VR Ute

[brindo]

Another drag meet yesterday, and it was huge with over 50 entrants for what was just a normal round.
Including this turbo VR SS from Warwick. He’s been here before and is just an all round nice bloke with heaps of time to talk to anyone. He was also keen for a race against the ute, but it was a logistical nightmare given they are in different classes. Unfortunately his race day was cut short due to a mechanical failure.

VR SS Turbo.PNG

Everyone struggled for traction and two of the higher powered cars ended up crossing lanes mid track. We are still breaking traction on the 1st to 2nd gear change, but she is leaving the line with much lower rpm and was generally running 9.1 to 9.2 seconds every run. And no axle tramp.

For the racing we dialled in at 9.10 and were paired up against an LS Adventra, a WRX and a late model BMW coupe. Its tough racing against those all wheel drive cars and we ended up losing to the Adventra, but won the other two. So we didn’t make the finals.

But in qualifying finally cracked the 9 seconds! No idea how, but she is a lot better off the start and leaving the line with less rpm. Everything else was the same, full tank of 98, 22psi in the Raidens, and the straight through tail pipe. And ran 8.955 seconds @ 79.64 mph with a 2.089 60 foot.
So came away with Top Qualifier in Street which she is very happy about.

But the clutch is now starting to engage in the 2nd half of the pedal travel. I over estimated its capabilities and in hindsight should have replaced it with a heavy duty unit at the start.
Anway next meeting is mid-September which we potentially may miss, but there is a huge memorial weekend meeting in early October, which is expected to be on par with the Easter meeting.

August 2026 Drags.PNG

[brindo]

Another drag meet yesterday and with a few different vehicles turning up she is now no longer fastest in her class - a VT LS1 and VF 6.0 now quicker by around 0.2 seconds.
Qualifying went well, dialled in at 9.00 neat. But for the racing drew a very tidy VX SS dialled in at 10.0 neat, and the new Kona and Hilux – both dialling in at around 11.3 seconds. Won against the VX, but as before, those new cars are impossible to beat. Lost against the Kona, and red lit by 0.001 seconds to the Hilux. Disappointing as she was equal lead in the points tally for Street, but has now dropped back to second place overall with only two more meetings this year, but only one more with points.
On the bright side, ran her fastest speed against the VF, pulling a 9.14 @ 79.97 mph with a 2.286 60 foot. So just shy of 80 mph now. And the clutch is still holding in there.

Anyway this gives an indication of what 2.3 seconds looks like. The Kona is just out of the frame when get the green light. Its really tough but that’s racing.

Sept 2026.PNG

[brindo]

Correction just went through the time slips again, and in qualifying ran a 9.043 @ 80.07 mph with a 2.208 60ft against the VX SS.
So cracked the 80 mph, but only just.

[Gareth]

[brindo]

Well it was bound to happen.
Got the phone call today that someone has backed into her ute at work. Went down, old mate hung around and was very apologetic. Shared contact details, licences etc.
Reo feels ok. Bonnet is slightly creased. Looks minor particularly considering the damage done to the other car - it looked pretty bad - but will still cost enough to fix. No one hurt obviously, and both of us are insured.
There was the car show on in a few weeks’ time so disappointing timing. Just got to find a decent panel shop as none near us are interested in anything other than Landcruisers and Hiluxes.

Front Bar Damage.PNG

[vlad01]

I believe they still make and sell the front aftermarket bars for these which actually fit pretty good and look the part. Last time I looked they were only around 100 bucks.

The bonnet shouldn't be too hard for a good panel beater, I'd avoid places that use bog though, which there are still plenty of them around unfortunately.

[brindo]

The memorial meeting was on this long weekend, with a car show on the Saturday and drag racing on the Sunday.
The car show was well supported with a lot of good cars that I’d ever be able to afford. I’ll never owner one, but I love the HX LEs. There's 4 of them just in our area alone which is insane given only 580 were ever built. This one below is immaculate. The yellow HQ has a 496 big block that was the daughters formal car last year.

03.10.2026.PNG

We weren’t going to race as there were no points for the Track Championship this round, but at the last minute were gifted a pair of half worn Hoosier 26.0 x 9.0 slicks. And one tyre shop in town fits these for free to drag club members. So got that sorted on the Thursday to the spare SS rims. With a 3 mm wheel spacer they fit inside the rear tubs OK. In hindsight I should have got it tubbed when I built it, but I built it for the highway not the drag strip.
Set the tyre pressure to 20 psi, which is way too high but is clutch friendly. They also ran a Pro light n the Christmas tree which was a new experience for most racers there. Almost impossible to red light, but reaction times are poor.
First run didn’t get a timeslip, but ran a 8.932 @ 80.81 mph. No 60 ft time sadly but a massive improvement.
I dropped the tyre pressure to 18 psi, but it made no difference. Still getting lots of wheel spin and again on the 1st to 2nd gear change, but we are consistently above 80 mph now. Best speed for the day was 81.35 mph. But it is a bit floaty at the finish line.
Dailled in at 9.0 neat, but did no good in 2 of the 3 rounds of racing so didn't make the finals.
But once I get the clutch sorted we have heaps of room to move downwards with the tyre pressure.

04.10.2026.PNG