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December 1999 Picture Of The Month
Andreas Stepniczka submitted this photo of his speedometer trying to lap itself..."While I was in Amsterdam this spring [1999], I found a stretch of German Autobahn perfect for discovering the top speed of my Comptech-modified NSX. The A31 between Duisburg and Emden is still under construction, but a 50 mile stretch along the Dutch border has been completed and is open to the public. It runs straight through counties which are as flat as a pool table and since it doesn't yet connect anything with anything, there's almost no traffic. On June 30, a colleague and I left Amsterdam at 3:30 am to get in some high speed driving before work. We reached the German border just after dawn and followed the signs guiding us towards the A31. From the onramp, we saw there were very few cars on the road and no speed limits, and we smiled. I turned off the traction control and floored the accelerator. The engine emitted a deep roar as it pushed us through third and fourth gears, on to surreal speeds in fifth. I had to back off while overtaking, but opening the throttle at 160 mph, the shove in our backs returned. The speed continued to increase and above 175 mph, a strange calm set in. The engine note became quieter and the wind noise seemed to abate. But the needle of the tachometer climbed further, slowly obscuring the red dash marking 8000 rpm and finally settling at the black dash found just thereafter, where the rev limiter kicks in. Based on the indicated revs, the gearing, and the tire sizes, we were travelling 187 mph. I was satisfied that the car was able to break 300 kmh (186.4 mph), so I pulled off the road and let Jeroen, my colleague, have the driver?s seat. The fastest he had ever personally driven a car was 150 mph and he was now as excited as a child on Christmas morning. We had come to the end of the highway, having covered 50 miles in less than 20 minutes, so Jeroen turned around and went back the other direction. From the windmills which dotted the land, we could tell that we were now heading into the wind. Despite this, the NSX managed to pull to the red dash at 8000 rpm - 186 mph into the wind. On the way back to Amsterdam, Jeroen and I agreed that we'd had a great start to the day and he gushed about the NSX, saying it felt more stable at 186mph than his BMW did at 150. What impressed me more, though, was how fast a street car can go on pump gas with a 3.0 liter naturally aspirated engine. Car has the following modifications: Engine: Comptech air box and foam air filter, extrudehoned intake manifold, Comptech ported and polished cylinder heads, milled for increased compression ratio (~10.6:1), Comptech modified high speed lobes on the camshafts, Comptech ceramic coated headers, HKS muffler, Autothority custom programmed engine management chip, Comptech high flow oil pump Transmission: Comptech aluminum flywheel, Comptech single plate clutch Suspension: TSW wheels with 215/45 ZR 16 and 245/40 ZR 17 tires, Eibach
springs, Cross drilled brake rotors (stock sizes, sourced from Comptech), Carbon kevlar
brake pads (sourced from Comptech), Notes: Tires inflated to 37 and 44 psi cold, Radio antenna retracted, Air conditioner turned off, air conditioner openings in nose of car closed off, traction control turned off (otherwise, instead of the traction control failure light coming on at 7550 rpm in fifth gear, the traction control becomes active and prevents further acceleration). Two people (~370 lbs) on board, fuel tank always more than halfway full. Sea level, flat, 63 degrees F, low pressure system dominating weather, wind from the southwest at unknown speed pretty much parallel to Autobahn." Do you have a photograph you'd like to submit as a possible Picture Of The Month? |
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