This is cross posted from my forum...

OK, everything is looking really good for the "MassIVe" cross country drive to the Sacramento Bug O Rama and now it's time to start planning the best and most effective route for the trip. The Bluebonic Plague will be sporting the Hot VW's build up engine for it's trip from coast to coast to add a little spice to the build up story and to give Hot VWs more data than they'll ever be able to use!

The easiest way for me to go (and the way I'm familiar with) would be just running I 40 the whole way to California, then jumping on the 5 freeway...

But that route is too boring and too flat! I want to put this engine through it's paces as best I can and throw as much load at it as possible, so a trek through the mountains mixed with some high speed driving would be best for sure... So I'm thinking about intersecting with I-80 somewhere and then taking it through Wyoming and utah and coming right into Sacramento (Is the speed limit still 75 MPH in Wyoming, if so that would be a great place to cruise 85-90 all day long and gather tons of data!). This should blend a great mix of weather conditions as well as terrain to travel through and all that is important since I will be data logging the entire trip and uploading the information for all to see. This will prove what the TIV has to offer in so man y ways that it's unending!

So... who along the way wants to meet me and see the car/engine?? If we plan this right I can make "pit stops" across the country. The route is currently 100% open so if anyone wants to meet with me speak up!

Jake the speed limits in wyoming and utah are 75, same with nevada. Sounds like a great trip. Be great to meet you and see the car, if you decide to make a stop in Salt Lake City let me know and we'll hook up and I'll treat you to a lunch or dinner.

Uh Oh...

7000 to 8000 ft elevation thru wyoming will test your motor at those speeds. Have fun

Bernie

It's gonna be an awesome trip. I'll be at the Bug-O-Rama myself. Anyone else want to come and represent 914s? I'll contact the Bug-O-Rama people about getting some space if there is any interest.

I'm gonna see if I can make it...

Sounds fun.

The entire trip is about "Testing the engine".... Thats why we'll be datalogging all 4 CHT, all 4 EGT, TQ, HP, G forces MPG, AFR and speed through the Dl-1. There are many more parameters that will be getting logged as well but I have to see just how many inputs we can run in the car. The datalogger is awesome and uses a GPS to log vehicle position as well as the speed.

We are attaching a video camera to the DL-1 next weekend to show in car shots so when we upload information to the net you guys can download it and wee what we saw as the driver and passenger as well as all the data about the engine at that given moment, and view it on the track map.

I'm trying my best to talk "dstar" from the STF into going with me and being the techno geek while I drive. We'll have two wireless laptops in the car attached to the DL-1 so we can extract data and upload it when we have a wireless signal. This will also allow pics to be uploaded on the fly as well for hourly updates to the net!

I have removed the passenger seat of the Bug and fabricated a workstation that slides onto the original seat tracks. This allows the passenger to sit in the back seat, have plenty of leg room and keep the logger going as well as working on the net- it's a trick set up that I'll be using the first time next weekend at the SE Dyno Day and the Silver Dollar showdown drag race event.

I will be finalizing my route the end of this week and will then create a test outline that will cover what we want to test on the way. This will include various velocity stacks, a couple of different mufflers and a bunch of other small items that we can carry with us and swap in rest areas and the like on the way.

Ultimately- this is the engine I built for Hot VWs and their Type 4 engine build up that will begin in May (June issue) Since the show is in May the editor of the story will still have time to include all the data summarys that we come up with after the trip, so this will be an ultimate, multi-faceted article full of information that they normally cannot publish, because they don't have it!

I have already dynoed this engine when we finished it while Hot VWs was here in February... Next weekend I'll get rear wheel HP and TQ numbers with the exact same settings we left the engine with on my dyno. The next day we'll get 1/8 and 1/4 mile drag times as well as 0-60 times from the Dl-1 and then it'll all be topped off by the trip across country just as fast as we can get there!

This is how much I believe in the TIV 2270 engine that I create.

See ya'll there!

BTW- Mark, see about that spot- I'll pay for it.

Oh yeah- Next year I plan on the same trip,same route, to the same show, logging all the same info but with an engine producing 115 more HP.... Having this comparative data will shut mouths forever.

I may go down. I'm trying to see if I can arrange for Gerry and I to do a road trip. Where's a Big Gulp smilie

Dave

I'll buy breakfast as ya leave...other wise I'm too close and boring!!!

Here is a screen shot of what the logger's track map looks like and a few other little things...

One of my customers, Bill K from the STF built this baby for me and while it wasn't cheap to build it damn sure was worth it!





Hell I just noticed that the track map looks just like Mid Ohio! Key hole and all!

I just emailed the people about getting a corral for 10-15 914s. We'll see what they say.

Jake - take HWY 50 from Utah directly to Sacramento.

You won't be dissapointed! It is a famous "lonely road" w/o service for long stretches, it has awesome scenery and historic sites, and some real curvy mountain sections in NV then again in CA. There is this big tree in NV by the side of the road, the biggest one for about 100 miles, that people have been throwing shoes into for at least 30 yrs, they dangle like hunddreds of Xmas ornaments.

If you think you've got a reliable engine go for it!

Sounds very cool. Best of luck and I'm looking forward to tracking your progress. I'm sure you will prove that the T4 is a reliable street engine.

I made similar trip in my T4 powered 914. I had extended sections at 90 MPH + at high altitude and temps of 85 degrees with no problems.

I-70 east out of denver in to utah.... you will get a test on that stretch. and don't go through eisenhower tunnel. take loveland pass and get to 11,990 feet if the web is to be believed....

and a very scenic drive as well.

cheers.........

See you at this end.

QUOTE (StratPlayer @ Mar 5 2006, 09:19 AM)

Jake the speed limits in wyoming and utah are 75, same with nevada. Sounds like a great trip. Be great to meet you and see the car, if you decide to make a stop in Salt Lake City let me know and we'll hook up and I'll treat you to a lunch or dinner.

but you can go 85 and the NHP dont care. Also... speed limits through the salt flats i believ are 85

SWEET!

The speed limit to the nevada state line is 75, but no one goes that speed everyone goes faster.

I'd love to be able to sustain 90 MPH for a solid two hours average.... The main group I'm doing this for is the TI guys and a TI engine will NOT run 90 MPH for two solid hours+

The data logger won't lie...

so is there gonna be a 2.4 six vs 2270 /4 shootout?

I'm game....

Jake,

I think you should map your trip thru Cali to maximize your In & Out burger stops.

Yeah.. I haven't had a single Inn-N-out burger in TEN years!

If I'd known aircooled heaven is in GA, I'd have stopped by to check it out on my last trip there.

Run it throught the southern Arizona desert if you want a good test, although I suspect it will make it just fine.

come to SoCal - we'll throw a BBQ or a dinner together

QUOTE (pek771 @ Mar 5 2006, 03:23 PM)

If I'd known aircooled heaven is in GA, I'd have stopped by to check it out on my last trip there.

Nope...

Getting into "Aircooled Heaven" is just about as difficult as going to see the man upstairs in person...

We work behind closed gates and closed doors....No time for tours around here!

Here is what a journalist from "The Porsche Post" magazine in Great Britain said about the shop..




The rest of the article is on LN Engineering's site at this link
Porsche Post RAT Story

QUOTE (pek771 @ Mar 5 2006, 03:23 PM)

If I'd known aircooled heaven is in GA, I'd have stopped by to check it out on my last trip there. Run it throught the southern Arizona desert if you want a good test, although I suspect it will make it just fine.

While the AZ and California desert in late May would be an extreme test at speed, I dont think driving a non-aircondition car through that heat would be enjoyable. High altitude testing would be far more enjoyable with better chance of the car surviving.

Bugorama looks fun. So is there going to be a big bore T1 against Raby T4 drag race? I wonder who is faster?

http://www.bugorama.com/

I'm sure the TI would be faster in the 1/4 mile- I don't concentrate on that aspect in any of my engine combinations as a primary goal. My point with the trip is simply to prove that one can make a 2500 mile trip with a sub 170 HP engine and compete with the same engine on both ends all while not having to perform any scheduled or unscheduled maintenance. The Type 1 CANNOT do this and since all my emphesis is now on the VW market this data will be very valuable. Of course a 170 HP TI could probably make it across country, but it certainly could not do it at the speeds we plan on driving.

I WILL be dragging the car at the BOR to compare temps and data with what I'll be gathering this coming weekend with the same set up here in Georgia at the Silver Dollar Showdown.

Thats one whole aspect of this trip... Gather data on the beginning end, drive 2600+ miles as fast as we can get there all while gathering data, drag race while gathering data...... I want to see how the engine responds to various climates and differences in elevation with power and with temps...

The car WILL be air conditioned...... I sell the entire arrangement to run A/c in a Vintage Beetle using my engine and my DTM- it all bolts right on..

The route I'm putting together has a great mix of all climates with twists and turns, high and low altitudes and straight line driving as well.

I chose to do this trip to the BOR simply due to its location, my high concentration of conversion customers in the area, the time of year the show is being held AND the fact that I could drag race the car at the event.

It'll damn near be impossible for anyone to top this trip and impossible for next years trip to be topped with a 280HP beast in the same car! The guys at Hot VWs think I'm insane, but bthey love the fact that we'll have so much data for their killer story!

I will see you when you get to Sacramento, you I would like to meet, being a legend and all. Maybe I can get the wife to make some ribs, I could tell you how she makes them, but then she would have to kill both of us. Probably be some of the SBO crowd there too, I always seem to run across someone at that thing whenever I go.

If you go through NM/UT, north and west of Albuquerque there is a sweet road that goes near 4 corners sort of obliquely toward SLC through some of the prettiest mountains you will ever see. I can direct you to some of the most scenic roads you can imagine depending on if you plan to go through Yosemite, North or South of Lake Tahoe, that sort of thing. There are some nice back roads I used to take From Baytown, Texas to Conroe via 105 that pretty much makes you miss Houston completely, which is a good thing if you are driving. I imagine there are plenty of fellas could tell you ways to avoid traffic in their neck of the woods.

RE: your route.

I'd head toward Denver first. There's no direct way from GA to Denver, so you're more likely to hit some non-interstates.

From Denver, second the suggestion of taking I-70 to SLC. Way more interesting route than I-80, IMHO. But if the weather looks iffy, you can always take 80 as a backup.

If you have the time and want more curvy roads, don't do SLC > Reno > Sacto via I-80. Instead, do Carson City > South Lake Tahoe > Sacto via 50. It's more funner.

hey jake,

do those who chose the $5k engine route get admission to the compound if they (and the engine) are in the area? will have , a some of my and some rounds for my own .......

and go over loveland pass. you may well be at 80F in denver with 20F and blizzard conditions over the pass.... that there is good fun!

scott

QUOTE (StratPlayer @ Mar 5 2006, 12:35 PM)

The speed limit to the nevada state line is 75, but no one goes that speed everyone goes faster.

odd, signs when i was going from Wendover to SLC were 85mph though the flats =\

QUOTE (Jake Raby @ Mar 5 2006, 03:55 PM)

It'll damn near be impossible for anyone to top this trip and impossible for next years trip to be topped with a 280HP beast in the same car! The guys at Hot VWs think I'm insane, but they love the fact that we'll have so much data for their killer story!

The guys at hot VW's must not know much about T4s? I didnt do a thing to my T4 and it went 2500 miles cross country without any maitenance or repairs and then spent a full weekend at Streets of Willow a week after that trip. T4's are tough little engines as long as they dont get too hot. I would think your engines would be even more robust given greater cooling effecincies of the cylinders you use.

Probably a good thing your taking Northern route regardless of AC. Its aircooled hell in the AZ desert during that time of the year.

I'm hoping to come up to Sac.

QUOTE (grantsfo @ Mar 5 2006, 05:24 PM)

Probably a good thing your taking Northern route regardless of AC.  Its aircooled hell in the AZ desert during that time of the year.

Wussie!

It is not real hot here in May, it is just getting started by then.


Hey Jake, you could stop by here and help me clean the oil spots off of my driveway!


John

P.S. "All race cars leak oil."

The engine is comprised of all off the shelf components. The guys at Hot VWs wanted something covered that could be built by a reader, easily for less than an arm and a leg, so we used a 2270 kit and went with it. The only thing "Special" about this engine is it's the first non prototype using our "New Generation" heads... The results were stunning!

BTW- I do plan on running 50 instead of I80 when I get to that point..

I'm getting a ton of emails from guys that are interested in TIV power, so I'm doing my best to make a route that will get the conversion out to the guys that want to see it the most.

We are making a page on the site to go over the entire trip and the final route. The page will go over the every aspect of the car and the engine and thats where we'll upload pics, data logs and etc during the trip.

Well we got a track day May 12th at No Problem Raceway Louisianna Just north of New Orleans 40 miles or so. Private day 1.8 mile road course We can always squeeze in another car if you want to play.

The Bug has a swing axle rear, and it don't take kindly to serious cornering...

Yea well the offer stands. Most of the guys are riced out hondas with lambo doors and street tires. I image you could scare the piss out of them as you pulled away going down the straight.
They would all be getting a tune up the next day while scratching thier ass as to how they were getting thier doors blow off by a bug!

if you come by KY lemme know i'll treat for lunch or something.

b