I was musing to myself on my ride home, and came upon something that many people seem to overlook- the salt flats. I was wondering if anyone here has ever run out there. My eventual goal is to see one of my cars (not gonna say which for fear of people horking my idea) do 200mph. I know that there's a giant pile of prep that goes into it.... but I don't know what most of it is. Anyone done something like this before?
I have been a few times. Even have submitted an article to GRM about it.
The #1 most important thing is the cage, 1.5 would be the rest of the safety hardware. Next would be a 2nd-10th review of the rule book to find where you want to run, and how you want to prep the car.
Then you can start building.
The team I've worked with has taken a '91 Alfa Spider with a stock wheelbase to 232mph.
The only way I'll hork your car idea is if it will take more hp than is reasonable to make (for Bonneville, that is) to go 200mph. Do note- to get a 200mph hat, you 200mph on gasoline, 215mph on blends.
Being up at 6am means you are there for a record re-run. Best sun rise ever.
Go out and witness the spectacle. Jessica arranged a trip for us and some friends to go in an RV as a birthday surprise and it was a pretty interesting event. We went for a week, I'd recommend more like 3 or 4 days depending on your level of interest. You can spend an easy day just walking the pits. Another day at the start and near the finish. The middle is pretty uneventful.
Watching it was really helpful in understanding what seemed fun, what you stand a chance at a record with, what seemed feasible, what the challenges are, and what level the competition is at.
If you just want to go really fast and don't care about a record or location, there are LOTS of places to do that besides Bonneville, FWIW.
Bryce
AFAIK I would have a "record" of sorts if I went with my current plan. (I don't think anyone's gone 200mph in an ms3, or with a DISI at all) I figured Bonneville would give me more run room than say- the Texas Mile, or Amery Airport run (Which is coming up! I need to get my poop in a group for that). But yeah. I always have had a dream of running on the salt.
From what I understand running in the salt is not like running on pavement. You will need much more power than you think to get to 200mph. The car also tends to get "greasy" at high speeds and wander around. Spooky
Bonneville is a dream of mine, the more I learn about it, the more interesting it becomes. It is a whole different ball of wax than running at Maxton, or another paved top speed event though.
That's part of the reason it intrigues me so. It's different than pavement. Although I had a wicked car wreck in my younger days as the result of a gravel road and a bad impersonation of Colin McRae- so I'm still a little gunshy on dirt... I can't imagine salt is any better.
Good, hard, dry salt is a whole lot better than dirt. light years.
West soft salt. Well, 200mph will be a challenge. Our Spider looped at 195 when the boost really came on, when the salt was bad.
You will need a LOT of power. It takes us at least 300hp in a very modified Spider body (read very low drag) to clear 200 mph. Including a fully belly pan.
alfadriver wrote: Good, hard, dry salt is a whole lot better than dirt. light years. West soft salt. Well, 200mph will be a challenge. Our Spider looped at 195 when the boost really came on, when the salt was bad. You will need a LOT of power. It takes us at least 300hp in a very modified Spider body (read very low drag) to clear 200 mph. Including a fully belly pan.
I have no doubt that i'll need all the power possible. People are just now figuring the DISI out, standing record is like 530whp on a dyno. That's one pull. Not 3 miles across the salt. I intend on being there- someday.
alfadriver wrote: Good, hard, dry salt is a whole lot better than dirt. light years. West soft salt. Well, 200mph will be a challenge. Our Spider looped at 195 when the boost really came on, when the salt was bad. You will need a LOT of power. It takes us at least 300hp in a very modified Spider body (read very low drag) to clear 200 mph. Including a fully belly pan.
Were some airplane mechanics from Rockford Illinois on that project?
In reply to pilotbraden:
I belive that some of them are aircraft mechanics, yes. Most have them have not had a chance to come out for a few years now, but they are sure great to do that kind of project with.
mndsm wrote:alfadriver wrote: Good, hard, dry salt is a whole lot better than dirt. light years. West soft salt. Well, 200mph will be a challenge. Our Spider looped at 195 when the boost really came on, when the salt was bad. You will need a LOT of power. It takes us at least 300hp in a very modified Spider body (read very low drag) to clear 200 mph. Including a fully belly pan.I have no doubt that i'll need all the power possible. People are just now figuring the DISI out, standing record is like 530whp on a dyno. That's one pull. Not 3 miles across the salt. I intend on being there- someday.
Bear in mind, too, the altitude will play havoc with that power. Density altitudes are in the 7000-8000ft range, and you'll be stunned to find out how much turbos suffer from sea level to that.
Ooooh. Forgot about altitude. I'll have to tune it in Keith's neck of the woods...... thanks!
Try a weekend trip to Wilmington first. 
The nice thing about the salt is that the only thing you can hit is the salt. Dirt roads tend to have edges
I went to see it a couple of years back. All we did was wander the pits, but everyone was super-welcoming and there's some awesome hardware there. Plus you'll see every single rat rod from California.
I wonder how the Targa car would do?
Keith wrote: The nice thing about the salt is that the only thing you can hit is the salt. Dirt roads tend to have edges
Only one way to find out.......
Keith wrote: I wonder how the twin turboTarga car would do?
Fixed that for you. Don't 5.3's like TT's?
I'd LOVE to see the Volksrod or some other creation out there. My hat is off to you good sir.
No Volksrod. Currently planning to work on the Datsun that was our '06 Challenge car. The car ran 128.71 in the quarter. First goal is to run 200 here in the east. 3 and a half years ago we started on a 5 year plan to get to Bonneville in 2013. We are relatively close to our original timeline To date we have run 179.644 in the Stude with a cheap flat top 355 SBC. The Datsun has 4.8 less square feet of air to move and I don't want to loose the Stude to the salt. Our biggest hurdle is funding since both boys will be in college. If you hear a tin cup clanging it might be us trying to go there
...or back home
I'd throw a few quarters in if it came down to it.
I can't remember the name, but there's another organization that runs on the salt flats there that allows you to basically take your street car out. It's not during speed week and you don't have to have all the safety gear that the speed week guys require, which renders the car un streetable...
docwyte wrote: I can't remember the name, but there's another organization that runs on the salt flats there that allows you to basically take your street car out. It's not during speed week and you don't have to have all the safety gear that the speed week guys require, which renders the car un streetable...
I think it's the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association. http://saltflats.com/
I think....
A customer of ours took his FM III Miata out to the salt a few years back and came home with an official timing slip. No special equipment, typical trackday Miata stuff. So it's possible. Maybe he was running the same standing mile the Top Gear guys were in stock vehicles.
I've been out there 5 out of the last 6 years crewing for some customers who have a few records. Got bit by the salt bug and now we're working hard to try and get a car together for Speed Week this year. My fab guy has been a little slow getting the project moving so I'm currently a little unhappy with progress but he's supposed to have a lot done very soon now. You'll have to stay in touch if you head out that way and come say hey!
Plan is to run a 240sx with 2JZ (n/a) and go for a soft record (currently 162mph) stepping it into the 170-175mph range this first year, then there are a few more records we can target in the 200 range, then we go boosted and those records are in the 250 range... Call that the 5 year plan ;).
I'd like to go this year to spectate, but my schedule only allows that I go up for the final 2 days. I've heard that in a lot of ways the earlier part of the week is more interesting. What do you guys think? It's going to be an 8-hour drive each way. worth it?
Honestly, I saw very little racing when I was there. Mostly we cruised through the pits looking at the hardware and talking to people. I guess the thing that would make the early week more interesting would be that fewer people would be broken and gone home
I'd say it was worth the trip. My trip was about 6 hours each way. I'd like to go back.
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