steve kramer wrote:never thought I'd see these words in the same sentence: "Erik + lap record pace"

...and not followed by words like "tragic", "spectacular", "yard sale" or "unfortunate".

...and Hal makes me belly laugh again.
I think "yard sale" is the one that got me because I use it all the time for skiing and hockey incidents... most of which are tragic, spectacular, and unfortunate all at once.

Mike D wrote:Hey guys just another piece of GEN3 info…3 or 4 people have asked and I have the EFI close enough to give an answer….
At the last test, Erik was driving the GEN3 very close to lap record pace with an avg of 78% full throttle per lap.
Pueblo is @ 4900 feet of elevation a 2.15 mile road course… 88 MPH avg. 2ed gear 2 times and no 5th per lap.
Erik was settled in and running very consistently…I filled the car and Erik ran 2 sessions for a total of 31 laps / 67 miles or 53 minutes on track with an extra in and out lap, compared to one long session.
It took right @ 3.5 gals of fuel to refill the car. I’m using the hash marks on the 5 gal fuel jug so I could be off a quart one way or the other.
The GEN3 achieved about 19.1 MPG @ 4900 feet, remember the tune is about 16% leaner than sea level. A quart of fuel one way or the other would put it 17.8 to 20.5 MPG, either way it’s very good. I will guess and say we should be in the 15 MPG range @ sea level. Time will tell…..

Going by my math-challenged calculations, that's roughly 25% better fuel mileage than the 1.9-liter engine.

" 17.8 to 20.5 MPG, either way it’s very good. I will guess and say we should be in the 15 MPG range @ sea level" heck for a race car that's almost "green".

More GEN3 Performance data

So Pueblo is based on a drag strip…At the end of the test day with Erik driving and myself EFI tuning. I ran 16 laps to see what it felt like and I made 6 attempts @ a good quarter mile time on the Drag strip. It was still very dirty and slippery. Pueblo is on the official NHRA list of drag strips and they have calibration to sea level numbers.

All 6 passes were done at end of my 16 laps plus the full test day, old tires and half a tank of fuel. All my attempts were within little less than 3 tenths of each other, wildly different from in the car, gross wheel spinning to too gentle on the throttle. The best 2 passes were done slipping the clutch all the way to the second gear shift. Please don’t try that with your current clutch set up.

The best pass (#4) calibrated to sea level
1.71 60 foot time
4.50 0 to 60 MPH
12.86 @ 107.8 MPH ¼ mile pass

Again I know we are not drag racers, But any average performance car guy can understand drag strip numbers…Those are pretty good numbers compared to almost anything out there… I’m very happy with that…!

Plus I’m abusing my car so you don’t have to abuse yours..!

Hi Mike,

4.5 seconds to 60? If that is correct it matches my '94 Viper with 400 hp. I know that today 400 hp is not terribly unusual but the Viper has a lot of grunt and knocks a person back in the seat from 50 mph and keeps doing it until I chicken out and back off.

Do you know what a SRF will do 0-60 in? I always assumed it was about 6.5-7.0 seconds.

The Gen 3 seems a lot faster for 20-25 more hp. Of course if you are running 160 pounds lighter that might have something to do with it, but I am trying to figure out the power to weight ratios. Lemmie see, I think the Viper weight is 3300 pounds With 400 hp that is 8.25 pounds per HP. If the Gen 3 prototype is running at 1520 pounds and has, let's say 130 hp it has 11.6 pounds per hp.

I'm sure I have something wrong here. Just how much power is that sucker putting out?

Regardless, if the gods let me I am going to get one. (loved the COTA in-car laps!)

Jim

Those sound like nice numbers. I'm curious what current numbers would be as well. I just looked up a viper. Edmunds says it weighs 3476. Add 200 lb driver and assume a 15% driveline loss and the actual power to weight is around 10.8 by my calculations. Viper would probably lose a little off the line as well trying to get traction. We also might have more favorable gearing.

Those numbers certainly tighten things up, Adam. Thanks.

With wide rear tires that are 335's the Viper has pretty good grip off the line but you need to slip the clutch too. First gear is done at 50 mph so a shift is necessary unless you were to start in second - a possibility I have never tried in anger. Second is good for 80. Don't know if the new engine's higher redline permits avoiding a shift in the Gen-3. Has anyone ever gotten accurate 0-60 times for the SRF?

Yard sale...giggle...good times at the 2006 Sprints! Never dropped a wheel, much less spun or even blew a shift - but I'm no racer anymore; even at fightin' weight now. Mike did a 51.9 to his lap record of a 54.2 and I ran a pile of 54's with one 53.8 snuck in on a three lap stint. Slow track...only car there...thus no 3-4 second improvement from the lap record (Mike's) to the GEN3.

The performance data is amazing, and the fuel mileage is almost baffling. But Mike knows how to keep fuel from being wasted in off throttle and transitional situations. That is not "just happening"; that is Mike's work too!

I want one!

Missing the Spec Fest, a 3 race weekend at Laguna Seca to be in Topeka for SCCA BoD. We're voting this weekend on "mundane" stuff like 2014, 2015, 2016 Runoffs locations and SR1/SR2 sports racers rule sets. However after a grueling day of BoD meetings there was a consolation prize. Erik was in town with the Gen 3 and I got to drive it!!!! Got a few laps around the block (public roads mind you so never got past 4th gear ).

Wow!!! Wonderful ear-splitting sound, (Erik says it is 101 and with the Portland muffler can make <98db). Nice clean install and good detail. Really (I mean really!) accelerates. A lot of quality engineering work went into this.

I want one!