1/4 mile at Santa Pod

[gingerprince]

Went to play at Santa Pod Raceway today. Pretty consistent runs throughout the day, about 13.7. Worst was 13.8, best was just into 13.6, but on that I missed 3rd gear so it could have been even better!

Was against a reasonable headwind, and well over half a tank of fuel, so potentially a couple of tenths to be shaved off there.

Good fun

[starmist]

What was your terminal speed?

[gingerprince]

starmist said:

What was your terminal speed?

Best terminal was about 103. Not sure what I should expect to get?

[DustyC]

Interesting.
I did 2 runs at thorney Island and got 13.7 and 13.72.
Terminal speeds were 110 and 109.

I was crap though. First and second gear were all wheel spin. Also had a full tank, roof down and everything set for normal road driving. (Apart from the extra added red mist).

[gingerprince]

DustyC said:

Interesting. I did 2 runs at thorney Island and got 13.7 and 13.72. Terminal speeds were 110 and 109. I was crap though. First and second gear were all wheel spin. Also had a full tank, roof down and everything set for normal road driving. (Apart from the extra added red mist).

Waaaa, I feel slow now! The headwind would explain to a certain extent my lower terminal speeds, until you take into account the fact you had your roof off!!

[DustyC]

Im not sure the roof makes that much difference.
I have seen my MPH needle go to the handbooks maximum speed with the roof down.

I know there is an error on the speedos (mine is about 12%) but I wasnt even at full throttle.

There is a lot of skill in drag racing powerful cars with no traction control. I didnt realis just how complex it could be till I had a go.

I reckon minimising the wheelspin could knocja second off. (yes, there really was that much wheelspin!)

[gingerprince]

DustyC said:

I reckon minimising the wheelspin could knocja second off. (yes, there really was that much wheelspin!)

I tried the mis-pansy start (no revs, feed gently) got about 13.7. Tried a few aggressive starts, wheels spinning off the line and through 2nd gear too, still about 13.7. I think you need a good feel to be aggressive, but know when you're losing traction and then how much to let-off the gas to get traction without losing time.

Still, I beat everything I raced on the day

[TimW]

read a bit of steve heath's he tells you sumwhere to get a perfect start.

something like a little bit of wheels spin hold the peddle the same place till it stops wheel spinning at that revs then start to floor it.

[starmist]

gingerprince said:

starmist said: What was your terminal speed? Best terminal was about 103. Not sure what I should expect to get?

The car is supposed to do 0-100 in around 10 seconds, so with an elapsed time of 13 odd seconds, I would have thought the terminal would have been around 110 - 115, but you don't know how much abuse they give it to get 10 seconds to 100. Possibly not lifting the throttle on gear changes, for instance!

[demo2]

Traction is in deed the hardest part to overcome, a car can show bad times at the pod due to just bad traction not the engine itself, mine was 13.4@108 and i was suffering from bad grip too. Alot of it is down to driver skill

[gingerprince]

starmist said:

Possibly not lifting the throttle on gear changes, for instance!

aah powers shifting. a sure way to kill a clutch and an engine! smell as your clutch burns through, whince as your engine bounces off the rev limiter because it's taking longer to change gear than you thought!

i want faster times, but i want to be able to drive home too!

[Dave 500]

So its offical the Chimaera is better than the SLOW Griffith. The last time at the Pod I ran a 13.35 @ 104.14mph

Now running back to the Chimaera Forum

[starmist]

Dave 500 said:

So its offical the Chimaera is better than the SLOW Griffith. The last time at the Pod I ran a 13.35 @ 104.14mph Now running back to the Chimaera Forum

Fast!

[TimW]

Still only 104 across the line.

[gingerprince]

Dave 500 said:

So its offical the Chimaera is better than the SLOW Griffith. The last time at the Pod I ran a 13.35 @ 104.14mph Now running back to the Chimaera Forum

Conditions on the day can vary greatly. Headwinds, air temperature, etc. When I used to go play in my FTO I could have nearly a second difference in best time of the day, depending on the conditions.

[Dave 500]

TimW said:

Still only 104 across the line.

Strange thing was I did a 13.53 @ 106.64mph (Don't get it). Must be down to changing gear at the right time etc etc.

[TimW]

Yes. and your start.

[ByronTVR]

I guess with a good pair of rear slick tyres time could be even better .

[demo2]

still not beaten 108mph in a mk1 tina!!