Bonneville Speed Week 2016

[MinisterofDOOM]

I finally made it back out to Speed Week at Bonneville again, and got some pictures and videos. There were some really neat cars (as always).

I love Speed Week because the cars you see are extremely varied. There are some standard class-specific kits, and there are certain factor cars that get a lot of use (C4 Corvettes and 4th gen F-bodies particularly), but all those combined still probably don't make up half the field, and most of the rest are purpose-built speed record cars. It's really cool to go to an event where you can see a modded diesel S10 on the start line next to a race-prepped Ferrari (yeah...that's one I wasn't expecting).

There was plenty of cool stuff on the sidelines, too, like a REALLY neat Ford Escort (the European Squire variant).

These cars are neat looking, largely because they're very functional. But the best part is the sound, which is why I shot video. The video image quality is crap, but that's not the point. The point

[Bubba1]

Cool pics. I've always wanted to drive on those flats. Like what was once a Ferrari....

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, that Ferrari was awesome. The 575M is actually one of my very favorites, and that's the first time I've seen one in person, and it was race-prepped to boot. I've seen tons of race-prepped mid-engined Ferraris, but that's the first front-engined model I've seen set up for serious business like that. It sounded spectacular, and nothing like any other Ferrari I've heard--I am not even sure if it still had the stock twelve under the hood.

The Z was really neat, too--it's a regular at Speed Week, but always one of my favorites. The bodywork is custom but so clean it barely looks it.

[Jesda]

I did it once. It's such a wide, open space that you have no sense of speed. Of course, the speed limiter on my rental car kicked in at 110mph.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've driven on it in a couple of my cars. The biggest problem is that, unless it's groomed for racing, the salt is not the best surface for driving. It's a lot like a blend of snow and mud. The top 2-6 inches (or a lot more, during wet years) are soft and wet, and stick to everything and make things a little slick. Underneath that top layer, the salt is firm and solid and great for driving on. The tracks for high speed runs are cleaned up and prepped, and it's not uncommon for the track to move from one day to the next as the racers find faults or issues as they run.
Obviously, I wasn't driving my cars on the groomed track, so it wasn't as ideal. Salt gets everywhere (hooray for aluminum). But because it's so open and flat, it's hard to get yourself into much trouble. The salt flats are ideal for doing donuts and getting sideways because of the slickness of the ungroomed areas. Even the groomed stretches can be pretty slick, especially in areas where it's not as hardpacked.

Most of these salt flats top-speed cars have incredibly tall gearing, which is why in many of those videos you can see them being push started. They can't really move themselves until they hit ~60mph or so. Even then, despite the massive torque reduction through gearing, most launches involve a lot of wheelspin once under their own power since the flats are so slick. Watching the bikes launch is particularly hairy...they usually spend a lot of time trying to find traction before they really get moving.

The picture of my LS8 in my forum signature was taken on the flats a few years ago, way off in the middle of nowhere on ungroomed salt. You can see the cracked, soggy top layer and how much it sticks to the tires pretty clearly. I went through a few carwashes with underbody spray after that trip.

[numbnuts240]

but how is it sprinkled on some steak fries?

[Jesda]

I had to run my [Enterprise's] Saturn Aura through a pretty aggressive automatic car wash three times in Oregon to get the crud off. It was caked on like thick icing. By the time I got it home the brakes were toast and the steering was creaking like an old door. It was a hard afternoon for that car.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHuLUfTqXV4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnX1jOgl1vY[/youtube]

Funny thing is that I didn't even intend to go there. I was heading west for a wedding, my BMW was in the shop, and my rental car was the most cost-efficient option for getting three people there.

When you arrive a sign more or less says "Have fun" and that's it. No laundry list of rules. No regulations. You just GO. Traction was pretty decent that day because it was scorching hot and pretty dry. It was like driving on the surface of Venus. GM's AC has a reputation for being strong but still struggled to compensate for the heat and sunlight.


I must do this again, preferably in a rental Mustang or Camaro. Utah is a spectacular place.