What's been occupying my time

[mdzcpa]

I haven't been around much. Along with family and job commitments, my old car hobby roots have again taken ahold of my free time.

Here's the ride:

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/2/web/638000-638999/638955_13_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/2/web/638000-638999/638955_12_full.jpg


For a full size car she's damn fast. 12.78@108.8 in the qtr mile. And she retains all the creature comforts and daily oem driveability.

More details:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/638955

I thought you guys might want to know what Ive been up to since the weather warmed up in April:)

[Synthohol]

bet the cops cant catch you in that:)

[WesM63]

heh.. I know mike.. i've been busy too.

http://www.dataeclipse.com/wes/7-30.jpg

[dicki]

i feel sorry for that porsche every time i see it...

glad to hear your still about mike :) looks like your having fun too ;)

[mdzcpa]

Wes,

Ouch! What happened? I knew you had a little "accident" but I didn't remember it looking that way.

Work in progress?


Anway, when the weather cools off, I'll be back on line more and will be visiting here more. Although I have been on XS to get hardware info fast (I haven't given up the OC hobby completely), I do miss the ability to converse with my friends here.

Remember, though, until the Fall when I'll have more time to post, I'll always be lurking and available via PM or email at any time for any reason:)

[WesM63]

Mike,
Yep that was from the "accident". Its finally getting worked on. I'm still awaiting the arrival of a few parts before it can get put back together. The parts missing in that pic I have, except for the driver side headlight assembly.

I also picked up a set of performance chips that are dyno proven to give me 30hp. Which should put me at 220rwhp.

I'm shooting to have it done for WDC, I can only hope.

[naxos]

0-60 in 1.81 seconds?! thats AWESOME!

I would love to have a car like that mike, thats a perfectly good thing to be doing in your spare time as far as i am concerned. Good to hear from you again btw, good to know you'll be lurking.



And wes, your car is looking rough m8. Hope you can get her fixed up soon :)

[ATF_Syris]

Your Car looks as if its asking to be lowered hehe

[mdzcpa]

It has been...check the first photo.

The second photo is a launch shot. The weight transfer has raised the front end:)

[Farabomb]

That's one hot ride Mike. :D

This is what I've been doing in my spare time. Turbo WRX power. :D :D

http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33Scooby-on-stands-med.jpg (http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33Scooby-on-stands.jpg)
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33Engine-bay-med.jpg (http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33Engine-bay.jpg)
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33Dash-med.jpg (http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33Dash.jpg)
http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33engine-med.jpg (http://www.liquidninjas.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=6058/33engine.jpg)

[tripodal]

LMAO well as long as we are bragging about cars... i currently am daily drivng the fastest car ive ever had in my life... 88honda prelude si.
my civic, finally cracked a valve and was running on 3 for 2 weeks.
now shes split in two waiting for me to run her throu.

[ATF_Syris]

fastest car ive ever driven is a 98 toyota avalon that has 200hp with 215lbs of torque. Ive never been beat in it when racing but yet its hard finding sumone that will actually drag with me since when you see it you dont think your going to race it since its a luxury car. Hey Mustangs cant beat it take that muscle cars lol

[Flybye]

I bet Mike gives those pesky M5s and most of the AMGs a good run for their money ;)

I've never been much of a straight line guy, though. I like my tracks to have turns :)

[Flybye]

I forgot to mention a 12.7 is damn good for that boat :) Aint nothing like getting the groceries faster than anyone else :D

A little thing I like to suggest...
My buddy had a 500hp or so stang. When it came time to upgrade the exhaust, I suggested a Borla to him. I've always been a Borla guy. Love how they sound. Anyways, he ended up getting a 3" X pipe from Dr Gas and dual 3" Borlas. After we had it installed, I was like -------> :eek: I could NOT believe how incredible it sounded. Literally it almost sounded like a NASCAR! It totally changed the growling character of that stangm, and was the meanest stang I had ever heard.

I now know ANOTHER guy with a mustang. I don't know why I know so many mustang owners when I don't even have one myself :P He's got a Vortech on it and some mild work pushing around 400hp. I suggested the same exhaust setup to him. He went for it, and could not believe how awesome it sounded :)

Moral of the story, if ya ever get tired of those Flowmasters 80+ percent of the Ford guys own, I got a nice alternative for ya :D

Oh, heres a nice little Top Gear test of the Ford GT you might like :)

hi bandwidth: http://www.sleepy-fish.com/sleepy/TopGear_FordGT_hi.wmv
low bandwidth: http://www.sleepy-fish.com/sleepy/TopGear_FordGT_lo.wmv

[mdzcpa]

I forgot to mention a 12.7 is damn good for that boat :) Aint nothing like getting the groceries faster than anyone else :D

Thanks. What's funny is that those times are a bit off from where it will be when I get into some more accomodating weather. The 12.7 was run at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 88 degree heat with 97% humidity....just horrible conditions. We're thinking in some decent air 12.2s will be the norm.

LOL....most folks don't even "get" the car. Its not about sheer speed. Its about luxury, ride quality, and utility as well. As the chief financial officer of the company I work for, I have bankers, attorneys, and customers in the car all the time. They don't know the wiser that they are sitting in a 500+ HP car. The car remains refined, very smooth, and totally reliable.

I've had a few 5-oh stangs in my time, 2 normally aspirated and 1 blown, and none hold a candle to this Marauder. My blown 91 Coupe was indeed faster, but as you get a bit older, you realize there is far more to a great ride than just speed. I appreciate a more robust blend of luxury as well as muscle in my cars now.

A little thing I like to suggest...
My buddy had a 500hp or so stang. When it came time to upgrade the exhaust, I suggested a Borla to him. I've always been a Borla guy.

Moral of the story, if ya ever get tired of those Flowmasters 80+ percent of the Ford guys own, I got a nice alternative for ya :D


No thanks:) I've had the "mustang-flowmaster" sound before and I'm done with it. Too boy racer ish for me.

I also don't care for any exhaust that is too loud. Powerful, yet subdued, is my thing. The Marauder doesn't even have a hint of "boy racer flowmaster" sound. The exhaust is comprised of Kooks full length stainless custom fit headers, 2 Bassani Hi flow Cats, and Flowmaster 18" SUV mufflers (not the traditional Flowmaster sound at all). The rest of the set up is completely custom down to every mandrell bend.

Beleive me, the sound this system makes has been long in the development and is entirely unique.

The car makes 453 RWHP now (that's about 530 SAE BHP) and it remains as docile and refined as it did the day it rolled off the showroom floor...until you nail it that is:D

Thanks for the suggestion none the less:)

[Farabomb]

I started with comaros believing there's no replacement for displacement. For hauling arse down the 1/4 mile that still holds true.

Now that I've gone towards road racing things are a little different. There is such a thing as too much power. Well.... it's more about a balanced car. I totally understand where Mike's coming from. I figure it's your daily driver and it has to do more than just go fast. Look at the M5, the Caddy CTS-V, the 300C hemi. All realitively large people movers.... and they really move. :)

I have the adavantage to be able to drive track cars. There are a lot of them I wouldn't want to have as my daily driver. The STi owners on my team all have other cars to drive. Then there's one friend of mine that has a STi as a daily.... and a twin turbo Porsche as his "sunday" car. I feel it's all about the enjoyment you get from your driving your car. We're getting the Impreza L racecar back from the cage builder as I type. We'll be campaining it in NASA small bore and we'll probally get rolled by everything on the track (unless it's raining then it's role reversal). People ask why? because it's so much fun to drive and that's what we're going after.

I'd love to have that merc... and I hate most fords. Nothing like a sleeper that no one expects. :D

[Flybye]

Originally posted by mdzcpa
.....Thanks for the suggestion none the less:)
No prob, but I think you misunderstood me. The reason why I was suggesting Borlas was because they sound NOTHING like Flowmasters! Borlas are actually pretty low when compared to other mufflers, and they flow incredibly well. They have a nice, low, continous tone to them. When I had both of my stock cats with the Borla on my RX-7, it didn't even sound like I had an exhaust. A downpipe here....a straight pipe there...and things changed :D but that's a different story :)

My friend's stang sounded incredible, but he had a port job done on the TrickFlow heads, Bassani long tube headers, and a 3" dual exhaust with no cats.

When money permits, I'm thinking of doing a little number on my daily driver. I have an Infiniti J30 I use everday. Best thing about it is it's RWD and it has an IRS. In japan, these guys came with a 4.5L V8 or the 3.0 V6. In america, they were only offered with the V6 :( I did a little bit of measuring.....an LS1 will definetly fit under the hood. A BB might even actually be able to fit, and if I were to include a 6 speed..... :Dx10 So if I ever get this project started some year...watch it ;)

Thing is, I pump money into the RX-7 which is my weekend/track car. And until I have the RX-7 where I want it, I won't be modding anything else anytime soon. But you know how the car bug is....something breaks....upgrade it :D I'm always itching to upgrade something on the J30 even though I shouldn't LOL

[Flybye]

Hey Farabomb, you can kinda tell who the car guys are just by looking at our sigs LOL

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Flybye
No prob, but I think you misunderstood me. The reason why I was suggesting Borlas was because they sound NOTHING like Flowmasters!

Actually I understood you completely:)

All I was saying is that I'm "done" with that flowmaster sound myself and that my current system, although sporting flowmaster SUV mufflers, sounds nothing like the typical "5-oh with flowmasters". I've been through 3 sets of mufflers, 2 sets of CATs, and various resonators (of which I am using none now) to get the "just right" sound.

Yeah, that's a lot of work just to get the "right sound", but I am sure you and the other car guys can understand:D


Fara,

Wow...you have gotten serious too my friend! Sounds like you're having a blast tracking the car. Keep me posted on how things progress with your car. It looks like its really coming together nicely.


Although my Merc could never handle the twisties as well as many of those smaller cars, you might appreciate its road worthiness. I've had the Merc at Michigan International Speedway and at the Brickyard in Indianapolis. MIS was set up with an infield twisty road course plus half of the full outside track. There were guys who could run me down on the infield that I would turn around and run back down on the outside back stretch at over 150mph. I tangled with an AC Cobra all afternoon this way. What a blast!

The Brickyard was simply a few loops...but it was enough to top end the car!!! Scary but fun:D

[dicki]

just out of curiosity what is the top end on that thing?

i was chasing a TVR cerbera on my motorbike the otherday which was crazy fast... i can't imagine going much faster than i was on anything other than a race track, its just far too bumpy on the roads...

[mdzcpa]

To be honest, I just don't know:eek:

I had it up to about 154mph at MIS, but I ran out of straight away before it top ended. There just isn't enough open space around here to find out what the top end is. Going those speeds on public roads is nuts.

[Flybye]

I've gone 170 in the RX-7, but decided to stop before I got into trouble :D

My buddy who has the exact same mods as I do, except he has an upgraded intercooler and I don't, did 180. His car was STILL pulling, and the only reason he slowed down was because the exit to his house was coming up :P

Our 5th gears are really tall. I could hit about 182mph at 7500rpm with my 4.10 gear ratio. Being that safe redline is between 8.5-9k rpms when modded, I could certainly have more room to play with :)

I got a video of a nut doing over 180mph in his RX-7, in the middle of the night through a tunnel in Europe :eek:

[WesM63]

hehe..

My best friend ran from the cops last night in his AWD Talon. They clocked him doing 135mph at one time. Unfourtinatly he had to stop, he blew the IC piping off and the car wasn't making boost. Luckily he only got wreckless opp.


The funny thing was the cops (4cars), where asking the other two passengers what was all done to the car ect. LMAO.

[Farabomb]

I don't condone breaking the speed limit on any public road... I also won't lie and say I don't. :) There are times where it's safer but the risks outweigh the positives. I know I can control a car at triple digit speeds but normally I'm doing it with other trained drivers on the track. All it takes is one person that panics and does something stupid or worse... some jackass that thinks you're going too fast for their tastes and brake checks you or tries to run you off the road. People that that should have their licence revoked for 5 years if not life. I'm well aware I'm doing something I shouldn't but I'm a trained driver. It's the cops job to repramand me, not yours.

That being said I have been pulled over at very high speeds and often I've been given HUGE breaks from officers. I don't try and bull$hit them and I'm totally honest. A lot of the time I'm spending the time talking cars with them. There are times when I've run into pricks and I've paid the price. If you want to speed expect to pay the price if you're caught. NEVER run from the cops. I love the smokey and the bandit movies but I've also seen worlds worst police chases. I know first hand the price you pay running from the cops and it's not worth it at all. There was one officer I was talking to (not while pulled over, at a car meet :D ) and we were taking cars. I had to ask the question.... how fast were the crusiers. He said "well, you can outrun a crown vic but you can't outrun a motorla." :D

[dicki]

or tries to run you off the road

the thing that REALLY pisses me off is the people that when you are filtering through traffic on a motorbike deliberatly block you, even if you are well within the speed limit and going at a sensible speed through traffic they will try to cut you up... i've seen one guy open his door as a motorbiker was going past him! :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:s...

[Flybye]

Hey mdzcpa, did I give ya the link to the Top Gear test of the New Ford GT?