roll bars in zl1s on texas mile

[camarolover2]

do most people running the texas mile have roll bars installed, at least 5 point?

[Adam12 ZL1]

From what I'm reading it is not required unless open top or convertible.

[jessrayo]

When your car goes through tech inspection it gets approved for a max speed. If you do not have a roll bar your max speed is 199 mph. It is kind of a drag because if your car is tech inspection limited to 199 and you go 201, they will not give you the time slip. So even though you know you went 200 you don't get the certificate. Same if you run outside of a speed you are individually licensed to go. My current license is only good to 220 mph, If I made a run faster than that I would not receive a copy of the time slip and would get a minor scolding about running outside my license limits.

So if you have any possibility of going 200 mph you should get a cage in the car. If you are fairly certain your car will not make 200 mph then don't worry about it.

The conditions and the wind would have to be just about perfect for a blower only car to go 200mph without nitrous. I'm not 100% certain but I don't think it has ever been done... well except Snappy with his 4.2 liter Kenne Bell blower on a no nitrous shakedown pass.... and even then he is close to 1000 whp.

[Adam12 ZL1]

I've been doing some reading on their website, but there is a lot of information to go through. Basically you start with a license for under 165mph then you make a pass and as long as you go over 140 and under 165 you can move up to 199? I don't see my stock ZL1 coming close to that I just plan on going to see the event and have some fun getting to a high speed without risking my CDL.

[camarolover2]

hey jess, with the 750 package on my car and good tires that will hook up what is your best guestimate of my terminal speed. about 700 rwhp on 91 octane, and 750 at 110 with 3.73 rear end gears

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by Adam12 ZL1

I've been doing some reading on their website, but there is a lot of information to go through. Basically you start with a license for under 165mph then you make a pass and as long as you go over 140 and under 165 you can move up to 199? I don't see my stock ZL1 coming close to that I just plan on going to see the event and have some fun getting to a high speed without risking my CDL.

Yes a pass between 140 and 165 will get you moved into class B which is limited to 199. If you go between 180 and 199 then you go to class A and can run up to 220.

Originally Posted by camarolover2

hey jess, with the 750 package on my car and good tires that will hook up what is your best guestimate of my terminal speed. about 700 rwhp on 91 octane, and 750 at 110 with 3.73 rear end gears

The wind makes a huge difference with the amount of drag Camaros are pulling at speed and unlike the AWD cars we are not running out of gear. If the wind conditions are bad you may only get 175, if they are perfect you may get 195. If you put a spacer behind the throttle body and give it a 100 shot it will be able to do 200 in even fair conditions.... just not bad. My first time out was the year almost no records were broken because we had constant headwind the whole weekend. I had 4 passes in the 190's couldn't break 200.

[jrhagen]

Andy at ADM calculated mine would do 185-190 with his 750 package and 3.73 gears and M6.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by jrhagen

Andy at ADM calculated mine would do 185-190 with his 750 package and 3.73 gears and M6.

That is probably what it would run if you got your car in line at 4 AM so you had cool morning air and if it happened to be the kind of day where the morning air was dead flat with no wind at all and then you hit all your shifts perfectly at the limiter......

[jrhagen]

Originally Posted by jessrayo

That is probably what it would run if you got your car in line at 4 AM so you had cool morning air and if it happened to be the kind of day where the morning air was dead flat with no wind at all and then you hit all your shifts perfectly at the limiter......

Agreed, perfect conditions.

[camarolover2]

how many cars do they get through in an hour. do you stay on the site or are there motels close by.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by camarolover2

how many cars do they get through in an hour. do you stay on the site or are there motels close by.

I would guess an average of 50 per hour. There are up to 200 cars on the grid at a time and in Texas they only run one car at a time. You don't launch until the car ahead of you is completely off the track. It has to run the mile, brake and make the turn at the very end of the straight before the next car is allowed to go. Anytime anyone breaks or stops on the straight everyone is shut down until that car comes off the main straight. If anyone oils anyting they bring out a sweeper truck... sometimes there are malfunctions with the lights and the timing system.... stuff happens.

The vast majority of contestants stay in local hotels. You can pay a fee to park an RV on site but there are no hook-ups. You have to run generator power and watch water consumption. I always rent an RV, It is very convenient to have your kitchen and bed right at the track. You really can't get in line at 4 am if you are not parked on site. They won't let you through the gate at 4 am if you are not registered as an overnight guest. If you come in when they open the gate there will be 100 cars on the grid already that got in line at 4 am.... That means your first run of the day will be at 10am, and the temps and wind will no longer be ideal. If you don't stay onsite it would sure help to have someone there that would put your car in line.

I'm not going to register for the March event. The last 2 events I had not driven my car on the recent modifications at all until I drove it on the trailer to go to the mile. Both events, the car had not actually seen any real speed until I pulled it to the starting line. It is hard to trouble shoot a car where you get to make a pass once every 4 hours. A three second dyno pull in 4th gear does not equal a run to the limiter in 5 gears against wind resistance. My car is not running now and registration is less than 15 days away. I'm not going to register again until I have a running car. I have gone 200, I'm not going back until I'm certain I can run full power for the full mile. Never happened for me the last 2 times.... But then again the very first time I registered, my car was running fine and then I blew the engine at eagles canyon and missed the entire event because I couldn't get a new engine in the car before the mile....I haven't had real great luck at the mile.....

[camarolover2]

what happened at eagle canyon

[355spider]

Originally Posted by camarolover2

hey jess, with the 750 package on my car and good tires that will hook up what is your best guestimate of my terminal speed. about 700 rwhp on 91 octane, and 750 at 110 with 3.73 rear end gears

I've ran the Texas mile multiple times in my 06 and 08 headers tune, tune, no cat Z06s and my headers, intake, tune 2010 ZR1 and hit 175-180 every time. I would be very surprised if you hit 180 with the extra weight and drag.
To the op no you don't need a roll cage until 200mph.

[camarolover2]

Thanks