Originally Posted by
LarryWinkelman
As the newest member of the class (haven’t even driven my car yet), my first thought was – WTF? I just spent a good chunk of change on a car, and now I need to spend another 50-60% on top of that in order to compete? Not pleased. But, I reached out to Mike Davies and he responded quickly. I don’t love all of his answers, but at least SCCA-E isn’t operating totally in a vacuum.
From what he wrote me, with some minor edits:
The plan is to have 2 classes FE / FE GEN2 ...the thought is Runoffs people / [new] kids can and should have the latest stuff (Mazda Road to Indy) the rest of the FE owners will have 2 or 3 years to update... the engine will be mandatory, gear box will not be mandatory. The ECU / throttle body will be a mandatory part of the engine. This is a needed change mostly because of engine parts [availability].
2012 Miata MZR 2.0 engine. As we ran it at the Sprints tuned on 93 pump gas, it is about 185 HP @ 6800 / 156 Ft-lbs max Torque... current 2.3L is 170 HP @ 6000 / 168 Ft-lbs max Torque.
The Elite gear box has been the black eye of the car since day one...over the past year we commissioned SADEV to retool their SL75 to match our gear case... for the FE this will be an option and not mandatory. It is the only way the ESR will live with uprated HP to run in the open P2 class. Gear box will be a 6-speed. Shifting at 6800/6900 rpm at the Sprints we didn’t use 6th gear at all....so it was a 5 SPD. SADEV makes 3.10 final and the Elite is 2.75; we can make it sort of close, but it will never be “same as”. RPM range of each engine will make it a little tough to have one gear stack, we could have a 2.0 stack and 2.3 stack....not sure - we need to test. This update is nearly a bolt on, new shift cable, pair of axles and rear wing mounts.
I’ve been testing [the throttle body] for about 16 - 18 months; it’s been on cars around the country during race weekends. We are out of the OEM throttle body and they have been out of production for maybe 7 or 8 years. We need to be able to control the manufacture of the throttle body, so I had a UK company build us a throttle body... its aluminum and has provision for idle control.
ECU is the same story, MBE 967 has been out of production for as long as I’ve worked at Enterprises. MBE will make them for us 5 at a time $1500 each paid in advance... that’s just not good.I have been testing with the PE ECU that we use on the SRF GEN3...it has lots of features the 967 doesn’t and cost less... the most useful one is closed loop fuel control... it will hold wide open A/F ratio +/- 1% every time, all the time. That makes all the cars more equal and no need to chase the fuel PSI to keep the engine in tune. Flat upshift will also be available when testing is done.
Body updates: We ran different front wing and flaps, also the Formula Ireland side pod floors... that was / is just a what-if... it changes the look of the car a little and adds some aero tuning capability.
Penske shocks: We ran an updated Penske shock on the car, this project was started for the ESR... same as the body stuff, it’s a what-if. Testing to see if this helps the car vs what it cost.
Now, for my personal comments.
The one concern I have is how this is going to be implemented, and what I’m going to HAVE to spend by WHEN. In the case of SRF3, the first announcement (that I was aware of) was in January 2013 – fully two years before the class officially was recognized. In 2013 there were a number of CSR demo cars running, and in 2014 I think the first production kits were shipped and people could run Regionals (or maybe Majors as an exhibition – I can’t remember). Also, with several hundred cars still running SCCA, there was a logical method to have two classes and a transition period. I opted to convert in the second of what was supposed to be a 3 year transition, and didn’t have to spend an extra dime in the first year to keep running SRF.
The SRF Gen3 package was $10k (including ECU)… I believe a current spare FE motor is just under $7k… no reason to expect the new one won’t be in this same ballpark. I’ve heard anywhere from $8k to $14k for the gearbox. Mike said, “less than 10% more than the elite gear box and much more reliable.” So, low end for updates is $15k, high could be $20k or even a bit higher. If I need to spend that this winter – I will seriously regret my recent purchase. Wings, floors, shocks… easily another $1000, $1000 and $3000. Now, if I can run for two or three years as-is, and run Majors against equal cars – then it’s much more palatable. I think that’s the main thing that needs to be addressed, and discussed, and preferably before we all see it in Fastrack, effective 1/1/2018!
FE participation numbers are decent, at least as far as SCCA goes in general, but they do seem to be concentrated in Northern and Southeast, a few in Northeast. Looking at points, only 46 drivers entered a Majors race last year but only 27 entered more than one weekend. Is the plan to FE be Majors & Regionals only, but no Runoffs? And only FE Gen2 to be Runoffs? I’m ok with that, because I don’t plan to enter the Runoffs, but I think the owners at large should be asked – not told. I certainly don’t speak for the other 40+ drivers, and potentially 100+ car owners (many apparently parked). If regional-only, I would not be in favor. If one class, and 2.3 are uncompetitive, I would not be in favor. Maybe the changes will entice another 20-40 drivers to enter races. That would be great, but I have no idea if that’s realistic, or whether the performance changes will be enough to attract drivers. It is apparently a very limited pool for club racing.
RE the gearbox seal question. FM has spec ratios and not sealed. Incorrect ratios are pretty easy to detect, by sound, by shift point, by data, and lastly by physical inspection. I suspect that the issue would be REM treatment, diff set-up to make a little less open, etc. Again – would like to know the pros & cons, and the cost vs benefit, of sealed versus not sealed. And we should get to weigh in with the facts. Initially, I don't know of a reason to seal it.
My first two cents…
Reply With Quote
