Land Speed Record Version 6 STi
01-28-2019, 10:56 AM
#1
Former Sponsor
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iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 3,625
Car Info: GC,GF,GD,GR,GH
Land Speed Record Version 6 STi
Project Introduction: We're building a Subaru to challenge the current land speed record.
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#rsdlsr
No matter what language you speak there is one word synonymous with pure unadulterated speed, and that word is Bonneville. The historic Bonneville Speedway, located in Utah's West Desert, home to the fastest cars on the planet and holy ground to speed worshipers around the world. The stark landscape is a lasting monument to the racers that have given their lives here in the pursuit of maximum velocity!
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Driving on Bonneville's salt crust has been described as being similar to driving on snow, with little to no traction to be had. In the blink of an eye the unpredictable conditions, dangerous crosswinds, and triple-digit speeds can end your day, your driving career, or even your life. The hazards are well known, yet racers from around the globe make the pilgrimage to the Salt Flats every year.
Like all those who came before us, the reward outweighs the risk. We are going for the experience of building a land speed car. We are going for a new world record. We are going for the speed. And what would be better to take on such adventure other than a Subaru? With our passion for the GC chassis, its timeless lines, and our tight budget made our choice of cars an easy one. This will be our rocket ship, and with only 6 months to get this done it’s time we get project started.
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The Southern California Timing Association is the official top speed sanctioning organization. And we are competing in their Production Supercharged class. The main focus of this classes is for cars with unmodified bodies, competing as they were delivered to dealerships. The exterior must be complete, 100% stock, and specific to a particular model. This gave us only one real choice of what year and model to base our build, a Version 6 STI. And since the that STi came with legendary EJ207 it means we can use any EJ engine Subaru has ever made as the foundation of our car's powertrain.
Before you write this project off as just another generic Subaru build, think again. You need to understand, we generally think a little outside the box. So much so that to make this a more interesting, we are competition in the Production Supercharged 1-liter class. This means our engine can have a displacement no greater 1000cc. What really pointed us down this path were our good friends at MotoIQ. They wanted to race at Bonneville, and that’s exactly what they did. They started with an S13 240SX, destroked an SR20DET down to 1.5 liters and skillfully mated it to a high flowing SR20VET head and slapped on a BIG turbocharger. Powered by the mutated little engine, their Nissan blew past the previous top speed for a Production Supercharged 1.5-liter and set a new world record for that class of 184.124 mph. It is an impressive figure considering it was made in a car with an engine smaller than some motorcycles.
Now, you are probably thinking to yourself that getting a 2 liter engine down to 1.5 liter would not be easy, yet it is obviously doable. But to get a production 2 liters engine down to 1 liter would be almost impossible. Well, remember that box we like to think outside of? That box is where we are putting the pistons and connecting rods from our EJ20's number 3 & 4 cylinders. There you go, half of 2 liters is 1 liter. Sure there is more to it than just that, other random parts need to be removed, replaced, and redesigned with various holes needing to be plug. But you get the general idea.
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People have and will tell us this just won't work, but we have science on our side. Due to the inherent design of the boxer engine it allows 6, 4 or even 2 cylinder versions to all operate perfectly. Karl Benz developed the first boxer engine in 1897. It had 2 cylinders, and just like modern 2 cylinder boxers, the design has remained functional for over 100 years later.
Other than running on only 2 cylinders, our engine should be a fairly straight forward EJ20 build with an optimistic goal 300 WHP. Now the question is how? We will need custom intake and exhaust manifolds, closed deck block with fire rings to help survive large boost, and then everything that consists of the regular high-power engine builds we’re used to.
We know this is a very ambitious endeavor, but coming from the guys that got a Twincharged WRX to run and get tuned, we are confident our plan will succeed. The clock is ticking, Speed Week starts August 10th, 2019 at Bonneville Speedway. We are going to keep everyone updated on our progress, subscribe to us on Youtube, like us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
06-14-2019, 09:07 AM
#3
Former Sponsor
Thread Starter
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 3,625
Car Info: GC,GF,GD,GR,GH
Land Speed STi Suspension: We are going to try keeping the shiny side up.
Activating Grip with Whiteline
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#rsdlsr
Land Speed racing is a unique motorsport, different factors need to be taken into consideration when setting up a be stable on the salt. A car’s suspension has a natural frequency, this is basically how the car oscillates after hitting a bump. Lower frequencies are more comfortable but allow the car to move up and down more, like your Grandpa’s Buick. Higher frequencies keep the oscillation down to a minimum allowing the suspension to react faster, but this makes for a rougher/harsher ride that Grandpa will hate it.
Your car's springs are what determines its frequency and how it reacts to bumps. Stiffer springs produce higher frequencies, while softer springs produce lower frequencies. The stiffness of a spring is measured by applying the force needed to compress the spring over a specific distance, this is called Spring Rate. keep your car shiny side up. So in a nutshell we are running stiffer suspension to keep our car horizontal.
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In general softer springs (lower spring rates) usually provide better traction. However the faster you are moving, the faster you need the suspension to react to bumps and dips. Stiffer springs (higher spring rates) increase the suspension’s speed and reduces the distance it travels after hitting a bump. This helps to keep the tires in contact with the ground and the body of the car from bucking and diving. For all this to work right, the springs need to be paired with the right damper(shock absorber).
A damper that is too soft for the spring won’t slow the suspension movement enough, allowing the car to continue bouncing up and down after a bump. Too hard and the damper slows the suspension movement so much that the spring can’t compress fast enough. Because of this it is very important that a damper is properly paired to the spring. What does all this mean for the Land Speed Project? In general the Bonneville Salt Flats are pretty smooth all things considered, but when you start getting into triple digit on a layer of salt it becomes very important to keep your car shiny side up. So in a nutshell we are running stiffer suspension to keep our car horizontal.
Because of the car’s age and how we want it to perform, we are basically replacing/rebuilding the whole suspension system from the ground up. Or more accurately from the subframes down. These are the foundations that the car’s suspension and steering are built on. Since the car came with an NA 2.2 liter we replaced the original front subframe with a new one made for a turbocharged Impreza. In the back we stripped, sanded, and repainted the original rear subframe.
While we had the suspension completely disassembled we wanted to replace all the old worn out parts we could. Instead of using the same soft rubbery bushings Subaru originally used to make the car comfortable enough for your Grandpa, we wanted to upgrade to high performance polyurethane bushings. Not only is polyurethane more durable it’s not as “squishy”, this reduces deformation helping retain proper suspension geometry under load.
So we reached out to our good friends at Whiteline to help us reassemble the suspension using some of their polyurethane bushings and maybe some of their other high performance suspension components. As soon as they found out what we were doing they not only sent us every part they make for the car, they wanted to help us even more by becoming the Land Speed Project’s main sponsor. So Big Shout Out to Whiteline for all their support!
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The loot crate Whiteline dropped on us was massive. Along with all of their bushings, they threw in adjustable swaybars, but for what we are doing it might be more accurate to call them “anti-rollbars“. These are basically flat springs that connect the left and right side of suspension helping to keep the car stable while cornering. It does this by offsetting weight transfer from the outside wheels. This is great in the twisties, but on the salt they really do earn the name “Anti-rollbars”. By distributing weight in a slide/spin they help prevent the car’s body from rolling towards the leading side of the slide. Putting more weight on the outside tires increases the likelihood of them digging into the salt, sending the car into a high speed barrel roll.
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We received Whiteline endlinks, adjustable control arms, and a roll center/bump steer correction kit. Not only are all these parts super durable they help keep proper suspension geometry. To improve aerodynamics we need to drop the car down as much as we can. Lowering a car changes its suspension angles, the roll center/bump steer correction kit helps line everything back up. We are using the adjustable control arms to fine tune the car’s alignment which is crucial at high speeds. Another benefit of shiny new parts is that they will hold up better in highly corrosive environments like salt flats.
Last but not least was the biggest surprise of them all, and way more than we could have hoped for, a set of limited edition Whiteline MAXG Coilovers… Height adjustable, damping adjustable, and inverted monotubes that make them extremely strong. The extra durability also helps keep proper suspension geometry while turning and braking.
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