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DasDunkel
Member

Registered: Oct
2001
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts:
162

Turn your 16 second car
into a 14 second screamer.

Scared to Race
El Monte, Calif.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 1: Free Speed
Every month we get hundreds of
tech letters varying from the simple "how do I fit a
supercharged Prelude engine in my '73 Civic" to the nearly
impossible "how do I get vanilla milkshake stains out of my
back seat."

Of these hundreds, our tradition is to
cherry pick the easiest to answer, write a trite response,
print it in our letters column and go home early.

No
more.

Our new editor is afraid that if he doesn't bark
a few orders every now and then, nobody will know he's doing
his job. And so we launch the new Sport Compact Car Technical
Assistance Program, wherein we cherry pick a far more
difficult letter and not only offer a suggestion, but actually
take on the task of solving the problem ourselves. So much for
that afternoon nap.

With this letter, we launch our
technical assistance program as this is such a common problem.
Looks come first and performance (and your wallet) suffers.
Hoping to save a faithful reader from a serious ass pounding,
we take Mr. To Race's car to the track for a day and let three
engineers and an art history major give it their all. The only
limitation given to our crack technical assistance staff has a
total budget of $0.

Step 1: BaselineBefore suggesting
modifications, it's critical we know where Mr. To Race is
starting. His car is a 2001 Sentra SE with the venerable
SR20DE powerplant. This is the newest variant of the SR20,
with a close-coupled cat, roller rockers, and a
four-counterweight crank. None of this matters at all, because
without money, you can't extract the tremendous potential of
this engine. The car also has heavy 19-inch wheels, cut
springs and one of the most aggressive body kits we've ever
seen. We find three kittens and a squirrel cowering in fear
inside one of the massive front air intakes.

Step 1:
Baseline
Curb Weight: 2,762 lbs
1/4 Mile:16.3 @ 84.0
mph
60-foot:2.9 sec.
0-60 mph:8.6 sec.

Step 2: 15-inch wheels
The 19-inch
wheels are the first obvious problem. With a 225/35ZR-19 tire
at each corner, each of these giant, round testaments to Mr.
To Race's masculinity weighs a shocking 46 lbs. In addition,
their tall, 25.2-inch rolling diameter effectively makes the
gearing taller.

Now, before you point out that
changing wheels costs money, let us remind you that Sentras
don't come with 19-inch wheels. Therefore, it stands to reason
that Mr. To Race has a set of smaller wheels and tires sitting
in his garage somewhere. Since Mr. To Race has a Rottweiler,
we couldn't actually get into his garage, but we did manage to
pirate a set of 15-inch Infiniti G20 wheels from an uninvolved
third party. Wrapped in 195/60R-15 Firestone rubber with a
treadwear rating of 500, these rocks are only slightly smaller
overall, at 24.9 inches, but they're 13 lbs lighter at each
corner. The reduced weight and rotational inertia drop the
quarter-mile time by 0.3 seconds.

Step 2: 15-inch
Wheels
Curb Weight:2,707 lbs
1/4 Mile:16.0 @ 85.5 mph

60-foot:2.8 sec.
0-60 mph: 8.1 sec.

Step 3: Stripped InteriorAsk anyone who has
ever drag raced Mom's Accord and you'll learn our next trick.
A stripped interior not only saves 273 lbs, it also lets
everyone know you're serious. Many amateur drag racers stop at
simply removing the passenger's seat and spare tire, but we
remove everything: headliner, sunroof, carpet, dashboard,
six-disc in-dash CD changer. For expediency, we leave the tar
paper stuck to the floorboards, but Mr. To Race will find
another 15 lbs of weight savings if he takes the time to
chisel it off. As an added bonus, we also remove the antenna
to reduce aerodynamic drag. The mods are good for another
0.5-second improvement.

Step 3: Stripped Interior

Curb Weight:2,434 lbs
1/4 Mile:15.5 @ 82.5 mph

60-foot:2.7 sec
0-60 mph:7.5 sec

Step 4: Free Horsepower
Whoever said
horsepower costs money just didn't have the kind of
clear-thinking, innovative tuners we unleashed on Mr. To
Race's car. The intake, exhaust and underdrive pulley are
three standard first modifications to any car, but our crack
team figured out how to get all the benefit of these expensive
parts without spending a dime. The most obvious free
horsepower mod is to remove the exhaust. This makes the engine
extremely loud and, as you know, noise equals power. The
catalytic converter is integrated into the exhaust manifold,
however, so technically, this is a CARB-legal modification.

Next, in the grand Pontiac tradition, we fashioned a
ram-air intake by removing the bottom half of the air filter
box, taping the filter into the upper half, and sticking the
whole thing up into the airflow. Finding airflow, of course,
means removing the hood, but no hood at all is even lighter
than a carbon-fiber hood, so we think Mr. To Race will
appreciate the aesthetic one-upmanship of this ultra-extreme
race mod.

Finally, in an effort to reduce parasitic
losses from the belt-driven accessories, we simply remove the
accessories themselves. The air conditioner, obviously, is
unnecessary on a racecar, but less obvious is the redundancy
of the alternator. When the car is only running for a quarter
mile at a time, there's no need to constantly charge the
battery. To reduce the electrical load on the battery, we also
remove the headlights and taillights, leaving more voltage for
the engine itself.

Were this a normal project car, we
would dyno test each of these modifications, but dyno testing
would make this test run well into the evening, and as you
know, the "Dukes of Hazzard" comes on at 8 p.m.

Fearing our increased power might turn our Firestones
to smoke, we air them down to 25 psi to increase the size of
the contact patch for better launches. Even with the giant
contact patches, our 60-foot time increases by 0.1 seconds,
but the added power and reduced aerodynamic drag from a
last-minute removal of the windshield wipers knock another 0.3
seconds from our e.t.

Step 4: Free Horsepower
Curb
Weight:2,252 lbs
1/4 Mile:15.2 @ 89.6 mph
60-foot:2.8
sec.
0-60 mph:7.1 sec.

Step 5: Chop Shop
Nobody said this
was going to be easy. The MX-6 Turbo is some stiff
competition, and with Mr. To Race facing bodily harm if he
loses, we decide desperate measures are justified. Say goodbye
to the body kit.

We're sure to check every orifice for
puppies and kittens before carefully removing the air dam with
a nearby curb. Feet, saws and angst-ridden fists make very
effective tools for quickly and efficiently removing the rest
of the body kit.

With the aerodynamic accoutrements
out of the way, we return our focus to weight. Fenders don't
weigh much, but the sight of your smoking front tires just
sitting out there for all the world to see really intimidates
the competition, so naturally we remove them. Power windows
and side impact beams have made modern doors exceptionally
heavy, so again, they have to go. So does the trunk. And the
hood latch. And every brace and bracket we can find. And the
horn.End result: curb weight drops below 2,000 lbs, the e.t.
hits the 14s.

Step 5: Chop Shop
Curb Weight:1,904
lbs
1/4 Mile:14.7 @ 90.7 mph
60-foot:2.8
0-60
mph:6.3

Step 6: Details
At this point the
car looks thoroughly stripped, but close inspection reveals
countless unnecessary items can still be removed. The relays
for the fan, horn, fog lights and HVAC fan, for example, are
still in place, even though there's nothing for them to switch
on. The windshield and rear window are easy to forget, being
clear and all, but they are, in fact, quite hefty. And then
there's that entire car just hanging out there behind the rear
wheels.

Nothing actually happens back there, there's
no engine, no suspension mounting points, nothing of any
performance value. We can't find any reason why the car
shouldn't just stop existing after the rear wheels. If you
ever want to make something stop existing, the Milwaukee
Sawzall is the tool. Oh, the satisfaction.

Uh, anyway,
while we're back there, we notice the rear tires are bigger
than they need to be now that there's nothing for them to hold
up. Space-saver spare tires are great budget skinnies, but Mr.
To Race only has one in his car. Again, we're able to pirate a
second from a G20. Think about it: The G20 needs four spares
now that we have its tires, so the one spare left in the trunk
isn't doing anybody any good.

Step 6: Details
Curb
Weight:1,760 lbs
1/4 Mile:14.4 @ 92.2 mph
60-foot:2.6
sec.
0-60 mph:6.0 sec.

Step 7: Styling

Running 14.4 in the quarter, we're pretty sure Mr. To
Race's ass is safe from pounding, but now we've created
another problem. Because of how his car was originally
equipped, his goals were obvious, and now, looking like a
theft recovery, women will not be impressed. A solution that
causes another problem is no solution at all, so we convened
for a brainstorming session. From this swirling cloud of
brain, Dan Barnes emerges, Sawzall in hand, and utters three
simple words. "Chicks dig convertibles."

Step 7:
Styling
Curb Weight:1,674 lbs
1/4 Mile:14.3 @ 93.2 mph

60-foot:2.6 sec.
0-60 mph:5.8 sec.

__________________
Das (Paula) Dunkel
2001 Beetle
1.8T - Equipped by GIAC, MOMO, Neuspeed, ABD,
Bilstein.

--The REAL Gruppe Hootchie--
"Accept no immitations"

WARNING: Small
children are a choking hazard.

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07-30-2002 04:48
PM

iwanaleya
Member

Registered: Mar
2002
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 154

Wow so thats
what Stage 3 weight reduction looks like.

__________________
-Brian

Here's my 10 cents
my 2 cents is free.

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07-30-2002 07:05
PM

rubberhead
Member

Registered: Oct
2001
Location: Mountain View, CA
Posts:
131

"as you know,
noise equals power"...

LMAO!

That's too
funny

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07-30-2002 10:38
PM

rex_racer
Member

Registered: Dec
2001
Location: Danville
Posts: 66

that's too
funny, and the louder is faster has got to be the best
line...

__________________
Unbeknowst to Speed, Racer-X is
actaully his older brother who ran away from home years
ago...

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07-30-2002 11:00
PM

XapatheticX
Senior
Member

Registered: Feb
2002
Location: NE san jose
Posts: 427

if that were
true i would be smokin everything...

__________________
-Brandon

The loudest golf
ever- BRT 40 series Exhaust

85 Golf
87 Shelby
Lancer- 2.2L turbo2

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07-31-2002 03:05
AM

CSMCGRN
Junior Member

Registered: Jun
2002
Location:
Posts: 32

saw that in a
magazine somewhere....

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07-31-2002 04:47
PM

rex_racer
Member

Registered: Dec
2001
Location: Danville
Posts: 66

quote:

Originally posted by CSMCGRN
saw that in a
magazine somewhere....

Sport Compact Car...

__________________
Unbeknowst to Speed, Racer-X is
actaully his older brother who ran away from home years
ago...

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07-31-2002 04:48
PM

Mencius01
Member

Registered: Nov
2001
Location: San Jose
Posts: 81

that was
really really funny haha ... even tho' i have not been to the
drag strips yet ... hahaa ...

hilarious!

__________________
2001 Jetta GLS VR6 Galactic
Blue

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07-31-2002 05:09
PM

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