Electrathon America Forum

Lutzedarknut · Member

New Solo Build Car Coming In Hot!

Ron · Veteran Member

nice lookin' car, hope it does well for you...

It is always nice to have visitors (out of state folk) at PIR, gives us a chance to see how others have solved problems (designed around them) in other ways than we have.

Ron J
tech inspector/safety marshal northwest div.

Ron

"if you are cheatin'.... you ain't passin' my inspection, and you ain't runnin'"

sorry, just had to have some fun with your closing statement...

but in the past we have had a couple teams with that motto out here... (and they lived by it too)
sooooo tech got tighter...
DQ's happened...(even by individuals on team I volunteered with) things "cleaned up" FAST

we all joke about it now....

R.J.

mhodgertt · EA President

Great looking car. What motor, steering system, batteries, etc. are you using?

Hope you can make it to PIR for the 2018 Memorial Day weekend races. We race the full 1.91 mile Indy style track that shows up on the PIR web site. We race this without the chicane. Then we have a 'short track' of about a mile that has the chicane and a little before the back straight away we take a tight ~130 degree (yes not a full 180 - but at 30 mph it feels like it) corner onto a service road that takes us back to the inside pits then back onto the track. Long track I think the record is ~46 miles over the hour and the short track is about 35. Both race are 2 day races and the winner is the best total laps on each style of track. Trophies for the top 4 places on each track for student and open class. Have not figured out the entrance fee this year...last year it was $35 for the 2 day long track and 35 if your raced the short track---$70 for both tracks. Registration will be at the track Saturday morning along with inspections, practice, etc.

This will be my last race to host as I am retiring from teaching this year. I will still race, but not put on races. So hopefully others will step up as I now host 3 races--5 days of racing a year with PIR having two race each day.

As you can tell from my car I do not race the long track but mu car corners well so I do OK on the short track. In the NW all of our races but this one are on tight parking lot or go-cart track so cornering is very important and since most of these are won at 23 to 30 MPH aerodynamics is not the major factor like the long PIR track. My car's limit for an hour on the fastest track around would be ~36 mph as that is when I pull the max power that I can average over the hour.

Let me know when you decide about coming and I will be sure to send you all the information and schedule etc.

Lutzedarknut · Member

Thanks for the kind words, I'm hoping it'll do well for me too. I'll be using a lynch motor. I am not entirely sure which model it is since I will be borrowing an older one from my high school. I am thinking about biting the bullet and buying the "best on the market" LEM200-D135, but we'll see if that ever happens. Regardless, I'll be running a lynch motor of some sort or another that is around 84% efficient. Motor controller is a Kelly Controller, 24V @ 300 Amps peak. All powered by some Optima Yellow Tops, the D35 models. I'm using an 11" rack and pinion in conjunction with a solid axle + spindles. Shimano M7000 are the brake calipers in use with 180mm brake disks. Moving to the back of the car, the sprocket carrier (hopefully finished tomorrow!) bolts directly to a single speed cassette adapter on the freewheeling hub. Not sure of the gear ratio yet, I need to do some real life testing before I get to that point, although I should be about 40 teeth on the motor and 62 teeth on the wheel. This car is an oval track exclusive car (or anything but tight road courses), so the gearing is going right for 41 mph @ 22 motor volts.

The body work is almost entirely aluminum sheets. The only exception is the nose cone. I really want to do some fiberglass work, but it's a bit of a lofty goal for me. I also haven't done any work with fiber glass before so it would be a whole new world for me. Last but not least, I will be making custom data logging tools and displays for the car. Tracking battery & motor voltage, amperage draw, wheel rpm/velocity, motor temperature, battery temperature, and anything else I can think of. PCB designs are almost done, but I'm waiting until I have a fully functioning car before I hop on those too much.

I didn't realize the PIR race was on memorial day weekend. I'll be in Iowa that Saturday for a different race and there just isn't enough time in a day to hit both. By the time I'd reach PIR, the race would be over on Sunday. However, you mentioned 5 days of races? Are there other race days besides memorial day weekend? Either way I'd still love to have all the information and schedule - who knows, maybe something will work out in the end. I really want to make it at least once over the next few years, just not sure if this coming season will be the one.

mhodgertt · EA President

All of the NW races are on short tracks except the one at PIR. We can fit a 1/2 mile of track in a 600 X 600' parking lot. But to do that we have 5 fairly tight 180 degree turns. We don't have anything that is not a 'tight road course.' Which is why most of our cars do not worry much about aerodynamics. Sorry we won't see you this year, hopefully next year.

Lutzedarknut · Member

Here is a small update on the sprocket carrier. I was lucky enough to finish it today, although I was a little late for my lab period as a consequence...

Nitoragro · Senior Member

Electrathon > Lab

Are you sprockets also custom milled to fit this or did you find some that will fit it?

-- Edited by Nitoragro on Wednesday 1st of November 2017 03:52:08 AM

Lutzedarknut · Member

Nitoragro wrote:
Electrathon > Lab
Are you sprockets also custom milled to fit this or did you find some that will fit it?

-- Edited by Nitoragro on Wednesday 1st of November 2017 03:52:08 AM

I specifically designed the sprocket carrier for these #35 split sprockets. http://www.bmikarts.com/35-Split-Sprocket_p_1413.html

Archer321 · Senior Member

That's good work on that carrier. I like to use one of these instead of a freewheel sprocket... http://sickbikeparts.com/front-freewheel-heavy-duty/

Lutzedarknut · Member

Figured I should give an update. I finished my car and had my first race this last Friday at Berlin Raceway. I finished the car the night before the race. A week prior, there were no body panels at all. It was the very first time my car has ever driven before. I am not exaggerating, the wheels had only spun while on some saw horses before the race. I held first place in the first race for over 50 minutes until Lakeshore 442 took the lead. They ended up beating me by 23 seconds for first place, each of us getting 84 laps on a 7/16 mile track. I ordered two sets of batteries but one set got stuck shipping and didn't arrive in time for this race. I had to try to charge my first set as much as I could in the hour between races. The batteries were about half charged when I started the race and I only lasted 48 minutes, even after going half my usual speed. I took 5th in the second race. There was a tie between me and another car for third place for the day. I had the fastest lap between the two so I broke the tie breaker for a third place trophy. If I had my second set of batteries and based on my first race, I am very confident I would have taken first in the second race and the day. Luckily they should arrive before the next race in three weeks.

Here are some videos my friend took from behind the gate.

-- Edited by Lutzedarknut on Monday 30th of April 2018 03:26:19 AM

mhodgertt · EA President

Great looking car. Good to see all your efforts paying off with a great opening event! Hope to see you at PIR this year. May 26th and 27th. The two day race has a $35 entrance fee for the long (full Indy style track) and another $35 if you want to do the short track as well. Has some tight corners.

Lutzedarknut · Member

I won't be able to make it to PIR this year, the Midwest Speed Trials at Hawkeye Downs, IA are the same day. I will definitely try to make it in the future but the drive is a huge factor for me, 33 hours vs 6 for Iowa. Here' a link to the Midwest Speed Trials if anyone is interested: www.cougarelectriccar.com/

Lutzedarknut · Member

This will probably be my last update for a while (or ever on this thread, specifically). This past year I added wheel covers to my car, along with a brand new closed fiber glass back shell to replace the open aluminum one I had. Turns out those changes were pretty good since I was able to win the NECA championship this year for the travelling trophy. Not only that, but I came in 1st in 3/4 races of the season, coming in 4th in one race due to a popped tire that destroyed my rear rim. On the last day of races for the season I was able to get over 90 laps in both races at Berlin, a 7/16th mile track - a first time in NECA history. However the biggest accomplishment I had this year was breaking the 20-year-old record originally set by Lake Orion High School (who are on the back cover of the handbook) with 93 laps which equates to a distance/avg speed of 40.69mph over the hour. I beat it by 1 lap with 2.5s to spare; it was even a cold day at 50 degrees. We do not allow for one final lap to be counted after 60 minutes, so this is a true 40mph race and record at Berlin. I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging... but I might be just a little bit :)

And, of course, here are a few attached pictures, but I have a ton more on my Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BzCllbf0LGFsSI07H8R65G79imNUyhcD

For what my future plans are: I am not entirely sure. I want to weld a few threaded tabs near my motor mount to be able to move the motor around with bolts instead of pushing it around and locking it down. I might make a few more fiberglass parts, one to enclose the rear wheel and another to make the transition from the nose cone to side panels a little smoother. I'm also thinking of getting a better motor - I am currently borrowing one but I could buy one that is another 5% more efficient or so. However, that is a lot of money that I don't want to spend. I am also doing a small bit of research about switching to a brushless motor system a long ways in the future.

And that's about it. I want to make it to a race near you guys' neck of the woods in the future. Probably after I graduate in a year, but PIR and a Florida race sounds fun. We'd have to make our different rule books compatible and allow me to race, I'm sure we can work something out.

Archer321 · Senior Member

Nicely done on breaking that record. Topping 40mph is quite an accomplishment. Was that on lead-acid?

Lutzedarknut · Member

Yup, this was all with unheated lead acid. I dont ever plan on using lithium, especially since we dont have an advanced battery class here and Im simply not interested in it very much.

-- Edited by Lutzedarknut on Wednesday 15th of May 2019 06:50:12 PM

Archer321 · Senior Member

I'm with you on that, although advanced battery is on the rise in my part of the country. I think I'm just stubborn.

robertbrosend · Newbie

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