beaterX project thread

[scheides]

BeaterX rages on! Over 1000 miles on the new shortblock now and going strong. Like I said I changed out the dino oil at 550 miles for AmsOil 10w40 and she has yet to burn a drop of oil. The first 700 miles I'd say that's no feat but it really was---even normal driving with limited boost before the car would eat a quart of oil every 200 miles or so, but the 750-775 mile range on this car I really put her to the test!

I made the trip up to BIR for MAP PG13.1 and did my best to flog the living shyte out of this thing for a few days. No big track time but I think I made about 10 drag passes, 6 hot autoX runs, and lots of boost on the way up and around there and all the way back.

Saturday I got up early and was through tech by 8:30, set tire pressure to 20psi and my first few drag runs I'd bog every launch running mid 12's at 120mph. Finally I slipped the clutch enough to get a half-way decent launch (still only a 1.8s 60') and ran a 12.0@121.x and then a 11.9@121.9mph. These times *seem* decent until I look back at the 11.6@124.xmph I ran with the BBX (smaller turbo) 2 years ago.

Qualifying run for eliminations on Sunday:


Qualifying pass for Stock Appearing (remember full interior, street trim, big pig of an evoX):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smeBglidZmw&hd=1

So I started digging into logs at the track and the damn car would only run maybe 27psi on the way down the track. 1st gear I can understand as there's hardly any time in it, 2nd I would hope for 30, and 3rd/4th gear should be 31+ the whole way letting the ef4 really shine...no such luck.

I tore the car apart at the track and found the WGA loose, zero pre-tension. Great, more wastegate problems!?! I was pretty pissed and even talked to Chris Carey about it, but then guess what--I put pretension back on it and made a few more passes day 2.

Went and made a few pulls and she was running 33psi no problem now! So I headed back to racing...first run on day2 was pretty clean, I won and that launched me straight into semi-finals. I was up against Chris/evotuner and knew I had my work cut out for me...we both bogged it off the line (totally my fault in my car, this is what happens when I'm rushed at the starting line...newb time showing right here!) and then it was all down to the cars...his ef2.5 spooled first and he got a few cars jump, my ef4 spooled and launched me forward...I grab 2nd and catch him a little more, 3rd gear I'm walking up to him and 4th gear I've crawled back up to 1/2 car behind but not enough! He wins and goes onto win the class.

Sigh, as bad as I wanted it, it was totally my fault and had I made a clean pass I would have had a chance in the finals. Just like last year all over again, blah. So I dug into the logs afterwards and sure enough the car was still low on boost. BAH! I packed up and drove all the way home, car felt great on the street...I don't understand.

Upon returning to Minneapolis I did some street logging to try and begin to figure out what is happening and so far i'm a bit surprised at the results.

Here's NLTS from 2nd to 3rd gear. Green is from Sunday at BIR and red is from the street. You can clearly see the car is not running nearly enough boost to 'go fast':


Next, here's an overlay same as above but with my 3rd gear full pull testing just before racing on Sunday in blue. You can see grabbing 3rd on the street the turbo spools quickly and goes right up to where the full pulls are, this is what I'd hope would happen on the track (but is not):



Lastly, here's same data as above but in orange is grabbing 4th gear at the track (NLTS from 3rd):


This gear seems fine right? But obviously being down on boost in 2nd/3rd is what really kills my times at the track. On the street the car really feels like a low 11-second car but my crap driving (poor launches and slow shifts) really hurt the real-world results. Sigh, this is my life


So I ripped the car on the autoX course for several laps and had a freaking blast there too...I was able to launch consistently (big burnouts mostly but showboating counteracts every cone hit right?! ), the car felt decent, but I hadn't tweaked the WGA yet so it was a bit on the laggy side still.

A mediocre run, just like all of mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnkJeBxhuQ&hd=1

So, the saga continues! I have some strut tower mounts on order (spherical bearings on mine are shot I think) and a new rear sway link (one is loose), and she'll basically be back to where she belongs--the DD grind!

For now she will stay where she belongs: on the street, having fun!

[Kracka]

What mounts and links did you order?

[scheides]

Nothing yet, budgetary constraints and other projects taking precedence! Priced out OEM stuff last night and it's about $67 per mount and $61 for the endlink.

[awd-drifter]

Great read man. Your beater is really getting a beating and it seems like it's loving it 11s is definitely not bad, especially with that trap speed

[Kracka]

That's not too bad! People complain about the "weak" stock rear end-links on the X, but mine are holding up fine and I seem to hear of more issues with noisy aftermarket links.

[Mark Leasure]

Nice write up. I watched a lot of the Auto X runs and I'm finally ready to give it a try! Next proving grounds 13.2! Just need to figure out how to bring 2 cars!

[evotuner]

Originally Posted by Mark Leasure

Nice write up. I watched a lot of the Auto X runs and I'm finally ready to give it a try! Next proving grounds 13.2! Just need to figure out how to bring 2 cars!

I bet your fp red evo would be fun in auto x

[Murlo26]

Update!

[scheides]

Just been ripping around in this thing here and there. Last week, on New Year's Eve, my brother was in town so I let him borrow the truck and I took the evo. NBD, just another day. I got a call from a friend and his wife was stranded in south Minneapolis and I had borrowed his VW/Audi cable...I happened to have it in my car and was way closer than him so I hauled ass over there since it was like -11°F out.

I parked on a corner and after I sat down in her car to see what was happening, a small horror unfolded behind me.





This bus was turning the corner and totally clipped beaterX.



You can see the scrap marks along the whole back half of the rear section of the double-length bus....unreal.


Quarter panel is gouged pretty good, bumper cover is fucked.....yea. Dealing with Metro Transit is seriously a PITA. I think I will zip-tie stitch the bumper section back together for now and keep driving it.

2013. Not my favorite year.

[goodhart]

ghey

[JET]

Yeah, that sucks. Hopefully they make it all right.

[dsmreck]

this is a fun read

[A//// Guy]

Scheides, your insurance should work with theirs to fix it. You shouldnt have to pay for anything.

[Halon]

You have full coverage? If so I'd do like Peter says and let your insurance company deal with them.

[scheides]

Originally Posted by Halon

You have full coverage? If so I'd do like Peter says and let your insurance company deal with them.

Yip I do, just a massive PITA that I don't have time for nor want to deal with

[mdost03]

Sorry to hear Scheides, hope everything else is going okay with you in the new year so far!

[Mark Leasure]

That sucks, sorry to hear. I understand what you're saying about dealing with all the bs.

[niterydr]

Could be worse considering you got hit by a BUS.

Sorry dude!

[cmspaz]

I don't agree with the suggestion, but you were offered some zip ties on Sunday.

[scheides]

BeaterX is at the body shop finally getting fixed up! Bus damage was pretty bad, and the front bumper is an issue that's just been getting worse and worse over the last year, and all the snow recently really pushed it over the edge.





driver's side fog light all bashed in:




And THIS issue has been there literally since I got the car almost four years ago! I'm SO glad it will finally be fixed!


Here's what it looked like for those that may have forgotten/missed it from my OP:


Looks like someone literally hit the car with an axe or something.