Merlin's 4G Time Attack Lude

[Drax]

Drill loads of holes in everything

exactly what I was going to say

[nucleustylzlude]

Drill loads of holes in everything

exactly what I was going to say

I think once you get past your list, its got to be the @PerformanceAutoworks way next!

[Dino]

its not so much your straight line speed you carry, but your speed through the corners that matters
the less speed you scrub off, the more speed you will carry and youll have a faster exit speed and the power you have will carry you to a higher speed down on the straights.
in essence your overall average speed will be higher.

Yes weight loss will help, but also consider, Aerodynamic aids, geometry/suspension set-up and tyres.

Your money, time and research would probably better spent here.

Just a thought, and is something youve probably already considered.

Good effort on your season so far Al.

Car seems to be working well!!

[mercutio]

^^^^^^^ This time spent on the chassis is always rewarded more so than power upgrades a low power car with a sorted chassis will be easier to drive well than a high power car with a stock chassis but you will know all this.

[RattyMcClelland]

Ball boys shoes is what you need, get ATTS on ya feet.

[Donald]

Djokovic nearly got slapped by an 85 seed today

[Merlin]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yup I am going to buy myself a hole saw kit, some big drill bits and a set of digital scales

Rear spoiler (does nothing aerodynamically anyway?)
Lighter weight wheels?

Could go to extremes like removing windscreen trim surround, roof gutter trims (these all weigh bugger all because they're aluminium, but they're not needed, so...
I wouldn't remove the rear windscreen bottom trim, because that does deflect air over the boot lid rather than under the bootlid/down and around the sides of the bootlid panel gaps.

Have you taken the exhaust heat shields off? (the ones that fix to the body underneath the car)
5th gen gear shift mechanism is plastic rather than metal - is that lighter?
Have you got JDM or UKDM bumper bars?

The spoiler does weigh a fair bit, it does apparently reduce drag at high speed but I don't think that is of real issue for me. I have thought about chopping it to bits, maybe fill it with holes on the underside. I am not sure if I would like the look of the car without it on

I have Rota Torques and I dont think you can get much lighter without spending megabucks.

No I haven't removed the heat shields, that is something I will consider.

I am sure I have the JDM bumper bars but it is in my plans to chop the front one right down and turn the rear one into Swiss cheese

its not so much your straight line speed you carry, but your speed through the corners that matters
the less speed you scrub off, the more speed you will carry and youll have a faster exit speed and the power you have will carry you to a higher speed down on the straights.
in essence your overall average speed will be higher.

Yes weight loss will help, but also consider, Aerodynamic aids, geometry/suspension set-up and tyres.

Your money, time and research would probably better spent here.

Just a thought, and is something youve probably already considered.

Good effort on your season so far Al.

Car seems to be working well!!

I am sure the new suspension will help massively with cornering speed. The Tein's I had were a bit soft so it was throwing the weight of the car around. I have spent the whole season getting to grips with what tyre pressures work well with only 1-2 warm up laps. Previously on normal track days I just set the tyres to 25 PSI cold and went out and did a session but one lap Time Attack is a different ball game all together. I have been very pleased with the performance of the Federal 595 RSR's.

As said I am feeling confident through the corners, but I will be getting more tuition , but the weight of the car is something that is holding back its ultimate performance.


There is always the removal of the fuel tank, flat bottom boot floor and a 20L fuel cell

[wurlycorner]

Yeah, I did wonder about suggesting the fuel tank...

When empty though, it doesn't actually weigh that much though? (I have that out of the breaker already, so I can weigh that for you if you like)

Plus, it's quite nicely mounted weight-wise? Low down, central across the car and towards the back to off-set the big engine weight up front? So I wasn't sure anything you did would be much of an improvement here???

Is there a danger that if you take too much weight out of the back of the car, you'll actually upset the balance of it?
Heavy engine up front, light rear end might make it a bit skittish and more prone to understeer???
I have no idea tbh, just hypothesising...

[Merlin]

I am hopeful that removing 30 kg+ from the doors alone will offset any "excess" weight reduction on the rear. I think there is more weight to be removed from the front/middle of the car than the rear. Also I will be relocating the battery to the boot.

A rough Idea of the weight of the fuel tank would be great!

[Merlin]

get ATTS on ya feet.