Us mods and a young Dbhpian went along. We took the Optra and a Thai taxi with us. Was feeling bit under the weather so the RS stayed back (yes, I am an idiot!).
Team members were waiting on hand to guide us in for registration. We were then invited to view the products on dispaly. (sorry, we thought we would take pics later but nver got down to it). On display were their range of
- BMC Air filters, Exedy clutches, Garret intercoolers
- Tien suspension components. Some of these were adjustable and could be tweaked electronically
- Range of diesel tuning box applications
- Various race preparation items from racing seats, pedals to apparel
Prices were also displayed. These carried a premium but judging by the amount of work that went in to optimising and bringing to market, a cost needs to be incurred.
We were then escorted to the workshop and introduced to none other than Leela Krishnan himself. He personally took us around the facility:
Immaculately laid out with defined clean area for team members to eat, relax etc and a supervisory cabin. I know no other automotive facility offering this for its own people.
Wheel Alignment
Paint Booth - this looks more geared for painting rally cars. The place is too spic and span for basic body repairs.
Dyno Tester Meter - This is an axle based system which measures power at the axle. No power losses/ distortions due to rollers etc.
This room is sound proofed with extractor fans and also a blower fan to simulate speeds upto 160km/h. More on this later
We then went to the testing rigs
Suspension rig - this is used to test suspensions and match characterisitics to both each other and to the proposed terrain. Reliability testing is done. With that, they can document the type of shims, inserts, oil vicosity required. As a result they take very few suspension spares on a rally. Any replacements are for accidents only. They test suspension travel rate at up to 1m/s lthough 0.7m/s second is the norm. This helps in designing everything from the bumpstop lengths to ride height. The rig is also used to match components prior to a rally.
Their tie up with Tien entails there doing a lot of research on Indian conditions. You would have seen a lot of discussions going on about different makes elsewhere in the forum, the impressions are mixed. We know of no other such rigs in India at the moment, manufacturers excepted. The cost of the suspension are high. A full superstreet set up for a Civic was around Rs 91000. Quality and research has a price to pay.
Head Flowmeter rig
Here the cylinder head is mounted along with probes and inflow/ outflow velocities are measured. This is improtant as we see below
Engine Dismantling area - this is separate, the engine is dismantled and cleaned
Engine Assembly - this is a squeaky clean area where the parts are organised and engine rebuilt. You could eat your dinner or get operated out here. It is that clean. The engine is mounted on a rig, none of that three men to tip it over to get at the bottom end nonsense,
Leela's key points in tuning - I hope I got these correctly
- Best gains are from improving volumetric efficiency -
- Start with the air intake, exhaust and head porting. All these must be matched - that is an art in itself
- Cam changes, Remapping ignition comes later when changing compression ratios, intake pressures and turbocharging - looks like we met the dark side too soon!
- High compression pistons, con rods etc come later once you have established the kind of power and durability required.
- Supercharging is a fuel consumption hog
- Hyundai, Toyota and Honda are consistent in stock BHP outputs rating as also BMW and Mercedes
- Maruti are not consistent. Now we know the dark side of Baleno's!
- Do they remove cat cons ?- Its upto the customer but they are developing a performance version shortly
We were impressed with Leela and his ability to engage with people of all BHP IQ levels.
He also mentioned how the Cedia has driven them nuts as it is a difficult nut to tune due to its long stroke. Anyway he cracked it and offered me a ride in Naren Kumars new Cedia.
Sat inside with difficulty. He started it up but let it idle until the temeperature and pressure were up to the mark. The car idled without any lumpyness. Boy, it is loud, the fuel pump whined hard, as he started off it was joined by a loud whine of the straight cut gears.
He gingerly took the car onto the main road, waited for a clear opportunity and floored it. The shove was amazing. Along came a speed breaker and he braked late....well it was well in time.