SLC impressions

[J. Salmon]

Howard,
I would wait until you are driving and do so without the side windows, then you can find a good place for vents. The roof scoop could probably be used. There are certainly ways to get air in. That windscreen is very effective at splitting the air. Wind noise is minimal, very impressive considering production cars have tons of sound deadening and this car has zero. You do hear every pebble that comes off the big slicks, but Fran has carbon louvers for the front wheel arches and in this car they are wide open.

Ron, I'll try to shoot some pictures of the lift tonight. Off to the garage....

 

[Jack]

Howard, I agree with J's statement about waiting until you run the car. If necessary I'm planning to run a fresh air vent (with appropriate weatherproofing) from the passengers side of the toebox, making penetrations as required in the body proper.
Don't know if this will be necessary, just my backup plan.

A liberal amount of ruberized undercoating in the wheelwells will aid in the noise reduction from tire pickup too. Wondering if the fender vents would throw debris at the windscreen...

Jack

 

[Doc Kaler]

Jack,

Probably not since the vents are angled opposite the tire rotations.

 

[J. Salmon]

Lift kit

It's not installed on my 40 yet, waiting for the correct springs to be made. But here are a couple of pictures to see the main bits. Two round hydraulic rams fit under or over the springs, then plumbed with flex stainless brake hose. Flip the switch up and the nose comes up. Flip it down and the nose drops. I believe this one is good for about 3 inches. It depends some on the spring placement and resulting ratio of travel.

 

[J. Salmon]

Jack,

Probably not since the vents are angled opposite the tire rotations.

I'd be careful. I think this can be a problem. They do look good though. You could probably put a fine mesh underneath to help.

 

[Jack]

J.

Thinking the same thing on the mesh..

 

[Paul Osborn]

Jack,

Probably not since the vents are angled opposite the tire rotations.

Excellent point!

 

[Mike]

Now I didn't read everything here, but in your synopsis I didn't see any mention of any issue with the wheel clearance. I noticed in some of the pictures I saw some signs of rubbing on the upper arms. I know the tires were kinda of a last minute deal IIRC, but what info came of this issue? Can you tell us about the maximum width rear tire that can be used? Was there room to the outside to use an offset that would have allowed more room between the arms and tires?

 

[J. Salmon]

Now I didn't read everything here, but in your synopsis I didn't see any mention of any issue with the wheel clearance. I noticed in some of the pictures I saw some signs of rubbing on the upper arms. I know the tires were kinda of a last minute deal IIRC, but what info came of this issue? Can you tell us about the maximum width rear tire that can be used? Was there room to the outside to use an offset that would have allowed more room between the arms and tires?

We have not had any wheel/tire/suspension clearance issues. I do not know what the maximums are but the tires on the car are pretty massive. We have had a bit of rubbing of the right front tire on the bodywork, but that is when the shocks are wide open and the car is in full left turn (on slicks). In that case the top of the tire can bump the underside of the fiberglass. We'll be running much firmer suspension next run (early July) and I will let you know if there are any other problems.

I would ask Fran about the maximum rear tire. I think anything wider than what is on there now is going to have issues turning and will be crazy expensive for little or no gain.

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Crash,
The tyres do not and have never rubbed the arms when the car is on the ground....when the suspension is at full droop and jacked off the ground it may appear they will hit but they still dont....more offset is not needed.

The turning radius with the 11" fronts is actually very good and great on the street too...again with no clearance issues.

The rear wheels are 18 x 13 and the fronts are 18 x 11.

We have run the same size Hoosier R6 tyres all year with no issues and the street cars with the big wheel option run Michelin PS2 Cup tyres....

Jays rubbing was due to the shocks being set on full soft in comp. and rebound....pogo stick anyone...:dizzy:

 

[Mike]

Interesting. I went back and looked at the pic in KitCar Mag and indeed it could be an issue of optical angle combined with a tire sidewall that looks as if there may be some rubbing. It does look pretty close though and like a larger tire probably won't work if the wheel offset is already to the max outwards. Here's the pic:

 

[Doc Kaler]

Hi Crash,

I think it is indeed an optical illusion and those look like 345x18 R6's. Plenty of tire. Perhaps Rob (aka Mesa) can comment since he has an "uber-tire" setup on the rear of his SL-C.

 

[J. Salmon]

It is an illusion. No interference.

 

[Mesa]

I set up my wheels with an extra .5 inch of clearance "just because".... it is not required. It MIGHT be that IF your hiem joints at the uprights were adjusted all the way in it MIGHT rub BUT even if that were true there is no reason for concern because they can certainly be adjusted so they don't.

 

[Mike]

Just to clarify Mesa, what rear tire and rim are you running?

 

[Jack]

I set up my wheels with an extra .5 inch of clearance "just because".... it is not required. It MIGHT be that IF your hiem joints at the uprights were adjusted all the way in it MIGHT rub BUT even if that were true there is no reason for concern because they can certainly be adjusted so they don't.

I'm using the wide CCW wheels with Michelin PS2 345-30-18's on SL-C 009. By easily adjusting the hiem joints at the upright as Rob said, there are no concerns.

 

[Mesa]

Crash, My wheels were built using the CCW SLC wheel as a starting point for the offsets, I added .5 to the inside, just because. And as it turned out I needed it, because the spoke curvature was not part of the ordering drawing and the calipers ended up REAL close to the clearance limiting aspect of the spoke curve as a result.

Totally lucked out on that one.

 

[Mesa]

See "SLC 001" build in the build section for details on the tires and rims.

 

[Mike]

Thanks for the clarification. The "other" cars I'm looking at have issues using 345s. Good to know no issues with the SLC.

 

[J. Salmon]

Speed data

How fast is the SLC, with a stock LS7 and Ricardo?
I have said, I think stupid fast. But here is some data.

The attached map is of VIR here in VA. In April, I ran my 355 with telemetry. F1 gear box, 380 hp, running on P-zero Corsas, with an instructor, full day, full course. My best lap was 2:24, not too shabby for a road car. My top speed was right at 135 mph. My exit speed at Oak Tree was about 47. I could easily use second gear (F1). Shifts were full throttle, 8000 rpm, F1 actuated , 250 ms and will brake the tires loose into 3rd.

Dad ran the SLC on South course, which hooks off at the top of the hill. He had a handheld gps in the car to mark top speed. He exited Oak Tree in third gear (My exit speed is at least as high, I would say higher ) Because of continued rotor issues, he was lifting off the gas well before the braking zone on the way up the hill. Shifts were at 6000 rpm. The map indicates the different locations that the two cars hit 135 mph (the SLC topped at 136).

The SLC is really fast. You need to seriously consider this when you look at safety. No joke. It's really, really fast.