Blog
What we have in store for 2011
After a long year of tweaking, tuning and learing; we are looking forward to a huge year in 2011. With massive changes taking place with Redline Time Attack, we look forward to growing alongside the entire Redline team. While much of the information we have cannot be disclosed yet, be sure to keep checking back as information becomes available to the public.
Winter is upon us in the Mid-West, and that means its time for a complete overhaul of the vehicle. A new look will be debuted for 2011, along with changes to the powertrain. The entire THM team is incredibly excited for what 2011 holds. As always, we look to include, and grow, our local and national fan base. Make sure to check back here for updates, and follow us on facebook for the latest news and pictures.
The Autobahn at last!
Autobahn country club that is…
Earlier this year, we missed the Redline Time Attack event at our home track, Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL. This left us rather disgruntled, but we promised ourselves we would hit the track at least once before the end of the year. We made good on our promise, and made it out for one of the last high speed autocrosses of the year. Organized by the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs, we managed to squeeze out a second place finish. The team was rather happy with this considering we were still facing numerous tuning issues. Here is a breakdown from team manager, Adam K.
“Hey guys.
We took the STi to Autobahn Country Club Race track this weekend for a high speed autoX. Basically standing start HOT lap, and a fly by finish at the finish line. Pretty fun…great competition.
Well…..we had some issues. After tooling around with the ECU and figuring out why its not regulating boost correctly a light was shined down on us through the gloomy clouds.
We ran the waste-gate with the stock spring set at 1.2 BAR, instead of using the faulty boost controller which was supposed to be set @ 1.8 BAR. Instead the boost controller would randomly let the turbo go as far as it can. 2.2 BAR+ (not fun/good)
With a nice steady boost delivery we focused more on the driving. We were able to knock out lap times that were basically just as fast, if not faster faster than our competition did at Red Line Time Attack at the same track 2 months ago. We should be very competitive in the up coming season if we keep this up.
Overall a great learning experience and yet another track day to further prepare us for Redline Time Attack next season. We want this car to be more than bullet proof.
BTW our Ghetto lip is a new test in progress. ha ha…it turned out pretty good with lots of grip. We basically lowered it by about 3 inches to see how it would react. It did very well and we will make a nice non duct tape version of it.
Also front overfenders were finally painted and rear overfenders will be going on as well. Updates soon.
Thanks for looking…videos coming soon.
Adam@THM”
All in all a great weekend for the team, and something that really gives us alot of motivation going into next season. Once again, we want to thank all our sponsors this year. If it wasn’t for all your help, this year would never have been possible.
The Man l The Myth
So just who is Nackers?
Check back soon to find out!
Photo Credit: Brad Sillars – The Photo Motive
Blackhawk Farms Raceway – 9/19/10
This past weekend the THM crew ventured out to Blackhawk Farms Raceway with the Salt Creek Sports Car Club and the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs for a high speed auto cross. Generally, when the average racer hears “auto cross” they associate it with racing around cones in a parking lot. Truth be told, high speed auto crosses are more similar to full fledged track day. You are timed for one full lap, beginning from a dead stop; pretty cool if you ask me. The competition was rather fierce, as was the weather.
Upon arrival at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit, Il, the team encountered a generous amount of rain. This put quite a damper on all the morning sessions, luckily enough, they were only practice. A few warm up laps showed the true colors of the Toyo R888 tires in wet conditions. While traction was ample in the straights, it suffered severely in the turns. By the time the afternoon rolled around, the track had completely dried creating more favorable conditions for all competitors.
Many of the issues plaguing the crew at the last track day were ironed out including the ECU problems and the mushy brake pedal. It seemed as though the car was finally near 100%! To this day, the drivers of the car still comment on how crisp the handling is, much thanks to the Stance 3 Way Coilovers and the Toyo R888′s. As well, the car was only running the pump gas map, though still proved to be a worthy competitor on the track. The driver, Andrei Tsaran, commented that “the car could use a bit more power, as we have not found the limits yet. Aero also needs to be developed, but the new diffuser seems to be doing a great job in the rear.”
As with any race car, and fine wine, it only gets better over time. It seems as though we have a winning combination, overall, and just needs to be dialed in to be in the top of the class. Out of the 108 entrants, the THMotorsports came home with 4th place. A few more trips to the track, and some power tweaks, we should see this car skyrocket to the top. Ill let the pictures and video do the rest of the talking…
Sebring – Redline Time Attack Rd. 7
Humidity, how I loate thee.
Thursday August 12th rolled around quickly, and the THMotorsports crew was on the road to depart on their Journey from Chicago, Il to Sebring, FL for round 7 of the Redline Time Attack Series. 1300 miles needed to be covered in a 24hour time period, a task we would accomplish with ease…or so we thought. Here is my synopsis of our last road trip!
Our trip began with a detour to Competition Race Fuels in Michigan to pick up some much needed 116 octane gas. A mere 200 mile detour, but this would not stop us. Upon receiving our fuel, we loaded up and hit the road. The plains of the midwest are really, really boring. We continued on, at a blazing pace, passing through the south. Our trip was filled with gas station fillups, rain, and flipped over cars (yes, we saw about 8 during the course of the trip).
We arrived in muggy Sebring, Fl around 5PM local time. Upon arriving at the track, we checked in, dropped off the trailer and did some mild prep to the car. Following this we arrived at our track-side hotel, relaxed for a few and hit the hay. Saturday morning rolled around quickly, and we found ourselves back at the track. Over 70 cars showed up for the test and tune, a mix of about 50/50 time attack and HPDE cars. We quickly jumped out on the track to get a feel for the turns as well as the car. After a few shakedown runs we started to get a good idea of the track layout. We noticed some issues with our braking system as well as steadily increasing temperatures, both with the car and on the track. Surface temperatures were approaching 125 degrees, and our oil temps were breaking the 250 degree marker. On top of this, our race fuel map was not activating the boost solenoid. As a result, our wastegate was not opening and we were hitting close to 40lbs of boost…not so good.
After a few more laps on our pump gas tune, we decided to pit in and make some minor adjustments to the car. Upon the suggestion of Mike from Kognition racing, we removed our entire rear bumper cover and diffuser. Our chassis mounted Kognition wing seemed to be making more than enough downforce to keep our Toyo R888′s planted in the sweeping turns. Why stop the weight reduction there? Off came the axleback and the passenger seat. Effectively, we had lost a good 40lbs. We decided to stop there, and see how this would work on the track the following day. Phil from Element Tuning was so gracious to help us figure out our race gas map via email. After some tinkering, we retired to our beds in preparation for a long day.
Sunday morning showed up knocking at our door and we were off to the track. It was another scorching day in Sebring Florida; many of the same problems plaguing us the day prior affected several of the other teams. Ambient temperatures were near 105 degrees, with track temps equally as hot. We hit the track with our new tune, and noticed we were having some of the same braking problems from the day before. None the less, we continued, and began to shave some time off of our laps. With a best lap time of 2’28″, we were mildly happy, but knew there was room for improvement. The changes in aero gave us a solid feeling on the track, but the dropping oil pressure brought on the fear of engine failure. The competition was stiff with the Turn In Concepts WRX running a 2’16″ to secure fastest time of the day, as well as the East Coast Modified AWD series championship. As the day wound down, we found ourselves in the pits, happy with our times and exceptionally happy we avoided any sort of extreme failure.
Just as quick as we arrived in Sebring, we felt like we were leaving. The 48 hours on the track proved to be a phenomenal learning experience for the entire team. It also showed everyone that we have alot more in the car, only to be shown in the 2011 season. Keep an eye out for more updates throughout the rest of the year as we continue to tweak our Time Attack STi and dominate local and national races.
Iphone test
This is a test of the iPhone wordpress app. I will be using this to deliver live updates from round 7 of the redline time attack @ Sebring.
THMotorsports Sponsored 350SX
*Nissan S13 350SX: The Quest for HR
Last year at this time Casey Penn was gearing up to make the jump to the VQ35HR from the SR20DET engine in his S13 240SX. And now, the rubber has met the road and it seems as though Casey Penn has hit a HR with his swap. Moving from the 2.0 Silvia engine to the 3.5L V6 is quite a change that most would question. However after strolling over to Project X last week, I witness the end results of a SR20DET with just too much power and a hole in the side of the engine. Yes, the SR20DET has the ability to hold alot of power, but the benefits of going big has it’s advantages.
THMotorsports: Now that the engine swap is complete, what are your thoughts?
Casey: The VQ35HR swap was a good decision, although maybe not at the same time as my aero upgrades, and grip/brake upgrades. I am taking it all in stride and I am as fast as i was last year, tho this was an entirely different car last year that i had spent years perfecting my driving style in. Now this car is a bit of a handful, it has better acceleration, worse grip via my used Toyo RA1′s, great high speed handling, but awful shifting because i accidentally changed the shifting geometry as part of the swap.
THMotorsports: You did some aero upgrades, tell us a little about that.
Casey: The aero body work makes the car look fantastic in my eyes, and the front splitter i made is holding up great and seems to actually be fully functional. Only takes me about 5 minutes to remove the front bumper and splitter for car work or trailer loading, kind of proud of that aspect, strong and quick removal for $150 total. The Kognition rear wing… this mod alone is making the car super stable at high speeds compared to last year and it is very noticeable in the high speed corners and straits, i am getting up around 160mph on the back strait at VIR and the car is rock solid.
THMotorsports: What are you doing to stop the car?
Casey: With the Wilwood brake upgrade, the car brakes and feels amazing with the cobalt XR2 pads i got from TH Motorsports. This brake upgrade is a little more difficult to group the pieces but much cheaper than the big name BBK kits on the market, and the parts are readily available.
THMotorsports: How easy was the engine swap and what kind of power are you getting out of the car?
Casey: The engine swap was a pain in the ASS, figuring out the starter issue, ECU issue, shifter issue, exhaust etc…All the fabricating of small things, finding the missing piece to the HR motorset, and getting the ECU to work with the wiring i had already in the car all got sorted out one by one with tons of success. The headers were inspired my SG motorsports 350Z Koni Challenge racecar.
In the DYNO session, the car laid down 300rwhp on the dyno, without a tach signal we couldnt figure out the torque. The car running this smooth is all because of Martin at RS-Enthalpy and all the help he gave me with getting the ECU powered up properly and code free to heavy track use
There were alot of success, and of course issues with the car, but everything came together to let me get through the GRM 2010 UTCC without a hitch. I didn’t place as well as i was hoping because of the issues, but i still got out there and drove the hell out of the car. Some more seat time and i will knock several more seconds off my lap times and be as comfortable and successful as i was last year.
We look forward to seeing more of Casey Penn’s 350SX and Casey on the podeum in years to come. Casey has told us that their’s no future of forced induction for the car, but we all know you can never get enough of a great thing.
Vehicle Make: Nissan
Model: 240SX
Year: 1991
Engine Mods:
VQ35HR engine swap
SS custom long tube headers
SS custom single exhaust
Dual AL CAI intakes
RS-Enthalpy reflashed ECU
Brake Mods:
Wilwood 4-pot calipers
350z rotors
Cobalt XR2 race pads
RBF600 fluid
SS brake lines
EMS/Monitoring: Stack ST8100 Display system
Wheels/Tires:
MB 17×9.5, Toyo RA1 275/45R17
Aero/Exterior:
Penn Engineering front splitter
G4 front bumper and sideskirts
Kognition CF rear wing
JUN fender flares
Interior/Safety:
Custom 8-pnt rollcage
Kirkey road race AL seats
Stripped interior
G-Force 5-pnt harness’s
Audio/Electronics: N/A
Suspension Mods:
Stance Coilovers
SPC Control arms
Energy Suspensions bushing kit
solid rear subframe bushings
Tanabe front sway bar
Finally, some track time!
This past weekend marked the return of one of our favorite events, the West Michigan Honda Meet (WMHM) at Gingerman Raceway. This marked the 10th year of WMHM, and certainly did not disappoint. The THM crew rolled up to South Haven, Michigan with the goal of finally getting the Subaru on the track for some tuning. The goal was acheived, and everyone involved was incredibly excited with the results.
There were quite a few highlights from the weekend including:
The official track debut of the THMotorsports Time Attack STi. The car ran very well, and felt incredibly nimble on the track. The addition of the stroker kit really helped out on the low end to help offset the lag from the GT35R. Riding on 275 width tires all around is something not normally seen in the Subaru community, but proved to be an excellent setup in both high and low speed cornering. Driver Andrei Tsaran was quoted as saying “the car literally drove at any speed to whichever direction it was pointed to on the Toyo R888′s.”
In addition to the sticky Toyo tires, we were dialing in our new Stance 3-Way suspension setup. With the help of Stance’s owner, we were able to fine tune the suspension to the best of its abilities; this alone will give us a huge advantage over other teams at the next Redline event. Dave, of Stance USA, commented on the car saying it was one of the best handling cars, utilizing their 3-ways, that he has ever driven. All in all, the weekend was very sucessful, and we look forward to taking a podium finish at Sebring in August.
In related news, the THM 996 Turbo duked it out with the LoveFab NSX to provide some on track entertainment for the on-lookers. The turnout of hondas was unprecedented. As usual, there were numerous Type R’s in addition to EG’s, EKs, DC2′s and DC5′s. The 2 day event went flawlessly with the exception of one minor incident in which a Mazda3 offed and hit a tire barrier. To everyones surprise, this only resulted in a broken bumper clip. Check out the pics!
Big shout out to all the EF-Honda guys and the WMHM crew who make this event one of the most enjoyable, year after year. None of this could be possible without the aid of our wonderful sponsors. We want to extend them a HUGE thank you!
Stance-USA
Brian Crower
Forgeline
Toyo
Kognition
Carbonetic
Project X Customs
Sparco
Darton Sleeves
Eat Sleep Race
Grimspeed
Robin Hood Rally
At THMotorsports, our desire for racing engulfs many different types of the sport. Anything from drag, road, auto-cross and even rally. THMotorsports recently teamed up with Alan Wilzig of Wilzig racing as he participates in the 2010 Robin Hood Rally (RHR). Essentially, the RHR, is a cross country rally event comprised of several teams (predominately amateur) all whom have one goal: come in first place. The racing takes place all over small town America, on anything from paved roads to dirt tracks. The Robin Hood Rally will be televised on the Versus Network this coming October. It will be aired in 10 hourly segments. Keep an eye out for Team Wilzig and THMotorsports!
First Prize – a Ferrari F430, approximate worth $250,000
Second Prize – a Porsche 911 Turbo
Third Prize – a Corvette Z51 Convertible
Fourth Prize – Your very own set of Steak Knives
Check out these cool links: