R5 Turbo Replica build

[GeoffBob]

Radiator, intercooler and electric water pump (EWP) now fitted. The EWP works a treat with no problems and the engine idles nicely at about 800 rpm. The basic fuel and ignition maps that I have installed in the ECU seem to work quite well, if a little on the rich side in places, but better rich than lean I guess. The mapping will get sorted out on a dynamometer. I have no patience when it comes to fiddling with engine maps without the right tools at hand, and a dyno is one such tool - so dyno time is a must.

I took the car for a "spin" in the back garden and managed to leave behind tyre marks in the lawn. This was due to not being able to properly control the piece of string tied to the throttle in place of the accelerator peddle. Yes, I will install the accelerator before I try that again. Much to the chagrin of my work colleagues I have 5 forward gears and 1 reverse. I think they were taking bets that I would get it the other way around given that the engine, gearbox and differential are from different cars. From the little I could tell in the back garden there is very little turbo lag with the boost pressure rising rapidly before I have to pull the handbrake to avoid the neighbours garden wall (foot brake not yet installed). I realise this is not much of a "road test", but I couldn't resist driving it, even if it is a bit premature. Despite how it may sound, there is still much to do to finish this car!

 

[GeoffBob]

If anyone wants to monitor their cars air-fuel-ratio (pre MOT check or as a tuning aid) try the wide-band controller (WBC) from Perfect Power, see http://www.perfectpower.com/products/wbc.asp

Last I checked their device sells for around 100 Euro (at the current rate of exchange) and is a little larger than a matchbox. It works with the Bosch LSU4 wideband Lambda sensor and operates from an AFR of 10:1 (rich) to 20:1 (lean). The AFR is reported on a row of 10 LED's along the edge of the unit, as well as at a 0-5V output that is good for driving a high impedance gauge. I have fed the 0-5V output into my Adaptronic ECU in order to run closed loop AFR control, which appears to be working well. I had some difficulties installing my unit and found the guys at Perfect Power extremely helpful, which Is why I am punting their product. This is not the sort of thing that I normally do, but I'm really impressed with this little gizmo.

They do a lot of export business, so if you want one I am sure they can assist you.

 

[r5gordini]

Hi Geoff,

It's been a few weeks since I checked on your progress. It looks like you're getting on fabulously well. Excellent stuff!

We are all learning a lot from what you post - keep it up.

In the UK (in answer to a previous question), we have a special approval (SVA) test for kit, custom and imported cars. The law may not stay the same for ever, but for now that's where it is.

It check all the vehicle systems and that they comply with UK law.

Kit cars are usually given a special registration beginning with "Q" - not ordinarily released to cars - in our older style registrations they are year based:

ABC 111A is from January 1963 – December 1963
...
ABE 111E January 1967 – July 1967
ABD 123F is from Aug 1967
...
LRX 220X is from Aug 1981
ABC 120Y is from Aug 1982
A162 MRU is from Aug 1983
B290 TKO - 1984
C329 ABC - 1985
....
S, T, V, W, X, Y every six months from Aug 1998

The three letters are significant - indicating the area in which the car was registered.

Letters I, O, Q, U and Z missed out - this is why Q can be used for kits, etc. Also "Q" is/was used in the case of reshells. There seemed at one point (in the 1990s) to be quite a few Fords about with Q-registrations, suggesting that many of these were reshelled after accidents.

Now we have a different system:

GJ 56 AAB

GJ indicates where the car was registered (in this case, Kent/Sussex - the Garden of England)

56 - for six months from Sept 2006 (06 would be for six months from March 2006)

AAB is the individual car - the next one registered would be AAC, etc.

Hope that's interesting for those not in the UK!

Andrew

 

[GeoffBob]

Thanks Andrew, intersting stuff. Maybe if I bring the car back with me one day I might be able to get a "Q" reg for it?

Picture below shows the completed pedals. Useful things, pedals. Difficult to operate the car without them. The clutch and brake pedal started life as a set of Tilton racing pedals, but finished up heavily modified to fit the application. The accelerator pedal is entirely handmade from raw materials - not that difficult to do, its a very simple contraption. The cable that joins the pedal to the throttle body is from a Toyota Hilux. The shop assistant thought I was mad going through all the cables in his backroom, measuring them up to find one that would fit. The one I found is a comfortable length and is easy to connect/disconnect if I have to.

 

[GeoffBob]

Haven't made much progress on the car over the past three weeks due to the financial-year-end. With that now over with I can return to working on the car over weekends and evenings. I must now turn my attention to setting up the brakes properly.

In order to accommodate the larger four-piston ALCON callipers inside the 15" Gotti front rims I have to space the wheel centre further away from the wheel hub, else the two will collide. However, in order not increase the scrub radius (which will increase the steering force while braking, also known as brake-steer) I have reduced the outer wheel rim dish size by 1" (down to 0"). Thus, with the addition of a 1/2" wheel spacer (between the disc and the wheel centre) the trackwidth remains constant. However, with the addition of 10mm wheel spacer I still have the additional space I require between the disc and the inside face of the wheel centre to fit the ALCON four piston callipers and my trackwidth is slightly reduced to 1425mm, which is only 35mm more than that of the Maxi5, which is the figure that I have been aiming for in order to achieve a correct fit for the maxi5 front wings over the tyres - that's if my Maxi5 front wings ever arrive!

In an earlier post I stated that I was looking for an upgrade for the rear brakes. I now plan to fit a pair of 280mm diameter discs (from the Z1 BMW) which are a larger diameter replacement for the current 256mm diameter rear discs. I'll then fit a set of ALCON two-piston callipers, which is an ideal solution for the rear of the car.

 

[GeoffBob]

Shown below is the completed installation of the CRH304/28 ALCON four-piston calipers and RCP83004 280mm Ferodo brake discs. These are advertised for use on the VW Sptize (whatever that is) and require only a slight modification to make them fit. The 10mm spacer bolts through the disc to the hub.



I milled two brackets from 6082 aluminium in order to interface the radially mounted callipers to the E30 hubs.



The calipers are not highly visible through the newly assembled Gotti rims. And no, I shan't be painting them them to make them more visible. I'm more concerned with the braking force they provide - painted calipers don't stop you going off the end of the track. I'm pretty satisfied with the way the rims turned out though, even if aluminium split-rims are a bit soft. The final measured front trackwidth is 1415mm, 10mm less than the 1425mm I calculated based upon dimensioned drawings of the rims. This brings me even closer to the 1390mm of the Maxi5. There is now no doubt in my mind that when my Maxi5 front wings arrive they will be a perfect fit.

 

[GeoffBob]

The front brake upgrade, including the installation of the Bosch-5 ABS unit, is now complete. I have as yet to connect the ABS ECU to the ABS valve block, and will not do so until I am satisfied with the operation of the non-ABS assisted brakes. That way I avoid the situation where the ABS becomes a band-aid for brakes that weren't setup properly in the first place. Funny, I was once told the same thing about turbochargers - that they were band-aids for people who couldn't build normally aspirated engines. The strange ideas people have. Anyways, once I have the bias between the front and rear master cylinders adjusted correctly, then I'll consider connecting the ABS ECU to the valve block. For the time being the Bosch-5 valve block allows the brake fluid to pass straight through.

I have also finished my centre consol by installing the brand-new E30 electronic speedometer I bought a while ago. This connects to the inductive pickup on the E30 differential.




Of course I just had to take it for a proper test-drive to try everything out, even though I really shouldn't have :evil: . After idling the car in the driveway for about 10 minutes to warm the oil, I set off towards an adjacent un-built suburb (all roads, no houses as yet). I was so petrified of the car during this 3.1km drive (that's what the odometer said afterwards, so at least I know that it reads something) that I forgot to watch all the dials and gauges I intended to, with the exception of the rev counter and boost gauge. To avoid early destruction of this still new engine I have left the wastegate actuator connected directly to the compressor outlet. Thus, boost is limited to about 0.8-bar at present. This will eventually rise to 1.3-bar, under electronic control, in order to deliver the full 335hp at 7500rpm, more than within reach of my race modified ST205 3SGTE engine, as demonstrated by Team Toyota Europe (TTE). This is the same engine used in the TOMS celica supra which made 480hp. If you want to know why I selected the Toyota 3SGTE engine for my project, then see here: http://gt4dreams.free.fr/rip/3sgteinfo.htm. The 3S engine is the most highly developed engine by Toyota Racing Development (TRD) ever. It will, however, be some time before I take my 3SGTE beyond 4000rpm, at least not until the Wiseco piston rings are properly bedded in. The advantage of putting the wastegate under the control of the ECU is that the wastegate opens precisely at a value predetermined in the ECU software. There is also no cracking open of the wastegate prior to the desired pressure as the spring on the actuator slowly lets go. As it stands was, however, more than sufficient to put a big smile on my dial , as well as for me to leave a few of my fingernails permanently embedded in the steering wheel . The noise of the blow-off valve (my “bonnet budgie”, an essential item to prevent the turbocharger rapidly losing momentum every time you snap the throttle closed) is reminiscent of the Group-B days and had the hairs on my neck standing on end.

My initial impressions are that the little car performs beautifully. Turbo-lag is virtually non-existent with the boost rising linearly with RPM from around 1500rpm, a testament to the process of carefully selecting the correct turbocharger to match the engine. Steering is exquisitely neutral, although I have yet to push it hard enough to find its limits. I must, however, find a quicker ratio steering rack, with steering this light I can easily handle it. I do expect to see the rear come out at some point, but I’ll leave that experience for the reasonably safe environment of the track (unlike a friend of mine who put his Fiat Abarth 131 through a wall into someone’s garden fishpond). I have deliberately and very specifically implemented a stiff (absolute) suspension with no anti-roll bars (zero differential suspension). This reduces the tendency of the car to ever pick up one wheel under heavy cornering, but did give me some concerns with regard to body roll (hence the high stiffness springs with adjustable damping). Well, I can report that she corners with very little body roll. Not surprising, I guess, given that the car weighs only 750kg with a low centre of gravity. I'll try to quantify my description better with some telemetry data when I get her down to the track. The acceleration is mind numbing. So numbing in fact that I couldn't have been bothered to time her to 100kph. I'm afraid the experience of really driving her for the first time blew me away and all the tests I planned to do were about as forgotten as my road manners. Also it was getting dark and the little car has no lights yet. next time I'll start testing in the morning so that I have time to get over my nerves and focus on serious testing.

 

[ejk]

Heeee, the little beast is driving! Congratulations Geoff, great job.

E

 

[Nate]

Nice work mate - congrats!

 

[GeoffBob]

Thanks guys, your comments are greatly appreciated.

Sadly, I have just heard that I have no hope in hell of ever getting my car road legal. I spoke with a very helpful gentleman from the Gerotek test facility who informed me that the loophole with regard to kit-cars was closed at the end of 2004. The few kit-car manufacturers left in South Africa have to have all their kit-car designs, post 2004, homologated like any other road car. That includes crash testing at the local SABS facility, seat testing, seat belt testing, air-bag testing, steering testing, emissions testing, to name only a few. Five cars and a million Rand later .... (Just like you said Nate). It's no small wonder that the kit cars on offer are all pre 2004 models!

Oh well, it's not a train smash. I built this as a track car, but had wanted to make it road legal in order not to have to take it to the track for each and every little modification. Luckily there is a track not too far from me. The suspension is too hard to use it as a daily-driver and air-con is a must in our climate, so it's not as if I had other plans for the car. I can always risk testing it illegally around the neighbourhood, but I think I'll keep this to a minimum as the neighbourhood is no place to test a race car. On the bright side, at least I don't have to worry about installing every little thing to make it road legal anymore. Now why was it exactly that I installed mufflers?

 

[GeoffBob]

.... And today I heard the opposite. The above apparently applies only to anyone who intends to manufacture and sell for profit any vehicle designed post 2004. That is to say, new vehicles for mass consumption, including kit-cars.

There is still a loophole open for those unique idividuals who wish to kill themselves, and only themselves, with their own one-off homemade cars banged together in their own garden sheds. I guess I fit into that category :mrgreen:

 

[Nate]

umm... good to hear???

Hope it all gets sorted!!!
truely epic build mate

 

[GeoffBob]

Yeh, maybe not so good eh :lol: but thanks anyway Nate.

Wednesday 22 April was national and provincial elections in South Africa (and thus a bank holiday), during which the majority of SA Citizens voted into power a man once accused of rape and corruption (on separate occasions mind you, although I am confident he could find a way to combine them). Since Monday 27th is also a bank holiday over here I took leave from work on the 23rd and 24th to give me time to work on my project. I have thus far had the opportunity to take the car on two fairly decent test drives (without a repeat of the nervousness of the first drive). Thus, with a clearer head, I can report that there is still much work to be done.

After venturing over 4000rpm (at wide open throttle) I quickly learned that boost becomes an increasingly non-linear function of rpm. In fact it climbs damn fast. After taking the nanny off the waste-gate and restoring full ECU control, the boost pressure climbed rapidly to 1.4 bar between 4000 and 5000 rpm, and with that came an incredible surge of acceleration, during which I clung onto the steering wheel for dear life, like my first go on some new fairground ride. It takes a bit of getting used to, as if that isn’t an understatement.

It became apparent (from the engine noise) during my second official test drive yesterday, that I had detonation at high boost, and I only let this happen once! I doubted this was caused by the inlet air temperature, given the size of my intercooler, and one look at the AFR gauge confirmed I was running lean. Not good. This brought home the realisation that I really shouldn't be doing this sort of testing without having had the car on a dynamometer first! Nonetheless, A quick review of the fuel and ignition maps confirmed my suspicions and I was off again, free from detonation, this time with closed loop ignition control enabled.

As my braveness increased I attempted a few corners at speed. A difficult task with the lousy ratio of the current steering rack. And this time there was evidence of body roll, not excessive, but enough to convince me it might be a good idea to restore one of the anti-roll bars. It will take some proper measurements at the track to make my mind up, so the jury is out for the time being. Some body roll is always inevitable it seems. The steering remained, as before, incredibly neutral. Even when I tried I couldn’t get the rear out, except for when I deliberately put one back-wheel in a patch of dust to kill it’s traction, but I guess that’s cheating. It will all come with time, I know there's a limit there somewhere.

Another problem that has shown up is that, under heavy braking, the front corners of the sump bowl rub against the rear edge of the cross-member. This will necessitate removing the engine in order to reshape these. This sort of thing is to be expected and is all part of testing. Luckily, pulling the engine out is not a difficult task, albeit irritating, and something that I have done often. This will also give me the opportunity to inspect all the engine components for signs of premature wear, an important part of early testing.

 

[Michael]

Wednesday 22 April was national and provincial elections in South Africa (and thus a bank holiday), during which the majority of SA Citizens voted into power a man once accused of rape and corruption (on separate occasions mind you, although I am confident he could find a way to combine them).

Hey that's par for the course in SA isn't it? His elected predecessor Mbeki tried in vain to nail him (Zuma) in the courts and had to resign, as well as shamefully doing stuff-all during his 9 years in office to prevent Mugabe's atrocities in neighbouring Zimbabwe. Oh and don't forget that the President before him (Mandela) admitted to planning armed sabotage attacks (but of course these days no-one likes to talk about that part of the Great Man's life!). That takes us back to the white supremacists of the Apartheid period, so a rich vein of "sleaze" seems to be essential in modern day SA politics! Having said that you wouldn't want Gordon Brown in control either!

 

[GeoffBob]

Yeh, couldn't have put it better myself Michael.

Had the engine out last weekend. Made a small modification to the sump and then put the engine back. The sump no longer catches on the cross member under heavy braking. I have also fitted a steering rack from an E46 BMW with 3-turns full-lock. This makes a big difference! I took the car for a test drive and immediately had the confidence to throw it into a corner at speed. With the faster ratio I didn't have to feed the wheel through my hands, which is a big no-no on the track. Although the engine has a power steering pump, I have as yet not fitted it, so at this point steering is purely manual. Given the low weight of the car, I am not sure that I need connect the power steering, although I will if only to see what a difference it makes.

Note to self: Next time I take the car out for a test drive, don't pull it off the road at the first sign of traffic and smack the underside of the radiator and electric water-pump on a concrete block sticking up out of the dirt. Fortunately very little damage done, but lesson learned - this is a track car and it is close to the ground, it has very little ground clearance. Next time I take it out I am going to tattoo a warning message across my eyeballs. I really need to get it into my thick head that this is not a normal car. It goes like stink and is built for the track - to drive it like a normal car is not that bright. But my goodness it does accelerate like nothing else I have ever driven.

My Maxi5 front wings are now on their way directly from Polytecnic in France. I had so many problems dealing with Will Falkener at FastCarSpares that I eventually had to go direct to Cyril Gracia at Polytecnic.

 

[maxi.man]

what problems did you have with fast car spares ??

 

[GeoffBob]

He takes your money and then doesn't deliver. Polytecnic now refuse to supply him with panels and trim, But Will is quite happy to take your order (and money) anyway. To give credit where credit is due, Will supplies parts from other suppliers without any problem, so by ordering a few other bits an pieces I was able to get my money back - eventually. Problem is, 6 months after placing my order I still didn't have my front wings which I needed urgently.

On a personal note, I don't think that Will is out to defraud anyone. I spoke with him regularly and he doesn't seem that sort of person. But any money you pay him for GRP panels (manufacturfed by Polytecnic) seems to be going towards paying off his debt with Polytecnic, and contributes nix towards your order. Until his debt is paid off I doubt Cyril will supply him with a single item. So, as long as you are prepared to sit and wait for your order to arrive, Will is happy to have you waiting.

I bit the bullet. I learned how to write poorly worded e-mails in really bad French, and now I deal direct with Polytecnic.

 

[GeoffBob]

The fun just doesn't stop. Took a mate of mine for a drive early Sunday morning when there was no traffic around. He tunes locally manufactured Gotech engine management units and was keen to have a go with my Adaptronic unit. Aside from a miriad more features on the Adaptronic ECU, the basic principles are the same. I warned him that he would need a crash helmet so as not to thump his head on the frame, so he arrived with a bicycle hat. It worked fine, except that he still managed to smack his knee on the frame getting in and out. Next time he gets to wear knee pads too :lol: .

So there we were, him with his 'cycle hat and my laptop, and me with an old fashioned crash helmet that looks more like a cross between a piece of police riot gear and a condom. Also, since there are as yet no doors or windows on the car, I had on a pair of goggles to keep the wind out of my eyes. And then it started raining. Well that didn't stop us. He managed to find torque in the low RPM that I didn't know I had, as well as iron out a few spots where the mixture was either too rich (resulting in spectacular flames out the twin tail pipes) or too lean (causing detonation), while I thrashed it up and down the uninhabited backroads of the nearby unbuilt neighbourhood.

In amongst these empty roads is a fantastic S-bend that I am learning to take at speed. I am now tuned to the characteristic squeal that the rear wheels let out just before they break loose into oversteer. I have found that by feathering the throttle I can control the amount by which the rear lets go, resulting in a controlled sweep of the rear-end to the right, and then to the left, to get through the S.

Another useful feature of the Adaptronic ECU is being able to flat-shift the gears. If I depress the clutch with the throttle wide open the ECU limits the revs to 4000 RPM (adjustable in the software) by interrupting the spark. This enables me to shift gears while holding the throttle wide open. The rev limiter disengages the moment I lift off the clutch pedal. I have two hi-bright blue LEDS mounted to the left and right of the rev-counter that currently activate at 6000 RPM to tell me when to down shift the gears. Given that the engine is still new, I seldom venture this far up the revs.

 

[GeoffBob]

Front wings finally arrived from France, no thanks to Will Falkener. Cyril got them too me fairly quickly once I had established contact and paid my money. Now I face the dilema, do I modify a stanfard R5 bonnet to fit (in aluminium, like I did the doors), or do I just buy a GRP bonnet from Cyril now that I have a working relationship with him (and he works to an actual schedule). To be honest, I just want this car finished and may just buy one from Cyril. On the other hand I have the standard R5 bonnet ready to cut up and do it myself, and I enjoy working with aluminium. Hmmmmm, I'll have to think this through.

 

[GeoffBob]

I have gone ahead and ordered a bonnet from Polytecnic. After giving it some thought it seemed like the logical thing to do. After all, I have a full complement of R5turbo panels and trim, so why use a modified R5 bonnet that was never intended for the R5 turbo in the first place.

Winter has arrived here in the South and the relative hunidity is extremely low. That means no rain until summer returns. Just what I have been waiting for to continue with my paint work. Been around seven months since I last put any paint on the car, so I can't wait to get back at it. It's the home stretch from here on, it's really only finishing touches left and then its done.