Eagle Talon Road Course Car

Purchased in December 1996 as a Christmas present! By Nov 1997 I decided to take it to the track. I swapped the front leather seat for a racing bucket, had braided brake lines installed, and swapped the springs for a typical Eibach kit. I went to Willow Springs Raceway in Dec 1997, and it's been an addiction ever since.

The car has been modified in stages, with the primary emphasis being on handling. It does have several power related mods as well, and with a few more parts could be a very fast car.

exterior mods

Body is stock except for hood replaced with 11lb carbon-fibre "double-bubble" (top photo)
Fenders rolled to accomodate 17x8" rims with 235x45 tires with low ride height

power mods

Pretty much all the plumbing has been upgraded and is ready for that super-fancy set of injectors and engine management electronics you've dreamed about. Right now, it has stock electronics and turbo boost management.

TD05-16G 550cfm Turbo
K&N intake, GReddy blow off valve
Upsized and re-routed intake piping
Upsized side mounted intercooler
Upsized collector, catalytic converter, Apexi exhaust
Upsized fuel pump
Oct 2010 : 1999 block and crank, new Eagle rods, new Wiseco 9:1 pistons, 0.020 overbore
Oct 2010 : rebuilt head with all new parts
Oct 2010 : ECU from 1999 car, larger injectors
Oct 2010 : pretty tame boost still, erring on the side of reliability
Oct 2010 : we're expecting about 240hp at the wheels
Nov 2011 : after a long story with as many twists as Buttonwillow, the engine is rebuilt, and dynos right at 260hp (give or take on the weather). Car feels great, and we're looking forward to seeing some great lap times in 2012.

chassis/drivetrain mods

Handling has been the emphasis, and it is now set up to be fairly neutral for a FWD that had a tendency towards huge understeer in stock form. In long sweepers a tickle of the throttle will point the car anywhere you want, and on corner entry the correct braking will turn the car however you want. I always liked that Mario Andretti quote, (something like) "It's amazing how many people think the brakes are for slowing the car down."

Quaife limited slip differential
Lightweight flywheel 2500lb clutch
Fuel tank has been modified so it will suck the last drop of gas in the middle of 1G turn no problem
JIC Coil over shocks, 15-way adjustable, dual-adjustment ride height collars
600# front springs, 325# rear
Mueller upper front A-arms with adjustable camber
Suspension setup by Mueller
Anti-roll bars: front is stock, rear is RRE custom
Shock tower braces, and under-carriage braces are RRE custom
New urethane motor mounts and front suspension bushings
Borbet Type-S 17x8 wheels
AEM 12.8" two-piece front rotors, two-piston calipers from AWD Talon
AEM 11.5 rear rotors, stock calipers
Stainless braided brake lines
Porterfield R4 pads
Toyo RA1 dry tires, Firestone SZ50 rain tires

interior mods

At this point, majority of the interior has been removed. All that remains is the stock front dash. Carpet is gone, but the soundproofing material is still in it. Door glass and motors and such have been removed. Total weight is now about 2700 lbs.

Driver seat: Cobra Imola II (7lbs)
Passenger seat: Cobra Monaco (20lbs)
Driver seat on slides to accommodate different drivers
Both seats have brand new 5-point harnesses
4-point roll-bar
5lb Extinguisher with two nozzles, pull cable
Ignition cutoff switch at passenger window on rollbar
Battery relocated to in passenger rear-seat area

performance

The car was mostly hot lapped, so timing was informal. It now has an AMB tronsponder in it though.

I'd have to really dig for recent track lap times. The latest lap times I ran at Willow Springs (big track) was mid 1:36 on a day that was 115°F air temp which makes the track pretty slick. My very first lap times at that track was 1:52 in a basically stock car (and less than skillful driving). After some mods and a couple years practice I ran 1:45 times for quite a while as well. The 1:36 came after the most recent power and suspension upgrades and would likely have been faster under better track conditions. The car actually about 100lbs lighter today than it was then. Finish off the motor with proper electronics and injectors, and the extra HP should bring those times right down to 1:30s. All times, except that first run are on the Toyo RA1 tires. I've seen other DSMs do 1:29s which is about what a stock early model Viper would do.

You can also see from the 2001 ButtonWillow video that the car tends to gain ground in long sweepers. It's not super fast out of a corner (needs more power), but it brakes well (as far as I can tell), and it handles quite well for a front heavy car. Not super nimble in tight chicanes, but pretty good everywhere else. Suspension has been set up by Mueller who knows the DSMs quite well, and I will say it was way better after they got done with it.

There's also an Oct 2009 Lap around ButtonWillow #13 Clockwise with my son Seth driving (only his 5th track day ever) turned a few low 2:11s and lots of low 2:12s.