My Camaro

page 46

March 2009, Automaxx event Zandvoort
On Saturday I washed the Camaro so it would look good Sunday at the event at Zandvoort track here in the Netherlands. It was a tuning/race event with time attack (road course), drift and 1/4mile sprint. Most of the cars there were (what the US guys consider) imports...some serious stuff there too! Also some American muscle entered the event.

I entered the 1/4mile sprint (402meter) on the track's straight to see what my car would do. Remember this is not a dedicated 1/4mile track, we do not have one in our country. Grip was terrible....but I must admit I did not change anything to my car like tire pressure e.g. either. This was my first 1/4mile with a car so it was exiting (10years ago I drove ultimate street bike series with a GSXR1100).

First run I had massive wheelspin from the start so had to correct and lost time there...I also shifted from 1 to Drive...so 3rd gear came too soon. Second run was a lot better, launched half throttle and then smashed it, shifted @5000 to 2nd and then again @5000 to 3rd. This appeared to work best for me and the Camaro. Just before my last run it started to rain....I got wheelspin again when I shifted to 2nd, so that was it for me. Not much later the event was stopped because of the rain.

I only had 4 of the 5 timecards...later I found the times on the DHRA website, and the missing time (2nd run) appeared to be the best. The speed is in km/h, if you would like to know the MPH just devide by 1.6

I am very happy with the results, had a fun day and the Camaro did great. On the way back to the start we had to drive the whole road coarse. I did my first drift attempts and I am getting a feel for the car now. I was afraid to try it out on the streets, risks are too high in my opinion. On the track I had plenty of space and I was not afraid to hit anything. The water temperature went up to 200~210F one or two times but stayed at or under 180F almost all the time. Oil pressure was good and constant too. The motor was running for 3 hours or so altogether, idling for long times while waiting in line to go for the next run. After the event I just drove it home.....this is the way a car should work!

My friend Cees made a movie with his photo camera of the 4th run, thanks Cees!

I also found some new springs for my coilovers, 700lbs in stead of the 250~350lbs I have now. As soon as I can find some time I will install them and have the Camaro re-aligned.

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You can reach me by e-mail at: pro-touring @ hotmail .com