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Care and Feeding of a Boosted Track Day Car

Randy Gunn

New CEG'er
Joined
Sep 7, 2003
Messages
12
Location
Round Rock, Tx
As I alluded to in my Wheel Width thread, I'm considering making a run in a NASA Time Trial class that would call for just over 350 whp to be weight/horsepower competitive. At least, I'll consider it until it proves to be just too impractical from a financial, competitive, or durability point of view (that's where I need all of your CEG wisdom).

I know there are builds out there that have achieved the numbers I would need, now I just need to make sure it'll hold together for awhile. To that end, let me share with you what I've learned about turning laps in Time Trial events that may make a difference in the longevity and durability department.

Unlike a typical HPDE track day where you are taking the full 20 minutes to wring out as many fast laps as you can, I understand TT events to be more the flavor of a warm up lap (or maybe two), followed by a bonzai lap (or maybe two or three), followed by a couple of cool down laps and then back to the pits. All probably accomplished well before the 20 minute session is up. It's all about the quality and not the quantity. In fact, I see some TT'ers lament the seat time they've given up vs their days starting out in HPDE's.

Knowing this, do you see this positively affecting the durability of a turbo build for a CSVT track car? Does it really make a difference that the engine sees less cumulative stress from being driven hard in a much smaller time frame? Or does it not quite work like that. Again....I really don't know, but I'm throwing out what I think are the relevant data points so you all can chime in with informed answers.

Thanks all,
Randy
 
Quality Fluids, Aftermarket Oil Cooler, Aftermarket trans cooler (I run one with a pump on my SHO, the Quaife can heat things up!) , EFFECTIVE charge cooling and a close eye on oil pressure and all should be well. In my experience, overkill on all of things above is never a bad thing. A Hard 20 minute drive compared to a Hard 5 minute drive (once a car is fully warmed up) share the same risks, with the exception that the hard 20 minute drive will sustain higher temps for a longer period of time (obviously). Proper cooling and cool down procedures should keep everything in check.

-Sam
 
I made my case yesterday. But since u said u're going with forged pistons, cranks, & bearings, then i think you should be fine. As u probably already have surmised, a lotta things have to be replaced on a 350hp svt tour to make it a relatively dependable track car. All the best. Personally, i would like to see a turbo'd car tracked to see what it can do.
 
I made my case yesterday. But since u said u're going with forged pistons, cranks, & bearings, then i think you should be fine. As u probably already have surmised, a lotta things have to be replaced on a 350hp svt tour to make it a relatively dependable track car. All the best. Personally, i would like to see a turbo'd car tracked to see what it can do.

who was it with the turbo cougar? fastcougar? he tracked the car a few times. there are videos out there. The engine was completely built. I think the rings went on two cylinders, but i don't recall what ended up happening. But at that point the car was parted.
 
Yep, FastCougar's turbo three did get a little track time. It blew up for some reason, but I can't remember what actually happened. I'm sure it's covered in his build thread over on NECO.
 
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