Project "Marginal gains..."
Turbo Mini Forums

Sorry to hear that mate. Glad all is well.

What happened with the zerolag lark he was doing in the end? I saw his impreza was sold to AET for their own R&D? I get the impression that they couldn't replicate it and sold it on again?

Thanks, I'm fine

All I knew at the time was that he was actually selling the car on, but I really had no idea what it was sold as?

Whether it was just a running demonstrator or if any intellectual property was sold with it, I honestly don't know.

I haven't discussed it since he sold it on, it sounds like you know more than me, TBH I'd forgotten about the car.

When we discussed the costs of trying to replicate the system even at 'Mates rates' it was properly off the clock and with his F1 commitments I'm sure he wouldn't have been able to support any day to day stuff or development.

I do know that it's no mean feat to set it up reliably though

I understand it was sold with everything working to AET. Some dribble on their website about it. That's all.

Few critical parts like that crazy valve would be quite highly prices unless there is any hanging around.

Shame, but at least the functionality is built into your ECU already, not like its a write off.

Probably a bit overkill though. And would be impossible to stop the car from setting fire to itself haha.

Due to a lack of time I have ended up totally conventional with the rear end, KAD ally arms to go with the other lighter bits and pieces. And yet another set of scales as the last set just stopped working.

I still have a few bits to change to Ti so will get to say 6.75kg complete

The equivalent complete standard radius arm / hub / drum that I took off was 12.1kg, so about a 10kg saving in total of unsprung mass. The sprung to unsprung mass ratio is not great on the back of a Mini and it is worse still with a lighter Mini as more of the mass removed is sprung. It's all just dry assembled for now to check



Pretty happy with the bare arm weight once all the bits I don't need are removed, KAD quoted me 3.3kg for the arm with various bosses and pivot for knuckle. I didn't expect to get below 3.0kg let alone 2.9kg.



The DSN quadrants are pretty well exactly 1/3 of weight the std part weight, in hindsight I should gone for silver as the black already has the 'ink' colour which is typical of a lot of black anodising.



I few months ago I said I had finalised the rad / IC layout, lost count of how many times it's changed since but this has to be the final version as it's currently being quoted for, FMIC;



Currently finishing off the fabricated rear subframe replacement / beam.

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

are you aiming for a specific completion date !?

Edited by robert on 18th Oct, 2017.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Robert, I probably should have a specific date but it is always getting the various custom bits and pieces done which holds progress up and so many bits rely on each bit getting done, I've tried a few times to progress stuff and end up having to remake bits.

If I went Clubman most if not all of these needs go away but I am still trying to stay standard length roundnose.

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 3rd May, 2015.

Gone...



Boot floor was fast becoming a patchwork quilt... But no more, still not decided what to do with it, also need to decide what to with the inner arches to accommodate those 185/60 R13's, maybe...

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

good idea , better to start afresh , 6mm ally for the tubs ?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 14th May, 2015.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Work continues on the rear 'beam'

All of the main mounts will have through bushes which connect the outer face to the inner face



The one shown here is the centre mount



Welded on the inner face and the bush has a turned shoulder which locates in the outer skin



The radius arm mounting points will be a mixture of through bushes the same as these and anchor nuts as I don't want the radius arm brackets just bolted to the outer face of the box section.

Target weight is under 4kg complete including all mounts and fixings which still seems possible as the bare beam as shown is 2.3kg and the through bushes will add about 170g.



A bit of checking off the car mocked up the coilover and wheel / tyre clearances for the 185/60 R13



As pretty well all of my wheels are high positive ET I have had to adjust the position of the wheel in these mockups, but it should still

give me slight positive ET for the actual wheels used.



These are the springs off the front so there will be around 4 - 5mm more clearance when the correct springs are fitted


Which all together gives this on the car as clearance check



I thought they would look bigger somehow, but I should be able to use Mini Special arches or something of a similar width if the Special

arches don't lend themselves to reshaping the inner arch shape to give enough running clearance.



They stick out 10mm overall from the arch with very rough settings of zero camber and probably a bit too much toe in.



But little or none of that protrusion is tread, just sidewall really

The main clearance issue is the rear part of the inner arch and the obvious need for more radial clearance in order to have some suspension travel. This is shown approximately at nominal ride height give or take 10mm.

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

snuggy !

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

T'is indeed

If there's 'Stance' then this will sort of be the opposite, anti 'Stance' with narrowish track and 40 - 50mm clearance when the inner arches are reshaped.

I like the look of a nice thin arch!

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

Got it back on all fours, for no real reason other than I could for the first time in a while.

It also allowed me to check the correlation of my mass and inertia spreasheet against measured cornerweights of the rolling chassis:

It came to 230kg, which is a complete steel shell which includes all welded parts / panels, such as front wings, front panel etc but not hinged / removeable panels such as doors, bonnet etc...

All suspension / brakes / steering rack / CV's are included, but not the actuation side such as pedal box, steering column...

The spreadsheet was just over 1kg out compared to physical measurements but I have been lightening the shell which is the most likely source of error.

Which basically seems to suggest that sub 600kg is still a possiblity depending on the weight that things like the IC come in at compared to my estimates.

Cheers

bet that caused a slight feeling of satisfaction. well done .

Edited by robert on 18th Oct, 2017.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Cheers Robert,

Yeah good on both counts, seeing it back together a bit and the nerd happy with his spreadsheet trifllings

Progress has been slow to non existent lately for one reason or another...

But still trying to progress some areas

I now have a shear panel which looks like a shear panel and not a sump guard




Pocketed it's half the weight of the original and as such has more chance of being used if it feels like it makes a reasonable difference

The large Vee cut out is at the rear where there is enough stiffness already from the toeboard area and the lateral tube for the steering rack mounts, most of the material remains at the front where it is needed

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

Started the new rear inner arches;



Again I just prefer to replace a part / panel rather than patch it up

The spirit level is just to provide a straight edge while I am working out, damper travels, damper body lengths and the top mount position.

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 17th Oct, 2017.

that looks great , its going to be fascinating to drive this and see how it compares .

Edited by robert on 18th Oct, 2017.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Cheers Robert,

I'll be happy if it handles just like a standard car (maybe less 'choppy') but with the weight saving

Maybe try and reduce the understeer by evolving the base settings with time.

I am looking at putting a lateral tube joining in to act as a harness bar

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 17th Oct, 2017.

So how did you achieve this?

Did you bash that panel out yourself, or is there some other deviousness going on?

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Minimal deviousity... :)

It's a standard new inner arch

Other than that, simples :)

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 17th Oct, 2017.

I'm not sure anything on this car is Simples :)

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

loving the little details, your over-thinking the crap out of this. in a good way!

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.