Terminator Owner

[Tetge]

.........I installed the "styling bar" and it passed tech at Willow. Hoping there will be no issue at Famoso too......

I can tell you that Famoso is very strict on their tech and that the NHRA rule book is followed. Willow's tech is a joke since they are not a NHRA strip. They do a visual to see if the car has fluid leaks and they ask if you have a helmet but, they are not strict at all. In fact, they use their road racing insurance for the drag racing events and this means that no motorcycles are allowed and no verts, at any ET, unless they have roll protection of some sort. NHRA rules do not require roll protection on verts unless they are quicker than 14 flat, so this is another difference. And, watch out if you roll up to the burnout box with a window down at Famoso, whereas Willow wants at least one window down (road racing rules again). Finally, Willow will, and does, permit people with clean looking antique helmets to run, even though the helmets are expired for NHRA purposes. I believe that Snell 2005 is the oldest helmet that Famoso will allow to run, and, they ALWAYS check for the Snell sticker in the helmet.

I have no idea what kind of roll protection your car has, but, it would be a good idea to see what the current 2014 NHRA roll protection rules are. Irwindale may or may not be strict. I have no idea since I have never been there as I have no use for shorty strips and it a nasty ride to get there from where I live.

[MrCaliKrome]

I'll check my helmets. I know I have a few on and off road that definitely should be rated >2005.

[Brakelate]

TOTALLY just going from memory here... I am damn sure those who enjoy crunching numbers and with a clearer mind than my own will chime in with exact data;

But, I think the magic number was right around a 1.8 60' time to get you there if everything else thereafter fell into place casually. 1.7's would definitely be there, and I think most of my own 11.7-ish runs were following a 1.68 or so short time. On the occasion I dipped into the 1.5's it was a guaranteed mid 11 pass, and if your car has decent trap speed up around 119-120 mph in the quarter you are at a 11.5 or better, no problem.

My car is sort of strange. It always has done well in overall ET, but consistently falls a couple mile an hour short of other Terminators running similar set up, with matching ET's etc. I have always been in the 118 mph range. But, I always run odd ball tire combos, including left over bias ply's which seem to sap trap speed.

I never did go back and make "THE PASS" with the motor configuration I have been running for the last couple of years, since torching my stock bottom end doing top speed runs on the dry lake in the middle of July. With 4:10's, my current 500 tq / 500 hp to the wheels and traction, I would be at 10.3's in good Famoso air, no problem. But, that is all speculation. And we HATE "best guessing" anything around here. As freakish things happen. Seemingly fast cars can't break into the 11's , while mildly tuned, well driven cars bust into the .3's -under ideal weather conditions-. SO, unless we see it in person, it just isn't worth talking about all the shoulda-coulda-woulda-what-ifs and all that. On the previous board, we even had a "back it up" rule, where you had to repeat a similar ET, within a few % for that number to be recognized, as fluke runs occur. We were (are?) that friggin demanding. There simply is too much bullshit out there. And we want our stuff to be legit.

But, I think those goals should put you in there. Most folks on street tires run 2.2 60' times. You'll HAVE to break into sub 2.0 60's to get anywhere, even into the mid 12's really.

I think the rule was, for every tenth lost on the 60' time, you could double that reduction in a full quarter mile pass. So, the little numbers in 60 foot times means a lot.

Hope that made sense, and helps some.

[Tetge]

..........I think the rule was, for every tenth lost on the 60' time, you could double that reduction in a full quarter mile pass..........

Crunching numbers in my extensive Excel data base that includes over 600 passes with my Cobra, I determined that for every .1 sec reduction in 60' time, there was a .16 sec reduction in the 1/4 mile ET. Of course, that was in my case, though Danny Swanson, who was a talented Mustang drag racer, told me early on that it was a 1.5:1 ratio, so my documented 1.6:1 ratio seemed reasonable. As well, experience told me that disconnecting the sway bar gave me an edge in the 60' times and, as previously mentioned, taking the headlight out also helped with ET and trap speeds. Of course, the real cheaters have gutted stock headlights and this still gives them the cold air but improves their aerodynamics and appearance. Brakelate sometimes used to drive around in daylight hours with aired down DR's and his trick gutted headlight looking for suckers to dispatch.

I just need to get a set of 4.30 gears for Famoso, and I would be good to go.

[03_SONIC_BLUR]

As for SonicBlur? What he doesn't say is that while I was banging gears in sunny California, he was in Ohio, working, and, some say, he also was doing some banging, but, it might not have been gears. Just saying................

I remember something about rusty screen doors? But the weather was extreme there, and it affected my memory

[Brakelate]

Brakelate sometimes used to drive around in daylight hours with aired down DR's and his trick gutted headlight looking for suckers to dispatch.

It almost became mandatory to run around with the car gutted, octane boost in the tank (filled no more than 1/4 at a time) without a swaybar and the leather shift ball lightly powdered like a Pro Players' Pool Que just to get to Costco and back, in fear that one might encounter the infamous Palmdale Sandbagger in his White Auto Shifting 5.0 Coyote powered 'Stang who, at the drop of a hat, or the flash of a school zone sign, would floor it and leave you all alone in an instant, gathering your thoughts as to how this encounter with the "Ghost" just went down. More often than not, from a dig, under conditions found on your typical public roadway, one had not a chance in hell against the feared Bearded Devil and the car that could hook and book without breaking a sweat. While the commander of the "Ghost" giggled and glared out his rearview at you with those beady little dark eyes that gave just a glimmer of the immense internal joy that he was experiencing after such an encounter.

Hell yes, I was prepared. It was how we rolled in the AV. One has to uphold the Terminator namesake whenever there is even the remote perception than some silly fool was in need of an "education".

[Tetge]

Since this is now a hopelessly whored up thread (that reminds me of the old days), I can only say that today I am saddened by the fact that my final meeting with the bankers still left me short and unable to afford the approximate $60K that I would need if I traded my 2012 Mustang GT in on a stripper, but track ready, Corvette. Where I sat, the $60K would almost be worth it when I passed Carlos at the track. But, no matter how we juggled the books, I simply was too poor for a decent 460 HP Vette. Oh well.........

And, BTW, all that ghost at stoplights talk is total BS. Just check out the 30 wins in a row by Brakelate at unprepped Willow thread.

[Brakelate]

30 in a row won at the Willow Track. 60+ lost coming and going to the track for those very same events at every stop sign, red light, pedestrian crossing or cattle guard to the one and only Ghostly Coyote.


Vette my ass. That would be the day.

[Tetge]

30 in a row won at the Willow Track. 60+ lost coming and going to the track for those very same events at every stop sign, red light, pedestrian crossing or cattle guard to the one and only Ghostly Coyote.


Vette my ass. That would be the day.

I may have to settle for a Kawi 14, sports model. You know, I love those Kawi's almost as much as I love Vettes. I guess I should have run the GoPro at some places other than the track and I could have shown me getting slammed by EvoVIII's and every Cobra and Mach1 in the land. I suppose one can say that I never had a ghost of a chance.

[Brakelate]

Get a ZX-14. I "crossed over" from the Kawasaki camp and got a Hayabusa... and a DRZ!

Yeah, just like on the many Supermoto rides, with all the Pro racers from past and present, on any sort of modern racy bike fully capable of slaying a silly Dual Sport in Wolf's clothing as a SM. You are always RIGHT THERE at the next scenic over look, turn out, intersection or fuel stop. Yet, have I had to wait around for you to show up, despite your claims of being "completely and totally off the pace, and riding in your own world". Sure.


Sandbagging is Bullying. Just say no to Tetge. That is the new national campaign I am starting. You must have ridden the bus as a kid, waiting at the top of the stairs just to 'jack kids of their lunch money as they climbed on board every morning before school. Then, you just blew it all, by your own admission, in illicit gambling and high stakes, back room "fight clubs" that eventually resulted in your arrest. And the bribing of LA's finest so that you could escape in a mad dash by over stuffing a get away car and making a break for it into the dark of night.

Sure. You have a lot of credibility when it comes to your tales of underwhelming performance and ability. We believe you. Now, I shall turn out my pockets, so I may pass and board the bus in peace without being dragged down to the bottom of the creek bed and my head beaten against a rock. I now how you roll.