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Nopi World Finals, October
15-16, 2005, Norwalk, HO
What a fun weekend!
NDRA events just rule, if you've never been, make it a point
to do so soon!
We really achieved everything we set out to do this weekend:
1. Run best-ever numbers
2. Qualify for Adam's first ever heads-up, pro tree field
(we'd been running the bracket races at these events, and
decided to take a shot at the glory!).
Adam was having a ball drilling people on the tree...I don't
think any of the quicker cars he faced ever got out on him
first. Onlookers loved that! And it was dramatic just making
it into a Turbo 4 field at 17 yrs of age with, of all
things, a Sunfire street car! After all, several cars went
home that didn't even make the field.
No, it didn't break, per se...we've been using the stock rev
limit system to launch with, and for some as-yet unknown
reason, it decided to go haywire in first round elims. Early
on this season, I had noted that the car wanted more and
more RPM to leave well, and was handling the power. Now
remember...we are using a stone-stock ignition, so a 2-step
wasn't in the mix. So we tried something truly
ballsy...leaving on the stock rev-limiter. Now granted, this
sounds INSANE, but as the stock limiter revs the engine up
and down, as opposed to just holding it at 6300 RPM, it
worked amazingly well. Adam would just go to full throttle
on the first amber, then leave with the clutch at the green.
We put many many passes and 1.60.something 60-foot times on
with this approach.
So, Adam stages on Sunday, first round. Goes to full
throttle, and the engine goes NUTSO. Popping and banging
like a race car with a real 2-step @ about 7200 RPM and 15
PSI boost! Drops the clutch, and the tires just ignite, car
doesn't hardly even move, he instinctively lets off the gas.
We all figure it's a blown axle or the like, but no...the
car is driven back to the pits for evaluation.
I find...nothing wrong. I won't bore with details, but it's
just as if that super-effective stock rev limiter packed its
bags and left town. I'm confident that I can find out why,
but if anyone has any pearls of wisdom to share, please do!
We were allowed another pass later for exhibition, but with
Adam's launch weapon absent, he really had no idea what RPM
or method to use...the car bogged and while it went its
best-ever MPH, the ET was shot by the bog. But, she's still
healthy, and save for the mysterious rev-limit change, ready
for more action.
Here's the breakdown of the weekend's passes for all you
number-crunchers (Karo, you listening?); remember, this is
Pro tree in qualifying:
Qualify Round One:
rt .245
60 1.710
330 4.923
1/8 7.462 @ 97.29
1000 9.627
1/4 11.44 @ 124.53
Def a great pass, our quickest and fastest to date. Adam
didn't hit the high boost until partway thru 3rd gear, so we
are confident that if he got to it earlier (usually he hits
it at the beginning of 2nd), we could go 11.20 or 11.30 @
125 or better.
Qualifying Round 2:
rt .161
60 1.683
330 4.964
1/8 7.583 @ 94.39
1000 9.882
1/4 11.804 @ 117.59
Watching the pass, I was thinking maybe Adam didn't get to
high boost at all this time, but we got a nasty surprise
when we read the data...yes, we ran 28 PSI boost, but at
16:1 AF ratio! Holy leanness, Batman! Traced the problem to
an inadequately secured FPR signal hose that popped off,
causing fuel pressure to be, gulp...28 PSI too low.
Inspection of the engine revealed that it wasn't hurt by
this potentially destructive scenario. Once again, the
Ecotec shows me that it can take most anything I throw at
it, even when I abuse it! We breathe a sigh of relief and
prepare for Round 3.
Qualifying Round 3:
rt .158
60 1.604
330 4.816
1/8 7.43 @ 94.94
1000 9.644
1/4 11.484 @ 122.97
Dig that 60 and 330! This would have been the boomer pass,
but the car balked on the 2-3 upshift...this is typically an
indication that we are starting to overcome the clutch; it
drags a bit when released and won't allow the upshift to
occur cleanly ( I had anticipated this, so it didn't come as
a great surprise...we are definitely pushing the clutch hard
now) Adam recovers nicely, but the time lost drops the ET to
a 'mere' 11.48.
But we made the field!
Sunday AM, well, the rev limiter takes a powder, and we
lost. As we were up against #1 qualifier, heh, it wasn't a
crushing disappointment. But we really wanted to get in one
more pass, and the kind folks at NOPI allowed it when there
was some downtime:
60 2.005 (yuck! bog)
330 5.276
1/8 7.790 @ 97.78
1000 9.946
1/4 11.751 @ 125.06
Overall, can't complain. As evidenced by the MPH on this
pass, she's still healthy as can be, so the lean episode
didn't hurt her. However, losing 4/10ths in 60 foot KILLED
the ET. If we do the math, simply combining this pass with
our best 60 ft of 1.604 would have made this an 11.25.
Frankly, improving 60 ft by 4/10ths (a HUGE improvement!)
would usually make a 5 or 6/10's improvement in ET, but this
is all bench racing until we show it on the track.
If you review the passes, you'll see that while we ran our
best numbers ever in every way, we just didn't get to
combine them all together on one pass. So it goes with
racing, lol!
It was a blast, and that awesome 60ft of 1.60 is also making
me wonder just how much is left in this car...what a great
chassis J-bodies have!
*Some
products listed are legal for sale or use in CA only for
racing vehicles which may never be driven on a public highway.
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