Lemons MX3 Build

[tripleMX-3chicMS]

There is an SE in the first.. poor SE

[kcbhiw]

New pictures from the event have been uploaded to the Picasa album .

http://picasaweb.google.com/kcbhiw/Lemo ... directlink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Ok, I know you think it's funny, but that emblem on the hood is probably robbing you at least 5 HP.

[kcbhiw]

Ok, I know you think it's funny, but that emblem on the hood is probably robbing you at least 5 HP.

hehe. I put that on there at the request of a friend. Without the hatch, the MX3 really does look a lot like a Del Sol.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Haha... Yeah...I hate your friend already...

On a more serious note, you should probably try to close that rear hatch hole somehow. Maybe with a piece of plastic. I don't know what kind of speeds you reach at lemons, but I'd bet that, at least, it would help your fuel mileage...

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

why did you put crap springs on it?

[kcbhiw]

On a more serious note, you should probably try to close that rear hatch hole somehow. Maybe with a piece of plastic. I don't know what kind of speeds you reach at lemons, but I'd bet that, at least, it would help your fuel mileage...

On the front straight, we were approaching 90 MPH. I've wondered about the open hatch myself and the drag induced by the cabin. I'd love to do some sort of quantitative analysis on it, but again, this is LeMons.

why did you put crap springs on it?

The LeMons rule set imposes a significant budget limitation. In the end however, I ended up using non-questionable springs formerly used on my CSP Miata that were 550 lb/in in the front and 450 lb/in in the rear. They worked well, but eventually destroyed the shocks.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

On a more serious note, you should probably try to close that rear hatch hole somehow. Maybe with a piece of plastic. I don't know what kind of speeds you reach at lemons, but I'd bet that, at least, it would help your fuel mileage...

On the front straight, we were approaching 90 MPH. I've wondered about the open hatch myself and the drag induced by the cabin. I'd love to do some sort of quantitative analysis on it, but again, this is LeMons.

Well, at those speeds, I'm sure the open hatch is gonna be a major hindrance. I would try (you know, to stay with the spirit of LeMons and all) to close it with some light tube structure and some transparent polyethylene...
I'm pretty sure the difference will be noticeable, but if you want to establish a quantitative difference, you could always put it on a track, and compare fuel consumption, at a given speed, with and without the cover, as well as making 1/8 mile runs and comparing speeds...

[kcbhiw]

On a more serious note, you should probably try to close that rear hatch hole somehow. Maybe with a piece of plastic. I don't know what kind of speeds you reach at lemons, but I'd bet that, at least, it would help your fuel mileage...

On the front straight, we were approaching 90 MPH. I've wondered about the open hatch myself and the drag induced by the cabin. I'd love to do some sort of quantitative analysis on it, but again, this is LeMons.

Well, at those speeds, I'm sure the open hatch is gonna be a major hindrance. I would try (you know, to stay with the spirit of LeMons and all) to close it with some light tube structure and some transparent polyethylene...
I'm pretty sure the difference will be noticeable, but if you want to establish a quantitative difference, you could always put it on a track, and compare fuel consumption, at a given speed, with and without the cover, as well as making 1/8 mile runs and comparing speeds...

I like this and will play around with your suggestions.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I like this and will play around with your suggestions.

Perfect!
You do realize that doing that automatically puts you under the obligation to post some pictures...don't you?

[projectzemx3]

:O why aernt you building that FD rx7 in the background of the fork lift pic???

[kcbhiw]

I like this and will play around with your suggestions.

Perfect!
You do realize that doing that automatically puts you under the obligation to post some pictures...don't you?

You bet!

:O why aernt you building that FD rx7 in the background of the fork lift pic???

Why would I want to?

[cout]

Both mx3's together after the race (our KLZE^H^H^H^H KLDE and their BP):



We had an awesome time sharing a paddock with Kevin and his team! Before this we would never have thought a four-cylinder mx3 would perform so well, but there really is something to be said for rock solid reliability (our ZE seized up after only two hours -- we think it's bearings). We learned a lot and next time we think we'll actually be a serious competitor (watch out!).

Also I'm not convinced leaving the hatch off has as negative an effect as one might think. Our team had a long debate about this and decided that the weight loss from losing the hatch outweighed any potential aerodynamic effects. Consider:

• Numerous tests have been done with pickup trucks showing that they do better with the tailgate up. I think the idea is that air gets trapped behind the tailgate and air flowing off the roof can then flow over the bed as if it were solid.
• It should be possible to add a spoiler to the rear of the car so that air flowing off the roof doesn't have so far a drop when it comes off the car. We considered removing the stock spoiler from the hatch but didn't have time to figure out how to remove it.
• Not having glass or lexan in the way significantly improves rear visibility, which is important given how much of the rear view is obstructed by the roll cage.
• On this particular track, the amount of time spent at 90mph is very low. The only time that speed is reached is a fraction of a second after accelerating on the 1/4 mile straight before the first turn. Often there are other cars in front that brake WAY early, preventing any possibility of safely getting over 85. Some cars even implement intentional drag to assist in braking (would be slick if this were actuated by the brake pedal). Other tracks do have longer straights so this really does depend on which track we're running (the 24 hour season closer seems to be on a much faster track).

[Nd4SpdSe]

• Numerous tests have been done with pickup trucks showing that they do better with the tailgate up. I think the idea is that air gets trapped behind the tailgate and air flowing off the roof can then flow over the bed as if it were solid.

This will only work if all the windows stay up and the sunroof close. The air needs to stay trapped inside to create a bubble. If you race any other way, this effect get neglated.

[jaydog5678]

Ok, I know you think it's funny, but that emblem on the hood is probably robbing you at least 5 HP.

hehe. I put that on there at the request of a friend. Without the hatch, the MX3 really does look a lot like a Del Sol.

I keep telling the MOCA boys...I have the hatch from your Lemons car. One of the guys down there at Mazmart handed it to me a couple yrs ago when we liquidated all of the Mx-3 parts.