2006 Impreza STi "Time Attack" - RaceDynamix

[dynamix]

Are you trying to sort out a flat floor too to get the max out of it?

Looking fookin mean!! love it.

pretty much flat floored already - the diffuser goes a loooooong way under

[WR 1mposter]

Diffuser finished and tested



Works very nicely indeed thank you very much and stayed on over some pretty bumpy fen roads

Thats looks

[dynamix]

Cheers mate.

just the last round of Time Attack to go - need 4th or better to win the series. With it being at my home circuit I am hoping that home advantage plays to me...

Nervous and very excited.

[Dufnut]

hope you do well dynamix and car looks great
ill be there with my m8s there running rx7 in club class

[dynamix]

hope you do well dynamix and car looks great
ill be there with my m8s there running rx7 in club class

Cool (and thanks) - is he is a one hit wonder?

[Dufnut]

its there first time so we dont know how good there 2 will run

[WR 1mposter]

Cheers mate.

just the last round of Time Attack to go - need 4th or better to win the series. With it being at my home circuit I am hoping that home advantage plays to me...

Nervous and very excited.

toes crossed for you

[Micktype WR1]

And a quick "Good Luck" message from me Duncan.

[dynamix]

Some of you may know that I have been itching to get my hands on this piece of Zen Performance engineering for a while now as on track, even with a very good baffled sump there can be an oil surge issue. This is never a good thing to say the least

Anyway, cutting a long story shorter, the first one rolled off the pre-production line and onto my car.... This is not the full and final production piece so there is a large degree of learning and tweeking that has been needed to get it there and documenting so that the final kits will be a relatively easy install.

So..

We are running a std off the shelf sump tank for speed of install rather than a custom designed tank, which will be an option in the final kit (check with Paul at Zen).



Saturday morning and I arrived bright and early at Zen and proceeded to strip everything off the car that wasnt going to be needed or was in the way of the install. This was quite a lot and all of the morning was spent dis-assembling.



( and yes I do know my manifold was blowing )

Still to come off from that shot were cam belt so that the new water pump idler could be fitted along with the Zen adapted oil pump to provide the way into the engine oil system. This also meant that we could keep the oil filter, modine and oil cooler install 100% in the OE place.

Sump and oil pump assembled.





The sump was offered up and pump assembled so that I could start making oil lines. Braided hose and special black anodised fittings from HEL to match the lush black anodised dry sump pan from Zen really stood out and it was starting to take shape. Fire sleeve has since been added to the hoses that go near the headers.



Next was getting drive to the oil pump - this is via a piggyback pulley on one of the idlers on the cambelt. You can see it here after i cut the hole out of the cam cover. Very neat and a nice short belt to the oil pump.



Once the oil system was hooked up in place and other elements rigged to enable us to turn over the oil pump to shoot oil around the engine without turning the engine over.

Monday was spent getting all the tank, fuel system moved, battery moved and generally getting it all back together awaiting on the new pulley.

The battery was going to move to the rear of the car - but we went for an easy option after seeing what space was left over getting the fuel swirl pot and pump moved from the chassis leg (now occupied by the dry sump oil tank) to the battery area.



This introduces few additional risks from the previous working configuration and Paul and I decided that this was the safest option with only a few days til the final round of Time Attack.

So I extended fuel lines where needed, battery leads moved and extended and new fittings for the swirl pot and pump were done and the fuel system was sealed.



As I said the dry sump oil tank was on the chassis leg we were about 2 inches short of height in that area and the top breather hoses caught on the bonnet - so should make shift 'persuading' and it was in. We have only done a temporary fitting of this tank for the moment - the final fitting will be a lot neater.

Pulley fitted with belt:



Final full assembly took place then along with remaking the feed hose from the oil tank to allow for the height difference between the block and the oil level in the tank and we were good to crank it to see oil pressure.



Pump primed and away it went - perfect pressure just from cranking with rubbish oil. We were very happy

It was time to start it up good and proper. It fired into life with 100 psi straight off rising to 125psi on revs.

Everything now fully assembled and road test time ... There was a lot of setting up of the correct oil pressure level with the adjustable pressure relief valve to get the right level through the rev range. A quick oil change to put some proper oil in and it was ready to try again.

Perfect !



Huge thanks to Paul for designing the kit and assistance and to the rest of the gang (http://www.team-zen.co.uk) for assistance and support during 4 long days of me getting the car prepped for the final TA round this weekend. As usual it has been a mixture of work hard and play hard .... just the racing to go

If anyone wants details - Call Paul at Zen (http://www.zenperformance.co.uk) for info on the kit

[Gee Wr1]

Wow the car has really evolved since you 1st started Dunc

Not seen a dry sump system thats under the bonnet before, all the dry sump systems i've seen are in rally cars & they're all positioned in the boot. Your set up is very nice

Best of luck for the final round this wknd, hopefully your next post will be as a TA class champion

[WR 1mposter]

Nice job dunc, an good luck at Snets

[dynamix]

Cheers guys

[dynamix]

It's been a couple of days now since the last round of 2009's Time Attack series and, truth be told, it hasnt really sunk in that I am now the Time Attack 2009 Club Challenge Champion.

The work put in within the last two weeks by myself to get the car ready then decide to run a hitherto totally untested dry sump system had kind of distracted me mind away from thinking about how far I had come with the car in the last year or so. Still, the zen performance dry sump was in place and Paul from Zen was convinced it would work - initial tests on the road he was absolutely right and it was working perfectly. It was time to get the rest of the car ready and get me ready to bring home the title.

I had done most of this to-do during the week but there were one of two bits left over from my list that unfortunately had to be done the day before the event. Nige and the rest of the Pinders were coming to ours for the weekend of the Snetterton round and this meant that together we could get them done - thanks Nige for helping to change brake lines to some lovely HEL stainless braided lines, change and bleed the brake fluid and generally get all the 'stuff' sorted.

Cheers also to Jon and Fezza for bringing all of the E85 that I would need for the weekend from their local Morrisons and for the banter back at base

All that was needed then was for me to map the car. Luckily Nige was willing and able to sit in the passenger seat and following instructions from me got a map fairly close to where I needed it within a very short period of time. Live mapping with the Solaris ecu is really a god send and saves a huge amount of time. We also discussed various settings for the map switches to allow me to run various levels of boost / aggressive timing/fuel etc should I need to in desperation but the plan was to stick to a known and comfortable level for the car for the morning sessions before upping the ante when it counted. No issues at all during mapping.

So .... saturday night and car loaded up, cleaned in the dark and food time and try and get some sleep. Luckily so much work both on the car and 'proper' work over the preceding week meant sleep was just 1 second away at most times... before I knew it - it was the morning of the big day. My home track, the one I had done more than any other in the world.

I hadn't driven since March on a track day with tuition from Phil Glew but felt confident in my knowledge of the circuit, the lines and the car - it just needed to work as expected.

Getting to the track was easy enough, although a bit of chaos in the pits themselves which meant that i was getting a tad stressed with set up and last minute check time was by eaten into by faffing around - thanks again Nige for taking on duties in that area and for my wife Rachel for putting up with my general edginess (understatement) LOL.

Team Zen arrived on cue and whilst the whirlwind that is Team Zen unpacked, the guy from Rapid Media set up the camera system in the car and matt (www.2clearbuckets.com) gave the car some TLC to make it gleaming for its big day. It was show time...

Off out into the warm up and all was not well, every time I put my foot to the floor I got a horrid misfire the car missed several beats and it scared the sheet out of me, then the boost hose popped off and I headed into the pits to be greeted by Paul from Zen and the guys who set about getting it back on in record time to send me back out. Half throttle was the order of the day for warm up as a result of the misfire but I still surprisingly managed to equal my best ever time around Snetterton. Russ Paton (2nd in the championship and the only guy that could beat me) on the other hand seemed to be flying and doubts entered my head as to whether I could actually do this.

With only an hour between warm up and practice I set about trying to locate the source of the issue in the map that wasnt there the day before - it looked like the crank sensor voltage was dropping outside of the range to pick up a signal and the ecu thought the car was stalling at 7000 rpm ! It wasnt I adjusted the range and crossed my fingers that it would do it and headed out for Practice. By this time friends and family had made it there and they were all expecting great things aswell as witty/relaxed conversation from me. Sorry on both counts everyone.

Practice came and so did the misfire again. Balls. I knew I wouldn't be able to solve the issue during the session so used the time on track to get the corners nailed, lines comfortable and settle myself - or at least try to. I came in from the session seeing Russ in the 1.15's - way quicker than I thought I could go and felt beaten. Phil spoke to me about the lines I had been taken and reassured me that they were spot on - just needed to believe. Liz got my head straight in true lizzy fashion by telling me to snap out of it granddad (or words to that effect). Paul and Pat also had a look at the issue on the ecu/car to see if our collective minds could solve it - we all agreed what the issue was and the necessary changes made - it HAD to work.

Julian and Nige had been looking after me and the car superbly (as had Rachel by feeding, making coffee and generally keeping me upbeat about it) - I had to pay back that faith and support in qualifying. An agonising wait and eventually we get out on track. I put my foot down out of the pit lane ... no misfire... hmm. Ok, maybe this will be cool. I give myself some space ont he warm up lap and nail it but the Reynolds Sierra comes out the pitlane late and blocks Scott Robson in front of me, then I catch him in the Esses costing a lot of time.. I could feel it slipping away. I was angry - not a state that I normally like to drive in, but keep on it for that lap - i needed something on the board to count. I do the lap and carry on for hot lap 2 - yeah felt good but caught Scott on the straight and decided to pass, this took me off line and trying to keep on it too long - I missed my braking point and had to bail out and down the escape road. Calm down Duncan. I gave up on that lap and went past the pits and the pit board said P2 - OMG ! Even with the hold up... perhaps I could do it. Next lap it said P3. I needed P4 or better and P5 in the final to win the series so had to do another hot lap to try and do it. This time, I had a clear run, good speed around the important parts and came across the line and carried on for another hot lap but then the red lights were out and it was end of session due to an exploding reynolds sierra. I came in and I was in P1 with Russ in P4 - if it stayed like that the title was mine. There were 6 mins remaining of the session so decided to sit it out and wait as it was working and I wanted to keep it that way for the final but quietly hoping that I could get it wrapped up in quali. A very long 5 mins once they were out there saw Russ improve his time but not by enough... my 1.15.3 was enough to secure 1st in qualifying and overall series win !

Lots of jumping around in the Team Zen garage by all and sundry ensued as Zen had also got P1 in their qualifying session just afterwards - it was awesome to see them come back so strongly after the bitter disappointment of brands hatch. It takes real resilience to do that and they have it in bucket fulls. A great team to have on your side.

Anyway - the final. Half tempted to just drive around with anti lag on and waving but then curiosity struck and I wondered whether it would be possible to get what is still my daily driver into the 1.14's. I vowed to give it a good go and headed out.

hot lap 1 - 1.15.1 and the pitboard showed P1 as I crossed the line to start hotlap 2 - I was happy and the car felt immense and totally connected to the road. I took even more speed into Coram and still it gripped, spat me down the hill to the chicane and onto the finish straight.. yeah that felt sweet. if any lap would do it - that had to be it. Pit board said P1. I did a few cool down laps checked the board and gathering myself for one last go - maybe it could go quicker still. i started another hotlap and my mind was elsewhere and the car was too, I was missing apexes by miles, but I kept going through that lap and decided to come in on the next lap - I wasn't going to get any quicker today 1.14.999 was my time and I was over the moon ... but Russ Paton pulled out a stormer just on my coming in lap and right on the chequered flag to beat me and take the win. Oh well - he deserved it - he had been on it all day and the 1.14.3 he got was simply stunning.

So - that was it. Just Zen to do their part and bring home the Pro win. Phil Glew had been on fire all day and a win was always on the cards although a change of weather caught RCM out and ended up taking away the massive fight between RCM + NOS and Zen + handling that would have been very interesting to see. I am over the moon for them - the late nights they put in with me in the last week to help get the dry sump system set up whilst rebuilding their own car (all outside normal customer hours) is humbling.

So - the awards ceremony and normal champagne madness and some cracking trophies and chatting to fellow competitors, friends, family, well wishers, team and basically everyone it seemed and it was time to go home.

What a great year ! - It wouldnt have been possible without the help and support of many many people ...

* Paul / Liz and the team at Zen Performance and all of Team Zen (what a great team)
* Mark at Lateral Performance
* Pat and Charlie - Solaris
* Alyn at AS Performance
* Daren at AutoBodyworks
* Gary at Keith Michaels Insurance
* Julian and Donna from CJS Norwich
* Jon at GW Autoserve in Ipswich
* Ben at HEL
* Matt at 2ClearBuckets.com

With invaluable support from

* Ren
* Nige / Lou and the Pinders
* and especially #1 Supporters - Rachel & Annabelle

and everyone that has followed my progress through the year and wished me luck or said well done. It takes a lot out of you emotionally and it is the support that keeps you going.

Thank you and who knows what the future may hold

ps - sorry about the huge amount of words and small amount (ie none) pictures - not had a chance to go through and sort pics out to go with this yet. There will be some added though.

[WR1 Bro]

Dunk, can you tell us more about the dry sump and the benefits? Not all of us are that knowledgeable.

[WR1 Bro]

Superb year and a superb thread. More of the same for next year please?

[dynamix]

Dunk, can you tell us more about the dry sump and the benefits? Not all of us are that knowledgeable.

A normal wet sump (ie where the engine's oil is kept in the sump below the engine) suffers when it comes to cornering. Oil is moved away from the oil pickup pipe with cornering forces and this starves the engine of oil - result is worn bearings, and a broken engine.

The Dry sump system removes this issue by having the oil in a separate reservoir unaffected by these cornering forces which is fed to the oil pump in a steady flow. The result should be consistent oil pressure and an engine capable of withstanding serious abuse.

The cost of the kit is less than a rebuild so well worth it in my opinion.

As for next year - plans are being formed as I type

[WR1 Bro]

Dunk, can you tell us more about the dry sump and the benefits? Not all of us are that knowledgeable.

A normal wet sump (ie where the engine's oil is kept in the sump below the engine) suffers when it comes to cornering. Oil is moved away from the oil pickup pipe with cornering forces and this starves the engine of oil - result is worn bearings, and a broken engine.

The Dry sump system removes this issue by having the oil in a separate reservoir unaffected by these cornering forces which is fed to the oil pump in a steady flow. The result should be consistent oil pressure and an engine capable of withstanding serious abuse.

The cost of the kit is less than a rebuild so well worth it in my opinion.

As for next year - plans are being formed as I type

Does this allow you to control oil temps too? What sort of cost is a system like this?

[dynamix]

Oil temps come down with a proper oil cooler but we did see a drop in oil temps from running the dry sump.

Cost for the kit is in the region of £2k + vat depending on what bits need to be supplied.

[WR1 Bro]

Wow, looks like a serious bit of kit with some great safety advantages.

[danr55]

Great update mate, look forward to seeing the pictures and hearing about plans for next year. Keep up the good work!

[WR 1mposter]

Great Year for you dunc may it continue for next year.

[hightower]

well done dude, seems like you have had a hell of a year. but worth it in the end

[dynamix]

hmm havent updated this in a while....

erm - car is presently stripped bare after doing the 30-130 day at marham and having some dyno time.

Result of the dyno time was:

598.3 bhp



551bhp on my low boost daily driver setting LOL

===========================================

30 - 130 day at Marham

Manged to get 3rd overall in this with a 9.38 second run from 30mph to 130

Also managed to record a top speed down the runway as recorded on GPS of 180.72 mph - felt pretty quick at that

so.. the car is left and in the bodyshop having a full cage put in and some clean up work done on the bodywork inside.





Huge pile of bits out of the car:



Will be about 100-150kgs lighter when finished and hopefully topping the 600bhp level by then too.

Into Club pro class this year and looking forward to it

[WR 1mposter]

599bhp 537lbft, .................

150kg lighter thats like bro cutting off 1 leg

[John Mc]

:shock:

599bhp 537lbft, .................

150kg lighter thats like bro cutting off 1 leg

Bro texted me that his cock was 19 stone..

[dynamix]

Well BLIMEY - The rear doors weigh a total of 23.1 KGS each !!

and the fronts are much heavier OMG

There is shed loads of weight in those babies. The new FRP doors will be MUCH lighter with the polycarbonate windows

[dynamix]

As you can see a fair amount of progress has been made

Just been to position the seat where I want it so that they can do the seat rails and the door bars - going in today.

[CAVEMAN]

I knew the 'Daily Driver' wouldn't last too long as soon as you got the competitive bug.

There is load n loads of weight to be saved when you start stripping like this for serious motorsports. Even in the modest GrpN class you could easily get it down to about 1100kg without bending the rules too much.

I suspect with all your mods you will be even lighter. Even changing the bolts and hacking the wiring loom can save you kg's!

Is that a R&D cage? Nice work but I would extend it to the front strut tops if you can and help tie it in with the strut brace. Also add in horizontal and vertical webbings where the main cross is just behind the seats, and also in the front side bracings.

[WR1 Bro]

Glad to see activity on this thread again.

[dynamix]

I knew the 'Daily Driver' wouldn't last too long as soon as you got the competitive bug.

There is load n loads of weight to be saved when you start stripping like this for serious motorsports. Even in the modest GrpN class you could easily get it down to about 1100kg without bending the rules too much.

I suspect with all your mods you will be even lighter. Even changing the bolts and hacking the wiring loom can save you kg's!

Is that a R&D cage? Nice work but I would extend it to the front strut tops if you can and help tie it in with the strut brace. Also add in horizontal and vertical webbings where the main cross is just behind the seats, and also in the front side bracings.

Did consider taking it to the front turrets but that would need the engine out to do that properly and if the engine is out I would be tempted to do something with that - which I cant afford.

Always that option later though although I don't run a front strut brace - it doesn't need it IMO. I removed mine pre snetterton last year and went nearly 5 seconds quicker there than my previous best...

Why have webbings for the main cross ?

The side bracing is not in yet - is going in today.