Circuit Heart 3, long-term project

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2013 Mazda3 Skyactiv
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Just wanted to thank you guys again for voting me in for MOTM last time, and start logging what's going to be a very long-term transformation I'm working on. If anyone was wondering what the "Circuit Heart" livery is all about, please let me list a couple things in my shopping list:

  • A junkyard Tesla Model S
  • ~20kWh battery pack
  • semi-DIY electronic speed control
  • custom rear subframe+suspension
This project may well fail, but with friends in industry to help with the battery and speed control and wrecked Model S's starting to show up in NorCal for under $7k, my fiancee and I decided that now is as good a time as any to try! I've been working out the control schemes/algorithms/sensors required so I can definitely get to the point of testing the electric bits on a roller chassis; the fun part afterwards is fabricating the rear suspension and subframe to get it in the car and then tuning the system to play nice with the engine (which is getting its own upgrades too, heheh...).

Here's where we stand today; I wonder what it'll look like by the time we're done. :D

Power/MPG:
  • Cut-airbox SRI
  • JBR Skyactiv Panel Filter
  • Custom Magnaflow 11132 exhaust w/ 3.5" exit
  • Ford E-Focus Rear Motor Mount
Chassis/Suspension:
  • BC Racing ER Coilovers w/ custom digressive valving
  • Swift Springs 9kg/mm F
  • Hyperco Springs 650lbs R
  • SPC Rear Camber Arms
  • Corksport 28mm RSB
  • Hotchkis Billet Sway Bar Brackets
  • Corksport Rear Toe Links
  • Tri-Point Rear Endlinks
  • Powergrid Front Endlinks
  • GTSPEC Front Strut Tower Bar
  • Corksport Mid-Chassis Brace
Brakes:
  • Mazdaspeed3 front brake conversion
  • Mazda5 rear brake conversion
  • Stoptech Street Performance pad set for Mazdaspeed3 F/R
  • Stoptech stainless lines F/R
  • Edelbrock speed bleeders
Wheels/Tires:
  • Enkei NT03+M 18x10.5 +30 F/R
  • Bridgestone RE-11 285/30/18 F/R
  • Touge Factory hubcentric rings
  • Eibach 10mm spacer F
  • Adaptec 12mm spacer R
  • ARP extended wheel studs
  • Muteki SR48 Burning Blue Neon lugs
Exterior/Aerodynamics:
  • Garage Vary Replica Front Lip
  • BMSPEC birch plywood front splitter
  • 240ZG Fender Flares (4x fronts)
  • Bayson R side skirts
  • SPMS P1 Spec Rear Wing
  • BMSPEC custom wing endplates
  • BMSPEC custom wing risers
  • BMSPEC custom rear diffuser + subframe
  • VG Sharkfin Antenna
Interior:
  • BC rear damper remote adjuster
  • Custom eccentric aluminum shift knob
  • Works Bell steering wheel hub
  • Momo Mod.08 steering wheel
  • Custom clamp mount for OEM airbag+horn
Lighting/Electrics/Misc:
  • Rustoleum Satin Black headlight housings
  • Hella Optilux Extreme Yellow 65W 9005 high beams
  • Hella Optilux Extreme Yellow 55W H11 low beams
  • SuperBrightLEDs 7443 turn signals w/ load resistor
  • Corksport LED Hatchback Brake Light
  • Brake light flasher circuit
  • Hella Supertones
  • Rear wiper delete
 
Thanks :D Long term stuff though so I'll have way more small things than ^ large electric updates.

Bouncing ideas with XCNuse (the other be-winged, white Mazda3), we're going to try a different endplate design to make the wing more efficient. I don't trust my CFD skill yet to simulate this one properly so we'll just make and try it, there are a number of tests we can use to ascertain the downforce and drag the new design makes.

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An update of sorts:

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The car is currently down for a host of things, including LED taillights and some custom camber/caster plates that Alex Walker helped me make. Sliding the top of the strut back 10mm gives me almost 2 more degrees of caster to work with, right around 5deg. Crank up the camber to 3.2deg soon.

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Installed they look like this. There's still more room to slide the strut back, something was stuck in there.

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More aero testing to be done. Over the course of the last two months I was wondering why the lower canards alone didn't seem to help mpg's that much. A hypothesis I learned was vortex shedding off the diagonal edge I had, which would explain why a lot of time attack cars end up with plates like this. The vertical fence up front would help a little bit to break up the swirling where it begins. Learning!

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Last but not least I have finally ordered the other Sparco Fighter -- worked out a respectable deal with Race Consulting Agency for a new one + a new cover for my old one. Seat (easier to drive fast) + Camber/Caster (much more front grip) = faster!
 
So, I've done some very unscientific building with a new wing, new diffuser, and side splitters, and just today got an opportunity to test it. I'm way closer to hitting my MPG targets than I thought! I bloody forgot to get the receipt, but I actually hit 39mpg highway today. Route taken:

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First leg of the trip was to an interview, so I was not caring about gas mileage. Drove 70-80mph from Cupertino to Menlo Park.

Second leg, my interview was cut short so I took a detour down the 1-S to Santa Cruz. Followed traffic, 55-65mph.

Third leg, coming back up from Santa Cruz to Cupertino I followed traffic and drove 60-65mph up the 17-N, and 70mph up 85-N.

Read the number off the trip meter: 112.5mi
Fill up to the first click as usual: 2.857gal

112.5 / 2.857 = 39.4mpg

I don't have a good measure of avg speed because the onboard computer includes all the stoplights and traffic in its calculation. I'm sure that the average speed on PCH was slow, more than making up for the fast 1st leg of the trip. So, this 39.4 counts, but it's definitely not up to par yet. Thankfully, there's room left to improve the aero, my alignment is still not back to optimal, and the engine's still completely open for improvement.

This is what it looks like right now (plus a little more red vinyl tape). One day I'll have to take all of this off to do A-B testing, and that is a scary, scary thought.

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Cool Project indeed and good question (2thumbs) ...The problem is not the "forum", it's people having their attention spans and willingness to contribute reduced by social networks and apps that constantly feed you content and require little interaction...The good news is that people will always desire what only Quality Forums can provide and we're doing all that we can to modernize Mazdas247 and make it better than ever so that we can bring this Community to the forefront and continue to improve the experience here...Step by step...Just like this project!

Please do keep the updates coming...Although I'm not a fan of most social apps, I do think there is value in using Instagram to raise awareness and increase engagement here on Mazdas247...I will definitely be featuring this project soon! :D
 
Hey I'm still here, lurking, trying to avoid all these zombies... I'll stop taking this thread hostage though... Carry on.
 
Current appearance after the Blox Evo show. The day was so busy, I ran off for most of the afternoon tackling errands and picking up materials in San Francisco, only to get a call at 6pm "Where the HELL are you Brian, you just won 2nd place!". Yeah, the dirty, rock-chipped canyon racer just won Runner-Up Best Wagon at a major show. (first)

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The better news is that I've made a little headway on the engine stuff, got a contact who asked a contact within Mazda NA engineering to investigate for me if the new CX-9 (Sky-2.5T) crank, rods and pistons will fit in the Mazda3/6 (Sky-2.5) block. The 2.5NA blocks are a dime a dozen and can run on my OEM ECU, so if the beefed internals fit, I'm set! Drop-in frankenstein Sky-2.5 turbo engine (once we get the EFR 7163 connected). That means I can come back to attempting innovation on the exhaust front:

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In order to save weight, keep weight low, reduce backpressure and play some aero tricks, currently my favorite idea is to go under the oil pan (like how some FMIC kits route the boost tube), split off behind the radiator and exit out the sides of the front bumper. 3" pipe coming off the turbo hotside splitting off into two 2.5" exits. The actual layout and novel idea I'll discuss when I manage to build it, not going to sell you guys on BS until I convince myself it's not lol. This is just a rough sketch for now of where I plan to let the gases out, how they're actually handled will be the work. :) (Ignore the fender vents, those are obsoleted now)

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