Latest pictures of MM Enzo

It's great that you guys are bringing us such eye opening, and informative news. This thread should spark interest into land speed racing, I've learned quite a bit, thanks guys

 

Very Cool!

 

Yes, Jim.

With your help, and the devotion of many others,
we are on the edge of history.

There have been many drivers of Ferrari cars in competition
for these many decades.

Few have won races.

Fewer have won international GP racers.

Vanishingly few Ferrari drivers have been Formula 1 champions.


* * * *

At Bonneville, not all drivers (and riders)
can set outright world records.

Many are happy to say “I have the world’s fastest Ford,”
or "I am the fastest with Chevy power.”

* * * * *

If successful Richard Losee will be able
to say, with great certainty:

“I am the fastest Ferrari Driver in the world.”

Faster than Alonso
Faster than Shumacher
Faster than Fittipaldi

He will be at the absolute top of the pile
after more than 70 years of history.

One(1) driver above all the rest.

The fastest

 

Fixed your quote..

 

Actually, I would prefer that you enter extra information on your own,
without inserting it into "my quote,"
since what you are saying,
is not what I am saying.

235 MPH is a pretty good speed.

Was that "official timing"
GPS in the car or
Police radar,
Date,
time,
place,
witnesses ?

Accuracy counts,
you know......

Scott

 

Sorry about that, I should of added it at the bottom, it is kind of a bad habit with what is commonly done on the Corvette Forum.
I understand about the accuracy. I cannot answer that. I think it was done at EDO in Germany before it came back to Canada after the mods, someone on the Canadian side knows more than I do. That speed might be a moot point if the weather holds out for the big event happening this weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUA0Sqr3cY4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLAHSRRM6KY&feature=related

 

Looks very cool !

We have something like that near me, in Miami, Florida,
with a "meet" in October.

I think their "track record," is only about 251 MPH,
but it was set with a Ford GT (40 type) auto,
not a motorcycle.

Like "Barry" said, LSR is growing 40% per year.

We participate as a team in the same sort of thing at the Loring AFB
in the first week of August each year,where the track record
is slightly over 273 MPH, held of course by a motorcycle.

Another popular airfield LSR track iis n Goliad, Texas (listed above),
where the current car record is 250 MPH and small change,
held by a Lambo (Bikes go in the 260 MPH range)

So, in some ways, it looks like Richard will have to go maybe 260 MPH
to be BOTH fastest Ferrari, and to stand with the other "hot rods."

And then, there's the Bugatti...........

 

I am still really surprised that someone hasn't tried to shed a bunch of that car's excess weight, do some minor aerodynamic mods, put a really tall fifth and sixth gear in it, and see what it will do on a long course...

Or at least put the motor into something lighter. A factory potential of 1000+- hp and 400kph+ is just begging to be exploited...

Okay, sorry for the thread jack.

Thanks for keeping us updated...am looking forward to 260mph+...

 

Same here! I have been wanting to go spectate for years. I just can't seem to make the time to go. Maybe next August when it doesn't conflict with the Monterey schedule.

 

Any results from this yet ?

Do they have an "official site?"

 

In terms of outright speed, mass almost has very little effect on friction, and no effect in terms of drag. A sleek 4000 lb. car will be able to go far faster than a 4000 lb brick with the same power levels.

Also, a twin turbo Ford GT ran 269.x mph in the standing mile @ Florida earlier this year. They hope to match that or best it in Goliad for the Texas Mile. Timing @ Texas is done officially where speed is averaged over a distance at the end of the track, so GPS data loggers will actually read a higher indicated speed than the measured speed.

 

weight has almost zero effect on top speed. Aerodynamics and power are what matters at really high speeds.

 

I think I may have the lead on the answer to most of these questions in an article about a Bob Norwood-built MR2 Turbo LSR car.

It appears from this article on the Ferrari that a 1-way speed of 267 mph was its highest recorded single run, with changing weather conditions preventing the return trip.

...unless someone else knows differently.

>8^)
ER
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Thank you for the information on the Norwood car.
I think the question remains, perhaps asked differently.
Who drove the worlds fastest Ferrari powered Ferrari?
etc.

 

+1

 

That would be Amir, at least on the salt flats. In his modified F40. There are Ferraris (street legal) that definitely faster than his, however in terms of running on the salt flats under Ferrari power at a sanctioned event I don't of anyone who has gone faster (224+mph). His setup used a pusher and he did not break/set his in class record, although he did come close.

 

There are a bunch of modified sports cars that run consistantly over 250 MPH on the Bonneville salt flats. Most have been heavily modified, and many are a sort of "profile" car, in that there is a hand-made frame, a "replica" body, and often a far different engine that the factory even envisioned. The "288" pictured above is one of these.

Another currently favored is an English Berkeley "sports" car from the 1950's. Never having more than about 40 HP, these cars are often running at Bonneville with huge detroit motors, with twin turbo's, offering more than 1,200 HP in "endurance" trim. Some are over 250 MPH, and a very few are around 300 MPH.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Cars

I think what the purist is looking for here is
what an original appearing car,
with the original motor can do.....

Scott

 

That is what Amir's F40 is/was. It was and is still street legal. It didn't really have that many mods when it did the run(s) at least in comparison to some of "profile" cars out there.

 

I've travelled across the Ocean eight times in the past eight years to visit Bonneville, and my website has a section devoted to it (including Amir's F40) - www.fluidimages.co.uk

 

Great website Roadrunnner! pics are awesome as well. thanks for sharing

 

Any Update?

 

As a matter of fact...we just returned from the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association meet at Bonneville held this week.

Nothing teaches more than experience, and as has been discussed in previous posts, the Salt Flats is an entirely different world as compared to other motorsports. The first three runs we made at Speed Week in August, as licensing runs, were at relatively low speeds. At low speed it is very difficult to determine handling and control issues. After our fourth run in August, where we reached 196, we discovered some disturbing issues. Above 180 MPH, the car became almost uncontrollable.

With the help of several very experienced Land Speed Racers, we went in search of possible causes. Items such as toe in, caster and camber, tire profiles, loose hubs, locked verses limited slip differentials, etc., were investigated. And from what we learned, changes were made to the car.

When we were searching for tires rated for the speeds we would like to obtain, and knowing that we needed 18 inch wheels to clear brake rotors, we found very few options for 18 inch speed tires. Mickey Thompson is the only manufacturer of tires suiting our purpose. For the fronts, we chose 26.5 x 9 x 18, and using the manufactures specification, mounted them on custom built 7 inch wheels.

As experienced racers looked closely at our tires, the main observation was how flat the contact surface was on the tire. The preferred contact patch on the Salt Flats is 3 to 4 inches; ours was nearly 7-1/2 inches!! We contacted M/T’s technical expert on LSR tires, who insisted that the tires were designed for 6 to 7 inch wheels and that the profile was correct.

We detected an unacceptable difference in roll out between the two front tires, one was ¼ taller than the other, causing one tire to be slightly crowned, while the other was concaved in the center. We had M/T send out a second, more marched pair of tires, hoping they would provide an acceptable crowned profile. Mounted on our wheels, the tires were again, slightly concaved in the center of the tread profile, but at least matched, so we went with them.

Our objective for the USFRA meet this week was data collection. With that in mind, we removed the front bumper treatment, to monitor the spring compression in stock Enzo configuration. We installed the limited slip, again as stock, increased the toe in to 1/8 inch, but left camber and caster as stock.

Our first run, netted a total speed of 164, as Richard felt again, that the car was unstable. Plan B, install a pair of stock front wheels and tires, and make a second pass. The stock tires are over 9 inches across the tread surface, but with 45 pounds of air, we had a crown in the tire, that yielded about a 4 inch contact patch.

This morning, we made the swap, and got in line for our second run of the meet.

One of my responsibilities as the crew chief is to make sure Richard is safely strapped in the car, with HANS device, harnesses, helmet, arm restraints, etc., in place. Once that is checked by the starter on the line, Richard fires up the car for warm-up, and to allow the GPS on the MoTeC ADL-3 dash logger to locate a satellite. I secure the hinged roll bar, clip in the window net, verify that the pins on the two fire bottles and two chutes are pulled, verify doors and rear deck are securely latched, give him a thumbs up, then the starter sends him down the course.

The crew follows the car down a recovery road to retrieve the car and driver at the end of the course. The timers announce speeds over an AM radio channel as each vehicle passes ¼, then individual mile timing points along the course. As we listened in the recovery truck, we heard, 162 at the 2 mile, 174 at the 2-1/4, then 186, then 197, then an exit speed at the five mile of 204! The tire change had worked, and needless to say, there were some happy people in the recovery truck.

We determined that we had accomplished our objective for the meet in just two runs, so we decided not to make a third.

Our goal now is to change the front tire configuration between now and the World Finals in October. We will make a few more “data runs” with the new front tires, and some other set-ups, then decide if the car is ready for serious speeds and record runs.

As I mentioned earlier, experience is an invaluable teacher, and we are content to take it slow, and learn from each run. We have a remarkable team, with an amazing tuner in Shane Tecklenburg, long time Ferrari Technician Randy Felice, fabricators Mark Lockhart and my son Jason Marsh, support from family and friends too numerous to mention, and most importantly, Richard Losee, who chose to take a really bad experience, and make something truly remarkable come of it.

I need to include a special thank you to the fraternity of Land Speed Racers, who so willing share their experience, knowledge, their time and talents to make the sport what it is. We have truly made some lifelong friends in the LSR community.

And thank all of you, who have shown an interest and offered your support and kind words in our behalf. I have read some of the “blogs” out there, and some people just don’t get it, so I appreciate when people do.

I will do my best to answer questions, keep you updated, and in the future include some of the build photos, but with the October meet rapidly approaching, forgive me if it takes some time to respond.

W. Kevin Marsh
Enzo Project Manager


Oh, and here are the "Latest pictures".
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Fascinating, Kevin!
It's a really cool story you guys are writing now and even more interesting to note that its not over.

Thanks for making this possible on FChat!

.... also, the fact that it went faster with the stock front end and tires really makes you laugh. Way to go Ferrari!

What are performance stats like in general? Horsepower, acceleration estimated top end on pavement etc.

_J

 

That rig and trailer are WAY TO COOL! I have always thought an old rig like that would be awesome to tow some old muscle cars. Powerplant on it? I see a vp fuel 55 gallon drum there what kind of gas are you running the car on, C16? Hows working with two ecu's. What size are the turbos?

 

My understanding is that the Enzo's stock wheels, tires, suspension (with the dynamic Skyhook system) and front bumper are all designed to work together for a safe 218 MPH. If you use different wheels and tires, I'd guess that would mess up the suspension and aerodynamics. Did you see excessive front-end lift with the narrower tires and new bumper?

I'm sure you know the computer controls the flap in the stock front bumper. At high speed, the front flap is completely extracted.

Was Bridgestone OK running 45 psi in their tires at 200 mph+? Stock pressure is 32 psi.

I'd be really interested in seeing what you record in the Enzo's stock configuration. Here's what's been published:

"At 124mph, the Enzo generates 758 lbs of downforce. This rises to the maximum 1,709 lbs at 186mph, and then eases back to enable higher top speed. At 217mph, the downforce is reduced to 1,290 lbs."