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As a new chapter begins in my auto racing experience, I have committed to the development of this new series with my friend Jay Carley. I am truly excited about this new series and car, our mission and vision, and to assist others in getting started in a sport they may have thought to be out of reach. Our mission is to create and maintain an affordable
venue to fill a void for the entry level, intermediate level and professional
drivers to participate in local and nationally sanctioned road racing events
across the country, and, host a national event to crown three Pro 4 National
Champions. The cars, and where will we compete? Pro 4 Stock Car and Allison Brothers Race Cars have teamed to build the best and most affordable four cylinder race class in the country. There will be three (3) distinct levels of competition. P4T1, P4T2 and P4T3, all of which will compete on track at the same time, in the same run group, when competing in a NASA sanctioned event. Only the P4T3 cars will be permitted to compete in SCCA events. This new Tier 3 (P4T3) car will be a tube framed purpose built race car, powered by the modern GM 2.4L, 190 HP LE5, Ecotec engine coupled to a 5L40-E, 5 speed manual transmission, with current body designs of those that resemble cars made by the big three American auto makers and will have serial numbers preceded with P4-xxxx . Currently the P4T1 and P4T2 cars are sanctioned by NASA, with the expectation of having the new P4T3 car and chassis certified by NASA and SCCA as it will meet the required regulations. As this is a new Series and will have a totally new car, Jay and myself have just released the new Pro4 Web Site and will all of the updates and progress being made. The first two new P4T3 chassis are nearing completion and we anticipate taking delivery of these chassis within the first two weeks of January 2012 so that we can begin building the cars. There are several "small" items remaining to finalize the design phase such as the new radiator, air box & air cleaner, engine control unit and wiring harness and interior sheet metal. As anyone who has ever built their own car, it's the small things that take time and we are committed to building a first class, modern, technologically advanced car, and that we cover ALL the bases so please be patient, you will be pleased with the final product. We will make every effort to make the new cars, new bodies, chassis kits and parts available for sale as soon as possible. To summarize this new (P4T3) cars features, here are several of the main items that you can count on:
As you can see, this is going to be and awesome car and future plans are to introduce a comparable Ford, Dodge and Import engines and bodies for a truly all inclusive road racing series. With limited time and funding resources, we will proceed with caution and developed what we believe is going to be the next big thing in Motorsports because what the spectator, manufacturer and racer will see on the track is what they will see on the street, only a little smaller. We believe this Series is going to exemplify the true meaning of safe and cost effective "Grass Roots Racing" The Tier 1 (P4T1) and Tier 2 (P4T2) will be based on the existing Allison Legacy car with serial numbers preceded with AL-xxxx. These cars, which have been the test beds for the R&D for this series over the past 4 years, will be the foundation of this series, providing parents, their son or daughter (beginning at age 12) to come out to a local event and have fun in a safe and friendly environment. The Allison Legacy cars currently available used for around $4k to $8k ready to race, and can also be the foundation (use the car as a donor) to move up to the Tier 3 (P4T3) when the time is right. This multi level approach will ensure a very cost effective means to progress to the next level, and will also provide all of the circle track competitors who already have Allison Legacy race cars, to make minor suspension adjustments (from oval track to circuit track) so the they to can come a enjoy road racing as well. Our experience with these cars has proved that one can race a complete season on one $500 set of tires, buy pump gas (about 10 gallons of gasoline a week end) at any gas station of your choice, plus the normal maintenance such as brake pads, oil changes, spark plus etc. all of which are available at you local auto parts store or race shop. Everything we have learned and documented such as suspension setups, spring rates, tire pressures, carburetor jet sizing etc. will be made available to all registered Pro 4 competitors at no charge. Our philosophy is to share this knowledge to make the series better and make competing about the driver and his or her ability to make their cars better. These cars weigh between 1,650 to 1,700 lbs with the driver, are truly a blast to drive. They are faster than the costly spec Miata, spec 944 and most recently, faster than the Thunder Roadster and Legends Cars with cornering and braking being their strong points. Lateral accelerometer reading taken with data acquisition approaches the 2 g realm. I have personally learned that not being in shape prohibits the full potential of my car and this was revealed last October when Wyatt Brennan drove the #17 car and torched the run group.
The P4T1 car will remain 100% in the stock configuration as specified by Comp Cars of North Carolina. These cars will retain either the genuine Allison Thunderbird or Monte Carlo bodies, the sealed Mazda B2200 engine program with a maximum of of 97 RWHP. The P4T2 (above) car will be the same as the P4T1 car with the following exceptions: These cars will retain the Mazda B2200 engine with the exception of a specified camshaft, a front sway bar, the larger 13" x 8" tire, optional new body and a maximum of of 103 RWHP.
Above is the new Camaro SS. The colors for my new car were going to be the white and black, but after seeing a friends new car on the right, I decided that I'll stick to yellow. My P4T3 Car Improvements in the braking have improved dramatically after replacing the 2 piston front brake calipers with 4 piston calipers essentially doubling the contact patch of the brake pad area. This can be seen in the data acquisition when looking at the location of engaging the brake as well as the duration of braking. Below are two logs, one before (bottom) and one after (top) brake modifications. Below: These 2 logs from Eagles Canyon Race Way are entering turn 7. Both of these turns are great passing opportunities. White is front brake pressure, red is engine RPM, Pink is MPH, Green is "Y" axis from the accelerometer indicating side fore G's.
Below, Eagles Canyon Race Way entering turn 11. The top shows later and shorter braking. Also not the difference (white) in lower front brake pressure.
For those who may doubt the ability of this Allison Legacy, P4T2 race car, check out braking and lateral forces I obtained in a December 22, 2011 test session. Below is the Eagles Canyon Race Way track map with Speed, "Y" axis (lateral) G-forces in the turns and several "X" axis (braking) G-forces.
For those who may not be familiar with this track, ECR is a very technical track with several off camber turns and elevation changes, and is probably the hardest track on brakes that I have driven. Take a lap around the track with this link: ECR Test 12-22-2011 To be continued:
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ken@kenscheepers.com with
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