Quote:
Originally Posted by California98Civic
At the 1 mile mark? 100 mph.
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I'll through my hat into the ring and make a guess...
1) I think Ken is a Diesel mechanic by trade, so the engine is likely tight, pump is timed, and running good. A decent set of non-leaking injectors are on their way, so the engine will likely be running on par with a broken in 1.6.
2) Bonneville is 4200ft elev, and the temps are predicted to be in the high 80's-low 90's, reducing the air density, raising the corrected altitude to, I don't know, 5800ft maybe? normally aspirated 1.6's weren't exactly race machines when new. Compared to sea level, the engine will be down on power from say 10:30am until after the course closes for the day.
3) The 1 mile course that Ken will be running on isn't exactly perfect for the 1.6, boat tail, and tall gears... he will still be accelerating through the speed trap, just after the 1 mile marker. I'd like to see Ken given permission to run all the way out to the 2-mile marker (the 150mph club course), to get up to terminal velocity, where the boat tail and other aerodynamic changes can shine. The officials aren't likely to allow that, but it will be worth asking Carlos and company at the staging lanes after the mandatory 'sub-100mph check out pass' (Carlos is a VW gear head who comes over from England every year to volunteer for this event, super fun and nice guy!)
4) I'd like to see early morning runs, Saturday and Sunday, when the air is coolest. I wouldn't save the runs for latter in the meet, as Sunday and Monday show 20% chance of thunder storms. Bonnevile salt flat weather is unpredictable, the race course is essentially a flat lake bottom/ catch basin/ retention pond for a 10mile radius. If it rain hard for a couple hours, the meet can easily rain out.
So, there's my thought process... If Ken can get through tech on Friday, be at the driver's meeting at 8:30am, get in line and be race-ready Saturday morning (good air) I'm guessing the oil burner will go 85mph in the standing 1 mile. With some tweaking, maybe reduce the amount of toe-in, more aggressive drag-race-style-driving, increase in fuel pressure (or whatever the Diesel guys do to push more fuel through those engines) maybe 88-90mph?
I'm a Diesel novice... who can tell me what it takes to inject propane into a NA Diesel? Does Ken have a pyrometer?
Never mind, Ken needs to drive this thing home, a hastily assembled propane injection system is probably a bad idea.... but certainly a good topic to bounce around the campfire
