Exclusive: TG drives new Stratos

Check out the amazingly good looking one-off Stratos, re-worked with a modern feel.  This "new Stratos" utilizes a modified Ferrari 430 Scuderia chassis and powertrain.  Designed and built by Pininfarina as a one-off, rumors now are of the possibility for a limited production run.  According to the Top Gear article, 0-62mph happens in around 3.3 seconds with a top speed nearing 200mph.  Follow the link below the picture for the full article and additional pictures to gaze at.

Photo Credit: [Top Gear UK]

Photo Credit: [Top Gear UK]

Stratos news - Exclusive: TG drives new Stratos - 2010 - BBC Top Gear

Stangkiller Tubular Control Arms

Headlight - Blue Meanie in Miata Journal

Check out a feature car spread on the Blue Meanie in the newest edition of Miata Journal, a free mulit-media magazine.  The magazine can also be downloaded in high res for only a few bucks.  Subscribe to the journal to check out the feature and read some pretty cool tech articles; even if you're not a miata guy!

"This cosworth-powered NC is no Mr. Nice Guy"

Blue Meanie - photograph by Lindsay Emeigh

Direct link to the magazine: HERE
The Blue Meanie feature starts on pp.136

Daly, Adam. "Blue Meanie -This Cosworth-powered NC is no Mr.Nice Guy." Miata Journal September 20 2010: 136-155. Web. 13 Oct 2010. .

Clandestine Shot

I am introducing a new type of blog entry - 'Clandestine Shot' - where I'll be posting up a picture that may  very well be random or have more of a purpose.  I'm playing this one by ear but it should be a fun way to keep the audience plugged in to Clandestine Motorsports.  Some more exciting content is coming this way; including tech articles, project logs, installation how-to's and product reviews!

Now on to the Clandestine photograph..

under-the-hood view of the procharged 1999 Mercury Cougar.  Plans for the winter downtime include cleaning up the engine bay and a Torsen differential among other things if all goes according to plan.

Countdown to Gymkhana 3, Part 2

Check out the latest video short that has caught my attention, its the wagenwerks goldRush Rally 2KX coverage trailer that I originally viewed first from streetfire.net.  The video below is from Vimeo due to embeding problems through streetfire.
goldRush Rally 2KX Trailer from wagenwerks on Vimeo.




Now on to Gymkhana 3 part 2.  Here it is in all its glory; watch it again.. you know you want to.


And remember, obama can't gymkhana.

Ken Block's Gymkhana THREE, Part 1

I'm a little behind the curve but check out the latest Gymkhana music video. The fluorescent lights make a return appearance in the video with 'Monster Energy' green Volk wheels being worn by a Ford Fiesta. The second installment of Gymkhana 3 is due to be released this coming Tuesday September 14, 2010.

The 2011 Fiesta, built by Olsbergs Motorsport Evolution, has a 2.0l turbocharged engine making 650hp. Power is sent to all four wheels through a 'Maktrak' six-speed sequential gearbox, also from Olsbergs. 0-60 is claimed to be achieved in 2 seconds*. Yes please.

*1.9 seconds as per Gymkhana 3 part 2 intro

Engineering Materials Used in the Manufacture of the Tire

1.      Engineering Materials Used in the Manufacture of the Tire

The earliest tires were composed of canvas, cotton, and other woven fabrics as reinforcement for rubber tires.  Cotton was eventually replaced by rayon, the first man-made fiber.  The use of rayon did not happen until bonding of rubber to rayon was accomplished; this was done using a resorcinol-formaldehyde latex (RFL) bonding process that promoted adhesion of rubber to the smooth rayon fibers.  During World War II, nylon fibers

Took the car down to the US-131 drag strip in Martin for their Midnight Madness event to see what the Cougar would do in the 1/4 mile.  First run of the night I launched the car relatively low at no more than 3000 rpm and then pinned the throttle once in gear.  Traction was lost for just an instant and then the rpm's climbed while the car coasted to a stop.  Determined at the track that the drivers-side axle/CV had snapped; I haven't taken the car off the trailer yet but I am almost certain that the stock differential is toast as well.  Time to order up a Torsen limited slip differential from Ford Racing.  The stock differential is known to be the weak point on these cars when adding power, the plan to install an LSD over the winter will have to be bumped up a few months.

Tire Rack AutoX

Would like to thank Windy City Miata Club for putting on an awesome two day autocross event (July 31 & Aug 01 2010) this past weekend at Tire Rack!  Thanks to Tire Rack for use of the track and facilities as well.

The Cougar, 240sx, and MX-5 (Blue Meany) departed from Zeeland around 6:15 am for the trip to South Bend with dark rainy sky overhead that did not look promising for a day filled with autocrossing.  The drive down consisted of lots of rain and wet roads and the rain continued after arrival at Tire Rack.

Upon arriving at the track I was getting extremely discouraged by poor drive-ability and performance by the Cougar.  The problem was diagnosed and found to be a malfunctioning butterfly actuator for the secondary intake runners.  The spring was not providing tension and caused the secondaries to be 'loose' and remain open at low rpm's and light throttle conditions, causing severely lean a/f ratios.  The problem was quickly fixed yet the AEM wideband still did not inspire confidence as it continued to display a lean engine environment afterward.  I decided I had not come this far for nothing and would race the car regardless.  After flogging the car on the autocross the entire day without any problems I am led to believe that my wideband may be highly inaccurate right now, possibly due to bad wiring or malfunctioning o2 sensor, since the car felt to run very strong and no CEL's were thrown for a lean condition.

1999 Mercury Cougar

1996 Nissan 240sx

2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Registration was completed and we walked the course; the weather finally started to clear up as it came time for the driver's meeting.  The event consisted of three run groups of cars and two different sessions.  Cars could take up to 7 runs of the course in session 1 and 8 runs during session 2.  Drivers would work the course on a rotation of Rest/Race/Work; this gave all drivers an opportunity to rest for lunch and have ample time to get prepared for their run group.

I personally had a great time at my first autocross event and was extremely pleased with how the car performed.  I cant wait to get another chance at this and know that I have plenty of areas to improve and can push the Cougar even more.  The event was made even better by the great group of people involved.  Enjoy some of the pictures taken during the event.

A few more pictures after the jump.

HONDA NSX (EXTENDED VERSION) BY FORMAT67.NET

HONDA NSX (EXTENDED VERSION) BY FORMAT67.NET from FORMAT67.NET on Vimeo.


Make sure to check out the awesome video from Format67.net featuring a Honda NSX which travels to the nostalgic Nuerburgring for a blast around the track.  Enjoy the fantastic cinematography and soundtrack; I know I did!  Follow the link below to the Format67 homepage.


Honda NSX (Extended Version) by Format67.net


Can also be found on Vimeo, here.

Teaser Pic

Time for an update

My time has been occupied writing a term paper on tire materials and performance as well as other various engineering assignments.  Have also been doing a few minor things on the Cougar such as cleaning the engine bay and making a few wires and coolant hoses fit nicer while waiting for Ksport 32-way adjustable coil-overs to arrive.  Pretty excited to get these!

Check back for a write-up on the Ksport's when I get them.

Clandestine Motorsports

Its officially the first blog post by Clandestine Motorsports! Stop in for upcoming posts about Clandestine project builds and other happenings!