Axis 1 Lap: 158.9 MPH in a 155 mph limited car!

First off, I don't care what anyone says, it takes balls to keep the hammer down in a car you don't know at Daytona. Eric, my team mate, had driven Daytona once before, in the 2009 edition of the One Lap, it made the most sense for him to take on the time trial there. I got to drive a couple of parade laps on the banking and let me tell you, even a cruising speed it's intimidating.

So how did the stock engined, CX of a brick MCoupe end up with a genuine gps verified 158.9 mph? That's what, 175 indicated with my car's 10% over speedo error? I don't even think the dial goes that high!!

Perhaps a little help came from my taping job on all the (huge) panel gaps in the front and side of the hood, the car went 3mph faster than the non taped version in the previous session. Perhaps the two Contour cameras hanging off the rear quarter panels acted as vortex generators and cut down on the vacuum crated by the hatchback shape... or at least it's fun to think that.


(Eric praying he does not crash...)

In any case, I suspect the key to a fast lap at Daytona is not just the top speed on the banks but the time in the infield. Eric's best lap, the second was 2:15 which is not that bad considering the car was on stock sized wheels and stock sized street tires. By comparison CG had done 2:07 in his Cayman S race car with Hoosiers the first time he was there. The final lap might have been faster but Eric was balked badly into turn 1 by a clueless Evo driver from the Great White North.
Doesn't matter, the Z3MCoupe was faster than Eric had gone in the super fancy Carbon FIber Z4 MCoupe he drove in 2009....so there, another notch in the M-Shoe!

Well done Eric!

Check out the video with Traqmate overlay.



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Axis 1 Lap: "F*ck the chicken, the session's stating!"

On the way to picturesque Kershaw South Carolina, my co-driver Eric had been singing the praises of a fried chicken shack he had discovered two year earlier, when he ran the One Lap with the famous TC Kline Carbon Coupe. Needless to say the place was shut down when we got there Sunday night so I figured that was that.

Eric was more determined and next day he would be off on a fried chicken mission from god! Not just for us mind you, he was nice enough to go around half the pit lane and take orders, lots of orders and then took off with the car.

Thing is, this place cooks the chicken from scratch and they sure were very happy to have such a huge order on a Monday. Eric met the whole family, they reminisced about large fried chicken orders of yore, probably sang songs and took pictures...meanwhile back at the track the afternoon session was starting and about an hour and half had gone by. I was getting more and more steamed and had visions of Eric having wrapped the Coupe around a pole or in a fight over US health care policy in south east Asia... Frantic, I called "Hey, people are really nice, the whole family came down, we took pictures and I did and interview about the chicken..."

"F*ck the chicken" I yelled into the phone "get back here, NOW!" Well, I'm Italian, I yell too much, I leave what I said off the phone to your imagination....



Anyway, Eric got back eventually and I had time to put some gas in the car and get out on track in a car smelling of the chicken everyone on pit lane was enjoying but me... it really was delicious, even cold...really...I recommend it.

I liked Carolina Motorsport Park better though, a very cool track I had never seen in a car before my out lap. Would love to go back one day.

Video was shot with Contour cameras overlayed with Traqmate data via Traqstudio software.



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Axis 1 Lap: Axis takes class win!

It will take me a little while for my, er...."staff" to sort through pictures and videos but the news is that we did take a class win in SSGT1-Small Bore and a 20th overall of the 2011 One Lap of America. Not too shabby for a last minute, first time entry on stock sized tires!

While I gather our thoughts and materials, I'm sure you'll enjoy some of the more creative post race tire shredding celebrations and re-landscaping of the TireRack's skid pad.




(Videos RosenthatMedia)
(and yes, I think most of them trailered the cars home..:)
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Axis 1 Lap: We're still alive...

It's just that posting from the road with the brutal transfer leg schedule and the cramped car has been more challenging than I thought.

We are starting day 6 today at Barber Motorsports in Alabama then right after the Time Trials we have a 700 mile leg to Autobahn Country Club in Illinois for an 8AM start tomorrow.... see what I mean?

Anyway, we are first in class and 17th overall as of yesterday's Time Trials at Circuit Grand Bayou in Luisiana. Oh, and did I tell you the old M Coupe went 158.76 MPH on the Daytona bankings? Not bad for a 10 year old car!

You can check results HERE and our Flick slide show is after the jump.... no sleep till Brooklyn!

Axis 1 Lap: Day 2, Summit Point, West Virginia

Day2 of the Tire Rack One Lap of America started at Summit Point, every one there early in the morning after getting in late the night before. The first real time trial was going to see the big dog , high horsepower cars shine. The Godzillas did not disappoint, I unofficially clocked Leh Keen in the TopSpeed Motorsports Nissan GT-R do a 1:23 lap...from a standing start! His fast lap was a 1:17 on street tires... just amazing combination of car AND driver.

Speaking of, I messed up our morning heat. The car felt awful with weird breakaway midcorner, not confidence inspiring on the key fast corner of Summit. I came in 33rd overall only to remember I had not reset the shocks after the autocross run no wonder the car felt wrong. Before the afternoon run, and after a quick phone conference with CG, the other end of the Axis of Oversteer, I changed the balance so the car would push and lopped off 13 seconds from my cumulative time! The afternoon limited the damage and we ended the day in 6th overall, first among the competing BMW. Not bad for an old car!



After the event wrapped we drove to South Carolina where, tomorrow, we'll rung at carolina Motorsport Park and the BMW PErformance Center, then we drive to Daytona! I must be insane.

Here is video from Contour and Traqmate overlay (with apologies to Risi,) of the second session. Cars get one reconnaissance lap then three laps from a standing start are added for the final result.


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Axis 1 Lap: 2011 One Lap Of America Day 1

It was long getting here, it was not easy, there was a bit of heartbreak with the V8 M Coupe not working out but we did it.

The replacement is my 2001 S54 M Coupe i (not a z4 coupe..), pressed into service at the last minute.

We had no choice but to run the original "tiny" wheels but I also had no choice but to buy a new set of tires. I went with the new Michelin Super Sports. Good choice, the little M Coupe was second overall in the wet skid pad, by just .001 G. with a .825 I had assumed the 4wd cars would destroy in the wet but no...

Later in the afternoon, fortified by a couple of Full Strength meal shakes we drove to Grissom Air Force for the autocross and, once again the Super Sports performed incredibly well for such "small" oem sized rubber. We placed 12th overall, enough to have us tied for the overall lead of the race. Nice.

Tomorrow we move on to track events and fully expect for the big horsepower cars to steamroll....

It's late, time to get some sleep!

Results HERE





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Axis 1 Lap: Backup

We are in the 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America but not as hoped in the carbon V8 MCoupe. It's a dissapointement for all involved but, as you read here, we experienced an unexpected and as of yet unexplained engine failure at our VIR test. There was just no time to have the engine rebuilt for the One Lap, but Dinan, Apex and Trinity Motorsports are hard at work to get it sorted for the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge later this summer.

We don't like to give up or let you down, so I volunteered my BMW S54 M Coupe which I drove yesterday from NYC to Lima, Ohio. Today, at Trinity Motorsports, Shawn and the guys will get all new fluids in an transfer as many bits as possible over from the black carbon car and later today, Eric and I will drive the resulting Frankencoupe up to South Bend ready for tomorrow's start!

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Axis 1 Lap: Here we go....

It's going to be a long, hopefully fun week... stay tuned!

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Axis 1 Lap: Situation Critical...

Not good news from the second day of testing at VIR I'm afraid. The problems we had the first day seemed to multiply culminating into our having to shut down the engine due to what we suspected to be a major internal failure, this despite never having the chance to be run hard on track.

All is not lost, if we find an engine replacement by Tuesday there is conceivably time to drop it in but, as you can imagine, the situation is less than optimal.

This is the video of the final try, when the engine really let go...



On the plus side, our clutch issues were solved and were the brake bias/no ABS issues and the car really did handle quite nicely. There is noticeable downforce from the wing and splitter and the giant Michelin PS2 provided good grip. One day, when it's fully sorted, this car will be a beast.

We get more news during the day monday, keep you posted.

More pictures from the David Murry Track Days even at VIR after the jump

Axis 1 Lap: Yes, the scoop is real.

Off to VIR to check out this little beasty on Wednesday and Thursday. More pictures after the jump.

Axis 1 Lap: First Dyno Pull

As soon as we get the numbers we'll put them up, for now enjoy the sound!

Axis 1 Lap: under wraps

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Axis 1 Lap: It's ALIVE!

The first firing of the Brum BMW Z3M V8: Oh so sweet! Congratulation to Shawn and the team, now let's tune the sucker.
Check out the sound especially you surprising number of haters, still think this is just a run of the mill M5 engine?

Shawn writes:
"This is the initial start-up of the DInan V8 in the Brum BMW Z3 MV8... Very smooth for the first start, great oil pressure, no leaks, well no fluid leaks... We have touch of an exhaust leak... Sounds like what just won the 24 Hour and the last GT race at Homestead..."



UPDATE: bonus video after the jump with the first easy revving of the beast!





Shawn: "We were doing a throttle response test... Time to tidy up the installation, build the air inlets and air cleaner box. Finish the power steering and head to the chassis dyno!"
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Axis 1 Lap: It's here and it's nuts!

OK, some of you guys guessed right, the car my friend Eric and I will be driving is, well let's be honest, probably the nuttiest street legal BMW M Coupe in existence in North America.

What used to be a sedate S52 engined M Coupe is not a Carbon fiber clad animal powered by a 600HP racing V8. What could possibly go wrong?

This M Coupe is the dream of Dr. Eric Brum who has owned it from new and steadily built it up to what you will see here. Eric is a long time Axis reader and of course I was ecstatic when he asked me to co-drive the car in this year's One Lap of America. How could you say no to driving such a mad car?



OK let's go over some of the details starting with the body:

• Carbon Fiber hood saving about 55 lbs
• Carbon Fiber roof saving about 40 lbs (from the original with sunroof)
• Carbon Fiber front bumper cover with splitter and additional cooling ducts
• Grand-Am spec Carbon Fiber rear wing by Crawford Composites
• Carbon Fiber front and rear quarter panels

Now some of the underneath bits:

• CCW 18x9.5 and 18x 11 wheels
• Michelin PS2 265/35/18 and 315/30/18 tires (1 lap requires street tires)
• Rotora 6 piston 355x32 and 4 piston 330x34 brakes
• TC Kline Double adjustable shocks and camber plates
• H&R swaybars
• Ireland Engineering Subframe Bushings and rear Toe Adjusters
• RRT front and rear subframe reinforcements

Now the juiciest bit, the engine:

• Dinan Built race spec BMW S62
• Custom 3 ring lightweight composite Mahle pisons
• race spec camshafts, billet steel crankshaft, solid lifters, velocity stacks, Carillo rods, valve springs and valve retainers
• Dry sump side mounted on oil pan
• Engine management and traction control via Pectel SQ6 ECU

Transmission and final drive:

• TR2CD racing clutch by OS Giken
• Super Lock LSD by OS Giken

Cooling:

• Two Setrab SET125 oil coolers
• Dual PAss racing spec radiator

Of course putting all this together requires not just, Eric considerable energy but sone serious technical knowhow, in this case the wizards are:

Shawn Bayliff of Trinity Motorsports in Ohio. A racer with experience in Daytona Prototype and Porsche Cup car preparation, Shawn is the man who installed the engine in the car. He is also responsible for the carbon Fiber fabrication.

Dusty Renteria, Dinan Engineering, lead the engine building and tuning. His goal was power combined with the reliability needed to complete the almost 3600 miles of the One Lap.

Neel Vasavada, Apex Speed Technology, is responsible for managing electronic integration, including ECU, ABS and traction control.

These guys were asked to produce a lightweight BMW Z3 M Coupe with 600 hp from a bulletproof engine while still maintaining street drivability, a comfortable interior, and the original exterior design elements...an M Coupe perfectly suited for One Lap of America, the descendant of the legendary Cannonball Rally and the most grueling week of racing in America. This year One Lap will bring drivers in street-legal racecars from Tire Rack Headquarters in Indiana, through West Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama before returning north to Illinois and Indiana for a variety of time trials, drag racing, autocrossing, and skid pad challenges...all in the span of one week!

Like I said, what could possible go wrong? The engine is supposed to be fired up this week, as soon as it does we'll try to bring you at least a sound clip so, stay tuned. In the meantime revel in the huge build gallery after the jump.

Axis 1 Lap: One last tease...

Which should pretty much give it away :)





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Axis 1 Lap: will it live?

This is where the monster engine is going to live...
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Axis 1 lap : dyno

I have to handed to you guys, two Hayabusa engines strapped together? Points for a imagination anyway!

Well, Fabrik8 got it right first, but I thought you might get a kick out of the dyne sheet:



Amazingly, it will be significantly underpowered compared to the competition!





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Axis of One Lap.

Big Week for Team Axis: I have been invited to co drive a car in this year's Tire Rack One Lap of America.

You heard about it, of course, it's where you drive an ungodly amount of miles across the country over eight days, visiting various tracks where Time Trials, drag races, autocross, skidpad, are run for points. A motorhead classic that attracts the gamut of machines, from family cars to sick modified beasts all with one caveat, that they be "street legal" and that they use the same set of tires for the whole event.

OK, so what am I going to be driving? Allow me the pleasure to tease a little: let me say two things about the ride, it's the labor of love of a crazy person person crazy about his car and, it's an insanely inappropriate, totally bonkers vehicle....
Once you figure out what it is I'm sure you'll agree: what could possibly go wrong?

Here's the engine, care to guess what it is and what will be wrapped around it? Feel free to guess if it amuses you (no cheaters, you know who you are!) and we'll go through the whole build between here and the race...


I added another picture.. not much of a clue, I warn you :)

Meanwhile, after the jump, Motor Trend's recap of last year's edition, won by Leh Keen in a "tastefully modified" Porsche 996 GT2








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