Pavel Herc - Minirally Vranov

Testing the Stiff Shift 1.0 and stiffer ball insert

A Slovak friend of mine attended at Minirally Vranov (Slovakia) in the recent past. Pavel is testing my ball joint housing and stiffer ball insert in his F7P'd Renault R5 GTE. The minirally was pretty fast, their average speed exceeded 104 kph. As Pavel said, my gear linkage parts worked perfectly, the shift was precise and reliable. Onboard vid of SS3 can be seen below:

World Series by Renault

Hungaroring, 02/07 - 03/07 2011

Fantastic weekend, unforgettable races in many categories, 130000 spectators, dedicated R5 Maxi Turbo model. It's hard to describe the feeling of the WSR, perhaps the pictures can do it. Click on the picture to open gallery.

Test: Quickshift

Chasing Porsche 993

Michael, the owner of the Dutch orange ITB'd Clio has been using DPA Quickshift in his car since the beginning of September. He is also testing my new gear stick lower bushes (not presented on the homepage yet). In the recent past he visited the Sturup Raceway. His trackday video is below:

He said my parts worked well under race condition and the shift was very precise and definitely shorter. Michael's car is well-known in the 'Clio scene'. I think it's not question why: it's a beast!

Stiffer ball insert

Making of the stiffer ball insert took more time than I supposed. The prototype was finished in May only. But since then I have been continuously testing it in my small Clio. Finally it's made of hard silicone rubber and not epoxy resin. The silicone rubber is less flexible than the OEM ball insert and totally fills out the inside of the ball (except the hole of the cable, of course).

Considering everything on the whole this causes less play between the gear stick and the ball shell. I would like to say a big thank to those Renault Club Hungary members who participated in the test process. I forgot to mention: the stiffer ball joint insert worked perfectly in all test vehicles.

WSR 2010

World Series by Renault in some words: 2 days, 135000 visitors, lot of competitions, more ten thousand HP, unforgettable weekend. Click on the picture for gallery:

WSR 2010 - invitation

The next event of World Series by Renault will be held this weekend at Hungaroring, Budapest.

II will be there in the Collector's Area with my car this year too. Come and have a nice weekend! WSR is one of those motorsport events which allow to survey the formula race cars and teams as close as possible.

Salgo-Gemer Rally

Dynamometers II.

12,63 s @ 185,9 km/h

Thomas achieved the 3rd place in Street - S3 category this weekend on the latest run of the HNAA Drag National Championship. The best time of the turbo'd Renault Clio 16V was 12,63 sec @ 185,9 kph on 1/4 mile:

Congratulations! Thomas has already been using the shorter version of the DPA Quickshift in his turbo'd Clio with full satisfaction for almost a year. I think, it's being tested extensively in this car.
More pics, videos about the Clio available on Thomas's homepage.

R5 Alpine Turbo

I congratulate Vsanci and Oszy for achieving first place in their category of the actual event of Speed-Proex Cup. R5 Alpine Turbo went hard this weekend in Tokol.

Well done guys!

Dynamometers I.

There is a new writing about engine and chassis dynamometers in the 'Okossagok' but it's available in Hungarian only..

Renault Gearboxes 1.1

Renault Gearboxes 1.1 is now available! The software is extended by some new functions and an updated database. Download now:

What's new:

- 15 new gearbox types (total 28)
- 864 Renault gearbox data
- showing of vehicle type - gearbox type correlation
- revised design towards easier usability
- custom ratio may be determined by tooth number
- tyre size is extended by the most common slick tyre sizes
- gearbox type and wheelsize on the printed chart
- extended save function, Pmax and Mmax rpm saved
- better perspicuity of the results
- background image applicability on the chart

The software is optimised for 1280x1024. It contains all ratios of the following Renault gearbox types (grabbed from Dialogys 3.7.5): 354, JA3, JA5, JB0, JB1, JB2, JB3, JB4, JB5, JC5, JC7, JH1, JH3, JR5, ND0, NG0, NG1, NG2, NG3, NG5, NG7, NG9, PF1, PK1, PK5, PK6, PK9, TL4.

The right answer of the Renault valtok game is 864 pcs. Nobody sent the correct answer, the closest tip was from Laszlo Baintner. He won the resin coated sticker. Congratulations! Thank you everybody for taking part in the game! Special thanks to ogabor and DaNEE (Renault Club Hungary members) for stateful testing!

Game

Renault gearboxes 1.1 will be available at the end of December on this homepage (it's being tested now). The new version of this successful software will contain more new functions and an updated database with lot of gearbox ratios. Play and win! If you can tell me the right answer for the following simple question, you will win a polished Stiff Shift:How many gearbox data will be there in the Renault valtok 1.1?

Send me your tip via email! That person whose tip is closest to the right value will win a 62 mm diameter resin coated Renault sticker.

Only one tip per email address is allowed. If two or more tips are right, the earliest is the winner! The deadline of this game is 26th of December. Good luck!

Renault Clio Maxi 1:18

It's arrived! It's the 159th from the 1500 (all models were sold out during a half day on the OttOmobile homepage...). Wonderful, detailed, 1/18. It will be the top jewel of my collection! Clio Maxi model will take its place in my room under the plotted and framed drawing of my redesigned Clio Williams engine (F7RA700) and besides the framed Renault Club T-shirt - signed by Jean Ragnotti. Click on the Maxi for more pictures:

Renault Clio Maxi F2000 - Ragnotti/Thimonier - Rallye Monte-Carlo 1995

These videos can tell you why Jeannot is known as one of the best rally driver in the world. He is a living legend!

Wheelsize Calculator

It's time to change for winter tyre. If you haven't bought the tyre or rim yet, you can choose the correct size by the Wheelsize Calculator which can calculate and compare the dimensions of the new and old tyre and rim (with spacer if needed) aswell. It's suggested to use a bit narrower tyre in winter but pay attention for the wheel diameter. Download now this helpful software:

Kazar Rallye Sprint - videos

Onboard vids are available!

Kazar Rallye Sprint

We are out of a cool weekend. Unfortunately, the race was short for our team, the clutch suddenly went wrong in the 2nd run. By the way, we enjoyed ourself, it was good to take part in this event. Hope not last!
Vsanci and Oszy arrived Saturday afternoon. We went to the stage to practise (with my little Clio 1.2 ) immediately after we had made the registration and taken our place at my grandfather.Vidi (Renault Club Hungary member) joined us during the practise. We made a grill-party in the evening, Oszy was the cook. Wolf an another RC member visited us and brought some Slovak beer. We went to bed early. It was difficult to fall asleep caused by the next day excitement. Although our accomodation was only 500 m far away of the stage but we almost missed the start in the trepidation. Let the video tale instead of me:

On-board video will come shortly!

Invitation

I would like to invite you for the following rallye event: Kazar RS (amateur rally competition) will be held next weekend (September 20th) in Kazar. Our small team - Vsanci (driver), Oszy (co-driver) and me (team manager, engineer) - from the Renault Club Hungary will participate in this race. Vsanci's R5 Alpine Turbo will be our car:

Our goal is to enjoy ourselves only. The co-driver will be Zsolt "Oszy" Horvath who is used to race in the FRT Cup with his Renault Clio Williams. He has really impressive results:

He has won the last race (Kakucsring) of the Skoda-Proex Cup Series. This time I congratulate him. Oszy is sponsored by Division Performance:

We are waiting for you! Let's meet on Sunday in Kazar!

Longer gear lever

Better late than never! I got the previously described lengthened reverse-lock sleeve yesterday. Hereby the gearknob sits 35 mm higher in my runabout little Clio but moves almost in the same distance as the genuine one due to the Quickshift. I'm able to adjust the 'shift force' (the force to push the gear lever to get it in gear) in wide range and easily.

The left sleeve made for short shifter kit, the middle one is the original and the right one is the lengthened. The difference is conspicouos. But it's almost invisible in the car.

Compression Spring Calculator - available in English

The English version of the compression spring calculator is available! You can simply select the language you want to use by clicking.

Compression Spring Calculator

Softwares is updated with a compression spring calculator. Coming soon in English!

Test

I installed the formerly mentioned longer gearstick into my daily run Clio last week. Unfortunately, the lengthened reverse-lock sleeve isn't ready I still have to wait for this. Therefore the gearstick was mounted with the genuine sleeve. In this way the elongation can be observed directly:

It was assembled with the adjustable ball joint housing (Stiff Shift 2.0), this allows to define the 'shift force' between sloppy and very tight.

The shorter quickshift is part of the whole system, this makes enable to move the gearknob almost in the same distance as the genuine, although the gearknob sits 35 mm higher. Though the shift does not become quicker (because the length of the shift throw almost equals with the original), but the time-distance necessity of putting my hand from steering wheel to the gearknob is decreased, this effects a quicker shift after all and more comfort in the daily run.

During the elapsed short test period, the gearstick demonstrated its usability, I'm really satisfied. I hope, the lengthened reverse-lock sleeve will be ready soon and then I will be able to do the final assembly. Naturally, the gearstick gaiter may be used with the new gearstick, the look of interior does not change - except the gearknob sits higher - the installed gear linkage system is 'invisible'.

Anodizing

The postman brought a package yesterday. The eloxed ball joint housings are ready! Besides the adjustable housing, I also made an aluminium version of the fix collars. Stiff Shift 1.0 and Stiff Shift 2.0:

An another item, a lengthened gearstick also was made, it is ready for test. This will be tried out in the near future, I will inform you about my experiences. I'm very curious as usual. It's the most exciting part of the whole process!

Salgo Rallye 2009

After 9 years, Salgo Rally was held last weekend. I particularly love this competition because it's organised around my hometown. I always visited this motorsport event in my childhood if I could. This year I went to the Stage Kazar as it was used to be every previous Salgó. Although it is not the most difficult or longest stage but it contains a very good mix from the surrounding stages. By the way, I go on this stage at least twice a week by going to my grandfather . My pictures are uploaded into the Gallery.

Adjustable ball joint housing - test

I have already been testing the Stiff Shift 2 since the beginning of this month, it works well, looks useable. 'Shift force' may be adjusted easily from sloppy to unmoveable. Perhaps I will change the material of the inner collar, it is more sensitive for the temperature than the desired. I made an animation about the Stiff Shift 2, it can be downloaded by clicking on the picture:

Adjustable ball joint housing

I got the prototype of Stiff Shift 2.0 on Friday. The innovation of Stiff Shift 2.0 is the adjustable 'shift force', the tightness of the ball joint may be increased (or decreased) by 4 screws from the driver seat. I have been testing this in my daily car since last weekend. The CAD drawing of the Stiff Shift 2.0 (pics and video later):

Renault Clio Williams 1:18

I got today the 1/18 scale Clio Williams model from OttOmobile. It's the 707th from 1000 . Really nice, detailed, but there are some little differences compared to the original.

Kazar Rally Sprint

Kazar Rally Sprint, the first rally event of this spring in the surroundings was held yesterday. My pictures are uploaded into the Gallery.

Available in English

The homepage is updated after a longer break. Now, it's available in English! The language may be selected by clicking on the flag in the right upper corner!

Quickshift

The short Quickshift makes possible the following modification: the original reverse-lock sleeve can be replaced with a longer one, but the shift throw will be as long as with the genuine. The gearknob is closer to the steering wheel by 35 mm, but the shift throw is not increased!
What is the advantage of this kit? The decreased distance between the gearknob and steering wheel makes more comfortable use for the driver in the daily run. Or this kit maybe a cheap alternative for the race shifter. I am now working on this, the end of the gearstick will operate close to the steering wheel and it will move in a very short way.
There are three the different gearsticks in this picture, the left one is the lengthened, the middle one is the genuine and the right one is the shortened gearstick:

Short shifters

There is a new video about the short shifter kits. The difference between the two versions can be directly observed. Click on the picture to download:

Short Shifter

Finally, the whole short shifter kit family is ready. The Quickshift is available in two lengths: there is a longer one (10% shortening) and a short version (15 % shortening). Quickshift can provide 25% or 30% shortening in total together with the shortened reverse-lock sleeve. QS made of high quality stainless steel, the sleeve made of poly-oxy-methylene (POM).

The genuine small gear linkage, the longer Quickshift and the short one:

There is an adapter for the short version, the use of this one depends on vehicle type.

Merry Xmas!

I wish you a Merry Xmas!

Quickshift - test

• under 2-3 C ambient temperature, until the gearbox oil (ELF Tranself TRX 75w-80) does not become warm, the gearstick moves lumpy and sometimes more difficult to select 2nd gear
  
  
• the required shift force perhaps is higher than desired in a passenger car in the previously mentioned environmental condition,but after getting warm it becomes smooth

These issues also happen with the stock gear linkage, but they are more appreciable by the modified ratio of the short shift kit and always end after the engine and gearbox become warm.

The stress distribution and deformation in the Quick Shift (1000x magnification):

Quickshift

The prototype of the shortened small gear linakge has been ready for Renault JB and JC gearboxes:

I have been testing the complete short shifter kit (Stiff Shift, shortened reverse-lock sleeve, Quick Shift, metal bushing) for two weeks in my daily car. It worked very well, the shift throw is considerably shorter than before and more precise. The kit was mounted into my Clio Williams as well, this video was made before and after installing.

Wheelsize Calculator

It is time to change summer tyres for winter ones. My wheel size calculator can help in this issue. Besides the tyre size, the program can calculate the changed wheel position by taking into consideration the dimensions of the rim and spacer.

Shorter reverse-lock sleeve

Unfortunately, I did not have time to deal with the homepage in the last weeks, I had to draw a lot at my workplace and at my home, too. The shortened reverse-lock sleeves were installed into my both Clios in the last weeks. Its dimension is similar to the BB short shifter, the shortening is 32 mm. It allows a noticeable shorter shift throw, the difference is 15% compared to the original one. Although it is not significant, but the modified gearstick ratio makes enable more direct feeling. A small gear linkage is being developed now, it will be able to shorten the shift throw up to 30%. Coming soon!

Short shifter

At last, my shortened reverse-lock sleeve is ready for the Clio. I am gonna install it tomorrow, I am very curious!

Ozd Rallye

I am a rally fan, so it is compulsory for me to visit those competitions which are held in the surroundings. Pictures of Ozd Rally (SS Cered) are uploaded into the Gallery.

WSR 2008 & 2009

Gallery is updated with pictures of WSR 2007 and WSR 2008!

Update

The page has been updated! First, there are some pictures uploaded in the Gallery and the Developments is extended. During next days I will have lot to do, my Clio Williams is needed to be prepared for WSR (World Series by Renault). She must be stunning!

WSR will be held at Hungaroring on July 5-6, more info here. This was amazing last year, I hope same as this year! My Historic video may be downloaded from the Gallery.

Here we go