RSAE 2007 One Lap of America

[RSAE]

Hi everyone, I decided to start a new thread for this- for those who have already seen the post under our supercharger topic, this is just a copy. All updates will happen to this thread.

Sorry for the delay, but I just got our tapes back from MTV yesterday. I'm slowly plodding through the 5+ hours of video we have and making it into viewable clips.

Rice University SAE does the 2007 One Lap of America in a 1989 Milano



I suppose the easiest is to start with the first track event. We did run a wet skidpad in the morning, but needless to say the video isn't very exciting (although if someone wants to see it let me know and I can get it up). After the skidpad, we drove a few miles away to the South Bend Motor Speedway for a 1/4 mile paved oval (think more of a circle...). It was the first time I was racing the car with the latest motor and I was pretty excited to get onto the track. So excited that I nearly put the car into the wall out of the very first turn.

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Given my over-zealous start and the pucker factor staying with me the rest of the three laps, we scored our lowest at this first event- 71/84. The field was so packed together that had we been just two seconds faster we would have vaulted nearly 20 places. Oh well.

Note that the format of the event is 1 recon lap, 3 timed laps, and one untimed cooldown lap. Your place is determined by the cumulative time of all three laps. The idea is to minimize the risk of damage to drivers and cars by avoiding wheel-to-wheel racing, so it is racing against the clock. Although if you catch somebody, it's on! For more information about the event itself, check out the website at www.OneLapofAmerica.com.

As I edit the video, I will put up a new post with a new video. I hope we can at least provide some entertainment here.

damen

[RSAE]

Day 2: Autobahn Country Club

This was the qualifier and first road track of the event. One's finishing place in this event determined which run group the car would be in for the remainder of the events. The track is in Joliet, Illinois. It turns out that the local Alfa Club was having a track day there- it was great to meet all of them! We placed 59/83 in this event.

As you watch the video, please keep in mind that this is the first time I even saw this track, let alone drive on it, so I'm well aware of how much time I left out there. Especially after watching the video myself



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damen

[kredden]

Well, you still managed to pass the Porsche!

Kevin

[Nikoror]

don't encourage his driving. didn't you watch the first video btw porsche was realy slow

[kredden]

Yeah, I did see that :-). Maybe the Porsche did too and that is why he let him past...

Kevin

[slyalfa]

is it just me? it sounding like the motor was missing some times
at first I thought you were riding the revlimter but looking at the video it seemed to happen at different RPMS

[kredden]

I noticed it too, thought it was the rev limiter.

Kevin

[Nikoror]

engine was not missing. rpm meter is the one on the left - pretty difficult to see from the video. any strange sounds should be from the video camera struggling

[slyalfa]

must have been the camera or the codec then. I could see the tach and the was one spot were it seemed to keep going while the RPM droped a fair amount. at lest that what it looked like to me. but as you say it is kinda hard to see. what was the redline set to.

[Nikoror]

6200 or 6300. the tach is rotated (cuz driver was too short to see over the steering wheel, or too tall to see under it) and i think that is somewhere around 12 o'clock on the gauge now

[slyalfa]

ok that is lower then my redline at 6500. it is common to rotate every thing so 12 o'clock is the normal place for temp oil and shifting. so I did not think anything of the rotated tach but there was no way to see the range/digits in the video and it sounded a bit lower rpm then mine but hard to tell from a video.
it looked fun.

[RSAE]

Day 3: Mid-America Motorplex, Iowa

The track was very wet for the first run groups, but was mostly dry by the time we went out, so we placed 33/80. This was around the point that the car started its downward decline, more specifically the transmission. We suspect that the pinion shim was having issues. Also in the video, you can hear some sort of grinding periodically- we couldn't replicate the problem once I brought it in and it didn't affect drivability on the track, so there wasn't much to do about it. This too was a new track for me.

The camera didn't like the vibrations in the car- even with the fancy mount, so there are definitely issues with the video/audio- sorry about that. Rev limiter was set at 6500 rpm.

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damen

[Grant]

Was that an Impulse you guys passed?

[Nikoror]

yes. the other rice team. they had some problem with the wastegate, so they were running 2psi boost and the car was veeery slow.

[RSAE]

Day 4 (morning): Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah

So we left Iowa at around 3 in the afternoon (Central time) to embark on the 984 mile overnight transition to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. Driving all the way through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, then into Utah, we had a stop for replacing some exhaust bolts that fell off, an alignment issue, and a new exhaust tip for the other team (in the Isuzu). We made it into our hotel at about 5 am.



After a couple hours of sleep we made it to Miller and ran the east version of the course. It is a beautiful facility with multiple configurations of a possible 4.4 mile track at about 5,000 of elevation with snowcapped mountains in the distance. The east version is 2.2 miles and we ran with a group of Corvettes and Mustang Cobras. Unfortunately Miller is known as a horsepower track and we weren't very strong in that category (about 170hp) and this was the first time I'd seen the track. You can see in the video that I struggled all over the place. Anyhow, we finished 56/79 for the morning session.

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-damen