More Nurburgring Fun...

[Tim_M]

Doug: congrats on and the sale and keeping it in the family! Hopefully, I have a few more years before I see assistants come from assistants.

[Tim_M]

My Torco octane booster showed up...$20 a can...used for 150+ mph runs. Yes, Germany does have 100, 102 octane...which equates to 94, 95 or so...but at $8.50 a gallon, makes a very expensive fill up compared to same price as US 98 fuel.



Car also developed a leak in the supercharger coolant (separate from engine coolant). My supercharger reservoir was empty and notice the intake air temps spiking to 170 degrees during WOT...they never exceeded 125 prior. I failed to install a quarter sized o-ring properly...leaked water into the #1 cylinder - oops! You might see the squiggle witness mark in the top hole...:





1.5 weeks of waiting for parts from Detroit...



and install:



That is how we do it in Germany...75 pound lump is awkward...keeps getting easier each time although my back says differently.

We are now back up to full power and even better is the Nurburgring opened for laps last Thursday! Next issue is our US personnel continues to be restricted to either home or work. Now awaiting new orders from HQ to allow a jaunt to Nurburg - 3 hours distance. Cross our fingers it might happen this week...bit concerned as I didn't need the extra power for the track - it is already a very "exciting" circuit to navigate...

[Tim_M]

Success - the LT4 supercharged LT1 survived its first visit to the Ring!

US forces were allowed to expand travel within the country...next day, I pointed the car west for the Ring. Arrived 1 minuted after opening and 6th car on track! Perfect timing after 3 hours of driving distance...

6 laps - very rusty at driving this car so happy no guardrails were kissed. 4 of the 6 laps were accommodating a fellow motorist that was having a bad day - large oil leak...unfortunately, they continued to drive 5 of the 20 kms laying down a nice trail on the right side. Not so smart/considerate! Especially, if you caused the leak - you pay for the damage to everyone's car!

Being forced to slow down was likely a good thing as I had to knock the rust off my amateur skills...hadn't driven this car with gusto since last September and now with 40% more power. I was elated when I knocked out 6 trouble free laps and hit the road by 1030 for Stuttgart.

Power is incredible along with an exhaust note that is downright evil - only change to the car was the addition of the OEM LT4 supercharger (LT4 fueling) and required tune. I gained a full 10 mph where I had the guts to stay in the throttle (~165 mph with a jump!). The engine just slices thru the rpm...drastically different than naturally aspirated. My normal technique of long braking distances are being tested with much more straightaway speed...

Reviewed the logs and only a hint of knock which didn't seem to correlate with high load. Admittedly, I filled with 98 Esso and added a can of Torco octane booster - should have equaled US octane of ~96 or so.

The gear change ups are quite a solid kick in the rear! First experience with a supercharged car and a positive displacement model at that. The engine simply feels like an athletic 8 liter V8 with very high compression (or what I think it would feel like). 11.5 compression and 11 pounds of boost likely contribute to the sharper exhaust note - quite a contrast to my previous turbo Subaru...

Since I still had some good fuel in the tank on the way home...I took advantage of all the unrestricted areas - downshifting to third and letting it go! New personal top speed...

https://youtu.be/pX6UG3yVWIg

[Tim_M]

Why does everyone talk of lowering their sports cars...going higher is the only way to go!



Photographers don't seem to frequent this area of the Nurburgring, but luck would have it yesterday.

Note this is under braking into a 4th gear hard right hander - the ABS seems to be ok with it! Quite a thrill...1 of 3 times you feel the car get light during a lap.

Obviously unique for a car to intentionally jump with no damage...this track works the suspension! Only other place I've been that does something similar is Cadwell Park in UK...they have one roller hill that is quite famous - but much slower speeds and under acceleration.

[Jamie]

https://youtu.be/pX6UG3yVWIg

"Stock with LT4 supercharger"...life in Germany is altering your English....

[Tim_M]

Jamie - greetings!

Unfortunately, my German is as bad as my English...which is no surprise...I do know many colorful words were coming from beneath the Simpson on the first lap! Yeehaw was common too.

Surprise no comments on the "crocs on the radiator shot"...disappointed - then again, most you folks are right there with me!

[twistedwankel]

Surprise no comments on the "crocs on the radiator shot"...disappointed - then again, most you folks are right there with me!

Just assumed you borrowed them from your Asst.

[twistedwankel]

My Torco octane booster showed up...$20 a can...used for 150+ mph runs. Yes, Germany does have 100, 102 octane...which equates to 94, 95 or so...but at $8.50 a gallon, makes a very expensive fill up compared to same price as US 98 fuel.
..

That pint of Torco costs more than the imported liters of good Rum and Aged Whiskey I use for hand sanitizer then lick off.

Do they use ethanol there like we do? I get 10% better fuel economy running the 90oct non ethanol Shell is selling up the road.

[Tim_M]

Surprise no comments on the "crocs on the radiator shot"...disappointed - then again, most you folks are right there with me!

Just assumed you borrowed them from your Asst.

I could fit in them, but his are green. I prefer the down-stated look of black...

Do they use ethanol there like we do? I get 10% better fuel economy running the 90oct non ethanol Shell is selling up the road.

Luckily I only have to add it occasionally. A 20 to preserve the engine is cheap insurance...if we had E85, could run that with no issues, but rare. All fuel here is at least 5% (some 10%).

Uploaded the Chevy installed Performance Data Recorder perspective. I'm not proud of my lines or shift prowess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLhDTzpTRm0

[Tim_M]

Revisited the same shop to get a total vehicle weight after the addition of the supercharger.

The blower added 82 pounds to the car...I was expecting more considering the blower unit itself was nearly 65 pounds. Return on investment is considerable - ~200 CHP for 82 pounds - wish all upgrades had the same benefits.



1746 kgs minus new tires/new front rotors/19 gallons of fuel, plus the AFR wideband...equals 3729 (no fuel/no people). Note, I did weigh all old and new parts to eliminate variables - even tanked up 2 blocks from the shop to the tippy-top to confirm a full tank for calculations.

The corner weights are not accurate as the floor was not level where the weight was recorded.

Friday is a dyno appointment to record the power increase - same place as previous.

[Tim_M]

Made it to the dyno on a decent weather day. This is the same facility I used prior to the supercharger addition so even though the units of measurement are different, one can apply math to calculate the improvement within reason...in this case right at 200 CHP.

All four runs:



Difference between pre and post supercharger:



And a movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsSVg-MFuXI

Note: some discrepancies with the charts...dyno shops seem reluctant to use an actual tachometer pickup so they end up doing a close match while running the car. In the end, you still get inaccuracies as all runs were hard until 6600 and even 6800 rpm. Start rpm was 2000 rpm. Nonetheless, the data is usable and confirms the seat of pants feel. Using Chevy's engine rated HP of 455, now equals 655 CHP and 656 TQ. Pretty awesome for a single bolt on part (and tune)!

[twistedwankel]

That's just insane bang for the buck!!
Also kudos to Camaro driveline
In defense of you standing on the radiator support to install blower. TV restoration shop replacing a Camaro blower mechanic stood the very same way.

[Loren]

^^^ But, there's no excuse for the Crocs.

[Tim_M]

Gents - truth in advertising...the blower unit was $1850 shipped to my door, but the front end drive, tune, etc tallied and additional $3300. You could cut that total price in half going on the used parts market - I paid for the new for piece of mind and transatlantic crossing.

Comparatively, the Crocs are an absolute bargain at $19 and last me over a year!

Another visit to Nurburg...7 laps successful! It was wonderfully vacant at 0900...I hardly met another vehicle and only 50 odd degrees:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8wknA6Z6ww&t=17s

A 7:50 Bridge to Gantry time which is an improvement from previous unblown of 7:53. The addition of 200 HP is great for acceleration, but complicates the math for corner speeds. More practice is obvious.

Tires were a bit hard at 40 front and 39 rear, otherwise a wonderful dance partner (wish I could dance...)

Can't get over the acceleration and exhaust note - very impressive.

Nurburgring GP track is open this Friday...hmmm.

I added a wire harness to 'activate' the factory installed driverside seat ventilator...

Apparently, these seats are generic between the high end models and my stripper...the fan and duct work is included in all, but Chevy doesn't give you the button to turn it on. $100 for a retrofit harness and controller - no wire splicing required and I've got a cool backside. It really did work, but I still sweated on the laps - dripping sweat all over the door panel.

[Dave]

Doug you are deep!

My nature is to make folks happy. My passenger was happy. I'd be happy to give any of the FAST gang a ride if it makes them happy. Plane ticket not included.

I hope to thread a smooth consistent lap together after a few laps...love that exhaust note!

Gratzie!

You already have, we just happen to be in Palm Beach, not the Nordschleife.

[Tim_M]

Dave - :-) Although Palm Beach was an absolute yawn comparatively so! 140+ mph thru the g-out is something to experience!

Took advantage of a half-day and Nurburg's GP track access. 30 Euro gets you 15 min session with limited cars. Other than some octane issues appearing in the 80 degree temps, it was a great day for 42 miles on track. My young assistant seemed he felt obligated to provide pointers based on his previous go-carting experiences...looking at my lines - he was probably correct!

Track is a bit more stressful on tires and brakes, but really allow one to feel the limits of the car's cornering power - long graceful corner encourage experimentation. Overall speed and risk are far reduced with tops of 135 mph or so.

Besides how often you do you get to share a track with a $1 million McLaren with near 800 hp...I'm ok with that pass.

:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw3vjSTIl1s

No Crocs on track either!

[Tim_M]

Another sweet shot on the last Nordschliefe visit according to the datalogger 1.4 gs:

[Tim_M]

Had an invite to do a Friday evening at the Ring (2:15 duration)...so gave it a go.

Traffic on the autobahn was heavy as expected with 2 incidents re-routing me off the path adding nearly 60 minutes to the 3+15 trip. Arrived 30 mins into the session...short durations are risky as I drive 6 hours round trip for such a short window...and if the track is fouled...

Nonetheless, got 5 laps in with lower than average traffic - with a new personal best of 7:44 bridge to gantry with a bit of traffic.

Previous was 7:50...with more time to drop. Much more comfortable with the car - an amazing tool Chevrolet has offered.

External video of a few shots - 0:54, 7:13, and 11:38. The first pass was the best with a bit of black marks laid down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuTyUpIWBeg&t=273s

Can't describe the thrill the ring is for heart pounding adrenaline rush. The altitude is just hard to describe. With the quicker pace brought the car jumping solidly 3 times and rpm spikes another 2 as the rear tires leave the ground...in 5th gear!

My confidence continues to build on learning the lines of the track. I'm most deficient on the very high speed sections - 140+ with blind corners...for good reason. This is where most of the time will be found as well.

I need to correct the throttle sensitivity - the supercharged power comes on in a huge hit that is a real challenge to control on corner exit - I've yet to try removing traction control for that reason. I still get significant oversteer - great fun, but not optimal.

The rear brakes worked as advertised and the return trip in the evening was relaxing at 125 mph!

[Tim_M]

The video - a bit more action in this one :-):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbfJVPFwvuM

Not proud of a lapse in concentration toward the end of the lap...off line and paid for it. Even with that and a bit of traffic - happy with a 7:44.

Many lines are still poor - you'd think I'd be further along after 50 odd laps. The speeds you hit on this 'single track' is only similar to my laps at Daytona...and there you can see for miles, 3 cars wide!

The LT4 blower is quite the upgrade and the LT1 seems to be holding tight - I have pulled back most of my shifts to 6000 limits. I've got a set of valve springs awaiting installation.

[Jamie]

Tim -- this is what you need next: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974- ... 2020-07-22