SPI Powerexcel MCS Race Report - ET: 12.81 MPH: 109.69
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SPI Powerexcel MCS Race Report - ET: 12.81 MPH: 109.69
We decided to shake the Mini down at the IDRC West Coast Nationals at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale, CA last weekend 4/16-17. Historically, Palmdale is a tough track due to the desert heat, elevation, and cross winds and not a very good place to test a car for the first time. Most cars run 0.5 to 1.0 seconds slower at Palmdale due to these conditions and getting a car to run well here is always a challenge. But I was here many, many years ago when the "Silver Bullet", piloted by David Shih was the first Honda in the "10's", as he overcame the challenges and the rest is import drag racing history.
We arrived Saturday morning, after driving through the night from Phoenix. The conditions were typical for Palmdale, hot and dusty. We were not as prepared as we should have been, but being the first Mini to race at a sanctioned import event, we were determined not to disappoint.
We did six passes in total, the first few we used to dial in the car. A couple of problems immediately became apparent. One, the tuning was slightly off, and needed to be adjusted, and two, we were going to have problems with gearing due to my "conservative" tire sizing. I call it conservative since I'm the boss. Unfortunately, we did not have extra sets of tires with us, so we could only address the tuning.
The car responded with a 13.009 on the fourth pass and followed with a 12.957 on the fifth pass with a 109.091 and 109.367 MPH respectively. Considering that our very first pass was a 13.560, we we heading in the right direction. On Sunday, we came out a ran a 12.811 at 109.694 under similar conditons. At that point we decided to shut it down and enjoy the rest of the day. I felt there was no need to continue since we were unable to address the gearing.
Two exciting thoughts come to mind when I step back an reflect upon this weekend. As a racer, I was pleasantly surprised and relieved how consistent the Mini responds and drives and as a manufacturer, the results proved to us that the car and our program both possess much more potential which will further motivate us to push the performance envelope.
Hubie Fuh
SPI Powerexcel
Link to final run: 12.81 at 109.69
http://spipowerexcel.com/newimages/palmdale1281.wmv
We arrived Saturday morning, after driving through the night from Phoenix. The conditions were typical for Palmdale, hot and dusty. We were not as prepared as we should have been, but being the first Mini to race at a sanctioned import event, we were determined not to disappoint.
We did six passes in total, the first few we used to dial in the car. A couple of problems immediately became apparent. One, the tuning was slightly off, and needed to be adjusted, and two, we were going to have problems with gearing due to my "conservative" tire sizing. I call it conservative since I'm the boss. Unfortunately, we did not have extra sets of tires with us, so we could only address the tuning.
The car responded with a 13.009 on the fourth pass and followed with a 12.957 on the fifth pass with a 109.091 and 109.367 MPH respectively. Considering that our very first pass was a 13.560, we we heading in the right direction. On Sunday, we came out a ran a 12.811 at 109.694 under similar conditons. At that point we decided to shut it down and enjoy the rest of the day. I felt there was no need to continue since we were unable to address the gearing.
Two exciting thoughts come to mind when I step back an reflect upon this weekend. As a racer, I was pleasantly surprised and relieved how consistent the Mini responds and drives and as a manufacturer, the results proved to us that the car and our program both possess much more potential which will further motivate us to push the performance envelope.
Hubie Fuh
SPI Powerexcel
Link to final run: 12.81 at 109.69
http://spipowerexcel.com/newimages/palmdale1281.wmv
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