Autosport Labs

Nick,

Thank you for the feedback- If there is any assistance we can provide just let us know. Also, we'd love to see pictures of your track day car(s) (and any other installations) in the 'Powered by' gallery in the forums!

Best,

Brent,
Thanks for your welcome. The Westfield is up and running, the ignition is superbly accurate. We used a light steel flywheel from BURTON ENGINES here in UK. This is heavily drilled with the 36-1 pattern to energise the existing Ford VRS. Clearly it works!! As to the remainder- it's a bit of a part-bin special, as are most kit-cars. This is not to decry them, in any way. I think that they are an excellent way of recycling some of the best bits of modern auto technology! Being great believers in keeping it simple we fitted rejetted Dellorto 40's on modest chokes-32mm- as this is mainly to be used on the road. I find that keeping the gas speed as high as possible is better for road engines. We have probably sacrificed 10bhp at the very top, but I can confirm that it spins up from 1500rpm like a demon and ticks over perfectly at 850 rpm. Progession is a dream, undoubtedly helped by a perfect spark!!
I would appreciate a little help- I'm concerned that the owner, in his new found enthusiasm, will not keep much of an eye on the tacho....
If I have understood the forum correctly, there is a method of reducing power by retading the ignition at a chosen rpm point at any load. This ought to give a sharp reduction in power (simulating valve bounce?) which might remind the pilot to swap a cog because his engine is not immortal. Is this right? And as belt and braces (suspenders) are best can this be linked to a VERY bright change light? As you can tell, I do not have the highest opinion of owners... after all we get to see, and clear up, the secrets they do not admit to their wives!
Thanks again,


Nick

If I have understood the forum correctly, there is a method of reducing power by retading the ignition at a chosen rpm point at any load. This ought to give a sharp reduction in power (simulating valve bounce?) which might remind the pilot to swap a cog because his engine is not immortal. Is this right?

Yes - just set the Rev Limit "Additional Configurable Output" on the Options tab of the Configurator and the advance will go to 0BTDC at this rpm

And as belt and braces (suspenders) are best can this be linked to a VERY bright change light? As you can tell, I do not have the highest opinion of owners... after all we get to see, and clear up, the secrets they do not admit to their wives!

Yes, see http://www.autosportlabs.net/MJLJ_V3_ve ... hift_Light

It's worth noting the rev limit output behaves in a special way compared to the other outputs.

At 100 RPMs before the configured limit the advance goes to 0 BTDC- this is the soft limit. At the configured output, the output port is triggered and can activate an external 'hard rev limit' designed to disable the coil packs. See the new Hard rev limiter project, currently under beta testing. http://www.autosportlabs.net/Hard_rev_limiter_1.1.0

The 'shift light' output is set for an RPM independent of the rev limit output and is typically used to activate a bright light on the dashboard.

Regards,

I have found the soft rev limit to be very effective on my old-fashioned engine - when I reach the limit the engine loses all pulling power and just won't go any faster.

However, a modern fast-revving engine may benefit from the hard-cut add-on that Brent describes.

David

Thanks, Guys, very user friendly!! Still struggling to get the Tacho to work. It's a VDO unit and has defied all pleading and soft(ish) hammerblows to date. I've installed the little diode circuit, now I'll try removing bits of it again...

UPDATE JULY 2008
Well, another year older and not much wiser. Two much used Zetec builds later and all's well. I still have no Tacho on the orighinal, but I'm still working on it... but the owner won't let me near the car ...HE'S ENJOYING IT TOOO MUCH!!! Our track focussed Westfield is fully up and is blindingly fast. I've mapped the rev limiter to 6200 rpm 12 deg adv and 6500 0 deg adv. This simulates valve bounce and reminds the faulty software behind the wheel to change gear...Next is to install one of Brent's HUGE change lights, I'll keep you all informed.
Next project is to install a Yamaha R1 2002 carb engine in a Ginetta G15 (anyone remember those, or am I the oldest git here?). Any clues as to how I can do this will be welcomed, for example: is the coil style pickup in the R1 a VR sensor? Does it give an EDIS frendly out put if the wheel is correctly configured? This would make life sooooo easy!!

Nick wrote:UPDATE JULY 2008

Next project is to install a Yamaha R1 2002 carb engine in a Ginetta G15 (anyone remember those, or am I the oldest git here?).

Yes, I do, and no, you're probably not! I had two G15s, not to mention two G4s and a G21 with a Zetec which I still have. I look forward to hearing how you get on