http://www.v8rx7forum.com/scca-autocross-road-course/57695-ls1-fd-gnx7-go-texas-mile-2009-event-run-big-dawgs.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C5gsNxe87U
Mike wanted to take his built LSx FD to the 2009 Texas Mile event and invited me to go and also drive. Naturally I couldn't pass this one up. He rolled out earlier this week with the car in tow from SF down to TX with a stop in San Antonio with our buddy Sean helping on the driving duties. I flew down with Justin Samberg on Friday to meet them and do some testing at the local drag strip to shake the car down more. My car is at home with a few more details to iron out before it is driveable.
At the strip the air/DA was not like anything near where we are used to in SF and it was off around 7mph! Track was slippery with a head wind but it was just to practice anyway. He made a few passes and was running pretty much 11 flat. I apparantly was driving like Helen Keller and missed 2nd and then 3rd as well to run a 14 flat just putting down the track a bit disgusted with that display of crappy driving. I think it was the worst pass I've ever done.
For those of you that don't know his build up.... here it is: '93 FD, with a 440ci LS7 shortblock stroker, plop some TEA TFS 235cc heads/a ported FAST 90 intake/90mm TB with JTR 1 7/8" long tube headers, dual 3" into a single 3.5 with e-cutout and a Racing Beat twin tip muffler when the cutout is closed to kill sound. He is running an upgraded T56, Monster Stage 3.5 clutch, Samberg Fab Cobra 8.8" IRS setup with 3:55 gears as well. Tires are his daily driver Nitto NT-01 275/35/18's in RFP-01 18x9.5" rims.
So we get back from the drag strip and mess with the car a bit with Sean, Justin, and couple of Mike's buddies. Then hit the sack around 2am finally to catch a few Z's... literally a few. Get up at 5am on Saturday to pack the car up and head out to the Goliad Airport (old military air bas) about 90 miles away (we drove there). Arrive around 8am and get checked in, drivers meeting, blah blah blah.
Some pretty insane cars are showing up and are all around in the paddock area that Saturday morning. There are soooo many twin turbo cars I'll list them as a group instead:
Vipers, Ford GTs, Porsches, Corvettes, Supras, a Gumpert Apollo (Audi mid engine hell machine that holds the Nurburgring road course record), Lamborghinis, Pontiac G8s, CTS-Vs, and probably other ones I can't remember.
Lots of built/stroker cars running n/a and many spraying nitrous too. Some crazy guys and even a few gals on motorcyles. Turbo Hayabusas, R1's, etc. One crazy guy on a turbo Busa went 249mph!!!!
Friday a few guys ran and a Supra went 242, 221mph turbo Porsche, and some other fast cars made passes as well. A Porsche apparantly had a sunroof fold and the car got sideways from a strong crosswind and he had to pull his parachute which resulted in the car doing 3 or 4 360's. Luckily he was ok and the car only ripped off the front bumper. Very lucky indeed.
So back to Saturday. We tech in for the 190mph+ group which has pretty much the basics you could ask for. Fire extinguisher, 4 pt rollbar, suspension/tires/brakes in good condition, firesuit/helmet/gloves etc. That was pretty much it!
Mike chucks me the keys and says you are making the 1st pass. I was pretty excited but at the same time a bit nervous as I've never gone faster than about 170mph. We tape the front of the car where the hood meets the bumper, the headlights, and the parting line of the hood on the fenders. Then push it into the line of cars in the staging area and after about 1 hr I'm finally at the front ready to make a pass. Little burnout to clean off the tires, stage next to the official, he gives me the thumbs up.... and I'm off. Well sort of Launch, get into 2nd gear up to around 80mph I think, then can't find 3rd gear with 2 attempts.... and finally accidently push it into 5th well before the 1/4 mile marker. (don't even ask... bad day driving and nervous too). I realize my screw up but decide to keep my foot into it and as the RPMs rise... the car is really starting to wake up and make power now. 6500rpm in 5th or so.... 188mph is the result (fastest n/a car there)..... can't believe it with such a horrendous start. We later find out that 1st/2nd isn't that important and 3/4th are the key gears then of course top gear. I get the slip and people are astonished at how the car picked up speed out the back door.
I get back to the staging lanes and take the heckling from Mike and his crew and simply smile and shrug my shoulders. Next time can only get better right! One thing we all agree upon is that Mike's car is making some good power and is hauling ass out there for all motor. Mike suits up and we wait about another hour or 1.5hrs and he finally gets to the front. Engine coolant is nice and cool, winds are low, track is good to go. Tape the car up again, add some tire pressure out back too. Mike goes out there and drives awesome as usual shifting well, keeping it straight, and puts it into 5th to see what it can do.... The car past about the 1/2 mile is a blur (we are at the start) and it really moving. He runs 192.6mph!!!! Definately the fastest n/a car there by a big margin. Picks up his mph slip and comes back with a huge s**t eating grin on. People are wondering what is under the hood of this beast. We are pretty amazed as well with the results. Faster than plenty of the supercharged Mustangs/Vettes, nitrous cars etc. The car and combo are working well. Very well.
I make another pass after lunch and match Mike's 192.6mph with great shifting and keeping it nice and straight. Crazy fast and quite an adrenaline rush for sure. At the big end I let off the gas and brake a bit aggressively and the car wanders a little to the left.... going 170mph+. Slow it down and make the curve... pick up my slip.... s**t eating grin confirmed. Mike goes out and then blasts a 193mph run! We call it a day and grab some beers from the truck to celebrate. Awesome first day and his car performed flawlessly. Mike- thanks for letting me beat on your car and haul some serious ass as well!
It is 11pm now and of course we are taking the mirrors off now and removing the rear lower bumper trim to get another 2mph or so. We want 195mph all motor!
Some pics to follow here in a few minutes as I upload them. Aside from our great day other guys went 220's in Porsches, 240's in Supra's, and a turbo Hayabusa went 250mph!!!! crazy cars out here!
and more in other posts:
UnderGround Racing 1300awhp forged bottom end V10, mildly ported heads, stock cams/valvetrain (upgraded springs), and GT67 turbos with Motec fuel management. 237mph in the standing mile I believe! one of the Lambo's caught fire crossing the finish line @ 198mph!
I'm pretty sure the reason we are going so fast is the small frontal area. The FD is truly 3/4 the size of other cars here. We were fighting a headwind all weekend which wasn't helping either... but for the 1st time ever doing anything like this Mike and I were more than happy. No breakage and drove from the vent back to San Antonio around 100 miles with no issues and a/c on.
Some other cars with more power but lower #'s
708RWHP ZO6 188mph
691RWHP ZR1 190mph
690RWHP R35 188mph
We drove the car to/from the event from San Antonio which was around 100 miles each way. Didn't even have a trailer at the track if it broke down.....
The yellow Lambo caught fire which we believe was an oil line rupturing. Big fireball at the big end. The rear plastics and engine compartment were toast but repairable. Maybe next time Underground Racing will put a real fire system in their conversions. It had none. Burned off the parachute when it was released also!!! He still crossed the line at 198mph which was nutty to watch!!!! IMO the Lambos were some of the most impressive cars there. One day I will own one of those with a twin turbo setup.
The rules at the TX Mile are pretty lax but there are basic ones which are to be followed by everyone. Some of the Porsche guys had bolt in 4 pt rollbars and that was all that was required to hit 190mph+.
The tapework you see in the pics is all that we did. In 8 total runs it didn't really allow us to experiment that much. Both oil cooler vents were taped shut. We wanted the radiator to be fed fresh cool air as the intake filter is there as well.
I think the car would go 200mph n/a in 1 mile with a front air dam, lowering the car, tires that are less wide, and a vented hood with a small rear spoiler. In its current form it would easily go 200mph with more distance. I think Mike and I may have both hit that speed already as we stayed in it for a couple seconds after crossing the finish line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C5gsNxe87U
Mike wanted to take his built LSx FD to the 2009 Texas Mile event and invited me to go and also drive. Naturally I couldn't pass this one up. He rolled out earlier this week with the car in tow from SF down to TX with a stop in San Antonio with our buddy Sean helping on the driving duties. I flew down with Justin Samberg on Friday to meet them and do some testing at the local drag strip to shake the car down more. My car is at home with a few more details to iron out before it is driveable.
At the strip the air/DA was not like anything near where we are used to in SF and it was off around 7mph! Track was slippery with a head wind but it was just to practice anyway. He made a few passes and was running pretty much 11 flat. I apparantly was driving like Helen Keller and missed 2nd and then 3rd as well to run a 14 flat just putting down the track a bit disgusted with that display of crappy driving. I think it was the worst pass I've ever done.
For those of you that don't know his build up.... here it is: '93 FD, with a 440ci LS7 shortblock stroker, plop some TEA TFS 235cc heads/a ported FAST 90 intake/90mm TB with JTR 1 7/8" long tube headers, dual 3" into a single 3.5 with e-cutout and a Racing Beat twin tip muffler when the cutout is closed to kill sound. He is running an upgraded T56, Monster Stage 3.5 clutch, Samberg Fab Cobra 8.8" IRS setup with 3:55 gears as well. Tires are his daily driver Nitto NT-01 275/35/18's in RFP-01 18x9.5" rims.
So we get back from the drag strip and mess with the car a bit with Sean, Justin, and couple of Mike's buddies. Then hit the sack around 2am finally to catch a few Z's... literally a few. Get up at 5am on Saturday to pack the car up and head out to the Goliad Airport (old military air bas) about 90 miles away (we drove there). Arrive around 8am and get checked in, drivers meeting, blah blah blah.
Some pretty insane cars are showing up and are all around in the paddock area that Saturday morning. There are soooo many twin turbo cars I'll list them as a group instead:
Vipers, Ford GTs, Porsches, Corvettes, Supras, a Gumpert Apollo (Audi mid engine hell machine that holds the Nurburgring road course record), Lamborghinis, Pontiac G8s, CTS-Vs, and probably other ones I can't remember.
Lots of built/stroker cars running n/a and many spraying nitrous too. Some crazy guys and even a few gals on motorcyles. Turbo Hayabusas, R1's, etc. One crazy guy on a turbo Busa went 249mph!!!!
Friday a few guys ran and a Supra went 242, 221mph turbo Porsche, and some other fast cars made passes as well. A Porsche apparantly had a sunroof fold and the car got sideways from a strong crosswind and he had to pull his parachute which resulted in the car doing 3 or 4 360's. Luckily he was ok and the car only ripped off the front bumper. Very lucky indeed.
So back to Saturday. We tech in for the 190mph+ group which has pretty much the basics you could ask for. Fire extinguisher, 4 pt rollbar, suspension/tires/brakes in good condition, firesuit/helmet/gloves etc. That was pretty much it!
Mike chucks me the keys and says you are making the 1st pass. I was pretty excited but at the same time a bit nervous as I've never gone faster than about 170mph. We tape the front of the car where the hood meets the bumper, the headlights, and the parting line of the hood on the fenders. Then push it into the line of cars in the staging area and after about 1 hr I'm finally at the front ready to make a pass. Little burnout to clean off the tires, stage next to the official, he gives me the thumbs up.... and I'm off. Well sort of Launch, get into 2nd gear up to around 80mph I think, then can't find 3rd gear with 2 attempts.... and finally accidently push it into 5th well before the 1/4 mile marker. (don't even ask... bad day driving and nervous too). I realize my screw up but decide to keep my foot into it and as the RPMs rise... the car is really starting to wake up and make power now. 6500rpm in 5th or so.... 188mph is the result (fastest n/a car there)..... can't believe it with such a horrendous start. We later find out that 1st/2nd isn't that important and 3/4th are the key gears then of course top gear. I get the slip and people are astonished at how the car picked up speed out the back door.
I get back to the staging lanes and take the heckling from Mike and his crew and simply smile and shrug my shoulders. Next time can only get better right! One thing we all agree upon is that Mike's car is making some good power and is hauling ass out there for all motor. Mike suits up and we wait about another hour or 1.5hrs and he finally gets to the front. Engine coolant is nice and cool, winds are low, track is good to go. Tape the car up again, add some tire pressure out back too. Mike goes out there and drives awesome as usual shifting well, keeping it straight, and puts it into 5th to see what it can do.... The car past about the 1/2 mile is a blur (we are at the start) and it really moving. He runs 192.6mph!!!! Definately the fastest n/a car there by a big margin. Picks up his mph slip and comes back with a huge s**t eating grin on. People are wondering what is under the hood of this beast. We are pretty amazed as well with the results. Faster than plenty of the supercharged Mustangs/Vettes, nitrous cars etc. The car and combo are working well. Very well.
I make another pass after lunch and match Mike's 192.6mph with great shifting and keeping it nice and straight. Crazy fast and quite an adrenaline rush for sure. At the big end I let off the gas and brake a bit aggressively and the car wanders a little to the left.... going 170mph+. Slow it down and make the curve... pick up my slip.... s**t eating grin confirmed. Mike goes out and then blasts a 193mph run! We call it a day and grab some beers from the truck to celebrate. Awesome first day and his car performed flawlessly. Mike- thanks for letting me beat on your car and haul some serious ass as well!
It is 11pm now and of course we are taking the mirrors off now and removing the rear lower bumper trim to get another 2mph or so. We want 195mph all motor!
Some pics to follow here in a few minutes as I upload them. Aside from our great day other guys went 220's in Porsches, 240's in Supra's, and a turbo Hayabusa went 250mph!!!! crazy cars out here!
and more in other posts:
UnderGround Racing 1300awhp forged bottom end V10, mildly ported heads, stock cams/valvetrain (upgraded springs), and GT67 turbos with Motec fuel management. 237mph in the standing mile I believe! one of the Lambo's caught fire crossing the finish line @ 198mph!
I'm pretty sure the reason we are going so fast is the small frontal area. The FD is truly 3/4 the size of other cars here. We were fighting a headwind all weekend which wasn't helping either... but for the 1st time ever doing anything like this Mike and I were more than happy. No breakage and drove from the vent back to San Antonio around 100 miles with no issues and a/c on.
Some other cars with more power but lower #'s
708RWHP ZO6 188mph
691RWHP ZR1 190mph
690RWHP R35 188mph
We drove the car to/from the event from San Antonio which was around 100 miles each way. Didn't even have a trailer at the track if it broke down.....
The yellow Lambo caught fire which we believe was an oil line rupturing. Big fireball at the big end. The rear plastics and engine compartment were toast but repairable. Maybe next time Underground Racing will put a real fire system in their conversions. It had none. Burned off the parachute when it was released also!!! He still crossed the line at 198mph which was nutty to watch!!!! IMO the Lambos were some of the most impressive cars there. One day I will own one of those with a twin turbo setup.
The rules at the TX Mile are pretty lax but there are basic ones which are to be followed by everyone. Some of the Porsche guys had bolt in 4 pt rollbars and that was all that was required to hit 190mph+.
The tapework you see in the pics is all that we did. In 8 total runs it didn't really allow us to experiment that much. Both oil cooler vents were taped shut. We wanted the radiator to be fed fresh cool air as the intake filter is there as well.
I think the car would go 200mph n/a in 1 mile with a front air dam, lowering the car, tires that are less wide, and a vented hood with a small rear spoiler. In its current form it would easily go 200mph with more distance. I think Mike and I may have both hit that speed already as we stayed in it for a couple seconds after crossing the finish line.
