A Little Inspiration.......

[vnmsss]

It was with great pride and appreciation that I drove the first FFR Competition Coupe on track at Sears Point (Infineon/Sonoma Raceway) yesterday. The car was built in just under six months, and is a testimony to the talents of FFR Challenge Series fellow competitor and series champion Rick Anderson, FFR Coupe offcianado and the "Godfather" of Coupes, Hank Lopez, and the countless FFR Forum members that have contributed time, talent, parts and efforts to the Thunder Valley Racing efforts over the last three years. Through your kindness, enthusisam, and support, we secured the 2011 Western Endurance Racing Championship with our first Coupe, and we are now poised to bring Competition Coupes to vintage, endurance, and historic racing across the country and around the world! Thank you!!!

I had been racing in the FFR Challenge Series for more than seven years, but this Coupe would be my first complete, ground-up build....For those of you that are building a Coupe, I am inspired by your builds, and after working on the new car, I am humbled in your craftsmanship, technical skills and talents....For those of you chipping away at each of the build tasks, stay at it....If you have a Coupe in the garage gathering dust, gather your muster, get back out there, and get 'er done!! You'll be glad you did!!!! Karen

#28 Factory Five Racing Type-65 Competition Coupe
331 CID/400 HP DSS Racing engine, EFI, Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads, Edelbrock Performer upper, Anderson cam, Canton race pan, Accusump
TKO 600 R, Fortes trans w/mid shift
Moser 3-link w/Torsion diff (Thanks David Hodgkins!)
Raptor Racing custom sidepipes, Doug Marino owner, Fresno, CA
Chassis: FFR Type-65 complete Coupe kit
Full NASA/SCCA compliant competition cage (Design by Hank Lopez and Rick Anderson)
Paint & body work: The Body Shop, Santa Rosa, CA
Paint: Viking Blue & Wimbeldon White; Chassis: Wimbeldon White

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/snkbtn/2012%20Coupe/EV0G3363.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/snkbtn/2012%20Coupe/EV0G2508.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/snkbtn/2012%20Coupe/EV0G2503.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/snkbtn/2012%20Coupe/EV0G3392.jpg

[riptide motorsport]

Very nice Karen........good to see your still making the boys jealous!!:cool: Man those exhaust canisters look fantastic!!!

[jkrueger]

Great to see it out on the track! That must of felt great.

JC

[Mark Dougherty]

congrats karen
it looks great

[STLMARSHALL]

Karen that 1st pic is among the best I have seen. I love seeing the daylight under the contact patch of the right front with no body roll. Congrats on the build it really looks great. I am looking forward to reading about the development of the new car.

[smithtlw]

Your coupe looks fantastic Karen and in record time! Very nice.

Todd

[Garry Bopp]

Karen,

Enquiring minds want to know ... how did it feel? How did it run? How did it sound? Congrats on the outing and great pics!

Garry

[vnmsss]

Thanks guys! It felt great to be behind the wheel of this amazing car. I scaled it for the first time just a few days ago, and was very pleased that the static build produced a 50.9% crosss weight with 3/4 tank of fuel and me in the car.....Curb weight is 2476, and given the addition of the full roll cage and fuel cell, I am very pleased with the weight and balance.

On track, the car turns in beautifully, and given that we're still running the stock brake pads, the brakes were effective and predicatable. On my fourth lap, as I was approaching Turn 11 following the fast, downhill esses, I decided to carry a bit more speed and see if it would turn in and catch the strips. Sure enough, front bite was awesome. The car turned in well, and was able to ride the strips on the inside all the way around the 180.....We worked on a bit more front end alignment specs today, including caster and camber settings.....Heading out to Thunderhill tomorrow for test session number two. Thanks again everyone!!!

Karen

[Neptune's Snorkel]

Karen that 1st pic is among the best I have seen. I love seeing the daylight under the contact patch of the right front with no body roll. Congrats on the build it really looks great. I am looking forward to reading about the development of the new car.

Agreed. Great photo!! PERFECT aperture setting!!

[jkrueger]

Karen
do you know the specs of your wheels (offset, width)? I assume that they are 17", right"

JC

[vnmsss]

JC....I am running 275x40/17's all the way around, and they are mounted on 17x9 MB Bullets.....These are the rims off my Challenge car, with the standard Mustang offset....For street, I'm running the 17x9 and 17 x 10.5 Vintage Halibrand replica rims from Factory Five with 275's...... Saving up my sheckles for two more sets, as the vintage rims look awesome, but I just don't want to hammer the street set....;.)) Thanks again!

Karen

[jkrueger]

Thanks Karen. Didn't you run a 315 on the back of your old coupe? the reason I ask, is that I am building my coupe for mostly track use as well, and it seemed that most people were running 275F/315R, and that was what I was going to do as well. But, I can't get Michelin PS2 (which is the tire I want to run) in a 315/17 so I was going to use a 18" rim, but that puts me into custom rims because I can't find an off the shelf 18x11 or 12. It sounds like from what you wrote that the car was pretty balanced with 275's all around. It sure makes it easy with the same rim and tire on all four corners.

JC

[Roy Hewson]

JC, the Mchelin PS2 come in a 335, which I'm running on the street with 275's up front but I think that much be too much tire on the rear. It sure looks good and hooks u wheel n the street, but the track is very different
Roy

[STLMARSHALL]

JC you read my mind about the tire sizes. I have had no luck getting a square tire sizing to be balanced. Even with the engine moved forward the car still tends to oversteer. I have tried new springs, swaybar, and engine movement....still no luck. I have run a 315F/315R street tire setup and a 275F/275R track tire setup. Both setups oversteer equally. My plan for next race season is to move to a 275F/315R and then start to dial out any understeer that setup causes. If someone has a way to get a 275/275 setup balanced I would like to hear it.

[tcoon]

Congratulations Karen! For those of you not lucky enough to have been there, I can tell you this car sounds and runs fantastic! It garnered a constant stream of admirers, and many offers...gee if yer lookin' fer a driver...?!

We spent much of Saturday and again today working through the many small gremlins inherent in any new build, which was both fun and challenging. It is great to see Karen back on track at the helm of a coupe, and I am totally inspired and ready to get mine on track beside hers come spring 2013! Viva le coupe!

-T

[vnmsss]

Thanks Tom!!! It was indeed a great two days at the track.....It was awesome to brainstorm with you through a number of the "new build" issues, and your cool tool kit sure came in handy when the #28 trailer was light on wrenches....;.)) I enjoyed riding along with you in your racer too...You drove the wheels off that thing!

To address the tire size questions, after running on equal size tires in the Challenge Series for five years (275's all the way around in the beginning, and then 255's later), and having successfully run equal size tires on my 1995 Z07 Corvette Coupe (275/40x17) in competitions during the '90's, I've long believed that the Coupe may very well be able to run equal size tires all the way around as well. Needless to say, as the person that pays the bills for my racing, and the one that's hauling spares around in the trailer, one size tire would be awesome. In my other Coupe, I ran 275's in the front and 315's in the rear, for the first two years, and then last year, I switched to 295/40 x 17's (Kumho V710's) for the 25 Hours, and they ran great.....I still have the 295's and may put them on in the future, but with the new build, I wanted to try the 275's all the way around and see what kind on performance I could garner.

The key element (for me) in making the decision to test the 275 theory lies in the fact that the 331 motor, while certainly powerful and capable, is not going generate the level of rear wheel torque that would make running equal size tires out of the question......I also know (and FFR has proven this in discrete trials testing in Phoenix a number of years ago), that a car can actually be "over" tired, and performance can actually be negatively impacted by installing tires that are just too big, and the massive grip detracts from the overall speed.

I've had two track days on the 275's in the new Coupe, and am convinced that it's worth continuing in this set-up, at least for now. If I decide in the future to go up in size, it will be back to the 295's. As I continue developing the car, that's the thought process for now......If I were building a Coupe with more than 400 HP on the ground, I'd stick with the 315's in the rear.....335's would likely be fine, but again (IMHO), that might be a bit much (unless you're in the 500+ range on the ground, and then I'd love to see anyone get that much HP to stick without several more thousands of $$ in suspension/brake parts and set-up...Oh ya, and if you're a racer, you have to carry around spares for all of that too. Cha-ching...:)

Karen

[frankeeski]

Car looks beautiful Sweetheart! Wish I could have been more help but that commute from the I.E. to Healdsburg is murder. Can't wait to see the car at California Speedway on the high bank.

[vnmsss]

I scaled the car for the first time following the build, and the curb weight (with full CCR complaint roll cage, both Kirkey seats installed, fuel cell & cage w/15 gallons of fuel), was 2473. With me in the car, the cross weight was 50.9%....The car felt very balanced on track, and once I get done with the suspension tuning, (worked on it quite a bit over the last few days), the car is gonna be one wicked track weapon. :cool:

K

[vnmsss]

Thanks Frank and Bill......In regards to lap times, I've not pushed it in those terms yet. I'm still out there on track religiously watching the guages and feeling out the car's handling. My other Coupe is an IRS car, and with this one being a 3-link, I'm feeling out the car's performance and handling charateristics, and working up to the speed. I typically make one adjustment and then take her out on track for a few laps, and then back in for the next adjustment and check.....In eight on-track sessions with the car, I haven't run a full 30 minute session yet (and I'm good with that)....It's a new car, and there's lots to attend to.

As Tom noted in his post, I've been working throuugh the normal new build gremlins that are to be expected in a new car....As an example, I chased an electrical/spark issue at Sears on Saturday for quite a while, and then yesterday, the speed sensor in the tranny had apparently not been locktited, so I spent some time fixing that......After fixing though, I took it back out on track, and even driving at 6 or 7/10's, was running solidly with the track worthy M3's.....Just working up to it out here, which is the way I tend to drive and break in a new car....No need to hammer it......Yet.

K

[skullandbones]

Well, I'm inspired! Don't even own a coupe, either. So I got five of the fifteen on my latest pick list done today.

I can really relate to your "over tired" comments. Especially, since they're back up with real world stats. Of course, I'm overtired most of the time (ha-ha). But I think it's a much harder thing to do to match the performance potential to the right tire combination on the street versions (no track time). I guess you have the benefit of a lot of racer's experience to have a good start point. At what point do you say, we've tried tuning the suspension and the tire is just not big enough? I don't think sliding into the wall is an option. Just curious. Thanks, WEK.

[STLMARSHALL]

Well, I'm inspired! Don't even own a coupe, either. So I got five of the fifteen on my latest pick list done today.

I can really relate to your "over tired" comments. Especially, since they're back up with real world stats. Of course, I'm overtired most of the time (ha-ha). But I think it's a much harder thing to do to match the performance potential to the right tire combination on the street versions (no track time). I guess you have the benefit of a lot of racer's experience to have a good start point. At what point do you say, we've tried tuning the suspension and the tire is just not big enough? I don't think sliding into the wall is an option. Just curious. Thanks, WEK.

WEK good observations which describe my situation perfectly. I have exhausted all other tuning options to balance my car and am ready to take the plunge into a new tire setup. We don't have walls in AX, but the back stepping out constantly is costing me precious seconds in competition. The funny thing though is I am perfectly fine with how the rear reacts under power as the car slides very predictably. It is all other times the oversteer is holding me back from driving the edge.

[Movieman]

Looks excellent! Best of luck with the car!

[johngeorge]

Karen, any incar video?? :)

[FFRSpec72]

Beautiful looking car, always wanted on over the roadster. Would love to have FFR offer a competition coupe with an approved cage. Very very nice. Do you know the engine numbers? and final weight?

[vnmsss]

Is that the John George who was crowned 2012 FFR National Champion this weekend?? Congratulations on your victory! Sorry, no video from our adventures weekend, and no engine dyno numbers yet either.....The final weight is 2473.

As an aside....I'm not a big fan of running a new engine on a dyno before it's had time to be well broken in...We had to do it in the Challenge Series when we built new motors, as there was little time between races to do anything but build a motor and show up with a new dyno sheet, but I always hated doing it...I don't care how many fans they have, the car gets hot, and I have had more friends have their new engines beat up on a dyno than I care to count....I'll dyno it sometime this winter after it's been on the road a while....I worked with DSS on a 400 HP engine package as the target. Since the motor is pretty much a mirror of my other car, with the exception of the Edelbrock intake, and given how the car felt this weekend, I think we're there.

[WIS89]

Karen-

Simply a beautiful car, with some serious performance going on! Congratulations on a super build and best of luck as you dial her in and get her "go fast" going even faster!! Safe racing!

Regards,

Steve

[kabacj]

I'm inspired Karen.

Your car is awesome.

Once the GTM is done I'm building a track focused coupe.

What is your impression of the 3 link vs IRS.

Both have pros and cons. I was wondering your impression of how they drive / hook up on the track.

John

[tfalk]

That car is gorgeous, what is the blue called? Good luck with the new toy!

[Garry Bopp]

Ted,

That is Viking Blue with Wimbledon White stripes.

Garry

[vnmsss]

Thanks John.....I was very pleased with the overall handling of the car. Having raced the Challenge Series roadster for five years with the 3-link, I felt confident in the system, but I was unsure of how it might handle on a longer wheel based car. The car has lots of grip in the back, and no push what-so-ever. Part of that (I'm sure) is due to the balanced set up, however, as others have noted, the Coupes tend to be tail-happy, so I was ready when I went out on track. Other than needing to go up on spring rate in the rear (the rear squats a bit under hard acceleration out of a turn), overall the 3-link performed very well. :) Can't wait to see your GTM on track too!!! Go John!

Ted.....Good to hear from you! Hope you are well!

[NICK C]

All I can say is, Wow! Beautiful! I would say Enjoy, but I know you will. Good luck Nick C.

[vnmsss]

Thanks Nick.....

I created a Blog Post documenting the Competition Coupe build process. New builders or others interested in the process can check in here for photos and lots of info on the various aspects of designing and building a Competition Coupe. Karen

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/entry.php?262-Coupes-for-Racing

[Russ Thompson]

Karen, great seeing you back on the track with the new coupe. You have to admit the car just looks at home out there!

[vnmsss]

Thanks Russ!! Your car has been an inspiration, and I am eternally grateful for the help you provided along the way....I need to pickup a set of those pontoon panels for the new Coupe.... Thanks for your creativity and innovations!

Karen

[LuckyWinner]

Great looking ride karen!!! Another notch on the belt...waiting to see your 33 next!!! lol. Hope all is well and thanks for all the knowledge that you hand out to us. We are in awe!

[ccgillett]

Awesome car, great build...nice work. I love the color - a lot- too.

Thanks for the inspiration Karen...this is enough to get me out of working on my DSR car and back to working on my long-languishing (and very dusty) coupe project.

275/40-17 all around the car is the way to go. I ran this set up on my Mustang and found it to be very good.

Best of luck with the new car, and thanks for all the build pictures.

[vnmsss]

Took the Coupe out for a ride in the Wine Country hills yesterday....Healdsburg-Santa Rosa-Kenwood/Sonoma-Youtville-St. Helena-Calistoga and back....A perfect end-of-summer run on some Northern California back country roads.....The car ran beautifully, and performance was awesome....20.5 mpg on the 85 mile round trip. :)

CCgillett...Really cool that you're back working on the Coupe! Thanks for the kind words, and I can't wait to see your car on the street!!! I'm hoping Factory Five will hold a National Convention next year so we can all get together and enjoy these cars from across the country!

Lucky Winner....Thanks! I am thankful you are home, and have been following your build as well. I'm sure making the transition back was a challenge, and hopefully you have been able to keep the car and are chipping away at it. I was "lucky" to be part of the 33 Hot Rod Five Day Build project a few years ago, and had a blast working with a great team on that car. Take care!!!

[Mark Dougherty]

looks good karen
did the new front specs help

[vnmsss]

Thanks Mark! Yes, they helped immensley! The car is truly sweet to drive....Turns in crisp and centers right up, zero bumpsteer, and no dive...Gotta work on the rear spring rate, as she transfers a bit too much to the rear under hard cornering and acceleration, but overall she's awesome....I'm lovin' working on the car too, and as you taught me so well in Racecar Set-up 101, the grease gun is my friend!!! Thanks for all of your help!! You rock!