The new boost controller is here. Looks pretty robust. Hopefully I can figure out a good way to mount it.
Posted by Cam, July 24, 2012
Author Archives: Cam
RPM Transmission & Differential
Stuff is starting to arrive! Just got the RPM transmission and differential. I’m excited to upgrade my car from the T-56 to the 6060. These two parts from RPM should both be good for up to 1000rwhp.
Posted by Cam, July 17, 2012
Work Desktop… Why Did I Wait So Long?!
Over two years ago I caved in and got an extra screen to hook up to my laptop (here’s my old setup). Now I have caved in again and gotten a desktop with two larger screens. All I can say is, “Wow. Why did I wait so long?” For two years I hunched over staring at a 13″ 1080p screen or sat with my head perpetually turned left to look at my larger monitor (I was developing neck problems). Salvation is here!
Originally I didn’t care what kind of a desktop I got. After shopping around for a bit I discovered that I could purchase a computer from the well regarded MainGear.com for nearly the same price as a comparable Dell system. I know some very happy MainGear owners so I decided to join their ranks.
MainGear.com is easy to use- nice and straightforward. Lots of flexibility with regard to hardware options. The wait for my computer was a little more than three weeks (on par for custom builds). The system is beautifully constructed (check out those colors!) and super quiet. I’m really happy with it.
I have had one issue with the computer- I’ve gotten a blue screen twice in the last week. It appears to be a problem related to the video card. I updated the driver and so far no crashes in the last few days. Fingers crossed. I’m worried it might be a power supply issue. But I’m sure if there are any further issues MainGear will take care of it.
Setting up a new computer always takes some time. There’s lots of software to install, lots of programs to customize and configure, and gigs of files to transfer. And then there’s the hardware side. I picked out a Logitech keyboard & mouse and two P2770HD 27″ Samsung monitors. When it was all set up I decided that I had to do something about the cables so I got Monster’s Cable-It and spent a good portion of a day organizing things (check it out!). Finally I decided that I had to use the integrated speakers on the P2777’s… no easy task.
Each monitor has a left and right speaker with a 1/8″ stereo input jack on the back. I wanted both speakers on the left monitor to be the left channel and both speakers on the right monitor to be the right channel. Off I went to Radio Shack. This is the monstrosity that I rigged up to get me what I needed (this was the best option, since I wanted the bulk of the mess to be behind the computer). For the amount of money I spent on these adapters and cables I could have gotten some pretty nice speakers (the ones on the monitors are so-so). But I’m still really pleased as it eliminates additional clutter on my desk and makes me feel cool.
Overall I’m really happy with the new setup. Getting work done is much easier on my back, neck and eyes (both physically and aesthetically). If you’re working on a sub-par setup then change it! I know the temptation is to wait, but I wish I had done this right from the get-go.
For anyone curious (and my own reference) here are the specs of my build:
∙ Chassis: Vybe 2012 Chassis – Red on Black Color
∙ Motherboard: Asus® P8Z77-V LK Featuring Lucid Virtu MVP, CrossFire and SLI
∙ Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 3770 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo 8MB L3 Cache HD 4000
∙ Processor Cooling: Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Heatpipe Cooler
∙ Memory: 16GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 (4x4GB)
∙ Graphics and GPGPU Accelerator: AMD® Radeon HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 w/EyeFinity 3D
∙ Power Supply: 600W Seasonic® 80+ Certified Power Supply ROHS
∙ Hard Drive Bay One: 256GB Crucial® M4 SATA 6G (w/TRIM) [500MB/s Reads]
∙ Optical Drive One: 24X Dual Layer DVD RW Drive w/ LightScribe Technology
∙ Audio: 7.1 Channel High Definition Surround Sound Supporting S/DIF Optical Out
∙ Memory Card Reader: USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Memory Card Reader (CF, MS, SD, xD, M2, MicroSD) with front panel USB 3.0 Port
∙ Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet
∙ Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
∙ Productivity Software: Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Business
∙ Etc, etc.
Posted by Cam, July 11, 2012
Boostless is Useless…
So the other night I was driving along and I thought to myself, “Boy, my car sure is slow tonight.” I didn’t give it the attention it deserved because I was listening to the New Linkin Park album Living Things (I highly recommend it, by the way). Anyway, at some point I noticed that the car didn’t just feel slow, it was slow. I had zero boost!
I’m sort of a worst case scenario guy. Even though I hoped it was going to be something simple – like a hose that had come off – my mind ran amok with all kinds of dooms day possibilities. I parked the car on Saturday night and didn’t have a chance to look at it until Sunday evening.
Anyway, it did end up being something super simple- just a hose that had been pulled off (it was just like this when I jacked the car up). The clamp was gone and the hose was pretty scraped up. I have no idea when this happened. The clamp in the second picture is from the hose on the other side. It was nearly ground off. I cleaned everything up, replaced the clamps, and took it out for a text drive.
So much better! I think that the hose may have been leaking for awhile – even back when I got my dyno at Premier. I’m going to take it back up and dyno it again so see how much power I was missing. Anyway, simple solution. I’m happy about that.
Posted by Cam, July 9th
Ah… No Respect
I came out of a store the other day and found this. Someone had sloshed something onto my Vette. Not sure what it was – maybe some kind of juice. I don’t know what the thinking was behind this, but it’s not right to mess with another person’s property.
The car was fairly dirty, so I went and cleaned it. The juice washed right off, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I guess I should be glad my car didn’t get keyed.
Posted by Cam
Lab 51 Games
One of my guilty pleasures is iPhone games. I’m not a big gamer (there are no console games I play), but every once in awhile I get smitten by something on the iPhone. But being smitten by a game pales in comparison to actually making a game. I thought I’d throw a quick shout out to Steve Middleton over at Lab 51 Games. I’ve know Steve since we were kids. He was always up to something interesting and his latest venture is an iPhone game company. So far he has a couple releases.
One of his current releases is a game called Water Logged. It’ a throwback to the water games popular in the 80’s. The nostalgia is worth a buck. Coming later this month is a new game called Flip the Bird. Be sure to check it out.
And just in case anyone is wondering what I’m playing – other than Lab 51 games – checkout Kingdom Rush and My Town 2 on the iPhone and iPad.
Posted by Cam, July 8, 2012
Camaro Trunk Pass-through
I know, I know- I said I wasn’t going to post here for awhile. But the other night I had to go pick up some area rugs. They are five feet long when rolled and there were quite a few of them. This is where the subwoofer design I picked really paid off.
I brought the rugs to the car, flipped the back seat down and popped all the rugs into the trunk utilizing the pass-through. I really don’t understand why the OEM subwoofer would remove this critical functionality. Anyway- glad I still have it (the functionality). I bought the Camaro thinking it would be a more practical car and it really is!
Posted by Cam, June 30, 2012
Baseline Dyno w/ Premier Performance
So the first step in this project was to get a baseline dyno from the shop where the car will be tuned. On Friday I took the car up to Premier. I had the opportunity to meet Brock and Heath and see the shop- great guys with a great setup.
We put the car on the Dyno and did a couple of pulls and the numbers came back around 600rwhp which seemed too low (it appeared that the boost controller & meth might not have been coming on initially). Heath let the car cool down and bit and then we did a run where we verified the car was using the meth tune.
On the best run the Vette put down 635rwhp. Better than before, but still way less than I was expecting (or had gotten using other Dynos). There are lots of factors to consider (heat, air quality, bigger alternator, car’s mood, etc), but truthfully 635 feels more correct to me. On the quarter I trap at 121mph and run a low 12’s. And in, ah… other venues similar horsepower cars and I are about the same speed (similar hp assuming my car is actually closer to 635rwhp).
Anyway- lower numbers are always disappointing, but it would explain a lot of things. And hey, the lower I start the higher I have to to go, right? Next step… sit here on my butt and wait for things to start showing up.