My Vauxhall Monaro VXR (RIP)
Discussion
I came into the thread too early
cliffhanger thread... OK I'm in. You have my attention - Bookmarked.
Pirelli says that "Power is nothing without control". Monaros can only accommodate 245 section tyres under the rear arches, and they struggle to provide traction with a stock set up. The only way I was going to have 'control' was to seriously increase the footprint of the rear tyres. Monkfish Performance have developed a mini-tub that opens the arches up (inwards), which can accommodate 285 rubber. This has been used with forum Ros pushing 900hp. I figured I needed more than that if I was to run 1200hp.
The choices were either pay for a specially modified IRS from the States or ask John to fit a live axle (drag style rear). I went with the drag style rear, as John has a few customers running similar set-ups with no issues:
I decided to include a half-cage and a five point harness, as John reckoned the car would be proper fast. I've driven what I'd considered to be fast cars before, so wasn't sure what the difference would be. I went with his advice, even though it meant losing access to the rear seats.
I think the end result was subtle to say the least:
The choices were either pay for a specially modified IRS from the States or ask John to fit a live axle (drag style rear). I went with the drag style rear, as John has a few customers running similar set-ups with no issues:
I decided to include a half-cage and a five point harness, as John reckoned the car would be proper fast. I've driven what I'd considered to be fast cars before, so wasn't sure what the difference would be. I went with his advice, even though it meant losing access to the rear seats.
I think the end result was subtle to say the least:
king s
For those interested in engines revving on dynos, John posted this video of some early tuning stages:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow0em6OUAsY
Just over 4-minutes in is the readout from the engine dyno. Horsepower is shown near the top in the middle. Watch the numbers increase as the turbos spool...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow0em6OUAsY
Just over 4-minutes in is the readout from the engine dyno. Horsepower is shown near the top in the middle. Watch the numbers increase as the turbos spool...
Performance Vauxhall Show 2012 - 42-seconds (or so) of fun
For those who haven't been, PVS is well worth a visit. It runs every year at Santa Pod and this year's turn-out was great. The weather forecast was rain (remember when it rained all the time?), so I was on the verge of cancelling. Luckily the rain stayed away, guaranteeing some epic racing. Total Vauxhall produced an excellent video of the show (see if you can spot the Ro):
http://www.performancevauxhallshow.co.uk/2012/06/1...
John trailered the Ro to the show and we made plans to fully test the new set-up during the RWYB time. I was plenty apprehensive, as I'd never drag raced before. As I set off for the first run of the day and odd thing happened; the marshalls mistook the Ro for one of the show cars (three proper dragsters, including RV3). I was instructed to follow Red Victor down the service lane that runs past the grand stand. This was the first and last time RV3 failed to lose me:
Having jumped the RWYB queue and posed for photograhs, John suggested we try to blag a place in the show (thereby avoiding paying the strip fee). It sounded like a good idea at the time, but when I was sat waiting my turn to race in front of a full house, in an untested car and having never raced before, I had second thoughts. So I failed to stage properly and had the marshall usher me forward (doh). Then I missed the lights go green and clocked a 2.4-second response time (double doh).
I planted the loud pedal with some vigour and the car launched. The turbos spooled. Holy s**t was what went through my mind, as my eyeballs sat back in their sockets. I backed off with the shock, before flooring it for a second time. 10.7 at 140mph isn't fast by drag racing standards. It's only about as fast as a Veyron or a Hayabusa. It felt fast to me. Not bad for a Vauxhall with a second hand engine.
The next run was against Roy Walker's Ventora. A proper dragster, running slicks and a BBC. Roy's pulled high-8s with that set-up. I'm sure most people felt I'd get stuffed...okay I did get stuffed. The big difference all happened in the first 60-feet. Roy's massive slicks gave him a 0.5-second lead. After that, the gap didn't ready change that much.
The next race was during the RWYB. I was up against a rather nice Astra VXR. The strip was very slippery by then and I had to back off big time to avoid crossing the track. I still managed an 11.2:
The last race of the day was against Roy again. The strip has been specially prepared for RV3, so was very sticky again. Roy sped away at the start and then just sat there (several car lengths ahead). I'm guessing he could have shaved a few tenths of the time. I pulled a personal best (being an old hand) and went home very happy.
John took the car back to Doncaster to fit an AMS1000 progressive boost controller. The plan was to return for the Mopar Nationals and run a 9-second pass, which would be great for a street legal Ro.
Sadly, all good things come to an end. Some sooner than others. The film "Gone in Sixty Seconds" says it all, which is a shame 'cause I'd just used up 42 of them...
For those who haven't been, PVS is well worth a visit. It runs every year at Santa Pod and this year's turn-out was great. The weather forecast was rain (remember when it rained all the time?), so I was on the verge of cancelling. Luckily the rain stayed away, guaranteeing some epic racing. Total Vauxhall produced an excellent video of the show (see if you can spot the Ro):
http://www.performancevauxhallshow.co.uk/2012/06/1...
John trailered the Ro to the show and we made plans to fully test the new set-up during the RWYB time. I was plenty apprehensive, as I'd never drag raced before. As I set off for the first run of the day and odd thing happened; the marshalls mistook the Ro for one of the show cars (three proper dragsters, including RV3). I was instructed to follow Red Victor down the service lane that runs past the grand stand. This was the first and last time RV3 failed to lose me:
Having jumped the RWYB queue and posed for photograhs, John suggested we try to blag a place in the show (thereby avoiding paying the strip fee). It sounded like a good idea at the time, but when I was sat waiting my turn to race in front of a full house, in an untested car and having never raced before, I had second thoughts. So I failed to stage properly and had the marshall usher me forward (doh). Then I missed the lights go green and clocked a 2.4-second response time (double doh).
I planted the loud pedal with some vigour and the car launched. The turbos spooled. Holy s**t was what went through my mind, as my eyeballs sat back in their sockets. I backed off with the shock, before flooring it for a second time. 10.7 at 140mph isn't fast by drag racing standards. It's only about as fast as a Veyron or a Hayabusa. It felt fast to me. Not bad for a Vauxhall with a second hand engine.
The next run was against Roy Walker's Ventora. A proper dragster, running slicks and a BBC. Roy's pulled high-8s with that set-up. I'm sure most people felt I'd get stuffed...okay I did get stuffed. The big difference all happened in the first 60-feet. Roy's massive slicks gave him a 0.5-second lead. After that, the gap didn't ready change that much.
The next race was during the RWYB. I was up against a rather nice Astra VXR. The strip was very slippery by then and I had to back off big time to avoid crossing the track. I still managed an 11.2:
The last race of the day was against Roy again. The strip has been specially prepared for RV3, so was very sticky again. Roy sped away at the start and then just sat there (several car lengths ahead). I'm guessing he could have shaved a few tenths of the time. I pulled a personal best (being an old hand) and went home very happy.
John took the car back to Doncaster to fit an AMS1000 progressive boost controller. The plan was to return for the Mopar Nationals and run a 9-second pass, which would be great for a street legal Ro.
Sadly, all good things come to an end. Some sooner than others. The film "Gone in Sixty Seconds" says it all, which is a shame 'cause I'd just used up 42 of them...
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff