Mindy's Reincarnation

[Z3speed4me]

Can't wait to see her launch!!!

[badnerd]

looks like u'll be popping wheelies with Mindy in the near future

[mcoupemindy]

It's been a bit since I've posted an update - so here it goes ...

First, here's a picture of Mrs. MCoupeMindy holding the shaft.



Now, installing the shaft was far from fun. A simple two hour maximum job almost took two days. Since I'm lazy, I'm just going to copy the text I sent over to DSS. I just sent this morning, so hopefully I'll get a response within a few days.

There are some fundamental problems in which I will address below. I think it's important for you to know about all of these.

1.) To my disappointment, the transmission to CV adapter was not properly machined. See pictures. Because I needed to quickly install for an event as the driveshaft arrived two weeks later than originally expected, I was forced to drill this out myself with a drill press. Where this was functional, it is not pretty. See pictures. Also, I had to stack lock washers to correctly set the bolt height - see other picture. I didn't expect to do anything of this as our conversations implied the machinist would know the appropriate dimensions.

2.) The total length of the shaft with the CV fully compressed was the length specified. I'd expect that the total length would have been at the center of the CV travel, otherwise I would have shortened it a bit for installation. Obviously this made installation a disaster. After a lot of man handling with a few guys, we were able to get it in, but the grease cover on the CV suffered. See picture. Of course this isnt impacting performance of the CV, but not something I'd expect.

3.) Just for your records, the differential needed to be shimmed down significantly to allow the passage of the driveshaft through the subframe. Right now the front is dropped approximately 1/4" to avoid interference. Shimming now is a temporary fix - this winter I'll need to drop the subframe down and fabricate spacers to move the differential.

4.) The shaft DOES have a vibration. Now, this doesn't bother me too much, but I wanted you to know. I've isolated it to the range of 3050-3250 shaft RPM. It may be a harmonic of the drivetrain as a whole, but it has been caused by the driveshaft. I run a really stout, long 2.93 rear gear for this happens at 80MPH. But for a normal street guy with a shorter 3.23-3.46, it would happen during normal cruise at 65MPH.













Here's a comparison picture between the factory and new shaft:



The good news is that the shifter does not interfere with the driveshaft. It's close, but we're good there.

To test the shaft, it obviously meant a short road trip. I chose to go visit Sanderson Propeller in Richmond to pick up a couple of differentials. This apparently is an approved E85 fill-up location. LoL.



Made it to Richmond without an issue. But on the way back home I lost fuel in traffic. The damn fuel pump fuse holders melted. So, I had to unload the car (four gas cans, two differentials in black bags - I must have looked like a murderer) and hotwire the relays without a fuse. Still working fine that way now, but I need to get fuses back in there for safety reasons.

Stopped at Bass Pro and Sonic on the way home. Good 300 mile trip with boosty noises. Yes, I'm a kid and can't behave in traffic.

On labor day, headed to MIR to give it a workout. Ambient was 90+ and I think track temp had to be over 100. This was my first time back to the strip since blowing the headgasket on my original built engine due to faulty fasteners. For the first few runs I just rolled it out of the box and didn't spin anywhere on the track. I was able to trap 131MPH easy, but the car didn't have enough power.

VIDEO: http://instagram.com/p/dwzIWqyBh8/



After I ran the 131MPH, I decided to make one last pass since it was insanely hot and I wasn't feeling well. I did use the secondary rev limiter but lower boost (26psi range). The car went like snot. Ran an 11.6 @ 127 with a 2.1 60'. Logs show I was only making about 550whp on that run.

I do have some small kinks to work out of the car. First, I need to spring the wastegate harder. Asking the controller to hold 2+ bar with a 1 bar spring is too much. Also, Jordan is helping me troubleshoot some fuel trim stuff currently - the car was overfueling, but it appears to be due to long term trim. Third, I think it's time for new plugs as I'm still on my first set. I think plugs are going to be a 3,000 mile maintenance item with E85.

For the record, race weight was 3,305. I'm a hefty guy at 255+, so some of the modifications I did last round did add extra weight to the car. For example, the drive shaft added 18 pounds or so. No worries, just need more boost.

This last weekend I headed to MPACT to send some differentials up North.

Let's put this here: A BIG THANKS TO MAXPSI FOR TAKING THE DIFFERENTIALS TO NJ FOR ME WHEN MY OTHER TRANSPORT STOOD ME UP.

It was excellent catching up with some friends, talking to vendors (especially Luke and Mike from MaxPSI).

Also, it was a rare opportunity to see two of the imola powerhouses in one location. Over 1200RWHP in this picture below.



With some "you won't do it comments", I decided to hoon a bit at the autocross. I typically don't like small courses because I can't use the car, but what the hell.

Here are some VIDEOS:

Roll out (this is NOT a hard launch): http://instagram.com/p/eQyRz9ijeN/
Outside noise: http://instagram.com/p/eQvT7_MFSu/
And more outside noise: http://instagram.com/p/eQI04UGPtl/

On the way back, had the chance to toy with a Porsche Cayman. There wasn't enough buses to measure the little 60-120 run (or whatever) we did. Both he and his wife gave us a thumbs up and we went our ways.

After that, just boosty noises and black marks every few miles.

Right before I got home, the rear end became unstable again (feel dynamic toe). I think those damn IE weld in adjusters are loose again. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to put it on the lift and take a look.

Sorry for the long post - hope you enjoy.

~ Jonathan

[cragg56]

I had the same problems with my adapters too. The bolts then sent had too large of a head, so they sent me smaller head bolts, but they also were a smaller diameter bolt overall. I was really disappointed when I got the smaller bolts. They just fit loose and sloppy in their bores, but I guess they technically did the job.

[flexer]

Your plugs need to be changed because your running pig rich and fouling them. Many cars run the same dirty cheap copper plugs for 20k no problem before changing. Iridioms on E85 are also changed at regular maintenance periods of 60-80k.

Just putting this info out there incase someone reads your post and starts thinking that if they convert to E85 they will need to change plugs a lot. This is false.

Now, you do need to change your oil frequently. On E85 I change every 2-3k instead of 5k. And when you change it, it will STINK like E85.

J. R.

[mcoupemindy]

I had the same problems with my adapters too. The bolts then sent had too large of a head, so they sent me smaller head bolts, but they also were a smaller diameter bolt overall. I was really disappointed when I got the smaller bolts. They just fit loose and sloppy in their bores, but I guess they technically did the job.

I would not agree to smaller bolts as they do take a significant beating and are responsible for you keeping the driveshaft attached to the transmission. I hope that's not their response as that would be terrible.

- - - Updated - - -

Your plugs need to be changed because your running pig rich and fouling them. Many cars run the same dirty cheap copper plugs for 20k no problem before changing. Iridioms on E85 are also changed at regular maintenance periods of 60-80k.

Just putting this info out there incase someone reads your post and starts thinking that if they convert to E85 they will need to change plugs a lot. This is false.

Now, you do need to change your oil frequently. On E85 I change every 2-3k instead of 5k. And when you change it, it will STINK like E85.

J. R.

J. R. - your post sounds almost rude, I hope that's not the way you intended it.

Yes, we are running the car richer than a "stock" flex fuel vehicle to get into the power range of E85. That doesn't mean that off throttle it doesn't run at stoich. On pump gas with high power turbo cars, you'd be dumb not to at least inspect them every 10K. On aftermarket forced induction cars, you should change your plugs as frequently as needed. I would expect someone coming here to read has common sense. They also may just need to be re-gapped and cleaned at this point which wouldn't surprise me.

For oil interval, planning on 1,500 mile changes due to it being an occasional car using conventional oil and E85.

[maximumpsi]

Nice meeting with you too. Love the car and I am very impressed how well the car behaves on the 115's.

I ran into a group of the supercharged E92's from Auto Couture on the way from MPact...it did not end well for the group!

[NY98M3]

Looking good Jonathan! Keep it up! Cant wait to get the diff in!

[Kame36sedan]

We need more videos... nvm. Ill just come over! LOL

[flexer]

J. R. - your post sounds almost rude, I hope that's not the way you intended it.

Yes, we are running the car richer than a "stock" flex fuel vehicle to get into the power range of E85. That doesn't mean that off throttle it doesn't run at stoich. On pump gas with high power turbo cars, you'd be dumb not to at least inspect them every 10K. On aftermarket forced induction cars, you should change your plugs as frequently as needed. I would expect someone coming here to read has common sense. They also may just need to be re-gapped and cleaned at this point which wouldn't surprise me.

For oil interval, planning on 1,500 mile changes due to it being an occasional car using conventional oil and E85.

The people coming here to read, read very liberally, so yes I do think some people after reading your post might think they need to change plugs more frequently. Also, all my posts come off as rude because its the internet. It shows no emotion and I am a very "get to the point" person so it is what it is. Only those looking to be offended get offended.

Here comes another factual post don't take it as rude. Your statement: "we are running the car richer than a "stock" flex fuel vehicle to get into the power range of E85" is false as well. E85 has been found to have both a max power lean and rich ratio. While it does slightly change per car most find that it is around the same A/F value they had on gas assuming your using a A/F meter that is calibrated to gas (So a stoic value of 14.7). Most of the cars I tune end up finding max power on E85 to be between 11.8 and 12.5. Did you know they also would make equal power in the 13's? I've never tried it but a paper done by Volvo found two power burn ratio's. There are several SAE papers that have really good studies done on the power of ethanol and its detonation suppression abilities. For example. Did you know they found only a .8% difference in power between E40 and E80 assuming you tune for MBT? Or did you know they found that the difference in detonation suppression between E40 and E80 was almost un-measurable and that when moving all the way to E100 only offered 1.7 points more ignition at MBT before detonation was detected? Yet how many people have you heard Mcoupmindy say: "Sucks my local station only pumps E60.....I can't wait to order some E100 and really make power." I read it all the time.

Tell your tuner to dial in high 11's with your A/F and slowly move to a max value of 12.1-12.2 to play it safe. Do this on a dyno and find out where your motor likes it. Hell dial it down into the low 11's and see if it likes that, but don't be surprised if it doesn't.

[mcoupemindy]

The people coming here to read, read very liberally, so yes I do think some people after reading your post might think they need to change plugs more frequently. Also, all my posts come off as rude because its the internet. It shows no emotion and I am a very "get to the point" person so it is what it is. Only those looking to be offended get offended.

Here comes another factual post don't take it as rude. Your statement: "we are running the car richer than a "stock" flex fuel vehicle to get into the power range of E85" is false as well. E85 has been found to have both a max power lean and rich ratio. While it does slightly change per car most find that it is around the same A/F value they had on gas assuming your using a A/F meter that is calibrated to gas (So a stoic value of 14.7). Most of the cars I tune end up finding max power on E85 to be between 11.8 and 12.5. Did you know they also would make equal power in the 13's? I've never tried it but a paper done by Volvo found two power burn ratio's. There are several SAE papers that have really good studies done on the power of ethanol and its detonation suppression abilities. For example. Did you know they found only a .8% difference in power between E40 and E80 assuming you tune for MBT? Or did you know they found that the difference in detonation suppression between E40 and E80 was almost un-measurable and that when moving all the way to E100 only offered 1.7 points more ignition at MBT before detonation was detected? Yet how many people have you heard Mcoupmindy say: "Sucks my local station only pumps E60.....I can't wait to order some E100 and really make power." I read it all the time.

Tell your tuner to dial in high 11's with your A/F and slowly move to a max value of 12.1-12.2 to play it safe. Do this on a dyno and find out where your motor likes it. Hell dial it down into the low 11's and see if it likes that, but don't be surprised if it doesn't.

Sorry for the misread then - that's why I didn't want to assume.

The car seems to like the 11.6-11.7 range best. It makes good power and response is good. We have over 100 dyno pulls on it and probably almost the same for street tuning. It's a bit on the wasteful side IMO but I think it has something to do with it being too low of compression for optimal E85 use. It could use a bit more dial in, however we are still running insanely conservative timing. I'm sure we can pick up gobs more torque with timing, but I've worked hard to get it to this point and I really don't want to paperweight it again.

Yes, I've actually read, in detail, all the white papers you discuss. The only problem with the lean burn point of ethanol (low 13's on a 14.7) is that it doesn't offer the cool with fuel benefits. The information is out there, it's just the lazy who can't take the time to understand it or talk to people who do.

[futureroadracer]

Have you made hardware changes since you were tuned at ICS?

[mcoupemindy]

Have you made hardware changes since you were tuned at ICS?

The only change I've made was the installation of the driveshaft. Nothing else. It's nice to be able to drive it instead of work on it for once

[M5Hunter]

It's nice to be able to drive it instead of work on it for once

Whats that like?

[BadBoostedBmwM3]

Nice meeting with you too. Love the car and I am very impressed how well the car behaves on the 115's.

I ran into a group of the supercharged E92's from Auto Couture on the way from MPact...it did not end well for the group!

In the e46 or e36?

[highboostingm3]

The second time I watched your videos...I was naked. Just sayin'.

[mcoupemindy]

The second time I watched your videos...I was naked. Just sayin'.

Hard to see it in the video, but I'm not wearing pants either.

p.s. Did you get my email?

[dohcdoh]

Hard to see it in the video, but I'm not wearing pants either.

p.s. Did you get my email?

That would be a requirement, on no pants Thursday.

[black bnr32]

Jeez, that adapter bolt issue is bush league. Same with the length. Why do we still support this company?

[cragg56]

Jeez, that adapter bolt issue is bush league. Same with the length. Why do we still support this company?

Yea. They are having their "engineers" taking a look at my adapter plate since I had the same issue and they have my driveshaft do to vibe issues. They apparently have discovered a tolerance issue with the CV and replaced the CV on my driveshaft. As soon as they figure out what to do with the adapter plate, I will be getting mine back. They will be keeping the CV on the diff side for mine.

[Colby Colbs]

Email sent.

[highboostingm3]

Hard to see it in the video, but I'm not wearing pants either.

p.s. Did you get my email?

Nope. Hrmmm...must have an old email set up here sorry. I'll check to see which on is set up and look at my old email accounts.

Found it and emailed you back thanks!

[mcoupemindy]

A big THANKS to Butters and David. I received these two in the mail the last two days.

[Butters Stoch]

A big THANKS to Butters and David. I received these two in the mail the last two days.

Just made it the other day ; ), honered to have a tiny piece in that nasty car. Good luck at the track, hope you hit your goal.

[mcoupemindy]

Been a bit since an update, so here it goes. I like to share info.

Put the new wastegate springs in and of course needed to take it out for a (quick) test session. The controller is inactive right now. To show spool characteristics of this big frame turbo, I did a couple of pulls. I like it.

3rd Gear
Time Marker	Elapsed Time	KPA	PSI	RPM	ROAD SPEED
458.2	0	0	0	2300	35.88
458.3	0.1	0.6	0.09	2300	35.88
458.4	0.2	1.6	0.23	2400	37.44
458.5	0.3	2.9	0.42	2400	37.44
458.6	0.4	3.9	0.57	2500	39
458.7	0.5	5.3	0.77	2500	39
458.8	0.6	6.3	0.91	2600	40.56
458.9	0.7	7.6	1.1	2600	40.56
459	0.8	9.3	1.35	2600	40.56
459.1	0.9	11.3	1.64	2700	42.12
459.2	1	13.3	1.93	2700	42.12
459.3	1.1	15.3	2.22	2800	43.68
459.4	1.2	16.9	2.45	2800	43.68
459.5	1.3	18.9	2.74	2900	45.24
459.6	1.4	21.6	3.13	2900	45.24
459.7	1.5	24.3	3.52	3000	46.8
459.8	1.6	27.6	4	3100	48.36
459.9	1.7	30.3	4.39	3100	48.36
460	1.8	33.6	4.87	3200	49.92
460.1	1.9	36.6	5.31	3200	49.92
460.2	2	40.2	5.83	3300	51.48
460.3	2.1	44.2	6.41	3300	51.48
460.4	2.2	50.9	7.38	3400	53.04
460.5	2.3	56.6	8.21	3500	54.6
460.6	2.4	71.9	10.43	3600	56.16
460.7	2.5	81.5	11.82	3700	57.72
460.8	2.6	94.9	13.76	3800	59.28
460.9	2.7	110.2	15.98	3900	60.84
461	2.8	139.1	20.17	4000	62.4
461.1	2.9	154.8	22.45	4100	63.96
461.2	3	165.8	24.05	4300	67.08
461.3	3.1	161.5	23.42	4400	68.64
461.4	3.2	110.5	16.03	4300	67.08
461.5	3.3	146.5	21.25	4500	70.2
461.6	3.4	175.8	25.5	4600	71.76
461.7	3.5	183.1	26.56	4700	73.32
461.8	3.6	185.1	26.85	5000	78
461.9	3.7	190.4	27.62	4900	76.44
462	3.8	189.4	27.47	5100	79.56
462.1	3.9	187.8	27.24	5400	84.24
462.2	4	188.1	27.28	5300	82.68
462.3	4.1	188.1	27.28	5500	85.8

4th Gear
Time Marker	Elapsed Time	KPA	PSI	RPM	ROAD SPEED
337.4	0	6.6	0.96	2100	44.52
337.5	0.1	7.3	1.06	2100	44.52
337.6	0.2	7.6	1.1	2100	44.52
337.7	0.3	7.9	1.15	2200	46.64
337.8	0.4	8.9	1.29	2200	46.64
337.9	0.5	9.3	1.35	2200	46.64
338	0.6	9.9	1.44	2200	46.64
338.1	0.7	10.6	1.54	2200	46.64
338.2	0.8	11.3	1.64	2200	46.64
338.3	0.9	11.9	1.73	2200	46.64
338.4	1	12.9	1.87	2300	48.76
338.5	1.1	13.9	2.02	2300	48.76
338.6	1.2	14.3	2.07	2300	48.76
338.7	1.3	15.6	2.26	2300	48.76
338.8	1.4	16.3	2.36	2300	48.76
338.9	1.5	17.3	2.51	2300	48.76
339	1.6	18.3	2.65	2400	50.88
339.1	1.7	18.9	2.74	2400	50.88
339.2	1.8	19.6	2.84	2400	50.88
339.3	1.9	20.3	2.94	2400	50.88
339.4	2	21.3	3.09	2400	50.88
339.5	2.1	22.3	3.23	2500	53
339.6	2.2	22.6	3.28	2500	53
339.7	2.3	23.6	3.42	2500	53
339.8	2.4	24.6	3.57	2500	53
339.9	2.5	24.9	3.61	2500	53
340	2.6	26.3	3.81	2600	55.12
340.1	2.7	26.9	3.9	2600	55.12
340.2	2.8	27.9	4.05	2600	55.12
340.3	2.9	28.9	4.19	2600	55.12
340.4	3	29.6	4.29	2600	55.12
340.5	3.1	30.3	4.39	2700	57.24
340.6	3.2	31.3	4.54	2700	57.24
340.7	3.3	33.3	4.83	2700	57.24
340.8	3.4	34.2	4.96	2700	57.24
340.9	3.5	35.6	5.16	2800	59.36
341	3.6	36.9	5.35	2800	59.36
341.1	3.7	38.2	5.54	2800	59.36
341.2	3.8	39.9	5.79	2800	59.36
341.3	3.9	41.9	6.08	2900	61.48
341.4	4	43.6	6.32	2900	61.48
341.5	4.1	44.9	6.51	2900	61.48
341.6	4.2	47.2	6.85	2900	61.48
341.7	4.3	48.2	6.99	2900	61.48
341.8	4.4	51.2	7.43	3000	63.6
341.9	4.5	53.2	7.72	3000	63.6
342	4.6	55.2	8.01	3000	63.6
342.1	4.7	57.9	8.4	3100	65.72
342.2	4.8	59.9	8.69	3100	65.72
342.3	4.9	64.2	9.31	3100	65.72
342.4	5	65.6	9.51	3100	65.72
342.5	5.1	70.2	10.18	3100	65.72
342.6	5.2	74.5	10.81	3200	67.84
342.7	5.3	78.2	11.34	3200	67.84
342.8	5.4	84.2	12.21	3200	67.84
342.9	5.5	87.2	12.65	3300	69.96
343	5.6	93.5	13.56	3300	69.96
343.1	5.7	98.2	14.24	3300	69.96
343.2	5.8	104.8	15.2	3400	72.08
343.3	5.9	117.8	17.09	3400	72.08
343.4	6	125.5	18.2	3500	74.2
343.5	6.1	137.8	19.99	3500	74.2
343.6	6.2	146.5	21.25	3600	76.32
343.7	6.3	153.1	22.21	3600	76.32
343.8	6.4	158.5	22.99	3700	78.44
343.9	6.5	164.1	23.8	3700	78.44
344	6.6	168.1	24.38	3800	80.56
344.1	6.7	170.1	24.67	3800	80.56
344.2	6.8	170.4	24.71	3900	82.68
344.3	6.9	170.8	24.77	4000	84.8
344.4	7	172.8	25.06	4000	84.8
344.5	7.1	175.8	25.5	4100	86.92
344.6	7.2	179.1	25.98	4200	89.04
344.7	7.3	180.1	26.12	4200	89.04
344.8	7.4	182.1	26.41	4300	91.16
344.9	7.5	180.4	26.16	4400	93.28
345	7.6	182.4	26.45	4400	93.28
345.1	7.7	186.1	26.99	4400	93.28
345.2	7.8	185.4	26.89	4500	95.4
345.3	7.9	187.1	27.14	4600	97.52
345.4	8	187.4	27.18	4700	99.64
345.5	8.1	189.8	27.53	4700	99.64
345.6	8.2	188.8	27.38	4700	99.64
345.7	8.3	188.8	27.38	4800	101.76
345.8	8.4	188.1	27.28	4900	103.88
345.9	8.5	187.8	27.24	5000	106
346	8.6	188.8	27.38	5000	106
346.1	8.7	185.8	26.95	5100	108.12
346.2	8.8	186.8	27.09	5100	108.12

Short story is that the car is running very nicely on just the spring.

I always like to do math to confirm the car is making the appropriate amount of power.

So, for example, the car went from 84.8mph to 106mph in 1.5 seconds.

This translates to acceleration of 0.614G's. Since the car weighed roughly 3305 pounds (last drag weight) it was producing 2029.27 lb. of force. To get axle force, you have to take tire radius / 12 * force. So 12.84 / 12 * 2029.27 = 2171.31 lb.ft. at the axle.

Divide by rear ratio to get drive shaft torque. 2171.31/2.93 = 741.06 ft.lb.

Then divide by trans ratio to get effective engine torque (factored with drivetrain loss). 741.06 lb.ft. / 1.23 = 602.48 lb.ft. which doesn't factor in any of the rolling drag forces or wind resistance pushing this brick through the air at 100mph.

OK, turning the nerd off now.