By the way, check out the variety of cars running the ECOtec engine: a turbo-charged dragster, a RWD turbo tube-frame car, a FWD turbo tube-frame car, a FWD turbo uni-body, and a naturally aspirated FWD uni-body. And that's just what's present at our test, you can find ECOtecs competing in Drifting, SCCA Road Racing, Inboard Powerboat Racing, sand rail racing, and the Ariel Atom. There's probably more that I'm missing, but I just wanted to point that out here because I think itâs pretty cool!
The biggest job was Marty Ladwig's re-engineered All Motor Chevy Cobalt with new driver Grace Howell. Having raced Super Stock for several years, Grace is not new to driving a race car, but she is new to sport compact (and to front wheel drive). The car has been heavily modified for a new engine and transmission package and for weight reduction. The car had some minor bugs to work out, but the engine ran strong. Since this is the same engine we put through vigorous dyno testing before installing in the race car, we feel good about its apparent longevity. Now we just hope it can put down the power to make us competitive in the tough All-Motor class.
Overall, our first test went well. They never feel like they're going well while you're there, but, you have to remind yourself that this is what testing is for - working out the bugs. I was happy to see Grace slide so easily into driving her new car (her very first burn-out on the track was beautiful!), and Bruno Massellâs easy transition to methanol was a relief to all of us. We seem to have found solutions to further improve the reliability of Bryan Jimenez's 4T65 race transmission, and Don Nase Jr. is making progress on learning his new F.A.S.T. system. All-in-all this first test was exactly what it needed to be - a great learning experience.Check out more pictures in our Flickr galleries.
