Titan Motorsports has officially teamed up with XS Power Batteries. Team Titan will be running XS Power Batteries on both the XTF Scion and the XPS Cobalt. XS Power is a perfect fit for Titan. The weight savings, superior technology, and microprocessor controlled voltage will all help give Titan the extra advantage needed to stay competitive in teh 2010 season in ADRL. All the batteries used in testing have all performed flawlessly and the quality is exactly what was expected from a company like XS Power.

Join us for the ADRL season opener on March 19-20th at Houston Raceway Park. Come see what the XS Powered Titan cars can do. We’ll see you at the races!

[See official press release below]

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The Hairston Motorsports and Racing Jerry Bickel Race Cars built 2007 Pro Street GTO with a 377 CID twin turbo Duttweiler GM small block reset the Pro Street national ET and MPH record at the recently completed Pacific Street Car Association season opener at The Strip in Las Vegas. The new records are 6.237 @ 232.35 MPH. In addition to the record setting performance, the team went on to win the event, their 10th Pro Street title……..

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The Lr48 represents two years of research and development work focused on designing the perfect battery for Pro Mod drag racing.  Made for total loss systems (those without alternators) the Lr48 is an 8.8Ah lithium ion battery that features full voltage regulation.  It is the ONLY lithium ion racing battery that is regulated and you will see that difference immediately. The data on your acquisition system will show a voltage line that is completely flat.  Many commented during the testing phase of this product that “you can’t even tell when the nitrous comes on” because the voltage holds within 0.1V (up to 150A load.)

You will love how this starts your engine no matter how big it is!  With almost 2 volts more than the Braille B168L at the starter during cranking, you can hear the difference.

Of course, any part used in drag racing has to work in a high vibration environment.  The Lr48 features full semiconductor switches.  No mechanical relays here to shake loose during tire shake.

There is a huge amount of energy density in lithium ion batteries (up to three times more than lead acid) and that energy has to be tightly controlled.  The Lr48 has a full computer built in with many features to keep the Lr48 safe and reliable in the abusive environment of professional drag racing.  Under voltage, over voltage, over current, cell monitoring, and balancing are all built in to the eight channel computer.  The LCD display gives you the information you need to adjust the voltage and know the condition of the battery at all times.

Don’t forget the charger.  The charger is a key to the life and safety of any battery especially a lithium ion.  The XS Power 1007 charger is very sophisticated with full charge acceptance monitoring.  This charger measures the voltage every second and adjusts its charge rate based on the battery’s SOC (state of charge) and acceptance rate.  Being fully automatic, this charger shuts down at the end of cycle and therefore can be left unattended.

In contrast using a simple power supply is asking for trouble.  If the battery is at an extremely low SOC, the power supply will damage the cells by hitting them with full current.  Second, lithium ion batteries are very different from lead acid.  Lead acid batteries should be float charged (maintained) so battery maintainers are common in garages all over.  In contrast, lithium batteries age faster at 100% SOC so therefore they should not be float charged or left on a charger indefinitely.  The charge cycle should stop at 100% SOC.  Simple power supplies do not have the intelligence to do this.

Try the Lr48 for your Pro Mod today.  We are confident you will agree it’s the best battery you’ve ever used!

Our buddies at Wrecked Magazine did a quick write-up showing us how they installed a S680 in their 350Z. Take a look. The 350Z as a whole is coming along quite nicely as well. There are plenty of other write-ups you can check out as well.
Thanks Wrecked Mag. Looking forward to your next issue!

Titan Motorsports will be opening the doors of their new facility in Orlando, FL this year; March 6th. Be sure to pay them a visit.

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Conductance testing is useful for determining the remaining life (or state of health, SOH) in a battery.  Many battery distributors and service centers use conductance testing on a regular basis for this very purpose and warranty processing.  However can conductance testing be used to establish a rating for a new battery?  According to Midtronics, a leader in conductance testing, no!    To quote their website,

“The Midtronics CCA value derived from conductance does not, however, determine the actual Cold Cranking Amps of the battery because that test includes a lengthy discharge of 30 seconds at a very high current rate.”

“The Midtronics CCA values are designed simply to mimic the initial starting characteristics of new batteries with a given CCA rating under the same operating conditions.
For example, if a battery that is rated at 600 CCA is measured at 500 CCA, it can be thought of as having similar starting characteristics of a new battery having a rating of 500 CCA if that battery is substituted with the test battery. It does not mean that the battery will pass a Cold Cranking Test at 500 CCA. It should also be remembered that the cranking power of all batteries increases with temperature and decreases with discharge and degradation.”

In talking with one of their engineers at the recent AAPEX show in Las Vegas and going through a demonstration of their product, it was clear that the Midtronics unit is not designed to set the CCA number, only to estimate it given a standard.  You enter the factory rated CCA data into the Midtronics machine and the machine returns a CCA that represents the battery’s state of health.

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Why are XS Power Lithium Powerpacks for automotive use not rated in cranking amps?

The simple answer is because you cannot safely extract energy that fast from any lithium-ion battery on the market today (even if some competitors claim a crank amp rating.)  Sustained high rate discharges from lithium-ion batteries will cause dangerous electrolyte venting and explosive fires.  After such an uncontrolled high rate discharge permanent damage is done to the individual cells.  This is a characteristic of the Lithium-ion cell’s chemistry and has been confirmed with our in-house Firing Circuits battery tester.

Well, will it start my car? Yes!  XS Power Lithium Powerpacks can discharge high currents for short bursts and can easily handle a modern cranking sequence.  For instance, XS Power Lr48 batteries have started large V8 engines with high compression rates and sizes up to 932 cu. in.  In fact each XS Power Lithium battery goes through a complete test regimen that includes high rate discharging, charging, and sustained loads for several cycles before it is shipped.

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Be sure to check out our new ad in this year’s Performance Racing Industry’s Buyers Guide. Its the cat’s pajamas.

CCE Hydraulics jumped to a another new world record for the second year claiming the highest hop for a single pump truck. At this point you have to ask yourself, “what in the world are they using to accomplish such an incredible feat?”  And at which point we would point you in the direction of the answer.

Congrats CCE! Love you long time.