So What Did I Get?

The Mechanicals

The motor is the preferred, square-bore/stroke 1608cc Fiat engine. The engine was race-prepped. The motor was blueprinted, the block deck had been shaved .005” for flatness and the bores were oversize 1mm. The block was align-bored to the crank. The crank has been polished and balanced. Kolbenschmidt Hypereutectic pistons were installed with a 1mm oversize. The head had been shaved (9:3 to 1 CR) and the valve seats received a 3-angle grind. Stock valves and cams are used this application. The carburetion is a single Webber 32/36 DFAV carb, jetted to maximize the motor build specs within the SCCA IT regulations.

The car is equipped with a factory 5-spd. I run a variety of 13x5.5” alloy wheels with either Kumho VictorRacer 700 or Toyo Proxes RA1 tires depending on conditions. The tire size is 205/60R-13. In the rain I run a surprising cheap performer - Sumitomo’s. The car is equipped with Koni yellow shocks all around and some very stiff springs that lower the car considerably. The oil pan is only 5-6” off the track. An oversized front sway bar is used but not in therear. I am considering installing one but have been told by other Fiat racers not to unless I want to scare myself. I run all synthetic oils – motor, transmission and diffy; Mobil 1 and Redline products. My brake fluid is the popular MOTUL. My sanctioning body does not allow any glycol in the radiator so I run water and Redline Water Wetter.

Performance

The car handles like a go-car. It is very well balanced. Quite honestly it is a dream to drive. I can pass many racers in the turns, given the late braking capabilities of the 4-wheel disc brakes and superior chassis set-up from the car builders. But the low-end torque regularly leaves me behind on the straights.

Red-line on the engine is 6,500 rpms but I have occasionally taken it into the low 7,000 rpm range when track dynamics or race position require. In a brain-dead moment at Road America, I dropped the car into 2 nd gear going into turn 5. The motor went over 8,000 rpms. My brother thought an F-1 had gone by. Haven’t done that again! Thanks to the engine builder’s meticulous efforts- the motor did not miss a beat. The motor will rev all day with decent high rpm power. The downside is the single carb. The motor will not spool up fast in the straights as my competitors with race cams and dual carbs can.

Fastest I have gotten the car was through the Carousel to Canada Corner at Road America. In 5 th gear, with a 4.33:1 diffy, I hit 6,500 rpms before braking. I would estimate I peaked around 115-120 mph. Fast enough for me!

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