terminal speeds

[dub-disaster]

I went to a rwyb day at the pod recently and my terminal speeds where lower than i thought going on what i have read in other posts i expected around 110mph but the best i got was 103 with ab et of 14.1 that was mainly down my poor driving !!

I was running a 25 shot of nos with 21psi car seemed ok pulled fine. Afr on Wot was 11.5

i had the car on the rollers at 194bhp but going on my terminal i would imagine im running 180 bhp with no nitrous and 200bhp with.

One thing worth noting is i have to retard the base timing by 1' to run nitrous could this loose me power which is then replaced when on gas? If this is the case kinda seems pointless to me running the gas other than maybe for a touch more torque.

can lower teminal speeds be caused by slow starts ? or generaly crap driving i was chaning up around just under 7k rpm.

[Andy]

Change up earlier. Was there a headwind too? That usually knocks a bit off the terminals.

Don't forget that Yoof's 110mph terminal was with drag slicks. What were your 60ft times?

[dub-disaster]

There was no headwind at all. didnt pick my slips up in the end as i left in a hurry because of the 3 hour journey home. so dont know my 60ft times probably pretty crap as i coildnt get the hang of the staging lights and my reaction time was pretty shit to be fair it was the first tims at the pod in my defence!!

What difference will slicks make to a terminal speed then ??

[Karlos the jackyl]

Slicks wont make major difference for terminals  ( guestimate 1-3 mph for your engine spec ) ,  terminals speed main influential factors are  HP/Torque vs gearing .

Quick 60 ft's ( slicks , LSD etc )  usually influence 1/8th + 1/4 ET's the most.

[Andy]

Acceleration isn't linear, so you can end up covering more ground in a shorter time with more grip - and find that your terminals actually drop a bit.

Terminal is a good indication of power at wheels, but there are multiple factors at play and it depends which is dominant in your setup as to what's holding you back.

I'd suggest that in your case technique, mechanical grip and sub-optimal integration of the nitrous all play a part. Knocking a degree of timing out is going to only cost a few bhp peak, but might have a more significant effect mid-range - and the area under the curve counts more than the peak! With a K03 you'll find peak power is in the 5900-6100rpm range, so shifting at 7k is a bit late.

[dub-disaster]

id agree my technique could use some practise, i did use the gas in first and second so did have wheel spin in both gears which probably didnt help. would have been intresting to run without it and see what i got.

Ill have to do some tweeking have another go!