Getting my Sentra Se-R Spec-V ready for this year's PITL (Push it to the Limit) Autoslalom Series http://www.wiredmotorsports.com/pitl/, has taken much of my spare time and not much has been done in regards to the E-Crosser.
The suspension has been completely redone from my old K-Sport setup which has been a nightmare. The Spring rates were ok but not enough in the rear and too much in the front. The damping was way off and it was extremly harsh (American's call it Sporty) and I kept blowing upper strut bearings from rough roads and parking lots. Thanks to Wayne Yeates at Way's Performance Services. His expertise with race cars has made him an invaluable source of information and labour that I could not do myself in my small 1 car condo garage. http://www.waysperformance.com/
Now I'm going with Koni Yellows with Ground Control coilovers. The spring rates are approximately 375lbs front, and 550 lbs rear, which is actually more than the K-Sports. The Koni's damping is so much better suited to these higher spring rates, and they absorb inperfections much more efficiently. The jarrings bouncy ride gone. The front towers have been slotted to get the maximum amount of camber that I can get without major surgery on the tower's. The car feels so much better, and I feel that this setup should help with the acceleration out of corners. We'll see.
I do need to do a bit of work on determining whether I should add some helper springs and a Torrington Bearing. I am still having the odd "POP" when the front springs bind a bit with a hard crank of the steering wheel. The helper springs will add some preload to the spring when the car is jacked up to switch to race tires. Dropping the car is a tetious job making sure the main spring slips into the perch on centre.
As for the E-Crosser, I talked to my best friend about it who is extremely knowledgeable about electonics and electric systems and he suggested not having a controller at all at first. Just having a rheostat to control the acceleration may be enough. For those who don't know this, a rheostat is an adjustable resistor that increases or decreases resistance to effectively increase or decrease current. It would just need to be incorporated into the accelerator pedal. It's simple and effective.
I think I will start off with this system as it is cost effective, and easy to maintain. The only challenge may be to find a reostat that can handle the power I need. I am confident though that we will find one.
Well, only one and a half weeks until the first race this season. Should be a good one as rumour has it there will be over 10 cars in B-Mod.
