Speed Trials! 0-300klm/h tests!

[Marlin]

I know of a few cars that would be interested , but they are not skylines (tuned mercedes limos).

Would this be acceptable?

I wouldn't want an event like this to be limited only to skylines. I would suggest the only limitation be "street registered, four wheels". There would however have to be stringent scrutineering checks, speed rated tyres etc.. i.e. safe cars.

[Laurence]

what sort of technical hitches?

Ummmm Virgin Blue springs to mind...

[Marlin]

i'd love to see if i could get my car to 300ks/h in safe conditions, but you are all up north

Ultimately if we could get enough interested parties from each capital city, we could possibly organise mass transit of vehicles via TNT.

As it would probably be limited to just a couple of runs, dragging too many tools and spares along probably wouldn't be too neccesary?

I'm not convinced it should be held in Qld yet.

[Marlin]

I would travel within capital city to use it  

I would pay about $150 per run, although my car is limited to 230km/h

I would not let someone else drive it unless it was a dyno

Would only expect one run as it is not a tuning run it would put a huge stress on the car

I think most people ( if we in fact get to drive our own cars) will need at least 1 practice run to get used to the car at near top speed... I've done 313k's in a 32GTR, and trust me, it aint a walk in the park!

[Laurence]

what sort of technical hitches?

Ummmm Virgin Blue springs to mind...

[ferni]

I've had my car to 270km on a track straight, at about 6000rpm in 5th gear with it still pulling, but ran out of track, but i'm guessing my speedo would be a fair way out at that speed, so it may of only been 240-250? i have a gps now so could use that

I recon my car could crack or come very close to 300km/h (on my speedo)

[Duncan]

good point ferni....the runs should all be checked on a GPS, most speedos are wildly inaccurate...at least 10% so 300 on the speedo is only 270.

BTW....300klm/h is f*cking fast.

[fatz]

would be cool fun

but your in a world of hurt if something geos wrong at anything above 250

[Evo_Lee]

I've had my car to 270km on a track straight, at about 6000rpm in 5th gear with it still pulling, but ran out of track, but i'm guessing my speedo would be a fair way out at that speed, so it may of only been 240-250? i have a gps now so could use that

I recon my car could crack or come very close to 300km/h (on my speedo)

I'm assuming your car ain't stock because I know a stock BCNR33 only reaches 262km/h with the limiter removed. Only 2 other cars beat the BCNR33 in this magazine test, an NSX reached 266km/h and a Supra RZ 279km/h.

Other cars, the GT-R just pipped the Evo 6 which clocked 260km/h;

- RX-7 & Z32 256km/h

- 3000GTO & Aristo 255km/h

- Skyline 25GTt & Legacy B4 250km/h

- BNR32 248km/h

- STi V6 240km/h

I agree with Duncan 300km/h is very very fast already...is there any high speed ring circuit in Aust? (High speed test above was performed in a high speed ring)

[Marlin]

Holden has a reasonable speed bowl, but is only "neutral steer @ 200klm/h", not really what we need. I have a couple of places in mind, spread over a few states.

I know 300 is VERY FN FAST, so thats why EVERY car would be gone over carefully to ensure is is safe. The last thing any of us need is a major acco.

I wouldn't think that 'near standard cars' would compete, we need things that can grunt up to big speeds pretty quickly - and have the braking hardware/parachute!!! fitted.

[Duncan]

I'm sure whoever you get insurance form will have their own rules about check road worthiness...but a lot of the NSW tracks have moved from checking the cars themselves to having the owner sign that it is safe...that way the liability is on the owner, not the organiser and scruitineer.....imagine a scruitineer checks a car but misses something which fails...and then it crashes...

[Marlin]

I'm sure whoever you get insurance form will have their own rules about check road worthiness...but a lot of the NSW tracks have moved from checking the cars themselves to having the owner sign that it is safe...that way the liability is on the owner, not the organiser and scruitineer.....imagine a scruitineer checks a car but misses something which fails...and then it crashes...

Ultimatey I'd like to have both a waiver & a comprehensive check over - for peace of mind.

Anyway, all that really comes later, at this time I'm really just trying to gauge interest in an event like this. As we've all already discussed, there's plenty of things to cover.... but if we get enough solid interest then it's worth doing all the running around.

SO COME ON - who's got a quick car and wants to USE the damn thing? I've got 2 solid entrys from QLD so far.......

[Snowman]

Ok Marlin (and anyone else who cares)

What I have done so far is to consider the following factors:

Where can it be done?

What insurance is needed?

How much is it going to cost?

There is very little in the way of places it can be done. I'll be honest and say when I started to look into doing this I had more in mind trying to emulate Jerermy Clarkson from Top Gear rather than just do speed runs. I wanted to do high speed drifting and the works!

So basically I summised that down here the ONLY place it could be done was Avalon. Such as you see from articles in Wheels magazine etc. Despite the fact that Jetstar are now being painfull the venue is still (apparently) available. But you can't just rock on up there obviously. After some discussions I found out that the best way to go about getting it was to do the day through one of the driver training companies. That also covers the issues with public liability insurance (or so I thought) which satisfies the needs of Avalon management. The training company I was speaking to had access to all things like speed detectors, as well as toys like in car camera facilities etc.

The cost isn't pretty however. Now its not a per person cost but an overall cost so you have to find a balance between number of people and the amount of time you get to participate. People aint going to pay $100 for one run Im sure. To hire out a race track like Sandown is $7,000 for the day. Plus you need ambulance etc. Airports are more. This can also be determined that if you are doing it through a driver training company there is a requirement of 1 instructor per 10 people. So the more numbers the more instuctors. For this reason I was looking at 20 cars.

The technical hitch we've currently got is that the insurance company are trying to ask us how we possibly call activities where speeds can get upto and over 300km/hr training. You dont want to call it an event cause then it gets more complicated (read: more expensive)

Anyways... I hope that helps.

[Duncan]

Well the main alternative to the driver training option is to check out CAMS requirements for an event like this....as long as it is run by a CAMS club, and all entrants are members you will be covered. The issue is finding out what CAMS would require to approve it.

Are Avalon helping at all or don't they need the business - it has been hired before and they might be able to give ideas on where to get the insurance.

Good luck getting this together, sounds like there is a lot of interest.

BTW there is one other option....NT....

[Marlin]

Good stuff Snowman, I'll put some thought into what you've said. But do you really think that people with,

1) a car capable of doing this,

2) the time/money required to prepare for this

3) the dedication to travel to be involved,

won't pay $100 or more to be involved? I know I would! Am I being rediculous thinking $100 or so isn't a big expense to do something like this these days - in controlled "safe" conditions?????

[Marlin]

Well the main alternative to the driver training option is to check out CAMS requirements for an event like this....as long as it is run by a CAMS club, and all entrants are members you will be covered.  The issue is finding out what CAMS would require to approve it.

Are Avalon helping at all or don't they need the business - it has been hired before and they might be able to give ideas on where to get the insurance.

Good luck getting this together, sounds like there is a lot of interest.

BTW there is one other option....NT....

Duncan, believe me mate, I've thought about N.T! I'm up there once a month and it's wicked! Shame Magnas aren't that quick! But seriously, with the new train to get cars up there relatively cheaply and easy, especially for southerners, it's a real possibility!

I am involved with a few "powerful" people in Alice, there may be a chance to close the Stuart Highway periodically>>>>

[Snowman]

No I dont think $100 is a lot of money - but it is for 1 pass. Now to get people who'd pay $100 for one pass but from our initial cost calculations you are going to have to find more than 100 people that are prepared to pay that. Sounds a bit harder doesnt it!

Where as I think you will have a much easier time finding 20 people that will pay over $500 to have serval goes (especially if you do more than just speed runs). We were looking at straight out speed, high speed slalom, and various other activities. I had no problems finding 20 people with serious cars that would pay good money to find out the limits on their cars.

[Snowman]

And we've thought about NT as well! lol

[dondesoto]

try www.dlra.org.au . thats the dry lake racers site . we race at lake gairdner salt lake in south australia , a week long event in march . i,ve driven my old 1987 skyline station wagon from brisbane there and raced it and got 224kmh ( it had a worked rb30e ) . you get up to 5 miles (8km ) to go for max speed .

by the way the jun auto greddy skyline did 233mph ( 372 kmh) at bonneville salt flats in 1997 .

[Marlin]

Good on ya Don! Sounds cool!

But I don't think too many guys will be sticking there hands up for salting down their R34 GTR's!

Have you seen what a little salt does to a Jappa? Some of the cars that come off salted roads are rooted.....