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Here's the link to the RAT Torquer Tour Map.
http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/crosscountry/
It's about 3100 miles from Cleveland to Sacramento.

Day 1, Sun 5/21/06:
* Cleveland to Carrollton, GA for a quick stop at the Atlanta Bug Fever Show
* Thru Birmingham, AL to Indianapolis, IN

Day 2, Mon 5/22/06:
* VolksBash show
* On to LN Engineering in Momence, IL for a chat with Charles
* Push on to Lincoln, NE

Day 3, Tue 5/23/06:
* Grind on to Breckenridge, CO

Day 4, Wed 5/24/06:
* Hit the hills through Steamboat Springs and Dinosaur, CO to Salt Lake City, UT (looking forward to this part )

Day 5, Thurs 5/25/06:
* Take it home to Sacramento, CA through Reno, NV

We'll be updating the map as we go to show status and creating linked pages with details along the way. The logger will be recording CHTx4, EGTx4, AFR, O/T, Fan Inlet Temp, RPM, Speed, 2Axis Acceleration, and GPS Location. We'll get the car weighed and do a cost down measurement to determine the drag coeficient and rolling resistance so we can calculate road torque and power. The pages linked to the "thumb tacks" on the map will have screen shots of this data as well as reports on oil changes, mileage, weather, road grade, and altitude. We'll be taking pictures and some in-car video as well. It's going to be a virtual reality show

I'm looking forward to the tour and seeing how this engine performs first hand.

We'll be monitoring this thread for those interested in meeting us along the road for a quick stop. You can PM me or Jake your number for us to call to set up a time and place.

Happy trails,
Bill

Good Suff, Bill K. Hope you guys have a safe and fun trip. I'll be following the progress

pete

I'm in this morning doing the final wiring for the weather station in the car...

When we finish this trip we'll have more data than anyone does for an aircooled VW Performance engine!

Since we'll have wireless internet connections (and our own network in the car) feel free to email us if you want to meet us somewhere along the route, the email addy we'll be at is [email protected]

If we have time we definately want to go a tad bit out of the way and data log a trip up Pike's Peak!

verrry nice! Geeze, if a fat guy got in the paper for walking across the country then this has the makings of alot more than a magazine article. Heck, start your own magazine, and copyright everything of course. I may have missed it in another post; are you running a DL2? Have a blast!

Jakes's got quite a set up. We're using Race-Technology DL1 that has 8 analog inputs and 4 frequency inputs. I've built an analog to frequency converter to utilize all 11 channels for analog input. DL2 has 16 analog inputs and 4 freq (I think), but costs a lot more... CHT and EGT are SPA gauges for the external thermocouple amps to tap into for logging.

Pikes Peak here we come,
Bill

Nice trip! It will be plenty of road time each day but not insane. With 5 days you can enjoy the trip too. Back in the 70s I hitched from N CA down through I 10 and back up to Richmond VA in 3 days. It was a burn out. Funny, one guy picked me up in AZ and gave me a ride into TX. He picked me up again in TN after driving all night to catch up LOL.

If you fall asleep and mis the Sac exit, I'll meet you along the road.

Ron

My last trip cross country was in a U haul...

Made the trip 9,000 pounds overweight in 40 hours! The govenor on the truck was bypassed the entire time...

On a good straight she'd run 90!

40 hours without a wink of sleep!!

Thats crazy, most I have driven straight is like 200 miles. But then I'm only 16...

Can Drive Soon wrote:Thats crazy, most I have driven straight is like 200 miles. But then I'm only 16...

You should change your user name to "Havn't driven much yet" LOL

Ron

Have you guys started yet? With the time difference and all, I don't know exactly anymore what to subtract or add

Is there a stretch of road where you can do 160-170 km/h for a minute or two? (100-105 mph)
Those circomstances and longer stretches up a slope at higher speeds would be the most interesting for me to know (CHT's)

Good luck guys!
Drive safe,
Walter

We are leaving momentarily... Had a long evening last night fighting with last minute preparation..

We wil be able to calculate the % of grades with the datlogger by using the GPS and an altimeter, I am very curious to create a general rule concerning grade Vs head temp- thats the whole reason we are driving the Colorado.

Nice route you picked out, good luck to you and your "chase" team. I look forward to daily updates, especially around the Pike's Peak area. I've done several "Iron Butt ralleys" on my ZRX, but never in a car.

have fun, Jake.

Here's a Yahoo Map of the route. Note that Yahoo's giving directions from city center to city center, so it's not exact -- I threw it together to better visualize Jake's trip:

http://tinyurl.com/pbm84

(takes a minute or so to load on my computer)

And NOW I see Jake's map (wasn't working for me before). Ah well.

E-mail sent... posted if you check here first:

Jake... per our conversation last week... I thought I'd put together a few directions and highlights for the trip into Breckenridge. Let’s plan on meeting at NuVintage in Denver which is an aircooled VW repair and parts shop. I figured this would be a good place to meet in case you need some replacement pieces for the Plague… plus it’s right off I-76 which is the highway you’ll be taking through Denver. I gave them a call and they will be there until 6pm. It looks as if its 490 miles from Lincoln to NuVintage or roughly 8 hours with stops. Directions into NuVintage are as follows (5595 Sheridan Blvd, Arvada CO 303-422-4237):

-Follow I-76 from Nebraska to Denver.
-Leave the highway at exit 1b Sheridan Blvd. (at this point you’ll see NuVintage with the yellow bug on the roof across the street)
-Make a right onto Sheridan Blvd. and then an immediate left onto W. 58th Ave.
-At the first light on W. 58th Ave… make a left onto W. 56th Ave. and then another immediate left onto the frontage road.
-Follow this road into the shop.

Once you leave the shop… use these directions to Breckenridge:

-Get back on I-76 and follow it 1 mile west to where it joins up with I-70
-From Denver... it's I-70 west... be sure to fuel up before leaving... because prices in the mountains can be high.
-If you have extra time... I highly recommend Loveland pass (it goes over the Eisenhower tunnel)... if not... follow the directions to Breck that I sent you. Loveland Pass will cost you about 25 minutes vs. staying on the highway. An illustration of the route is found here: http://www.rockymountainroads.com/us-006b_co.html
-Directions for Loveland Pass to Breckenridge are as follows:
-Leave I-70 at exit 216 just before the tunnel
-Follow US6 west past the Loveland ski area
-It’s about 5-8 miles to the summit which is at 11,990 ft. There’s a sign by the side of the road… so be sure to stop and take a picture of your car next to the sign. Interesting note… you’ll be going from Denver (5280 ft.) to Loveland Pass (11,990 ft.) in something less than 80 miles. Should be a decent test of the engine. Don’t worry… there will be no snow on the road.
-Once past the summit, you’ll drop down the west side of the continental divide past Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (which is still open), and then into the valley past Keystone Ski Area. From the summit to Keystone is roughly another 8-10 miles.
-Once you leave Keystone… proceed another 2-4 miles on US6 to Swan Mountain Road and make a left. There is a stoplight there.
-Swan Mountain Road is a shortcut over to Rt. 9 into Breckenridge. At the summit of Swan Mountain road is a parking area with a short 100 yard trail to a lookout over the Dillon Reservoir. It’s a beautiful spot.
-From US6 to Rt. 9 via Swan Mountain Road is about 8-10 miles.
-Once you reach Rt. 9… make a left.
-The second stop light is Coyne Valley Road… make a right and follow the directions I sent you up to the house.

See you Tuesday…

kelwa1 wrote:Nice route you picked out, good luck to you and your "chase" team. I look forward to daily updates, especially around the Pike's Peak area. I've done several "Iron Butt ralleys" on my ZRX, but never in a car.

have fun, Jake.

What chase team????? We don't have one of those-

Anyway, today was a cluster- I'll fill you more in on the thread for Day 2...