Marlo presents the current situation:
I think it is important to let those who follow the meets and the car to realize that lighter suspended cars have less problems when course conditions are what they are today. Rough. This car weights 8500 pounds and so the condition of the course, in areas where Les needs to put the pedal down, need to be smooth. Our data recorder shows that between 360 and 385 mph the throttle position went from 8% to 60% over 20 times.(in less than 10 seconds) Les' foot is bouncing and his vision is diminished to the point that he can't take time to focus on the mile markers. He must memorize where he is as a mile is 10 seconds and that does not allow much time for sight seeing. The mile at 385 was at 50% throttle and when he added throttle the car spun the tires and then it does not steer properly since it is full time 4 wheel drive. Again, course conditions have to be very consistent for our test program.
We put out 9 chutes in 6 passes last year and NOT one of them is reusable. The salt crystal blasted the fabric right out of the canopies in less than 2 seconds. Things happen fast. We know the car will go fast, but we have to be able to stop it and that is what our current testing program is all about: "stop the car" and have reusable drag chutes. The new sets are all Kevlar. Our current goal here in the USA is to have a car we can get some runs done without damage that can't be fixed trackside. Tires have been good for ONE run. Chutes not at all. We have some new tires we hope will be good for two runs. But when we load up to go to Australia we have to have enough chutes and tires for up to 10 runs. 160-200 quarts of oil, 300 gallons of alcohol, 300 spark plugs and the list goes on.
We are going because we have to, not because we have nothing to do this winter. The course conditions at Wendover will not allow us to use full throttle nor allow us enough space to stop. The salt bed size has been reduced so much and is so thin and fragile that you can't even run in the same track two runs in a row. The condition of the surface, after a run by a high powered car, is devastated. It is like skating on thin ice and too risky for our intended speeds.
Just some facts most folks don't think about.
Marlo