Hey Panos, what's the story?

[chris.richard]

We can see the pictures, but tell us more! :)

[PANOS]

HI everybody,

I guess some of you have spoted my latest photos in my gallery... Took me ages to upload...
It is a long story and I am too nackered now to type it, using only 2 fingers...
I will keep you in suspence and tell you all about it tomorrow, so be patient...

CIAO PANOS

[Swamprat33]

Congrats on 3rd place Panos.

Hillclimb in Cyprus? hmmm sounds like a lot of fun, but it must have been seriously hot :eek:

Great photos.

Hope to see you in 2006 at Abingdon.

Tim

[PANOS]

HI again,

After being dead for many years, the PISSOURI HILL CLIMB was revived as a HISTORIC event last Sunday 06NOV.
I, for one had to take part, having the only STRATOS (ok, only a replica...) in Cyprus.
It was my first copetitive event in the STRATOS... Unfortunately the weather was showery, mixed with spells of sunshine and me being no spring chicken (or should that be spring cock... I am 53... :rolleyes: ), I did not expect too much... Especially having only a Lancia Beta 2L 150BHP engine... That's my excuses out of the way anyway...
There were about 20 entries, with a few well sorted and powerfull cars with vastly more experienced drivers than me, that take regular part in motorsport events in Cyprus... Another excuse out of the way... ;)
My practice run, under sunshine but on a wet/dry road (about 3Km) was ruined by an idiot enduro motorcyclist coming the other way round a blind bend, having come on the road from some field... I was lucky to avoid the accident... But I was shaken and stired... (Time 1'40").
My first proper timed run was thankfully clear and I managed 1'16"...
Unfortunately, being a late number, my second timed run and five others', never took place as torential rain arrived and the event was stopped...
If the results stood at the first timed run, I was either first or second, but for some reason which I do not understand, the orginisers took account of the second timed runs of the cars which managed to do it and I was dropped to 3rd overall... And this is no excuse... 1st was an ESCORT Mk1 1'08" and 2nd a FIAT 130TC ABARTH 1'13", from their second runs...
I could have objected, but everybody was having such a good time, including the local authority councilors and villagers, that I did not want to spoil the party...
Now to thank my sponsors and my team:
RALLY INSIDER MAGAZINE (the only local motorsport magazine in Cyprus)
SCORPION RACING (well known british car accessories/parts company, which I represent in Cyprus)
SHADY ENTERPRISES (my own company...)

ATHINA (my wife, general run-arround help...)
ZACHARIAS, his son PETROS and ANDREAS, the mechanics who look after, service and fix my cars...

Did I tell you that I am putting together a 500BHP Lancia Thema/Integrale Turbo engine for next year...??? That's another story for another time...

Enjoy the photos...


CIAO PANOS :cool:

[Bernard]

Well Done Panos !
I bet you really enjoyed that !........... next time beat the Escorts !

Bernard

[SUSIT]

Fantastic Panos, surely you will get good points in the Stratos challenge for that?

[Sando]

Great stuff Panos, sounds terrific, well done.
Rob

[CHP]

Did I tell you that I am putting together a 500BHP Lancia Thema/Integrale Turbo engine for next year...??? That's another story for another time...


Seriously?

[PANOS]

Yes, seriously...!!!
I have a tuner/mechanic friend here in Cyprus, Mike, who has build and runs a LANCIA DELTONA INTEGRALE in local Hillclimbs and Drag races with about 900BHP...!!! :eek: Yes it's true, I have seen the dyno tests... and he is the champion...
But his car weighs about 1200Kgs... He will eventually be building my engine, but of course I only need about 500BHP, as my STRATOS only weighs about 750Kgs... and I use it on the road dailly... :)
Ofcourse, I will control the power and only use as much as I need at any given time... says he...!!! ;) If you believe that, you will believe anything... :D
Look at the attached photos and you will see what I mean...

CIAO PANOS :cool:

[rutthenut]

Mike, who has build and runs a LANCIA DELTONA INTEGRALE in local Hillclimbs and Drag races with about 900BHP...

Does it use Nitrous Oxide to get that power level?

[PANOS]

HI John,
The short answer is no...
It is a 1754cc (Bore 84mm/Stroke 79.2mm) block, with lots of fancy and highly expensive internals (I have a list if anybody is interested), runs to about 11,000RPM with 3BAR boost...!!! It has a huge water cooled charge-cooler, fed from another huge ice-cube bucket...!!! (liquid nitrogen anyone...???)
How this engine stays together after a thrushing I will never know... but it does, but it sometimes breaks clutches,gearboxes and final drives...!!!
The DELTONA does the quarter mile in about 9"... I have seen it...!!!
The previous engine was a 2042cc 700BHP at 2.5BAR boost one, that revved to 9500RPM... Quarter mile about 10"... but presumably was not good enough... What can I say some people are never satisfied...!!!

CIAO PANOS

[CHP]

Although the given figures make me shudder and I have sometimes little problems with the special sense of British humour, I assume you are serious.

Do you intend to use a turbo only configuration or a combined turbo/compressor configuration. Wasn`t the original Delta a combined configuration? I think such a small and highly pumped engine will result in a huge turbo lag and the very lightweight midengine Stratos could be hardly driveable.

I would try to go for something around 350 bhp with lower pressure and revs instead.

[rutthenut]

The Delta S4 had a turbo + super charged engine configuration, which is perhaps what you are thinking of. The Integrale was only ever turbo'ed in Group A competition.

Those figures are pretty insane - and presumably somewhat expensive to attain. However, for drag racing my sceptical mind could accept that they may be true.
Getting a driveable turbo engine to put out 500bhp would seem to be somewhat far-fetched, well it would be if you want to do more than 1/4 mile at a time with it.

However, what this guy should know about the engine internals and capabilities should mean he would be able to put together a bulletproof engine if you aimed for something between 300 and 400 bhp - which is still a huge power level (and also likely to cost a lot too). Whatever, if you get 300+ bhp, and have Group 4 rear tyres, the acceleration of the line will be something else. Not sure about part throttle through corners though.

Sounds like you've already had some good fun with the car. More power would hopefully mean more fun :)

[PANOS]

Turbo technology has moved on in leaps and bounds the last 10 years and so has engine management, due to the Japanese influence... If you do not have a Jap car (Skyline/Lancer evo/Subaru STI/Supra...) putting out at least 1000BHP :eek: , you are nowhere in drag racing... and 500BHP for the same cars for the road is now the the norm and not the exemption...!!! So do not be surprised what the Lancia engine can achieve... it is after all, one of the all time best engines made... Turbo lag may have been a problem many, many years ago, but with modern turbos and electronics it is a thing of the past...
And like I said before, you do not have to use all of the power all of the time... but it is good to know that you have it and it is there...!!! ;)

The good thing about the turbo engine and the reason I chose it over any normally aspirated V6, is that you can dial in just about any horsepower/torque you like...
Unlike the Fenomenon "STRATOS", if Lancia was going to re-do the STRATOS to win in todays WRC, it would have definately used a turbo (or supercharged, or both) engine and not a normally aspirated one...

I will keep you informed of the new engine's progress...

CIAO PANOS :cool:

[Swamprat33]

I will say one word " HEAT "

Turbo applications have ALWAYS been a problem in the Stratos, as you cant get enough air into the back end to keep them cool. That coupled with being run in Cyprus makes me shudder.

It is hard enough for most people to keep a normal V6 cool.

Hey ho, maybe you should move to Finland Panos :D :p

[rutthenut]

Fitting a water-to-air intercooler is a sensible first step if fitting a turbo engine to a Strat. That moves the problem to overall radiator/coolant issues, which has to be a lot easier than getting air into (and out of) the engine bay.

[David May]

That moves the problem to overall radiator/coolant issues, which has to be a lot easier than getting air into (and out of) the engine bay.
Unfortunately, not only does that aggrevate the already critical radiator issue, the turbo also pumps loads of extra heat into that already hot oil. I was unable to keep a mere 240hp cool with my turbo engine. And don't believe the optimism about electronics curing turbo lag - the more you boost, the longer it takes! It would be such a waste to use a Stratos only for 1/4 mile sprints!

[CHP]

There could be a way in order to prevent cooling problems in the case of a turbo without spoiling the stratos line with oversized ducts.

If you remember the clean line of the McLaren F1 you will notice that the air inlets seem to be relatively small im comparison to its huge engine therefore huge need of cooling air.

Murray solved this by using 2 fans, which suck air from the underbody into the engine bay in order to a) influence the underbody`s boundary layer and b) cool the engine bay.

You could try this on the stratos as well. Effect a) will probably not be noticed, but b) might function.

[strat6v]

A little like the brabham fan car, but with the fan between underbody and engine? Carried over his original idea somewhat.

[CHP]

Well, there is a difference in Brabham F1 fan car and McLaren F1 road car, although both where designed by G.M.

The Brabham`s fan sucks enough air to create very low pressure under the car. Therefore extremely low side walls and quite a large airflow through the fan are needed.

You can`t achieve this ground effect with a road car like the McLaren F1, because of the ground clearance. The F1 road car`s fans suck the boundary layer in order to optimize the underbody`s airflow. Less turbulence and a longer laminar flow result (at least in theory). The achieved downforce is moderate.

[PANOS]

Come on guys, give me some credit... :(
I have been studying this turbo engine business for almost 2 years now, having talked to WALKERS (Steve Smith)/WHALEY (John)/EVO ENGINEERING (Barry Waterhouse was a great guy, pitty he died so young...) and Mike in Cyprus... All the possible problems have been gone over, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say... And unless I do it, how would I know that it won't work...??? Greek logic... :D
I have already an electric fan sucking hot air out of the engine bay (as per Chris Smith's car, he gave me the idea...) and I am planning on using an even bigger one, or possibly two...
I have also an electric fan on my oil cooler, which I will be replacing with a much bigger one, with a bigger fan...
I got an aluminium water radiator from Chris Smith to replace the X1/9 one and I am fitting an electric water pump... or two...
The turbo and all the hot stuff will be wrapped in heat containing material and the bulkhead and most of the engine bay will be covered with heat reflecting film...
If all else fails, I will duct cold air from the airconditioning to the engine bay... and have it on all the time... with so much power, who cares... ;)

Now I have also been thinking of this downforce business as well and I am trying to figure out how to fit some brush type thingy along the bottom of the side of the car... got some door-bottom draft extruders from the local DIY... :o

I have three THEMA/INTEGRALE 16v Turbo engines, one is being rebuild now as a 250-300BHP one and will be used as a test bed in the car, if you like, before the big one goes in...

CIAO PANOS :cool:

[rutthenut]

Panos,

Different engine, but similar problems (and solutions) - you may want to read info at this site:

http://www.lotusesprit.org/

(also described/discussed here)
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=12272

Cooling, ducting cold air, heat shields, electric water pump, etc.

Notice also mention of 'Nimbus GII' heat shield material - available from
http://www.aerotecheng.com/nimbusg2.html - which seems like good stuff to use in the engine bay.

[PANOS]

HI John,
Thanks for the links, I will read all the info very carefully.
I value everybodies comments/ideas/sugestions... Please keep them coming and I will keep you informed, as I go along with this quest...!!!

CIAO PANOS