............. Sumner will straighten me out.................
Actually I wish I could straighten the Stude out as we (Hooley) tried to spin it again last year..........
http://www.youtube.com/jp.swf?video_id=uSrGmZC2M1M&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//img.youtube.com/vi/uSrGmZC2M1M/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskIdM3ro7UHSuNOqVj4lmsZ5............... after that run that Hooley qualified on ............... but on this one......
http://www.youtube.com/jp.swf?video_id=VyWUfWaWEDQ&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//img.youtube.com/vi/VyWUfWaWEDQ/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskJt-jgG709YPCBCF6T4oIeZWe were 3000-3100 lbs. the first year when we ran over 200 with the junkyard alky motor and never got into trouble since we were still accelerating and got close to 219 on the 4th run and the last run as we were pumping all the oil to the top end and had no oil pressure. One lesson learned.
Then next year (2005) we went back and made four runs before blowing a seal in the blower. I think the best mph was 212 as the course was terrible and we weren't able to get 100% throttle. We were finally getting the suspension working when the seal blew. I almost felt good about that as I thought Hooley was really trying too hard and bad things could have happened.
Now we are at 2006 and had a good track and at about 4 miles an hour faster (223) than we ran in 2004 Hooley hit the aero wall and spun the tires ..... resulting in this ............
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CU59SUocJoAThis is a great video of traction problems, how fast it can get out from under you and how fast you should be in getting the chute out. We were still running the same weight as 2004/2005 (3100 lbs.). After the spin we added weight that at least we finally had with us. We added about 700 lbs. and that enabled us to set the record at 236 with a 241 exit speed.
In 2007 we ran good the first day, except for one small problem, forgetting to turn the cooling water on. After working on the car we got back out Wed. and Thurs. qualified over our record, but the course was really going away. We had added weight and were up to about 4100 lbs (about 50% -- 50%). It helped us run a 243 exit speed, but not enough to handle the course on the back up run on Friday (see second video above). With our current weight we need a perfect course and I think 250+ is possible, but I would like to see us add at least 800 lbs. for this year to give us a cushion if Hooley and John have time to do that. You can't count on getting a perfect course and 800 lbs. would only get us 400 lbs. on the back for traction the rest is needed to keep the CG/CP about where it is now.
I have more of my thoughts on this on my site ..........................
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/bville%20-%20LSR%20Thoughts-Index.html............. pages 3 and 4 if you aren't totally bored by this point.
One thing that seems to be agreed on is that weight will help you on the big end when you hit the aero wall where you overpower the tires trying to get the power to the ground to run the speed. Personally I think weight can help you at the start of the run with a high power car where you are also overpowering the track. We can only get 25% to 30% throttle in 1st and 2nd without spinning the tires. I think more weight will help us accelerate faster in the first couple gears by getting more HP to the ground.
c ya,
Sum