> Steve
>
> The nice things about the Turbos is that they muffle
> at idle but are straight thru at power. I can sit next
> to a cop and not raise an eyebrow. As long as I
> don't hit the go pedal hard, I can cruise right next
> to one.
>
> Dave
turbos? TURBOS?!?
following is a report on round 1 of a long series (until I do beat that
#$%&#$!
Tony the Tiger vs. Tyra, Part I
Why I didn't see the set up coming I'll never know, but this is how it all
went down.
Saturday is our usual "Donut Derelict" Day, a bunch of motorheads get
together for breakfast (just call me the Burrito Bum) and to kick a few
tires and check out the other guy's ride.
Since the roads were dry I decide to get the Tiger out and clean some carbon
out. The Tiger is hunkered down on 7" wide road race rubber on LAT 70 alloy
wheels and is powered no more by the little 260/2bbl with which it came. It
now runs a "warmed over" 320/5 speed and lays down the power through a Dana
44 limited slip and 3.54 gears. The tires are held down w/ traction bars
and this little rumpity-rump toy will move when you put the boot to it.
Admittedly, it's a little "fluffy" here because it hasn't been jetted for
the altitude yet, but it runs OK.
After breakfast my "pal" Jerry suggests we head down to his buddy's garage
to see what's shakin' and he assures me the road is paved, a concern here in
zip code EIEIO. John and I are introduced and start talking about the ping
adventure I had had w/ my supercharged pick-up (no dummy this John, I note.)
John is some kind of a refugee from the sixties, complete w/ afro-do in a
pony tail and a pair of fatigues that challenge the imagination - I mean
what ain't grease is holes and I'm thankful for long johns!
We get along famously, all being certifiable motorheads when up the drive
comes Tyra in his old grey baja bug just purchased from John, complete with
tape stripes, light bar and stinger exhaust.
Now Tyra makes John look like some kind of a wall street banker. Sporting a
belly button length white stingy beard and some geek glasses old Tyra starts
in like he's known me for years. After I've been updated on the last 27
years of his medical history with special emphasis on the last 7 procedures
Tyra starts telling John that mixing the alcohol in the water injection
system has really perked the old buggy up.
What's this? Water injection? Alcohol? hmmmmmm. A quick glance at Tyra's
buggy reveals a grapefruit sized turbocharger sittin' there. As we talk I'm
taking mental notes about this bug - all the exhaust tubes are wrapped,
various and sundry heat shields, gauges out the wazoooooo, throttle bodies
that could swallow a small child (50mm for each cylinder Tyra screeches at
me later) - yep fuel injection, and sadly drum brakes the size of a can of
smokeless tobacco.
So I kinda wink at Jerry and volunteer "Looks like Tyra's hot rod might give
the Tiger a run . . ." (me and my dumb ass . . . .) In moments the
arrangements are made - as we start up Mancos hill I will slow down and Tyra
will pull out into the passing lane to pass (and I'm thinkin' some blue oval
torque will walk away from this nutcase, right?).
We get out to the highway and start down the road, the Tiger, Tyra and an M5
BMW (mit driving lights on at noon) in a line headed toward Mancos hill. We
approach the passing lane I downshift into 4th gear and slow down to about
40 or 45 mph. As the road widens into two lanes in our direction Tyra moves
out into the passing lane (w/ M5 following very closely) and as the bug
windshield gets even w/ me I stick my foot into the Holley (bawooooooom) and
off we go! As my tach reaches about 4200 rpm I glance in the mirror to see
how far back Tyra's bug is - only to see a very small BMW - and Tyra is
right next to me!!! Well, 80mph on a public highway is pushing the limit so
I lift the throttle to shift into fifth and Tyra goes by me like I dropped
the anchor!.
At the side of the road Tyra is stopped and screechin' and hollarin' when I
pull up," the bug was just beginning to pull strong about 80!" Tyra thought
the 20+ lbs of boost and the alcohol injection made the bug "pretty peppy."
So there you have it, what really happened out on Hwy 160 last Saturday.
The baja bug didn't really beat me, but I didn't exactly walk away from him,
either. Tyra says the bug will carry the front wheels across an
intersection from a start so we agreed that maybe we should try this again
sometime.
To be continued . . . .
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