This Sunday at Laguna Seca...Results plus video

[ehansen007]

We'll be debuting the FFR 818e and go up against the likes of Tesla in some serious track time. Wish us luck. Come on out and watch if you're around and you'll catch the latest and greatest in e-motor technology. This year should be the biggest turnout yet!

http://www.refuelraces.com/

[jayguy]

So how did it go?

[ehansen007]

Well, it went great!

To start out I'm still dead tired from working full time and working on the car for two weeks straight in my spare time to complete it. I was literally making mirror mounts Friday night (as they run a point to pass system during the track day) since the Subaru mirrors are proprietary and need a Subaru (or similar) mirror with the clips!
Friday morning was a rush to get the trailer as I woke up late then discovered I had to load the car on backwards since the front end hit the wheel stops. The back barely made it. The tow fairly uneventful although towing the car backwards made the windshield a big wind grabber so I taped it to the roll bar to keep it from fluttering in the wind.





We got to track around 5ish and unloaded. to our surprise it started to rain so Factory Five to the rescue! You can see the rainbow just off to the left.



After it cleared up a bit, I took my son's mini dirt bike and we snuck under the fence to ride the corkscrew. That's Michael Bream, owner of EV West, Gravity Skateboards and master skater, pushing up the roof. I rode the dirtbike and he skated the entire corkscrew and down through turn 10.





We finished off the night with a few beers and some sunset.

[ehansen007]

Next day we got set up and did the whole driver meeting, put on the diffuser, etc.



Then it was time to sticker up!





Just as we were having a great time, my competition for the prototype class showed up.....


Ummmmmm..............yeaaaaaaaahhhhh. Thanks. Basically an electric batmobile for a midget, this thing was slightly larger than a go kart, carbon fiber body, with full race slicks. What a *******. To top it off he hired a champion racer driver to drive it for him. Well played sir, well played. I hate you.

The first laps out I had to come in a drop off my friends son, Caden because he was too young to be in the car. I was turning 2:13's which wasn't that great. I was also worried about battery and heat. The car felt great and I was taking it easy as the fenders were getting some good rub in turns 6, 7, 8, and 9. I think I need to switch out the #275 springs for the #350's in the back as the preload was pretty tight. I couldn't get the collars to turn without spinning the threaded housings as tight as they were so I improvised and jammed cardboard in between one of the coils on each side!!. Brought me up an inch and I went out and took 10 seconds off my previous time.

I was out there with mostly mostly Teslas and some other conversion cars like the Porsche 914 and 928, Hondas, and of course EV West's ridiculous M3 with 800 lb/ft of torque. I felt I did okay coming in the middle of the pack as the Teslas are really well performing cars on a track with the low center of gravity. Did you know you can't roll a Model S? Dang. I ended up taking second in the prototype class which was awesome. Don't ask me how many cars in my group though. I left a lot of time out there but I really didn't want to to break the car with it being new and having a rented trailer, etc. With that said the 818 made it easy to drive fast through the corners. I caught nearly everyone in the corners. It's a true track car.

Anywho you're all probably bored right now wondering, yeah, but is there any video? Well yes, and here it is. Pay no mind to the speedo, I got the GPS logs last minute from an app I downloaded on my iPhone. Still, it makes it look like I know what I'm doing out there.

[Vicki1]

Great job, can't wait to hear all the details.

John Tongish

[Mike N]

Stellar job. Glad all your hard work is paying off. You are very fortunate to have access to such a capable group.

Do you find yourself making brmmm brmmm noises as you're driving?

[jmccabe]

Its was great meeting and your 818E this weekend. You had me worried , I thought you would be in the conversion class Your car along with the 944, would make it real hard to come home with the piece of glass !
Even though I hurt my brushes in my motor, it didn't wipe the smile off my face from how much fun the weekend was.
Keep up the good work, it will only get better !

Jeff ( 928 Porsche EV)

[ehansen007]

Great meeting you Jeff! Yes, it was an amazing weekend only just too short. Looks like I missed a lot of fun after the TT but oh well. Back to work! I'm hoping I'll be back again next year. There is talk of a Huntington Beach EV show coming up but no racing. I personally can't wait for the Formula E races Long Beach! take care.

['Do you find yourself making brmmm brmmm noises as you're driving?"]

Nope! That's the funny thing. The car makes plenty of noise as it is but we're working on giving it some help here in the future with some stereo assist just for fun. But for the track, once you're behind the wheel and you're focused, engine noise is not even a factor. It's about picking your braking points and hitting the apex at max speed. I noticed this first when racing at K1 speed vs the older competitor, Dromo 1 down here in Orange County. I found that I could care less about the engine noise.... just give me the torque and whine of electric! I've also noticed that I'm much more relaxed while on track because the car sounds like it's hardly working. I also don't come out smelling like gas! I'm really happy with it. Do I miss the fun of the noise? Sure, but I know I'm better off without it.

[jayguy]

Sounds like a lot of fun, and I'd love to take a couple laps around that track myself. Congrats on a great weekend!

[TahoeTim]

Go man! While watching the video, I kept saying "floor it" and "no brakes". Good job though. Was that bat mobile a dp-1?

I used to run there in formula ford. I did laps in 1.22.0 with 110 hp. It's my favorite track of all time. It takes big ones to floor it at the top of the corkscrew. There's an oak tree you aim for at the top so you hit the apex in the right spot. faith...

What marker does the 818 brake at? I used to brake after I passed the last marker #4. Different weapon but I am curious how the 818 compares? My telemetry was 1.6g of braking and 1.6g lateral in turns.

I gotta take mine over there next year.

[ehansen007]

Hey Tim. Hard to say really. I mean, this was the cars shakedown and I didn't want to be the guy in the gravel traps getting towed out while my body got ripped off for lack of tow hooks. However I went from 2:13 to 2:04 in 5 laps thanks to little tool called gran turismo. I know the track really well and I started to push it a little more but kept it on check too. There's no doubt it could do 1:50's but it just wasn't the time. Next time WILL be the time. . Oh yeah the well designed sheet metal in the rear fenders cut a hole in my brake line regardless of the fuel line I put around it so glad I didn't go any harder!!! .