I suffered a small setback the other day before my first test drive. My Link-10 meter broke before I even got to use it. I spent $339 on this wonderful piece of equipment (with accessories) to monitor everything about my battery pack and the car's performance (volts, amps, amp hours consumed, KWH, time remaining). I even built a cute little console (with cup holder) to house the instrument.
Anyway, I decided to go ahead with the test driving without metering anything. I just won't be able to push it to the limits until I solve the instrumentation problems. Today, I drove up and down my street more aggressively and even took it around the block. I probably put a total of about 2 miles on it, reaching a speed of about 38 mph. Each successful drive boosts my confidence in the controller a little more. Although I still have visions of it exploding.
What I noticed during the test drives:
- Acceleration is not near as good as it was with the 360 cid V8 I replaced. (Ha, no surprise there).
- Shifting is natural and easy without the clutch, as expected.
- It accelerates from a stop best in first gear. I had actually expected second gear to be best because of the motor torque curve. I guess the extra weight of the car overcomes the instant torque.
- One rear tire rubs on the wheel well lip. This is an easy fix with a hammer.
- The front battery rack supports rub the front tires when turning full in either direction. This is an easy fix with a grinder.
- There is quite a bit of rattling - probably because the steel battery restraints are still loose from temporarily addressing the problem of pack voltage leaking to the car chassis.
- I do not yet have a feel for how fast it will go. I need a tach and an ammeter before I push it much harder.
- I do not yet have a feel for how far it will go. The short drives I have made did not use much of the battery capacity, which seems to bode well for the range.
- Braking is very good. I did not really "feel" the extra weight - even when braking hard.
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