Montana Road race, Saab 9k king!

[JZW]

Eric and I went up to Lewistown Montana to the Porshe club educational road racing event and the course was a blast to drive.

I was blown away by Mtaero or Gary Wolf's 9k road race car! It was the fastest car there at the track and was beating up on all kinds of Porshe's, a few 911's, 968's, one Lotus, one Ferrari, was not winding in the power band much, but the car was on rails and extremely fast and would pull to 165mph down the back straight just at the rev limit in 5th gear, 6800rpm and 4:45 final drive from v6 na ng900.

The car had a 18t, lsd, suspension work, light, 2400lb and I had tuned it on the road for a while with the 18t.

That car is amazing, the power is instant with that 4:45 final drive, you can start out from a dig in second gear and the car has a different power band, it pulls from 3500-6500rpm all day long and has instant response anytime you get on the gas and start banging through gears.

I was very impressed and it actually scared me a little to ride in the passenger seat as we banged through the S's at 120mph and opened it up to 150+ on the back straight. I never knew a 9k could corner like it did and the car would not body roll at all and the car was a beast everywhere on the track. I had a blast and now am back to wanting to build a 9k instead of a ng900.

A Porshe 911 full on race car showed up Sunday and for the fist time Gary had someone to contest his Saab and they started going at it. I watched as Gary held off this 911 and the racing was very tight and the cars were flying around the track. I got my camera out as they passed me in the pits and then saw gary move over and signal for the 911 to take the lead, Gary jumped right back in on the 911's tail and it was one, they went through the lower corner of the course and back up through the S's with Gary right on his tail, the 911 must have gotten rattled and the next thing we know the Porshe is sliding side-ways at 120mph out of the S's and then goes off in the grass, Gary smiles as he passes and its on down the track for the Saab...

Saab 9k road race car 1, Porshe 911 race car, 0. A rematch has been slotted for the spring and it made us Saab owners feel pretty good knowing a 3k car with a stock motor and 18t, a little tune with green giants and a lsd combined with a 4:45 final drive could run so well...

My car did ok with new roll bar installed, much stiffer now, but no comparison to Gary's light 9k in the corners, I could barely pull on him in the straights I bet. It rained most of the first day and I was spinning in second, third, fourth.

We did some brake thresh-hold testing in the rain and my car locked up all 4 tires in the rain even with abs. I did better my second try.

I really enjoyed the road racing compared to drag racing and think I will build a 9k light road race car now

Thanks to Gary Wolf for all the great Montana hospitality! Pics to come!

A few pics and a crappy video that does not do the cars justice is at post #16, the white porsche with #73 is the one Gary was racing with.


John

[viggenkid]

[Castor Troy]

yes, as i have said before, in light of having raced in lemons, i'm probably never going to drag race again. drag racing vs track racing is like giving yourself a reach around vs orgy with every super model on the planet. theres no comparison

[bruceinmiami]

a 911 owner here....no pics didn't happen 8D

[Elmo]

that sounds incredible!

One small step for Saabs
One giant leap for Saab-kind

can't wait to see pictures from the event!

[Chadwick]

I built that turbo for Gary last spring, it's a true testament to the ability of an 18T bolt on upgrade. Awesome to hear he's doing so well with that car!

-Chad

[JZW]

Originally Posted by bruceinmiami

a 911 owner here....no pics didn't happen 8D

I not only have pictures, I have video

Later tonight....

John

[JZW]

Originally Posted by Chadwick

I built that turbo for Gary last spring, it's a true testament to the ability of an 18T bolt on upgrade. Awesome to hear he's doing so well with that car!

-Chad

That is a great running car, its light and very fast with that gear-box! I have an aero too and want to do a 18T. I will contacting you soon to do the upgrade.

The engine and turbo ran very smooth and made great power, the turbo seemed to be running awesome!

John

[Chadwick]

go 19T

[Vigge]

Originally Posted by JZW

That is a great running car, its light and very fast with that gear-box! I have an aero too and want to do a 18T. I will contacting you soon to do the upgrade.

The engine and turbo ran very smooth and made great power, the turbo seemed to be running awesome!

John

sounds like fun and if we look into it 320-360 bhp in a 2400lb car has the the same power to weight ratio as a normal weight saab with 450-500bhp or so and terms of handling/lap times you will newer match the lighter car with a heavier car but save bhp/lb. So as always the cheepest mod you can do is remove all the weight and the more the better, usually dos not cost a dime but benefits are guaranteed

[jk88]

Originally Posted by JZW

I not only have pictures, I have video

YESSSSSSS.

[Aero]

Wow! Very impressive,

[JZW]

Originally Posted by Vigge

sounds like fun and if we look into it 320-360 bhp in a 2400lb car has the the same power to weight ratio as a normal weight saab with 450-500bhp or so and terms of handling/lap times you will newer match the lighter car with a heavier car but save bhp/lb. So as always the cheepest mod you can do is remove all the weight and the more the better, usually dos not cost a dime but benefits are guaranteed

I know, when you do the math, its amazing the power to weight. His car had instant throttle response and that is what I liked, that and the fact the car would rip through those short gears, it was like a sti gear box or something, just ripping through them so fast, blip, blip, blip....

I want to see what the dyno looks like with the power running from 3500-6500rpm...

I had a great time and could not believe how hard that car could take the corners, he had to weld in two mounting plates in the rear for the 1" sas rear arb, the first one ripped the plates right through the floor! He does not run the front one and with lsd, just uses the throttle to control over-steer and it was very cool to feel him modulate throttle to keep the rear end in line

I had a great time and can't wait to do it again, but in a lighter car made for road racing. I think a 18t or 19t with that gear-box and lsd is the sheeeit...

I will mirror Gary's car somewhat...

John

[JZW]

Originally Posted by Chadwick

go 19T

I think I will! I just need to come up with a little time I can do without my aero and will send the aero tdo4 to you for an upgrade

John

[a12]

Did he go so far as to replace windows with Lexan? What has he removed to lighten it so much? He's taken off like 900 lbs right?

[JZW]

He took off the sunroof and put in aluminum, bumpers are aluminum skirts, inner door panels and interior, seats, carpet, padding, rear window motors, ac gone, he has small battery, he had the window wipers out at one time and heater core too, but that was back in, he had it to 2350 # at one time.

Here are some pictures and a video link. The video does not do the cars justice, the white porshe #73 was the one Gary ended up playing with.

John
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/S...-in_184483.htm

[bruceinmiami]

what gearbox is it running to handle such high hp and heat generated by prolonged high speeds? its an impressive performance from a notoriously weak trannied-car.

[JZW]

He runs a 4:45 final drive from a v-6 ng900 with a LSD and standard 9k gears after that in his gearbox. He can start out from a stop in second gear. The very high final drive puts less load on the gearbox.

Its very close to the quaife 6 speed that people use to race in gearing and the power is quick with the gears being so short, its like a sti or something, the turbo never over boost because by the time its spooling up the rpm is passing 4500-5k and you do not get that boost and or torque spike, it just comes on hard at 22psi and holds to 6500rpm.

The LSD combined with short final drive makes a huge difference. Normal 9k final drive is 3.82, ng900 is 3.82, 93 is 4.05 with shorter 1.18 third gear and the viggen is 4.05 with shorter 1.18 third gear, 9k and mg900 both have a 1.12 third gear.

I was very impressed and plan to build one of these gear boxes. With the gear-box and weight reduction, a 18-19t is all the power you need

John

[saabkid37]

Originally Posted by JZW

he had it to 2350 # at one time.

thats fucking impressive...thats 200 pounds down on my civic even.

[94CSE]

TCS even!