Chris Ross' New F600 @ Roebling Road

[jim murphy]

A friend of mine sent me this short video of Chris on the front straight - turn up the volume and enlarge the screen to get the full effect:

See video link below.

These MC cars are going to be so much fun!! People are now noticing our class for the first time in over 20 years.

Jim

[Dennis Valet]

Hey jim, the link is not working as it wants me to sign in under your AOL email account. Maybe save the video to your desktop and then upload it to a video hosting site like vimeo or youtube?

[lancer360]

Here is the video that was taken of me in the F600 at Roebling today. Its a new engine so we are taking it easy and short shifting at 12,000. Our normal power band will be from 11,000 to 15,500 rpm. Its a little bit wet out!

We are at the hotel and watching the blizzard outside. I thought the reason we came down to Savannah was to avoid this weather. Its going to make tomorrow morning very interesting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPYbAMk4-go

[Brian.Novak]

Music to my ears!

[Ananth K]

It sounds good, but was there a clutch slippage or traction issue? The gearchanges didnt seem to have any effect on rpm. Or maybe it was a weird doppler effect?

[lancer360]

I think it was something going on with the sound on that video. Here is one of Jay's videos and it sounds just fine. Here is Jay's video.

There was serious traction issues. Even in the upper gears the rear tires kept breaking traction. It was very hit or miss with the throttle application whether or not the tires would stick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H0I-i0WKFM

[Stan Clayton]

It sounds good, but was there a clutch slippage or traction issue? The gearchanges didnt seem to have any effect on rpm. Or maybe it was a weird doppler effect?

Ananth, I took it to be the influence of the wall, with perhaps some tire spin on the 5-6 upshift. Congrats to the team...that car sounds awesome! Stan

[lancer360]

First impressions:

1. Amazingly smooth. Previous 500's if I touched my helmet against the headrest I had lots of trouble reading the gauges from all the vibrations. With the 600 I had no problems at all just relaxing, putting my head back and driving with the CDS head unit perfectly readable.

2. Jay knows his stuff when it comes to suspensions. There were rivers flowing all over the track and the car was hydroplaning and pulling all over running through this much water, but the car was amazing stable and easy to control. Just a light touch on the steering wheel and the car went exactly where I wanted it. The car wasn't unruly or hard to handle.

3. The shifting was pretty easy to figure out. With a few more sessions I'll have it down. You do need a touch of throttle when downshifting as the engine braking is enough to keep the tranny from shifting, but it is easy to manage. Upshifts were a piece of cake and will be even easier when I install a piggy back unit with a throttle cutout switch.

4. The sound was fantastic. We have had many people come over to us and comment on how great the car sounds. Several have commented that it sounds like a mini-F1 car going by.

We really hope this 600 engine package is going to make F500 very attractive from a financial as well as aesthetic view.

[lancer360]

We found the slippage issue today. What we thought was just wheel spin in the rain yesterday turned out to be a slipping clutch. I had the clutch cable a little too tight so I couldn't go more than 70% throttle or they slipped. Fixed that during lunch today and everything is great. We are slowly trying to figure out how much oil this engine wants. After talking with George Dean we are probably going to set up a "clean" catch can that then drains back into the crank case. So far we haven't seen oil pressures drop below 32 psi during reasonably hard cornering. We are taking small steps though and checking the data between each session.

Knock on wood, the only failure we have had was a corroded master switch. Apparently running in the downpour yesterday was too much for it. Thank god for the vendors at the race track!

[Calvin Stewart]

That thing is like music to my ears!! WOW.. ;o)

[carnut169]

Wow- fantastic!

[2BWise]

Congratulations! That thing sounds fantastic .

[Revs2-12k]

What about the additional weight of the 600 vs. the 2 stroke? How's it handle?

Love the sound & the Roostertails! Kinda makes me want to go out & buy a new StohrF1000

[formulasuper]

That thing is like music to my ears!! WOW.. ;o)

Ya Calvin, remember back in the early 90's when we were trying to get motorcycle engines approved for the F440 as the Kawasaki 440 supply was dwindling? Well here we are nearly 20 years later....

[lancer360]

I finished up the school on Sunday. Jay Novak started making some suspension changes so I could start feeling how various changes affect the car. I was finally starting to push the car enough that I could feel the changes and give some feedback to Jay. We had a minor hiccup in during one session with the fuel regulator. We think a little bit of grit or something jammed it up a bit so we had low fuel pressure. We adjusted it down and then back up and that freed it up and didn't have any more issues after that. I was able to run a 1:16.5 which was the fastest lap of any car the entire weekend during the last session before the 5 lap race. I was 2nd in line for the start behind an FE since they didn't have the results posted from this 3rd session. Unfortunately the FE stalled in grid so I took the pole. Brian in pulled up beside me in 2nd with his FC. We did a couple of practice starts before the final one. During the final start I got a great jump off the line and put a little distance between me and Brian. Brian started reeling me in though through the corners and pulled inside me through 6 and 7. I got a good run off of 9 and was able to pass him. The next lap we did it again. Brian reeled me in and went to the inside through 6 and 7. This time though I was able to turn inside him coming off 7 and just pull up beside him going into 8 and 9. We went side by side onto the front straight. On the next lap I decide I wasn't going to let him do it again and pushed even harder through 3, 4, and 5. Brian was still gaining on me, but it wasn't enough to get beside me in 6 and 7 and I was able to hold him off for the win. Granted this was a drivers school race, but it was insanely fun playing the mental chess game with each other. Even brake cleaner couldn't wipe the grins off Brian and I's faces after the race. The corner workers in 6 through 9 were going nuts clapping and giving us both the thumbs up after the checker. It was a 4 lap race with 4 lead changes! Brian is a hell of a nice guy and I would go side by side with him through a corner any day without any worries. I really want to thank Kevin and Adam the chief instructors for the event, Robin my instructor and fellow F500 driver and all the other workers who made the event possible. Jay commented to me it was by far the best drivers school he has ever been to.

[lancer360]

What about the additional weight of the 600 vs. the 2 stroke? How's it handle?

Love the sound & the Roostertails! Kinda makes me want to go out & buy a new StohrF1000

With a fuel load of fuel we weighed in a 892 lbs. With no fuel we are at 855 lbs with 195 lbs driver. Minumum weight is 850. We are just about there on weight. This car is the prototype conversion so there are a few things that can be done to shed weight. The biggest one is for the driver to lose 10 lbs. I don't seem to remember my drivers suit being that tight of a fit! The weight distribution was just about right with 45%/55%.

Handling was fantastic. Since I am a bit of a novice driver, Jay had the initial setup a bit more on the understeer side. On Sunday he made a quick change that loosened the rear up a bit and I turned my fastest lap of the weekend 1:16.5. With each session on Sunday I was knocking about 1.5-2 secs off my lap times. With another session or two I'm sure I could have been in the 15's. Nationally competitive F500's run in the 14's, so I don't have any doubt that this car will be competitive with the F500's even with the higher weight.

[lancer360]

Here is a video going around turn 9 on Saturday morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCPnsNeqF78

[Jnovak]

Wow, what a very special weekend. All of the hard work finally paid off. I have not had this much fun at a weekend since Brian won the runoffs. While I have been extremely supportive of the 600 proposal I was still very nervous about what would happen the 1st time out. Would the car work properly, would we scatter an engine, would it handle etc.. There are so many of us involved & we have all spent so much time & $$$ to get this far. What would it be like?????

The car was better than I had imagined & had hoped. Not just that the performance & the handling were so good but much more important was the total lack of drama with the car. The car ran great all weekend with no real problems. The weather was terrible on Friday & Saturday with temps in the 30s & 40s & constant rain & even at sub 30 degree temps the engine fired up instantly every time.

The only problems with the car was a weather damaged master switch, a fuel pressure regular that was not holding pressure & a clutch adjustment that we needed to make. We loosened & readjusted the screw on the fuel regulator & also adjusted the clutch freeplay & it never missed a beat. We ran 14 - 20 minute sessions without a single problem during any session.

On Friday & Saturday Chris used a 12,000 RPM rev limit to break the new engine in. Then on Sunday we raised the rev limit to 15,000 RPM. I have to say that this is the SWEETEST SOUNDING RACE CAR in all of SCCA land & everyone at the track simply loved the car & the sound. In fact when Chris went by the start finish on the 1st day everyone in the tech shed was just wowwed by the sound of the car. They were saying that it sounded like an older F1 Ferrari.

Chris & I made no adjustments to the car at all until Sunday when we made a couple of adjustments to the chassis balance. I went a bit too far with the 1st adjustment & the car was a little bit too free for his likeing but he turned the fastest lap of the entire weekend at a 1:16.5 lap. (Clint's lap record is a 1:11.9). We then changed the same adjustment a bit & he won the 5 lapper race after a furious battle battle with an FC car & Chris said the car was on RAILS.

We were constantly surrounded with onlookers, photo takers & well wishers all weekend & we had not 1 single negative from anyone at all including the 3 other F500 guys who were there as observers & helpers.

All in all we learned a ton & we will continue to develope the car & the engine package. This weekend we ran the engine without inlet restrictors as we have not been on the dyno yet. However as soon as we have the dyno work done we will be testing the car with multiple different restrictors to determine their effect on the performance of the package.

Our next goal for the car is the VIR regional Race the 1st week in March.

Thanks ... Jay Novak

[jim murphy]

Jay,
Great report! Sounds like you need to be driving a F6 right now! When will your car be ready?

Jim

[TrackBrat]

That car sounded great! If this is going to be replacing F5 in the future I will have to retune my ear when working corners....I might miss the traditional snowmobile engines.

Fantastic vid. Anyone have any incars?

[fastkars52]

That just sounds sooooo much better than the weed whacker engines in F5.

[jim murphy]

That just sounds sooooo much better than the weed whacker engines in F5.

This has been one of the big objections since the class went National in 1984 and has kept the class from growing to the same participation numbers as FV's and FF's. We have grown very tired of the negative reactions over all these years AND to the small fields at every race (no fun to race only one or two other F5's). NOW we are seeing your positive reaction everywhere we go and it is so much more enjoyable. We are looking forward to being an alternative drivetrain in F500 national class very soon so please send in your supporting email to www.crbscca.com and let them know that you want this approved asap.

Thank you,

Jim