Last night, I accompanied Project Tuning customer Cesar Benitez to Alabama International Dragway in Steele, AL. Our goal ... to break out of the 12's.
Previously, Cesar had run 12.1x @ 114 on this setup. He has:
Custom exhaust manifold (by MPFab)
EPM O2 housing
Forge WGA
3" TBE w/ Apexi N1
Custom LICP (MPFab)
Custom UICP (upper half only)
Project Tuning flash using ECU based boost control and a Perrin boost solenoid
Street tires ... BF Goodrich something-or-anothers w/ around 380 treadwear
Stock IX turbo ... no porting/modification
Stock cams
Stock IC
He was running his race tune, which is set for around 25 psi (tapered) using ~95 octane fuel (toluene additive).
We got to the track and I suggested we get out there quickly while the drivetrain fluids and tires were still warm. So, we parked and set pressures quickly and added the toluene before hitting the lanes.
I was the first to drive and the car felt great. I squeaked out a 115.88 trap ... the fastest of the night ... but only a 12.20 ET. Not a bad start though. Cesar followed with a 12.16 I think at 114.x. My next run was a 12.12 @ 115.4. We were both stuck in the 1.7s for 60' times ... Cesar usually pulls 1.6s.
We logged a couple of runs and the tune was dead on. No changes were made.
It was getting late and the lanes were moving slowly. There was another Evo there ... an VIII. He apparently called out Cesar's friend who was there in his STi. Cesar didn't think it was very nice for an obviously modded VIII to pick on a stock STi, se we decided that our next race would be against the VIII.
Cesar finds the guy and we learn that it's a GT30 car. Let's see how this goes ...
The guy had just purchased the car that day and brought it out to the track. He had graphs showing 430 hp on a DynoJet.
Cesar wants me to drive ... he felt like I was improving the most and would have the best change of hitting 11s. We sit in the lanes for nearly 45 minutes in anticipation.
Finally we can stage ... temps look good. I warm the tires a little before staging and the yellows are on ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... gone. After a great 2nd to 3rd shift I knew this was going to be a great run. I look to the right and I don't see a white Evo ... WTF?
This is the result ...
The VIII left afterward without even saying goodbye. I thought it was a little rude.
Cesar ran one more pass that ended with a 12.24 and we packed up.
AND, shortly after getting on the interstate we were greeted by an SRT-4 that was also leaving the track ... he passed Cesar slowly and waited about a car ahead. Well, Cesar had never raced on the highway before, so I had to talk him through it.
They lined up with Cesar in 3rd at around 60 ... the SRT honked it off. Cesar jumped ahead about 3/4 car instantly even though the SRT got the jump by just a little. In to 4th Cesar kept pulling. He let off around 120 I'd guess with abut 2 cars between them.
Obviously, the ricer fly-by came next ... he was running an HKS SSQ from the sound of it.
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