The saga continues....
March '03: I decided a couple changes were in order for this season. Before altering anything, I had to see where I was... so I hit a local dyno. In third gear pushing 19 psi, here's what happened:
People are amazed at the low-end torque and baffled by the low-RPM horsepower peak. I know there are components choking the engine in the upper end (like the turbine housing) and my fuel curve needs work, but at least I now have a baseline figure. Time to turn some wrenches!
Off came the cylinder head. I removed the copper head shim, swapped to a stock (completely unported) 2-pc intake manifold, and installed an EGT probe in the exhaust manifold. Once it was back together, I then switched to a prototype custom calibration. This computer uses a 3-bar MAP sensor, so that was added and my 4.3v zener diode was removed. Per the computer's programming, I then raised the static fuel pressure to 55 psi and removed the Cartech secondary regulator. I was back on the road.
3-30-03: I drove down to Vegas to compete in the Mopars at the Strip weekend drag race event. I had initially planned to up the boost to 24 psi or so and squeak out a 13-sec pass, but it wasn't meant to be: the van completely breaks up and misfires at anything over 19 psi. I wasn't able to solve the problem in the pits, so I was stuck at this power level. But it wasn't all bad. My new M&H DOT race tires let me cut a 2.102 on the way to a 14.509 @ 89.68 MPH. Setting a new record was nice, but the real joy was winning the event in the front drive class. Woo-hoo! I drove home a happy man (and $250 richer).
4-12-03: Today my local drag strip opened; it was an all-day Test & Tune. The van still breaks up over 19 psi so nothing has changed since Vegas, but get this: on a 2.031 I turned a 14.471 @ 89.79 MPH. Wow! Gary Donovan told me this computer would perform equally no matter the altitude; I guess he was right. More dragstrip fun: Utah's first SRT-4 was at the track... and guess who he lined up against on his first run? He got a very nice view of my rear bumper for the entire 1320 feet. (Video clip available at www.turbominivan.com.)
4-18-03: Today was the first points event in the bracket racing season. I compete in the Heavy class of the Street Legal series, pitting myself against lots of domestic V8s. I was dialed in at 14.70 and the van was rock steady all night long. I made it to the semi-final round, where I was defeated by Bart Williamson in his supercharged V8 Cougar (dialed at 15.5 or so). I earned 46 points and ended up in a tie for third place. Not a bad start to the season.
5-02-03: It was the next bracket racing points event. With no tuning changes, ol' Bluesmobile was running great. This time I made it all the way to the final round! On that run, I staged a little too deep and drew a red eye. Crap! Oh, well, I decided to run it out the back end and see what sort of ET I'd get... but before the 1/8 mile mark the hose blew off the turbo! With all my boost suddenly gone, there was no way I could run my number; even if I hadn't jumped the gun my opponent would have had an easy victory. Ironically, my opponent in the final was (again) Bart Williamson! Needless to say, he left the event in the points lead... but I'm only two rounds away in second place.
5-08-03: Today I got a nifty care package from Relentless Performance. It contained an experimental limited slip diff kit (complete with custom side gears) and an adjustable cam sprocket. Turning both tires will undoubtedly give me better bite; retarding the cam should move my HP peak up the scale and help me generate higher trap speeds. Stay tuned.
5-16-03: Today was points event #3. Still no tuning changes from before; worse, I didn't get to install any more goodies mentioned above. The van ran faster than ever in the time trials; I had a record trap speed of 91.82 MPH. Then I went and made a total blunder estimating how the van would run in the eliminations (the temp had dropped a LOT), which left a window for a decent driver to defeat me... and that's exactly what happened: I lost by five hundredths of a second, which is an eternity in bracket racing. Through it all, I am still tied for second in the point standings.
Remainder of year: I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, but later in the year my van's fortunes took a sharp turn. Over the next few events I maintained my second place standing in the points. But then on the day of an event, I drove to work as usual. Everything was great, of course. At 3:00 I walked out and hopped into the van to go to the track but, inexplicably, the Bluesmobile suddenly ran very poorly. At lunchtime it had been perfect; now it was total crap. I had no choice, so I limped to the track anyway. I was not able to find any problem in the pits as I hoped; whenever I hit more than 3 or 4 pounds of boost the engine practically shut off. I still tried to dial in at 21 seconds but, no surprise, I lost in the first round.
The van would never run properly for the remainder of the calendar year; I had to switch to my Subaru Forester XT for the rest of the season. I wasn't as good with the Subaru and, ultimately, I slipped to 6th place for the season. Bummer.
Modified: 2-19-08.