Hey Torque IT, I think a good place to get that around here is that stretch of road right infront of Rocky Flats...eh?

 

Richard.... just don't be discouraged by the 80mph headwind...... the wind gets rippin' right there.
when I was talkin' about my own personal land speed record (150mph)... that was in I-25. I made it from Garden of the Gods Rd in Colorado Springs to Wolfensburger Rd in Castle Rock in 15 minutes. 33 miles.... average speed was about 125. good times.

 

That was my suggestion

Seriously, put in 3.27 gears and a strong rear with a 6 speed. Then add a good sized turbo kit, like a twin T-76 or Twin T-67. That should send it, and a fiberglass one piece pro 5.0 style nose would help.

 

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Actually, there's a good stretch on I-76 near Brighton. I've done 130 there in my Toyota Matrix (saving for my Stang)

 

yeah, I think out east you'll have better luck not getting popped. in retrospect, that stretch between the Springs and CR was pretty stupid to be doing that... all kinds of twists in the highway, a lot of traffic, and staties all over the place.

 

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Hiiiiiiiiighly suggest you invest in a good radar detector. Can't tell you how many times its saved me from getting pulled over!

 

A cockroach if you don't have on a helmut.

 

you know... I used to think they were worth it, but then there's the fact that they can't pick up lazer until it goes off.... if you're the only one in the field of view for the lazer, you're toast anyways.... all cops around here use lazer, so... why bother. I'm gettin' old (28) and have been kinda reserved on the 100+ runs. I haven't had a Mustang since I sold my '98 4 years ago, and it was Chrome Yellow.... I was just beggin' to get popped.... even if I wasn't doing anything wrong. I'm sure that's change when I get my '06... I'll have to learn self controll all over again.... which usually takes a few couple of years. man do I miss it.

 

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Yeah, I understand that, if you're all by your lonesome on the road. I usually try to have a few other cars around me that I can see. That or I'll scout ahead come back and hit it, just to see what the car can do.

Now there's a product that should come to market, laser absorbing paint! That'd rock!

 

A bug??? Or maybe a small bird in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Remember, speed is NOT that much of a function of gearing vs. engine speed. It has to be right, but that is simple math. If you want to go fast, you have to make HorsePOWER! Even torque is not that important. If you can make 1000hp with a deisel turning 2000rpm (so it generates around 2600 lb-ft of torque!), you will have pretty much the same top speed potential as you do if you have an engine that makes the same 1000 hp while turning 16000 rpm (making only 320 lb-ft of torque!). But you will have MAJOR different overall gear ratios!

The problem is that velocity is a function drag of the vehicle times the square of the velocity. If you want to double your speed, you are looking at a 4 fold increase in power required, not double as you would think. Because velocity is linear to the drag of a vehicle, you can gain quite a bit by drag reduction. For aircraft, they can gain a LOT simply because the velocities are MUCH higher than a cars. (Ok, most cars!)

Don't get me wrong, going that fast is NOT a simple thing. There is always a HUGE issue of keeping the power delivered curve ahead of the power required curve until you are at your absolute max top speed. This can be a real pain when you are dealing with a super peaky motor that is a total top end charger...

 

A bug??? Or maybe a small bird in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Remember, speed is NOT that much of a function of gearing vs. engine speed. It has to be right, but that is simple math. If you want to go fast, you have to make HorsePOWER! Even torque is not that important. If you can make 1000hp with a deisel turning 2000rpm (so it generates around 2600 lb-ft of torque!), you will have pretty much the same top speed potential as you do if you have an engine that makes the same 1000 hp while turning 16000 rpm (making only 320 lb-ft of torque!). But you will have MAJOR different overall gear ratios!

The problem is that velocity is a function drag of the vehicle times the square of the velocity. If you want to double your speed, you are looking at a 4 fold increase in power required, not double as you would think. Because velocity is linear to the drag of a vehicle, you can gain quite a bit by drag reduction. For aircraft, they can gain a LOT simply because the velocities are MUCH higher than a cars. (Ok, most cars!)

Don't get me wrong, going that fast is NOT a simple thing. There is always a HUGE issue of keeping the power delivered curve ahead of the power required curve until you are at your absolute max top speed. This can be a real pain when you are dealing with a super peaky motor that is a total top end charger...
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Interesting!

I always thought that horsepower was more a matter of 'bragging rights' than any true measure of power. My way of thinking always figured that torque was where it was at, in relation to how fast a car could be pushed. This of course is based on gear ratio and the rpm range of the engine.

Another measure I hear is the 'hp to pound' ratio. The Ferrari Enzo has been clocked at 213mph. This car has a 6-litre V-12 pushing 650hp with only 3009 pounds to push, so it gets a weight-to-power ratio of 4.6 pounds per hp. I'm not sure what the gearing ratio is or its max rpm range, but bear with me.

So lets figure that simple equation to the Mustang. At a 4.6 pound weight-to-power ratio, that would figure to around 761hp to push a 3500 pound Mustang to the 200mph mark. Of course that's assuming its aerodynamics would allow for it!

Guess I best start saving!

 

Here's a link to the road races if you want to find out....

http://members.aol.com/openroad/

The reason I looked for this is I can remember an article from the late 80's, I believe, in a car magazine, can't remember which one. This was about a Nevada race that I thought was called the Banzai. It was a 97 mile race that had one area where a trooper would clock the participants. Don and Dan Gottleib built up a late 60's Camaro that averaged over 190 mph through the course and the photo of the official "ticket" you got from the Highway Patrol after the race showed their speed at 222 mph. I remember the article talking about how you would see every car you could imagine running in this race. There was one Ferrari that wrecked because the guy didn't have tires to match his speed, killed his wife who was riding shotgun.

Anyway, maybe some of the western members can try one and let us know how things went.

 

HP is the most direct measure of the actual amount of energy per unit time a motor is putting out. Torque is more the leverage, by means of gearing, tire diameter, etc. that the car then applies at any instant. While even I could generate 500 lb/ft of torque to a drive shaft given a long enough lever, I could never generate 500 hp, maybe around .5hp for any period.

Thus, given the proper leverage and enough time to, I could generate a Viperesque 500 lb/ft of torque and spin a pair of 335 meats, albeit very slowly being more akin to grinding down those expensive tires than smoking them. And given unlimited time, I could use that torque to pull a fully-loaded semi, at but a snail's pace.

But my top speed, in which time becomes a relavent factor and given my limited leg power, might be some 30-35 mph on a good bike on level ground.

For top speed, the most relevant measure would be hp/drag (rolling and aerodynamic). In other words, how much energy is the motor putting out to counteract the cars drag, of which aerodynamic drag is by far the biggest component. Weight really is not much of a factor given that you have a pretty much unlimited stretch of road to get to a stratospheric top speed, even if it might be a slow creep up there in a heavy but sleek car.

For acceleration, the relevant measure would be hp/weight. How much energy does the motor have to overcome the inertial mass of the vehicle and accelerate it (remember time becomes a factor) down the road. Drag only becomes an increasingly important factor at increasingly higher speeds as the energy available to overcome inertia is sapped away overcoming drag.

Torque, again basically the leverage a drive train has on the ground (at any instant), can give a punchy feel when there is a lot of leverage at low rpm, the trademark of a big V8. But acceleration (over time) is inevitably limited by the amount of energy, HP, ultimately available.

Of course, this oversimplifies things quite a bit, negating such things the breadth of a big V8's power band, types of trannys and gearing, shifting speed, traction, etc.

 

do it like the do in NASCAR... duct tape.