"feather-throttle-not-hair" (feather-throttle-not-hair)
08/29/2016 at 03:40 • Filed to: None
6
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"feather-throttle-not-hair" (feather-throttle-not-hair)
08/29/2016 at 03:40 • Filed to: None | 6
| 26 |
Several moths ago
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
with the intention of racing it at the 24 hours of LeMons.
Since then, the (actually strangely minty fresh) Sunbird went through an incredible transformation, thanks mostly to a couple of teammates who turned out to be really good at this sort of thing. Long story short, the car looks freaking incredible. It is perhaps the most obsessively polished turd I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
Photo Credit to my teammate Aaron.
Powering this thing is a 3.8L V6 making not much more than 100 hp......at 3200 RPM. Yup. We are spoiled these days folks. Your S2000 redlines at 9000 rpm? Pshaw. Our Sunbird redlines at 4000 RPM. And makes nearly 100 hp/liter less than the S2K to boot.
So, what was it like to drive? Heaven. Provided you enjoy laughing at the poor thing while you drive it. The Sunbird was an absolute dog in a straight line. In a huge field of what I imagine was 50+ cars, the Sunbird was faster down the main straight than 6 or 7 of them.
The transmission is a dogleg 5-speed unit, so gears 2 through 4 are arranged in an H pattern, while the seldom used 1st gear dagles off the H down and to the left. In theory, this would be the optimum arrangement for a race car with 5 gears, since 5th would be used far more often than 1st. In practice, OMG WHERE ARE ALL THE GEARS WHY IS THE WORLD SO CONFUSING RIGHT NOW? Which pretty much summed up my first hour in the car. Adding to this, was the fact that the gas and the brake were roughly 5280 feet apart, so any thought of heel and toeing was immediately banished. This led to the curious practice of rev-matching my downshifts right before the apex of the corner, hopefully after I was done braking but before I was ready to accelerate.
For my second stint behind the wheel, I resolved to think of it as a 2 speed to simplify things. Up and to the right was high gear (4th) while straight down was low gear (3rd.) Other than the front straightaway, the entire track could be negotiated in just those two gears, even the really tight stuff. Our 4000 RPM redline meant the engine was pulling pretty much just as weakly at the bottom end of the rev range as it was the top. Torques!
Getting a better handle on the transmission allowed me to start exploring the cornering limits of the car. And weirdly enough, the Sunbird genuinely shocked me with how fantastic it was. We had crazy tires on it, so I expected the grip, but what I didn’t expect was the balance and the docility in the way it went around corners. I thought the car would be utterly unwilling to rotate, which I figured might actually be a good thing, with next to zero steering feedback through its overly boosted steering. Instead, I found the Sunbird would happily rotate off-throttle. And by rotate, I mean rooooottttaaaatttteee. Ther’s no “snap” in that car whatsoever, the oversteer happened so gradually, I felt like a had a day and a half do something about it.
Doing something about it, usually meant throwing a vague amount of opposite lock at the steering wheel while mashing the gas pedal, generally all the way to the floor. Equipped with what must have been the worlds most open differential, the Sunbird would then accelerateish, transferring weight to the back while the inside rear tepidly spun at just above road speed, the engine and the differential arguing with each other over who got to inform me that power oversteer was definitely
not
a thing that was going to happen.
What would happen was 4th gear’s gradual descent into the bottom of the transmission. Things would be going well when suddenly the shifter would fly out of 4th, pinging the revs and ending any acceleration. An argument would then ensue between driver and car which at first would generally end with “4th...Damnit” but by the end of the day began to end with “Ugh...fine...just have 5th instead.”
Despite transmission woes, I found myself enjoying the car more and more as the day went on. The utter impotence of the engine created a weirdly inflated sense of driver skill. I’d take note of how much less I was using my brakes when compared to all the cars around me. Oh sure, you know, some of it was because they were going way faster at the end of the straight. But only like...some of it.
By the end of my last stint, I was grinning like a madman and the grin pretty much hasn’t worn off. I highly recommend participating in a LeMons race with a stupidly slow car, if you can find a way to make it work.
Sorry my phone camera got dust under the stupid lens.
RIP Tim Richmond.
Spatula + Mirror = Safety!
Alfalfa
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 03:52 |
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That is one good looking turd. And seriously dude, congrats on finishing.
Illegitimus Prime
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 05:31 |
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That looks incredible. Great job!
Schaefft
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 06:08 |
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I would so much love to do something like this. Unfortunately I cannot really think of anything similar here in the UK. Theres plenty of banger racing going, but its definitely not the same.
jimz
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 06:20 |
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And if anyone questions if that car is under the price limit, you can just say “hey, it’s a Vega.”
Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
> Schaefft
08/29/2016 at 06:59 |
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Plus the licencing costs probably make it more expensive than lemons.
JCAlan
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 07:12 |
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That shift pattern though.....why?
shop-teacher
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 07:22 |
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Wow. You guys really got that thing looking good!
I lol’d at “accelerateish”, I had a car that was powered like that once :)
RacinBob
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 08:12 |
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Love the stencils on the tires. Great work on the theme. All hail the “Sun Dog”
That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 08:29 |
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That made for an excellent looking race car. Sounds like it was a ton of fun.
Takuro Spirit
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 11:22 |
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I’ve been watching the LeMons FB page and this thing constantly popped up all weekend... I had completely forgot it was yours!
GJ
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> RacinBob
08/29/2016 at 15:14 |
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Thanks man! It turned out even better than i’d expected. The joke was that we drove down to Portland and back (about 5 hours) to buy some Old Milwaukee beer. Unfortunately after checking six different stores, the best we were able to come up with was Old Milwaukee non-alcoholic. It seemed somehow appropriate, so our hood actually says “Old Milwaukee NA”. The NA also refers to the engine, which was basically the shittiest form of Buick 3.8L found in the Grand National. Minus a turbo.
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> Alfalfa
08/29/2016 at 15:15 |
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Thanks man! It was more fun than i could have ever imagined. The car transmission was just about ready to quit by the end of the race. It probably had another few hours in it before just exploding.
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> Takuro Spirit
08/29/2016 at 15:19 |
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Thanks man! The organizers were pretty enthusiastic about our car, which was gratifying. We even managed to take home a trophy for having a cool theme. We were a little worried they wouldn’t “get it” but our fears were totally unfounded, they immediately recognized it as the Tim Richmond car in a tiny little crappy Sunbird body.
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> shop-teacher
08/29/2016 at 15:21 |
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Thanks! The slowness of the thing was pretty endearing, but man it sure was weird going back to my normal car this morning.
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> jimz
08/29/2016 at 15:24 |
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Yup, an excuse that works for both of our cars since the other one was basically just a Pinto!
The LeMons facebook page has a great photo of the two cars in action.
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> Illegitimus Prime
08/29/2016 at 15:24 |
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Thanks!
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
08/29/2016 at 15:24 |
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I expected it to be huge fun! But it still exceeded expectations!
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> JCAlan
08/29/2016 at 15:25 |
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Lol no clue, but if i had to guess i’d say it was because someone at Pontiac was drunk and/or high on cocaine, circa 1975 or so.
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shop-teacher
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 15:27 |
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I bet!
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RacinBob
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 20:03 |
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Cool, by the way, I am a 1/2 owner of a LeMons car too, here’s ours!
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> RacinBob
08/29/2016 at 20:32 |
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Lol! Love it! There was an Opel GT at our race, it kicked my butt! Most cars were killing me on the straights while I was passing them in the corners, but the Opel GT at our race just straight up had me everywhere.
picoFarad
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 21:09 |
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I really enjoyed watching that thing run this weekend. Definitely my favorite car in the race. Although I had a soft spot for the green Subaru Legacy howling and screaming around the corners.
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RacinBob
> feather-throttle-not-hair
08/29/2016 at 21:10 |
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Yep, light weight has it’s advantages. You should be able to get 170 hp easily at which point you are inclined. Also with the torque of that V6, you might find the 4 speed to be just as good if not also more reliable and easier to source parts from.
Whatever you do, make sure that you keep it over filled with oil. GM v6 engines do not like to be run dry.
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> RacinBob
08/29/2016 at 21:34 |
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Yeah, we weighed the Pontiac after stripping it and it was a little over 2800 lbs, before the roll cage...so...heheh definitely not the greatest platform in the world, but oh well. I think a different transmission is probably in order and likely a 4-speed would work just fine, like you said. My teammate who spent the most time building the car and making it work comes from a family of drag racers who are heavily into blown 3.8L Buick engines (I believe they have a Typhoon and a Grand National) so i think he’s got some ideas on how to make a bit more power, even without going FI. I’m rubbing my hands together in anticipation!
The whole thing is so much fun though, that even if you’re not competitive (and we really weren’t) you cant help but have a ball!
Good luck out there, I can see us travelling for a race eventually, so if I ever see your car i’ll be sure to come say hi!
Oh and I just need to compliment you on your vehicle one more time, your theme is amazing, i had no idea the breadvan ferrari look would go over so well on an Opel!
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RacinBob
> feather-throttle-not-hair
09/02/2016 at 00:36 |
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Oh look you are famous http://www.roadkill.com/pacific-northw…
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feather-throttle-not-hair
> RacinBob
09/02/2016 at 16:07 |
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Woot!