My Vauxhall Monaro VXR (RIP)
Discussion
Mopar Nationals 2012
Another annual event at Santa Pod worth attending. A whole weekend of Americana on display and racing down the strip. The cars are either pristine examples of American muscle or pumped up Pro-Street cars running in the 9s and 10s. It's worth remembering that the early 70s street legal muscle car which just blasted down the strip in 9-seconds would paste an Enzo, 911 turbo, GTR or even Veyron in a straight race. Truely humbling.
The Ro was now sporting an AMS1000 boost controller (with anti-lag set-up), 10/90 front coilovers and a fire suppression system. I'd splashed out and bought a neck-brace, along with some fire retardant clothing. The AMS1000 promised to improve the 60-foot time (around 1.8-seconds) and keep the Ro at the limit of traction for much further down the strip. I was confident that we'd be in the 9s by the end of the day. After the day was over, I planned to take the car home and start using it to scare the residents of Watford.
The day started well, with me pulling a 10.6-second pass in the first race. The AMS1000 was playing up, so there was no antilag or boost controller. What was impressive was that the wastegate springs had been changed to 7spi, so the time was achieved with just 700hp (last outting was on 12psi springs). After a little fiddling we found the controller had a lose connection and fixed it.
I sat on the line watching the lights with my heart in my mouth. The controller was running properly, so I'd brought the revs up to spool the turbos. The lights changed and I side-stepped the brake pedal. Again, there was a slight delay, as the power kicked-in. The car next to me pulled forward. No problem, just wait for the turbos to start delivering. I cleared the tree and was pushed back into the seat. That's when my 60-seconds ran out....
The car suddenly turned left. With no warning I was facing the concrete wall. I lifted and applied armfuls of opposite lock. The car snatched back and was pretty much straight. I thought I'd made it, until I realised that I still had plenty of lateral speed. I hit the wall much harder than expected. Despite being strapped in, I still managed to break the centre console with my ribs and the area around my left kidney. I was still struggling for breath when the marshals arrived.
The force of the impact pushed the front end over, broke the steering, broke the front and rear nearside wheel, pushed the A and B posts in (kinking the roof), stuffed the door and rear quarter, broke the rear light, snapped the boot catch and ripped the terminals of the battery (WTF?). Toast describes the result. The engine, gearbox, turbos, etc were undamaged, as luck would have it. I still have very tender ribs and a wife that tells me I've spent a lot for 60-seconds of fun.
What next?
Well, I've acquired an immaculate blue Monaro shell into which the gearbox, ladder bars and rear axle will go. It will also wear a full VXR bodykit (it's a CV8). All I need is an engine. The plan is to run something a little less manic.
As for the engine, well I've picked up a dark green Audi 80 coupe that has a pair of 88mm turbos bolted into it (along with a whole bunch of other parts). The 96lb injectors are out, to be replaced with 160lb injectors (maybe even a pair of these per cylinder). At which point I'll have the same build spec as that 2000hp engine that Chevrolet put together all those years ago...
Another annual event at Santa Pod worth attending. A whole weekend of Americana on display and racing down the strip. The cars are either pristine examples of American muscle or pumped up Pro-Street cars running in the 9s and 10s. It's worth remembering that the early 70s street legal muscle car which just blasted down the strip in 9-seconds would paste an Enzo, 911 turbo, GTR or even Veyron in a straight race. Truely humbling.
The Ro was now sporting an AMS1000 boost controller (with anti-lag set-up), 10/90 front coilovers and a fire suppression system. I'd splashed out and bought a neck-brace, along with some fire retardant clothing. The AMS1000 promised to improve the 60-foot time (around 1.8-seconds) and keep the Ro at the limit of traction for much further down the strip. I was confident that we'd be in the 9s by the end of the day. After the day was over, I planned to take the car home and start using it to scare the residents of Watford.
The day started well, with me pulling a 10.6-second pass in the first race. The AMS1000 was playing up, so there was no antilag or boost controller. What was impressive was that the wastegate springs had been changed to 7spi, so the time was achieved with just 700hp (last outting was on 12psi springs). After a little fiddling we found the controller had a lose connection and fixed it.
I sat on the line watching the lights with my heart in my mouth. The controller was running properly, so I'd brought the revs up to spool the turbos. The lights changed and I side-stepped the brake pedal. Again, there was a slight delay, as the power kicked-in. The car next to me pulled forward. No problem, just wait for the turbos to start delivering. I cleared the tree and was pushed back into the seat. That's when my 60-seconds ran out....
The car suddenly turned left. With no warning I was facing the concrete wall. I lifted and applied armfuls of opposite lock. The car snatched back and was pretty much straight. I thought I'd made it, until I realised that I still had plenty of lateral speed. I hit the wall much harder than expected. Despite being strapped in, I still managed to break the centre console with my ribs and the area around my left kidney. I was still struggling for breath when the marshals arrived.
The force of the impact pushed the front end over, broke the steering, broke the front and rear nearside wheel, pushed the A and B posts in (kinking the roof), stuffed the door and rear quarter, broke the rear light, snapped the boot catch and ripped the terminals of the battery (WTF?). Toast describes the result. The engine, gearbox, turbos, etc were undamaged, as luck would have it. I still have very tender ribs and a wife that tells me I've spent a lot for 60-seconds of fun.
What next?
Well, I've acquired an immaculate blue Monaro shell into which the gearbox, ladder bars and rear axle will go. It will also wear a full VXR bodykit (it's a CV8). All I need is an engine. The plan is to run something a little less manic.
As for the engine, well I've picked up a dark green Audi 80 coupe that has a pair of 88mm turbos bolted into it (along with a whole bunch of other parts). The 96lb injectors are out, to be replaced with 160lb injectors (maybe even a pair of these per cylinder). At which point I'll have the same build spec as that 2000hp engine that Chevrolet put together all those years ago...
As far as a replacement Monaro goes, if you want to run it on the road, I would stick to less than 700 whp and fit RLTC.
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