biglady112
20+ Year Contributor
- 1,975
- 559
- May 20, 2004
-
Commerce City,
Colorado
What a blast.
First I would like to thank Nick Sutton and Josh Hopkins for letting me tag along and be part of the team. The trip was an adventure all in its own. With last minute details like decals, food and what nots we did not get on the road until after midnight on wednesday night. We got on the road, and right away Nick told me he did not have to to get fuel. So we try and find race gas at the pump on the way out of town. Being 1am, duggans was closed, and our only option was a sinclair in the tech center. We stopped off there and the sinclair as no longer there.
So we hopped back onto I-25 and started our journey towards Texas. For about two or three hours on the way down we searched in San Antonio for race fuels, race shops, bike shops, anything that would carry varieties of race fuels(we were using sprint wireless PCS broadband on the laptop). Our search found nothing. The only thing we were able to find was the world headquarters for VP Fuels was just 15 miles south of San Antonio. Perfect. We would place a call in the morning and have some fuel ready for us when we got there. It was even more perfect, as they were only 3 miles west of the EXACT highway we needed to take south to go to Goliad.
We decided since we needed to stay the night there, we would find a 24 hour wal-mart and stay in the parking lot with the motorhome. That was we could grab any little things that we may need for our stay at the airstrip. Well, we had this little drivetrain noise in the motor home from the moment we left denver. All of a sudden in downtown San Antonio it got REAL bad. I mean real bad. Our first thought was the tranny was about to go. So we pulled off after a mile or two, and started diagnosing. We ruled out the tranny and kept moving back and forth to find the noise. We narrowed it down the the driveshaft/carrier bearing.
We limped it to the walmart that we originally decided to stay at. It was only about three or four miles away at this point. When we got there, Josh got the tools out and began removing the driveshaft. Nick and I went inside and got the things we had planned on, and anything that we may need for the driveshaft repair. Josh had it all out when we got out. We tore it down, and found the middle U-joint was gone. And it had no grease certs, so we knew it was toast before disassembly. The front one wasn't much better. And the rear one was notchy as well.We tore them all down to find out it was best we just replace them all.
So my job was to hop on the internet and find a parts store near where we were. I found and autozone(what they actuall asked me to look for). It was back up the highway one exit. A good walk non the less. We woke up at 7am to start walking. Well being foggy, tired and not having our bearing, we set out on foot. We made it near two miles before I realized we were heading west rather than north. We back tracked about half mile to a road we drove down the night before. We followed it up to the road the autozone was suppose to be on. Literally 1 hour later, we got there. There was an o'rielly's across the street. Awesome, one of them was bound to have it. Autozone had all three we needed. We set foot back down Goliad Road(the road we should have taken to begin with.). It was roughly 1.5-2 miles back to wal-mart. I shit you not, on the way back, the adjacent shopping center DIRECTLY across the street from where we parked there was an Advance Auto Parts. The last few hundreds yards were accompanied by a lot of cussing and yelling.
We get the driveshaft back together and installed within an hour. VP fuels opened at 8am. We got there just after 10am. We spent about 10 minutes trying to decide what we wanted for fuel as they had over 70 varieties on hand at their facility. One person asked what we were doing. We told them. They recommended Q16(quick 16) over C16. We asked the price difference, and they said they were the same. They were super accomidating and very nice. They were very intrigued by our story and wanted to help out. So they offered a partial sponsor for our trip. We bought 10 gallons of Q16 and they took off about $60 for the fuel. Awesome.
Back on the road. We get there, this place in in the middle of no where. And I mean nothing for miles and miles. Just four runways and trees all around. We get unpakced and unload the car. Get settled and get the car down to tech. They literally open the door, and shut it right away. They saw more metal in the car, than what the car was even made of. They said we were good. Fire it up and go get ready for the night. We mingle with the neighbors and anyone who walks by and wants to chat.
It starts raining late friday night. We wake up at 6:30am on saturday. Still raining. We go to the driver's meeting about a half hour late because of the rain at 9:30. The racing gets started around 10:45.
These passes were made on the 28" Land Speed Racing tires.
First pass for us is around 12:30. The only thing I changed in dsmlink in the past three months was the studder box setting. Nick was revving the car like a crazy man for what ever reason before we rolled down. I figured just to keep the engine at lower speeds I would just lower it. It was set to shut off at 15mph. No big deal, never really affected most cars. Well, about a year ago, when we first started setting up dsmlink, he told me the car had no speed sensor anymore. And maybe once, maybe twice I got the answer as to why. I don't think he ever really told me though. Well, right away on the first pass I figured it out. He rolled through the traps at 98mph in fourth gear at 5200rpm. He came back to the pits and basically flipped out on me. I argued with him and told him the only change I made. We argued for a few minutes and then calmed down. I changed it back right away though. He then finally told me why(again actually now that I heard it). The car does not use a stock gauge cluster(I knew this). It uses a touch screen computer and uses and innovative motorsports datalogging system to display all the cars information. Problem solved.
Second pass. We just wanted to test the parachute. He hit the chute just before the traps in fourth gear and coasted to a 122mph run.
Third pass. Time to get serious. He went balls out from the line. The 4" wide tires were just begging for mercy. 6xxfwhp will do that. Well all he did was basically spin down the track because of the skinny tires and all the rocks on the course. It was literally as bad as driving on a dirt road. Insane on how bad the course was. He blew through the traps in fourth gear again hanging off the rev limiter at 140mph. It was getting dark and we were having a few other issues with the car.
Second Day. Sunday. We sorta wait because it rained again. Nick woke me up early and told me my job was to find a set of street tires to put on the race car. I walked the whole 1.5 miles of the paddock and found two potential cars with the correct lug pattern. A Mazda 3, and a base model 3000gt. No one was there and no one was up yet. I waited about an hour and went back. Both cars were near each other. I asked the 3000gt area people first if they knew the owner. The Mazda had temp tags on it, and I assumed they would shoot me down. This guy says it is his wifes car. They are there racing 1 liter bikes, like 10 of them. The guy says it is his wifes and asks why. I give him my story and he said wait a minute while he asks his wife. He goes to a tent and wakes her up. The first thing she said in her sleepy stooper was, "No burnouts?". I said " No ma'am, no burnouts, we are a land speed car and will be rolling our from the line". She said "Ok, just let us know when you are done with them. We bring the race car, motor home, tools and jack stands down and swap the tires and leave out salt tires with the. Awesome people. We let them dry the track and headed down and pitted with the Land Speed cars. They more or less had priority when they were ready to run, so we got in line with them.
Fourth pass, first on second day. We run within 10 minutes of getting in line. Basically cut infront of the street cars. Nick hits it from the get go. The street tires(235/50R16 H rated Eagles) immediately make the car go faster. He is flat hauling ass. Well he shifts into third gear. He sway left, he sway right. Hits fourth gear, same thing only worse. Literally from line to line. He appears to feather the throttle and he coasts to a 140mph pass again. We get back and he said the wideband went way lean in fourth gear. Reviewing both datalogs showed it happened shifting into fourth. First thought was to check switches for both fuel pumps. The switch for the main pump had the wires vibrate off the back of the switch. A lesser driver would have lost the engine. THe wideband data in innovative was not pretty. As well as all four EGT's. But with him feathering the throttle like he did saved the engine. A little reengineering and a test, and we are back. As we are getting ready to pack the chute, Nick flips out about checking tire pressures. We said we did it. He said no becuase this tire is flat. The right rear had been punctured by a rock on our first pass of the day. So we hop in the motor home and go and grab a tire we left for collateral.
We now have another issue. When he pulled the chute on this pass, he broke the cable that was soldered to the lever. We had two different types of solder. Neither would stick to fix it. I was sent on a mission to find Silver solder. I make it a few tents down to our neighbors. They were running a small block E85 powered rat rod. Super cool. And all kinds of wacky bikes. They said they had a gas powered MIG welder we could use. Sweet. I go back and we test the chute cable. It was magnetic. So we fire up the car and head down. Get everything finished and go to fire the car up and nothing. Nick rolls back on one of thier custom chopper bicycles. Said the car was out of gas. I argued no was after four passes we went though 10 gallons of Q16. He said we did. So we head down the the fuel trailer. See they have C16 and pay for it. We walked around the other side of the trailer to get our cans, and I see they have Q16. So we ask how much and we go pay the difference. Got their last 7 gallons. Fill the car and it fires. I guess with all the idleing and driving back and forth it really did ea t10 gallons.
Fifth pass. We lost a little on the cable for the chute so I bend the end so it doesn't pop out. Bam. 165mpg with a ton of rpm left in fourth gear.
Sixth pass. Nick shifts into third and immediately the chute deploys. We freak out and run drive back. We crosses the traps with the chute up at 52mph. He gets back and flips out. Blames me for bending the cable. We finally all got settled down and determined it was everyone's fault. Mostly the cable being bent, and we all improperly packed the chute. We were not going to let that happen so from now one we packed it as tight as we possible could. And we readjusted the sheathing for the cable and gave ourselves and extra 1-1.5 inches. We find a new issue. We have had an oil leak all weekend. We had been drying the downpipe, dump tube, and undercarraige between runs. Nick said the car would not make another pass until the leak was found. Josh and I got the wheel off and fired the car up. As soon as Josh got under the car oil hit him right in the eye. So all three of us determined it had something to do with the oil filter after more looking. Josh pulls the filter out while I review the datalogs. He farts around with it for a minute. We then ask what's up. He holds the filter right up to my face and says see. I can't because it is so close. The wastegate dump dump had rubbed/burned a crack in the side of the oil filer. It was just a hairline crack that you almost needed a magnifying glass to see. Well, while we were looking for the ladies wheel lock in the 3000gt, Nick said he saw a brand new oil filter in the back of her car in a box. We walk down there with $10 and give her our new story. She said I tell you what, you guys just take it. After we found it, I insisted she just take the $10 for being so awesome and basically just making our car go down the track. We get back and put the filter on and the filter now has a fingers width between the dump tube. 3000gt filters are slimer for those that don't know. It is all I run in my car.
Seventh pass. We have a plan to try for fifth. Things are going smooth. He htis fifth and you can just hear the car bog down tremendously. He puts it back in fourth and balzes through the traps at 160mph. The 3000gt owner's husband rolls down and asks how much longer we needed the tires. We told them what our plan was and begged for one more pass. The lines were really short at this point so they said we could run one more.
We got all ready and headed down. The plan was to ride fourth out and see what would happen.
Eighth and final pass for the weekend. We get down and get set. We run right after the 220mph white porsche. Nick pulls up and this pass looks just like the last few. Except I can hear him feathering it in fourth this time. Not sure what the issue is, I tell Josh to run the the motor home and listen to the radio.
169.913mph. We scream and yell like school girls. Chute pops and run looks clean. We head right over to get ready to give the nice lady her tires back. Swap everything over and head back to review the data. Dsmlink shows him going through the traps at 8300rpm(8500rpm rev limit) in fourth gear. He literally rode fourth out. After looking at the log more, it showed Nick being at 40-60% throttle for 12 seconds while he was in fourth gear timing the distance just right to rev out the gear. Insane driving.
This car was not tailored for a 1 mile course. It was built to go 250+mph on a five mile course. And it will this fall. We did not have enough room, enough tire the first day, enough engine to spool the turbo to make use of a one mile course. The turbo wa sjust too big for a short course like this. On the only pass we tried fifth gear, he fell to 5000rpm. This car does not do anything until 6300rpm. And makes full boost until 6600rpm. Knowing what we know now, with a proper setup and enough tire, 200mph would be a breeze on this course. And dare I say the mighty $1xx,xxx Toyota Supras from Boost Logic and Autobahn are within reach. We never even got to utilize fifth gear. With our land speed tires we are currently geared for 246mph at 8000rpm in fifth. With the 235/50R16's we borrowed we could have done 223mph in fifth. This car can pull fifth with no issue if we get the rpm we need. On set of 26" hoosiers, we could do 224@8000 and 238@8500.
So we may be going back with a little bit of nitrous the car is already setup up for and spray to spool it. And we can only go faster. He is on small cams, stock 1G intake manifold, 7" tall intercooler and only 24psi. We are limited by bost because he has no boost controller yet. Imagine this thing near 40psi. It would be insane. I have a number in mind, but I think it would clear the dsmlink horsepower record as it sits with just more boost.
We have proven that a 2.0L can indeed spool a turbo with a useable powerband(think drag type racing) with a 1.15 T6 heavy frame turbine. The only specs I am going to give on the car, unless the owner comes in here himself are it is a GT4202/GT4508 based project.
Steven
First I would like to thank Nick Sutton and Josh Hopkins for letting me tag along and be part of the team. The trip was an adventure all in its own. With last minute details like decals, food and what nots we did not get on the road until after midnight on wednesday night. We got on the road, and right away Nick told me he did not have to to get fuel. So we try and find race gas at the pump on the way out of town. Being 1am, duggans was closed, and our only option was a sinclair in the tech center. We stopped off there and the sinclair as no longer there.
So we hopped back onto I-25 and started our journey towards Texas. For about two or three hours on the way down we searched in San Antonio for race fuels, race shops, bike shops, anything that would carry varieties of race fuels(we were using sprint wireless PCS broadband on the laptop). Our search found nothing. The only thing we were able to find was the world headquarters for VP Fuels was just 15 miles south of San Antonio. Perfect. We would place a call in the morning and have some fuel ready for us when we got there. It was even more perfect, as they were only 3 miles west of the EXACT highway we needed to take south to go to Goliad.
We decided since we needed to stay the night there, we would find a 24 hour wal-mart and stay in the parking lot with the motorhome. That was we could grab any little things that we may need for our stay at the airstrip. Well, we had this little drivetrain noise in the motor home from the moment we left denver. All of a sudden in downtown San Antonio it got REAL bad. I mean real bad. Our first thought was the tranny was about to go. So we pulled off after a mile or two, and started diagnosing. We ruled out the tranny and kept moving back and forth to find the noise. We narrowed it down the the driveshaft/carrier bearing.
We limped it to the walmart that we originally decided to stay at. It was only about three or four miles away at this point. When we got there, Josh got the tools out and began removing the driveshaft. Nick and I went inside and got the things we had planned on, and anything that we may need for the driveshaft repair. Josh had it all out when we got out. We tore it down, and found the middle U-joint was gone. And it had no grease certs, so we knew it was toast before disassembly. The front one wasn't much better. And the rear one was notchy as well.We tore them all down to find out it was best we just replace them all.
So my job was to hop on the internet and find a parts store near where we were. I found and autozone(what they actuall asked me to look for). It was back up the highway one exit. A good walk non the less. We woke up at 7am to start walking. Well being foggy, tired and not having our bearing, we set out on foot. We made it near two miles before I realized we were heading west rather than north. We back tracked about half mile to a road we drove down the night before. We followed it up to the road the autozone was suppose to be on. Literally 1 hour later, we got there. There was an o'rielly's across the street. Awesome, one of them was bound to have it. Autozone had all three we needed. We set foot back down Goliad Road(the road we should have taken to begin with.). It was roughly 1.5-2 miles back to wal-mart. I shit you not, on the way back, the adjacent shopping center DIRECTLY across the street from where we parked there was an Advance Auto Parts. The last few hundreds yards were accompanied by a lot of cussing and yelling.
We get the driveshaft back together and installed within an hour. VP fuels opened at 8am. We got there just after 10am. We spent about 10 minutes trying to decide what we wanted for fuel as they had over 70 varieties on hand at their facility. One person asked what we were doing. We told them. They recommended Q16(quick 16) over C16. We asked the price difference, and they said they were the same. They were super accomidating and very nice. They were very intrigued by our story and wanted to help out. So they offered a partial sponsor for our trip. We bought 10 gallons of Q16 and they took off about $60 for the fuel. Awesome.
Back on the road. We get there, this place in in the middle of no where. And I mean nothing for miles and miles. Just four runways and trees all around. We get unpakced and unload the car. Get settled and get the car down to tech. They literally open the door, and shut it right away. They saw more metal in the car, than what the car was even made of. They said we were good. Fire it up and go get ready for the night. We mingle with the neighbors and anyone who walks by and wants to chat.
It starts raining late friday night. We wake up at 6:30am on saturday. Still raining. We go to the driver's meeting about a half hour late because of the rain at 9:30. The racing gets started around 10:45.
These passes were made on the 28" Land Speed Racing tires.
First pass for us is around 12:30. The only thing I changed in dsmlink in the past three months was the studder box setting. Nick was revving the car like a crazy man for what ever reason before we rolled down. I figured just to keep the engine at lower speeds I would just lower it. It was set to shut off at 15mph. No big deal, never really affected most cars. Well, about a year ago, when we first started setting up dsmlink, he told me the car had no speed sensor anymore. And maybe once, maybe twice I got the answer as to why. I don't think he ever really told me though. Well, right away on the first pass I figured it out. He rolled through the traps at 98mph in fourth gear at 5200rpm. He came back to the pits and basically flipped out on me. I argued with him and told him the only change I made. We argued for a few minutes and then calmed down. I changed it back right away though. He then finally told me why(again actually now that I heard it). The car does not use a stock gauge cluster(I knew this). It uses a touch screen computer and uses and innovative motorsports datalogging system to display all the cars information. Problem solved.
Second pass. We just wanted to test the parachute. He hit the chute just before the traps in fourth gear and coasted to a 122mph run.
Third pass. Time to get serious. He went balls out from the line. The 4" wide tires were just begging for mercy. 6xxfwhp will do that. Well all he did was basically spin down the track because of the skinny tires and all the rocks on the course. It was literally as bad as driving on a dirt road. Insane on how bad the course was. He blew through the traps in fourth gear again hanging off the rev limiter at 140mph. It was getting dark and we were having a few other issues with the car.
Second Day. Sunday. We sorta wait because it rained again. Nick woke me up early and told me my job was to find a set of street tires to put on the race car. I walked the whole 1.5 miles of the paddock and found two potential cars with the correct lug pattern. A Mazda 3, and a base model 3000gt. No one was there and no one was up yet. I waited about an hour and went back. Both cars were near each other. I asked the 3000gt area people first if they knew the owner. The Mazda had temp tags on it, and I assumed they would shoot me down. This guy says it is his wifes car. They are there racing 1 liter bikes, like 10 of them. The guy says it is his wifes and asks why. I give him my story and he said wait a minute while he asks his wife. He goes to a tent and wakes her up. The first thing she said in her sleepy stooper was, "No burnouts?". I said " No ma'am, no burnouts, we are a land speed car and will be rolling our from the line". She said "Ok, just let us know when you are done with them. We bring the race car, motor home, tools and jack stands down and swap the tires and leave out salt tires with the. Awesome people. We let them dry the track and headed down and pitted with the Land Speed cars. They more or less had priority when they were ready to run, so we got in line with them.
Fourth pass, first on second day. We run within 10 minutes of getting in line. Basically cut infront of the street cars. Nick hits it from the get go. The street tires(235/50R16 H rated Eagles) immediately make the car go faster. He is flat hauling ass. Well he shifts into third gear. He sway left, he sway right. Hits fourth gear, same thing only worse. Literally from line to line. He appears to feather the throttle and he coasts to a 140mph pass again. We get back and he said the wideband went way lean in fourth gear. Reviewing both datalogs showed it happened shifting into fourth. First thought was to check switches for both fuel pumps. The switch for the main pump had the wires vibrate off the back of the switch. A lesser driver would have lost the engine. THe wideband data in innovative was not pretty. As well as all four EGT's. But with him feathering the throttle like he did saved the engine. A little reengineering and a test, and we are back. As we are getting ready to pack the chute, Nick flips out about checking tire pressures. We said we did it. He said no becuase this tire is flat. The right rear had been punctured by a rock on our first pass of the day. So we hop in the motor home and go and grab a tire we left for collateral.
We now have another issue. When he pulled the chute on this pass, he broke the cable that was soldered to the lever. We had two different types of solder. Neither would stick to fix it. I was sent on a mission to find Silver solder. I make it a few tents down to our neighbors. They were running a small block E85 powered rat rod. Super cool. And all kinds of wacky bikes. They said they had a gas powered MIG welder we could use. Sweet. I go back and we test the chute cable. It was magnetic. So we fire up the car and head down. Get everything finished and go to fire the car up and nothing. Nick rolls back on one of thier custom chopper bicycles. Said the car was out of gas. I argued no was after four passes we went though 10 gallons of Q16. He said we did. So we head down the the fuel trailer. See they have C16 and pay for it. We walked around the other side of the trailer to get our cans, and I see they have Q16. So we ask how much and we go pay the difference. Got their last 7 gallons. Fill the car and it fires. I guess with all the idleing and driving back and forth it really did ea t10 gallons.
Fifth pass. We lost a little on the cable for the chute so I bend the end so it doesn't pop out. Bam. 165mpg with a ton of rpm left in fourth gear.
Sixth pass. Nick shifts into third and immediately the chute deploys. We freak out and run drive back. We crosses the traps with the chute up at 52mph. He gets back and flips out. Blames me for bending the cable. We finally all got settled down and determined it was everyone's fault. Mostly the cable being bent, and we all improperly packed the chute. We were not going to let that happen so from now one we packed it as tight as we possible could. And we readjusted the sheathing for the cable and gave ourselves and extra 1-1.5 inches. We find a new issue. We have had an oil leak all weekend. We had been drying the downpipe, dump tube, and undercarraige between runs. Nick said the car would not make another pass until the leak was found. Josh and I got the wheel off and fired the car up. As soon as Josh got under the car oil hit him right in the eye. So all three of us determined it had something to do with the oil filter after more looking. Josh pulls the filter out while I review the datalogs. He farts around with it for a minute. We then ask what's up. He holds the filter right up to my face and says see. I can't because it is so close. The wastegate dump dump had rubbed/burned a crack in the side of the oil filer. It was just a hairline crack that you almost needed a magnifying glass to see. Well, while we were looking for the ladies wheel lock in the 3000gt, Nick said he saw a brand new oil filter in the back of her car in a box. We walk down there with $10 and give her our new story. She said I tell you what, you guys just take it. After we found it, I insisted she just take the $10 for being so awesome and basically just making our car go down the track. We get back and put the filter on and the filter now has a fingers width between the dump tube. 3000gt filters are slimer for those that don't know. It is all I run in my car.
Seventh pass. We have a plan to try for fifth. Things are going smooth. He htis fifth and you can just hear the car bog down tremendously. He puts it back in fourth and balzes through the traps at 160mph. The 3000gt owner's husband rolls down and asks how much longer we needed the tires. We told them what our plan was and begged for one more pass. The lines were really short at this point so they said we could run one more.
We got all ready and headed down. The plan was to ride fourth out and see what would happen.
Eighth and final pass for the weekend. We get down and get set. We run right after the 220mph white porsche. Nick pulls up and this pass looks just like the last few. Except I can hear him feathering it in fourth this time. Not sure what the issue is, I tell Josh to run the the motor home and listen to the radio.
169.913mph. We scream and yell like school girls. Chute pops and run looks clean. We head right over to get ready to give the nice lady her tires back. Swap everything over and head back to review the data. Dsmlink shows him going through the traps at 8300rpm(8500rpm rev limit) in fourth gear. He literally rode fourth out. After looking at the log more, it showed Nick being at 40-60% throttle for 12 seconds while he was in fourth gear timing the distance just right to rev out the gear. Insane driving.
This car was not tailored for a 1 mile course. It was built to go 250+mph on a five mile course. And it will this fall. We did not have enough room, enough tire the first day, enough engine to spool the turbo to make use of a one mile course. The turbo wa sjust too big for a short course like this. On the only pass we tried fifth gear, he fell to 5000rpm. This car does not do anything until 6300rpm. And makes full boost until 6600rpm. Knowing what we know now, with a proper setup and enough tire, 200mph would be a breeze on this course. And dare I say the mighty $1xx,xxx Toyota Supras from Boost Logic and Autobahn are within reach. We never even got to utilize fifth gear. With our land speed tires we are currently geared for 246mph at 8000rpm in fifth. With the 235/50R16's we borrowed we could have done 223mph in fifth. This car can pull fifth with no issue if we get the rpm we need. On set of 26" hoosiers, we could do 224@8000 and 238@8500.
So we may be going back with a little bit of nitrous the car is already setup up for and spray to spool it. And we can only go faster. He is on small cams, stock 1G intake manifold, 7" tall intercooler and only 24psi. We are limited by bost because he has no boost controller yet. Imagine this thing near 40psi. It would be insane. I have a number in mind, but I think it would clear the dsmlink horsepower record as it sits with just more boost.
We have proven that a 2.0L can indeed spool a turbo with a useable powerband(think drag type racing) with a 1.15 T6 heavy frame turbine. The only specs I am going to give on the car, unless the owner comes in here himself are it is a GT4202/GT4508 based project.
Steven
