DFLer's: this past Saturday, the 13th of June, 1998, I ran our '87 Plus
8 in the SOLO II time trials at Brookings, SD.
In all, I ran the car seven (7) times, but I goofed up the first two (2)
so bad that I don't even count them (couldn't figure out how the "tree"
worked and then hit fifth gear instead of third - twice). So, my
results were:
RUN RESPONSE TIME ELAPSED TIME MPH
#3 .223 sec 10.654 sec 70.355 1/8th mile
#4 .231 sec 10.787 sec 70.291 strip/660'
#5 .153 sec 10.567 sec 70.552
#6 -.230 sec 10.673 sec 70.737
#7 .636 sec 10.525 sec 70.415
While my skill level at all this is not too high, I think that impacts
more on the response time/elapsed time numbers as opposed to the miles
per hour.
In general, I was surprised at how slow the car turned out to be. In
the literature for my era of a car there is quite a bit of mention of
0-60 mph times of 5.3 seconds/5.5 seconds, etc. Those numbers simply
had to have been more wistful thinking than reality - or the cars being
tested had been modified in some way or other.
There were some 50-60 cars there and the majority were modified
dragsters. Of the stock street cars, two (2) 1997 BMW M 3's ran
consistently at 73-74 mph. An older Mustang, early 90's, also ran that
same speed. A Cobra replicar built in Nebraska and with a Ford 427
engine ran 82-83 mph. The old muscle cars from the '60/'70's ran pretty
much in the high 70's mph. The NO cars all ran 104-105 mph and the
alcohol cars were in at about 143-145 mph.
All the Corvette guys wimped out so didn't get to see them run. No
Vipers either - and there are 6 of them in our region.
I would be really curious if anyone else has run a Plus 8 in an eighth
mile time trial. We have a couple of quarter mile tracks in eastern
South Dakota, but I don't know if they have an "amateur day". Have to
find out.
Later,
Arlo Levisen, Revillo, SD '87 Plus 8
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