Fuel cell in a SHO?

[RJ-92]

Does anyone have pics and or info regarding this?

 

[Off Road SHO]

Ron,

There are fuel cells in our Bondurant SHO's, but they have a steel cover so they're not easy to see in pics. What are you wanting to know or do?

Tom

 

[RJ-92]

I am slowly converting my SHO to a dedicated track car. I was wondering how one would go about mounting a fuel cell. I'm not overly farmiliar with them. I assume it would go in the spare tire well, but that's about all I know of them.

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

Be careful and choose the cell wisely. There are budget "fuel cells" out there that Jeg's and the like sell that are less safe than the OEM tank. Mike just bought a good cell that he installed in the RX-7. He's at the track today as the RX-7 is running a race today (I'm heading that way right now), but maybe he can chime in here tomorrow and let you know what to look for in a fuel cell. If you need pic's of the Bondurant's, Tom or me can snap a few. But like Tom said, It's wraped in metal, I don't know if it would help you or not.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Unless it is a requirement for the specific class you are racing, it would probably be much better just to stick with the OEM setup.

The tank is positioned in the best location, low, and between the wheels.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Kenny is right about the placement issue. You're moving a lot of weight from the middle of the car and putting it behind the rear axle. It might give you a more static balance, but the inertia moment is definitely whacked (technical term).

Tom

Unless it is a requirement for the specific class you are racing, it would probably be much better just to stick with the OEM setup.

The tank is positioned in the best location, low, and between the wheels.

 

[Shoaz]

Fuel cells are definitely mixed bags. These days many rules packages and sanctioning bodies don't require them, so check with the rules that you'll be running under. If you don't really need a fuel cell (in many or most cases you won't) then I'd suggest not even bothering with it. The stock tank is in a pretty good location.

Here's a pic of the installation on the Bondurant cars:



Roush installed these and the location may not have been driven by performance considerations (as Tom mentioned, it helps maximize the polar moment of inertia, which is not a good thing for handling). I suspect that they were put where they are because Bondurant used the back seat in the cars and they wanted a way to completely isolate the cabin from the fuel cell. Where you see it is about the only place you can put a fuel cell and achieve that.

IIRC Dan Brabec, the guy that races a SHO in USTCC, put a small-ish fuel cell in his car just behind where the back of the rear seat would be. That's higher than the Bondurant location, but further forward.

It's a real compromise. I suspect that the rear location of the fuel cell is part of the handling problem issues I have with the Pumpkin, but I don't know that for certain. I do get better rear tire temps than I used to on the silver car, but I'm still suspicious of the thing.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

interesting chassis bracing in that Bondurant

 

[Shoaz]

That's just there to protect the fuel cell and is a safety requirement under some rule sets for a fuel cell located like that. Adds even more weight. :cry:

 

[LeddZepp8687]

Wheres the exhaust on tha bondurant?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

The muffs can been seen in that photo.

Looks like a stock catback.

 

[Off Road SHO]

The muffs can been seen in that photo.

Looks like a stock catback.

Ding ding ding ding. Yes they are stock, but because they have Roush Racing applied overspray on them, they add about 3 HP.

Tom

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Can you send some of that overspray my way? :corn:

 

[Off Road SHO]

Can you send some of that overspray my way? :corn:

Sure. You want some of the dust also? It's very light weight racing dust.

Tom