Mendeola SDR-5

I had a chance to check on the Mendeola SDR-5 transaxle. This is the transaxle designed for the GTM. Mendeola has a online catalog that is populated with photos of the GTM and Superlite SLC. They state that the SDR-5 was "Based on a mid-engine 2 seat, 2 wheel drive sports car with a wheelbase between 92" and 102" which weighs between 2400 and 2800 lbs. Front to rear bias: 45%F - 55%R. Rear tires P295 - P325 on 18" or 19" wheel."

Mendeola SDR5 transaxle. This was designed for the GTM.

Sounds like a GTM to me! There have been a lot of numbers thrown around about the SDR-5 transmission. These are the published numbers from Mendeola:

• 650 horsepower
• 600 foot-lbs torque

The knock on Mendeola has been their failure to deliver the original SDR transaxles to Factory Five customers on schedule or even a little behind schedule. My understanding is the original orders have been fulfilled. I inquired of Factory Five what kind of deposit and lead time they required for future SDR orders. Factory Five indicated they were not taking any SDR orders at this time.

The Mendeola website is running a banner ad indicating the SDR is coming soon. The online catalog that opens for the banner ad lists the SDR5. Page 7 has the following pricing:

• SDR5 Transaxle - $10,950
• GTM Mount - $475
• Master Shift Setup - $2400
• Gear Dash Indicator - $295           

There are probably some other things I need, so the entire transmission and shifting setup could cost somewhere north of $16,000. This is $4000 to $5000 over budget. Not good news on the money front, but great news on the durability front for a transaxle that is brand new and can handle the HP and torque coming off a LS 376/525 EFI engine.

DashCommand

DashCommand is an app similar to Torque that monitors vehicle performance. It is available for Apple, Android and Windows platforms. It works with the same OBDII Bluetooth enabled scan tool as Torque. One curious note is that DashCommand was listed for $29.95 in the Android Market Place, but only $9.95 in the Amazon Android App Store. It pays to check prices.

Main Menu.

I deployed DashCommand to my Android Tablet. I can run in concurrent with Torque as they use the same Bluetooth interface. DashCommand seemed to have a little more trouble making the initial connection to the OBDII scan tool and it seems like the app gets lost every so often.

There are multiple dashboard displays. This one measures speed, RPM, acceleration, horsepower and  torque.

On the plus side, I thought the DashCommand screens were easier to read. These screen captures are all real time shots from a short drive in the Corvette.

This display is one of 2 fuel consumption (kind of the how-green-is-my-car display).  While I'm not one for blue smoke coming out the tail pipe, I really don't care about how green my car is. I am driving a performance sports car, not some battery powered Obamamobile.

Torque is more flexible on how dashboard displays are designed. The DashCommand website lists all the sensors they monitor, and they state not all cars have these sensors. Since I will go with a new engine harness and ECU to match the engine I plan to purchase, I think I should have all the bells and whistles that can be tracked.

The most interesting item on this screen is the intake temperature. The very first winter project I did on the Corvette was to install a Hurricane cold air intake. My buddy Brian and I worked all day on that one. I probably wouldn't have tried to do that if he hadn't been gracious enough to help me.

This is the skid pad screen from app. It uses the built in sensors on the tablet to figure out acceleration and braking  Gs. Hmmm, it looks like I accelerate a lot more than I brake.

The Skid Pad screen is unique to DashCommand.

This is the race track screen that projects a trip against Google Maps (once you have an Internet connection). I like  Torque's version better.

Parking Assist

I ordered the parking assist sensors last month. I decided to go with a 4 sensor set up for front and rear for a total of 8 sensors. Basically, you end up purchasing two 4 sensor kits. The purpose of parking sensors is to assist the driver with an audio/visual notification of obstructions within 5 feet of the front or rear bumpers.

This is one of the kits.

I already know that parking a car on the lift or under the lift will be a close thing. It is easy to park a car under the lift. It is harder to park a car going up the ramps and keep everything straight. I can park the Camry and Boxster without any problems. The minivan fits on the lift if you remove the side mirrors, so there are limitations to what I can park on the lift. The driver's rear view and perception in the GTM is minimal.

They sent me 2 sets of sensors. This is the basic set.

The sensors are  position inside the bumper fascia. This means it will be inside the fiberglass shell. Forward sensors are connected to the brake light. Rear sensors are connected to the reverse lights. You might think forward sensors are overkill, but I have discovered that parking the Corvette and/or the Boxster (with its new front end) can be a challenge as you just don't have a great sense for the distance between the front end and the curb.

This is the second set of sensirs that have double sided 3M auto motive tape.

The sensors connect to a control box. The control box is wired to a power source. Most likely with wire taps. This is very low power system. I will be employing LED lamps through out the GTM, so tapping these sensors into those circuits should be a minimal load.

Control box, power leads, buzzer and buzzer interface wire.

The control box has outlets for buzzer and display. I plan to only use a buzzer system. I will augment the parking assist sensors with forward and rear cameras wired into the stereo/Mp3/BlueTooth/GPS system on the center console. One of this year's projects is to upgrade the Boxster's electronics. I plan to add a camera to that project. I will use the Boxster as a camera test bed.

Control box with inputs for power, left sensor, left center sensor, right center sensor and ring sensor. Outputs for display and buzzer.

This set changes the ISIS wiring setup. At the time, I reasoned the parking assist required a separate circuit. Since this system is designed to piggyback on lighting circuits, there is no need for a separate ISIS circuit. The other change to the ISIS wiring diagrams is the elimination of a separate circuit for HomeLink. Since I am going with a GPS Navigation system on the center console, I can move HomeLink functionality to the rear view mirror.

Torque App

Torque is an OBD II performance and diagnostic monitoring tool that deploys to the Android Operating System (sorry Apple users). There is a free and a professional version. The professional version costs $5 and is available on the Android Market Place. I wouldn't bother with the free version.

Torque Pro main screen.

I am using the Corvette as a Torque test bed. The entire set up costs under $40. I can keep Torque loaded into memory on my Android tablet (Samsung Galaxie II). It would work just as well on an Android smart phone. You can set up virtual sensors based on sensors available to the ECU. These can be set up as dials, graphs, digital displays and/or bar charts.

Real time virtual gauges.

Most cars built since 1995 have a OBDII plug (On Board Diagnostic II). This is the interface between a manufacture and/or aftermarket scanners to access the ECU. The Corvette C5 has a plug tucked under the dash board about dead center under the steering column.

This is a bluetooth enabled scan tool. It is designed to work with Torque. It is plugged into the OBD II socket and receives power form the car. 

One of the goals for the GTM is to monitor engine performance. The requirement is twofold:

• To debug problems that occur pre/post build. There is no Mr. Goodwrench to help out. I need to understand what is happening inside the engine.
• The Engine Control Unit that comes with the LS376/525 engine is fantastic, and I need a reliable method to monitor the ECU.

Torque uses the tablet's GPS signal to record speed and direction for any given trip.  This is then plotted against a Google map display. This is my ride to and from a local deli. This chart is built into the app and just requires an Internet connection.

Data logging is the most intriguing aspect. A specific metric (in this case RPM plotted against speed) can be logged to a file on the device. Later this file can be uploaded to a web server and plotted against Google maps and the specific metric displayed in a dual chart. Torque provides access to its web server for registered users. Data logging is managed by setting up the preferences under settings.

This is the data logging plotted out after my trip to the deli. It is the same trip as displayed in the previous display. (Before anyone gets on my case, speed was recorded in KPH not MPH, so I wasn't really speeding). The line chart shows speed (x axisi) against time (y axis) and the bottom shows RPM (x axis). This chart requires access to Torque's web server.

To demonstrate Torque's data logging capabilities, I took a run in the Corvette from my house to a local deli for a bagel run. You can clearly see the shift points in the charts, the route and the low to high speed (green to red) relative to top speed achieved during the trip (in case about 50 mph).

Torque allows you to set up profiles for different cars. Right now I have one set up for the Corvette. I plan to add one for the Boxster and the GTM. This entire platform can be moved from car to car. This is an incredible flexible product and I have only skimmed the surface.