I got a chance on Monday to go up to BIR with Justin to put GrimmSpeed's project L through its paces in a prolonged track setting. The L was trailered up to BIR by the Wagner family the night before after the rallyx. Mike and Derek were working as instructors for a driving school at the track but had plenty of time to run the L in the afternoon (Derek will be driving the L at various events this season). Derek, Justin, and the L Doing a little wrenching in the pits Derek coming down pit lane (thumbs up!) hanging out in the Wagner's trailer pushing through the corner Strategy session The L was chasing down Porsches all day Justin taking a couple laps spec fords lot's of vette's and porsches at the track loading the car up at the end of the day feel free to check out the full gallery located here http://carl-s.smugmug.com/gallery/5253610_bryNB/1/319531840_YHRVJ It was an awesome day and a lot of fun to watch the L hanging with the big boys all day. The high hp cars may have had an edge on the long straights but Derek really killed them in the corners - he was always right in the mix of things. Thanks to the Wagners for their hospitality and letting us chill in their trailer all day! I look forward to photographing the L at more events like this! -Carl
The L was the quickest car on the track that day both Derek and Mark Utecht turned in sub 2:00 minute lap times with no real change to the setup. Due to the fact this was our shake down session we were working on baseline setup only. This was done with a motor that is pretty much stock except for a few GrimmSpeed products. The tires were stock RE070 tires, we expect to drop over 5 seconds per lap by mounting a set of R componds. The brakes were amazing on this car, thanks Carl. The corner workers commented that they were shocked that they had to Blue Flag, Corvettes and Porches, Blue Flags let drivers know a faster car is behind them and they need to allow them to pass. We were not surprised due to the great set up on the car, thanks to the crew a Grimm Speed. We had a few problems with the rear of the car getting loose in turn 1 at over 130mph, we may need a wing The little 2 litre engine was flawless all day, and didn't miss a beat until we ran out of fuel. I will let Justin coment on the next phase of this project. We may even get Derek to make a few coments regarding the car. Wagner Race Products and Derek Wagner would like to thank Justin and GrimmSpeed for this opportunity, we are looking forward to great results in the future.
CONGRATS, allways feels good to be better than you expected, what few grim speed products do you have on there?
What a great day we had up at BIR for sure! First off thank you to Carl for taking a bunch of amazing pictures of the day...they look great. We essentially want to bring the car up to BIR to run a few shakedown laps to make sure the car is solid. I've put some abuse into it on the street but we needed to verify it was solid on the track as well. The night before Wagners came to pick it up i was able to get the front Brembos installed on the car(thanks carl). Being how light it is(i think we are down around 2700 flat now) it stops amazing..Derek even had them smoking on a few laps :eek3: Derek is a very talented driver. Its amazing how smooth and fast he is through the twisties. Its the usually "there is no way we are going to make that" but then he hits the line perfect and off he goes. We found a few items that need immediate improvement. First we need to speak with BC Racing so they can give us a starting point for fine tuning the coilovers. Secondly we need to put the rear brembos on. When Utech took the car out he had stated that he wished the rear would come out more during braking. I was able to get the rears all installed yesterday except for one pin that i'm going to get from carl's work in in an hour then we should be good to go. I do agree with Mike that a wing would be really nice. I'm going to start researching wings that are high enough to get above or even with the roof line so we can get into clean air. Again thank you to Carl for the pictures, Derek for piloting the car on the shakedown, and the entire Wagner family for their hospitality(oh and their trailer )....myself and the rest of the GrimmSpeed team look forward to the future of what we have put together. Justin www.grimmspeed.com
you are coming next time! time attack up at BIR next month..be there! currently we have: GrimmSpeed TGV Deletes w/ White Thermal Coating GrimmSpeed 8mm Phenolic Thermal Spacers GrimmSpeed HiFlow Crosspipe(wrapped) GrimmSpeed Up Pipe(wrapped) GrimmSpeed Prototype 3" Downpipe thats how i roll
Thanks to Justin and the guys for letting me take a spin with the car. It was a blast to drive. Regarding the wing, maybe just a decklid spoiler (think old nascar). I am thinking that you don't need downforce, you just need to get rid of the lift that is there. That car will produce lift in the rear at speed due to it's aero shape. A 3" blade type spoiler would wreck the air at the back of the car and eliminate the lift. At the same time, since it isn't up in the clean air, it will not have nearly as much drag. I know blade spoilers aren't sexy but they work. They are also cheap and easy to tune/replace/remove. Just my thoughts, Mark Utecht
I'm going to be doing some CFD modeling to figure out what aero will work the best (in theory) on this car at high speeds
Good point, I am not sure anyone would want to have my life. Generally its filled with bills and too many conflicts to mention, ie day job. Along with a growing list of medications to match the aging process. When I drive all I think about is the funny noises and how much they will cost, and where the heck did my reaction time go. It takes me twice as long to pick up a new track or car. And even then I am always a third place runner. That said I will never give it up. On the other hand Derek has it made, "Young fast and free" thats been his moto so far. Although I will tell you that the travel schedule for the last 4 years has been miserable. This has put a real pinch on a social life outside of racing. I think college will be a great experience that will make him realize how nice its been up until now. Also he worked from the time he was 12 to help fund his racing. At 12 he delivered papers from 3am - 7am in EP at several Appartments, this actually cost us $100 per month due to fuel and maintenance. At 7am we would load the trailer and head off to Cokato to race until about 5pm. We did this for 27 race days that year. The next year we went national and traveled every weekend from December - September the following year. Derek got a job at Victory Lane car wash in Chaska to help pay for tires. The commitment to become a professional driver is the same or even a bit tougher than most mainstream sports. There are fewer outlets to choose from and it is "Extreemly" expensive. Derek is lucky to have met people that trust and support him. We didn't set out to do this at this level it just kinda ended up this way. BTW anyone wishing to contribute to the "DW I just want to go fast" fund is welcome, he accepts Pay Pal, Credit Cards, and Parts, Tires etc....
i agree with you mike. working in the automotive is a passion and dream of mine...however there is ALOT of behind the scenes stress/expenses/tylenol pm/etc that most people do not get to see unless you are in the role first hand. my motto is "the harder you work, the "luckier" you are" utecht - carl and i have already been discussing wings. the game plan was eventually to go with a wing that is tall enough to get into clean air...maybe we just need to go that route sooner. thoughts on that? there are a few wings out there that we can get at or above the roof line.
just throwing this out there, but what about getting some vortex generators for justins car. i was guna get some from www.airtab.com for the wagacy mostly for the hilarity of it, but i do also believe there is some proper aerodynamic gains to be had using them.
i did bring up vortex generators as well with justin. I am very interested in helping the plan the aero for this car - fluid dynamics was one of my favorite classes.
justin, when i do the flares we could talk about the options for spoilers as well... let me know man, i could probably even come over saturday
They're really not all that fast. Man makes the machine, not the other way around. I missed a great opportunity to go hang out with some Serious Subaru Track GURU's. Looks like the car is off to a great start and with the support you currently have I can see alot of possiblities. Congrat's!
Here is another one of those famous moments of Derek falling a sleep while staging. And Justin is just starting to catch the drift. zzzzzzzzzz
I'll have to try wearing my PJ's to an Auto event sometime in the future, that must be the secret to their success. LOL I still can't get over how well the vinal come thru on the L.
PJ pants= L is working correctly. if it wasn't for my pants at the ice races, the L would still be in Orr btw, Justin aren't you one that gives me crap for my pants?
I thought long and hard about a life in the industry. I have an open invitation for work for a Porsche race team out in Cali, and I decided against it for that reason. That and many people who have done it for a reason say it spoils your love of your own cars, which is not something that I desire. Its my hobby and I want to keep it that way. I'd rather have a desk job and swap diffs on the weekend. Yes yes, I've thought about it A LOT. Working on machines that cost more than the average house is tempting, but now that I look at it, I'd rather putz with my own and help out other people. When I get paid for it is when I loose the love that I have. I have several friends that are mechanics, and when they come home from working on everybody else's toilet, they have no desire to do anything to their own ride. Derek NEEDS to go to college and live life for just a minute. If after four years he only still has the desire for professional racing then so be it. Everyone needs to see the world a little bit though. Once more experience is gained is when someone can make a sound, life-changing decisions. He would probably enjoy the auto program down here with very well established FSAE team that is down here. That and there's lots of cute girls........ Justin, are you still on the stock turbo? I really need to give you a ride sometime. My turbo (GT2871R 56 trim) is unbelievably responsive and would be hard to beat in a racing situation. Think about it...
The Subaru gang huddling up prior to executing their plan of attack! Somebody needs to notify the Anti-Subaru Police.
Mr. Carl, I gotta hangout with you more so I can find out how you're able to take these amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing this momentious occassion with us.
Sorry I know you didn't ask me, but I have a RWD coming with the same turbo, it would interesting to compare the response.
Its all good. I've been running it on a 22T longblock with hotter cams and solid bottom. It's honestly hard to beat on the street. My uppipe has lots of drop-through from my welds and it still spools very well. The boost is a direct correlation to my foot. At 4k, I can put my foot down and it is there INSTANTLY. Like break four tires loose instant. At 3k, I can put it down and make ten psi to pass someone in sixth gear. Are you using the 56 trim model? If so it has the same compressor side as the GT3071R, but with a 2.7mm smaller turbine wheel based on a BB 28 series CHRA. Garrett rates it at a possible 475 bhp.
the 2871r is one of my favorite turbos for 2 to 2.2 liter engines (based off the compressor charts) - that was what I was going to run on my sr20det after I could afford to replace my t3/t4 57 trim.
Mine was actually a mistake my Himni Racing, but I'm not complaining. When I ordered it I had no idea about various trims and what not, but I wanted the 2.75" inlet so I could reuse exhaust piping for my intake. Little did I know I would get the highest flowing one with a compressor that would be perfectly happy at 26-28psi all day long. If I had a 2.5 the story might be different, but my goals aren't dependent on any certain class of racing. I may get my ass kicked in XP, but I'd still have a blast doing it.
Damn you carl and justin, I really missed a sweet event! Carl thanks for the great pictures of Justin having fun, and of the nice cars running. I definately need to get out there sometime! Dave
