Hello Spec Racer®’s,
The GEN3 is well and truly launched at this point (a good thing as we have over 280 on order), and we have a great SRF racing season well under way! I am very excited to share a lot ofimportant information with you; we have a topic for 2014 to start off with then a lot of ground to cover on the 2015 GEN3 and even a 2016 update for you.
With the 2014 SRF National Championship Runoffs (at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) already the focus for many of you; we have an announcement to make. The muffler kit that has been used for over a decade to meet the very low sound requirements has at its core an automotive muffler that has been superseded numerous times. We want to absolutely ensure that you all have a truly spec part. To accomplish this the SCCA Enterprises Board of Directors has given us the green light to supply, at no cost to you, a brand new spec muffler for the Runoffs (muffler only, not the entire kit). The final part will be geometrically similar to what those with the current kit have, but the muffler will be known, verified equal and marked. We will work with the SCCA to verify paid Runoffs entrants and distribute the mufflers starting August 15th. We have also increased our SRF contingency over previous years to include a 50% GEN3 kit discount to the winner (a contribution from Ford Racing made this possible)! Let’s get a strong showing on the west coast come October!
The GEN3 launch occurred in mid April, with a limited roll out as we delivered several kits that were immediately assembled and sent to the track. Some interim parts were used as planned (details below) and the assembly manual (link below) was not available. The amazing result was three flawlessly operating cars that were also used to take the ECU programming another step closer to final. A great success all around and my sincere thanks to Mark Eaton of now Prism Motorsports and to our forever friend and great supporter Mick Robinson! After their experience we increased the amount of preassembly done on the engine itself; this shows you how everything is mounted and proves it fits before you try to install it. Also we knew just how important the manual was going to be based on the "conversations" that week! I adjusted the first two months deliveries to start with only CSR’s who had built R&D GEN3’s, followed by experienced Prep Shops and only after those were complete did we ship to privateers (with one patient exception). The month three list started the regular lottery deliveries and we only skipped over customers who had not completed final payments or had not returned the required GEN3 Agreements. (Once completed they received the next available kit). Our initial best case scenario is about 17 days off of reality right now. The systems put in place are exceeding planned capacity, but we have paused twice to ship kits at the level of completion we need.
The GEN3 Package is mechanically extremely sound. We have had little fine tuning updates: coolant bypass line increases, a thermostat update, bolt change to the front engine mount (and we supply the swivel socket to get to the bolt) and an alternator pulley update. Additionally we had starter solenoid issues intermixed at times with an interference between the starter and the engine block. These updates were promptly sent to customers and we are working our way through updating the GEN3 R&D cars. For those of you with original 1.9L Ford conversion (or initial Renault kit) experience, you know what a considerable improvement this launch is. Mike Davies has done us proud! Our only item running behind right now is ECU wiring harnesses, and once you see one you will know we went pro quality on this critical item.
The ECU tuning is ongoing and we will require all ECU’s to be returned for final update and program lock in November of this year. I could write you a few pages just on the progress and how well it is going (Mike could write you a book), but progress is steady and well on plan. We chose the right partner, and Mike’s efforts have resulted in over 20 firmware improvements to date…it is a mutually beneficial partnership with Performance Electronics. The final program will be robust and the on track tuning is already near perfect (and again…self tuning). Compliance will be assured as well.
The first 25 kits have been sent with some planned interim parts. First, temporary air inlet tubes and no air box around the air filter. We will have custom Airaid air intake kits in the next two weeks to send to all past and future GEN3 customers. It is a first class part and worth the wait! The second interim part was the intake manifold. Ford Racing supplied us with interim SLS rapid prototype parts (a few of which are proving to have air leaks) as part of their support and in acknowledgement of the timing which was delayed. The final production parts will be on the manufacturing line today, after the supplier (MPI) has their kick off meeting (complete with GEN3 videos and hats for employees). This part is also beyond any previous SCCA Enterprises part and only through a rather significant tooling investment from Ford Racing was it possible! It was really a complicated process and just fits in the packaging space; even after days of wrench clearance studies we decided to supply you a 10mm Gearwrench to get to a few of the fasteners! Lastly, the dipstick ended up being the odd part out after all was packaged. Mike just completed a final design and we will be sending everyone new dipsticks with or shortly after they get their intake manifolds! These were all known updates and a reason that we controlled the number of engines delivered to this point. There were a finite number of interim parts to provide and since they are all scrap once final parts arrive we did not want to invest in capacity or tooling for them.
Now on to the Assembly Manual. The long awaited and best ever such item from Enterprises started as an instruction document from Mike Davies, with great input from several R&D teams, and was turned into an actual manual by Tray Ayres. This is a living document; the intake section and dipstick will be updated for example.
The next big GEN3 task is the rules set for the 2015 SRF3 class! In the next two weeks we will be submitting the specifications to add to the SRF rules set for the SCCA to create the parallel SRF3 class for 2015 through 2017. Some notable information will be the weight, set at 1550 lbs, and the allowance for either the 3:62 or 3:85 Ring and Pinion until 2018 (then 3:85 only). The weight is based off decreases of converted cars (some had much more than than 120 lbs) and the R&P addition was based on many factors and there being no lap time advantage. Additionally we will have a new dry tire that has a softer side wall, reducing the abruptness at turn in, and a harder compound that has proven to run at least equal lap times to todays tire. This is Goodyear’s update to customize the tires more for our application and an effort to give you even more usable cycles out of the tire. The current dry will be legal through at least the Daytona Runoffs time frame. Both SRF and SRF3 will use the new tire. They should become available for purchase in August 2014.
Beyond next years start of two parallel classes is the 2016 tire decision. First, I can promise that there will be a new rain tire in 2016, even if Goodyear retains the dry tire supply. Second, we have a very strong list of suppliers who replied to the July 1st RFP deadline. We are all very excited to spend the next 12 months determining the right partner for 2016 and beyond! We know that your tire budget is a critical part of your racing cost. Becasue of this fact the testing and commercial decisions will have your annual tire expense as the primary decision criteria. We will announce the 2016 tire partner by July 2015 and we will have them begin selling tires after the 2015 Runoffs.
Thanks for reading our newsletter. You may edit your database information at any time, use the links at the bottom of any mailing to do this.
Sincerely,
Erik Skirmants and the SCCA-Enterprises team
