Chasing down the source to execute the programming changes took a significant amount of time as one could imagine. Everyone from chip tuners to major automotive design houses were contacted with no result. Many of these sources did not understand what our requirement was. Fewer still had any understanding on how to implement our proposed changes.
Fortunately reading through a VW TDI centric web-site led to the contact of an individual capable of executing changes to the ECU program that are required for engine operation. So, Red Light Racing is back in business and is continuing down the path of power train development. The VW ECU will be reprogrammed in a week or two and evaluated for functionality. Assuming success, hardware and electronic integration will continue at an earnest pace. Keep an eye out for future developments. Keep an ear out for the announcement of a Bonneville '09 run.
In other news, I have submitted our application for entry into the X Prize. The first race should be in New York city in September '09. Our vehicle should be up and running well before then in order to tweak the design and work out the bugs that always come with vehicle modifications.
If at this point you're feeling like you'd like to do something but don't know how one area that could use some help is research into and recruiting for the logistics portion of the race. The course hasn't been announced yet but I know there is a desire to make it a nation wide race. We'll need local logistics support at or near each stage to take care of the vehicle, one to two drivers, and maybe a few support personnel. Since we're a shoe string operation, I'm counting on the fact that collectively we know people across the country that might be able to lend a hand in order to keep logistics costs at a minimum.
Believe it or not, even though progress is slow we are making progress and based on research actually have a very good chance at making a competitive vehicle. The way I see it, we can't do any worse than an automotive industry that says it needs $50 billion to remain solvent.
