Volvo X (Pro-Touring 1967 Amazon)

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

During this track session we are doing this 2.5 mile course at 2min 13-15sec pretty consistently and at 135-140mph on the longer straight sections, and that was basically lugging the car around a bit in 3rd gear most of the time rather than pushing the rev's of 2nd gear.. If you watch the video's a bit, you will find that the car is rarely near the 6800 rev limiter, and not heavy throttled at all off the turns because the car would break loose in 3rd due to the power. I will have to check with Wilwood to see if they have a bit more capable brake pads, because it seemed that we were quickly overrunning the brakes coming off the long stretches, so we did lose some more overall max speed potential due to having to keep the speed down for the brakes not to be overrun. My driver is thinking that we can get the car down to about a 2:05 minute track time with a few setting changes and a better front sway bar, and that will be on street tires also, so times can get even better if I were to tune the car for strictly track use.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Here are some more pictures of some of the daily use of Volvo X, and I must say that I am tired of the ice we have had over the last week, eventhough the car looks right at home in it.. LOL I have had a lot of guys ask me how I can drive the car in weather conditions like this, but they do not understand that this car was built to be a daily driver, and that is no matter the weather condition.. I am finding that the car is harder to keep clean than I thought this color would be, but it really isn't anything that several car wash visits a week wont take care of.. LOL

With this Ice Storm over the last week our area has basically been shut down, because we don't really get this type of weather more than a few days at a time, but this one hit us hard. Hopefully this blows over quickly, because area businesses and schools have basically shut down, and things need to get back to normal.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

I have a Standing 1 Mile Top Speed Run coming up, and my goals for this Amazon will be the 175-180mph mark in the Standing Mile as a daily driver with all the modern conveniences, amd there are actual top speed obstacles added by the fact the car is a driver, because I am not trying to sacrifices any daily comforts that would typically be removed for a dedicated race car. I am really curious, because I would like to see some pictures of some of the fastest Amazon's that were capable of some sort of prolonged top speed, along with seeing some of the efforts that were made to ensure these cars were capable aerodynamically.

This is a Standing 1 Mile Top Speed.. During this mile your times and speeds are caught at different points of the mile, and the recorded Top Speed you are traveling when you cross the 1 mile mark. I am not worried about being able to hit the mph mark with gearing or power, I am really only concerned with the aerodynamic and weight properties of the car being a factor over 150mph (Which it gets there easily in 4th at this point), because there are potential air flow issues over that. I will say that at the 100mph up, I don't notice the Turbulent air that is common to a lot of car, and can normally be felt and heard with the beating on the side windows along with a bumpy resistance.. I was very surprised on how quiet the air is on this car while it is over 100mph, so I am hoping that translates to less issues to combat on the 1 mile run.. LOL

I am currently running a 3:50 rear gear ratio as a daily, and I am achieving an instant 115mph when shifting out of 3rd gear, but I will be bumping up to a 3:20 or 3:08 rear end ratio, and that should get me up at my goal speed of 175-180mph while taching within my power range. Each of those gear ratio's have their benefits, but I am thinking I would be better off going with the 3.20 ratio to keep the rev's up instead of potential lugging, but it could be the case that the 3.08's might be better due to not needing as much rev's.. These LS motors pull hard all the way to max rev, so I will have to figure out the best shift points when I get there, and luckily there will be a lot of runs for trial and error..


Here is the 3.08 Gearing @ Max Rev

----Ratio--------------------------------MPH

1st 2.87------------------------------59.3

2nd 1.89-----------------------------90.3

3rd 1.28-----------------------------133.4

4th 1.00-----------------------------170.7

5th .82------------------------------208.2


Here is the 3.20 Gearing @ Max Rev

----Ratio--------------------------------MPH

1st 2.87------------------------------57.2

2nd 1.89------------------------------86.9

3rd 1.28-----------------------------128.4

4th 1.00-----------------------------164.3

5th .82------------------------------200.4


Here is the 3.50 Gearing @ Max Rev

----Ratio--------------------------------MPH

1st 2.87------------------------------52.36

2nd 1.89-----------------------------79.51

3rd 1.28-----------------------------117.41

4th 1.00-----------------------------150.28

5th .82------------------------------183.27

If you have any insight as to what the ballpark results have been with any particular car, along with any pictures of the cars that were capable of 130mph plus on something other 1/4 mile drag strip , it would be appreciated. Top Speed on a short 1/8 or 1/4 mile run is way different then a full mile or more, because there are other factors to consider with the prolonged speed over a greater distance, and that is why people have to dedicate their suspension, body, and powertrain setups for each desired race event.


Here is the only reference I can find about an Amazon at Bonneville in 2007, and it doesn't really answer any questions..



I met the owner of this '67 122S several weeks ago, but went back with the camera today.
It ran in G- production on its Bonneville runs. The motor is a .010 over B-20 with 14.7:1 compression, forged ceramic coated Aries(sp?) pistons on Bofor rods. It has Hillborn mechanical fuel injection, forged roller rockers, crank scraper, distributorless ignition(I forgot what kind). The cam was special ground by Ed Iskedarian, who is a personal friend of the owner. It has a M-40 trans with a 4:11 rear end. Supposed to have run 126mph at Bonneville, against a class record of 139mph which has been upped to at least 156mph now. Most of the above was told to me by the owner.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Someone shared a link with me, and it is suppose to calculate necessary horsepower to reach a particular speed. http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calcula...or%20Speed.php

The formula uses Frontal Surface Area, Drag Coefficient, and weight of the car to estimate, and I wonder how accurate it is? The frontal area of my amazon with a splitter is at a estimated 12 square ft. (There is a formula to calculate that, see below also),and according to the estimated Drag Coefficient of the chart below, I think I am actually over estimate it at .5 by picking the worst rating of the Sedans versus some sort description that might encompass the smaller design of the Amazon ?

Vehicle Drag Coefficient
Description-----Low----Medium---High
----------------------------------------
Experimental----0.17----0.21----0.23
Sports------------0.27----0.31----0.38
Performance-----0.32----0.34----0.38
60's Muscle------0.38----0.44----0.50
Sedan------------0.34-----0.39----0.50
Motorcycle-------0.50-----0.90----1.00
Truck-------------0.60-----0.90----1.00
Tractor-Trailer---0.60-----0.77----1.20

Calculation of Frontal Area
Frontal area represents the front projection area of the vehicle. If one takes a picture of a vehicle, it is the area included in the outline. Use the following to calculate:
1. Calculate the area of a rectangle which would encompass the front of the vehicle (multiply width by the height). For motorcycles, use the handlebar width (to a maximum width of 30 inches) and a height consisting of seat height plus an estimated "seat to helmet" height.

2. Adjust the figure obtained above for areas not included, such as top rounded corners, etc. Typical adjusting values are 85 percent for cars, 70 percent for motorcycles, and 100 percent for trucks.


Here is what was calculated, but I am not sure of the distance it takes to get there, and I am running Standing 1 Mile total.

Using your vehicle Speed of 200 MPH takes 327.68 HP to overcome air drag.
Rolling resistance is 18.03
For a total of 345.71 HP to run 200 MPH

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

I have the First Round of Go Fast decals for the event, and I have Racing Numbers and a few more decals being made for the quarter panel area and lower fenders, along with some of the component company logo's that we use with our kits.. The main quarter panel logo will be a larger version of the hood logo with the Red Step Blocks that will fit on the upper rear quarter panel section, and it is about 70in's long, so it will go from the tail light to about 12in from the rear of the door. The front plate is going to have to come off during the event, so I think that will take away from the repetitiveness of the Swedish Ops on the front.

I really like the Hood Decal, so I am thinking that it will remain on the car after the rest of the decals come off... LOL






I had also entertained blacking out the door and window frames, and I think I like it, but I am not sure..? It definitely gives it more of a later 240 Volvo look with the black out, so I don't think it is completely out of place, but I am not entirely sold on it..

[Tail]

I like the blacked out side trims they match the rear window and just look better imho

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Originally Posted by Tail

I like the blacked out side trims they match the rear window and just look better imho

I think so too, but I am having a hard time pulling the trigger on it for some reason.

[Volvo Canadian]

Hi Robert,

Totally with you on the windows. I still wonder about the side trim though - have to tried mocking that up? Pleeease?

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Originally Posted by Volvo Canadian

Hi Robert,

Totally with you on the windows. I still wonder about the side trim though - have to tried mocking that up? Pleeease?

James, I tell you what... I will work it out so I can temporarily two way tape one side on to see what it looks like... I don't doubt it will look sharp, but I was really waiting on all the abuse to get done, because I have to straighten some of the dings out of them in order to use them permanently.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

I have considered using the 1st Gen Camaro air dam before, and I have had one on hand for awhile, but I didn't really give it a full try, so I think I will take another look at it after seeing the potential here?

By these posted pictures, I think that it has potential if it was situated several inches further back.? Luckily I have a custom metal one instead of the typical plastic, so I can take just a bit more liberty with the alteration and modification to get it just right, so I guess we will see how it works out.