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[Sean_tex]

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Hello, hi, hi-ya, howdy ..... to y'all from Texas!
I have a 2014 Spec Race Atom #00059. Bought it about 2 years ago but been sidelined with a back issue but over the last 6 months happily I've been able to get back in the seat.
My atom is entirely dedicated to track days. I'm a member at the Motorsports Ranch in North Texas and there's 4 other members with atoms so we kind of have our own unofficial little club.
The weather is starting to warm up and expected to be in the high 70's next Thursday so looking forward to get on track for the first time this year.
I've designed my own Drag Reduction System and eager to test it out. Also made an aerodynamic windscreen.
I will likely be reaching out to members for help and advice so thanks in advance!

[Sledgehammer]

Hello and welcome, your DRS wing looks very interresting to me, maybe you would like to share more details with us.

[Sean_tex]

Thanks for the welcome sledgehammer!
My DRS ...... you likely know that the pros us hydraulics and that requires a pump & oil reservoir, hoses, cylinder and control system all of which is possible to add but I thought more complex & costly than a relatively simple all electrical system. I did consider pneumatics but that has similar cons to hydraulics.
As I have electrical & mechanical engineering background and a history of innovative solutions I decided to take a lash at DRS for my Atom. I settled on using linear actuators as my motive force and so set about selecting a wing & then designed a support & motion system around that and the car.
The mechanical side was reasonably straightforward albeit with lots of fine details to consider & work around. Once I had a framework I was able to select the actuators & then came the difficult part ..... designing a controller and how it should work. I designed and built the controller myself & if I were to do it again I think I would use a programmable logic controller that might save some time but would add to the cost.
The pros have to switch their systems on & off but I don't need anymore complexity or distraction while driving so my system works automatically when turn on. It works off the throttle position i.e. with my foot on the throttle DRS is on reducing drag while still providing some downforce & when I take my foot off i.e. to brake, it turns off ..... providing more downforce & drag.

[mike_21]

Outstanding! Love home fabrication. I have SRA 0040 and am located North of Atlanta.

[thrlskr]

That's pretty cool. I have friend, Moti, who used a DRS system on a Miata. Love that you're giving it a go in the Atom. What wings are you using?

I have SRA number 25.

[thrlskr]

Post a video. I'm curious about how quickly it actuates.

[Sean_tex]

Outstanding! Love home fabrication. I have SRA 0040 and am located North of Atlanta.

Thanks Mike, are there other atom owners in your area?

Seán

[Sean_tex]

That's pretty cool. I have friend, Moti, who used a DRS system on a Miata. Love that you're giving it a go in the Atom. What wings are you using?

I have SRA number 25.

Thanks, the wing for the DRS is from Winglogic & the provided some test data that helped. The front wing is from Megan Racing and really could be any double decker.
BTW I went to the track Thursday and though it was in the low 70's the wind was 30 mph gusting 50 & it was head on down our longest straight. I can usually hit over 100 mph on this straight but was struggling to get to 100 ...... however I clipped 2 seconds off my best time.

[Sean_tex]

Post a video. I'm curious about how quickly it actuates.

The pro DRS's operate up & down in about 1 second. If I'd used hydraulics or pneumatics it would of been similar but as it's an electric linear actuator then I'm limited to their max speed, which is 14mm/s & that's about 2.2s up or down. I'm moving the wing from zero to 12 degrees angle- of-attack & could and might raise it from zero to 2 or 3 degrees & that would reduce the time to 1.83 or 1.65 respectively.
I have a 3 second video of the movement but when I try to post it I get invalid extension error, it's mp4. I'll work on the video.

[mike_21]

Outstanding! Love home fabrication. I have SRA 0040 and am located North of Atlanta.

Thanks Mike, are there other atom owners in your area?

Seán

Sean,

I've met one other Atom owner from the area. He has a street legal superharged version that he tracks quite often.


Mike