olcin8 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 I am planning on taking my 2014 GT500 to the Bonneville Salt Flats in July, not Speed Week, just on my own for driving high speed. I can't find any info anywhere as far as high speed driving other than during Speed Week. I know people are allowed on the flats year round, but don't know if high speed driving is permitted. Also, if anyone has done this, is there anything I should do to ready the car for the trip. I will have just over 1500 miles on it when I get there. The car is covered in the garage now, since I live near Chicago. Aside from its first oil change before the trip any tips? I was planning on putting some octane booster in, to help squeeze a couple extra mph out of the run. Thanks for any info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk12svt Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 It's none of my business but I would sure reconsider my Booneville plans and go do the Texas mile thing, which I think is at an abandoned airport. I know absolutely nothing about Booneville but I would speculate that if it's not speed week, the course would not be in any condition for high speed runs. There are bound to be bumps from windblown salt, gulleys from where salt has eroded after a rain, and I don't know what all that could upset your high speed attempt. Surely prior to speed weeks the course is worked with road graders, vibratory rollers and who know what else to make it as smooth as glass. You drive over a cigarette butt running 200 and something bad is going to happen. That loose salt that you tires will kick up will be like sandblasting the lower part of your Shelby too. Good luck but please reconsider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Hamilton Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Here's a link to a story done with a 2010 GT-500 and Camaro at Bonneville a few years back. http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/vintage-speed/mustang-vs-camaro-Bonneville I always wondered why Ford didn't take a 2013 Shelby GT-500 to Bonneville to do a 200 mph run on their 5-mile course. Maybe they thought the density altitude/elevation/weather conditions/etc. would hold it back? One thing for certain, judging by the one picture in the above linked article, I'd be steam cleaning any vehicle I drove on the salt flats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcin8 Posted March 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 I was worried about the salt blasting effects of the salt on the paint and the more I think about it, the more I might regret it. I just didn't want to spend big $. I checked into the Silver State Shootout in Nevada and that would cost $900 just to get into it, not to mention the helmet and other requirements. I believe the Texas Mile is booked for 2014. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raustin0017 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Tell you what....go to the local hardware store and get some 80 grit sandpaper. Going to run a about $2.00. Take the sandpaper and use it behind the front and rear tires. This will duplicate the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbsFaris Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 If you can hit 201 on a perfect track asphalt surface, expect about 190 on the salt flats. They aren't ideal. The only reason the use it is because its not land you can sue someone for when you get killed or maimed, and when you flip your car from hitting one of the many ruts and soft spots, there is nothing for your car to flip into like fences or trees. Rethink it. Do the Mohave mile or the Texas mile. I plan to hit 200 at Terlingua this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 If you can hit 201 on a perfect track asphalt surface, expect about 190 on the salt flats. (resurfacing a old thread): YEP! That's no lie. Listen to WF. My friend/mentor that I go to the Mojave Mile with, and who won the event last year on his 'Busa (206.x mph) runs Bonneville Salt Flats too. The *first* lesson he taught me was, salt is going to get into every possible crack and crevice on the bike and rider. He preps his bike with some kind of pre-crap to keep the salt from sticking and to help neutralize it when it does and he STILL has to *completely* disassemble the bike and clean it after each BSF event. :And I mean, COMPLETELY. I wouldn't even THINK of taking a street drivin car to the salt flats. Maybe a purpose built race car that you can disassemble and clean but a street car, especially a unit-body street car is going to be trash in just a few short years from where the salt got into seams and rotted the body out, from the inside out. The *second* lesson he taught me is, you will NOT go as fast on the salt as you do on asphault. He told me the percentage of tire slippage on salt vs. concrete/asphault and it's HUGE. Something like 5 or 10 percent MORE on the salt (yes, your tires (and clutch for that matter) DO slip on a paved surface, just not nearly enough to feel. I think his first year/attempt on the salt got him ~190 mph and he was well over that on the standing mile events he runs. If memory serves me, he *just* broke 200mph on the salt this last year and it was by tenths of a MPH, not whole miles per hour. But Warren, I reopened this thread for a different reason. I know you're preparing for next weekends Texas Mile event and we just recently had a thread going either here on Team Shelby or on the SVT Perf. forum (that I can't find) where Van gave his advice on tire sizes to run at the Mile. Do you (or anyone else for that matter) know where that information/thread is/was and/or what his recommendation is/was? I need to go buy a set of 20" tires for my Alcoa Super Snake 'type' wheels for the upcoming April Mojave Mile but didn't write Van's advice down. And I take his advice TO THE BANK. Right now (and last year) I'm running the 18" Alcoa KR wheels with OEM F-1 "Winged Boot" Supercar tires but I want to "gear it up" a tad with a larger diameter tires. I don't want to guestimate what size to buy (that could get expensive) so I'm looking for that thread. Anyone? Thanks In Advance/TIA, Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobjshelbys Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Oh, my God! Don't take a car you care about to the Salt Flats!! Salt gets everywhere and you can never ever get it out of every nook and cranny and then you'll start to get rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 Oh, my God! Don't take a car you care about to the Salt Flats!! Salt gets everywhere and you can never ever get it out of every nook and cranny and then you'll start to get rust. Oh, I've heard it pretty much destroys a car. Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.