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Posted by: ChrisNPDrider Sep 4 2007, 02:01 PM

There's allways a few odd-ball cars that show for weekend AXes, either kit car projects, full racers looking to shake down mods on an off weekend, or rare weekend warriors on their yearly outling. This Saturday at the PCA Zone 7 / GGR AX at the Marina airport a small kit-looking car was being prepped on the outskirts of the paddock....looked like Martini Racing colors from afar. Well, they were.
As we lined up on grid, out pulls 908-03. WOW. I spent some time drooling near thier tent as they worked on changing front springs for the afternoon runs. That was one fine piece of machinery. They ran in the first group, finally posting a 47.9x time, when the best had been 51.xx from the "normal cars". My best was 57.9x for the moring, then I had to leave. Later that afternoon, I heard the 908 got down in the 46.xxs, BUT so did the local stripped down 914 #100 "surfmobile". Got to wait to see the official times, but Andrew B in his 914 (with the old engine from last year) may have beat the 908 for TTOD!
I love AX racing

More photos here: http://web.mac.com/lepprd/Site/Ax_Marina_07.html#grid



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Posted by: 1970 Neun vierzehn Sep 4 2007, 02:21 PM

Looks to me like an engine donor!

Posted by: SirAndy Sep 4 2007, 02:48 PM

i like the way you think!

Posted by: URY914 Sep 4 2007, 03:12 PM

Looks heavy.

Posted by: mrhurtalot Sep 4 2007, 04:08 PM

looks fast.

Posted by: rfuerst911sc Sep 4 2007, 05:36 PM

looks expensive$$$$$$

Posted by: Cap'n Krusty Sep 4 2007, 06:45 PM

Right you are! If you consider 1300 pounds heavy............................. The Cap'n

Posted by: Rick_Eberle Sep 4 2007, 08:00 PM

Hey! That's mine!!!

Posted by: grantsfo Sep 4 2007, 10:38 PM

Most incredible thing was seeing a budget 914-4 AX car running head to head with a very well driven and sorted 908. 908 is about as close as you can get to a purpose built AX car. The course equalized the two cars as there was only one short straight. Rich Walton is no slouch and while this was the first time for him in the car, he was driving it on the edge around every corner.

Andrew was driving the smurf mobile the best I have seen him drive in a long time.

Posted by: jimtab Sep 4 2007, 11:24 PM

Heavy, yeah, at that weight you could use a motorcycle lift (1500#) and get the whole thing up...damn!

Posted by: grantsfo Sep 4 2007, 11:36 PM

908 is a work of art. Its a mass of tubing and fiberglass. I was suprised at how little there was to the car. Its essentially an open wheel car with a fibergalss body covering the wheels.

Posted by: URY914 Sep 5 2007, 06:28 AM

You say tubes?




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Posted by: jd74914 Sep 5 2007, 09:23 AM

What are those 2 big fiberglass tubes in the back for?

Posted by: Mugs914 Sep 5 2007, 11:10 AM

Those are for gearbox cooling. They were putting a lot of power through a pretty small lightweight 'box and the extra cooling helped it to survive. Porsche did it that way for years. I'm not certain, but I don't think they used a radiator type cooler on the gearbox until the Can-Am turbo 917s.

You can sorta see them in this 917K cutaway...


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Posted by: jd74914 Sep 5 2007, 12:34 PM

Its passive cooling then? There were just 2 holes in the gearbox for the heat to get sucked out of?

Posted by: maf914 Sep 5 2007, 12:45 PM

It's forced air from the two NACA ducts on the rear deck, just like on 917 illustration Mugs914 added. But it is only used to cool the exterior of the tranny case. Norbert Singer mentions the ducting added to the 917 in his book 24:16.

Posted by: maf914 Sep 5 2007, 12:54 PM

When I saw the title of this tread I thought of this 908.


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Posted by: jd74914 Sep 5 2007, 12:58 PM

Gotcha . . . it seems like such cooling would cause some kind of localized case work hardening? I'm probably over thinking it though, it shouldn't be 'that' much air.

Posted by: Cap'n Krusty Sep 5 2007, 01:03 PM

You mean Pugeot, the people who pitched an absolute legal hissy when Porsche used the nomenclature "901" because they had the God-given right to 3 digit names with a "0" on the middle? Those guys? "Oh, we were gonna use that name sometime in the future"?

The Cap'n, who firmly believes there is ONLY ONE 908, and it AIN'T French ..............

Posted by: johannes Sep 5 2007, 01:46 PM

Peugeot has registred all the car designations with three digits and a zero in the middle.

This si an old story because they did that in the early 1930.

They let Porsche use the zero digit only for race cars ...

By the way Peugeot already had two 908 ... one is the (diesel) race car that raced this year at LeMans and the other one is this thing

Posted by: maf914 Sep 5 2007, 01:52 PM

Uhh, yeah, I guess so.


Peugeot won Lemans in '92 and '93 with their 908 Evo. I wonder why Porsche didn't sue for the 908 infringement? I mean, what the hell, they don't hesitate socking it to the average Joe who prints a tee shirt with PORSCHE on it!

Posted by: jimtab Sep 5 2007, 10:43 PM

I'm almost certain that Peugeot has more lawyers than most of us.....

Posted by: URY914 Sep 6 2007, 07:08 AM

The drives feet stuck out pass the centerline on the front axle.




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Posted by: URY914 Sep 6 2007, 09:08 PM

More details




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Posted by: URY914 Sep 6 2007, 09:14 PM

I love this shot...




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Posted by: DNHunt Sep 7 2007, 07:50 AM

Paul

Is that some kind of rubber snubber in the halfshaft? If it is, me thinks they must have had some real fears about some other part of the drivetrain. Cool pics

Dave

Posted by: URY914 Sep 7 2007, 08:17 AM

Yes, it a big rubber donut. It absorbs shock loads and protects the tranny and u-joints.

Posted by: ChrisNPDrider Sep 7 2007, 11:50 AM

I noticed that too and asked the folks in the tent - they had another name for the part and didn't explain what it was for. Paul - you da man! Kinda crazy how the axles have U-joints instead of more complex CV joints. No CV boots to tear! It was also crazy to see the front pedal cluster inches from the front bumper. The front sway/anti-roll bar on the Martini 908-03 was in front of the dash and behind/over the steering wheel through the cockpit with bearing mounts where it passed through the frame/body.

Posted by: Cap'n Krusty Sep 7 2007, 01:30 PM

It's a "Guibo Joint". Porsche used it on several race cars. Stock on many BMW and MBZ driveshafts, too. Really strong. The Cap'n

Posted by: zymurgist Sep 7 2007, 01:53 PM

I remember being late for work because I had to get my old BMW 530i fixed... the mechanic told me that I needed a new "Guibo Joint." My boss looked at me like I was making the whole thing up.