Project Car needed some gearheads on Carputer

**FastAttack** · 10-31-2004, 10:10 AM

Ok I am a complete newbie when it comes to the carputers, I've read and so far I know I will have to get myself a opus PSU

now I got a few questions for you guys.

We are developing a project car that is going to be running around 700-900whp. the car will be tracked and autocrossed.

What does this have to do with it?

Well we are planning on using the carputer to interface with the electromotive Tec 3 unit ( standalone) as well as act as our media console for a webcam/wireless communications with the homebase.

The car's headunit + PIE connector will act as our RCA out for audio.

Why not a laptop? simple reasons, being that this is a full blown car, we want to have everything as integrated as possible plus we want to make it look cool

for shows.

So here are my questions:

Getting a Opus 150 PSU will the following components be a good investment?

1. VIA EPIA-V10000A PLE133 VIA 1GHZ CPU,1PCI,1DIMM,10/100 LAN AUDIO VIDEO USB UDMA 100 MINI-ITX OEM

2. 256-512 megs of RAM

3. some sort of harddrive ( any recommendations? ) would a laptop HD with a IDE converter necessary?

4. xenarc display.
5. some sort of wireless communications via either ethernet or USB. we need at least 1 mile out of this.

6. DVD/CDRW?

Will this operate properly? or what are your recommendations..

Please remember we are trying to keep costs down and we are not ready to go and drop over 1k on this.

I been researching a lot on motherboards and the VIA VPSD seems to be the best way to go since we are going to be placing this on a 10X10" area.

Here is the picture of where its going to be placed ( see attached)

any recommendations it would be great. I know there are something on the search feature..

But remember this is a diffrent ball park carputer as this carputer will be stressed sometimes with acceleration and decelleration

thanks!

**Anarx** · 11-02-2004, 12:16 AM

hey man i'm also a n00b and was planing on doing this to be used with a Haltech E6X on my 88 RX-7 Turbo.

hit me up on Yahoo/MSN theoneanarx@yahoo.com or AIM at Moeromina

what kind of car is this? your going for pretty damn high numbers for HP.. what class are you running in with SoloII?

Jess

**hannibal** · 11-03-2004, 08:58 AM

Ummm, a 700-900whp Neon?? Why??
But that's another issue

You could get away with a Opus 90W or maybe even the std Morex 60W + Carnetix 1260. Most guys running the Opus 150W are using Athlon or P4 CPU's. With a VIA board and chip, I dont think you'll need that much power.

I'm really interested in your project. I guess you'll mainly use it for tuning the TEC3 plus datalogging and on-track video recording. You'll need to isolate the PC from the car, cause 700hp makes a lot of vibration. I would recommend a laptop HD for the same reasons. With no AC, cooling should be taken into consideration too.

And do you really think you can autocross a 700hp car? With that kinda power, its hard enough to go straight.

**PatrickB** · 11-03-2004, 10:02 AM

autocrossing a 700whp neon LOL. prepare to get owned. spool time on a neon of that power would be horrid and completely suck on a autox.

**RPI Geek** · 11-03-2004, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by PatrickB

autocrossing a 700whp neon LOL. prepare to get owned. spool time on a neon of that power would be horrid and completely suck on a autox.

Nah, he could just keep the engine revs up and do everything with the clutch. 700 WHP is more than anyone should need for a short-course autocross, and he said that he needs a mile range, so he will probably be using it for mroe than just short-course autocrossing, and the turbo will have time to spool up.

**PatrickB** · 11-03-2004, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by RPI Geek

Nah, he could just keep the engine revs up and do everything with the clutch. 700 WHP is more than anyone should need for a short-course autocross, and he said that he needs a mile range, so he will probably be using it for mroe than just short-course autocrossing, and the turbo will have time to spool up.

itwill get smashed by 110hp miatas eitherway

**Katya** · 11-03-2004, 12:03 PM

Hi, I'm an autoxer and I'm planning on finally installing my carputer this weekend. I'm doing a plexiglass case and putting it in the dash, behind the screen. At this point, I don't see taking my car to the track, but I might in the future. I'm already making some compromises, like I plan to install only a front motor mount and not a rear one as well because of the vibration it transfers to the cabin. I also need to see whether I'll need to cushion it more once I have it installed. I'm using a laptop hard drive and DVD-RW, so they should be a little more resistant. If you go laptop, you will need adaptors. Down the road I plan to integrate in an OBD-II reader or something else so I can read and tune my car. I have spent a little over $1K on everything at this point, and I'll probably spend a little more before it's finished. If you want, PM me and I'll tell you exactly what parts I'm using. I can also tell you the mods that have been done to my car for autox.

Oh, and Miatas do kick *** at autox.

**PatrickB** · 11-03-2004, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by Katya

Oh, and Miatas do kick *** at autox.

yup they are awefully hard to beat. specially if they have boost

**Katya** · 11-03-2004, 01:17 PM

Yup, our local SCCA SM2 champion this year was a turboed silver Miata. Very nice.

**BiohazrD** · 11-03-2004, 02:11 PM

700 HP on a Neon? Is that even possible? Are we talking about a SRT-4? I mean, its only a 4 banger. The only way I see this possible is to drop the stock turbo, and put an upgraded turbo, a CRAPLOAD of nitrous, massive injectors, and a cam lift. I'm pushing 500 HP with a turbo v6. No nitrous though. Seriously, how are you getting that much HP on a 4 cylinder?