cloudcar_racer's 2000 Dodge Stratus Fort Worth, TX Customized with K&N Intake, Clifford Security, MagnaFlow Exhaust, MaxSpeed Springs, KONI Shocks, OZ Racing Wheels, Falken Tires, Custom Strut Bars - 391 DESIGN The Dodge Stratus Super Touring Car was designed, developed and built in-house at the Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Mich. A cross-functional team of engineers, technicians and craftspeople collaborated with leading racing experts such as Reynard Racing Cars and PacWest Touring Car Group to develop the four-door, mid-size race car. While the race car's design appears similer to it's production counterpart, little else remains standard on the technologically-superior vehicle. ENGINE/DRIVETRAIN * Front-wheel drive, race-prepared Chrysler 2.0L, four cylinder, 16 valve DOHC, fuel injected unit * Chrysler SBEC IIIA Engine Management System * XTRAC six-speed sequential-shift gearbox mounted transversely SUSPENSION * Reynard designed front & rear suspension; double wishbone fabricated upright * Cockpit adjustable anti-roll bar * TRW electrically powered hydraulic rack and pinion steering * OZ 19-inch forged magnesium, center-lock wheels * 21/65 x19 Michelin Pilot racing slick tires BODY/CHASSIS * Production-based steel uni-body frame with integral roll cage * Front (splitter) and rear (wing) aerodynamic devices FEATURES * Intergral pneumatic jacking system * Quick-release steering wheel * Low CG & polar moment of inertia * PI "System 4+" data acquisition system * Onboard fire extinguisher system PERFORMANCE (all figures are approximate) * Horsepower: 300+ * Top Speed: 160 mph * 1/4 mile: 13 sec. @ 100 mph * Maximum later g-forces: 1.54 times the force of gravity "Chrysler Motorsports: Dodge Stratus Super Touring Press Port folio, September 7, 1997" cloudcar_racer's 2000 Dodge Stratus Fort Worth, TX Customized with K&N Intake, Clifford Security, MagnaFlow Exhaust, MaxSpeed Springs, KONI Shocks, OZ Racing Wheels, Falken Tires, Custom Strut Bars - 392expand _______________________________________________________________________________ cloudcar_racer's 2000 Dodge Stratus Fort Worth, TX Customized with K&N Intake, Clifford Security, MagnaFlow Exhaust, MaxSpeed Springs, KONI Shocks, OZ Racing Wheels, Falken Tires, Custom Strut Bars - 234 DODGE STRATUS: SUPER TOURING DEVELOPMENT COMPETITION PREPARATION of the Dodge Stratus engines is carried out in-house at the Chrysler Technical Center to the north of Detroit. Original dynamometer testing of the Stratus race engine was carried out on venerable testbenches at the Chrysler plant at Highland Park. This work was conducted using 'Cell 13' where development of the famed 'Hemi' head NASCAR engines of the late 1960s and early 1970s was carried out. The Highland facilities were used for early work on the Stratus race engines, until new test cells were completed at CTC in early 1996. In series production form, the four-cylinder Stratus engine was already favourably configured for a Super Touring application, with exhaust ports at the rear of the cylinder head allowing a straight foward inlet arrangement. The production engine has a cast-iron block and an aluminium alloy cylinder head. The swept volume is 1996cc (87.5mm bore, 83mm stroke) and the unit runs with a 9.6:1 compression ratio. Its four valves per cylinder are driven by a toothed rubber belt. Its cast-iron crankshaft runs in five plain main bearings. Three-ring, full-skirt, cast-aluminium pistons are fitted. The steel valves measures 35mm in diameter for intake, 30.5mm for exhaust. Lubrication is by a wet-sump system. The ancillary pumps for the water and oil systems are driven off the nose of the crankshaft. Chrysler's own SBEC III (Single-Bore Electronic Controller) engine management system administers the ignition and fuelling. In the passenger car, this engine produces 150bhp at 6500rpm and 133ft.lb of torque at 4800rpm (SAE nett figures). CTC is reluctant to disclose any details of the race engine. However, it can be safely assumed that the power output has been doubled to around 300bhp and that the EMS, which is retained for the racecar, has been suitably uprated to cope with a compression ratio in the order of 12.5:1, and crankshaft speeds of up to 8500rpm. In the Stratus racecar, the engine is transversely mounted on the right side of the engine bay, as in the passenger car, with the gearbox on the left. In the contrast with many of the latest-specification, European produced Super Touring racecars, the current configuration of the Stratus places the crankshaft axis ahead of the front axle line. However, the engine is inclined rearwards in an effort to place some of its mass within the wheel base. In line with FIA Super Touring regulations, the crankshaft speed is limited to 8500 rpm. Due to supply problems, no electronic rev-limiter is fitted but, instead, the car is equipped with a Stack RPM recorder which is checked after each event. to see that the crankshaft speed limit has not been breached. The race chassis are built at CTC, using body panels from the production line at the Chrysler plant at Sterling Heights, Michigan. While the rollcage design is by CTC, its installation is carried out by Technosports in Livonia, Michigan. After the first rollcage installation, the chassis was torsion rig tested to correlate the FEA data. CTC quotes no torsional stiffness figures. By way of example, a good Super Touring chassis typically has a hub-to-hub stiffness in excess of 25,000lb.in.deg, which is more than a fully composite Formula 1 chassis. During the final assembly at CTC, the interior of the car is equipped with a carbon composite moulding containing the switch-box and the ATL fuel cell, which is located ahead of the rear axle within the wheelbase. The fuel system is manufactured and supplied by Raetech. The Stratus is one of the few Super Touring racecars to be equipped with double wishbone front and rear suspension (in common with the Honda Accord). The advantage of this configuration at the front of the chassis is compromised by the transverse engine layout, resulting in shorter front wishbone than would usually be preferred. The suspension componets - tubular steel wishbones, custom-fabricated steel uprights and tubular front and rear anti-roll bars with blade adjustment - have all been designed and manufactured by RSVP. The coilover units, comprising Penske 8700-series dampers and single Eibach springs, are struts operated between the lower wish-bone and the inside of the wheel larches. The Stratus uses Xtrac's ST206 dedicated Super Touring gearbox. The gearshift for the this sequential-shift unit is mounted on the floor pan. Xtrac also supplies viscous coupling and clutch-pack differential options, the choice dependent on circuit configuration and surface. The clutch is an AP Racing 5.5in triple-plate carbon unit. AP Racing also supplies the braking equipment. The UK company's water-cooled, differential-bore, four-piston, twin-caliper balanced braking system is used at the front with 378mm diameter by 32mm thick ventilated discs(rotors). Single two-piston rear calipers with 277x9.5mm discs are used with solid rear discs. Performance Friction supplies the pad material. The 19in diameter, magnesium alloy OZ wheels are mounted with tyres by Michelin(the contracted supplier for the NATCC). Michelin brings three compounds to each track and the team is required to choose six tyres for qualifying and racing. The Stratus is equipped with the Pi Reasearch System 4+ data acquisition system for logging chassis data. The Chrysler SBEC EMS controls the engine and the Pi system accesses its database to record engine data. The wheelbase of the Stratus measures 2743mm, its front track 1512mm, and its rear track 1510mm. Ther overall length is 4725mm, the width 1840mm and the height 1293mm. The frontal area of the road car is given as 22.9sq.ft. Other significant dimensions are a measurement of 220mm from the engine bay bulk head to the front axle, and 340mm from the roofline to the height of the rear deck. In race trim, the Dodge Stratus weighs 2149lb (on the front-drive minimum weight limit of 975kg). "RACECAR ENGINEERING magazine 1996 Vol 6 No 5" cloudcar_racer's 2000 Dodge Stratus Fort Worth, TX Customized with K&N Intake, Clifford Security, MagnaFlow Exhaust, MaxSpeed Springs, KONI Shocks, OZ Racing Wheels, Falken Tires, Custom Strut Bars - 229expand