Lotus Esprit V8 '02 806HP
Designed to a brief that she should be able to win with maximum A-Spec points at the Nurburgring in the Real Circuit Tours series (Extreme Hall), this Esprit was certainly an excercise in the art of compromise.
We needed enough power to turn in sub-6'30" laps but had to use hard enough grade tyres to last those two laps. The influx of that much horsepower through a turbo gave us problems with handling into and out of corners. Snap oversteer as the drive-train locked up on power-off and turgid understeer as the turbines spooled up again on the way out were the things that needed to be overcome. At the same time we had to ameliorate as best we could the very heavy rear tyre wear.
Handling wise, the major problem areas of the circuit were the bumpy hollow at Fuchsrohre:
The entry to Kallenhard
The exit to Angst Kurve
The passage through Pflanzgarten II
and, most difficult of all, the chicane complex at Tiergarten
.
We have to admit that not all the technical challenges were conquered completely. Driver talent and preferences at these levels is always going to be an important determining factor as to how successful a set-up is. However, compared to the nightmare we inherited with the supplied parts, the car handles well.
Things to watch for are transient steering anomalies that come from the uneven nature of the course. She responds to a firm, quick, hand on the wheel.
Control of throttle levels is likewise very important - this is an edgy MR at near maximum power and foot-to-the-floor at all times will only earn you an
early grave. Conversely, she likes to be braked hard, with pressure lifted as speed drops to allow the nose to tuck in.
Tiergarten especially is a balancing act between throttle and brake to hit each apex, whilst retaining steering control and keeping the back-end where it should be. For lap two, we really recommend that you brake early to drop your entry speed to the first element after the bridge - your rear tyres will have lost significant grip and may well let-go on you if you attempt to brake too late and there is any steering-lock applied at the same time.
Rest assured, at this point you will have enough lead to take the chicane complex safely - the softer tyred LM's will be spinning themselves to oblivion somewhere back down the Dottinger-Hohe and the lesser 'lights' you will have left behind long previously.
The test field our driver beat was made up of:
Playstation Pescarolo C60 Race Car '04
Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03
Peugeot 905 Race car '92
Audi R8 Race Car '01
Gillet Vertigo Race Car ;04
Hardware Modifications:
Racing Exhaust
Racing Chip
Racing Tyres (R2)
Stage 4 Turbo Kit
Racing Intercooler
Racing Brakes & Balancer
Racing Suspension
Fully Custom Gearbox
Triple-Plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Aero Parts (aka Wing)
Fully Custom LSD
Stage 3 Weight Reduction
Adjustable Equipment Settings:
Brakes: 7/5
Springs: 9.9/9.5
Ride Height: 124/124
Damper B: 4/5
Damper R: 9/8
Camber: 2.6/1.3
Toe: -1/0
Stabaliser: 4/2
Gears:
2.318
1.510
1.100
0.840
0.660
Final 3.670 AutoSet 17
The gears were set using Final 3.889 @ AutoSet 17 and manually adjusted.
TCS: 2 (an aid to control rear tyre wear, not required for handling purposes)
Downforce: 20/30
LSD: 7/35/29
Ballast 166 @ -15
Engineering Notes: It is undoubtably the case that the adjustments that made this tune work in the end were in the differential. I'd almost given up hope of conquring the deficiencies in lap times until I worked on the Custom LSD more carefully.
However, it is hard to overestimate the contribution of properly balanced Dampers - without them this win would not have been possible (note the flatness in the air over the jump at Flugplatz).