Got whupped by a PT Cruiser

:eek2:
First run at the track today. Pulled up to the water box and there was a silver PT cruiser in the next lane. I figured that there was something going on because the exhaust was open and the stock rear wheels were replaced with spare tires!
I did a big burnout to heat the tires, could not hear the PT cruiser because the BBB is a little loud, but there was lots of smoke coming from the other lane. Went ahead and staged, power braked to 2000 to load the chassis and left as the two light gets warm. Got a nice hole shot and figure this race is over. Half track and this little box goes right on by o No:

End result, I ran 12.66 @ 105... The PTcruiser ran 12.10 @ 115 :eek2: :eek2:
At the end of the day he put on his stock tires, closed up the exhaust and drove it home.

 

Yaaa juuust never know.:laugh:

 

haha, thats crazy!

 

Do you know what he had in that thing? o No:

 

Sounds like it had the turbo motor in it, same engine as a SRT-4.

 

an I think about runnin them turkeys off the highway everymornin...

 

At least it wasn't a Honda ou: I almost bought a Nein SRT-4. They remind me of my 87 GN. Turbo motor with lots of torque and potential for easy upgrades.

I took some time to watch the PT cruiser run and it was just crazy. Has a limited slip and does a big burnout. Stick shift car and he just dumps the clutch off the line. Does a 1.85 60 ft so no big advantage there. Then hits second and just screams down the track.

I have beaten up a lot of Hemis. This includes the SRT versions. Chrysler missed the boat when they dropped the SRT-4 motor. I do not think the new car will impress the tuner crowd.

 

They have different factory turbo mods for those cars. They have stage 1,2 and 3 kits to modify the engines.

I dont know anything about them but I have seen the badge on a few.

 

It may be fast but at the end of the day--they still look like a POS! Pete

 

I think I'd puke if I was beat by a PT cruizer. What does it cost to make one go 12.10???????

 

I haven't done it but the upgrades are pretty cheap. I have a Neon, not a PT but most of the upgrades go both ways.

On the Neon forum, I could get a complete turbo kit with intercooler lines for $500. If I don't want a turbo I could buy the 2.4L motor for junk yard prices and add a header for $35.

 

Pretty cheap, actually. Smash it into a little ball and shoot it out of a cannon!

 

Its amazing......I remember a bug here in Orlando that ran 11's years ago...it was so loud it would hurt your ears from 100 yds away in the stands....the thing ran solid 11's all day long , tached up like an sob and like you said 2nd gear was amazing...... I saw many big block muscle car guys shaking their heads including myself after each pass ....those little bugs are amazing but I heard very expensive to build to that level.

 

If you mess with the one I did... bring a barf bag.

 

Tough one! Reminds me of being at BG a couple years back. I was in the staging lanes beside a very fast BBB and really wasn't looking forward to getting embarassed by it. At the last moment he let the car behind him go past to race me. I was now racing a mid 90's Buick that didn't look special at all. I was feeling much better until that thing blistered me by running a 12.20! I may have done better against the BBB.

 

Almost reminds me of the time I was at the drags while in Chicago and saw a '93 Chrysler Minivan run up against a modified '01 V6 stang and the stang got beat by a good 2 lengths...can't remember the Mustang's time but the Minivan ran a 14.07 @ 99 mph if I recall....that was crazy! I think the Mustang was in the deeper 14's...but still, I'd like to know what was done to the van to get it to run low 14's LOL!

 

My brothers neighbor has a Dodge Turbo mini van that he runs at the track. It runs low 13's. He takes it to the local cruise night and toys with the high school kids with their stock v8 Mustangs. (older ones). At the track, He puts empty boxes in bags to make it look like he was out shopping and still has the bags in the van setting on the rear seat.

He has a gutted out Shadow turbo that weighs are 2400 lbs and was running 11.8's with it until he tried to add NO2 to it and blew it up.

I told him it was fast but still was an ugly shadow!

 

This was posted on the board a while back.

http://www.turbovan.net/van.html

How embarrasing but it is fast and you have to give the guy credit for the build up.

I was goofing off one day at the track just playing with the alky unit and no race gas in the T-Type so I was being conservative on my first pass. Well I got lined up next to a SRT-4 and he ran a 13.00 to my 13.30 but I smoked the street tires on the launch (I was only running 16# boost because it was hot and did not think I would break the tires) and had to wait for the boost to build again. He let me know he was proud of his Neon beating the T (man was I embarrased, all I could do was smile and say good run). Well next time he waits for me and lines up again but I set the boost to 21# and have the alky come in a little earlier and ease out of the hole to the tune of a 2.00 60' and gas on it when it hits second. Poor Neon runs his best of the day at 12.99 but the T goes 12.18 @ 115 MPH with the T stumbling on the knock retard so I shut down about 30 yards short of the traps. Now he doesn't want to know me.

12.99 in a stock neon on pump gas is not shabby. But he has all the safety's off. He plugged the wastegate, disconnects the knock sensor and guts the exhaust and intake and revs it to insane RPM's. Says he's broken it twice in the last year so what's the point in not having any reliability.

Mikey

 

I got beat by some hopped-up turbo eclipse one night, even when I was running my nitrous. (My MPH was better but who cares because he got to the finish line first)

Found out later that he replaces his transmission MONTHLY so I'm not so ashamed afterall..

-Bob C.

 

If you go to the track expecting to beat everything you will be disappointed. I find it far more interesting to talk about the cars that beat me than how I whipped some poor stock Mustang (unless they are being a jerk about it.) I usually try to talk to the people that are faster than me because they may have some knowledge that is useful. Learn from everybody, make some friends, appreciate the differences.