Chasing the dragon

[Klasik-69]

 

Great driving Klasic Mike. Did Heikki or Bowland attend last weekend?

 

 

Heikki won the whole thing, not sure who Bowland is or what he drives. Heikki's time last year was 1:24.... This year, 1:16:634. He beat the two top pro teams, one of which was the Martini rally race team from Italy. The closest any of them came was 1:17. Heikki was telling me he wants more HP and will look into getting a bigger turbo. I asked him how his transmissions were holding up, and he said they don't but he keeps buying Miata 5 speed trannies from junk yards for $95 each. He buys Miata engines the same way for around $300 and just slaps the turbo on it. The last engine he put in is a built from the ground up. I asked him if that meant he used a Scat crank, forged pistons, etc............oh, heck no, he said, he used special rod bolts and that was it !!! The man is so incredibly honest and humble, and brilliant as well, that it's hard to find fault with what he does. AND, he wins everything he enters.

[Boxologist]

...not sure who Bowland is or what he drives....

 

http://www.crowmountainhillclimb.org/images/participants/Bowland.jpg

[coffee break]

http://www.crowmountainhillclimb.org/images/participants/Bowland.jpg

I thought I recognized the name. I saw him at the last Chimney Rock Hill Climb in 1995. He has some crazy machines.

[Kitcat]

Klassic: Any idea why a top pro rally team from Italy wld enter this little SCCA sanctioned mostly amateaur event? Does it have a long history? Is it particuarly challenging? It harldy is a Pikes Peak. In any event, it is amazing that they didn't win. And, in all honesty, sort of amazing that you were only 10'' off FTD in a street legal se7en. What tires were you running?

Edited July 3, 2013 by Kitcat

[Boxologist]

Shake down for PPIHC, which was the following weekend.

[Klasik-69]

Klassic: Any idea why a top pro rally team from Italy wld enter this little SCCA sanctioned mostly amateaur event? Does it have a long history? Is it particuarly challenging? It harldy is a Pikes Peak. In any event, it is amazing that they didn't win. And, in all honesty, sort of amazing that you were only 10'' off FTD in a street legal se7en. What tires were you running?

 

Actually, we had 4 pro teams with rally cars and one semi-pro team with a formula type car. The Martini team was using this as a warm up for other events. It gave them a chance to shake down the car without running a full type rally race. They were extremely gracious and complimented me on my car several times.

 

I was running 13" Caterham wheels with 20.5X9.5X13 Hoosier Bias Ply #35 compound slicks on the rear & 20.5/x8.0X13 on the front. I was seriously concerned about road clearance since my Zetec sump is only 3.5" above the ground and this is a very very bumpy surface. Mike Breakey in his 67 Lotus 7 bottomed out the rear suspension on his run and almost got bumped sideways into a guard rail. My tires held like glue, never broke loose. If you look at Heikki's YouTube video that he recently posted, you'll notice how many times he had to turn the steering wheel 1/2 a turn to adjust for breaking loose. And he was a full 10+ seconds faster than I was. He was running 22.0X10.0X13 Hoosier Bias Ply #35 compound tires all around on Bassett race wheels.

 

The guys in the formula cars were at the wrong event as this course isn't suitable for their car's suspensions. They were never able to get up to speed. One guy named Singer brought out his Formula Mazda twin rotor turbocharged car with OMG horsepower and was 4 seconds slower than my time, in spite of his 3 man crew and money-is-no-object approach. This kind of track/road condition would be best for a formula V car with much higher HP of course.

[rss]

Heikki won the whole thing, not sure who Bowland is or what he drives. Heikki's time last year was 1:24.... This year, 1:16:634. He beat the two top pro teams, one of which was the Martini rally race team from Italy. The closest any of them came was 1:17. Heikki was telling me he wants more HP and will look into getting a bigger turbo. I asked him how his transmissions were holding up, and he said they don't but he keeps buying Miata 5 speed trannies from junk yards for $95 each. He buys Miata engines the same way for around $300 and just slaps the turbo on it. The last engine he put in is a built from the ground up. I asked him if that meant he used a Scat crank, forged pistons, etc............oh, heck no, he said, he used special rod bolts and that was it !!! The man is so incredibly honest and humble, and brilliant as well, that it's hard to find fault with what he does. AND, he wins everything he enters.

 

here is heikki's video. the guy is amazing.

 

 

and klasik, you looked great out there yourself!

[hr-k]

Thanks for the kind words.

 

We had a talk with certain Frenchman and he approved the Dragon Hillclimb as seen on the photo

 

The engine is now fully build, the cams are original, but rods, pistons etc are all modified. Crank is otherwise original except it has been dynamically balanced along with other rotating parts. The turbo is from old combination, and it is too small for the motor, but will be run for now as is.

[Klasik-69]

Thanks for the kind words.

 

We had a talk with certain Frenchman and he approved the Dragon Hillclimb as seen on the photo

 

The engine is now fully build, the cams are original, but rods, pistons etc are all modified. Crank is otherwise original except it has been dynamically balanced along with other rotating parts. The turbo is from old combination, and it is too small for the motor, but will be run for now as is.

 

Gee, Heikki, what a handicap just running with the old turbo with only 19 lbs of boost (LOL). I can only admire your ingenuity and your extremely good driving skills. I figure I'm doing pretty good if I get within 10 seconds of your time. Even if I had more horsepower, my driving skill level can't get much of a boost. Keep doing what you're doing, you are an inspiration to all of us.