I was out of town for a couple months, and I missed a couple of races. Although I had a great time, I missed those events. North to Alaska
Anyway, we were at High Plains Raceway last weekend. The weather was almost perfect. Warm sunshine, strong sun on the track, and some cool air in the morning. Unfortunately, we hit some rain each afternoon. Not much, just enough to slow down the lap times for a session or two.
Had a great time. I struggled a little bit on Saturday, with a best lap of 2:02. Not bad, but I’v done better
Sunday, though, was different. Not sure why, though. I think maybe being gone so long I needed time to get my head in the game. The car ran well. Not perfect, but well. The suspension changes I made last winter are awesome. The car is very well planted, stable, and not the least bit twitchy.
On Sunday afternoon, I turned in a number of laps that were 2:00 flat. Fastest I’v ever been around this track. In the last session of the day, I was closing in on the magical 1:59, when it started to rain.
The only problem I have is with the differential. Turn 11 is a fast slightly decreasing radius corner, that exits on a steep uphill climb. My favorite corner. 🙂 You can see it in this video, starting at 1:26.
The suspension handles this corner just fine. I suspect even faster than I’v been doing it. But the inside tire spins, leaving a long black mark up the hill. I can control it by feathering the throttle. But then I lose time. If I keep my foot in it, the car will still accelerate as the inside tire is spinning. Once the car is pointed straight, I can just hammer it and the car will accelerate quickly up the hill.
I believe this is a differential problem. The Eaton Detroit TruTrak was brand new 2 1/2 seasons ago. I think it’s failed already, and needs to be replaced. I could have it rebuilt. But 2 years from now (more or less) I’ll be right back in the same place. Pretty disappointing. I had the same diff in my Cobra, and I beat the hell out of it for 12 years on the track and street.
Now I’m looking at an Auburn cone clutch diff.
I sent an e-mail off to Eaton. We’ll see what they say. Probably nothing.