So I went to Bandimere tonight despite the forecast of possible thunderstorms. Luckily the rain stayed away and the weather ended up being great. Low 60s until the sun went down, then it was in the high 50s. I got 10 passes in and the first two were good and after that the track got slick and I couldn't get any traction. Didn't get better than a 2.3x 60' after the first two runs. It was still fun though and I talked to another guy with a 2012 5.0 that has a Ford Racing supercharger and some other goodies and is putting down 580 to the wheels. He was running 11.9-12.1 most of the night.

I have come to the conclusion that I really need some drag radials. Oh well. Here are those two good runs before everything went downhill. I'm 937.

1st run:


2nd run (best of the night):


And then one of my favorite runs against a new Camaro SS. I left the line 4/10ths later than him, spun horribly, missed 2nd gear and still caught and passed him by the end, lol.



Other notables that I saw run:
Cobalt SS (Turbo DI): 14.55 @ 100
Hyabusa on nitrous: 10.5 @ 142
Challenger SRT8: 13.8 @ 105
A few new Camaro SS ranging from 14.0-14.6 (the one above)
Several Evo Xs, most in the 13.8-14.0 range but one was running 12.4-12.6
A few STis, none better than 14.0 that I saw.
And then several of the troopers were running their cop cars with the lights on, lol. My 3rd and 4th runs were against the same Charger cop car. Different driver each time. First one ran 17.08 @ 85, second cop in the same car ran 16.51 @ 86. Most of the cops were in the 16s. There was one C4 Vette cop car that I did not get to see run, but I think he was in the 13s at least because he was wearing a helmet.

Oh, and I also ran against a blown "Lingenfelter" new Camaro SS. Big chrome supercharger on it, ET Streets in back, skinnies up front, and everyone was ogling it, but then this is all he did. I was expecting way more out of a supercharged SS, especially the trap. If I had his tires and 60' I could have run this time.


This was my 3rd worst launch of the night. I was trying all kinds of stuff to try to figure out why I couldn't hook like the first two passes but I came to the conclusion the track was just gone. Other people were complaining about it too. I did get back down into the 2.3x range on my last two passes by going down to 23psi on the rear tires. The first 8 runs were all at 33psi, including my best two launches of the night. I plan on going back next week and trying 23psi right from the start. I'm also nearing 5,000 miles so will rotate my tires so I'll have some more tread in the back too. Shooting for that elusive 2.0 60' and 12.99 ET...

Yeah I'm not impressed by the camaros. My brothers neighbor has the puny V6 and thinks he's all fast. I want to race him with the stock 8 just so he could see he's not THAT much fater then rape him with the Turbo 8.

Looking at the supercharged SS's time more closely, he must have let off in the back half. He had 8mph on me by the 8th and should have kept widening the gap. There shouldn't be any way I gained more MPH on the back half than he did. So maybe he was experimenting for bracket racing or something and trying to hit a specific time. I dunno.

Holy impressive trap speed Batman!

Seriously, for basic bolt-ons at this elevation, I am very impressed with the new 5.0. Wow. You've got the trap speed to break into the 12's, just get that damn 60 ft down!

I think this is the first time I've been to the track and not seen any Mazdas. Usually there's at least one FD running. But I don't think I saw a single Mazda there last night.

And I know I have to get my 60' down. I just can't figure out the best way to launch it. I try launching at 2k rpms and spin, try launching like I would from a stoplight and spin. I guess I need to try slipping the clutch. It's tough though because this clutch has a very low engagement point compared to what I'm used to. There's not much travel between completely disengaged and completely engaged. But maybe that plus the lower tire pressure from the start will help me. I need to do something because I can't lose to my friend's 2011 STi, lol. He'll be coming along next week and I think we'll probably switch cars for a run or two too. Should be fun.

So I take it this was in your 5.0, not the speed? Either way, impressive runs! Glad to hear the weather held out for you.

Yea this was my 5.0. Only got 2 runs in with my MS3 before I traded it. Best of 14.4 @ 101 with stock turbo, pretty much fully bolted.

erod550 wrote:Challenger SRT8: 13.8 @ 105

This surprises me. Do you know if it was modded at all? I only comment because I "played" with one on the street and absolutely walked on it.

I dunno. Didn't get a chance to talk to them. I saw a "Hennessy" SRT8 run a 13.7 last time I came to Bandi. I'm guessing he was modded since he had Hennessy stickers on his car. So I would say this Challenger last night was modded, at least a little.

Hit me up next time you want go. I have been wanting to get out there a simply need an excuse.

I'll be there next Wednesday, the 1st. Gates open at 4, first run at 4:30. $30 to run.

I developed a rear end leak at the track that needs to be addressed first, so I probably won't be able to make it this week. Still working out a few bugs but should have it fixed in about a week.

Well if I can't figure out how to get this top bolt loose on my rear upper control arm I may not be going next week either. I want to get my high speed vibration fixed before I go back. Already broke one breaker bar on the damn thing. Hopefully the new 1/2" breaker bar I bought will do the trick. And a second dosing of PB Blaster.

Turned out when I started on the bolt with my impact wrench I had it on tighten instead of loosen, lol. Felt like an idiot but eventually got it loose with a new 1/2" breaker bar and a cheater pipe. Got the new upper control arm in and adjusted my pinion angle and voila, no high speed vibration. The last little bit of wheel hop is completely gone now too.

So I'll be going back to Bandimere tomorrow, the 8th, and my friend will be there in his stage 2 2011 STi so if anyone else wants to come out, the gates open at 4pm, first run at 4:30pm. $30 to run.

I'm going to be going down to Bandi sometime here this month with Matt (Alpha) so I can get a good few runs in with my car in it's current setup before she goes under the knife for major upgrades this fall.