NWGRN94MTX
SHO Member
From the driver's seat of the Chia Bull -
[YOUTUBE]Yx354cmancU[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]Yx354cmancU[/YOUTUBE]
LeMons Thunder Hill Nov 09
- Thread starter NWGRN94MTX
- Start date
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Crab Spirits
Member
What kind of fuel economy did you get? I'm building a Lemon's car too, and might have to use a 10gal tank. Our car will be under 1900lbs though.
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As they say "Your Mileage May Vary", but with a factory tank we could run about 2 hrs (maybe 2.5hr at a stretch).
My recommendation is to install the largest legal tank you can. Driver changes and fuel stops **** your overall finishing position.
Mike
My recommendation is to install the largest legal tank you can. Driver changes and fuel stops **** your overall finishing position.
Mike
hawkeye18
Sorta cares
you could do the whole Smokey Yunick "hide fuel in the pillars" trick.
To me, it seems that the whole series is very, very undercheated. There's so much shit you can pull... lol
To me, it seems that the whole series is very, very undercheated. There's so much shit you can pull... lol
LJRuddy
Pop lock n drop
No shit...
Gen 3 brakes with surface rust
SFB
ported intake/BBB
stage 1 cams (no rough idle)
quaife
...All of that could be installed and nobody would know.
hawkeye18
Sorta cares
No shit...
Gen 3 brakes with surface rust
SFB
ported intake/BBB
stage 1 cams (no rough idle)
quaife
...All of that could be installed and nobody would know.
As long as the SFBs were gen 3, then yeah, nobody'd notice. I don't think ALSFB's would fly
.Add to that a good gasket matching, an appropriately surface-treated y-pipe, and an MTX vent/tube (that would be free, actually, and you wouldn't have to justify it), and you'd have a pretty good-to-go SHO, assuming the engine can keep its rod bearings together long enough... lol
The SHO is already faster than 90% of the cars out there, so we really don't NEED to add too much performance. We already have been penalized a few times because the car was "just too good", even though for the record it is not a cheater. More go fast parts would be fun, but then you risk the curse and more penalties. I think it is great that we are at the front of the pack for speed and performance without cheating unlike MANY of the ringer cars we have seen entered at the events.
Mike
Mike
hawkeye18
Sorta cares
So then (and I ask this out of sheer curiosity) why aren't you winning? I assume it has a lot to do with the previously mentioned "taurus grenade" (thanks jalopnik) but why do the SHOs break down so much? Is there anything you can do to put a damper on that?
Three reasons we are not winning, and we are working on them.
1) Mechanical issues: We have never grenaded, but one race the exhaust system broke and we were flagged for sound. Any time off track to fix a mechanical pretty much puts you out of the running. We were down for probably 1 hr or more on just that. Another race we had the fuel vent plug combined with the exhaust boiling the gas out of the filler - probably 2-3 hours troubleshooting and repairs over about 3 different black flags when it did not work. Last race we lost about 30 minutes due to a defective **** switch. Not the end of the world, but winning is all about track time.
2) Driver changes: We started the races with the goal of having fun. To do that, we made sure drivers all got pretty equal time both day and night. We were changing drivers every hour or so to get everybody throught the rotation in case we broke. Now we are more seasoned and know that each driver change is 10 minutes minimum, more if you take on fuel. It adds up quick. Lately, we have been running drivers until they are out of fuel or out of energy. It makes a world of difference.
3) Penalties: Our team is a recovering penalty magnet. Our first race had probably 3 -4 hours of combined penalty time. Passing under yellow is a really easy thing to do in the heat of the moment. The Halloween race we only had one penalty, and it was supposed to go to another team, but we got dinged with it (two hours). Last race we drove clean; we were the only team to not get any penalties. Coincidentally, we had our highest percentage finish at the last race. We kept climbing in the ranking, and then we would pull a driver change. Some of the teams were going over 3 hours between changes, when we were going 2. It adds up over 24 hours.
As for winning, We held first place after 3 hours at the Halloween race - right up to the 2 hour penalty for hitting a barrier we did not hit. Had we not had that penalty, I think we would have finished top 5. The car can do it. The team can do it. It is just a matter of getting everything together at the same time.
That said, the original question of fuel tank size stands. Put the biggest tank in they will let you have and run it as long as you can between changes.
Mike
1) Mechanical issues: We have never grenaded, but one race the exhaust system broke and we were flagged for sound. Any time off track to fix a mechanical pretty much puts you out of the running. We were down for probably 1 hr or more on just that. Another race we had the fuel vent plug combined with the exhaust boiling the gas out of the filler - probably 2-3 hours troubleshooting and repairs over about 3 different black flags when it did not work. Last race we lost about 30 minutes due to a defective **** switch. Not the end of the world, but winning is all about track time.
2) Driver changes: We started the races with the goal of having fun. To do that, we made sure drivers all got pretty equal time both day and night. We were changing drivers every hour or so to get everybody throught the rotation in case we broke. Now we are more seasoned and know that each driver change is 10 minutes minimum, more if you take on fuel. It adds up quick. Lately, we have been running drivers until they are out of fuel or out of energy. It makes a world of difference.
3) Penalties: Our team is a recovering penalty magnet. Our first race had probably 3 -4 hours of combined penalty time. Passing under yellow is a really easy thing to do in the heat of the moment. The Halloween race we only had one penalty, and it was supposed to go to another team, but we got dinged with it (two hours). Last race we drove clean; we were the only team to not get any penalties. Coincidentally, we had our highest percentage finish at the last race. We kept climbing in the ranking, and then we would pull a driver change. Some of the teams were going over 3 hours between changes, when we were going 2. It adds up over 24 hours.
As for winning, We held first place after 3 hours at the Halloween race - right up to the 2 hour penalty for hitting a barrier we did not hit. Had we not had that penalty, I think we would have finished top 5. The car can do it. The team can do it. It is just a matter of getting everything together at the same time.
That said, the original question of fuel tank size stands. Put the biggest tank in they will let you have and run it as long as you can between changes.
Mike
gas it
SHO Member
Yep, those black flags will **** ya. We got 3 in the last Houston race. We were in second place, I didn't know our position. So I was passing like mad. Got a black flag for trying "a low percentage pass" as the safety steward said. Tried to pass 4 or 5 cars by diving bombing into the turn, didn't make it. The hole closed and I hit 2 cars. Both the other cars continued, me, a bent inner tierod. After about an hour the car was back on track, in 65th place. The safety man put us on double secret probation. If we got another black flag on Saturday we were done, put the car on the trailer. We drove nicer the rest of the day. On Sunday it was WOT all day. Finished 25th.
You're right about the fuel tank. We can go about 2.5 hours til it starts sputtering in the high G turns. Then it's short shift for a lap or two til the pit crew is ready with fuel. We have the stock 18.4(?) tank.
You're right again about the SHO being faster than 90% of the other cars. It's just hard to drive trying to save the car, tires, brakes, motor, etc.
It's tough to win in a field of 100+ cars. Everything has to go just right. With a $500 car?Yeah sure...But it is a ton of fun to race in Lemons. It's real racing.
You're right about the fuel tank. We can go about 2.5 hours til it starts sputtering in the high G turns. Then it's short shift for a lap or two til the pit crew is ready with fuel. We have the stock 18.4(?) tank.
You're right again about the SHO being faster than 90% of the other cars. It's just hard to drive trying to save the car, tires, brakes, motor, etc.
It's tough to win in a field of 100+ cars. Everything has to go just right. With a $500 car?Yeah sure...But it is a ton of fun to race in Lemons. It's real racing.
drivinhard
New Member
In one of my luftwaffe style dive bombs, I got pushed to the outside and took out the 150 brake marker
The powers to be must have missed it, never called me in on that one.
down the straights and late braking is where you can make up lots of spaces, and our brakes (pads) were really holding up well, so we really were able to really use that to our advantage.
Shoaz
Studly dood
Great vid, good stories. We just completed a LeMons event this weekend, although not in a SHO:
[YOUTUBE]MVD07qNARro[/YOUTUBE]
Since I'm known locally as a SHO driver the natural discussions came up that a SHO would be a good car for a LeMons event, and one of the guys that was shooting pics and just generally supporting us really picked up on that.
"You can really get those that cheap?"
"Yeah, no problem with that."
You could see the gears whirring in his head.
[YOUTUBE]MVD07qNARro[/YOUTUBE]
Since I'm known locally as a SHO driver the natural discussions came up that a SHO would be a good car for a LeMons event, and one of the guys that was shooting pics and just generally supporting us really picked up on that.
"You can really get those that cheap?"
"Yeah, no problem with that."
You could see the gears whirring in his head.
gas it
SHO Member
Here's the schedule. Looks like Summit Point is near you.
http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/
A HPDE event is too short and boring compared to LeMons racing. Sure a HPDE might be cheaper but after you have the cage and safety equipment, LeMons isn't that much more. 7 hours of racing on Saturday and 7 hrs on Sunday. We put 650 miles on the car in 2 days of racing!
http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/
A HPDE event is too short and boring compared to LeMons racing. Sure a HPDE might be cheaper but after you have the cage and safety equipment, LeMons isn't that much more. 7 hours of racing on Saturday and 7 hrs on Sunday. We put 650 miles on the car in 2 days of racing!
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