2004 Baja 1000 - !Tiene Un Hemi!

Ten, count 'em, TEN Baja Designs Soltek HIDs. They turn small animals and children into skeletons.

Ten, count 'em, TEN Baja Designs Soltek HIDs. They turn small animals and children into s

But, effective management requires a constant source of precise, real-time information. In aviation, monitoring systems isn't a question of winning or losing - it's a question of life or death. If your engine dies, you can't just pull over at 25,000 feet. More than half the KORE race team consists of Marine Corps combat pilots. These guys demand a lot of information to maintain their SA (situational awareness). We wanted to design the cockpit of the Hemi to provide maximum information in the clearest, most sophisticated format possible so that nothing gets by the codriver when he's task-saturated with navigating and communicating.

Our plan was to use good old analog gauges and idiot lights, but this wasn't as simple as it seemed. In the past, I had used all kinds of gauges: liquid-filled, fluid-damped, digital - you name it. These gauges all had shortcomings, from reliability to readability. Plus, the complexity of hooking up separate sensors for the idiot lights was a real pain.

We did some research and found a great American company called Nordskog. Bob "Ironman" Nordskog, an offshore racing legend and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame, founded the company over 30 years ago. Nordskog offers full lines of both analog and digital gauges, including patented GPS-satellite-controlled speedometers that have no wires or cables as well as standard auxiliary gauges such as water temperature, oil pressure, fuel level, and voltage.

These gauges were just the ticket for us. They're made for the punishment of offshore racing, but we found that they were perfect for professional off-road use. They're sealed and weatherized, and pointer bounce is electronically eliminated. They're also made in the USA and have a lifetime warranty.

The best thing about these gauges is that they analyze and interpret as well as display information. Programmable output wires allow you to manage, not just monitor, the information. These output wires can be set to activate at any numerical value on the gauge. Then the signal can be used to turn on shift lights, fans, warning alarms, and for us: big, juicy, red idiot lights.

During the Baja 500, these gauges performed flawlessly, providing clear information as the situation dictated. Using their unique features, we programmed our idiot lights to illuminate as the motor and transmission temperatures or fuel and oil pressures reached their maximum or minimum values. These features proved invaluable during prerunning and racing.

*A fuel-pressure fluctuation revealed that we were running out of fuel earlier than anticipated. Black smoke indicated a rich condition that we resolved by replacing fouled O2 sensors, thereby bringing our range back into spec.

*An overvoltage indication led to a wiring problem that had resulted from small-gauge wire.

*Transmission overtemps were handled by reducing throttle position until our safe threshold could be maintained.

*High water temperatures were traced to blown radiator-fan fuses. This caused a separated hose. Precise monitoring during a low water condition permitted continuing despite the increased temperatures.

When you're racing all out, you're often running along the ragged edge of both human and mechanical performance. Without proper information for the humans to effectively interface with the machine, you can't operate at the limit. We found that the Nordskog gauges were absolutely essential in helping us accomplish our mission. These high-tech parts are going to be part of the KORE race program for a long time.