Ultimate street car update

[Russ M]

Mani is not in the competition this year.

And the Skyline from last year was far from stock. If I recall correct it made something like 550rwhp, not to mention full suspension, transmission, etc...

 

[Drag Racing Consultant]

I have to say I love the Vipers and the Skylines, but I am going with the Skyline to win this year. Paolo's Viper is a really nice car and makes incredible power, but I think it will lose in some areas like the Granma Test, Guru Panel etc.. The Skyline will should do extremely well in the 0-60 and 1/4 mile times as well as the Guru etc. This years contest I am actually thinking about buying the video. I think it will be that close.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

And if I am not mistaken, this IS a Jason Heffner SC car?

 

[ZX1100]

I smell Fear in Paolo's Passenger!

HAHAHA

GO PAULO GO!!

WAHOO

I would to if you had someone behind the wheel looking like this
http://www.cris.com/~Viprdave/uscc/20030924/DCP00224.JPG

 

[KenH]

Mani is not in the competition this year.

And the Skyline from last year was far from stock. If I recall correct it made something like 550rwhp, not to mention full suspension, transmission, etc...

They kept using that as a crutch last year. "Yeah the Viper won, but the Skyline was close and was almost stock." I guess bigger turbos, intercooler, cams, etc. and getting the HP from 280 to 550 doesn't count. Sounds like the vette guys logic to me - it's stock as long as it doesn't have a stroker kit in it!

 

[J DAWG]

And if I am not mistaken, this IS a Jason Heffner SC car?

correcto Lee.

and any updates from today?

 

[BANKTHIS]

Just got home from the event. Results...... not good. Roadcourse results, Viper dead last of the cars that finished. 1/4 mile, Viper reported to be in the 12's. Skyline exploded motor on the road course. Parts thru the pan and scattered all over the track. Gross display of HP I think the Viper won. Paulo did a great job in the gross display of HP, completly shredded both rear tires. I think over all Viper will get 2nd or third place. Pics to follow.

Barry

 

[King GTS]

Just got home from the event. Results...... not good. Roadcourse results, Viper dead last of the cars that finished. 1/4 mile, Viper reported to be in the 12's. Skyline exploded motor on the road course. Parts thru the pan and scattered all over the track. Gross display of HP I think the Viper won. Paulo did a great job in the gross display of HP, completly shredded both rear tires. I think over all Viper will get 2nd or third place. Pics to follow.

Barry

WHAT!!!???

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[J DAWG]

What the......a 12 in the 1/4? I know they were using street tires, but but What the.....

Skyline exploded....cool definetly need a pic of that.


What events are left and who do you think will take the prive? please don't say a poooorschey.

 

[TOOOFST]

12's/1/4 paolo's/Heffners S/C= running on 3-4cylinders.
Paolo answer the freeking phone.
Bad news on the road course could happen with that much power and -0- track time.Paolo was in 3rd this morning.Actually we have a WIN.You see the Skyline guy "NICK" from chi-town was talking big time smackdown to Paolo's viper before this competition,as fat albert says...

 

[Juanmotime]

I can see Paolo not being so hot on the road coarse since he hasn't run one in years. Dave would have been a better choice to drive for that event based on more experience. Oh wait, Paolo's NOT a [******] and he is man enough to drive his own car... The way it should be! What did Nick do since his usual hot shoe Emmanuel Crouvisier is off driving race cars in Europe, could he have drove it himself?

12's in the quarter? Maybe if the thing threw a SC belt?

 

[BANKTHIS]

Paulo had as much track time as everyone else. He was on Hoosiers. I think a supercharged 350z with 350 HP won. He had a pro driver for the road course and Manny {Supra Manny} drove the 350z in the gross display of HP.

Barry

 

[Fast Freddy]

anybody can go fast in a straight line. as far as i am concerned drag racing is 90% car and 10% driver. a drag race is usually won or lost on the starting line. i currently drag race: 1 car, 1 boat, 2 motorcycles and 1 truck. drag racing is all about the start (hooking up major horsepower). the 60 foot time is 50% of the race. i used to race motocross and i have even done some stock car racing on dirt tracks.
road racing is 50% car and 50% driver. i have been to a road racing school and i have rented and raced all kinds of race cars both oval track pavement and road race cars on all sorts of race tracks in the southwest. i used to road race a datsun 240-z that i still own. back in the mid 90's i lapped phoenix international raceways road course in phoenix, arizona at a speed of 1 minute 10 seconds in my 240-z. the track record for a viper as of today is only 5 seconds faster than my $20,000 240-z race car.
it's very important that when u take your viper out to an event (major magazine cover story) like this that u have not only the proper car (fast and reliable) but that u also have a excellent driver who can exploit the potential of the car. 660 horsepower (skyline) will do u no good if u can't get it to start or finish the race. also 850 horsepower (viper) will do u no good if u can't drive it. it takes more than just a *** of cash and a ton of horsepower to win races. i have been there and done that. u can't buy experience, u have to earn it.

here is a pic race boat of me and my drag boat in action at the coors light word finals of drag boat racing at firebid lake in chandler, arizona. i have been boat racing for 7 years now. i have been car racing for over 10 years and i have been racing motorcycles for over 10 years as well. been truck racing for the last 2 years.
i bought my viper for road racing and 1 mile top speed events and i look forward to doing that in the future. in the meantime i will keep my racing skills sharp by spending alot of my time racing any and everything. this just gives me more experience to aid me in beating the competition. see u at the track guys.

 

[Juanmotime]

That pretty much sums up what I said. Sure everyone gets 5 laps. But who runs those 5 laps? The fast laps NOT the cars owner (except PMUM last year) It takes money to own a fast car, and skills to make it fast. But it takes balls to drive it yourself and NOT bring in some hotshoe to do the driving. It's not only about respect for the car, but respect for the owner. Paolo said he hadn't run at Gingerman or anywhere else in over 2 years. I suggested he get in a day at the track to freshen up and get used to the car. Time didn't allow for that and it shows.

The car is BAD ASS, but would have been faster had he cut the belt and reduced that power by half.

But it didn't blow up!

 

[CHAD]

Do you think a nitrous car would fare better since it could run the road course with controllable power and spray in the straight line events?

Chad

 

[Fast Freddy]

a nitrous car would definately do better in a event like this for 2 big reasons. when drag racing, a nitrous car launchs out of the hole without using the nitrous to help lessen the problem of tire spin in 1st gear. when u shift into 2nd gear u hit the nitrous and hold it down for the rest of the track. this solves alot of the tire spin problem.
when road racing u never want to use a supercharger because the throttle transition is not favorable among other things. have u ever seen a track record set at a road course or oval track by a supercharged car. absolutely not. and there is a reason for it. road racing is not all about horsepower like drag racing. road racing is way more complicated. and the longer the race (ie: #of laps) the worse it gets. the most important thing for road racing is low weight and handling prowess and good braking. as long as those three elements are covered then u just keep adding more horsepower to the mix. name one professional oval track or road racing series that uses superchargers. u can't name one. because they are for drag racing and the street only.

road racing should always be done with normally aspirated power or a turbocharger. in a viper normally aspirated power would be the preferred way to go since the motor already has so much power and turbos favor lighter cars like my 240-z which is turbocharged. a street legal viper built to replicate a lemans series viper race car would be the ideal viper for an event like this. it makes 700 horsepower with no turbos and no supercharger. put a nitrous kit on a car like this and use it on the drag strip after u have gotten out of 1st gear. now u have the best of both worlds. nitrous is the great equalizer that lets u bridge the gap between different forms of motorsport.

this is how i will be building my viper. this way i can go road racing and use my viper for top speed shootouts as well. i will use the nitrous when doing top speed shoot outs in 2nd through 5th gears only. i have never planned on drag racing my viper on the quarter mile and never will because, i prefer solid rear ends and automatic transmissions for my drag strip work. just like all the fastest cars in the world use for dragstrips. that's why i drag race my camaro and my lightning. they have automatic transmissions and solid rear ends. this makes for better consistency, reliability and easier driveability when drag racing. the viper is an ideal candidate for road racing and top speed shoot outs, and this what i will be doing with my snake.

 

[Russ M]

Fast Freddy,

I totally disagree with your opinion on drag racing, if it was only 10% driver then you would not have such a large variance in times put down by identical cars.

Matter of fact percentage wise drag racing time differences are much like those on a road course.


Paolo's car is probably far from what you want on a road course, having that kind of power down low just promotes wheel spin on every corner exit.

He probably would have been better off pulling the supercharger belt for the road race or setup an blow off valve to release all boost pressure produced by the blower.

 

[Fast Freddy]

the point i was trying to make was that when road racing the driver becomes more of a factor in the outcome of a race than when drag racing.

 

[SnakeBitten]

This one hurts to hear...Well Paolo may not have been able to bring home the victory but he get my respect for having the balls to try to pilot that beast around a track on street tires....Who knows maybe a driver of PMUM's caliber could have done good with that power or maybe not....At least its a lesson learned for any future Viper entrants...Absolute power corrupts absolutely


Fast Freddy, taking nothing away from Paolo, do you think a driver of PMUM's caliber could have driven it to victory with that SC'ed beast???


Reason I ask is I read what you said about SC not being roadcourse friendly...I downloaded a vid from LPE's website of a SC Vette doing many many laps and being very fast...Only the race cars were faster....Now it wasnt making anywhere what Paolos car was putting down at the tires, but a SC can be roadcourse friendly...Just depends on how much power is being made right...

 

[HOLD TYTE]

Just a quick note.. paolo may have run a 12.5 but he did it at 150mph..

 

[FE 065]

back in the mid 90's i lapped phoenix international raceways road course in phoenix, arizona at a speed of 1 minute 10 seconds in my 240-z. the track record for a viper as of today is only 5 seconds faster than my $20,000 240-z race car...

You say 5 seconds like it's .05sec... 5 seconds is forever on a track; especially if it's a tight track. Does that mean the Viper would lap your old ****** in only 14 laps?

 

[CHAD]

He really ran 150?!

 

[Dr Roof]

150 mph is impressive in the Quarter!

Paolo
Give us an update man!

 

[BANKTHIS]

Final results, 1st place supercharged 350z with 350HP, 2nd place Ultima kit car (don't know HP) and third was one of the Supras. Viper won Highest HP and Gross display of HP. Viper was on Hoosiers. Mumford could have won the road course crusing around in third gear.

Barry

 

[Torquemonster]

Well - looks like Paolo did what he set out to do in the gross display of HP - man that would have been something to watch.

The rest all seems a bit like opinions right now so I'll wait till the formal results are known and Paolo is back to comment.

He has my utmost respect for doing this whole thing as a privateer.

Sure some loaded individual can spend a fortune on a car, then hire professioanl drivers for the track and perhaps another driver for the dragstrip etc all having had plenty of track time in the car just practising for their events. What does this prove - that money and a full time commitment wins?

we see that already in all sports - money wins.

But here is a guy who is not a billionaire, who paid for his car out of his own earnings, did everything he could in a very short space of time - way to short a space of time, he's had to fit it around his work, he's had very little sleep, drove his own car - and did a great job overall - that's what I see.

He was always bound to have some problems. Even professioanl teams have problems from time to time - the chances of him going and having a fairy tale event wasn't realistic. Over 800rwtq around a roadcourse would be like trying to race around on ice out of every turn. Full marks to Paolo for giving it a great shot. That car will have earned the respect of everyone who saw it run - and no one but no-none there would give themselves a snowballs chance in hell of taking Paolo on along a standing or rolling mile. They'd also all run to mommy before they'd line up in a dyno competition alongside him again.

Whatever the results - the Viper earned respect and so did Paolo. If Paolo ever wants to go back - he'll take with him a wealth of knowledge and exerience learned this time (his first) that he can then apply to next year if he wants to. He's earning his own experiences not buying them. Good for him.

When you want to make a car the fastest at whatever event it may make sense to hire a top gun who specialises in that event - but it's like putting a professioanl boxer in the ring against an amateur. The professional may make it all look easy - but my hat goes off to the amateur who did the hard yards making the most of the limited resources they had, earned the right to be there, and did their best. Top stuff!

 

[Russ M]

Oh no!!!

A supra and Z beat the viper, we are never going to hear the end of it now.

 

[BANKTHIS]

Torquemonster I was there. The only other Viper owner. Paulo did not earn respect, he was laughed at. The Viper was by far the most expensive car. The only thing he proved was that Heffner can build one heck of a motor and talking smack stops at the track when the belts are on. I don't know what kind of "professional teams" you're talking about, alot of the cars were driven there. Paulo got beat by better engineering and driving skills. Paulo was the one who looked like he spent big bucks and then disappointed the crowd with his proformance. I think everyone there would agree the Viper was with out a doubt the class of the field and the best car. It just was not showed where the rubber meets the road, on the track!

Barry

 

[King GTS]

So Said BANKTHIS...

Torquemonster I was there. The only other Viper owner. Paulo did not earn respect, he was laughed at.

I can only imagine how the mag. will tear this up. I foresee it givin a lot of turds a little courage.

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[Maverick The Electrician]

150 MPH in the 1/4 is awesome. That would make his viper the 8th one to ever do it.

 

[Yellow Fever]

Just a quick note.. paolo may have run a 12.5 but he did it at 150mph..

Something isn't adding up here..With a trap speed of 150 MPH he should have been in the high 9's low 10's..

Cheers

Jeff