So I got lucky and had the opportunity to attend a track rental this week. Tossed everything in the car and headed out on a hot, humid day. I’d have to say I am very happy with my first outing in this thing!
First 2 passes I just rolled out to check AFRs, and set my boost stages. She was running a bit rich, but rich is safe and I had no way to log or change anything, so I set my 2rd stage at 15 psi (spikes to 16, and settles)
3rd pass on my street tires just letting the clutch out netted a 11.5@141.6mph Happy with that. On goes the slicks.
1st pass, I just went down the track to see how the car felt as it was my first time these tires I bought used….felt great. Second pass I wanted to see how it felt in boost. Rolled out and mowed through some gears-felt great.
3rd pass-I let the clutch our and immediately went for it. As a reminder the car has stock NA rear end, so I wanted to try and not break it that day.
10.5@145.7mph with a 1.8 60 foot. Love it! I started the pass @ 230 degrees of coolant temp, so timing was down and fuel was up. 8psi 1,2, and 3rd switching to 15psi in 3rd.
This was with 400lbs on meat in the car (me 180 and my buddy 220) so really I could not be happier! DA was 2185-90 degrees Humidity was 85% according to accuweather!
Sadly, after this pass my buddy broke his car, so we loaded him up in the trailer and packed up to head home. What may have been most impressive for this trip was the drive home-there was a bad accident and it was rush hour. A 45 minute drive turned into 3+ hours in 90+ degree heat, high humidity, with stop and go driving. We were miserable inside the car but the car did great!
Here’s the video. Thanks to Miguel Lopez for putting it together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyCYA90rvFQ
Some things I learned –
Similar to high HP FWD 5 speed cars I have owned in the past, more hook=more MPH. This goes against conventional auto V8 wisdoms, but when you are literally spinning though the 1/8th, you are losing time opportunity to accelerate, and losing mph
I need a lower gear. The car fell out of boost worst going into 5th, and since its inherently weaker due to its size, I don’t want to race the car in 5th if I can avoid it. Also, if I could be in my power band more of the pass, it will get significantly faster with no change in power.
I need more cooling capacity. Even though it was HOT, no pass was stared cooler than 225 degrees, and even with a 15 minute cool off, it simple ran hot all day. It got as hot as 240-250 on the way home in traffic. I am using a radiator I found laying in my parts pile-time to upgrade!
I cant WAIT to see what she does when I can apply full power, and keep it in the power band longer with a better rear gear! This car has already seen a lot of “use” this year and has been great so far! More to come…