Ive been watching videos, and reading about the Texas mile, and the ECTA for years. I recently saw a video of a Lamborghini running 250 mph, in a mile. followed by a GT40 running 266.

Since this is the theoretical section, theoretically what would it take to run 200 mph in a 3rd gen in the mile? I would really like to do this someday, or get close so its more of a case study.

Some assumptions: Assume the tires are street tires, but rated close to 200. Nothing tiny like the salt flat tires. Im assuming maybe a 275/40/18 front, and a 305(315?)/40/19 rear or something close (but only because thats the look I like not because its the most functional). Also assume the rest of the car is safe to travel at that speed, and legal in its class. Seats, belts, cage whatever.

Rules: 6spd, pump gas, street car. It cant be a fiberglass, and lexan one trick pony. Im really looking for a HP and rearend ratio guess.

Im working on an LS1/T56 swap. It might come together in the next couple years and I would love to run the mile at least once. So Im guessing 600 hp? And a wild guess at gears would be a 3.23? Im sure some of the people here can get alot more specific.

Anyone care to guess?

Check here regarding rule & classifications.

http://www.texasmile.net/

Well you'd want a complete suspension upgrade. Anything you didn't upgrade would need to be restored to like new condition. I'd suggest a partial cage at the very least. Sub-frame connectors, drive shaft loop, and a tunnel brace are also good additions to help strengthen the chassis. A T56 is fine too. For the engine I'd go with a LS9 if money were no object. On a more realistic note I'd go with a LS3 crate engine with a cam upgrade and possibly better heads. A turbo wouldn't be out of the question either. I'd opt for 3.42 rear end gears. I'd probably want a Moser 12-bolt or a Ford 9" rear over the stock unit.

I wouldn't lighten the car hardly at all. In fact most of these things would make the car heavier, not lighter. Honestly I don't think this would take too much work to achieve in a third gen. These cars are still among the most aerodynamic ever produced. Chassis flex is the worst thing to overcome and there are tons of products out there and methods for overcoming this. The performance/power to do it just takes money. I think you'd need to really calculate the numbers out to know what exactly is required to propel a 3,600+ pound car to 200MPH in the span of a mile. I do know it would have to be built more with top end performance in mind. An LSx engine is the perfect basis for that.

There are 5 speed classes. Only 1 is 190+. The Unlimited Class.

And as I understand it, it is much like the Bonneville Salt Flats. You cannot go for the Unlimited Class the first time out. Not even the second or third time out.

But rather.....You hafta get a License from them, to run that fast.

I think the first class is for the beginners/first timers in BONE STOCK stock, with minimal safety requirements. And us limited to 90mph to 110mph. Exceed the top speed for any class your in (110 in this case) and you are disqualified. Exceed the Class speed too much & you will not be allowed to return, for a certain # of years as "punishment" as well as ensuring the persons safety.

In other words....Register for the 90-110 class, then go run 220mph with the proper safety equipment, to protect you.

I know the Bonneville Salt Flats require something like (IIRC) a minimum of 5 years of competition there, as well as demonstrating that yes...You can handle a car at 125mph....Then to 150mph....Then to 175mph.....And THEN you can get your 190mph+ License, after you have gotten the previous licenses.

So investing in a LS2 or LS9, might be a waste of a first timers money, since the car does not need that much HP, to reach the speed that the Driver is allowed to go.

I would check out the Rules, before investing money in stuff you don't need & can't even utilize to its potential.

I know the OP specifically asked about the 200mph class, but there are other steps to take, before you are even allowed to run the Unlimited Class. Kinda like....You can't just jump into John Force's Top Fuel dragster & drive it your first time out. Gotta b licensed to do that first.

to determine the rear end ratio, you need to know your tire size, top gear ratio, and how fast you want to spin the motor.

305/40/19 tires are 28.6" in diameter, which is pretty big, but still do-able.
the t-56 you will be interested in has a 0.5:1 6th gear. the less desireable ones have a .68 6th gear, but you dont want them.
lets say you spin the motor to 6200 rpm max, and your peak power is at 6000 rpm.

that all means you want a 5.1:1 rear end if you want to hit 200 mph at 6000 rpms.
this means that you will be below your peak power with pretty much any gear ratio you choose in 6th gear.

if you use 3.42 rear gears, you will hit 200 rpm in 5th gear at 6000 rpm

personally, if this car will be driven in other circumstances, i would pick 4.11 or taller rear gears. from what i have heard, a t-56 is no fun with less gear than 4.11. even with 4.11 gears, you will be doing 70 at 1700 rpms, which is more than low enough for fuel economy

3.23 will put you at 1300 rpms at 70 mph... no fun



as for your power, well, more is better, but 700 should be plenty.
as stated earlier, dont worry about weight.
at 200 mph, you could shave weight, but it wont help you at all. at that speed, wind is your enemy more that 1000 lbs of excess weight.

i would concentrate on aerodynamics. remove your mirrors for the run, or replace them with something much smaller
get a stock ducktail spoiler or 5" ducktail spoiler rather than a high rise wing or a wing of any type.
cover your headlight buckets with lexan
cover the fog light holes in a similar fashion.
you want your car slippery as possible.
heck, a good wax job will make a difference

I was simply talking about the technicalities of running your car that fast. Nothing more. This is the first time I've heard of the Texas Mile.

I enjoy calculating things like this. Here is the aerodynamic analysis for my car:





And a graph for the gearing of my car (factory tires, 3.70 rear ratio):

650HP should do it.

that gives you theoretical top speed but we need to get to 200 mph in 1 mile from a standing start.

So, just drop an LS9 crate engine in your car and go to the track.

ya, only need $40K or so for the engine and trans.

The crate engine is only $22,000. A real bargain! I don't know about the transmission but I doubt its anywhere near $20,000 by itself.

Oh, they lowered it. It was $27K, trans is about $8K for the T6060 and then you need the supporting hardware to get everything bolted up and running.

For what its worth, there are a few 1000whp 4th gen camaros that just barely broke 200mph in the mile. The fast lambo and GT40 are all 1200+ whp cars.

To figure out roughly what your car would do in the Mile, take your 1/4 mile trap speed and multiply it by 1.334. Based on alot of testing one guy has done over at LS1tech, this formula kinda works +- 5 mph or so he says. Just a rough estimate.

To do 200mph in a standing mile, you need to trap roughly 150mph in the 1/4 mile.

Some examples. C6 Z06 vette will do 171 or so in the mile, traps 126 with a good driver, but they have been known to hit 128-130 but I never seen it and i've seen alot of these cars run down the track. 125-126 traps is 167-168 in the mile, fairly close.

There is a twin turbo 997 porsche that has trapped 149.8 in the 1/4 and ran 208 mph in the mile. Another one went 143 in the 1/4 and ran 206 in the mile. These cars are showing more top end potential than the formula predicts but its a good idea what may be needed.

My car traps 140-141 with about 650-670whp on a mustang dyno. I dont think it would go more than 190 in the mile if i had the gearing but I'll never know until I get a 6 spd and give it a shot.

Lots of great input.

I do have a 91 firebird. Its supposed to be one of the most aerodynamic of the brood. Unless the nose collapses under the pressure. Then Im screwed.

Also I wasnt aware of the stepped qualifications for the ECTA, or the Texas mile. I knew about the Salt flats and such, but wasnt really into driving on salt.

Ive always been very interested in top speed racing, ever since I read about a certain Grand National that ran the Silver State challenge. I love this stuff. And the ECTA, Texas Mile type runs looks like tons of fun.

Also on the gearing, Ive heard alot about running 4.11s with a T56, but Im just not convinced. First from what Ive read, the steeper the gear, the more wheelspin. I cant think of a reason to run anything steeper than a 3.73 in a street car. I almost changed the OP from 3.23s, to 3.42s.

And an LS9 is kinda crazy. As much as everyone would like to have that kind of bragging rights, Id rather run an LS3, and boost it. Simple economics would keep me from running an LS9, same as it would keep me from buying a ZR1. I think I can do better, with less.

You have to admit though, it would be a blast to try it. Wide open for a full mile. Crazy fun. And the silver state challenge? Oh man....

gearing is a major factor with the double overdrive T56. If you don't have enough power then 6th gear is useless for acceleration. Example, with 3.42 gears and 300HP and doing 160mph in 5th gear, as soon as you shift into 6th and press the gas pedal you will start to slow down since there isn't enough power to keep the car going with that amount of gear load on the drivetrain. I don't know how it feels in 6th with more power as that was the power my old 96 Trans Am had.

The 4.10 gears can cause more wheel spin but the gearing eases the load on the engine allowing it to spin up and accelerate the car faster, and the overdrive gears are more usable.

You want a high rpm motor and tall gearing, to me that is the best combo for top speed in a limited space.

6th gear in my Firehawk and 2005 GTO wasn't terribly useful for acceleration unless I was moving at least 80MPH and even then it wasn't great. 6th isn't useful until you are well past 100MPH. Both cars had stock rear end gears.

Talk to most vette guys who push their cars. C5 Z06 wont pull 6th gear. Its got an M12 tranny with a lower 6th gear (deeper OD) than the T56. The base C5 with less hp but with T56 will top out as fast if not more. Most say its faster than the Z

There are rebuild kits for the T56 that offer a steeper 6th and 5th gear to allow more top end speeds, but as it sits, a .50-.57 gear in 6th is going to be hard to pull. after 170mph

I've never gone that fast in my T56 equipped cars. I'm just saying that on the highway, I've experienced 6th gear as being generally useless for acceleration. I rarely use it unless I'm just cruising. I normally keep it in 5th where I have SOME acceleration if I need it.

So with a 4.11 behind a T56 you could still run upwards of 160-180 mph, provided you have the power? Can any of you guys demonstrate those numbers? Im going to look for an online calculator for it.

In the mean time the engine would be an LS1, maybe an LS3. It might get some rod bolts, and the standard bolt ons, intake, cold air, tune TB, etc.. I know this wont run 200. So maybe it would get a cam, and boost. I dont see it running 7k rpm though because I dont have tons of money for a high rpm motor. I guess thats why not too many people run 200 mph in a mile.

Anyway. Would it be better to run a 5 speed/LS1 combo? They make some nice strong 5 speeds now.


Edit:
Okay, I found a calculator. Check out these figures.

@ 6250 rpm. and a T56 with the following gearing: (these numbers are listed by Summit as a replacement T56)

(4.11 R&P) (3.73 R&P)
1st---2.66 48 mph 53 mph
2nd---1.78 72 mph 80 mph
3rd---1.30 99 mph 109 mph
4th---1.0 129 mph 142 mph
5th---.74 174 mph 192 mph
6th---.50 258 mph 285 mph


There is another trans listed, with different gearing. Basically with a final of .62, and 4.11s top speed is 208. With 3.73s it goes to 229. This trans is listed as a "street/strip" and the gearing is all different.

And I know this is assuming you have the power to push the car through the air at those speeds, and to overcome the gearing.

200 mph club is indeed something very special. It takes a good bit of power to get there in a standing mile, regardless of gearing

Yes, it is. And yes it does.

Eventually, Id like to build the car for competition in alot of different arenas. The mile for one, but not exclusive to any genre of racing. Drag, road circuit, Silver State, pretty much any type of racing that allows a street car.

I guess we would all like to have a car that was great at everything. I dont want a polished trailer queen. I want a beast that flat out works, regardless of what its being asked to do.

Man oh man, I have lived in Texas for over 20 years and this is the first time I ever heard of the Texas mile. That sounds like so much fun. To do more than light to light and get away with it? Thats more fun than my hart could take, No matter how fast I could run.

The Texas mile is located a few miles outside Goliad. They run twice a year. One meet in the Spring and another in the Fall. Its an old Navy Air Base. The "track" is marked off like the deck of an air craft carrier. The guys from Corpus Cristi would do touch and goes here before landing on an actual carrier.
Ive seen many guys top 200. Mostly Vettes, Vipers, Cobra kit cars and GT40 Fords.