Bonneville 2002

[DBesic@domain.elided]

      It's that time of year folksb&..

    Its when seemingly normal, regular guys walk away from their jobs, leave
the comfort of their house and family, and travel halfway across the country
to spend a hot, noisy and sweaty week together at the most inhospitable place
on Earth in an undeniable, insatiable quest for speed.  Yes, it's Bonneville
SpeedWeek, 2002.

    The intrepid crew of the Bonneville LSR Team has once again taken leave
of their senses and with the unwavering support of the team's owner, Richard
Kreines, have rebuilt "Bonnie," the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider, for this year's
assault on the salt.  The team has three specific goals to accomplish: 1)
membership in the 200MPH Club; 2) exceeding 210.53 mph, to become the World's
Fastest Alfa (beating the record previously set by a factory-backed,
V10-powered ProCar) and; 3) exceeding 211.714 mph, setting a new Bonneville
Land Speed Record (beating the previously G/BMS record set by a turbo P-car).
 Piece o' cakeb&.

    If records were made with sheer determination and willpower, we'd be in
the books by nowb&. but luck and the laws of physics have never given us much
cooperation.  This year, being our third pilgrimage to the Bonneville Salt
Flats in four years, we've had the obligatory catastrophe on the engine dyno
just weeks before the scheduled departure date.  (An oil nozzle came loose
inside the block and exited in a REALLY big hurry!)  Such a setback would
sideline most teams but for us, its standard operating procedure.  What
doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

    Jim Steck of AutoComponenti has worked his magic once again on the turbo
and engine management system and has produced some amazing results.  After
swapping cams and tweaking air/fuel mixtures and timing, Steck was able to
obtain a much flatter HP curve with peak power measured at 415 HP at 7500
rpms @ 22 lbs of boost from the AirResearch T03 turbo.  Not too shabby for a
2.0 litre four-banger!  (We hope to have the dyno sheets posted on
www.caroc.com/bonneville.html soon.)

    We've also modified Bonnie's aerodynamics in a continual effort to cheat
the wind.  Bonnie's old belly pan was unceremoniously ripped off and replace
with a beautiful new pan formed by Vic, a former jet car builder, of King Bee
Kustoms.  FI-style strakes were installed on the rear belly pan in an attempt
to provide some degree of downforce and the former 3" round exhaust dump was
replaced with oval (acquired from a local vendor serving the left-turn-only
crowd) hoping to reduce drag beneath the car.

    A rather contentious debate raged among several members of the team
regarding Lift vs. Drag.  Both Mike Besic and Craig Beilat, the two pilots
who drove Bonnie in excess of 180 mph last year, noticed her tendency to
"wander across three lanes of traffic" at speed, requiring incremental
steering corrections to keep her on course.  One school of thought felt this
indicated too much air was getting under the car creating excessive lift.
(This is a bad thing - just ask the driver of the 911 who flipped on the Long
Course when he "caught some air.")  Arguments were made to experiment with a
chin spoiler or a splitter, mounted on Bonnie's nose, in an effort to direct
more air OVER Bonnie, thereby reducing lift and creating downforce and
hopefully, improving high-speed stability.  The contrary school of thought
firmly believes that the increased drag caused by the chin spoiler/splitter
will hurt our speed and our chances of taking a record.  The debate
continues, no doubt to be resolved on the salt, after determining through
experimentation what works best.  For now, since we haven't been able to work
wind-tunnel testing into the race budget, aerodynamic design is strictly
governed by the "cool factor" and of course, Eyeball Engineering.

    We've still got a dozen more odds and ends to wrap up but Bonnie and the
mountain of tools and spare parts and motors should be ready to go by
Wednesday, August 7th.  The rest of the crew flies out on Thursday in time
for Pit Setup and Tech Inspection on Friday, August 9th.  Timed runs begin on
Saturday, August 10th.  Come on out and join the insanity.  Oh, and remember:
SPF50.

Darren L. Besic
Bonneville LSR Team
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