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Are 928 Top End Speeds Getting Faster?

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Old 11-24-2006, 11:43 AM
  #76  
IcemanG17
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Harvey
The 968 might have better aerodynamics than the 928 & it has 6 gears! Or compared to your S3 288hp vs 240hp.....so I guess the newer cleaner design with better gearing makes up for the 48hp loss?
Old 11-27-2006, 12:57 AM
  #77  
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My new monster motor would do better pushing a standard bodied 928 at Salt Flat speeds. than my car now with it's road race body. When running unlimited in a 928, every square inch of Frontal Area drops a lot of drag into the speed equation. With 12.5" wide front tires alone, as compared to 7" stockers, the added area is huge. he stock belly pans are very effective and the little stock spoiler does a very good job reducing drag.
I am not sure the same record is still standing, but we looked very seriously at making a run at the B-sport record, I think that was it. Google the Salt Flats and confirm, but I think the record that a stroker 928 could (under the rules) go after is only at 220-something mph. Quite do-able with lots of the right prep and money and many many hours of time. We figured we could get almost 230mph with a full out record attempt....You do need a parachute to run over 200 mph on the salt, and lots of other stuff.. After serious consideration, I decided to go the PCA, POC, SCCA route at the road courses instead of the salt. Took my car off in a different direction..
The pre-run prep that Marc and Susan Thomas put into their white car runs was probably crucial to them clocking over 200. They did some very meticulous aero cleanup (and much more..) on their car, and it paid off with those great event results.
Suspension and alignment are crucial at high speed. So is judgment. Knowing when it is do-able and when to not push on..They had it all right, were there often and finally they had their chance and did it!
When coming home to Oregon from an ORR in Texas, my 88 flat flew across the west, with my Valentine one keeping us out of jail. Tank after tank of fuel ran through our motor at well over 135mph average across Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico...A goldarned wonderful journey for a 928. But I did slow up to pass people out in the desert..And I did come up on a Blazer near Austin, Nv. that turned out to be the Sherrif...Luckily I saw from some miles back that it was a cop and got her shut down...hadda follow that guy at 75..for about 45 miles to the next town...man, was that like crawling...
Don Hanson
Old 11-27-2006, 01:27 AM
  #78  
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Yup !! I loves my Valentine One, no doubts about 'er. I still haven't figured out why anyone would want to have a car like the 928 and not want to drive it the way it was designed and tested to be driven, day after day, hour after hour.
And more than that, why would anyone want to build such a machine since we all know that any speed over 80 mph on any highway and in any vehicle is terribly dangerous and threatening to society. I have even heard that someone builds a similar model that can be driven over 200 mph. Imagine that outrageously offensive behavior!! Oh my goodness !!! (of course this is simply curiousity and not related to any real life experience I may have).
Old 11-27-2006, 01:08 PM
  #79  
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Yikes !!!

I leave for Thanksgiving and the longest top speed, ORR thread in history appears. Thanks to Don for the great write up of his experiences at ORR's. We are one of the cars (928's) in ORR along with Bill, George, Rich, Dave, Paul and others. I can tell you that there is nothing more fun than taking your 928 to these events. Running a stock 928 with only the safety equip required is really quite safe and quite thrilling. Stay in a class that gives you some headroom on the tech side and blast away. When I started 4 years ago I didn't believe people that said the 928 would feel comfortable at a sustained 135 mph, but it does. Our GTS felt great up to 165 mph on the straights but not in the turns. When my wife & I decided we wanted to go faster we also made the decission to build a dedicated ORR car with all of the safety, handling and engine equipment. Last year was the first year for the car and it performed pretty well. It is in the shop this winter for the final conversion to run in the unlimited (Super Sport) class. I'm sure the car will then be capable of running 200 mph "officially", we will see about the driver.

When we attempt it the conditions will be perfect and if they are not we will wait for another day. No macho man here!! Don is right, running very fast is dangerous. We are taking every precaution to build the car correctly for its intended purpose. Safety systems will be redundant, tires/wheels will be the best available, and only then will we squeeze the throttle through the traps. My hat is off to George Sunnen for his continued running in the 190's. I hope he also achieves his goal next year. Running this fast is not easy and the horsepower/ torque spread sheets do not tell all.

Great thread
Old 11-27-2006, 04:05 PM
  #80  
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Tim
I look forward to you & Cheryl getting your 200mph jackets next year! I just might have to come out and join you guys!
Old 11-27-2006, 04:48 PM
  #81  
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I consider my 928 pretty much a beater in terms of some of the wonderful cars on Rennlist but she still gets up there in Speed... I know at least 135.. thats where the speedo dropped to Zero and I lost the fun.. besides I was running out of straight road... last time I jammed on the gas my buddy was with me and we got up to about 120-5 or so before I had to start slowing.. there was a 90 degree turn coming and 120 was not a speed one wished to turn that far... even if you have fantastic grip... if my engine was fresh I can only imagine how responsive it would be...
Old 11-27-2006, 11:10 PM
  #82  
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Originally Posted by Bret928
Ok I don’t mind admitting that I’m no expert at driving above 110mph. Oh sure I’ve been a passenger in a number of cars at speeds in excess of that but rarely have I ventured beyond that. So when I have it’s only been on vacant highways in the middle of nowhere.

Prior to my 78’ 928 I’ve only had a couple of vehicles that I ever even consider taking above 100mph for extended periods. The first was my 69 Firebird and looking back that probably wasn’t the smartest thing I ever did. Next would have to be my 67 Barracuda and then my 76’ Yamaha DOHC 500cc motorcycle. Again not too smart of moves - as none of those vehicles was really intended for those speeds for extended periods. But in my own defense in all those cases I was way too young & dumb to know any better and consider myself lucky to be here today.

As for the 928 I’ve had it up to 110+ several times with the highest speed having to be about a 115mph. Granted I’ve been told that a well sorted out 78’ Shark of that vintage should be able to do 140 but I’m too much of a chicken-$hit to try without someone more knowledgeable going over the vehicle with me first and possibly giving me some informal training before I make such an attempt.

As for the stability of the 928 at speed all I will say is that of all the vehicles I’ve driven at speed it seems the smoothest. I drove a 2000 Dodge Intrepid @ 110+ and it seemed somewhat comfortable. But when I pushed it a little further it felt like it was hanging on by it’s fingernails and was about to come apart at the seams. Whereas the Shark seemed to take speeds above 110 in stride and didn’t seem to break a sweat at all. In fact she felt like she wanted to keep going and could maintain those speeds all day long.

Perhaps once I've had a chance to sort out my Shark's Suspension and brakes (Wheels & tires & the engine don't seem to have problems with high speeds) I’ll consider pushing the envelope.
I've had my wife's Camry to about 110mph...and it wasn't bad until I wandered into the rumble strips and she woke up. Would'nt go any faster though.

H2
Old 12-01-2006, 03:02 AM
  #83  
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Rubbing, rubbing the crystal ball.....I see a 2......And another 2......rubbing harder now.....it looks like a 7, no, it is 1. And waht is this an M, and another letter...it looks like a 6, no upside down..it is P, and what is this one...H.....MPH

221 MPH! I see it now, as clear as Dey!

Cheers,
Marc
Old 12-01-2006, 10:35 AM
  #84  
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Originally Posted by Gnarly 928
We did see, off the record during another run in that car, a 200mph gps-verified run..Scary stuff..But, it wasn't done during competition, so it doesn't count..talk is cheap, right?
I do not agree...

If you have GPS telemetry of a 200 mph run, it certainly does count for bragging rights!

That's just as good as a dyno-sheet verifying one's horsepower output.
Old 12-01-2006, 11:06 AM
  #85  
blown 87
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Originally Posted by marc@DEVEK
Rubbing, rubbing the crystal ball.....I see a 2......And another 2......rubbing harder now.....it looks like a 7, no, it is 1. And waht is this an M, and another letter...it looks like a 6, no upside down..it is P, and what is this one...H.....MPH

221 MPH! I see it now, as clear as Dey!

Cheers,
Marc
I really do have a crystal ball in my office just for people that ask me things like "how long will it last" or "Whats wrong with my car, when they call me on the phone and I have never seen there car before".

They do come in handy.
Old 12-01-2006, 12:03 PM
  #86  
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Originally Posted by marc@DEVEK
Rubbing, rubbing the crystal ball.....I see a 2......And another 2......rubbing harder now.....it looks like a 7, no, it is 1. And waht is this an M, and another letter...it looks like a 6, no upside down..it is P, and what is this one...H.....MPH

221 MPH! I see it now, as clear as Dey!

Cheers,
Marc
That's impressive! By any measure for a car this old....as well as almost all new cars. 221mph. I need a crystal ball like that! I thought my car had a couple of large steel bearing ***** but, on closer examination, they're more like Fish Egg bait...by comparison.

Harvey
Old 12-01-2006, 01:34 PM
  #87  
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There "might" be two 928's that get the 200 jackets this year....assuming George gets his new gearing and a touch more boost! Come to think of it.......BillB will not be far away in terms of HP....but doesn't have the equipment to tech 200...or the gearing
Old 12-01-2006, 05:29 PM
  #88  
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As I said earlier, I was originally thinking that the Supercharged sharks would breathe new top end life into the 928s (no pun intended). But it's obviously more complicated than that...and comes with a danger factor that must be faced...right tires...beefed suspension...adequate brakes....couple of genuine ball bearings (huevos), etc. I'm still trying to overcome the awe of seeing S's twinscrewed car in action.

H2
Old 12-01-2006, 05:40 PM
  #89  
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Originally Posted by IcemanG17
There "might" be two 928's that get the 200 jackets this year....assuming George gets his new gearing and a touch more boost! Come to think of it.......BillB will not be far away in terms of HP....but doesn't have the equipment to tech 200...or the gearing
I have no doubt that my fellow competitor George will be there, he is very dedicated to this goal and has worked diligently to improve his speed year after year. If we both make it there will be 3 928's on the 200 mph club web site.
Old 12-01-2006, 07:35 PM
  #90  
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Originally Posted by Tahoe Shark
I have no doubt that my fellow competitor George will be there, he is very dedicated to this goal and has worked diligently to improve his speed year after year. If we both make it there will be 3 928's on the 200 mph club web site.
Your air-dam/splitter looks nice!

Do you have any close-up pics of it? Did you build it yourself?


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