Just wanted to post a quick update to our previous blog about the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8. We originally didn’t post the National Speed dyno numbers due to having to wait for Chrysler’s prior approval. We’ve since been given the go ahead so here you are…
Here are some of National Speed’s five favorite video clips. WARNING: do not try this stuff at home! These people are trained professionals, and in some cases absolute maniacs. It’s amazing how often those two traits sometimes coincide.
Got any crazy clip recommendations you’d like to share with National Speed? Leave us a comment and we’ll check them out and potentially post them in a future blog. Remember, don’t do anything stupid…or at the very least wait until someone’s filming it.
Sometimes I have to remind myself I get paid to do what I do. Normally my typical morning at work consists of perusing MySpace and trying to remember what’s her name’s name, but this morning was different. Today I’m told that Scott Vandekerckhove, a representative from Chrysler with a name my spellchecker absolutely despises, is coming by the shop with the new Dodge Challenger SRT-8. Since August 13th, Scott has been driving down the east coast on a road tour to promote the new Dodge Challenger and after hearing about National Speed, decided to check out the shop and let us get a look under the hood.
Combining old school lines with a modern aesthetic, the new Dodge Challenger is a pretty sweet ride. In fact, I would say I prefer it to the new Mustang — sorry to the Ford lovers, I love Steve McQueen as much as the next guy, but the Challenger is so much cooler. The SRT-8 comes fully loaded with a 6.1-liter HEMI V8 engine capable of 425 horsepower and the suspension to back it up. And while we weren’t allowed to take it for a test drive (and considering my driving record that’s probably a good thing) we did manage to get the Challenger on the dyno.
When we strapped her down and cranked her up the Challenger’s GPS went absolutely nuts, thinking it was traveling at a ridiculous speed. By the end of the third pull I think the car ended up somewhere in eastern St. Louis. Overall, the Challenger is an impressive car and we’re stoked that Scott stopped by National Speed to let us check it out. He’s an awesome guy so be sure to give him a thumbs up when you see him cruising by picking up chicks along the east coast. You should also check out the official Dodge blog which details Scott’s adventures eastbound and down. Thanks again Scott for your hospitality. Now how about that test drive?
UPDATE – AUGUST 29, 2008
We previously held off on publishing the dyno results for the Challenger due to Chrysler having to approve it first. Luckily, Scott got back with us and we’ve been given the okay to post the dyno sheet. The Challenger ended up putting down 339 horses.
A recent survey conducted by General Motors said that nine out of ten women would prefer to date a guy that drove the latest fuel-efficient car rather than a high performance sports car. Now I’m not sure where General Motors conducts their surveys, but it obviously isn’t Wilmington, North Carolina. It might not even be the same planet. And come to think of it, isn’t it funny that as soon as General Motors dips their toes into the hybrid market they release a survey stating chicks dig guys that drive fuel efficient cars? That’s like McDonald’s saying nine out of ten vegetarians would prefer to eat McDonald’s hamburgers than contract salmonella.
WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER?
In the spirit of scientific experimentation, I decided to hit the street and survey the lovely ladies of Wilmington, NC. I presented them with the option of going out in a fuel efficient Ford Focus or a sporty BMW 135i. A whopping nine out of ten women stated they’d rather eat glass than date me, no matter what I drove, so I decided to conduct the remainder of the survey via email instead.
After randomly sampling women from all walks of life (that sounds a lot dirtier than it’s supposed to), I found that a resounding 15 out of 20 women would prefer to date a guy that drives a sports car. The remaining five said that they didn’t care one way or the other. In other words, not one woman wanted to date a guy that drove a fuel efficient car! That may sound like shenanigans, but I defy anyone that doesn’t believe me to try getting a date while driving a Ford Focus. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be trading in my 30 mpg station wagon for a Bugatti Veyron. Come get some, ladies.
I have a confession to make. I went a year and a half without changing the oil in my car. There, I said it. I’m not proud of it, nor would I ever recommend trying it. In my defense I’d like to point out that I didn’t do this out of negligence or forgetfulness, I simply wanted to see what would happen (when you drive a Focus you can afford these stupid little social experiments). I’ve always heard that you should change your oil every 3,000 miles, but with today’s advances in synthetic oils and engine technology, does the 3,000 mile rule still apply?
What if I Never Change My Oil?
If you’re anything like me you like to push the limits. Someone tells you to stay off the grass, you throw a lawn party. No parking? Pardon me while my SUV takes up two spaces. It’s in my nature to do stupid things, hence not changing the oil in my car for close to 20,000 miles. In the case of my Focus I had to pay a sizable fee to get the equivalent of an automotive enema. I was lucky. But because I’m naturally inquisitive (i.e. stupid) I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened had I never changed the oil. This is what I found:
A Change Would Do You Good
So now that I’ve been scared straight into changing my oil routinely in order to avoid carmageddon, do I really have to change it every 3,000 miles? Simple answer: yes and no. In all honesty, if you drive a high performance vehicle you’re going to want to change your oil often. With the heat that is generated by high performance vehicles and the general wear and tear that comes with driving them, you definitely need to change it early and often.
However, if you’re just tooling around town in a Tahoe, it’s not going to be as important. Today’s oil is much better than when the 3,000 mile rule first took hold. In fact, most cars today require the oil to be changed about every 5,000 to 8,000 miles (obviously it varies on a vehicle by vehicle basis and you should consult your manual for the proper maintenance schedule). Changing oil is not an exact science, but as long as you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and not what some quick lube shack arbitrarily plasters on your windshield, you should be fine.
*The author is not responsible for any damage your vehicle may incur due to the fact that his judgment is impaired by hardheaded stupidity.
If you don’t read this blog and forward it to 5 of your friends in the next 24 hours your car will explode. Kidding of course, but odds are you’ve probably received an email similar to that, warning you of the dangers of keeping aluminum foil in your glove box or something equally ridiculous. Not to worry. Most of these are nothing but urban legends about as believable as Bigfoot having lunch with Elvis. So in order to steady your nerves, the team here at National Speed has compiled the five most prominent automotive urban legends on the internet and put them to the test.
1. Not Always Coca Cola. Coke is NOT good for cleaning car batteries. While it may be the king of sodas, Coca Cola does not have magical properties that allow it to remove corrosion. Try Baking Soda and water instead. A few teaspoons should do the trick.
2. Reach Out and Touch Someone. One of the more popular automotive urban legends as of late is the cell phone myth. The rumor says that if you accidentally lock your keys in your car, you can call someone on your cell that has your spare remote, and if they hold the spare remote up to their phone and push the button, it will magically unlock your car. While this sounds good in theory, remote entry devices work on radio waves and your cell phone can’t send the signal needed to unlock the door. So don’t believe the crazy spam emails. No matter how good your cell provider is, it won’t work.
3. Pour Some Sugar On Me. Putting sugar in someone’s gas tank will not have catastrophic effects on the engine! Despite popular belief, the sugar will not harden into cement and kill your car. As proven in 1994 at Berkeley University, sugar does not dissolve in gasoline. However, if someone doesn’t like you very much and you do end up with sugar in your tank, you will need to change the fuel filter and probably remove the gas tank and empty it. Sugar in your tank can be a minor annoyance, but it’s nowhere near the horrible car killing event that movies and pop culture make it out to be.
4. Baby I got Your Number. It is possible for thieves to use your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to make a copy of your car key. So technically this urban legend is true. That being said, most dealerships require people in need of a new key to provide proof of ownership, which thieves aren’t going to have. And while covering or removing your VIN may prevent thieves from making a copy of your key, it creates a new problem in that it’s highly illegal. Bottom line, if you’re that worried about your car being stolen, get an alarm. Or just drive a Ford Focus station wagon and nobody will touch you.
5. Tennis anyone? There’s a longstanding rumor that you can unlock your car by cutting a hole in a tennis ball and squeezing it over the lock. On almost all cars this is complete B.S. and we ruined a perfectly good tennis ball trying to do it. However, on some older model cars that have a vacuum based lock system, it just might be possible. Bottom line: if you desperately need to unlock your car, call a locksmith or find a brick. It’ll look less silly than a tennis ball.
Coke vs Pepsi. Freddy vs Jason. Turbochargers vs Superchargers. The debate has raged since the dawn of time (slight exaggeration), and in the case of forced induction technology, shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The ultimate irony is that both technologies are basically the same thing, they just derive their power in different ways. So which is better?
The Basics
Let’s start by examining the primary difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger. Cliff notes version: a turbocharger is powered by the exhaust gases of the engine whereas a supercharger is belt driven off the crank pulley. What this means is that a turbocharger uses wasted energy to make power. The drawback is that you may experience turbo lag, but that usually only happens with larger sized turbos.
Because a supercharger is belt driven, its power is based solely on the engine’s RPM’s. So the faster the motor turns, the quicker it turns the belt, which in turn produces more power. The good thing about this is that there’s no lag whatsoever. The bad thing is that because superchargers “take power to make power” there’s a potential for it to raise your gas bill. Generally, superchargers are preferred by drag racers because there’s no turbo lag. However, turbocharger technology is improving to get off the line faster.
Head to Head
One of the benefits of working in a high-performance auto shop is that you have some of the coolest toys to play with. In this case they happen to be two Nissan 350z’s — one outfitted with a Turbonetics 60-1 turbo and the other with a Vortech supercharger. We put them head to head on the dyno.
The green lines represent the supercharged Nissan 350z, which as you can see from the chart, has a linear projection because the supercharger depends on engine RPM to get up to speed. It takes time for the supercharger to reach maximum boost. Conversely, when you look at the turbocharged 350z (represented by the red lines), there’s a clear indication that the turbocharger produces more peak power faster with near equal torque.
The Bottom Line
In this particular case, the turbocharger showed better results than the supercharger. However, there really is no clear cut answer as to which method of forced induction is better. They both have advantages and disadvantages, and when it all comes down to it, either one will give you a considerable boost over stock. The ultimate choice comes down to you and what best suits your driving style.
This morning I pull up to see the normal crowd at National Speed prior to opening. Bobby (our head tech), informs me that one of our customers that’s at the shop for the first time has multiple R35 GTR’s, in town. I start asking about them, almost skeptical.
After talking for less than 30 seconds, the customer says to me, “Hell, let’s go get one, man.”
I drive him out to his house in the Type-R, and there it is…Godzilla, just sitting there like any other car would. It was surreal just looking at it. Unbeknownst to me, things were about to get a LOT more surreal.
As we walked up to it, he says, “How about this, I’ll drive your Integra back, you drive the Nissan.”
…Uhhh…okay…At this point I check to make sure I’m not still asleep.
Sitting in Godzilla for the first time, I was in awe. It may have the styling of your average Nissan interior, but once the beast wakes up and gets moving, its a VERY different feeling. Before we leave, our customer comes over and holds up a series of three different switches on the console, then mutters under his breath, “Let’s put this bad boy in race mode for ya.” And off we go.
On the way back to the shop, I’m following behind the Type-R (surprisingly comfortable), unsure if it would be a faux pas to get on it a bit. After a few miles of cruising, our customer waves me by enthusiastically… It’s on.
Three small flicks of my left hand on the shifter paddle, dropping into third gear, the engine starts to hum in anticipation, floating at mid-range RPM as I signal to move into the left lane… All is clear, and as I hammer the gas pedal, I note in my mind that the further I pushed the pedal down, the further my head is thrown back in the seat. The twin turbochargers come alive on command (courtesy of the 3.8 liters, and incredible flow of the VQ38), as all four wheels bite and rocket the car forward at breakneck speed. When the wastegates open, the expelled exhaust gas almost sounds to be screaming ‘MOOOVE!’ in an announcement to traffic up ahead. The response of this car is absolutely staggering, and unlike most responsive cars, does not die off in power at the top end.
The car kept pulling, and pulling, and pulling, gear after gear. Before long, halfway up the RPM range in fifth gear, I realized I was at a speed that would cut me some jail time. I let out, goosebumps all up and down my body. It was absolutely amazing.
Testing out the suspension, it’s absolutely amazing (I know I’ve mentioned this term multiple times in these paragraphs, but it’s the only therm that I can think of that properly describes this car’s attributes). The only cars I’ve ever driven that are this fast, or faster, are all top-end aimed with horrible handling. This car is the absolute best of both worlds.
Bottom line: No car I’ll ever drive will ever stack up to this car (in my mind, that is. I’m sure others will have opposing thoughts on the matter). R35 GTR is hands down the most well balanced, awesome car I’ve ever driven, or will ever drive. It’s not the fastest car I’ve ever driven, or been in for that matter, but to hell if it’s not the most well-balanced/responsive/fun car I’ve ever driven.
It is perfection. Simple perfection.
This was one Saturday that will be burned in my mind for a long time to come. I’m not looking forward to the drive home in the Type-R tonight…Depression is bound to set in halfway home. Oh well, time to step up and make it faster I suppose.
On August 9th National Speed’s tuner, Taylor King, squeezed 535 horsepower out of a Turbonetics 60-1 Ball Bearing turbo on our 2003 Nissan 350z. Check out the video to see the awesome footage.
Click here for a full description of the 350z’s modifications.
For the four of you on the planet that haven’t seen the Dark Knight yet, allow me to introduce you to the new Batmobile. Thankfully, you won’t find Adam West in skin-tight spandex behind the wheel, nor will you see current Batman Christian Bale searching for a throat losange in the cockpit (seriously, what’s with his voice?). This baby is a replica and it belongs to Bob Dullam, a man that I will worship for the rest of my life as the greatest do-it-yourself artist on the planet. Dullam, who’s a custom fabricator, has been working on the build in his garage using nothing but pictures and repeat viewings of Batman Begins on DVD for reference.
With the notable exception of the engine, rear axle and tires, every single part has been handcrafted. And what makes the build really unique is that he didn’t modify an existing car to look like the batmobile, he created it completely from scratch. If you remember, all of the previous Batmobiles were mainly just modified Ford’s and Corvette’s with specialized body kits. This is the real deal.
No stranger to custom fabrications, Dullam has also built fully-functioning replicas of previous Batmobiles, batsuits, and a lifesize model of Kiefer Sutherland from Lost Boys. That last part is no joke, either. He seriously has a lifesize replica of Kiefer Sutherland in his home. I can’t decide whether that’s scary or cool.
Hat tip to Jalopnik for originally breaking the story and to Bob Dullam and his badass Batmobile. For more pics on Bob’s work and to see what projects he’s currently working on click here. What I wouldn’t give to take that Batmobile out on the streets and pancake some bad drivers. If it didn’t get 1 mpg I’d start creating my own right now. But alas, I’ll have to stick with my Focus. Until next time readers, same bat time, same bat channel…
