2015 Willow Springs Drags

[Tetge]

Here is the schedule for 2015. Sat, June 6th is the opening event. I wonder if any weak blue SVT Cobras will be there to be slayed? It makes it worth going just to get the kill.

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Maybe I'll stay in OEM Stock trim and see if less is more? June 6th sounds good to me

[Tetge]

Maybe I'll stay in OEM Stock trim and see if less is more? June 6th sounds good to me

Less can never be more, but, sometimes less can be easier to control. However, less will not have that top end rush that more has shown once the tires get a grip on Willow. And, it mostly has been the top end part of the run that haws done in my poor little weak, tall geared, 5.0. So, I hope that you leave it in OEM stock trim, as a kill is still a kill, although in stock trim my 412/390 rated numbers are superior to the 390/390 rated numbers for the Terminator. But, we all know that the numbers that Ford gave for the Terminator were understated, don't we.

So, we should put June 6 on the schedule and hope that it is cool that day with no winds.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

Maybe I'll stay in OEM Stock trim and see if less is more? June 6th sounds good to me

But, we all know that the numbers that Ford gave for the Terminator were understated, don't we.

So, we should put June 6 on the schedule and hope that it is cool that day with no winds.

Mine dyno'd 386RWHP with a K&N filter element in the stock airbox with the snorkel removed at the Dyno Day in Camarillo all those years ago

[Tetge]

Maybe I'll stay in OEM Stock trim and see if less is more? June 6th sounds good to me

But, we all know that the numbers that Ford gave for the Terminator were understated, don't we.

So, we should put June 6 on the schedule and hope that it is cool that day with no winds.

Mine dyno'd 386RWHP with a K&N filter element in the stock airbox with the snorkel removed at the Dyno Day in Camarillo all those years ago

With a 15% drive train loss, that would have been a 454 HP engine. But, I am not convinced that the Bottle Blown dyno numbers were comparable to other dynos. My stock Cobra made 347 RWHP, SAE corrected, which is approx. 90% of what you made and there was another stock Cobra at the dyno that same day that made similar numbers to mine. Maybe you were gifted with the strongest stock Terminator that ever rolled off the show room floor. But, nearly +40 RWHP over two others is pretty extreme. Of course, I also only made 434 RWHP, on both Swanson's dyno and RET's dyno, with all my mods, and still ran 11.4's at LACR and Famoso and trapped over 120 MPH while some alleged 500 RWHP Terminators could not match either my ET or trap speed. And, as I recall PMachy only made 444 on the RET dyno and he ran 11.3's and trapped nearly 123, although we all thought that he fudged on his dyno runs somehow. But, he only had the usual bolt on mods, with, in fact, a stock TB, which he preferred. So, dyno numbers seem to be a bit misleading at times.

In any case, my 5.0 makes 376 RWHP, and your Terminator no less than 386 RWHP and both cars weigh exactly the same 3665 pounds fueled, so we should be very close in performance. But, I doubt if your car in stock trim would have a chance against my 5.0 based upon the fact that my old Terminator, restored completely back to stock including a stock paper air filter, with MT drag radials, and with me having made hundreds of passes in it, made three passes at LACR on 05/05/05, as follows: 12.892 @ 107.600; 12.767 @ 107.780; and 12.668 @ 108.308 . Those were good passes for a stock Terminator based upon magazine tests and posts that I read over the years. So, a stock Terminator, on tire, should be a very close race for my 5.0 which went a couple of 12.4's and one 12.38 @ 113.9 at Famoso.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

Maybe I'll stay in OEM Stock trim and see if less is more? June 6th sounds good to me

But, we all know that the numbers that Ford gave for the Terminator were understated, don't we.

So, we should put June 6 on the schedule and hope that it is cool that day with no winds.

Mine dyno'd 386RWHP with a K&N filter element in the stock airbox with the snorkel removed at the Dyno Day in Camarillo all those years ago

With a 15% drive train loss, that would have been a 454 HP engine. But, I am not convinced that the Bottle Blown dyno numbers were comparable to other dynos. My stock Cobra made 347 RWHP, SAE corrected, which is approx. 90% of what you made and there was another stock Cobra at the dyno that same day that made similar numbers to mine. Maybe you were gifted with the strongest stock Terminator that ever rolled off the show room floor. But, nearly +40 RWHP over two others is pretty extreme. Of course, I also only made 434 RWHP, on both Swanson's dyno and RET's dyno, with all my mods, and still ran 11.4's at LACR and Famoso and trapped over 120 MPH while some alleged 500 RWHP Terminators could not match either my ET or trap speed. And, as I recall PMachy only made 444 on the RET dyno and he ran 11.3's and trapped nearly 123, although we all thought that he fudged on his dyno runs somehow. But, he only had the usual bolt on mods, with, in fact, a stock TB, which he preferred. So, dyno numbers seem to be a bit misleading at times.

In any case, my 5.0 makes 376 RWHP, and your Terminator no less than 386 RWHP and both cars weigh exactly the same 3665 pounds fueled, so we should be very close in performance. But, I doubt if your car in stock trim would have a chance against my 5.0 based upon the fact that my old Terminator, restored completely back to stock including a stock paper air filter, with MT drag radials, and with me having made hundreds of passes in it, made three passes at LACR on 05/05/05, as follows: 12.892 @ 107.600; 12.767 @ 107.780; and 12.668 @ 108.308 . Those were good passes for a stock Terminator based upon magazine tests and posts that I read over the years. So, a stock Terminator, on tire, should be a very close race for my 5.0 which went a couple of 12.4's and one 12.38 @ 113.9 at Famoso.

Your Terminator never went completely back to stock as it still had the 4.10 gears. The mechanical advantage gearing provides enhances acceleration greatly. On the RET Dyno after the pulley, mid=pipe and tune, mine made SAE 460/460. Now, if I had done all the stuff (Swaybar, spare tire, etc) I might have shaved 2 tenths off the 11.96 et. Gearing is so important the Pro Stock racers will change transmission gear ratios between rounds to get an advantage

I have run 107 MPH in 3rd pretty consistently at Willow. The 116.88 at Famoso means I am only picking up 10 MPH in the last 3-400 feet in 4th. The load in 4th is what, roughly 15% greater than someone running 4.10 gears? And if I could shift like P Stiggy......

[Tetge]

I went back to 3.55's a couple of times as I burned through complete rear diffs. I do not remember if I had 3.55's at LACR when I went back to stock as I neglected to fully document my Excel record back in my earlier record keeping days. I do agree that 4.10's made a difference both at the strip and on the street as the car felt much better both places although cars with 3.55's still got some great ET's. I shall have to go check my records some more.

But, the current 5.0 suffers at Willow for sure due to its tall gearing. I go through in 3rd, but, I am not on the pipe for most of the run, as there is a big gap between 2nd and 3rd, as 3rd will hit 114-115 at 7000 RPM on the short MT DR's, and I am trapping 104-105, max, at Willow. 3.55's on a Terminator with a tune are perfect at Willow as third gets wound almost to the rev limiter. At Famoso, the 5.0 was finishing the 1/4 in 3rd, bumping the 7300 RPM rev limiter as I shut off, so it was a perfectly geared three speed, although the stump puller first gear overall ratio of 13:1 (with the stock 3.15 rear end ratio) is a handicap along with the major gap from 2->3. The Terminator has a 9.9:1 first gear, and significantly better spacing from 1->2 and 2->3 and 3-4, so it is a 4 speed at Famoso. One can basically forget 4th gear and up on the auto trans 5.0 as all three top gears are overdrives. Per my calculations, even if I went to 4.30's, 4th would still be too tall at Famoso.

So, your Terminator is geared perfectly for the Willow Springs drags. And, since the track has no prep, it would not be as rewarding for hard shifting drivers like PMachy, although he no doubt would ultimately master the launch and still manage to shift fairly quickly. With the manual trans and all the supercharged torque of a Terminator, the launch is definitely very tricky, although there was that time (it is documented in one of my videos) that Brakelate went crazy and could not lose. Somehow he was squirting off the start line without wheel spin and it made him impossible to catch. But, that was some fluke. Perhaps his clutch was slipping, or something? I never did figure out how to launch my Terminator at Willow, but, of course, the soft 5.0 usually launches with no drama at all and the only remote amount of skill involved is the RT off the single beam staging light.

So, as I said, it should be a good race if you were basically stock, and, in fact, you might find it easier to launch and shift without spinning, detuned.

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Ugliness, Pie Plate and Dirt

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Willow trim. I found a product called Oil Eater. Spray it on, rinse it off. Works pretty well for a lazy bones like me

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http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/page.php?id=53