F20C Roadrunner Racing SR2
10-19-2013, 02:23 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
F20C Roadrunner Racing SR2
As some of you know I sold my S2000 some time ago and got into the world of Kit Cars.
Inparticular, I ended up buying a 240bhp Westfield SeW with an NA Cosworth engine in it:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/868..._hl__westfield
This was a great car with one drawback - the engine. Yes, the engine was amazing in that it was massively tractable, dry sumped, on 50mm Jenveys etc etc.
However, it was rather unique having an engine number YAB-0001 and it was simply worth too much money for me to be battering it around a track.
One eye on the road, the other on the oil pressure was not an ideal situation.
I knew I had to get an F20C back in my car. I did look at putting one in the Westfield, but it just didn't seem quite doable as I wanted. The main problem being the transmission tunnel designed for a skinny type9 box and it was just never going to work.
So the hunt was on for a new chassis. I viewed them all!
It came down to a shortlist of four: Westfield, MNR, Roadrunner Racing, and MK.
Now with all respect to MK and MNR, they were dropped pretty quickly purely down to my personal preference. Having driven an MK Indy RR I can recommend one to anyone and they won't be disappointed.
After reading lots about Westfield's new chassis (13% lighter and 30% stronger tactically using Reynolds steel alloys) it looked like a good idea, stick with what you know and all that.
The plan initially was to buy a new chassis and move a lot of parts from my current Westfield over to it. After speaking to Westfield this simply wasn't going to work as all the chassis geometry had changed and pretty much nothing would fit. Of course I could have built a new one, but to get the spec I wanted I was looking down the barrel of £20k plus which I wasn't prepared to spend.
So it was back to Roadrunner Racing (RRR). Ever since I had seen the SR2 chassis, I knew it looked right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S55U2eYbaLc
I knew that the F20C would make this usually Mazda MX-5 engined car a gem. An S2000 but less than half the weight? Yes please
And the other great thing about the SR2 was the MX-5 donor instead of a Sierra/Cortina. This means plenty of parts available including useful torsen differentials and brake upgrades.
Over this year I attended many kitcar shows speaking to RRR each time and gauging the company and the product. They certainly didn't disappoint and at Total Kitcar Live I got to go out in an MX-5 turbo engined version. The chassis was great and extremely compliant over the curbs. The engine was 'adequate'. Nothing wrong with it but certainly not an F20C, even though it was turbocharged. Speaking to Mike, the owner of the company, he said that the engine had done 150k miles, been chucked in, turboed, and done the last 6000miles being absolutely killed. He said it only needed a new set of rings and it'd be back to it's former glory. Impressive really.
I started speaking the RRR's lead fabricator, Paul. I explained about the annoyingly massive bellhousing on the S2000 box. From that point on we started speaking about the V8 demonstrator they built.
Basically, they built this V8 demonstrator because they could. It was completely hand built and assembled to take an LS2 and was given a reinforced roll cage and slightly redesigned front end to offer a bit more strength and more space.
Whilst marveling their creating, some bloke came along and offered them daft money for the engine. Thus they sold it and were now left with a V8 chassis. They commissioned another V8 engine, but delays in completion meant that the car stood still in Mike's home garage after having done well under 100 miles of running.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to take advantage of this chassis and I arranged a time to get over to RRR with my engine and gearbox.
That day was Thursday.
After walking around and chatting with Mike, Paul and Grant, it was nice too see a bunch of honest enthusiastic guys.
Looking around the V8 chassis, it seemed obvious that the engine and gearbox were going to fit width wise. And then the problem I knew was coming, arrived - the height.
Yes the F20C is a tall beast - 26" tall actually! That makes it 3.5" taller than the MX5 unit and that is quite a lot.
Despite their being a bonnet scoop on, it was still going to be a tough fit - the dreaded MAP sensor being the issue. This wouldn't be an issue on throttle bodies, but I wanted the OEM engine to fit.
Having agreed a test fit, we then talked numbers. Now, I'd love to have a nice sparkly new chassis but that would mean a 4 month lead time and a significant price increase. Sometimes you have to see sense through enthusiasm and being a demonstrator had lots of nice parts already on it .
Whilst numbers aren't 100% finalised, we are 95% there and it seems pretty certain that everyone will come out happy.
Once completed the car will no doubt be at many shows with RRR to get people interested in the F20C conversion.
Fingers crossed, it turns out as well as it has so far!
Inparticular, I ended up buying a 240bhp Westfield SeW with an NA Cosworth engine in it:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/868..._hl__westfield
This was a great car with one drawback - the engine. Yes, the engine was amazing in that it was massively tractable, dry sumped, on 50mm Jenveys etc etc.
However, it was rather unique having an engine number YAB-0001 and it was simply worth too much money for me to be battering it around a track.
One eye on the road, the other on the oil pressure was not an ideal situation.
I knew I had to get an F20C back in my car. I did look at putting one in the Westfield, but it just didn't seem quite doable as I wanted. The main problem being the transmission tunnel designed for a skinny type9 box and it was just never going to work.
So the hunt was on for a new chassis. I viewed them all!
It came down to a shortlist of four: Westfield, MNR, Roadrunner Racing, and MK.
Now with all respect to MK and MNR, they were dropped pretty quickly purely down to my personal preference. Having driven an MK Indy RR I can recommend one to anyone and they won't be disappointed.
After reading lots about Westfield's new chassis (13% lighter and 30% stronger tactically using Reynolds steel alloys) it looked like a good idea, stick with what you know and all that.
The plan initially was to buy a new chassis and move a lot of parts from my current Westfield over to it. After speaking to Westfield this simply wasn't going to work as all the chassis geometry had changed and pretty much nothing would fit. Of course I could have built a new one, but to get the spec I wanted I was looking down the barrel of £20k plus which I wasn't prepared to spend.
So it was back to Roadrunner Racing (RRR). Ever since I had seen the SR2 chassis, I knew it looked right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S55U2eYbaLc
I knew that the F20C would make this usually Mazda MX-5 engined car a gem. An S2000 but less than half the weight? Yes please
And the other great thing about the SR2 was the MX-5 donor instead of a Sierra/Cortina. This means plenty of parts available including useful torsen differentials and brake upgrades.
Over this year I attended many kitcar shows speaking to RRR each time and gauging the company and the product. They certainly didn't disappoint and at Total Kitcar Live I got to go out in an MX-5 turbo engined version. The chassis was great and extremely compliant over the curbs. The engine was 'adequate'. Nothing wrong with it but certainly not an F20C, even though it was turbocharged. Speaking to Mike, the owner of the company, he said that the engine had done 150k miles, been chucked in, turboed, and done the last 6000miles being absolutely killed. He said it only needed a new set of rings and it'd be back to it's former glory. Impressive really.
I started speaking the RRR's lead fabricator, Paul. I explained about the annoyingly massive bellhousing on the S2000 box. From that point on we started speaking about the V8 demonstrator they built.
Basically, they built this V8 demonstrator because they could. It was completely hand built and assembled to take an LS2 and was given a reinforced roll cage and slightly redesigned front end to offer a bit more strength and more space.
Whilst marveling their creating, some bloke came along and offered them daft money for the engine. Thus they sold it and were now left with a V8 chassis. They commissioned another V8 engine, but delays in completion meant that the car stood still in Mike's home garage after having done well under 100 miles of running.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to take advantage of this chassis and I arranged a time to get over to RRR with my engine and gearbox.
That day was Thursday.
After walking around and chatting with Mike, Paul and Grant, it was nice too see a bunch of honest enthusiastic guys.
Looking around the V8 chassis, it seemed obvious that the engine and gearbox were going to fit width wise. And then the problem I knew was coming, arrived - the height.
Yes the F20C is a tall beast - 26" tall actually! That makes it 3.5" taller than the MX5 unit and that is quite a lot.
Despite their being a bonnet scoop on, it was still going to be a tough fit - the dreaded MAP sensor being the issue. This wouldn't be an issue on throttle bodies, but I wanted the OEM engine to fit.
Having agreed a test fit, we then talked numbers. Now, I'd love to have a nice sparkly new chassis but that would mean a 4 month lead time and a significant price increase. Sometimes you have to see sense through enthusiasm and being a demonstrator had lots of nice parts already on it .
Whilst numbers aren't 100% finalised, we are 95% there and it seems pretty certain that everyone will come out happy.
Once completed the car will no doubt be at many shows with RRR to get people interested in the F20C conversion.
Fingers crossed, it turns out as well as it has so far!
10-19-2013, 04:44 AM
#2
A friend I went to school with has a SR2, he said it was there ex demo one. I haven't been in it though.
I've had a good look around it and they look well thought out in their construction and easy to build as all of the bits are MX5.
I'm not really looking for another kit to build yet although I did enquire about their kit prices last month, but that's as far as I went. Like you the standard engine option put me off a little.
An F20c powered one should be great, keep us updated Ron!
Lots of photos please.
I've had a good look around it and they look well thought out in their construction and easy to build as all of the bits are MX5.
I'm not really looking for another kit to build yet although I did enquire about their kit prices last month, but that's as far as I went. Like you the standard engine option put me off a little.
An F20c powered one should be great, keep us updated Ron!
Lots of photos please.
10-19-2013, 04:07 PM
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
Canting the engine over will mean the gearstick will be offset of course. Amazingly, the drysump gains you just over 1" in clearance because then you run into the bottom of the bellhousing!
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
10-20-2013, 02:20 PM
#7
Canting the engine over will mean the gearstick will be offset of course. Amazingly, the drysump gains you just over 1" in clearance because then you run into the bottom of the bellhousing!
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
but hope the project goes smoothly 
Can't wait to passenger in it, S2000 power with half the weight?!
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10-20-2013, 02:34 PM
#8
Registered User
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Ultra_Nexus' timestamp='1382227675' post='22836330
Canting the engine over will mean the gearstick will be offset of course. Amazingly, the drysump gains you just over 1" in clearance because then you run into the bottom of the bellhousing!
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
but hope the project goes smoothly Can't wait to passenger in it, S2000 power with half the weight?!
You'll be able to drive it Lee as it won't have a daft clutch.
10-20-2013, 03:04 PM
#9
Originally Posted by earl's_f20c' timestamp='1382307600' post='22837185
[quote name='Ultra_Nexus' timestamp='1382227675' post='22836330']
Canting the engine over will mean the gearstick will be offset of course. Amazingly, the drysump gains you just over 1" in clearance because then you run into the bottom of the bellhousing!
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
Canting the engine over will mean the gearstick will be offset of course. Amazingly, the drysump gains you just over 1" in clearance because then you run into the bottom of the bellhousing!
The idea, with a dry sump, would be to angle the engine downwards (Longitudinally). This would allow you to maximise clearance from dry sump and capitalise on deeper bay futher back towards the bulkhead.
The only problem in all of this is that a dry sump will cost you £2500. £2500 for 1.5" is silly especially when I can get a bigger bonnet scoop/make a bonnet mod for about £300!
Infact, having thought about it, reducing the angle of the engine would drop the inlet and allow the rocker cover to be pushed up into the scoop. I might suggest that. I know the escort boys run them at 0º without issue so might be able to get away with a few degrees less.
but hope the project goes smoothly Can't wait to passenger in it, S2000 power with half the weight?!
You'll be able to drive it Lee as it won't have a daft clutch.
[/quote]
Drive it?!
I'd best start polishing my helmet then (so to speak
)
