I was done my drags for the day and I shot over to the road course for the last day of free road racing at e-town. I got in under the wire
I had taken the Alero there on Friday, which did good BTW.
I pull up and I ask the guy running it, "Can I still get in for a race?" he said OK and he'd try to get a group together since they are running 5 cars at a time.
"What are you racing?"
"That" (pointing to the Delta)
"What?!?! You're effing kidding me, right?"
"No, I wanna see what it can do"
I wait about a 1/2 hour, and I get to run
He lines us up. The instructor car was the first car, I was 2nd, and some kid in a late 80's BWM 3 series was behind me.
To the insturctor "OK I'm going to send you out in front of this monster drag racing Olds. Take it easy so he can keep up"
I pull up behind him and then we go.
He takes off in his Mitia and I'm right there. We get up to about 50 before the first turn. I make the turn and slow down a lot, but I'm able to stay in it then around the next turn, the tires are sqeaulling just a little bit. Next turn is a hiarpin and I jam on the brakes, lock them up, get off, and make the turn. Go down another straight a way and make the next turn to the banked curve, which has another hairpin right after it and then in goes downhill, I pulled another lock-up and turn, then around the long turn and back to the staight-a-way. I got the car up to 75 one time around, the other times I got up to 70 on the straight-a-way.
Not once did the car slide or drift. I have to use the door and the pass seat to keep myself sitting up. By the 4th lap, I wanted it to be over. I was getting sore whipping that 4198 lb car around the track and making some turns at 30 mph with a 40+ year old suspension design!! (Remember the car has a soild rear axle.)
When I pull off the track at the end of my 5 or 6 laps. The lead guy gave me a thumbs up. He really didn't want me taking that car out. I think he was impressed that I kept the car under that much control. It was at the cost of upper body though. It really was a workout whipping it around the track.
However, I took notice to the water temp, which was at 215
The car usually only gets to 200, maybe 202 at the most. The temp mang********* to get up to 230. I heard Olds motors can go as high as 240* before problems start.
By that time, I was back at the 1/4 mile waiting for my trophy and looking for Mitch. I let the car idle to move the water pump, and the eletric fan kicks on at 195*
The car ran hot the entire way home. It was not happy. It did heat up again in the stop and go traffic on 29 in Trenton, and starting making that little 'struggling' noise, but it cooled back down and I could only hear the lifters. The car never puked coolant, and no hoses broke
In all, probably be the last time Onyx will see the road course. Well maybe in cooler weather