Hawk HPS pads, cut stock wagon springs, IPD bars, KYB GR-2s, welded diff, 20-ish gallon fuel cell (well it's technically a 24-gallon cell, but we've never been able to pour more than 20 gallons into it)
The past - 2009 to 2011 NA B230F in a 1992 245 w/M47 trans:
Stafford Springs '09 - 5th overall; Summit Point '10 - 8th overall; Stafford Springs '10 - 6th overall; NJMP '11 - 10th overall, Class C Win; NHMS Spring '11 - 8th overall; Class B Win, Summit Point '11 - 8th overall, IOE; Stafford Springs '11 - clobbered by our friends' Firebird while in 1st place two hours in.
2012 - warmed over B230F (VX cam and decked head) in the Bertone chassis w/M47:
NJMP Spring '12 - 6th overall, Class C Win; NHMS Spring '12 - 10th overall; Summit Point '12 - 25th maybe? (RF wheel fell off with 30 minutes to go in the race, but welded back the sheared hub and took the checkered lap); NHMS Fall '12 - 8th overall.
2013 - B230F+T for first two races, then B230FT thereafter in the Bertone chassis. T5 swapped in after first race, 15G swapped in after the third race.
Monticello '13 - 79th overall, M47 munched 2nd gear; NHMS Spring '13 - 77th overall, rear end locked up + coolant leak = engine fry; Summit Point '13 - 23rd overall, T5 puked 5th and reverse gears; NJMP '13 - 7th overall; NHMS Fall '13 - 27th overall, rear end let go with 40 minutes left; Arse Freeze Sonoma '13 - 94th overall; didn't run most of Saturday after the driveshaft fell out of the car.
2014 so far - 2-Hour Sprint Race Sonoma '14 - 22nd overall, did one driver change; Sears Pointless '14 - 35th overall (we were headed to 25th-ish overall until I spun and stalled with 40 mins left), Gingerman '14- 2nd overall
So we never expected to get so close to an overall win with this car, but were ecstatic to get a 2nd place in a small field (50) cars last weekend in Michigan. We would have been beaten by two E30s and a 944 if they all hadn't had mechanical issues of some sort. Now we need to figure out both how the make the car handle better and use less fuel if we have a prayer of winning an overall in the larger, faster fields (125+ cars) in the east coast and west coast races.
At 15psi (just before fuel cut on the stock 940 turbo computer) we get just under 2 hours of drive time on a full fuel cell, even with a few yellow flags during our stints. We can also pass all but the fastest V8s and turbo cars (like Towery's) on the straights. At 8 psi we can get 2.5 hours of drive time in a normal race, a bit more if we short shift from 3rd to 4th at 5k or 5.5k. At this boost level we're usually on pace with the E30s on the straights, but the V8 302s and 350s and fast turbo 4-cyls. are walking us. On the NA B230F with the fuel cell, in theory we could have gotten 3.5 hours per stint with a bit of fuel saving and a few yellow flags, but it's rare a driver can keep driving fast and safe for much more than 2.75 hours, especially on a warm day, in our experience. Longest stints we ever did were 3.25 hours a couple of times, and those weren't exactly "safe."
So we're planning on finally doing the lower ball joint / control arm mod to get more camber in the front, and we're planning on getting stiffer springs as well, and are going to experiment with dual rear bars and are willing to try no rear bar on a test day. We're also going to try to pull a few more pounds out of the car if we can. Maybe 10-15 more lbs. could still come out of it with a plasma cutter. We're right around 2,475 lbs. right now as my best guess.
Question is, is their any safe way to keep the power levels up but use a bit less fuel? To be competitive we really need to do 2.5 hour stints without short shifting. Would the combination of adjusting the cam timing and an ECU chip get us closer to our goals if we can safely monitor AFRs? Should we just be happy we what we have and hope the stars align and we get an overall win someday if all the BMWs and Hondas break? What about aero? At NJMP we're pushing 120mph at the end of the straight and we don't have any sort of front air dam or rear spoiler. School us. Should all but our hotshoe driver spend $1,500+ on a Skip Barber or weekend school to get faster?
We want to put a 4-cylinder Volvo in the winner's circle at a Lemons race. We've lurked on TB long enough and want to help either our team or another Volvo Lemons team reach that goal. A 745 turbo did it in Chump Car, so we know it's possible. And yes, we are nuts.