I'd love to as well (not with the D as I don't intend to ever drive it agai= n!) but I'm due to be away that weekend. Shame. Should be a nice day out for those that do go. Dan Porsche 911 --- In doc-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Christopher Hawes" <chris@xxxx> wrote: > Hello all, > > In Houston, May 2003 an opportunity was given kindly by DMC Houston to run a > number of their DeLorean's on the Houston Raceway Dragstrip. Some of the > American owners also allowed us to drive their cars too. The most memorable > DeLorean for me had a Camaro 'muffler' added which gave a very distinctive > exhaust note to this fine April 1981 model. This same owner had driven for > over 20 hours from Kansas for the overall Houston DeLorean event which > included the warehouse tour amongst other activities. (annoying Did You = > Know!!! They have enough doors in stock to complete another 400 DeLorean's). > > Out of us Brits the fastest times were set in the DMC Houston 'works > special' which had a stage upgrade up to 200bhp. The car was quick and I > set the fastest quarter mile time of 16.409 seconds and a top speed of > 84.61mph. I felt pretty pleased with myself until in the last closing > minutes Martin 'lead foot' Gutkowski beat my time I think by around a 1/1= 0 > of a second. > > This now leads me on to the now booked DeLorean Owners Club UK event at the > SantaPod raceway http://www.santapod.com and http://www.rwyb.com in > Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. > > On Sunday 2nd November the weekend before the Classic Car Show at the NEC I > have booked an area for the DeLorean Owners Club. Currently there is a > patch large enough to hold up to 10 cars. This is obviously including > friends of the club who have Lamborghini Diablo's or rare Nissan Skyline'= s > (you know who you are). This will provide a great day out for all as tho= se > who want to show their cars off and not use the drag strip are more than = > welcome. It will also raise the profile of the DeLorean DMC-12 and also = > boost club awareness. I am sure a group of DeLorean's will attract a lot= of > positive attention and all eyes will be on those entering the drag strip.= .. > > For those who want to take their car onto the track you will need:- > > 1. A full UK driving licence or Racing licence > 2. Seat belt is mandatory for your own safety > 3. Helmets required for bikes and open top cars and vehicles doing 100 mph > or more at the finish line (no DeLorean will top 90mph in the 1/4 mile > unless it has had an engine transplant). > 4. Current MOT certificate > > The venue normally opens at 8.00am with track runs starting at 10.00am-5pm. > Normal admission £10 plus one-off signing on fee of £15 for unlimited runs. > Directions to Santa Pod are on the website. I would suggest that we meet= in > the morning from 10am and then those who want to take their cars from the > grassed/gravel area onto the track around 1pm. This ensures that those who > are travelling some distance to this (near centrally located in the UK) > event will arrive in time to spectate and participate in the actual drag = > strip part of the day. > > The Gauntlet has been laid..... for those who want to take their cars on = to > the drag strip and find out how quick their cars really are. It is up to= > the owner, whether to risk taking their car onto the drag strip without > additional insurance as most standard policies do not cover this. A drag= > strip event such as this is low risk compared to a racing circuit as it > allows you to take your car to its limit (acceleration wise) in a safe an= d > controlled environment. A drag strip by its very nature means no turns o= r > contact points between competing cars which makes it safer than a racing = > circuit. It allows you to compete with yourself so that in reality it is= > your own time you are trying to improve upon. > > I have had my car up to 115mph at 4000rpm in 5th in a safe controlled > environment (ran out of room to keep on accelerating) which made me think to > how far around the 170mph speedo I can go with the additional 2500rpm left > before I hit the red line. This will not be achievable at Santa Pod as t= he > drag strip is only 1/4 mile long. However next year based on the interes= t > for this event a track day could be arranged to find this out. > > Please email the list or myself privately if you are interested in going.= > If there are enough cars booked within the next week I may be able to get= a > club discount. > > Looking forward now to being at Santa Pod in Wellingborough on Sunday 2nd > November. > > Chris Hawes > vin5255 > p.s. Any car can go onto the drag strip. In Houston we also had a go wit= h > our rental Chryslers and Ford Explorers. One enthusiast took his series = III > Jaguar E-Type and achieved a 1/4 mile time of around 92mph.