So March seems like GT2 month at Champion Motorsport. Our yellow GT2 from last month is back for round II of mods, a white GT2 is on the way, and in the meantime, this amazing meteor gray beauty is only just beginning it's transition into a true race car. A race car that will compete in one of the most legendary endurance races in the US....the One Lap Of America. One Lap is 8 days of grueling races and testing that push both the driver and car to the limit. It not only requires a capable car, but performance that's both reliable and repeatable, principles that we've based our entire tuning program on.

The story begins about 3 weeks ago when the owner of this GT2 contacted me looking for some guidance on building a powerful race car to compete in the One Lap of America event for 2012. He had already decided on the GT2 to be the base platform, and after some lengthy discussions about the possibilities for improving both power output and, perhaps more importantly, versatility and reliability, the search began for the perfect GT2. As fate would have it, this meteor gray gem was for sale about 20 miles from our location. Only 1900 miles on the odometer, bone stock, completely loaded with carbon fiber and deviated stitching EVERYWHERE, and even a full leather PCM....we'd found our car! Within a short time, we took delivery and the fun begins! Here's a couple pictures on delivery...










This will be one of the most complete turbo builds we've done in a long time, where we'll be addressing both power and handling, along with a few other precautionary and reliability-based mods. The team here knows a thing or two about endurance racing , so some of that expertise will definitely be coming into play. The power package of choice will be our 68mm VTG turbochargers with complete power package. Maintaining low end power will be key to staying competitive in several of the One Lap events. Because One Lap uses a variety of venues, from skid-pad testing to road course racing, we'll also be creating a suite of ECU programs using GIAC's flashloader technology to accommodate high power and low power programs in both race and pump fuel. This will be one heck of a fun build, and I'll be making updates daily or whenever possible.

Work began a couple days ago as the engine and trans come out for round I of mods. Stay tuned for more as the build moves on...







This beauty just arrived. The Guard GT2 Pro 60/40 limited slip differential.







Some more goodies that are going into this GT2 arrived. Engine goes back in the car this week to prep for a visit and test drive by the owner.

Then it's on to the suspension and safety equipment...




New Guard GT2 Pro LSD on it's way in...





Time for a major update on the One Lap GT2. Engine should be back in and running by tomorrow, but in the meantime here's some pretty cool pictures of the LSD and tranny upgrades we've done to this car, and a few other trick mods.

First...as some Turbo and GT2 owners know, the car is plagued from the factory by faulty coolant distribution pipe. From the factory, the fittings are only held onto the pipe by epoxy, which almost always fatigues under heat and can cause the fittings to detach from the pipe. The result is an ugly mess. So to prevent this, we've taken the time to remove the pipe, and weld the fittings so that they can't come loose. It was a bit of a tedious process, requiring some machining of both parts to allow them to be welded together, but DEFINITELY a worthwhile process if your engine's already out.





Moving on to the transmission, we installed the Guard GT2 Pro 60/40 limited slip differential, along with a CMS billet aluminum differential cover. The CMS cover is designed to reduce flex in the transmission housing, which can lead to premature ring and pinion wear. Again...something that anyone doing a LSD upgrade should also consider. Before installing the new Guard LSD, measurements have to be taken to determine the correct installation height on the new LSD. Installing a new LSD is NOT as simple as taking out the old one and installing the new. We use the lathe not for machining purposes, but just to take extremely accurate measurements so we can calculate the width of shims that need to be used. In this case, the difference was less then .0005 of an inch on one side, but .025" on the other, which accounted for a diff and side cover change.



Here's a picture of the beautiful new CMS billet side-cover.



In this picture, you'll notice that the CMS cover also incorporates an adjustable brass safety stop, which is designed to prevent the ring gear from flexing away from the pinion under full load. This feature is typically found in racecar gearboxes...exactly like the GT1.





And ready to go back in the car...

 

Lovely spec of that car, look incredible.

 

Wow!! Looking forwar to seeing this when its complete. You guys are not letting anything go untouched. Nice work. Keep us updated. Looking great so far!

 

Cool project!

 

Throw some sport buckets in it and it's perfect! Love the color matched wheels and the yellow calipers against the gray.

 

Very cool project. If it's becoming a race car, isn't a lot of the interior going to be stripped out? Such a pity on a beautifully optioned out car.

None the less, great project and I look forward to more images.

 

That car is absolutely stunning visually as stock...

Pleeease don't mess around with the looks at all, it's gorgeous!

 

And this is why Champion Motorsport are the Kings at this stuff! Look at this fabrication!

 

Absolutely epic build. I'm amazed at the fab work you guys do!

 

Great to see, looking forward to see the process and the final result.
We will publish it with a link to your website and Teamspeed, since this may interest thousands of our readers world wide. www. driving-dutchman.com