Built over a three year period in a carport with the majority of the work carried out by the owner, the Vhodoo Racing Commodore made its first racing appearance in October 2004 with a best ¼ mile time of 11.79 seconds @ 105.38 mph (approx 170 mph). By the end of the season times had tumbled to best of 10.57 seconds @ 122 mph. Not to shabby for a car that was built to run mid 11 second times.
This was not all smooth sailing however with oil pressure problems in the braking area plaguing the team all season. Murphy gauges proved their worth several times during the season alerting Peter to the low oil pressure problems and also to a high temperature incident when the electric water pump and fans were not switched on.
Plans for the new season include some safety and performance upgrades and a number of modifications to the engine oil system which the team hopes will see an end to the problems encountered during 2004/2005 season. A different torque converter and some carburetor modifications should put an end to a bothersome starting line stumble which will result in a more consistent launch and hopefully quicker elapsed times.
The car is raced in a form of handicap Drag Racing known as “dial your own” or “bracket racing” where the driver nominates a time that the car will not go quicker than and then tries to race as close as he can to that time. The winner of the race is the car that crosses the line first without going quicker than his nominated time. The starting lights or “Christmas tree” are set up to allow the car with the slower dial in to start first and the car with the quicker dial in to go later. Example car one dials in 10 seconds and car two dials in 8 seconds, car one leaves first and car two leaves two seconds later. If a car leaves before the green starting light it gets a red light and is disqualified. This is all designed to give cars of different performance levels a chance to win.
2005/2006 Season Update
It was a shaky start to the season with the car was plagued by
gremlins in the ignition system and in the transmission brake which
holds the car still on the start line prior to the launch. The addition
of a new MSD distributor solved the ignition problem and after some head
scratching a minor adjustment in the trans brake solenoid solved a
problem that had been ongoing for some time. The car was completely
different to drive with those problems out of the way and the elapsed
times continued to improve to a best of 10.24 seconds @128.02 mph
(206.02 kph) . The discovery of a cracked axle at the second last
meeting ended our racing season as a replacement could not be sourced in
time.
Looking Forward 2006/2007
Work on the car is underway to improve the chassis and roll cage in
the car. New stronger quality billet axles will be fitted. The engine
will be torn down for inspection and some bigger inlet valves will be
fitted which hopefully will yield an extra 10-20 horsepower. A delay box
will be fitted which hopefully will aid in some more consistent reaction
times on the start. All this effort should result in a more consistent
and predictable race car for the 2006/2007 season at Quit Motorplex
Western Australia.
If you are at the Quit Motorplex call into Peter's pit area and say hello. |
