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UK Drag racing

limeyboy

limeyboy

Active Member
I finally managed to have my first go at drag racing last week, after a 2 3/4 hr drive ( 135 miles) around two of the worst roads in the UK ( M25 and M1 around London) we got to Santa pod where the UK Mustang owners club had hired the whole track ( prepared as well) for the day.
As there were only about 70 cars there it was a bit like being at a theme park without the queue's :) normal RWYB have around 400 cars.
The weather was very cloudy ( UK in May!) and by 1.00pm the track was closed as the rain started and we started home.

I took a friend who I've known for nearly 60 years ( we've ridden bikes together since we were 11) and when his first turn came up it was against a fox body with a blower that did a 9.07 ET o_O
Our best time was 15.15 sec ( his ) and the best terminal speed was 92.36 mph ( mine) now we have never done it before and we made some rookie mistakes -
3/4 tank of fuel, no petrol within 7 miles so didn't want to run out :rolleyes:
A boot and back seat full of tools, spares, fluids and a magnum 500 spare wheel etc as I have never driven her more than 50 miles in any direction and unlike you there is nowhere to get an spares at all "en route" over here.

We had a fantastic day ( well 8.30am to 1.00pm) marred only by the drive home which took 5 hours for the 135 miles, as I said it's the worst road in the UK, no accidents just Friday afternoon traffic around London.
I reckon we will be down into the 14's next year and the thing was my friend did all his runs in "D" and I did all mine starting in "2nd" his tended to be quicker and mine tended to be faster.
We did 306 mls and 16mpg UK overall which with 3.50 gears at 3,000 rpm when I wasn't doing 4 mph was OK to me.
The car did not miss a beat never got hotter than 86' started straight away every time.

Yes I have pictures and once I have re-taught myself to "downsize" them I will post them.
It's a shame that Santa pod ( the biggest and best strip in the UK) is the nearest to me ( only 7 I believe in total! ) as I could easily become addicted to it.
Any thoughts on using "D" or perhaps "1,2 then D" gratefully accepted.
Cheers
Jeff
 
Well , first , I am glad you had a great time with your friend and ..car.
The fact that the car run well , on and off the track , makes your day even better.
Making mistakes , such as overloading the car for track using , makes only better stories to tell afterwards !!!
When you talked about a friend, for a brief moment, I taught it was me ?!!?
And last , to avoid that traffic around London , A RV with trailer will solve the problem ! LOL.
Waiting for those pics .
B.
 
This is the Fox body I think?

IMG_20230515_074154.jpgAnyway it was fast!!!


IMG_20230514_204938.jpg


As you can see we never saw the sun all day

IMG_20230515_080225.jpg


Best time of the morning
IMG_20230512_121801.jpg


A great day though

IMG_20230512_095253.jpg


I might take the louvres off next year as well as leaving the back seat at home ;)
 
B67FSTB said:
Well , first , I am glad you had a great time with your friend and ..car.
The fact that the car run well , on and off the track , makes your day even better.
Making mistakes , such as overloading the car for track using , makes only better stories to tell afterwards !!!
When you talked about a friend, for a brief moment, I taught it was me ?!!?
And last , to avoid that traffic around London , A RV with trailer will solve the problem ! LOL.
Waiting for those pics .
B.
Click to expand...
Bruno if only you had been over here in one of your cars :) I'm visiting French friends who live near Bezier on the coast in September if I had the money for the petrol and thought the car would get there and back it would be great to drive my left hand drive car on the right side of the road! :)
Even with a trailer it would have still been 5 hours :mad:
How are you getting on with your latest project?
I'll send a picture later to show how I have "fixed" the sequential indicator problem :rolleyes:

Jeff
 
Awesome! You had fun and you drove it home. Sounds like a good race day to me. The best thing you can to wring the most out of the car is seat time. Just keep plugging away at it.
 
Bezier on " the cote d'azur " ? Fancy !
Still busy on my "controlled" heating system . What I taught would be a simple task , turns out to be a pain in the butt !!
My second project about home-improvement is to make and install a home battery back up system.
Having about 7Kw on solar panels , I need to stock all that energy for later on in the evening.
Yesterday i drove the fastback around the block for the first time this year. The carburator is clogged due to its stillstand and thus not run as it should.
The red fastback build is on hold due those home improvement and ....the bad/lesser wheather....if that is an excuse .
This winter it was hard for me to get motivated. I guess that retirement is more a punishment then a blessing. Loss of social contact. I am old school so facebook/instagram or whatever isn't anything for me. I am a face to face dude .
 
B67FSTB said:
Bezier on " the cote d'azur " ? Fancy !
Still busy on my "controlled" heating system . What I taught would be a simple task , turns out to be a pain in the butt !!
My second project about home-improvement is to make and install a home battery back up system.
Having about 7Kw on solar panels , I need to stock all that energy for later on in the evening.
Yesterday i drove the fastback around the block for the first time this year. The carburator is clogged due to its stillstand and thus not run as it should.
The red fastback build is on hold due those home improvement and ....the bad/lesser wheather....if that is an excuse .
This winter it was hard for me to get motivated. I guess that retirement is more a punishment then a blessing. Loss of social contact. I am old school so facebook/instagram or whatever isn't anything for me. I am a face to face dude .
Click to expand...
I'm like you Bruno, no facebook etc nothing fancy like Cote d'azur, it's on the Spanish side just past Sete.
Winter is hard but I was lucky and went out just for a few miles every 3 to 4 weeks and I do put an additive in for the lead and ethanol.
 
msell66 said:
Awesome! You had fun and you drove it home. Sounds like a good race day to me. The best thing you can to wring the most out of the car is seat time. Just keep plugging away at it.
Click to expand...
Yes a really top day, shame it's such a journey there as I wold love to do more "seat time" but sadly it may be next year before it happens again, but I will be fully prepared next time ;)
 
That sounds like a great day. Yes it can easily become addictive.....if I just tweek the carb, lower the tire pressures, get better tires, etc., ect.......

Oh and........you may have a visitor next year. Guess who?o_O;)
 
Racing is always fun but it can get dangerous. Dangerous if you start wanting to go faster. All it takes is lots of money!

The best thing you can do for an automatic to trim those times is swap in a higher stall convertor. Next is give it a better rear gear. Both will benefit from a set of sticky tires too. If you want to spend a little more, add a set of Caltracs. A bit of practice and those mods and you will see a HUGE drop in your ET without touching the engine.
 
We all like visitors :oops: if I changed the 3.50 gears i have at the moment I'd be on 4,000 rpm all the way to the track :)
If I have to take the box out then a higher stall would be on the cards
 
Since its your money I'm spending, just go ahead and upgrade to an overdrive trans too. See its not that hard. :p
 
I am always amazed at just how much better a professional shot looks than anything I could ever snap. Car looks awesome. Too bad she didn't catch it when that front tire left the pavement on launch. :cool::p
 
Great pics!!!------

having grown up watching Monty Python on Saturday nights your comment made me laugh Randy - - a lumberjack song immediately comes to mind

John
 
What a nice Mach 1! Great pics. I can't wait to see it person. You'll take me for a ride right?
 
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