Salt Flats ....

so what does it take to build and design a vehicle for Bonneville ...or any other land speed racing ??

does any body here compete in that type of racing ?

im just intrigue by the passion these guys have for these cars .... they win no money !!! and its only them and there car trying to better there previous mph !!!

seems like most of these cars are purpose built for this type of racing , aerodynamics im sure plays a very important role in the top end of these vehicles and then you have gearing , and knowing how to tune a carb/injection ......


just dreaming of a future project .......

I've always thought it would be cool to race at Bonneville. Put a low gear ratio in it and let er rip. I know they require high speed tires. That's it for my knowledge for now.

A good movie relative to the Salt Flats is "The World's Fastest Indian" starring Anthony Hopkins. As to the topic's post, endurance type of engine that produces good torque (to accelerate) and horsepower (to combat the brick wall, aka, the air), tuned for survival, very efficient driveline and related parts and yes, excellent aerodynamics. I was at the Salt Flats many years ago. It was a neat place. I remember a small paved road ending at a small paved parking lot with a fence around the parking lot with (1) opening, offering you the salt. It was flat, bright and almost endless with mountains, far in the back ground. No events at the time I was there, but it was an experience more than a visit!

My dad was stationed in the Salt Lake City area during a time in the service and he mentioned some of the guys would go out and slide their cars around at high speed. He told me that he didn't think you could turn a car over out there!

Dave.

Paul Kane has some insite on the salt's!

World's fastes indian! One of the all time best movies! (in my mind)

LivermoreDave wrote:A good movie relative to the Salt Flats is "The World's Fastest Indian" starring Anthony Hopkins. As to the topic's post, endurance type of engine that produces good torque (to accelerate) and horsepower (to combat the brick wall, aka, the air), tuned for survival, very efficient driveline and related parts and yes, excellent aerodynamics. I was at the Salt Flats many years ago. It was a neat place. I remember a small paved road ending at a small paved parking lot with a fence around the parking lot with (1) opening, offering you the salt. It was flat, bright and almost endless with mountains, far in the back ground. No events at the time I was there, but it was an experience more than a visit!

My dad was stationed in the Salt Lake City area during a time in the service and he mentioned some of the guys would go out and slide their cars around at high speed. He told me that he didn't think you could turn a car over out there!

Dave.

I saw that movie in class. I never saw the guy run and i missed the end of it. But I loved the rest of it.

It's something that I would love to do also. Get yourself an SCTA rulebook and check it out, they have a very defined set of rules for just about everything, to get you familiar with what is going to be needed for whatever project you dream up. It isn't competing against everyone else so much, more against yourself, but there are records to be made and broken, some minutes old, some from decades ago. I hear the tech inspection is thorough, your safety equipment must be up to snuff. I plan to go spectate before I even make any attempts to participate. There are several tracks across the States that offer different varieties of this sport... it isn't all on the salt.

The World's Fastest Indian is excellent. If you have only seen bits and pieces of it, buy a copy and watch it several times, there are things you will see the second or fifth time you watch it that you wonder how you missed them. You don't need to be a racing, bike or car person to enjoy the movie.

I have nothing in regards to the Salt Flats, but here in Montana, we have a few spots in I-15 & I-90 that we have done such feats. Back in the early/mid 90's Montana had NO speed limit. We had people from around the world bringing their supercars here to wring them out. I had a couple such events with a couple of my own rigs. With my '70 'Cuda I made 2 passes with a 1st pass of 176 mph, nd the 2nd pass of 171 mph. The 2nd was with my '82 Mustang GT. With some tuning, I was able to manage a 1st pass of 153 mph, and a 2nd pass of 147 mph. Now that I'm a little older, and alot wiser, I save my hot rodding for the track. It was a blast when I did it. But when I think back on it now, it was pretty stupid.

Those Bonneville boys (and girls) do have a different level of performance mindedness, that is for sure. I love to watch them when they run. Just watched it on Car Crazy last weekend actually.







Doug...

Always read about the Salt Flats & The Silver State Classic never been to either.

Different strategy needed to run each event but hear they both are awesome.

bruno wrote:so what does it take to build and design a vehicle for Bonneville ...or any other land speed racing ??

does any body here compete in that type of racing ?

im just intrigue by the passion these guys have for these cars .... they win no money !!! and its only them and there car trying to better there previous mph !!!

seems like most of these cars are purpose built for this type of racing , aerodynamics im sure plays a very important role in the top end of these vehicles and then you have gearing , and knowing how to tune a carb/injection ......


just dreaming of a future project .......

Nothing against it, But I have no interest whatsoever

Check out http://www.target550.com The guy, Jim Hume, who is building this thing, was the crew chief on my "Top Gas" dragster back in the late 60's-early 70's. Jim is an absolutely awesome guy. I've known him for 55+/- years.

thxs for the link Chuck .... 5000 hp insane for sure

ThndrChkn wrote:I have nothing in regards to the Salt Flats, but here in Montana, we have a few spots in I-15 & I-90 that we have done such feats. Back in the early/mid 90's Montana had NO speed limit. We had people from around the world bringing their supercars here to wring them out. I had a couple such events with a couple of my own rigs. With my '70 'Cuda I made 2 passes with a 1st pass of 176 mph, nd the 2nd pass of 171 mph. The 2nd was with my '82 Mustang GT. With some tuning, I was able to manage a 1st pass of 153 mph, and a 2nd pass of 147 mph. Now that I'm a little older, and alot wiser, I save my hot rodding for the track. It was a blast when I did it. But when I think back on it now, it was pretty stupid.

Those Bonneville boys (and girls) do have a different level of performance mindedness, that is for sure. I love to watch them when they run. Just watched it on Car Crazy last weekend actually.







Doug...

yep just watch it this morning , great stuff

So i just went thru an ecta ck list and this existing chassis could work but would probably be better to start from scratch --alot more safety is involved with these vehicles , i have spoke to several folks already from that lsr community and the were a bunch of help , very informative folks ....... i will just have to keep on dreaming for now

I've always been more interested in top speed events than 1/4 mile. I've been building my car for open road racing for several years now. Was entered in the SORC in 2008, but had to withdraw due to personal/family issues. Now that we're getting back on track, I'm ready to race again. The car is good enough to pass tech for the lower speed classes, but I'm going to wait until next year to run my first event so I can build a roll bar and add some other safety items.

Here's a couple videos of the SORC if you're not familiar:

http://www.streetfire.net/video/sorc-2008-ron-adees-record-setting-road-course-ru_179618.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GPY_vFIGnY

This video is from an event in NV. It makes me laugh: (except for the wreck at the 1:00 minute mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbk9R7VW7is&feature=PlayList&p=E03A37BEACF27368&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=30

Most people run in lower speed classes which is kind of like bracket racing where the winner is whoever comes closest to the "target speed" or average speed over the course......80mph, 110mph, 140mph, etc.

Would love to run the salt, but you pretty much need a dedicated car because of all the safety stuff. Might get there someday (and really hope to), but don't want to gut my car at this point.

Standing mile competition is becoming more popular. There's actually one that's run in FL at an airstrip. Maxton is in NC I think? There's also the Mojave mile in CA and one in TX but the name slips my mind. A few of the open road events have standing 1/2 mile and standing mile too.

Can't really say what or why the top end stuff is more appealing. Maybe the duration of the event? Maybe because it's just a little crazy? Maybe because it's more grass roots / participant oriented (not about the money)?


.

sweet videos Carl... they invited me to an envent in maxton nc on the 10, 11 but thats just to soon for me , they have another one after the bash that i will probably attend , watch, and take notes

as far grassroots i used to run a DP Nissan and it probably was the best racing ive done ...solo1/soloII ......good memories

Horsepower, aerodynamics, and gearing, just what the doc ordered. Not that much different than drag racing just in a longer straight line and alot more thought and engineering. Always wanted to do Bonneville. Would be fun to try.

Hey Bruno, one of my buds goes every year, his dad was a belly tank racer , is a member of the 200 mph club. I can have him get you a rule book this year when he goes if you want. He brought me one in 2007. He has a 34 ford with a 392 hemi with a Don Hampton recreated "Potvin" crankshaft driven blower on it all period correct for Bonneville, very wild! I have stashed away a 9" 3rd member with 247 gears in it for top speed if you want to borrow it!!

95lightiningguy wrote:Horsepower, aerodynamics, and gearing, just what the doc ordered. Not that much different than drag racing just in a longer straight line and alot more thought and engineering. Always wanted to do Bonneville. Would be fun to try.

you are definetly correct in reguards to the engineering side of it , tires , weight , gearing its really awesome how much research these guys do ... i mean some of the speeds these go do is just incredible with such low hp/tq ....... just another form of taking your sport to the limit ...

blown473 wrote:Hey Bruno, one of my buds goes every year, his dad was a belly tank racer , is a member of the 200 mph club. I can have him get you a rule book this year when he goes if you want. He brought me one in 2007. He has a 34 ford with a 392 hemi with a Don Hampton recreated "Potvin" crankshaft driven blower on it all period correct for Bonneville, very wild! I have stashed away a 9" 3rd member with 247 gears in it for top speed if you want to borrow it!!

thats pretty awesome to be in that club !!! and thxs for the offer