Bench building a 200mph car for under $30,000. What configurations/formulas get you there?

Surprised I missed this thread a few years ago....

There's a lot of talk about safety and whatnot- if you really wanted to do it, I would VERY much invest in a rule book.  AFAIK, the various sanctioning bodies share many of the safety rules, and given it's standing in the speed world, I would personally lean toward Bonneville as the final destination.  So that's www.scta-bni.org

I'd also look heavily into the class you would eventually go into.  Why?  Because land speed racing is very addictive.  So I would look toward a class where a record is at least achievable.  And there are a lot of them.

Sorry is this info is hopelessly out of date, but having been to Bonneville more than once- it's an amazing thing to do.  And I would seriously look into doing it earlier rather than later, as I keep seeing info that the salt is still receding quite a bit.

In reply to alfadriver :

I second Bonneville. Miles and miles of absolutely nothing to hit.  Your real risk is sun burn. Which with careful erection of shade and wearing sunscreen  you should be reasonably safe from. ( don't forget under your chin from reflected sun. 
      Buy or rent someone's car that has already gone that fast and Bob's your Uncle. 
     ps:  200 is just a number. Once your past your own particular barrier 230- 276- or whatever number feels exactly the same. Same intensity, same adrenaline rush, same exhilaration.   
    

alfadriver said:

Surprised I missed this thread a few years ago....

There's a lot of talk about safety and whatnot- if you really wanted to do it, I would VERY much invest in a rule book.  AFAIK, the various sanctioning bodies share many of the safety rules, and given it's standing in the speed world, I would personally lean toward Bonneville as the final destination.  So that's www.scta-bni.org

I'd also look heavily into the class you would eventually go into.  Why?  Because land speed racing is very addictive.  So I would look toward a class where a record is at least achievable.  And there are a lot of them.

Sorry is this info is hopelessly out of date, but having been to Bonneville more than once- it's an amazing thing to do.  And I would seriously look into doing it earlier rather than later, as I keep seeing info that the salt is still receding quite a bit.

On this note, land-speed rules seem to be the most difficult to understand of any form of racing.  And their rulebook is not published online, you need to pay $ for a physical copy (wtf)

I went to the most recent Texas Mile this year. 200mph in half a mile will take closer to 1500hp and great aero lol

yupididit said:

I went to the most recent Texas Mile this year. 200mph in half a mile will take closer to 1500hp and great aero lol

Yes, the power needed to increase top speed is a cubic function.  300 hp can get you to 160 on a super long run > mile.  Getting to 200 in half a mile is no easy feat.  I'd start with a twin turbo C5 with weight reduction, improved aero, and adjust from there.  Good thing I'm too scared of cars this fast, and don't normally worry about such things.

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

yupididit said:

I went to the most recent Texas Mile this year. 200mph in half a mile will take closer to 1500hp and great aero lol

Yes, the power needed to increase top speed is a cubic function.  300 hp can get you to 160 on a super long run > mile.  Getting to 200 in half a mile is no easy feat.  I'd start with a twin turbo C5 with weight reduction, improved aero, and adjust from there.  Good thing I'm too scared of cars this fast, and don't normally worry about such things.

 

With the right car, you can do pretty close to 200mph with 300hp.   Say a good, smooth roadster changed to a Modified Sport.  We did over 200mph with a turbo Alfa, with the very old Nord 2.0l.   Which tells me "the answer" is probably an incredibly good platform to start with.

Add a good cage that is for a Top Fuel car, smooth off the rest of the open car, fairing to the cage, totally covered and flat bottom, and narrrow as heck tires- that will give you a platform that will be very close to 200mph.  And AFAIK, the BP is far more welcoming of boost than the Nord was- so there's a possibility of more power.  (and there are already 2.0l kits for that motor, as well.  Then again, for MS, the source of the motor is irrelevant- other than a flat head motor.  

Looking at the records, the 2.0l blown records are still "reasonable"- compared to the 1.5l's, at least.

BTW, if you want to find the class where it's the easiest to reach 200mph, look at the high letters with B's- those are the blown and small displacement motors.  The Blown Gas Coupe, Blown Altered Coupes, and the Blown Modified Sports have the fastest cars into the small displacements.  For cars, at least.   A lakester will go faster, but that's hard to do.  And I'm not sure where a former Cup car ends up....

One other thing, 200mph may be a number, but it IS a real club at Bonneville.  You can join w/o breaking a record.

Wxdude10 - Mike said:

Will said:

As for the 4th-gen F-body: The Michigan highway patrol tested the LS1 B4C package and it hit 175 mph completely stock. And there's really nothing special about the B4C package itself. Seems like a good starting point. 

I know one of the writers from Car and Driver broke 200 with a 4th gen firebird at Bonneville and then promptly flipped it.  It got extremely squirrelly when it hit 200.  The shape is bad for high speed aero stock.  It became a wing at 200.  The backend took off.  

"When the car got sideways, it became a wing.  It wasn't a very efficient wing, but at 40mph higher than the takeoff speed of a 747, it doesn't need to be."

In reply to alfadriver :

Are you absolutely sure that you can join the 200 MPH club without breaking a record?  
When I was interested in doing it I was told otherwise.  Then reading the FIA rule book convinced me not to do it.  If I remember it only one event there meets the FIA standards and it's held in the fall 

frenchyd said:

200 is just a number. Once your past your own particular barrier 230- 276- or whatever number feels exactly the same. Same intensity, same adrenaline rush, same exhilaration.   

Yeah, but its still a psychological barrier that is fun to try and overcome.  Like deadlifting 405.  Its not fundamentally different than any other weight, but at 4 plates it a logical challenge that people get mentally fixated on.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Yes,  I agree with you.  It's on his bucket list for a valid reason. Even if there are several cars you can buy right off the showroom floor that will exceed 200. 
Plus doing it on the salt flats gives you a slip of paper as proof of your achievement. 

In reply to NordicSaab :

Going 200 might be your goal. But doing so at Bonneville would be the memory of a life.  No matter how fast you go you get a slip with your speed. 
 If you're going to get full safety geared up you might as well do it with people who have been going way faster, had accidents and survived unharmed. that's Bonneville. 
     Plus you can't believe how big Bonneville is.  The long coarse is something like 7 miles and you'd have to go at least that amount again to hit anything. 
 

Toyota Prius has about the best aero you can get on a street car.

The ford Godzilla engine is cheap for what it is.

Turbos will let you dial in all the HP you need.

Doubt you can build it for $20 but certainly for less than $50 and I agree that the 200 mph club is special. Please do this so we can all follow along.

In reply to alfadriver :

Half mile!   This was 200 hp in the half.  300 hp is about 120-130 in the half if you are lucky.