My Texas Mile Experience at 197.8 MPH

[sportyb24]

That thing is to sick!!

[YelloSS]

I got an adrenaline rush just reading this, I can't imagine being in the driver's seat. Fantastic write up and some truly spectacular driving.

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by 67motorcat

Awesome pics man,

I'll bet your Hex Vents helped a lot with air pressure building up under the hood.

Do you have any evidence the vents made a difference at those kind of speeds?

Have you run that fast without them before?

I have no doubt they helped a ton... but I have no evidence to prove it...

I will state that a video taken from inside the car shows the windshield getting wet almost immediately after the head gasket let loose, which means water from between the head and block made its way up and through the vents and/or under the back of the hood at speed. I don't know if any made it down under the car...The water on the windshield tells me there was a lot of air being forced out the top from pretty low down in the engine bay. I didn't notice any hood fluttering at speed either. which I've seen at speed before the hood vents...

We skinned the underside of the car from the front bumper cover back to the bell housing to keep air from under the car. We also removed the rubber strip at the back of the hood underside along the firewall. All of these are things we did to improve the down force of the car... We certainly don't have access to an air tunnel so the degree of improvement isn't known... but...

My seat of the pants feeling is the car is incredibly stable even over 200 mph. It never felt lite at all, just planted and firm.

I did remove my dove tail spoiler from the rear deck lid and re-installed my factory lip spoiler. This was due to 1. the wind resistance the blade would create, and 2. the fact that no one at GM could/would tell me how much down force they create and would it actually rip the spoiler off at speed. That would be brutal... a couple thousand lbs of down force suddenly gone and the suspension unloading at speed...

As for running that fast before, I had been about 175 in this car, and it felt good but not as well planted as it did with the changes we've made..

[vroomapunk]

That sounds like so much fun, and that was a good save man! I see stock rims, you still running stock tires? I guess it would be tough to keep traction with any width tire with the turbos and nitrous.

[Russell James]

Looks like quite the experience.

That's putting a lot of faith in stock wheels and tires though. I'd stick some forged racing wheels on that thing for those kind of speeds. Cast OE stuff at those speeds would not be for me. I've seen more than one car of various makes at those type of speed events blow a wheel to smitherenes and send the car tumbling. Maybe some ZL1 wheels would be a nice setup for a top speed effort Camaro.

[pyr0b0y]

Can't believe I just saw this Robert! Wow 190 run is outstanding! That burnout video is wicked! Can't wait to see what you can pull off the next time you go!

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by vroomapunk

That sounds like so much fun, and that was a good save man! I see stock rims, you still running stock tires? I guess it would be tough to keep traction with any width tire with the turbos and nitrous.

better tires would be a plus, and I will be back out with racing slicks... It's still a matter of playing with the throttle to try and achieve traction...

Originally Posted by Russell James

Looks like quite the experience.

That's putting a lot of faith in stock wheels and tires though. I'd stick some forged racing wheels on that thing for those kind of speeds. Cast OE stuff at those speeds would not be for me. I've seen more than one car of various makes at those type of speed events blow a wheel to smitherenes and send the car tumbling. Maybe some ZL1 wheels would be a nice setup for a top speed effort Camaro.

As above, I am going with forged wheels and better tires... but I learned a lot with the lack of traction... I went 100 -60-100-60100 -60 percent throttle five times if fourth gear alone... In one of the pass videos, you can hear the motor revving up and down at about 170 mph... That was the result of tire spin... and I hear you on the forged vs cast wheels...

Originally Posted by pyr0b0y

Can't believe I just saw this Robert! Wow 190 run is outstanding! That burnout video is wicked! Can't wait to see what you can pull off the next time you go!

Thanks Josh... It was amazing fun.... I'll hopefully be out there in March going lots faster... I went 197.8 on boost alone without spraying it... With the upgrades we are making and what not, it'll be lots faster next time out...

[Blue70SS]

Originally Posted by SSE 4 2SS

better tires would be a plus, and I will be back out with racing slicks... It's still a matter of playing with the throttle to try and achieve traction...

As above, I am going with forged wheels and better tires... but I learned a lot with the lack of traction... I went 100 -60-100-60100 -60 percent throttle five times if fourth gear alone... In one of the pass videos, you can hear the motor revving up and down at about 170 mph... That was the result of tire spin... and I hear you on the forged vs cast wheels...

Thanks Josh... It was amazing fun.... I'll hopefully be out there in March going lots faster... I went 197.8 on boost alone without spraying it... With the upgrades we are making and what not, it'll be lots faster next time out...

Wow, really cool Robert! Looks like a blast and total rush

Out of curiousity, what kind of head gaskets & bolts/studs were you running? I'm always wondering just how much boost these engines can take. I know I felt alot more comfortable after upgrading the head gaskets and going all out ARP studs. Stuff happens, but doesn't stop the fun..... just comes with the territory

As for wheels/tires.... I've noticed a Huge difference between running my OEM rims and Forgeline's or Weld's after all the suspension upgrades and near solid engine mounts - nothing like having a precision wheel. When I change from my NT05's on all 4 corners to the Pirellis it's like the difference between snow tires and bald summer tires in the winter. I'm only happy on my Nitto's..... feel like I can actually use the throttle without constantly spinning. Is there a particular tire recommended for traction AND high speed for the Texas Mile?