When i built my car i didnt build it with an intent on going for a top speed attempt....
But a mag wants to feature it and do some time testing etc, and also top speed..

Car is focus rs obv,
Has 03< wrc kit, now obviously to go for the top speed i would swap the boot so i wouldnt have the mahoosive rear wing,
Car is making over 600bhp and revving to 8500rpm hard limit...

So whats my chances of a 180+ top speed??
18" wheels by the way and 225-45 tyres

 

you've got the power to do it.....

 

you definitely got the power but what gear box & diff are you using some one could calculate your theoretical top speed then .

 

the car will be revving to 8500rpm as said...
the rolling radius of my wheels is 6.57 feet
my ratios are
1ST 3.23
2ND 2.13
3RD 1.48
4TH 1.11
5TH 0.85
F/D 3.82

so my theoretical top speed at 8500 rpm would be.
190-195 mph if ive worked it out correctly lol

now ive hit the limiter when it was capped at 7200rpm which i belive was around 170mph..


But!! I do not know the drag co-eficiency of a focus.. And i do have a big massive wide wrc bumper..
If it could be possible to beat luca's 183.99 i may try my dam hardest on the day lol, but dont want to waist my time if its not going to happen??

 

With 225/45/18 and your gearing 180mph will come up at 7500rpm. Assuming your engine has a decent torque spread and is making 600bhp at the 7500 - 8000rpm then you should manage around 185mph.

As always though if you have'nt got the power you think you have, you won't make it! Many think they have, but in reality so few actually do! Top speed is more than just peak numbers on a dyno, it is about understanding what it takes to make a car hold full throttle reliably for 30+ seconds! Are you confident the cooling and most of all the mapping is safe for 30 seconds at full throttle!!

 

Will you be bringing this to Watford, would be nice to have a look.

 

If i do go for it then altho he doesnt know it yet, garry my mapper at gr performance will be sat at the side of me monitering the engine on the laptop,

Im running a blouch billet gt3582 so my power is all top end where its needed for somthing like this,
I was doing a very healthy 545 bhp on a std garret gt35 last year,
Since then ive had Ł2k worth of head work in the form of some 285 deg cams,
Double spring conversion
Titanium caps, and big porting and port matching,
Also changed to the blouch billet gt35... So i am presuming some healthy figures the top side of 600-630??? (hope my crank doesnt fall straight thru the sump



Rob yes mate, hopfully taxing it next month....

 

The zetec engine has numerous problems at the sort of power levels you are proposing, so I hope it survives. I also hope you don't suffer too many oil pump problems at 8500rpm! Top speed put's the engine under loads you generally will never use on the roads, so what may seem reliable to you now, may end in an expensive mess by the end of the runway!

However I wish you the very best of luck, but do try to consider the issues I have mentioned as no one likes to see an engine fail.

 

Apreciated mate

I am running a billet oil pump, and it is a cgi block,
But yes i agree top speed is very strenuas on the engine... That why i only want to try it... IF there is a chance of breaking 183.99....

 

good advise

 

Great, watched your build thread and the car looks awesome just gets better each development.

 

Rollinz,

If you are thorough, and thorough and reconsider every aspect, and then thorough some more, you have a VERY good chance of beating 183mph. Remember one thing though..................................COOLING! (ACT's, EGT's and ECT's!)

 

The mapping is really key here. You can buy all the parts in the world, but if it is not setup perfectly you are driving a ticking time bomb.

Personally I would not want to risk my car doing this.

I'm hoping you have a mapper with plenty of experience of putting engines under such tremendous strain

 

I'll just add, that this is where a rolling road mapped car needs to be remapped during the top speed run. It is impossible to replicate the top speed conditions on a RR, so make sure you do a few practice runs with your mapper, making the necessary alterations for the actual top speed attempt. Again I can't emphasise it enough, monitor your temps, specifically ACT's and EGT's.

 

Luca did his 183.9 with 480bhp with 626bhp Martin managed 194.7 that tells you what you should pull, certainly over 190mph. All sounds simple but that Power must be available after 30secs of 100% throttle.
Ford quote cd of .295 for the Focus better than a Saff so unless you are hoisting a sail on the roof it will pull those speeds.

We have found you can pull a few hundred rpm past peak Power so gear for say 190 at that & if you have 600bhp you will reach it first run.
Remember you can have an engine that revs to 15k but if it has peak Power at 7k & falls away it wont pull much more than that before you hit the aero wall.

 

Rollinz can you please post some graphs of your power. We will be able to see your power band then

 

Since when????? Have you had it on the dyno? Are you mental going for top speed in an un-caged car!!!!
That big front bumper is not securely fixed pal it could break causing allsorts of aero problems and before you know it youre on your roof, tyres, side, roof, COFFIN!

 

No john but its has to make that power. O reason why it wont..

Front bumper is beeing braces from chassis rail it was only temp fitted for spraying,

As for top speed attempt and no cage,
I can quite easily end up on my roof at 80-130

No fear!!

Will post some graphs as garry progresses mapping my car,

He's a good mapper so im not worried there

 

Karl, out of interest, what sort of problems does the zetec get at high power levels? obviously the oil pump at revs, and cooling issues that come with running big power/high speeds.

but what are the other problems? Not asking how to get round them lol just wouldn't mind knowing what hidden things there are that people dont realise..
thanks!

 

All the best for it there is some sound advise above thats for sure.

After doing a top speed run I fully understand now the strain it can put on an engine.
When you are reaching for the last 10-15mph that the car will achieve it, seriously puts in to perspective how much the car is straining to pull through that air which is trying everything to slow you!!!

 

Anything over 550hp the heads then become the weakest link.

 

What problems may arrise from the head luca?
Any advice from you would be apreciated... Not set out to take your title away and tbh.. When/if it comes to it i may not go for the top speed lol..
I never set out to do that, just wanted a seriously quick road car, 30-130 area,

And another thing i may even bottle it at those speeds anyway lol

 

Good to see you posting again Karl

 

just got to wait and see how the dyno goes first mate, then give it a go,

 

Go for it mate you will love it.
I never purposely built my car for top speed, just wanted to see what it would do. I have no interest in going for it again if you went faster.

As for bottle - If the cars built right then you will experience a car that feels like it's doing 130mph when its actually 180+

As for the heads its only what I have learnt from listening to people who have had those figures. They don't seem to like big boost / 550+ number.
Cylinder pressures just seem to be an issue.

How are you planning on securing head to block?

 

Who is your mapper?? Has he done any other cars for top speed?

The reason I ask is that if he hasn't, your car could be an expensive lession for him and you.

Personally I'd take the car to Karl or MAD for piece of mind

 

Say good bye to your spark plugs as the cylinder pressure punches them through your bonnet along with the alluminum holding them in a genuine 630bhp zetec will do this.

A customers 530bhp engine we were mapping did this on the dyno, we were seeing 570 from pauls and are not holding too much confidence of it being reliable. But have done everythg possible to try.

Someone needs to recast these heads before seeing reliable and genuine BIG bhp

 

its got ARP's, when it was making 545.4 on the gt3582 i was only running 1.4 bar of boost, (obviously i realise 1.4 bar on a 35 is a hell of alot of air lol)
when we went for more boost we got to around 570+bhp at 1.7 bar and got valve float, this then is where i spat dummy out lol and went mental on the head and swapped turbo's.
see i REALLY dont want to blow the engine.. i just want to make a genuine 600bhp...
when i was at 545bhp i hit the limiter in 5th at 7200rpm and it reached it like lightening... but as people have said on here... that last 1k rpm will probably take a long time.. and especially now i have my non aerodynamic front bumper

 

he's been mapping BIG power cars for a long time, and does a few time attack cars.
biggest bhp he's mapped was a scooby pushing out towards 750hp...
i dont think he has mapped a top speed car...

really?? after hearing that im dreading the phone ringing now this week ale:
i told garry to take it to 2 bar of boost

 

yeah, thats a fairly serious problem lol

 

Theres no way a 2.0 zetec will make 545bhp at 1.4bar and 7200rpm limit.

 

on a gt35? longer conrod than std too

 

Nope not a chance. More chance of eating soup with a fork than getting anywhere near 500bhp at that boost and rpm.

 

Not even with all his cylinder head mods/work karl?

 

Dude the last thing I want to see is all your time, effort and money going up in smoke doing something that in the grand scheme of things doesnt really matter.

Personally you should be happy with 545, going for that bit extra seems a big risk.

Good luck

 

even tho it was a rolling road.. surly it CANT be out more than 50bhp at the most?

it absoloutly flew mate. not claiming big figures to look good, its what the dyno said (yes i know rolling roads ARE NOT gospel power figures) but it cuaght up and went passed a 380bhp focus like it was a 1.2 corsa...

 

dude this has now also got me worried...

in one hand i could be very lucky and have a 600+ bhp focus...
or on the other hand have a focus with a blown engine...


anyone want to swap a blouch billet GT3582 for a gt30?

 

That's funny, I said something similar

 

Is you car running high C.R and methanol?

 

nope just vpower