Hi guys,
Just got back from Thunderhill. 4 days of sleep deprivation took the toll out of all of us. The boyz (dustin, dave, nick and brandon) were kicking *** the entire weekend and two days leading up to the big race. Was our car fast? Yessiree... IIRC, it was cutting the 3rd fastest lap times of any car out there. Was it reliable? Not really

Despite all our efforts to prepare the car for 25hrs of abuse (tranny cooler, diff cooler, radiator, rod studs, headbolts, careful tuning, etc,.) the component failures that we experienced could not have been predicted. With 3 power steering pully failures, 1 idle pully failure and a snapped wastegate actuator, we were fighting a battle against some sort of harmonic resonance that we couldn't win. Whether or not our engine was unbalanced from the start is something that we won't be able to know until we conduct further testing. But as it stands right now, the race was over before it began. But on the plus side, we got our first test of REAL endurance racing. Holy sheet. Just insane. Seeing tires wear to their cords in one driver session, brake pads burn to nothingness within 4 hours, turbo manifolds glow so bright that they almost become transparent and smoke billowing from all four brakes at every pitstop really gives you new perspective to the level of preperation and testing needed for such an event. Something we, quite clearly, weren't prepared for. In an ideal world, we would have already run a 6hr test day prior to the 25hr event which surely would have revealed the harmonic issue. But with time and resources not on our side, we just had to pray for the best and hope that we didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Well, that didn't turn out!

Well, I'm beat... gotta sleep. More later

Shiv

 

^ good to see u guys lived thru it all.

ps..sorry about the drunken im last nite..haha, i had a few too many.

 

valiant effort guys!

 

What does IIRC stand for?

 

if i recall/remember correctly

 

You win some, you lose some. Hopefully, next year you guys can go at it again and do better.

 

 

Good job. Soooo many lessons learned will have y'all ready for the next one. Thanks for the R&D.

 

To follow up from shiv:

Did we win? No.
Did we learn what it means to be a team? Without a doubt.

From start to finish (Yes...there was a finish) the effort, and the progress that everyone made, in the short amount of time we had to change hotsides and numerous power steering pumps, was simply ridiculous. If the pits didnt define teamwork, i dont know what can. Whether it was staying out in the freezing cold to record lap times, or reaching into a blistering engine bay to remove a demolished pulley and pump, no one ever batted an eye. I dont know how many of you EVOMers have ever picked up tools, or held a flash light in 30 degree weather...but let me tell you, its not fun. Did that stop anyone? Not even close.

I am exhausted, and i am going to bed for the next week....oh wait Finals week....Oh yay!
In any event, I love this racing stuff and hope to do a lot more of it in the future.

Truly, thanks a ton to everyone who was involved. It was an amazing experience.

and finaly,

If i have anything to do with it, this wont be the last y'all (dave voice) see of this car. But then again, my powers are in this categories are beyond limited.

 

The boys did an incredible job, well above and beyond what is reasonable. Our crew chief was from the IRL (a crew chief there) and he had many unbiased comments on the grit and determination of the Vishnu crew

The car was a blast to drive and very quick right out of the box. The Car & Driver guys had giddy praise for the performance of the car. You could pass anywhere using superior power, handling or brakes. We could pass several cars in one shot and weave through traffic up the straight (it's so much fun being a big dog!).

If we had had a trouble free run (not even close ) we would have finished 2nd overall. I know that doesn’t count for much but it indicates the potential of the car.

Thanks to Shiv for having me come out and play again and thanks again to Dave, Dustin and Nick as well as Larry the Fabricator and the rest of the guys that helped along the way. We all did at least two all-nighters leading up to the event so for us it was the 73hours of Thunderhill (24+24+25 ).

Time for sleep...

 

Paully G....It was fun as always. I will talk to you soon. I am sure i will come up with some crap to bug you with. And for god sakes....go to bed.

We would never be able to do this stuff without you.

 

Best of luck! i'll include you guys and the car in my prayers!!!!

 

better luck luck next time. I echo the sentiments of the others, valiant effort. at least it wasn't the engine that blew, just the minor details like the ps.

 

Just the picture of that red EVO surounded by all these small fast a$$ cars was enough for me to see. I am sure it was a blast and I am sure that you guys worked hard trying to win.

 

harmonic balancer failure, pulley bearing failure, power steering failure-the belts were too tight?