SLC at Run and Gun 2008

[Mesa]

Fran (and Dean Lampe),
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere the SLC will be making an appearance at RNG this year (or did I dream that up?) If so, I am thinking on coming out to see "our" car in action, and of course pick up some tuning tips on the car from this competition. I guess the RR and Autocross would be most applicable to my interests. Will be neat to see how the car stacks up against the current King, the Corvette GTP. Those guys went pretty good there last year and have buckets of set-up notes to further their cause. Our work will be cut out for us, eh? If I can make it, I'll volunteer be used as a jr. mechanic/tool fetcher/getter in the way-er if needed!

Of course I'm sure Dean will do the RCR40 proud just like last year.

Which are the best days to see the action and where to stay?

 

[Dean Lampe]

:thumbsup:Thursday and Friday are the best days. Wednesday is pretty fun for the test and tune. You should get a room at the Casino Queen. Tell them you are with Run and Gun. They will give you a special rate. It is going to be something to see. The SLC is going to make quite a splash!

 

[Craig White]

My brother John will be racing the factory black demo SL-C at Run & Gun.

He is not a pro racer, just an enthusiast & RCR GT40 owner. We thought it better to use an average RCR owner, someone with enthusiast level driving skills, so customers will get a good idea of how fast the SL-C would be in there hands with little track time.

I will also be there, helping Fran out.

 

[Craig Gillingham]

please keep us informed on this one...

 

[Dan]

Here is a link to a bunch of pictures I took at Run and Gun

foryorent/SLC at Run and Gun 2008 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Run and Gun 2008 Superlite Coupe Report
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The premise of running the SL-C at this years run and Gun was to showcase what our customer driven STREET car is capable of.
An RCR customer that had never seen the track and moreover even driven a LHD car with LH shift was the driver for the weekend.
He races in the amateur ranks in ffice:smarttags" /><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

</st1lace><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region> in a Cobra…so next to no mid engine car experience either..

Off the shelf parts in a deluxe package SL-C.
The only upgrade parts were the sway bars, wheel package with DOT track tyres and brake pads.
It would have been easy to buy Ohlins shocks and have a Pro.driver etc etc …but what would that prove to the everyman customer…..?
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Car specs…
Stock LS7 Chevrolet engine
Stock engine calibration
Ricardo transaxle
Ford GT clutch assembly
QA1 shocks as provided in the SL-C kit
Sway bars (available option)
18 x 11 and 18 x 13 forged wheels(available option)
Hoosier A6/R6 tyres front and rear
DTC70 brake pads.
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Road course thoughts.<o></o>
Initially we had the car set up with soft compression and rebound settings
Sway bars minimal preload.
This was our baseline set up.
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Too soft…overheating the A6 (softer compound tyres) with too much push(understeer)
We increased the compression and the front was less loaded
We switched to the R6 compound….much better.
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Pushing harder we found we had a misfire issue….or a couple actually.
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First was fuel surge even though we had a ¾ full tank….(pump gas too)
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The fix is to install a surge tank , even though the fuel tank is heavily baffled the cornering forces are higher than you can imagine…that’s a good thing.
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The second misfire was traced to a spark knock sensor…but not until after I got the car home.
We were able to run almost three laps with a full tank and not experience the surge…bear in mind that the tank is 17 gallons and we are running a stock engine….
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During the course of the weekend we damaged a set of shifter cables due to heat soak (new cable supplier for the Ricardo package and we were running the prototypes) ….we installed another set and continued on our way…I have speced a new sheath for the production cables with a -60 to +300 heat range.
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I was exceptionally pleased with the cars performance , especially as we had a very public baptism of fire….as you can see I am not holding back with my report.
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My target was to run with Dean Lampes RCR40 and Jeff Schwartz in his TT Ultima GTR…as both cars and driver have more HP and track knowledge…and similar lap times ..and both won their class in 2007….so a fair bench mark with all due respect.
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We managed to reach that target and reduce our lap times by a further two seconds…to 1.06secs.
I clocked how much time we were losing on the final NASCAR turn and the run down the front straight as close to three seconds…vs the above cars mentioned.
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So my best guess is that we could have run in the 1.03sec. range with our normally aspirated 505hp stock LS7….straight from the box…. With a street package.
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I had a pro driver, that has actually won the 24 hr of Daytona approach me
He loved the car, was sure that he could run the road course in under one minute flat….the current lap record is 1.01sec…..
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So all in all a great weekend for the SL-C with minor teething issues that are easily sorted..and over 300 MILES of track miles over the weekend.. .
Running the full track package front splitter and lower ground effect will prove very effective and raise our game one more notch…
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A big thank you to John, Kate and Craig White for traveling from <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1lace>.
Dan Emmons for his help and bringing his sprint car engined SL-C to display.
Chuck and Ryan, Ray Maserang, Buzz Marr for bringing their RCR40’s
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But most of all to Dean Lampe, Clois Harlan and the rest of the Run and Gun crew for making my first RCR pilgrimage to St Louis Run and Gun a very fun and memorable event.