Well, after hankering for years to get a proper set of runs down Santa Pod's 1/4 mile, I finally got around to doing it.
Now, Santa Pod consists of a two-lane 1/4 mile dragstrip. You start at one end and data is collected as you travel down the strip, resulting in a final "ET" and MPH as you cross the end of the dragstrip. Once you've done the strip, you come back and collect your timing slip, which tells you a variety of information about speeds and times as you passed timing beams down the 1/4.
The track is sprayed with various high-traction fluids, to aid grip off the startline, enabling you to launch as hard as you can.
Part of the excuse for going was to test the car and see how reliable it was with it's new cooling system and electrics. Also, it'd be a good test of the drivetrain and how well the car could track in a straight line.
So, rather groggy from getting up at 7 o'clock in the morning (and working on the car the whole day before) we loaded up with tools, gadgets and cameras before heading off on the 1 hour drive to the 'Pod. The tires are completely shot, cracked and unknown, so this was also a good excuse to finally kill them off.
Loaded down with tools, bits, gear and all sorts
I had in tow my Dad & Uncle, who'd both come along for the day to have a go (if brave enough) and see the other machinery out on the strip.
Nice empty roads to thunder along
I'd taken previous advice to get to the Pod as soon as possible (it opens at 8 usually) as to avoid queuing for ages and get as many runs in before the fire up lane (where the cars line up before racing) became clogged with traffic.
First thing, you head to the sign-on office to get your wristband, show a valid driving license and they take the details of the car, so they can time and log it properly.
Not busy, yet...
Now, as you move up the fireup line and move closer to the track, marshalls appear to direct you to the left and right lane. With the V8 idling in first, I followed the other car around the corner and there it was - over 1/4 of a mile of straight tarmac, with the timing gantry at the end! By this point your pulse is up and the red mist is starting to descend a bit.
My tactic for the 1st run was to just take it easy and see how it goes, so I decided to launch at 2000rpm in 2nd and just pootle down through the gears.
Fortunately, I'd read up a little (and watched it so many times) that I knew what the procedure was for lining up correctly - you move the car forwards until it breaks the first lineup beam, illuminating the top pair of lights on the christmas tree. This indicates you're prestaged, at which point you roll forwards to illuminate the 2nd pair, indicating the car is fully staged and ready to go.
At this point, the marshall takes over, checks things are clear and hits the lights - automatically illuminating the 4/3/2/1 orange lights before lighting up the green "GO" lamp.
Now, when the green light comes on you're free to go - the only thing being timed from that point is your reaction time to the light, your ET down the 1/4 is not timed until you cross the 1st beam.
Lining up against the beams, Marshall checking I've got no windows open
Then, on the green light, all hell broke loose. I dumped the clutch at 2000RPM and nailed it..........resulting in me simply wheelspinning, at 40MPH, for about the 1st half of the track, at which point I crammed it into 3rd and floored it again, in the hope of building some momentum.
Cav V6 on N20 noses ahead at the start
18 seconds later I roared through the traps with some smoke still drifting off the tyres, in 4th, at 86MPH.
So, traction issues then? Deciding that 2nd may not be the best idea, on the next run I decided to launch in 3rd and then go 4th/5th and see how that went.
First of all, I had to work my way through the fireup lane. At this point my engine bay was getting quite toasty and with no over-ride switch (at the moment) for the fans, I decided to copy everyone else, pop the hood and push the car up the lane
Taking a little walk
At this point I was on my own - with Dad & Uncle off eating, so pushing the car was taking quite a toll on me. As I was moving it down the lane, it started picking up speed, much to my suprise, as I pushed a little harder.
When I turned around, there was a massive guy pushing on the boot - who looked amused and said "what, you didn't just think it was you did you!"
My assistant - thanks!
This time around the engine bogged in 3rd, without enough revs and resulted in a poor 1/8th MPH and ET. However, trap speed was higher at 88mph.
Whilst we were in the lane again, it was clear that gear selection was getting harder - so poking around the top of the box revealed the bronze locator plate had been knocked, so we undid and refastened it, resulting in a much better selection of gears.
So next-time.......
Sitting in the que again.
Lining up against a Sierra
.....using all the gears, the car clocked a 16.5 and 86.16. It was still getting ferocious wheelspin in 1st, 2nd and small amounts in 3rd, so obviously all the power was just being wasted.
Because the car's got quite a bit of torque and little weight over the rear axle, even on Santa Pod's sticky track, there's just not the chance to get a decent launch and start going through the gears - you just spin up the tyres. My cracked & perished tyres probably don't help either!
After 6 runs, we'd decided that the car had enough for the day and not to push our luck any more - so we ambled around, had a gander at what else was about, looked at other people's dragging and made notes on what to improve to get better times.
The final list looked something like this:
- New tires that stick, instead of spinning
- More weight over the back
- Softer shocks/springs at the rear
- Work out best gear pattern for maximum acceleration/speed
- More power, less restrictive exhaust
- Possibly a Panhard rod, to help locate the axle.
After talking to some of the people there and on the forums, general consensus is that it could be possible to squeeze a 14 sec ET, at around 100MPH, out of the car if I can get the power down reliably.
So, on with the mods!
I made a spreadsheet afterwards, dumped all the data in from the timing slips and it showed that times, speeds and ETs were consistently improving as the runs went on - so hopefully with some more practice and effort I can eek the best out of it
I'll definitely be doing it again and the car is no worse for wear, the clutch, box, engine and axle all took it in their stride. I also can recommend this as a great day out - 10 quid to get in, 20 quid for signon and as many runs as you can handle - it's a great rush, with no real danger if you're sensible and is a good test for the car.
Some other random shots from the day:
Period racing, 'Pod style - Notched up my best reaction time here, 0.7307. Unfortunately the Pop had a huge V8 and nitrous...
Another Rover V8, 32 year old 3.5 on a Holley and nitrous, clocking in the high 12s when it was healthy - unfortunately today was it's day to die (got a video, will put it up later)
Bonnet up, heat down
And through the traps....
Need some of these
Dead Rover V8
Best reaction
Best time
Heading home, relaxing a tad
And some spots:
Jag (very tatty) + Huge bottle of nitrous = win. Disappeared after one race though
Lush 105
Another Rover V8
Guys rebuilt this in 4 hours, from scratch.
Mini won...
Raced this 'Pop, lost
Stock looking' SS, running 12s
Pop again
Beefy!
Awesome Z
Clean 308
Tidy Supra, for a change.
Runs 9s, mate
Varied? I think so!
Lady owner/driver!
Need these.
Some drag racing newb
So, see you at the next one!
I have some videos of the day and will put them up later!
Now, Santa Pod consists of a two-lane 1/4 mile dragstrip. You start at one end and data is collected as you travel down the strip, resulting in a final "ET" and MPH as you cross the end of the dragstrip. Once you've done the strip, you come back and collect your timing slip, which tells you a variety of information about speeds and times as you passed timing beams down the 1/4.
The track is sprayed with various high-traction fluids, to aid grip off the startline, enabling you to launch as hard as you can.
Part of the excuse for going was to test the car and see how reliable it was with it's new cooling system and electrics. Also, it'd be a good test of the drivetrain and how well the car could track in a straight line.
So, rather groggy from getting up at 7 o'clock in the morning (and working on the car the whole day before) we loaded up with tools, gadgets and cameras before heading off on the 1 hour drive to the 'Pod. The tires are completely shot, cracked and unknown, so this was also a good excuse to finally kill them off.
Loaded down with tools, bits, gear and all sorts
I had in tow my Dad & Uncle, who'd both come along for the day to have a go (if brave enough) and see the other machinery out on the strip.
Nice empty roads to thunder along
I'd taken previous advice to get to the Pod as soon as possible (it opens at 8 usually) as to avoid queuing for ages and get as many runs in before the fire up lane (where the cars line up before racing) became clogged with traffic.
First thing, you head to the sign-on office to get your wristband, show a valid driving license and they take the details of the car, so they can time and log it properly.
Not busy, yet...
Now, as you move up the fireup line and move closer to the track, marshalls appear to direct you to the left and right lane. With the V8 idling in first, I followed the other car around the corner and there it was - over 1/4 of a mile of straight tarmac, with the timing gantry at the end! By this point your pulse is up and the red mist is starting to descend a bit.
My tactic for the 1st run was to just take it easy and see how it goes, so I decided to launch at 2000rpm in 2nd and just pootle down through the gears.
Fortunately, I'd read up a little (and watched it so many times) that I knew what the procedure was for lining up correctly - you move the car forwards until it breaks the first lineup beam, illuminating the top pair of lights on the christmas tree. This indicates you're prestaged, at which point you roll forwards to illuminate the 2nd pair, indicating the car is fully staged and ready to go.
At this point, the marshall takes over, checks things are clear and hits the lights - automatically illuminating the 4/3/2/1 orange lights before lighting up the green "GO" lamp.
Now, when the green light comes on you're free to go - the only thing being timed from that point is your reaction time to the light, your ET down the 1/4 is not timed until you cross the 1st beam.
Lining up against the beams, Marshall checking I've got no windows open
Then, on the green light, all hell broke loose. I dumped the clutch at 2000RPM and nailed it..........resulting in me simply wheelspinning, at 40MPH, for about the 1st half of the track, at which point I crammed it into 3rd and floored it again, in the hope of building some momentum.
Cav V6 on N20 noses ahead at the start
18 seconds later I roared through the traps with some smoke still drifting off the tyres, in 4th, at 86MPH.
So, traction issues then? Deciding that 2nd may not be the best idea, on the next run I decided to launch in 3rd and then go 4th/5th and see how that went.
First of all, I had to work my way through the fireup lane. At this point my engine bay was getting quite toasty and with no over-ride switch (at the moment) for the fans, I decided to copy everyone else, pop the hood and push the car up the lane
Taking a little walk
At this point I was on my own - with Dad & Uncle off eating, so pushing the car was taking quite a toll on me. As I was moving it down the lane, it started picking up speed, much to my suprise, as I pushed a little harder.
When I turned around, there was a massive guy pushing on the boot - who looked amused and said "what, you didn't just think it was you did you!"
My assistant - thanks!
This time around the engine bogged in 3rd, without enough revs and resulted in a poor 1/8th MPH and ET. However, trap speed was higher at 88mph.
Whilst we were in the lane again, it was clear that gear selection was getting harder - so poking around the top of the box revealed the bronze locator plate had been knocked, so we undid and refastened it, resulting in a much better selection of gears.
So next-time.......
Sitting in the que again.
Lining up against a Sierra
.....using all the gears, the car clocked a 16.5 and 86.16. It was still getting ferocious wheelspin in 1st, 2nd and small amounts in 3rd, so obviously all the power was just being wasted.
Because the car's got quite a bit of torque and little weight over the rear axle, even on Santa Pod's sticky track, there's just not the chance to get a decent launch and start going through the gears - you just spin up the tyres. My cracked & perished tyres probably don't help either!
After 6 runs, we'd decided that the car had enough for the day and not to push our luck any more - so we ambled around, had a gander at what else was about, looked at other people's dragging and made notes on what to improve to get better times.
The final list looked something like this:
- New tires that stick, instead of spinning
- More weight over the back
- Softer shocks/springs at the rear
- Work out best gear pattern for maximum acceleration/speed
- More power, less restrictive exhaust
- Possibly a Panhard rod, to help locate the axle.
After talking to some of the people there and on the forums, general consensus is that it could be possible to squeeze a 14 sec ET, at around 100MPH, out of the car if I can get the power down reliably.
So, on with the mods!
I made a spreadsheet afterwards, dumped all the data in from the timing slips and it showed that times, speeds and ETs were consistently improving as the runs went on - so hopefully with some more practice and effort I can eek the best out of it
I'll definitely be doing it again and the car is no worse for wear, the clutch, box, engine and axle all took it in their stride. I also can recommend this as a great day out - 10 quid to get in, 20 quid for signon and as many runs as you can handle - it's a great rush, with no real danger if you're sensible and is a good test for the car.
Some other random shots from the day:
Period racing, 'Pod style - Notched up my best reaction time here, 0.7307. Unfortunately the Pop had a huge V8 and nitrous...
Another Rover V8, 32 year old 3.5 on a Holley and nitrous, clocking in the high 12s when it was healthy - unfortunately today was it's day to die (got a video, will put it up later)
Bonnet up, heat down
And through the traps....
Need some of these
Dead Rover V8
Best reaction
Best time
Heading home, relaxing a tad
And some spots:
Jag (very tatty) + Huge bottle of nitrous = win. Disappeared after one race though
Lush 105
Another Rover V8
Guys rebuilt this in 4 hours, from scratch.
Mini won...
Raced this 'Pop, lost
Stock looking' SS, running 12s
Pop again
Beefy!
Awesome Z
Clean 308
Tidy Supra, for a change.
Runs 9s, mate
Varied? I think so!
Lady owner/driver!
Need these.
Some drag racing newb
So, see you at the next one!
I have some videos of the day and will put them up later!
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