The Red Drift ///Machine - 2026 NASA TT4 adventures

[bigjae46]

Carbon fiber/kevlar front crash bar. This has been a painful experience. Lots of lesson learned but demolding the damned thing...was epicly shitty! No one will ever question my commitment to remove 25 more lbs over the front axle!!!

The parts are 3.6lbs. I think the OEM bar is 11lbs or so. Not sure if it will all fit...not good so far. That's why god created hammers and pry bars! The carbon will be stronger than the OE part. The issue is once the carbon yields, it has zero strength. Kevlar has the best material toughness meaning it will yield but retains a lot of strength. I used 2 layers of kevlar, maybe I needed to use more.

If I had to do it over, and I'll probably have to, I'd use make a 2 part compression mold and use sheetwax to offset the inner and outer mold. Then make the part to a specified thickness. Then it would fit together. I started making the molds awhile ago and figured all of this out since then. The good news is this is from all scrap stuff so really didn't cost anything except for some pvc tubing, spiral wrap, a roll of tacky tape and some epoxy - $50? Time...that's another story.

[bigjae46]

NASA at Eagle's Canyon Raceway! Came in 2nd on Sat and skipped Sun. ECR is a solid 5 hours away and I had to get back for my ice hockey season championship game. Hockey > Cars...sorry!
It was going to rain Sun and then dry out so there was no point in running in the wet. I have no windows and I have to drive through DFW and Houston to drop off the car and trailer were also reasons to leave early.

ECR is my weakest track in TX mostly because it's the one I have the least amount of laps on. Best lap to date was a 2:08 and I showed up and had no clue where I needed to pick up time. I was thinking I need to be at least in the 2:06s to be competitive. 7 entries in TT4 so tires were up for grabs!!! Test and Tune on Friday I was running a 2:14 on RT660s. I was like WTF. Threw on the Goodyear 3Rs and boom...2:08s! The RT660s are 5 years old...never checked the DOTs. Ran on Sat with Hoosier R7s and barely broke into the 2:05s.

Still trying to figure out T6 and T7. Otherwise, understeer is the theme. I need more front end. There are 3 places where I need to be braver getting on the throttle. I guess the good news is my 14 year old TC Klines are still technically working but the right strut is completely dead. The car does not like left turns and this track has 10.5 left turns vs 6.5 right turns. And most of the right turns are faster so really need the car to turn left really well.

There is an easy second just with better braking. I was on 8 heat cycle R7s, probably a second in tires. I think there is 2-3 seconds in the suspension. Could be in the 2:01's in optimal conditions.

I also have the question where the detune + Hoosier R7s are the right choice. The rear has so much grip with the AJ Hartman wing that I have to slow down and use more steering. If I had to describe my driving still is to nose the car in and then aggressive throttle application to turn the car. BUT...I really can't make a good decision until I get the FCM dampers in.

I think I'll be second in the season points due to missing two days. Lesson learned on the first event when I sat out a day with a bad ABS sensor. Should have put in at least a slow lap to get points. I'm still in great shape. One other guy has been to all of the events but he's in a stockish GR86 so not at the front end of TT4. But I may still need to go to Hallett if he does.

[bigjae46]

Hell yeah! That's awesome

You still planning on making your own CF braces?

Yes. I plan to use tubes from Dragonplate.com. They have a whole system with bond in ends.

[heinzboehmer]

Hell yeah! That's awesome

You still planning on making your own CF braces?

[bigjae46]

The carbon fiber strut base plate has seen 1.9g of lateral loads. I consider this to be tested and good to go. I had no doubts when compared to the case aluminum OEM part. The nuts holding down the bar have been torqued a couple of times. The threaded inserts seem to be holding.



Next step is to get the firewall mount bonded. I used a combination of an air angle grinder with a roloc disc and 120 grit sandpaper. Bonded on with buck bond which is a 3M panel bond knock off. It has served me well so far...

[bigjae46]

Just a fun 1/2 day at MSR Houston with PCA. The lack of ballast was even more noticeable in this direction.

Could be my last ride at COTA. New PR of 2:27.0 with a virtual best of 2:26.7. Ran Falken RT660s on day 1 and Goodyear Supercar 3Rs on day 2. It was an easy 4 second difference! Ran a 2:30 with cold tires at the start of the lap and a far from optimal lap.

I installed a passenger seat and ran a higher fuel load which greatly helped the balance.

[bigjae46]

It has been awhile but finally set a new PR at my home track! Despite having to go around a spun Miata, did a 1:40.56. Goodyear Supercar 3R with 10 heat cycles, no ballast, full power.

Previous PR this direction was 1:40.9. I was on a predictive 1:40.0 before I encountered the Miata. The goodyear supercar 3Rs had 10 heat cycles so far and were an easy 1 second faster than a Toyo RR, probably closer to 2 seconds.

Removing the ballast caused quite a bit of oversteer over the only elevation change on the track.

No data because apparently the Solo 2 DL has a 10 minute internal battery. Oh...so that's why it came with a charging cable. Unfortunately I sold the charging cable with my old Solo DL.

[bigjae46]

Here is a video with the MK60 brake pressure data and steering angle. Need to refine the scaling a bit. I think this is very useful although this track only has one tricky braking zone. MSR Houston has a couple so it will be interesting to see video + data from there.

[samthejam]

Badass man! Congrats!

[bigjae46]

NASA went well! Won TT4 both days with a 1:18.94 and a 1:18.89. I was on a 1:17.9 - 1:18.0 flyer until a car went off track and came back on so I had to abort. I'm confident that this car will be in the 1:16s with a fresh suspension. The car really can't use all of the grip of the R7s.

Overall very happy! Won two hoosiers worth $500 each and I think I drove reasonably well.

Finally got the brake pressure data working. Greg Smith Racing, again with a genius solution.

MK60 Brake Pressure Sensor Data – GSR Motorsports

It does work - stick to the white wire in the 719 cable and it will work! This is the exact data point I need to refine my braking and especially trail braking. I am doing MUCH better than I thought. The real test will be at MSR Houston though...a lot more really deep trail braking.

[bigjae46]

Forged carbon strut tower plates came out good! Someday I'll finish Heinzenboehmer's strut brace project. Getting closer.





Onto NASA at Motorsport Ranch TX. Calamities on Fri for test and tune. Lost a trailer wheel bearing and have a nice hole in my deck. I loaded the car at 10pm in pitch black conditions. Heard a crunch and didn't see damage until the next day. Then got sexually assaulted by a trailer repair place close to the track for a new axle. Trailer maintenance is not a strength! 🤣. I know my trailer looks ugly. Normally wouldn't mind if the wheels didn't fall off. Luckily the wheel came off when I got to the track.





Then a front wheel bearing goes bad on the track car. 😫 Thank god for Greg Smith Racing...he had a spare and the tools to do it.

[bigjae46]

Detune done. Corner balance done. The weight jackers do make life much easier if you don't want to make a front height adjustment. Minus ballast, driver, and fuel with Hoosier R7s, the car is at 2510lbs. With strategic ballast placement I'm within 2.1% on all 4 corners and only 50.9/49.1 front to rear distribution.

The dream of sub 2500 lbs and 50/50 weight distribution is so close...yet so far away!



First time I'm running some good tires. Practice on Goodyear 3Rs and compete on Hoosier R7s. Wow! What a difference! There was a problem. My suspension is toast. The track is bumpy but the car won't settle down which makes it tough to drive. Still, 2 seconds faster on 3Rs vs Falken 660s.

Sooo...NASA at MSR Houston did not go so well. End of test and tune - ABS light comes on. Of course, I forget my Autel MX808. So next morning Day 1. I clear the code and the code comes back leaving the garage...bad front left wheel speed sensor. Didn't want to run without ABS on sticker Hoosiers. Closest sensor was 40 min away at Auto Zone (although someone in the paddock had one...didn't think to ask). Between instructing, the soonest I could get there was 3pm. So I was out for Sat. I did install my AiM Solo 2 DL...something went right!

Day 2 - ready to go! Hoosiers on! Now my GoPro is having issues but I did capture the interior video! lol

Did a disappointing 1:41.055 on session 1. My TC Klines are officially completely worn out. The car was bouncing when turning in at 124 mph. I could have gone deeper before every braking zone but I wasn't sure if the car would turn in. I pushed as hard as my nerves could take. Winner and lap record was a full second faster.

Hoosier R7s...WOW! I'm .4 seconds off my PB on RRs with 90 less WHP, 200 more lbs and no suspension. I can see this car in TT4 trim being in the 1:38s once I get the new suspension in. The biggest difference is the braking grip at the initial turn in. On the main straight, I usually brake at the 250' - 275' marker. I was braking past the 200' marker, almost 150' and turned in with the front end not being planted. I might have to start practicing left foot braking again because the braking zones are so much shorter.

Session 2...very bad. Cabin fills with smoke and car gets sideways. I thought I blew my diff. Drove it off track, got it on the lift...transmission drain plug is missing! I'm at a loss...because I haven't touched that plug since June last year. It is very possible I didn't tighten it enough. I tend to not want to really torque on the plug for fear of cracking the case or damaging something. Not my first oil disaster rodeo...hit it with foaming auto zone degreaser, wash off with a compressed air sprayer followed up by spraying with undiluted simple green.

Drain plug replaced, fresh DCTF in the transmission. Trans seems ok. Goes into all gears. No rattles or noises. Fingers crossed.

[bigjae46]

The final days getting ready for NASA. Nothing going as planned. Scrambling to find someone to drill holes in some weightlifting plates for ballast, tires being delayed by the weather, and having issues finishing composite projects due to cold weather.

My car taking a weee in preparation for 20 degree weather in Houston that never came.



Got the new splitter mounted. It looks relatively simple but tool 3x longer than I planned and I'm not sure why. I do need slightly longer mounts due to the air dam being taller.





Check out my kidney grills!



Had to go back to the old splitter for TT4...all ready to go!

[bigjae46]

You have some mad skills sir! I am always interested to read your updates.

Thanks! Actually...making a glossy flat carbon part is easy if you use glass or plexi. Looking at the AJ Hartman rear wing, I have a long way to go with developing my composite skills!

[D-O]

You have some mad skills sir! I am always interested to read your updates.