Although my car is strictly set up for the roadcourse, I like to take it out once or twice a year to the drag strip and let her rip...just to see how fast it is in a 1/4 mile. The 930 gearing is ideal on the roadcourse and on the street...and just a bit too tall for the drag strip. I can't get into 4th gear before hitting the trap. I guess it's not a bad thing to shift fewer times than my competition...as the 930 box cannot be speed shifted very well. I used Michelin Pilot Sport street tires and dropped pressure to 15 lbs. Notice the zoomy trap speed. Here are the results from SEP 6th @ Rockfalls Raceway in Elk Mound, WI:

Best run...

R/T .041
60 1.723
330 4.919
1/8 7.410
MPH 97.93
1000 9.537
1/4 11.289
MPH 131.42

Sweet! That is pretty fuchin fast for a 914! I hope one of mine will get close to that someday!

Fast, man!

Awesome!

Zach

I don't know about Fast but with those gears thats really fuching Quick.

That time is more than pretty good...


You are faster than:


2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano 5.999L V12 612 11.3 126.4 MT
2003 Saleen S7 7.0L V8 550 11.36 127 MT
2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LS7 7.0L V8 505 11.5 127.1 MT
2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 5.4L V8 S/C 617 11.6 127.2 MT
1997 Ameritech McLaren F1 6.0L V12 627 11.6 125 MT
2005 Ferrari F430 F1 4.3L V8 483 11.7 122.8 MT
2002 Lamborghini Murcielago 6.2L V12 571 11.72 122.52 MT

Hahaha, that would be a funny stoplight line up! Whip up on one of those! Imagine their suprise!

I used to bracket race a BB chevy back in the day. You would have beat me. You car is fast fast fast.

wow, 11 seconds in a 914... didn't know it was possible. nice job, what engine are you runing???

years ago i ran 14 flat in my 442 and i thought my pants were on fire... crap, i must be old

if you could launch that car hard you would be in the low 10's, its reflected in the 60' times you'r crawling off the start line. and you have a really fast trap speed at 131mph. and 11.2 is really moving, second gear must just be a rush!

If you paint it yellow...

I'm running a highly built 346 CI LS6 2002 engine. My average 60 foot time is around 2.0 flat (which stinks...I know) I was just happy to get a fairly nice launch on that particular run. I ran the car six times and my speed through the trap was 131-132 every time. 2nd gear feels snappy.

how much would you guess the car weighs with you in it?

Bill, that's awesome. I soooo need to get back to a lower altitude and run my car again.

the fact you got that car to run 1.7s 60' is pretty solid man! Even down over 100HP at altitude here I can't get the car to hook at all. IIRC my best 60' messing around at Bandimere was something in the 2.0s. I run 12.80s at 114mph hahahaha but I carry a bit more weight than you I think and am shifting into 3rd just before the lights with my 930 box. You must be somewhere around 2300lbs right? (I was 2305lbs before I did the tube chassis, wing, blah blah).

(131mph/234)^3 * (2300 + 200 for you and your helmet,etc) ~ 439 average HP at sea level so that makes sense to me at puts you in the 500HP range peak. My car gained almost 300lbs when I added all the structure and "stuff".

Got any video?

edit - check out my channel for the first pass I ever made at Bandimere earlier this year - it is like a black version of your car anyway hahahahaha The AWD car launched rather well next to me but the loud popping and so forth covers up the sound of me spinning tires and throttling like crazy to get it to hook

http://uk.youtube.com/user/byndbad914

thats fricken fast!!!!!!!!

very cool and fast, my car ran 11's too,

in the 1/8th.... lol

Congrats to you for building an awesome looking and performing car. If it were me, I'd look to limit rear shock travel with some type of spacer or snubber to stay out of going into neg. camber. 15lbs air pressure may be low enough to cause the center of the tire to cavitate and lose traction. Swap out the rear wheels for a shorter diameter race rubber to help eat up the tall gears and fold back your door mirrors...mho

The car weighs about 2550 and add another 170 for me. It isn't as light as I thought it was going to be but I suppose an 8 pt cage and the other V-8 goodies add up.

sweet

I've been a fan of your car for a long time. You have helped me with various things over the years and I appreciate that very much. I have indeed seen your car on u-tube and it looks like a beast. Most people don't know what they're getting themselves into when they want to "play"...huh? I have dial up...so I'll check your latest videos out asap.

I do have a video of my car at the strip a couple of years ago running mid 11's. I'll try to figure a way to post one.

Bill

and....

if you shift, it will top out at...what?

At 7000RPM (rev limited) in 4th gear (assuming aerodynamic drag doesn't arrest further accelleration) the car should do north of 190 mph. It has been at 175 mph and still needed more time to reach top end. I get a bit nervous at those speeds...

Damn. Where do you find a piece of road straight enough to do that? An airfield or something?

Zach

It would be cool to see some vid at the strip. I too saw some of your stuff from an AX awhile back - lookin' good.

I hear you about not knowing what some are getting into - hell, I built race cars through college, worked pit crew for various racing teams in road racing, roundy-round and drag racing and I still somehow didn't realize how much work fun is hahahahah

but when it is running and hitting on all 8... that truly defines fun.

I am talking to Mendeola and working out a new sequential 4spd transaxle for my car - I am gearing to top out right at 170mph since I have yet to be on a track I can hit that speed, but they are building a new one locally with a really long back stretch. I have been to 160-ish at Willow Springs and the pucker factor really does set in. Car feels fine, but the mental thing of "holy crap, I am at 160mph" sets in pretty quickly for me. If I hit 170mph at the new track, even if I have to sit there for a few seconds, that should be fast enough for me as well maybe

I was thinking 5spd, but frankly you and I both know these cars are making so much torque that why waste time shifting? I can set people back in the seat at 3500rpm so I am selecting a somewhat long 2nd gear, then close 3 and 4 to set me at max HP, shift, set me at max torque from 2 thru 4. Should really wake the car up but at the same time I don't want to find myself shifting non-stop on the track. PITA and wastes time if you have power to pull longer gears.

The 930 is awesome, as you stated, for the street and track because it is geared well for highway cruising, and the V8 pulls through any gear. Since I am basically all track use now, I don't mind if it is turning 3800rpm at 80mph so I need to gear it down. At Pueblo Motorsports Park I don't even get into 4th gear cuz I *only* hit about 130mph in the front stretch

You are right near BIR, right?? (well, right near as in within a few hours) That has a LONG stretch in it too and I have been considering trying to tow out to that track just to run it, but it is 1000 miles almost on the dot from my house, which is a trek... but I would love to get on that track. IIRC you ran the car out there a couple years ago...

BIR has a very long straight. I've had my car going 165 MPH there and could have gone faster...but the pucker factor really starts to set in. There are guys that pin it through turn 1 (which is mildly banked) and keep on hauling ass towards turn 2. I don't trust my car & myself enough to try that. It feels real stable at 170+. BTW Zach, I reached the previously stated 175 MPH in St. Paul, MN on the hwy racing motorcycles...LOL... I will not do that again.

some thing about short wheel base cars and high speeds and i think i would suck up althe seat cover and carpet from the pucker factor. but i do like going fast in the proper configured car.

and before i knew better i would do things like blast across the evergreen pt bridge at 150 or so in my v8 chevy monza

funny you mention wheelbase - when I took my car to the chassis shop to start the tube frame the first thing the guy asked me... "You wanna lengthen the wheelbase of that thing at all?" Trust me, I wanted to from a stability standpoint, as well as ease of fitting the engine, trans, hell, just about everything would have been easier to pack into the car... I would have had a 6lb bag instead of 5, better weight distribution, blah blah but saw the bodywork as a total nightmare to make the car look right again. I was going to extend the front out 2", the doors about an inch or two and the rear 2-3" but man that would have been work to make it look right. 7" would have a significant impact tho'.

and then you might as well had started with a noble

Now it's time to put our highly trained driver beind the wheel to see just what this car will do.

Some say he has jackstands for feet, and a shift knob for a hand. We don't really know about that we just call him....The Stag

Did you guys know the 914 has a longer wheel base than the 911?

175...hmmm
Need more power...
Turbo??? Supercharger???

Rich

I'm considering a 100 shot of nitrous!

bill, i'm glad your car is holding together and seems really well "vetted".

I don't know who The Stag is, but what if you found a pro to go a few screamin' laps with at BIR?

no disrespect meant, your a great driver! but I mean sit shotgun and find out what she'll do for real. then at least you'll know where the bar is. it might reduce that pucker factor...

yeah, crazy right! But the 914 is still a foot shorter than my old Mustang and about 10" shorter than many of roundy-round stuff at a minimum of 105" and typically closer to 108" like my old 'stang.

It's no wonder these cars, when pushed just passed the limit, will spin like a top. Don't wanna do that anywhere near 170mph I tuned in a bit too much front stiffness last time around and have significant on-throttle plow but I was trying to get away from the mid corner "oh shit here comes the rear again" hahaha. I think a slight decrease in front spring rate and my car should be pretty neutral through the corner with slight on-throttle understeer out of the corner, and then the car will feel pretty solid.

That is a long way of saying that the more I mess with the car and sit in the seat at the track the faster and more confident I am getting... and the same would go for Bill if he frequented BIR. Before breaking the shifter (again ) my last trip to Pueblo a couple weeks ago I ran my fastest lap yet at 1:43.78, which would have put me 3rd fastest fendered car at the last big event there two months prior. With some more tuning and especially the Mendeola I expect to match or surpass the fast time set that weekend of 1:41.something by a tail-dragger in the big bore class.

This can work for you or against you. It will either question your car's ability, or your own. If your impression is "How'd he do that?", then you may consider advanced driving courses or you may simply be at "your" limit. Tough to be honest with oneself at times. Keep in mind too, that a professional driver (or even one that competes regularly) is at a completely different skill level than someone that only does it occasionally. I'd personally balk at asking a pro to drive an unfamiliar car near its limit, since they too don't always know what to expect from it. FWIW.

Andys

That's an idea I have thought about and I'm open to that suggestion. I have talked with a guy who's name is Bob Vue (owns Autoedge) and he says he'll take it around the track to see how it is. He's got a zillion laps @ BIR and really knows how to drive (under 140 in a Cup car) I hear. Maybe I'll go up to BIR this weekend for their 40 year anniversary. I understand they may have changed the track layout?

Nice to hear from you Paul,

Bill

My car used to plow on throttle and now I've made a number of changes and it feels pretty neutral...with a hint of understeer on throttle. Just how I want it. I know the feeling of the "ass-happyness" you were getting. I'd rather have it understeer off the track than oversteer wildly...at least that way you can keep the car on the track with less throttle.



Sounds like you are trying to wring everything you can out of your beast. That's awesome! It also sounds like you could wallpaper the walls of your house with expensive receipts (know the feeling).