Solaris-ecs controlled Lotus Europa wins

Sam@TDi
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

Solaris-ecs controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Sam@TDi »

Latest generation Lotus Europa wins on its motorsport debut, matching the same feat achieved by the original Lotus Europa in 1966.

We agree'd a deal over the winter to take on the role of technical partners to long established Hofmanns Motorsport http://www.hofmannsofhenley.co.uk/sports.asp along with suspension manufacturer Nitron, carbon fibre specialists Reverie and Lotus parts retailer Elise Parts. The plan was an ambitious project to turn a factory standard Lotus Europa touring spec road car into a winning race car in just 4mths, a very tall order.

A full blog of the build can be seen here, http://www.hofmannsofhenley.co.uk/conte ... .asp?id=63
Heading out to qualify at Silverstone, nervous times for all.
Heading out to qualify at Silverstone, nervous times for all.
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After qualifying 3rd the mood in the garage was upbeat but we knew we'd have our work cut out in the race
After qualifying 3rd the mood in the garage was upbeat but we knew we'd have our work cut out in the race
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Manifold, Turbo, Wastegate, Exhaust, lambda's and EGT
Manifold, Turbo, Wastegate, Exhaust, lambda's and EGT
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Last edited by Sam@TDi on Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sam@TDi
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Sam@TDi »

Baro sensor and Map sensor
Baro sensor and Map sensor
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Water/Air intercooler
Water/Air intercooler
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The dyno results, the race series dictate that the ramp rate on the dyno be 500rpm/sec and the class limit is 250 at the hubs. The control of the S6 made maximizing the rules to this extent possible.
The dyno results, the race series dictate that the ramp rate on the dyno be 500rpm/sec and the class limit is 250 at the hubs. The control of the S6 made maximizing the rules to this extent possible.
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Sam@TDi
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Sam@TDi »

The end result was a win by 8 tenths of a second ahead of a field of 41 other Lotus race cars, I'd like to say a massive thanks to Charlie and especially to Pat who helped us out immensely during the set-up up of our first Solaris with hours of phone and email based technical support, well done guys.
Wez
Santa's Little Helper
Posts: 267
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 3:19 pm
Location: London

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Wez »

Great result Sam, well done to everyone involved 8-)
96 MKIV Supra, S6GP, 591bhp & 523ft/lbs
Charlie
Syvecs Staff- Tea Boy
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Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 1:28 pm

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Charlie »

Fantastic Sam, Well done! Great results for all involved!
Sam@TDi
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Sam@TDi »

After suffering very heavy damage only a month ago at Brandshatch when our man was "collected" by an out of control Lotus 2-11, the Solaris powered Europa was fully repaired, upgraded and back in the action at Snetterton over the weekend at the annual Lotus Festival round of the Lotus Trophy bouncing back with a commanding win in race-1 followed by a hard fought 2nd in Race-2.
All four corners where completely wrecked after finding the tyres at 70mph+
All four corners where completely wrecked after finding the tyres at 70mph+
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Some pictures from Snetterton
Engine performance is still amazing the driver, the broad range of power meaning that only 4 gear changes where necessary per lap.
Engine performance is still amazing the driver, the broad range of power meaning that only 4 gear changes where necessary per lap.
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Gathering the data logging
Gathering the data logging
Gathering the race data from the Solaris ecu (Small).JPG (66.72 KiB) Viewed 24603 times
Wez
Santa's Little Helper
Posts: 267
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 3:19 pm
Location: London

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Wez »

Nice work guys, another great result as well 8-)
96 MKIV Supra, S6GP, 591bhp & 523ft/lbs
Sam@TDi
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Sam@TDi »

Thought Charlie might like this one,  the Solaris S6 is visible in this shot of Chris pushing on in the Europa at Snett.
Thought Charlie might like this one, the Solaris S6 is visible in this shot of Chris pushing on in the Europa at Snett.
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Wez
Santa's Little Helper
Posts: 267
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 3:19 pm
Location: London

Re: Solaris controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Wez »

Nice shot Sam 8-)
96 MKIV Supra, S6GP, 591bhp & 523ft/lbs
Sam@TDi
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:05 am

Re: Solaris-ecs controlled Lotus Europa wins

Post by Sam@TDi »

Another quick update on the Solaris powered Europa. This weekend she was in action again at the Lotus Elise trophy meeting held on the GP track layout at Donnington Park.

After careful analysis of the data gathered at Snetterton by both the Solaris and the Racelogic V-box we were able to highlight some area's where significan't improvement could be made with relatively minor changes to the spec and set-up of the car. With all changes made but completely untested we headed to Donnington a little apprehensive, fortunately the data had been accurate and very useful because the car was better than ever qualifying in pole position. We then went on to take a commanding victory in the race winning by over 12.5seconds in 13laps :)

We've made the decision to pull the car out of the Elise trophy now for the rest of the season and will begin to developing it for use in the top class of the prestigious GT Cup championship, our aim is to get the car out on track for at least one GT-Cup round this year in order to assess our strength's and weaknesses vs our competitors and then hit the ground running at the first round in 2010.

One shot from the race at Donnington this weekend.
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