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04/06/18 First post on the new blog. A lot of things are happening with D4s and in general. I'll stick to the D4s here. Robert's car is now done, with the wing mounted and a few tweaks here and there. This is a 292hp turbo AWD one (400+hp on race gas).
His matching trailer is coming along as well. It's the first enclosed one we're making so there's quite a bit of a learning curve.
Valerie's D4 is coming along as well - it is the same spec as Robert's. The engine recently came back from the builder, the power (292hp @9psi pump gas) is dyno verified.
Her bodywork is painted and ready to install. Very cool blue.
Valerie's trailer has been started as well. Also identical to the first one we're building.
And, we finished the D4 simulator which has now been delivered to ORP and is available for use. Had to resolve a few challenges, all good now.
Although we've already had two events at ORP this year, the bulk of the driving season is just about upon us. Lots to do, as always, but it's getting done. And there is a pretty special project in the works that is still too early to talk about, but once it happens everything we've learned in the last 9.5 years will be leveraged and improved upon. It will be fun! 05/03/18 Time for another D4 update. There are many projects happening at once, as always, and most of the progress here has actually been on the custom trailer. This is the first enclosed trailer we're doing so the learning curve is steep. And we're not going to build another one this way- too much work and time. But we don't know until we try.
It may be worthwhile, given the amount of effort invovled, to remind ourselves why we're doing a custom trailer. The short answer is optimization for the task. We build unique cars, and nothing off the shelf is tuned exactly to transporting them. Sure, lots of standard car trailers can carry our cars. We've been using one for years. But you end up with 3,500+ lb of trailer to carry a 1,100 lb car. Which in turn demands a 5,000 lb towing capacity, which now requires a truck or fullsize van. And then you have to find a place to park it all. So many thousands of dollars extra (easy to get way north of $50K here), topped with monthly expenses, maintenance and hassle. Makes the whole dedicated track car concept far less attractive. Our solution - optimize it. The car is light and of known dimensions. Known tie-down points (over the wheel straps). It's low profile. So the trailer can be Class I - under 2,500 lbs fully loaded and towable with almost anything. We've posted pix of our Fiat 500 doing the job before, and that included high mountain passes. The trailer fits into a single car garage spot. Height, width, length - everything. Even if it's literally a one-car garage. So now you can just put a hitch on your daily, clear out some of the junk in the garage spot, and problem solved. A very different scenario from the fullsize tow rig one. Further optimization items are things we've learned from years of experience - dual torflex axles (something you won't find in this weight class but gives you redundancy - we've had enough trailer tires fail to learn the value of this). One axle can still fully support the trailer and car. Storage for spare wheels/tires. Fuel. Access doors for tiedowns. 10" deck height for loading a car with 2" ground clearance, but still shaped to handle steep driveways and take an occasional drag in stride. Over-wheel tiedowns. Winch for one-man operation. En-route charging for trailer battery as long as tow car lights are turned on. Surge brakes. 5' height for low drag even behind a sedan or hatchback. And so on. Besides the trailer, the next turbo D4 is coming along as well.
And there's serious talk of a Mini-bodied one. It's been under discussion for some time, may finally happen.
As always many other things happening too. More updates on the other blogs soon. 06/10/18 A bit belated update - the first D4 enclosed trailer is finally complete and last week we tested it out. The point of making a custom trailer is that it's optimized for the task and therefore can work better in numerous ways. The deck height is only 10" from the ground which facilitates loading a car with 1.5" ground clearance. But it doesn't drag on driveways or parking lot entrances. The enclosed trailer with everything but the car loaded is 1,300 lbs. With car on it's 2,400 lbs so pretty much anything can tow it. It fits in a single garage spot. It' has over the wheels tie-downs and access panels for using them. Place for a set of tires and two fuel jugs, with easy access. Ramps that easily store inside. Winch for loading the car single-handedly. Torflex dual axles for stable ride and tire redundancy. Low profile and beveled nose for low drag with any tow vehicle.
For the test we towed it with our regular van. Normally the van gets about 12mpg unloaded and 7mpg when towing our regular 20' enclosed trailer. The new trailer actually improved the mileage to 13mpg on the 260 mile roundtrip. You can hardly tell it's there, and with the van you can see over top of it in rearview mirror.
So, a success on this front. The D4 also worked well and with a couple minor remaining tweaks it's ready for the trip to the east coast where it will reside.
The next one is well along also. Hopefully will be ready for its first drive soon.
8/18/18 It's a LOT of work. When I conceive a car it's mostly conceptual. I work through the systems in my head. A few puzzles, a few tradeoffs, then it all makes sense. CAD is more involved but virtual. I'm efficient at it. Welding the frame goes quickly because Mark and Tristan are good at that. Machining the parts takes a bit longer. It feels like we're almost there... And then we start in on the details. Every day I go back to the shop, see the work in progress, and remember - oh yeah, we have to do that too. And that. And that. It's just assembly at this point, right? Right. Valerie has worked on just about every one of those details of her car. It's been months. But now it's finally ready. There's the obligatory first start video. The next step is a shakedown at Pat's Acres kart track. Pretty much every D1 and D4 took the first drive here (it's a little tight for D2s).
It goes well. Here's the video. ORP outing next, with bodywork this time. Stay tuned. Site Sponsors and Links:
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