Turbo Exocet at the 2014 Ultimate Track Car Challenge

[Kevin Patrick]

Here are a few pics from the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge at Virginia International Raceway over the weekend. This year, Exomotive brought XP-4, our Exocet Race car with full cage. Similar to last year, we've used the full Flyin' Miata FMII turbo kit and a '99 NB/Mk2 donor. Zack Skolnick, president of Driven Steering Wheels, was tasked with driving the turbo Exocet.

Changes/Upgrades from last year:
-New brake system running Flyin Miata's "Little Big Brake" package with Wilwood calipers.
-New fully braided stainless steel brake line system with Wilwood proportioning valve
-Upgraded Walbro fuel pump with our new stainless steel fuel line and filter kit
-GM LS3 coils
-Improved tune on the Hydra ECU
-New bodywork!

We're happy with our results. We shaved 5 seconds off our best lap times from last year and improved our position to 25th vs 34th last year against a field of stiff competition. We're already planning to stuff a 525hp LS3 V8 into next year's entrant...

















More pics in the flickr set: www.flickr.com/photos/thekevinpatrick/sets/72157645824081925/

[jord]

That's awesome! When will the new mx150r bodywork be available in the uk?

[raceenginerd]

Very cool! What were your laptimes, out of curiosity, and what hp + tires were you running? VIR is a favorite of mine; I am usually down there a few times a year.

Where are you guys based?

Collin

[Kevin Patrick]

Hi Collin - I believe 2:09 was our best time during the event. We ran on a year old set of 205/50 NT01s on 15x8 0 offset Traklite Holeshot wheels. We adjusted boost slightly throughout the day and were around 210hp.

Exomotive is located in Atlanta a couple miles north of the airport - let me know if you're ever down this way and we'd love to show you around.

[miatagr]

Thanks Kevin... Since you are sharing. What offset were the wheels and did you use any spacers?

Ride height at front and rear jacking points?

What coilovers and spring rates? Any change to the bump stops?

Castor, camber, toe?

Sway bars, size and if they had multiple end holes, which holes worked best?

Weight of the car as raced? With or without driver (driver weight?) and cross weight?

Did the tires indicate that you were effectively using all the tread, either with temps if you got them or wear pattern??

Did you try (before or after this event) running with wing off to see the difference in driver report, wheel temps, and/or lap times.

For those of us not smart enough to buy the wing stay holes pre drilled (I didn't see that as an option when I ordered mine), how far up the rear bars are the bottom holes?

Anything else you can add to help us with initial set up would be greatly appreciated.

To those of us seeing these as autocross/track monsters, rather than beauty queens. (no offense meant)... this info would be very helpful in giving us a starting point, and saving us a lot of trial and error.

[Kevin Patrick]

Hope this helps.

What offset were the wheels and did you use any spacers?
0 offset 15x8 and we had to use a 5mm spacer due to clearances between the wheel and the Wilwood calipers on the FM Little Big Brake kit.

Ride height at front and rear jacking points?
4"

What coilovers and spring rates? Any change to the bump stops?
FM AFCOs, 7" springs, 350F/225R, no change to bump stops.

Castor, camber, toe?
Gran Turismo East in Atlanta did the alignment before UTCC with a 180 pound driver in the seat.
Caster: 5.0 degrees
Camber Front: -2.8 degrees
Camber Rear: -2.5 degrees
Toe Front: 0.02"
Toe Rear: 0.04"

Sway bars, size and if they had multiple end holes, which holes worked best?
Front: FM's NB front sway bar. Outermost hole.
Rear: none

Weight of the car as raced? With or without driver (driver weight?) and cross weight?
~1550 wet, probably right around 1720-1730 with Zack/helmet in the car.

Did the tires indicate that you were effectively using all the tread, either with temps if you got them or wear pattern??
If memory serves me right I think we had about 0.5-1 inch of minimal wear/contact on the outer rears. Fronts we're good.

Did you try (before or after this event) running with wing off to see the difference in driver report, wheel temps, and/or lap times.
-In practice session and first full session we ran a somewhat aggressive angle and ended up flattening it out a little bit for the last two sessions. We did not have an angle meter with us so adjustments were by gut feeling. Overall time improved in the later sessions.

For those of us not smart enough to buy the wing stay holes pre drilled (I didn't see that as an option when I ordered mine), how far up the rear bars are the bottom holes?
-Lowest hole is 7" up on the downtube.

Anything else you can add to help us with initial set up would be greatly appreciated.
-This is what I've been running on XP-1 and have found it to be a decent aggressive street setup.

[miatagr]

Thank you very much Kevin. That helps a lot. My setup is almost identical to the track car. At the solos, the car has problems transitioning from brakes to power out. Time to get rid of the cheap coilovers and order a wing before its first track day in a few weeks.