Santa Pod Meet - GLT vs GLE deathmatch!

[foggyjames]

Well we kept this one quiet....

Myself, Pete and Steve hit the Pod with the Turbobricks guys on Saturday...


A little something for Mick...


Nice shot of Griz's 940...


##########

Anyway....to the featured attraction!
After 3 or 4 attempts to line up together (the queues tend to move relative to each other, we finally got to run GLE (B200K) vs GLT (B200E). I had removed all excess weight (spare wheel, tools, etc) in a bid to help myself a little...



Left hand slip is me vs big power MR2 - my best run - a 18.7 @ 71mph. Amusingly, I held it for the first second or two - go 360 traction!

The right hand one is me vs SteveP's GLT. Steve reacted with super-human speed, but span away from the line, and I got ahead by the end of 1st gear. It was a dead heat throughout 2nd, but the extra grunt of the B200E showed in 3rd, and he pulled 3/4 of a car length on me by the end. However, I actually got the lower time - I only crossed the line second because Steve reacted faster (as it happens, less than 0.5 is considered to be too good - more luck than good judgement - git ).

Interesting reading though - there was probably a car length or two in it in real terms up to 70. I was impressed with the B200K!

Anyway, I want a rematch when I've got twin carbs and a cam

cheers

James

[petefarrell360]

It was indeed an excellent day! Thanks to the Turbo Bricks guys for letting us come along and gatecrash their day with the 360's! The looks on people faces were priceless as we drove into the place! We also managed to get a GLT vs GLT race! And, well Steve P did beat me, albeit by 0.1209, it really was close for two inexperienced first time racers! Steve beat me in first and second gear, but I was reeling him in in 3rd! It was literally a nose infront at the line! Some of my pics to follow!
Pete

[SteveP]

A good day! A couple of 360 vs 360 runs were had, great fun! I ran an 18.4 @ 73.17mph on one of my first early runs against an S2000.. which to the 60ft marker, was very equal.. then VTEC

Theres not a lot of difference between the B200K and B200E, I suspect Foggys weightloss programme helped matters (I was carrying a load of crap in the boot, including a spare wheel ). There was not alot to split the 360s atall. A run with mine and Petes GLT showed a very even matching, with me running an 18.6 and Pete a 19.1 in this case!

Overall a fun day... If a rematch is to occur, my interior will be stripped bare

[petefarrell360]

Indeed, it was excellent fun. I think Foggy's weight loss program, although it was the base of many jokes throughout the day, did actually work! After he'd removed the spare wheel, parcel shelf, sub, rear seat and loaded Steve up with an amp and speakers things were a tad lighter. Plus we figured out him kindly feeding us cookies was an effort to decrease the weight of his car, and for us to gain! I managed a 74.62 mph over the line and an 18.6. As James said, the track got slippy at the end, and we had hardly any traction away from the line, which was a shame.
Pete

[petefarrell360]

Ok, so here are a few pics!

The 300 line up and the back corner of V6Man's 960 2.5 auto. He is the man for burnouts, the crowd went wild! On one run, in the burnout area V6Man did an awesome burnout, and I had to appear through the tyre smoke mist alongside him to run!

The 360's and the Santa Pod sign, surely those two don't mix!?

The two 945's of Steve and Griz.

Now there's a sight that amused many people and one you don't see everyday, two Volvo estates at Santa Pod!

The lineup at the end of the day.

The GLT vs GLT race between SteveP and myself. Steve's time is on the left. He did win, abeit by 0.1209, very close indeed, he did have a little slower reaction time on that run compared to his phenominal reaction in the GLT vs GLE race against Foggy!

My best run! Measured with a calendar. Shame my reaction was poor in this one.

An excellent day, and once again thanks to the Tbricks guys, hope we provided some entertainment.
Pete

[V6 Man]

thanks to the Tbricks guys, hope we provided some entertainment.

No problems guys, it was great to have you along - not least because it meant I came 5th out of the 8 Volvos that ran not 2nd to last if you two hadn't joined us!!!

Joking apart, it also helped to dispel the myth that Volvo drivers are boring old farts - yes there were comments like 'what are they doing here' and 'where's the caravan?' but I also heard a few people give respect to us lot for having a go.

Don't be ashamed of the 360's performance, in no way were you lot the slowest cars there as plenty of Saxos and other sundry small, plasticy crap was slower than you. A Corsa 1.2l was running over 21secs for the 1/4!!

All in all a great day,

Here's a coouple of pics of the guilty parties..........

[5lab]

purely out of interest - where were you boys changing gear? just that the peak power on a b200e is at 6000 rpm so i would have thought you'd be best to change at ~6500 rpm..

[grizlyadams]

It was a great day out, we all had some fun. I was supprised at the speed of the 360's! carnt wait to see some power behind all that traction

Anyway, my pics are in this thread a tbricks
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=37126

See you all at the next trip?

Griz

[foggyjames]

I was generally shifting at 5700, but my best run was when shifting at ~5200....although I suspect that wasn't due to the shift point. There are so many variables.

The good news is that the 360s weren't struggling for traction like most things there. It is a very slippy surface (to prevent it being ripped up I guess), so anything FWD was in trouble. Where we all suffered was a major lack of power

So, later in the year we'll have a rematch....Steve and Pete with weight reduction....me with twin carbs, a free-flow exhaust and a K cam Bring it on....and hope Huskyracer doesn't turn up with his beast!!!

cheers

James

[5lab]

to be honest, due to the ratio differences varying, the shift point should probably be different in each gear.. first -> second should be a load later than 2nd->3rd... as well as that your cam puts your power band a bit lower than a b200e, so your shift points should probably generally be a bit earlier (in each gear. but later in real life, due to your higher ratio box)

[foggyjames]

I have to shift at the redline in second to properly be in the power in 3rd.

cheers

James

[SteveP]

purely out of interest - where were you boys changing gear? just that the peak power on a b200e is at 6000 rpm so i would have thought you'd be best to change at ~6500 rpm..

Around 5500-5700rpm... theres not alot of point revving to 6500rpm, peak power may be at 6000rpm.. but peak torque isn't!

[5lab]

yes but there is a reason why you mesure a cars power in power, and not torque. you see, when you change gear, your torque goes down - so that in 5th gear you can never get as much torque as you do in 4th. however, your power remains the same - because while at 3,000 rpm in 3rd gear you have more torque than at 3,000 rpm in 4th, you're wheels are going the exact amount quicker in 4th to compensate, providing the gearbox does not create more friction (or similar) in 1 gear than another (which it probably does but to negligable effect).

so, you should apparently change gear at the exact point where the engine speed in your old gear (say, 3rd) provides the same amount of power as the engine speed in your next gear.. you can work it out using the little 'mph per 1000 rpm' table in your owners manual and a torque graph. seeing as your car slows down a tiny bit every time you change gear, you should probably compensate by changing a tad later, as your next engine speed will be a tad lower

of course, this can be tricky as the power curve often drops off very quicky, yet rises slowly - so while this can be the most efficient way of changing gear, if you get it late by a small amount it can make a big difference to your accelleration.

[V6 Man]

Blimey Hugh, lets not get too technical here!
This was just the first visit for most of us to a strip, what with worrying about watching the lights, and staging properly and getting a decent launch there wasn't quite enought time to go checking every variable regarding gearchanges.
I understand what you are trying to say, but the only way to find out the best shift point is by trying it in real life.No-ones engine is going to be performing to factory specs so by looking at torque curves etc can at best only be a guide unless you have a printout for your car.
Yesterdays runs have set the benchmark for all of us, now all we have to do is have another go to see if we can improve our times. My first run with a terrible launch resulted in a 19.5 and after a few more runs to figure out the best launch I was then running consistant mid 17's with a best of 17.3. It's now time to get the 760 manualised and see what that does!!

[5lab]

aye - i know that, but i was just saying not entirely sure if my theory is correct

i suspect that the manual will outperform the autobox by quite some way - if nothing else the closer ratios and lack of power-stealing torque converter will help