Was embarrassed on the 1/4 mile!

[Lemons]

Last week had an amazing weekend at Santa Pod. The nine cars in my charity challenge were up against each other but one of my fellow Club Le Mons competitors, pulled to the side at the last minute to let a 600bhp Subaru with a 1/4 set up make me look a fool...yet at 16.23 was my fastest run of the day! Seems I was set up lol!

[YOUTUBE]d5JY5NXwQc0[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Dave Barlow]

Is 16.23secs what you expected? Is this much down on the figures produced by MB when the car was new. How quick was the Scooby?

 

[moonloops]

A lightweight 600 BHP scooby with 4wd and launch control versus a soggy 1wd SLK - were you expecting anything else?

 

[Lemons]

Glol, nope not expecting anything else, you can't hear me sobbing loudly in the car as I heard the noise coming from behind. Think I pee'd a bit too to be honest!

The month earlier we had the competition cars on the rolling road. Merc's original sales blurb stated 218 bhp, but some 14 years on it was doing 196 bhp. This was a bit disheartening until the RX8 PZ (prodrive version) got on the rolling road and was down from a quoted 231 to 178..shocking! If you read the blog via the link you'll also see the the 2.8 BMW Z3 has lost none of it's power in the same time the SLK lost 22bhp. It was a fascinating exercise!

For the 1/4 Mile we predicted I'd be able to achieve a best of around 15.88. However that just wasn't possible after the rainfall we had earlier in the day. My runs before the rainfall had cameras and passengers in it so was never going to be as fast as I wanted. Just unfortunate I never got a real chance to see if I could achieve the 15.88.

The film crew know what the scooby time was. I couldn't see the screens through my tears!!!

 

[paul_c]

A plain old, completely stock Mk1 Golf GTI does the 1/4 mile in around 16.5 seconds, so I guess the 16.23 you did is mainly down to the weight of the car (being older and not having much safety or other equipment, means a Mk1 Golf is light in comparison).

A number of years ago, I put a 2.0 16V engine into a Mk1 Golf GTI, didn't spend massive amounts of money on it but browsed around forums, putting together a portfolio of things you'd do to screw it together properly, things which affect performance, things which don't etc and I managed a 14.15 as my best time, which was able to embarrass contemporary hot hatches such as the Golf R32, Civic Type-R etc. Calculations/estimates show that relates to a 0-60 time of approx 5.5 secs, although it was never optimised for this (needed 3rd gear to achieve 60mph, later GTIs had their ratios altered slightly to achieve 60mph in 2nd and shaved a bit of time off this).

Here's a link, hope it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P1KnXpGl7Y&list=UUfHGUAj1mU3doDYB4EY3cXA

 

[MancMike]

Here's a link, hope it works:

Which pixel is your car?

 

[Lemons]

Being an auto certainly does hinder the experience as well. It felt like I lost .5sec against every car I competed against as from the in car filming I could see that the SLK has longer gears but the power drop off is much lower in the rev range than a manual car.

This was in sport mode with driving aids turned off.

 

[martin_a]

Strange that as autoboxes are often quicker... car can change gear faster than the driver (Toyota billed the Supra as .5 faster to sixty as an auto over the manual for example and the new twin clutch things should be even better). The issue is launching the thing off the line.

Surprised at the 16 second time though. I remember doing it in less than that in a Mitsubishi FTO (only time I have done a 1/4 mile). Car was 10 years old (auto) and only had 197bhp when it was new so some technique needed OP!

 

[dozypillock]

I did 16.10 in a standard Golf GTI 16valve at GTI International many years ago. Car had done 115,000 miles and everybody said "it has just been run in" and they go quicker when loosened up.
I am wondering what my Merc will do the 1/4 mile in now?....

Neil

 

[epervier]

That certainly puts a new take on "eat my dust"

 

[merc85]

Its always funny watching some people who belive they have a quick car putting it on the 1/4 mile and then getting disapointed. Same goes form rollin road days.

16.23 aint that bad, my Volvo 850 t5 estate did a 14.6 @ 105mph that was 297bhp, the 850R auto i had did a 15.5 @ 90mph 255bhp

As long as you enjoyed it thats the main thing.

 

[merc85]

Have some fun with this

0-60, 0-100 & 1/4 Mile Calculator :: TorqueStats Modified

 

[Lemons]

While Point being was everybody had a great time, if you haven't done a 1/4 mile before then have a go, was great fun and only £25 for the whole day!

My auto box was certainly not quicker than manual, my fastest time was when I changed up myself.

Last blogs by my fellow drivers and official timings here. I had 2nd fastest reaction times but nearly a second slower than the target times set by Santa Pod for us! Have to say a big thanks to the organisers there. Awesome people!

http://www.lemons365.co.uk/car-reviews-news-blogs/

 

[merc85]

North Weald nr Onger essex, do good 1/4 mile events during the year nice and informal and cheap to. Rwyb pritty much anything.

 

[Robag]

Can you run bikes at North Weald?

 

[markmifsud]

yes, they have bikes and cars on the same day, they just do not compete against each other.

 

[Robag]

Cheers, might have to make a trip down the M11 on the Triumph, I'd love to know what it could run.

 

[Dave Barlow]

RWYB days at North Weald could be a good place for a GTG. Plenty of concrete to park on, food available, and the opportunity to see how your car performs against the clock.

 

[John]

pulled to the side at the last minute to let a 600bhp Subaru with a 1/4 set up make me look a fool...yet at 16.23 was my fastest run of the day! Seems I was set up lol!

Next time, rock up in one of these and wipe the floor with any road-going four wheel competition!

[YOUTUBE]35Ah6yNMGK4[/YOUTUBE]

:bannana:

 

[E280wilson]

Love taking the family to Santa Pod. The wife and I got to have a go in there 2 seater dragster. 7.8sec @ nearly 180mph. Well worth the money. Top Fuellers have to be seen to be believed. They're doing 100mph by the time they reach the Xmas tree.