Everybody knows Vibrant makes a lot of cool stuff, and some of their products take that quite literally, like Vibrant's SHEETHOT and SHEETHOT EXTREME heat shields that isolate heat in engine compartments and help keep passenger compartments cool.

Because performance-tuned cars generate a lot more heat than regular cars, managing heat becomes more important in order to prevent wear and premature failure of engine components - not to mention keeping passenger compartment temperatures manageable.

That's why MotoRep Brian "Mac" MacNamara recently installed Vibrant's heat shielding products on his Solo 2 Miata street/SCCA STR race car. As a street car/race car, he was looking for solutions to keep the intake air cooler as well as helping manage interior heat in the summer months.

His answer was to install Vibrant's SHEETHOT TF400 in the engine. His reasoning was simple: Because there's so few modifications allowed in the SCCA race class he competes in, anything he could do to give his car an advantage is worth exploring.

He wanted to keep intake air as cool as possible with his stock air filter box and intake, which just happens to curve back towards the hot engine block in the '97 Miatas - right next to the exposed headers! 

Plus there's few aftermarket options that also adhere to the SCCA rule book.

"I chose the TF-400 for its easy manipulation and because I wasn't sure how I was going to form the heat shield. I'm working with a very small car and a tight space, so I needed something I could easily bend and form," Mac said.

He used OEM fastening points from the original airbox mount and other brackets already in the engine bay. The heat shield essentially spans from the outside edge of the radiator back to the firewall, and from the hood to the frame rail, basically boxing in the intake area and half of the driver's side engine compartment from the engine side. 

Mac says it blocks both radiant heat and ambient air going into the intake. He then wrapped the stock airbox and intake line with DEI Gold tape to reflect heat. 

"Because my engine starts out with so little power and modifications are really limited by the SCCA STR rules, I'm looking for every little advantage that can help," Mac said. "This helps keep intake temperatures as low as possible to make sure I don't lose any of the power I do have. 

Overall Project Time: 1 Hour
Complexity: Relatively easy
Tools Required: Basic wrenches, cutters, brain

For more information or to order, contact your MotoRep today at 888.speed.16.

Don't have an Account? Click HERE to sign-up!

Motovicity's Sean Grogan tunes his FR-S to win back-to-back racing events

There's a modest look about MotoRep Sean Grogan that downplays the winning streak he's had for the start of the 2013 SCCA race season. But if there's a regional SCCA sports car driver that's on the top of his game, it's Grogan.

Two weeks ago he swept the SCCA Spec Neon class at Waterford Hills. Last weekend he bested 140 locals at the Detroit Region SCCA season opener, where he took the top spot in his #86 2013 Scion FR-S in the Pro RTR C-stock class and placed top overall.

Grogan's best run was a 50.550 lap, giving him a PAX index time of 41.097 to lead the field and place him sixth overall for raw time. He was last year's 2012 SCCA Pro class champion driving a 1997 Neon ACR.

Ironically, he purchased his FR-S the same day Motovicity bought the Ticket-to-Ride FR-S they're giving away in September. His goal was to quickly get it ready for the Road Tire/Rear-Wheel-Drive SOLO class to startMore...

Motovicity's Sean Grogan collected three first place trophies last weekend at the SCCA Spec Neon class races at Waterford Hills race track in Oakland County, Mich.

While he swept all three races, its was a nail-biter between Grogan, driving the #37 Spec Neon as he battled a more powerful #3 Spec Focus driven by Lee Stouse. 

"We were never more than 4-5 car lengths away at nearly any point of the three 10 lap races. We ran side by side, nose to tail, all weekend long, pushing each other to the absolute limits of our cars, tires, physics and common sense," Grogan said. 

By the time Grogan walked into work Monday morning at Motovicity, most of the nerves and exhilaration had faded, but not his grin. His '95 Neon performed as expected. 

He's been tuning and auto crossing his Neon since 2010, adding Koni Yellow sport struts to keep the wheels planted better on the track, and Hawk DTC-60/HPS race pads and StopTech STR600 fluid to make sure he can brake as late into the turns as possible. 

Ironically, Grogan just installed a new set of ARP wheel studs on all four corners so he could run wheel spacers. Unfortunately for Stouse, a broken set of wheel studs during Sunday morning's race left him limping toward the finish line behind Grogan. 

While Stouse set a new Spec Focus track record drafting Grogan, the Neon also ran a near flawless weekend, coming to within .4 sec. of the Waterford Hills Spec Neon lap record. It was Grogan's fastest times at the track ever and still his first race of the season. 

"We were commended by the race stewards afterwards for putting on such a great show and keeping it clean throughout the weekend- giving the spectators a show that got them off the stands and onto their feet," Grogan said. 

"It was probably the best weekend of racing I've ever had." 

Grogan's next race is scheduled for June 8-9th, at the Waterford Hills track at the Oakland County Sportsmen's Club in Clarkston, Mich. 

Photos courtesy of Mark Windecker (top) and Tom Dahlem (right).

Don't have an Account? Click HERE to sign-up!

One week only: Get your free DeatschWerks T-shirt when you by $350+ of DeatschWerks products.

As the brand more tuners and forced induction manufacturers turn to when it comes to delivering the fuel they need, DeatschWerks injectors provide the higher flow, precision metering and direct OEM fitment that sets them apart from the competition. 

Check out our selection of DeatschWerks injectors and fuel pumps; be sure to stock up on DeatschWerks, and get your DW logo wear while supplies last. 

For more information or to order, contact your MotoRep today at 888.speed.16.

Don't have an Account? Click HERE to sign-up!

As with almost anything in performance modifications, once you add a few items here, upgrade a couple things there, you soon find a new bottleneck. Some might have existed all along, as others introduced themselves as your project progressed. 

Case in point was the intercooler on MotoRep Bryan Spears’ 2002 Miata project car. With the higher intake flow coming from the new GT3076r turbo along with new intake and exhaust components, the existing intercooler was not able to keep up. Rated at 350 hp, it had been pushed beyond its capacity last summer, so it was time for a change. 

To fill this gap, Bryan decided on a Vibrant (PN: 12801) intercooler, which measures 27-inches wide and is rated for engines up to 550 hp. Because there wasn’t a “plug-and-play” option on the market that had the capacity he needed or that would physically fit – and because he has a friend who’s a 'killer welder' – Vibrant appeared as the most More...