Scott VanderHeide’s Project SHART — 2012 Year in Review

This year has been a challenging year both on and off the track.  In a previous blog post, I stated “There Are No Problems…Only Opportunities.”  Sitting here thinking about how the year layed out for us…that about nailed it on the head!  Lots of opportunities presented themselves to us throughout the season.

With plans to compete in the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship, challenges presented themselves every step of the way.  Coming off the 2011 season, we had a few things to fix in preparation for the season. Changes in the rulebook stated that all drivers must be licensed with NASA in order to compete in the series.  We missed the first race due to the rule change and put our sites on going through the steps to get properly licensed.  The plans were to run in NASA’s HPDE group and qualify for HPDE 4 so that we could be accepted into their Driving Concepts Course in May.  (May turned out to be the only opportunity this year in order to earn a race license).

In mid April, we brought the car out to Buttonwillow Raceway to run in the NASA HPDE sessions.  This was also the second MPTCC race of the season being held the same weekend on the same track.  We could only watch and support our fellow racers as they hit the track for their race sessions.  We started off in HPDE3 group and after running in the top 3 of the group, I was tested and approved to run in the HPDE4 group the following day.  For the first time, Project SHART was able to stretch its legs…and boy did it stretch them!  The car was an absolute monster out there.  The new KSport Version RRcoilovers were performing excellent.  They were fast, predictable, and consistent.  We had also upgraded our brakes with the Fastbrake Wilwood Big Brake Kit up front.  We also added a set of Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels in 15×8 wrapped in a set of Toyo R888 tires in 225/40/15.  I can’t even express how fast this setup was.  Due to the aero (or lack thereof) up front, we had to lift in the high speed turns because the power came on so strong, as we got moving at high speed, the front of the car was beginning to lift and the steering light.  Speaking of steering, for the first time, we were running power steering in the car as well.  The guys at OSR Dyno did a great job preparing the car for its maiden voyage in the 2012 season.  We finished the day on a high note ready to tear it up in the HPDE4 session the following day.

The next day, we went out twice with the motor shutting down randomly due to electrical issues.  Although disappointed, we left that weekend with smiles on our faces because we new we were on to something.  Project SHART was fast….damn fast!

We had a month to prepare before NASA’s Driving Clinic to earn my license…so we came back to the shop and worked on finding out why the car was suddenly having electrical issues.  It turned out we had a bad Mass Air Flow Sensor.  We replace the MAF and decided to take it out for another test day to shake it down before the driving clinic.  Early May, we headed out to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for a track day with Speedventures.  The first session proved the issue was fixed.  But we then ran into issues with overboosting in the following sessions.  Unable to resolve the issue, it was too late.  Driving on 91 octane, and the car overboosting to 25 psi, it was too much for the motor resulting in melted piston rings and ringlands.  Because of this, we were unable to participate in the Driving Concepts course with NASA to apply for our Provisional Race License.  Problems???  Nope!  Opportunities!!

We now had the opportunity to build a better, stronger motor to stand up to the abuse we need to put it through.  We teamed up with our friends at JE Pistons and got a set sent out shortly to build it back up.  The guys at OSR Dyno tore down the motor and gave it a complete refreshing with all new gaskets, seals, pistons, water pump, oil pump, and a whole lot of ther stuff.  While we were at it, we decided it would be a good time to upgrade to a Synergy 20G Turbo and Godspeed Front Mount Intercooler with Piping.

Turbosmart USA joined in on the build as well providing us with their External Wastegate and BOValong with their E-Boost Street dual stage Boost Controller.  Seriously quality stuff…you can’t beat the craftsmanship and thought these guys put into their parts.  The Turbosmart Fuel Pressure Regulator also gets added to the build later down the road.  We will be doing a blog dedicated to just the Turbosmart parts in a future writeup.

Another great opportunity had come about as well.  AEM Electronics came aboard and helped us replace the ECU with their EMS-4 Stand Alone along with a new engine wiring harness and all new gauges for the car.  The AEM EMS-4 will allow us the freedom we need to precisely tune the car for maximum power and reliability.  We quickly dumped the old gauges and installed the brand new gauges (Oil and Water Temp, Oil Pressure), as well as the brand new AEM Failsafe Gauge.  Stay tuned for a writeup on this stuff!

Of course, as much as I’d like to think it would…all this stuff doesn’t happen over night.  Project SHART unexpectedly went through a complete transformation mid season.  I hung my suit up for the rest of the season and let my guys do their thing!

As the season came to a close…we decided to try and run the last event of the year which was also Redline Time Attack’s comeback Exhibition event.  Not a full on Time Attack event…but a low pressured, and fun track day that showed us all they were ready to come back in 2013!  After a six month hiatus, i’ll admit, i pushed my guys to finish the car in time to run the last event of the year.  As with everything rushed…we brought the car out and didn’t fair too well.  As we headed out to the track for our first session, not even out of the paddock…a fire in the engine bay finished our day.  In all honesty, the car was not 100% done and we weren’t really surprised.  We were very disappointed…but not surprised.

So back to the shop we go in preparation for a successful 2013 season.  For 2013, we plan to run all of the Redline Time Attack events, all west coast Global Time Attack events, as well as a few special appearances “hard parking” at car/trade shows as a booth vehicle.

What’s in store for the new year?  We are excited to announce that we will be representing Turbo By Garrett for the 2013 Race Season!  Finally, we will be able to put down the power we need to instill the fear of SHART in the other competitors!  We will be working with their engineers to allow us to run a goal of 400whp with 450ish using the scrambler button on the straights!

Running power levels like this will require a lot of downforce to keep the power to the ground.  Robert Fuller of Robispec will be tearing the car down next week as they design and fabricate the front and rear aerodynamics for the car.  We will be removing most of the rear end to fabricate bracing for the new fuel cell that will be incorporated into the rear diffuser.

After the aero is complete, we plan to deliver the vehicle to our friends at Jordan Innovations in order to completely overhaul all of the wiring on the vehicle.  They will be putting everything on a switch panel with breakers, mil spec wiring, flame retardant materials, and tucked away cleanly and professionally.

Next will be back to the guys at OSR Dyno in order to complete fabrication and installs for the remaining parts.  This is to be followed up with the final tune on the current setup until our new Garrett Turbos arrive.

The first event is mid Feb at Buttonwillow Raceway, hosted by Redline Time Attack.  There isn’t a lot of time left…so it will be a stressful two months between now and then!  Stay tuned as we leak more info about the build along the way!  See you at the Track!

Scott VanderHeide

Owner/Driver — Project SHART

Motorsports Director — Fontana Nissan/NissanRaceShop.com