Yokohama

MOTOR SPORTS

Pre Season Development

(By: Andy Fox)


The thing I like about theory is that it is there to prove things will either work or not... and that is why we have development.

In preparation for the new season we have been working with the engine to try and extract some more berries for the new season. So the doctor has been in the house working feverishly under the bonnet.

At the end of the season we thought we would remove the engine and freshen it. New bearings, gaskets, measure and tweak...

The good thing on teardown, was we could see only small amounts of wear from a full season of racing and the pounding on the Dyno.

The other good thing is we saw the strength and durability of the package we developed last year. A couple of things bothered me;

1.We needed to get more out of it and 2.We had a brick wall at 5000 rpm that was stopping us from generating any more hp.

A few too many theories on this,

  1. Cam was too big.
  2. Not enough flow.
  3. Profile of the cam.
  4. Inlet runners are way too long.
  5. Exhaust system.

The list gets longer the more you get into it. The plan was set...

We introduced:

  1. A FPV Cobra Inlet from the US to give it more air.
  2. A new profile cam.
  3. Sorted the muffler in the exhaust system.

Net result, same curve same issues... Gotta love development.

More research has led us to think the inlet runners are about 800kms long on the EFI Patrol Inlet Manifold. There are various combo’s we are allowed to run based on the regulations of Production 4WD Category.

I have heard the team at JPV in Thomastown are trying to graft an AU2 Ford Inlet manifold to the head to have the best of both worlds.

The AU manifold has a vacuum operated runner and as the rpm increases the inlet runner is changed from short to long.

We are stuck with the standard manifold and are allowed to remove some material from the inside which is allowed under the rules.

This is one option available to us, to try and solve this blockage we have in the engine.

We are going to mate this with a new cam profile from Wade Cams. Keith has come up with an awesome profile for us to use in the new combo.

I will let you know how we go next time we hit the Dyno.