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On our second run, we’d lay down a whopping 190 MPH pass, setting a new H/PS land speed record with a two pass average of 184 MPH.
Looking at the time slip above, there’s no arguing that the changes to the Infinity EMS gear dependent boost control system resulted in a more manageable car under acceleration. Quantifiable improvements were seen with an increase in speed through each of the mile markers. The top measured speed was 18 MPH faster than the previous run. Who’d have ever thought that cutting boost would have resulted in a faster run?
Although there was some improvement in stability, the car was still acting squirrelly under acceleration, which suggested we hadn’t yet addressed the root cause. While our record was being certified in impound, we decided to verify the front and rear toe. We found that the rear was approximately an 1/8” toe out. Running a car with the rear toed out is probably one good way to crash a racecar.
Standing behind the car, Nick and I both could clearly see that the right rear wheel was visably toed out. Taking a bit of a gamble, we decided to make only adjustments to the right side to bring the toe back to zero. The behavior of the car had changed since we alignmened the car and shook it down at El Mirage. At this point, we’re still not sure what caused the change in rear toe.
With all record runs being conducted first thing in the morning, we were able to get back in line again afterwards but this time for the longer, 5 mile course. With the toe problem corrected and two additional miles to get up to speed, we were pretty confident that we’d break the 200 MPH mark with this next pass. We all know that Project 240SX earned the record of 184 MPH, but did it actually hit 200 MPH or did we just spin trying? Find out next time on the Road to World of Speed: Part 2!
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