MG Bryan wrote: For what it's worth, that car came with a 907, which has an aluminum block.
You are correct. That was a typo on my part. The 907 still is a bit of a brick. Heavier that some of the newer aluminum block V8s. We are saving a lot of weight with the rotary engine.
In reply to BradLTL:
Did you use the free X Motor Racing or the $80 version?
Argo1 wrote:MG Bryan wrote: For what it's worth, that car came with a 907, which has an aluminum block.You are correct. That was a typo on my part. The 907 still is a bit of a brick. Heavier that some of the newer aluminum block V8s. We are saving a lot of weight with the rotary engine.
There are plenty of reasons to not rebuild the 907. 
Just thought I'd point it out for those that are less familiar with Lotus and their engines.
93EXCivic wrote: In reply to BradLTL: Did you use the free X Motor Racing or the $80 version?
Neither. We are using the $50 Personal version. Eugene (developer) has been very helpful in helping us with the usage.
I'm sure it is two late but did you guys consider a motorcycle engine and tranny? You can get liter bikes for 1k or so that make 130+ HP with 6speed sequential trans that weigh 160 lbs total. Sell the rest of the bike parts. Net zero. Just a thought...
singleslammer wrote: I'm sure it is two late but did you guys consider a motorcycle engine and tranny? You can get liter bikes for 1k or so that make 130+ HP with 6speed sequential trans that weigh 160 lbs total. Sell the rest of the bike parts. Net zero. Just a thought...
That was considered but we needed a minimum of double that hp. At this point we are commited to Mazda. How we are utilizing the components is saving us almost 200lbs vs the stock Lotus. Details will be coming soon in part 3. To make this work, we are being as anal about weight as Colin Chapman would have been.
93EXCivic wrote: In reply to BradLTL: Did you use the free X Motor Racing or the $80 version?
Here is a write up I did awhile back about getting models into a Sim. It lists out the tools I am using and the process to move things along... all in a very GRM friendly manner (mostly free). XMR has a utility that lets us model things very specifically, but other sims have more manual methods.
http://www.alsoranracing.com/?p=82
In reply to Argo1:
Are y'all planning on doing any composites on the car?
93EXCivic wrote: Are y'all planning on doing any composites on the car?
Cost is always a factor but, at a minimum, the front splitter is planned for composite due to the strength needed.
Things that go Hmmm.... Mazda Power.
Part 3 of the ARR Lotus Challenge Car build has been posted. This part is all about Mazda Rotary power but the engine isn't the only thing spinning around. Mother Nature plays a part. We also introduce two new key team members. Follow the jump!
www.alsoranracing.com
Had a minor failure last night. The windows in the Lotus are secured in using a material called Solbit. Anyone heard of that one? Didn't think so. What Solbit is, is a piece of pliable plastic/rubber, round, about 1/2 inch in diameter, with a wire in the middle of it. You use it by attaching electrical current to both ends of the piece of Solbit, this heats up the material. You put the Solbit into the frame and then push the piece of glass into the Solbit and remove the current. The Solbit this hardens and bounds with the frame and glass.
Sounds fun right? Now imagine the process to get said piece of glass out! The workshop manual says to "soak in Solbit primer for 1 hour, and remove glass"... "if glass does not remove, break glass".
Since Solbit primer doesn't exist, I had to use razor blades to cut the glass free. After 2 1/2 hours of cutting on the window, I ended up following the latter instruction.... by accident... 
BradLTL wrote:93EXCivic wrote: I would love to know more about the simulations y'all are using.- Desktop Drag5 - Desktop Dyno5 - DskTop FstLap5 - X Motor Racing - Caedium We'll do some write ups on application of those tools. Email any specific questions you might have.
Cool build!
For the Desktop pacakge, are you using the basic/cheaper sim, or the pro versions? I'm interested in the write ups, expecially the fastlap one...
I tried to google x motor racing, and got a webpage that doesn't seem to work...
And I'm VERY interested in the Caedium results, since I suspect that will be used for your 200mph goal. Being part of a team that goes to the Salt Flats regularly, that seems like a cool software pageage. I'll have to hook up my team to that.
alfadriver wrote: For the Desktop pacakge, are you using the basic/cheaper sim, or the pro versions? I'm interested in the write ups, expecially the fastlap one... I tried to google x motor racing, and got a webpage that doesn't seem to work... And I'm VERY interested in the Caedium results, since I suspect that will be used for your 200mph goal. Being part of a team that goes to the Salt Flats regularly, that seems like a cool software pageage. I'll have to hook up my team to that.
X Motor Racing... http://www.xmotorracing.com/
My Dad will need to comment on the Desktop packages, he has been leading that effort.
Caedium is interesting. You are right about using it for the 200mph goal, but are also looking at some low-buck aero treatments on the car which will hopefully add value to both the autocross and drag race. Right now the delay is that I haven't finished modeling the car and elements. As soon as I do, we'll start CFD testing them and share our process and results. I'm using 3D Studio Max for most of my modeling efforts, however Caedium has a simplified modeler built into it.
In reply to BradLTL:
That's the web page that doesn't seem to work... In google, it circles back to the search, and if you pit in in the address line, it goes nowhere. As if the site was down or something.
Very strange... it pops right up on my browser. May be a DNS issue or something like that.
In reply to BradLTL:
I'll try it at home- could be blocked from here...
alfadriver wrote: For the Desktop pacakge, are you using the basic/cheaper sim, or the pro versions?
We started with the basic Desktop 5 package. The additional features of the upgraded ones didn't seem relevant to our build. The DesktopDrag 5 is a good basic program which gives good results to work from. I was able to enter data from a variety of known vehicles and it produced rusults within 0.1 second of the actual car's results. This gives us confidence in our predicted results. DesktopFastLap 5 is not as accurate. It can give basic "ballpark" results but it lacks the ability to input several important variables such as things like roll center heights, ride height, camber gain, alignment is limited in it's settings, etc. On the plus side, you can build your own autocross track for testing. X Motor Racing allows input of all these plus more that would make an engineer proud. It is more accurate for on track testing with the exception that there is no repeatable "test driver". You have to drive the car and evaluate the changes. DesktopDyno 5 is a decent engine program but it does not work with the rotary so once we made that choice it got shelved. Still for the $99 bundle price, Desktop 5 is a good value and entertaining.
I like getting new shiny things...
Not a lot of words with this one, but a couple interesting pictures....
http://www.alsoranracing.com/?p=322
Any new updates?
We will have a full update in a week or so. I am heading back from California to Alabama on Friday to work on completing the project with my son (BradLTL). Time is wasting! We will be taking the Silver Bullet Train from CA to AL. (That means my wife will be chasing me in my silver Porsche 944S2 with her silver BMW 528i.) Anyone along the I-10, I-20 corridor should keep their children indoors. 
As far as non-travel related updates go...
Right now the task is trying to best figure out how to fit a (big) round peg in a square-ish hole.
One of the interesting features of the Lotus Elite is that it has inboard rear brakes. The benefit of this setup being the savings in unsprung weight. The drawback is that the rear-end is a bit of a mess structurally.
We aren't just doing an engine swap, there are other elements in the drivetrain which need to be address as well. In order to do it correctly, we have to build from back to front (to ensure proper angle on the driveshaft).
Step 1 in this process is getting this to fit and work with all the other pieces...
Blurry pictures... nice 
Is that a 9" Ford rear end? What kind of power is this thing making??!!
hrdlydangerous wrote: Is that a 9" Ford rear end? What kind of power is this thing making??!!
Somebody knows their stuff. 
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