JPR AutoSports

At Watkins Glen I noticed my Oil Temp gauge was jacked, when the car was cold it read 220 degrees. Crazy high and obviously wrong. This concerned me greatly though on the track as I later saw the temp gauge buried at over 300 degrees. I think, at that moment, apoplectic shock is a better descriptor. Nonetheless, EFI Logics was at the track and Jack and I discussed. He confirmed that it was the sensor or harness itself.

I really like the Stri gauges. Well respected company, and the gauges look good, light and thin. This makes location and mounting much easier. I’m running AFR, Oil Temp, and Boost and find them easy to read quickly under racing and track conditions in shade or bright sun. Here’s a pic of the gauge type I’m using.

I contacted Marc at Auto-Tech Interiors, distributor for the Stri gauge line. This group is completely on top of their game, as Marc was both able to quickly diagnose my issue and help me identify what I needed to get the gauge operating properly. My setup includes a sensor that screws into the drain plug with a lead that routes through my firewall to and plugs to a harness for power and the gauge itself. Most helpful was ATI’s knowledge of the gauge application in my car and which specific version harness and sensor I needed as a replacement. The parts were reasonably priced and I had them in my hand in about 2 days. Installation was easy enough and, of course, the gauge worked properly again. Thanks Marc! All good.

Keep your gauge pack simple and thorough so that you can get the data you need quickly without fuss. Contact ATI here

Update – Not really a big impact that I could discern on the track (NJMP) though may have tightened things up a little on shifts and going from brake to throttle. Noticed a thunk of sorts when coming out of third gear which I suspect is the fact that there is no longer rubber in place to accept the torque shock when letting out the clutch (hard) and on the gas. Pretty inexpensive and I’m a fan of losing rubber bushings on race cars so, it’s a yes, but just a small one until I have more perspective.

Installed these over the weekend. Not too tough and supposed to help. Here’s what their website says:

Torque Solution Drive Shaft Center Support Bushings will replace the OEM Rubber mounts with billet aluminum pieces. Doing so will allow for reduced wheel hop, improved acceleration and better E.T’s. The mounts keep the propeller shaft from moving under hard acceleration, stopping and turning giving you optimal performance 100% of the time out of your EVO.

Nice machining and they went in easily enough. I’ll report back as to whether I can feel a difference.

As I said before, WJP in Danbury did a beautiful job of modifying a UR dual exhaust with down pointing tips and a resonator for use at Lime Rock. You can see the video of the LRP event but the sound difference doesn’t really come through. The UR exhaust is a bit more restrictive and about twice as heravy as the AMS muffler and so I was worried that the car’s performance would be negatively impacted. I also noticed that, at idle, the car was still pretty loud and so I worried that we hadn’t done enough.

Good news though, that the resonator and mufflers really took hold and reduced the output when at speed. Somewhat surprisingly, on the straight at wot, I could for the first time, hear the motor and car and not just the exhaust note. Comments from SCDA staff were that the car is MUCH quieter. I’m not sure if track staff were checking but consensus was that my car was by far no longer the loudest. Very nice, and hats off to Wayne for fabbing up a great solution. I can now race at LRP.

The exhaust is heavier but I didn’t notice. Not sure of the performance impact but I turned a few sub :59 laps with my best being :58.47. This was my fastest by almost 1.5 seconds and so speaks to the EFI’s tune and the performance of the car and of course, the exhaust. Good stuff.

Mine is not quite this polished, and the tips point down. I’ll update with a better pic that reflects some very nice welding.

Designed to help increase down force, especially while braking, a splitter can really help at the track.  APR and a few others make some nice splitters out of carbon fiber, which are great but are a little pricey when used at the track as these things can get banged and scratched up.  Here’s their blurb that I have quoted directly- (continue reading…)

Wayne’s casual, unassuming demeanor immediately puts me at ease.  After I had jacked the threads on my o2 sensor, broken off the extension and worried that I only have a limited number of days to get ready for Lime Rock,  I was stressed  and a little frustrated. All this guy does is show up, smile, listen to my tale of woes and, simply through his manner, puts my mind at ease.  He indicates that cleaning up my mess and solving the exhaust issues are, for him, a piece of cake.  Nothings been complete yet, of course, so things can certainly derail, but as of this morning, I’m feeling the the car is well situated to get the exhaust mounted up and functioning before Thursday.

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Heading to LRP next week and have struggled to meet their sound limits with teh straight pipe (of course) or AMS exhaust.  So have bought a used UR dual exhaust.  I’ll head over to Wayne’s Performance Exhaust shop in Danbury for a resonator and some tips (pointed down).  I’m sure hoping that will get me to 88 without giving up too much performance…

SSP provided their MC upgrade whcih replaces the plastic OEM piece with a well machined aluminium part. EFI performed the install, which meant that it was both efficient and perfectly executed. The clutch pedal is now adjustable, allowing the driver to choose where engagement occurs. This is great for the racer who wants an early engagement for a faster shift. The improvement to clutch feel and performance was considerable, and something of a surprise. Action is smoother and more linear – inspiring confidence especially under race conditions. No more worrying about the plastic failing either, a known weak point of the Evo.

Kris and Jeremy at SSP (http://www.sspperformance.com) are great to deal with, highly recommneded as they cater well to the performance driver, drag and road racing enthusiast. if you haven’t ordered your MC upgrade you need to, now.