This one isn't technically a kill, but it was more satisfying than many kills I've had in the past..... Two weekends ago, some friends and I headed out to one of the busier cruising spots around here, the Carlisle Pike. It's 2 lanes in each direction, with stoplights at varying intervals. There are lots of strip malls and other businesses along this stretch of road, and it can get pretty busy with street racing action on friday and saturday nights :Brow: We had pulled in to the parking lot of Wal-Mart and Lowes. A group of about 40 cars (mainly POS rice cars) was there, with people walking around, looking at other's rides, etc. As my friends and I were standing there, some moron in a blue WRX wagon comes flying in the parking lot, along with several other imports. I said to one of my friends "oh are we supposed to be impressed?! HAHA." About a minute later, some kid walks up to me, and starts talking sh!t, he was like "yeah you should be impressed!" I didn't realize he heard my comment. So anyway this kid starts spouting off about all the parts his car has on it (he mentions a bunch of bolt ons), and that it runs 11.70@134. I asked him if he had traction problems considering the times he was running. "yeah these stock tires are bald, but I'll have alot better traction once I put my 20"s on here! Right now it smokes all 4 tires down the track" He said it was hard to keep traction when he was building 35 psi of boost off the line........ (the car is automatic) I knew this was going downhill fast. Now, the motor has been imported from Japan, and since he's in the Navy, he brought it back from Japan himself. UH huh. I told him about my Electra, running a blistering 16.298@85.58 in the 1/4, he was quite unimpressed. He then went to pester some other people and left me alone. About 20 minutes later, the kid in the WRX starts talking trash to someone in a Late model Jetta that had just pulled in. They take off down to PA Route 114 to race, and about 5 mins later I hear that the WRX kid got his ass handed to him. Interesting, I didn't realize a normally aspirated VR6 could run in the 11's and look/sound so docile! Shortly thereafter, the cops roll into the parking lot, and everyone hops in their cars and we head out on to the pike. Turns out, the WRX kid is right next to us. I drop the 'ole Super-Turbine 400 into L1 and immediately the Nailhead's revs come up. I keep my speed a bit under the speed limit, and let some space open between the traffic ahead. The kid in the WRX catches on and does the same. We both ended up catching the next red light, both of us first in line. The light changed, and I jammed the throttle open, switching the ST400 into high-stall mode, multiplying all of that Nailhead torque! The front of the car lifted and the 4600lb beast shot forward!! We jumped ahead of the WRX, which, with it's automatic transmission, was less than snappy coming off the line. He sloooooowly caught up with us, when the next light ahead turned red. We both stopped, and the WRX kid rolls his window down to be greeted with a 40 year old ,bone stock family sedan full of people roaring with laughter. He says "oh, I'm just playin with you guys, do you want me to really get on it?!?!" I was like "yeah, sure, bring it". The light changes to green, and the massive torque of the mighty Nailhead mill plants my 3 passengers any myself into the plush, 6-way adjustable seats. The outcome was nearly the same this time, with the Electra taking the lead, and the WRX playing catch-up. We ran for close to 1/4 mile (I was going over 75 MPH when I let off!) and the passenger door of the import scene bad-boy WRX was even with the Buick's front bumper! I let off the gas, and slowed for upcoming traffic. We would have ended up next to each other at this light, although behind some cars. I guess he didn't want that, so he cut from the far left lane, across 3 lanes of traffic and heads up on the ramp to the highway, with his "flatulence can" exhaust farting at full volume! I guess such a close race with a 40 year old, 16 second BUICK was too much for him to handle! :laugh: :3gears: I'm really curious as to how much of a power-hog subaru's automatic transmission really is, if it slows the car down so much! I've seen manual-tranny versions of this car run and they appear that they would blow my electra's doors off. I've seen a few run at the local dragstrip, and low 14's seem to be standard fare for them.......
He must have been embarassed to run like that against your "old" 16-second Electra. For all his talk, you'd think he'd have flown by you. Imagine how you'd do without the passengers.
GREAT JOB Scott! The best is all the passengers having a laugh :laugh: On automatic Volvo's they reduce power levels from the stick cars. Dad test drove one of the newer turbocars (volvo) and told the salesman it was slower than his (older full size volvo). They proceeded to take em both out to "test"- Dad was right as usual. At least in Volvo's, the auto can't hold up to the full turbo power like the stick. Keep flogging that nailhead. :beer
GREAT Kill !!! Bet it felt wonderful :TU: :beer :TU: Im also willing to bet the kid was "Full of IT" and it was an older, regular Subaru Imprezza wagon with some WRX stickers on it :shock: .....ALOT Cheaper to paste a bunch of them on Did you hear the Turbo ??
I knew the kid was full of it when he said it has better traction with 20s on it! What a moron. 35 psi. More BS. Guys like that make all the import guys look bad.
I didn't realize the auto WRX's were that fast, I thought the earliest auto versions were mid 15 sec cars, possibly explaining how this played out. Looks like I must be mistaken there. I guess it could have been re-badged, but the sound of a turbo was definitely there. Maybe there are people that actually buy those "simulated turbo sound" kits that play the sound of a turbo and blow-off valve The performance of the kid's car was nothing compared to any other WRX I had ever seen, although I only recall seeing one other automatic and that was at the dragstrip, and it was set up specifically for drag racing, busting off a string of solid 13 sec timeslips. Maybe I'll see the kid out there again sometime and I'll get him to pop the hood, lol. :laugh: On a less than thrilling note, I put the Electra into winter storage today. It's gunna be a long winter without the 'ole Nailhead! :ball:
Love it!!!! Way to "represent" for the Buicks :beer I've owned and street driven 10 second cars before. But without a doubt the most entertaining kills came in my low-13 second Grandma Green 71 Sport Wagon. For some reason I always had my wife, and two daugters with me, and we always had something we were hauling in the back (bicycles, dressers, etc) I always wondered what the other guys thought when they saw what just beat them...4400+ pounds of Buick love! :jd:
Understeer is right... as if they don't do that enough Remember that 90% of the WRX's quickness is attributed to a correct launch. My car might run 13.3 (so says Subaru, others running 12.9-13.1 completely stock)... but it only traps between 101-105... Great launch! not so great rolling. If that WRX didn't launch properly, especially since its an auto, it was a mid 15 second car. Auto WRX's ran 14.9-19.0 good-bad driver. good driver stick WRX's were 14.3-14.9 ... '04's are a bit quicker ... good drivers are hitting 14.1-14.2. Stock regular WRX turbo's max out around 14-15psi... STi turbo is good for 17psi efficiently. anything above 18-19psi in a WRX without engine internal upgrades is fairly crazy... and not possible without a seperate standalone engine management unit. Sti's are a little different... bad drivers can run 13.9's with them :grin:
35 psi?!? Geez...I can only get 30-31 psi out of the CAT that's in the Freightliner I drive and that sounds like it's sucking the world supply of air in. The cool part is the pitch of the turbo is so high, it'll make a dog cry.
