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Introducing: The Meanest Looking Custom Built Skyline R34 GTR 1/7th Scale Remote Control RC Car

Passion, It's the thing that drives us to achieve. The push we feel to dare to dream something, ideal, and then manifest that vision into reality. For anyone who's ever fallen head over heels into an engine bay, or body work, or getting your car track ready, YOU KNOW that feeling that drives you to customize and make things as you feel they should be. Your intuition is second to none.  RC Car Skyline GTR R34 Custom Built Remote Control Car This GTR is no different from any of the other incredible cars featured on this site ( just look around; there's red ones , blue ones , silver ones , white ones , black ones ) - except for one, small, detail. - It's 1/7th the size! You wouldn't be able to fit inside it, but it still rips around like a GTR should, and is a whole lot of fun to drive I'm sure, and the customization on this build is phenomenal.  Nissan Skyline GTR RC Car Rear End Spotted on the RC sub, user XJuggernaut101 shared their build story with us of ho

R.I.P.S. FED Build Story RB30 Monster Turbo Engine Drag Racer

This is the story of the R.I.P.S. Dragster, The FED.


October 4, 2009...
We are almost ready to strip the dragster back to the bare frame for sandblasting and powder coating, the first meeting we can go to is in early September so we'll have to pull finger as there's still lots to do.


RB30 Drag racerThe engine is exactly as it came out of the world record holding RIPS 240z:
YouTube - RIPS 240z 7.86 177.4 Worlds quickest and fastest 240z and RB30

We'll be starting off gently in the highly competitive Competition dragster class in NZ where there are some very low 6 (almost 5 second), 230+ mph cars to race against.
Due to the size of our engine (180 cubic inch) initially, we'll have some start line time advantages which will get less during the year as we improve.

The goal for the first year is to run very low 7s (enough to claim the fastest RB in the world off the HKS 180sx) possibly do OK in the NZ Competition dragster championship and then move on to 6s and 200mph as our next goal if I'm still in one piece

We know the car will create alot of contrivercy due to its old school look and modern 6 cylinder, some of the old V8 boys will hate it for sure, but some of them are already being very supportive, possibly because they see us as no threat, that might change if we do well at the track though, time will tell...

This is how it was last time it raced with a blown alky big block, 6.6 @ 202mph:

Dragster start line
October 23, 2009...
Little update:
Frame is back from the powder coaters, place your bets as to its weight as a bare frame sitting there...
Drag car roll cage frame

Now the fun begins, I love this part of a build, putting everything we've made back into a nice clean frame.... 62kg as it sits there painted with nothing in it.

There's ALOT or parts to go into this build and every one has to be cleaned, painted, polished and installed with the correct new bolts, very time consuming indeed.

I'm really going to try and be ready for NOV 7-8th for a few gentle runs, goal of that day will be to feel it out and possibly go for the NZ record for the class we'll be in (9.02 for DD/D) from there we'll just wind her up as I feel comfortable and see what happens.

October 28, 2009...
Starting to take shape now, So many parts to prepare and install, its been alot of hours to get to this stage...
Racing accusump














Racing NOS Nitrous bottle


Racing Fire extinguisher

I'm starting to think we might just make it, we only have to have the trans built, paint all the body work, do the wiring, assemble the rest of the car with all its plumbing, install parachutes and make new release cables, sort out apholstry for the seat, install new belts etc etc, damn, we gunna be busy

October 29, 2009...
Bit more progress today:



The base of the seat, a padded insert is being done now

Beautiful link display, ignition switch, starter button, oil and alt lights

About 20kg right up front which will hopefully help keep the front down. (there's also lead sheet bolted between 2 steel plates under the round weights):

Powder coated alloy trays that go under the engine and trans

Hopefully this is easy to clean if any "mess" comes out of my race suit

Battery with a plug to enable an extra external battery between runs

1400hp RB30, had a full freshen up with new paint and polish only, no engine work has been done at all, its exactly as it came out of the 240z after 18 months of hard work, I'm not even changing the oil or spark plugs as I want to see how fast we can go with this old motor then do a fresh/better one if need be:Motor and trans will go in today then we can do all the plumbing and wiring.


RIPS RB30 Engine

Good Year Eagle Drag Racing Tires Slicks
Got traction??

Motor and trans will go in today then we can do all the plumbing and wiring...

November 1, 2009...
Update, she's nearly all in and just about ready for wiring...
After 2 full days of assembly I'm very happy with the outcome, should be running on tuesday/wedesday and looks like we'll make it for Saturday's 1st test session









November 2, 2009...
Fully enclosed body as per the pic of it with the V8 on the first page, we are going with a red/black scheme, probably pretty bright to start with but once all the sponser stickers go on hopefully it won't be too "loud" lol.

More progress today, seat padding, 5 point belts and G force pad behind head:
Wiring has begun for the engine:



Big thanks to Jason, Paul and Stu from Infomotive for sponsoring all the wiring. 
Here's Avon and Paul "nutting it out"
Link G4 ecu with all sorts of other equipment
Twin 220mph parachutes
November 4, 2009...
More Progress today...



All up around 8 meters long:




With this we have around 2hp per kg
November 6, 2009...
Not going today, got it all up and running, sounded great untill we spotted some trans fluid under the oil cooler, turns out there's a problem with the brand new trans and it was going way over pressure, blew the oil cooler end tanks out like balloons then sprung a leak, we are onto fixing it now,
To say I'm absolutly gutted is an under statement I tell ya......

November 7, 2009...
Trans has been stripped, stupid assembly fault found and we're 99% sure we have it sorted, its all back together, running, loaded up on the trailer and we may hit Meremere tomorrow for some gentle passes with any luck:






November 8, 2009...
Just got back from the strip.

I had to sit a new competition unlimited licence and have officials observe me doing a burnout, reversing and I was only allowed to soft launch and run to 1/2 track, I also had to deploy the chutes on the 3rd pass.

I'm pretty sure it was the 1st meet of the seaon for the track and it was super slippery, no prep or VHT etc so I was warned to take it very easy.

I had no idea what to expect so was very cautious, we turned the boost down to 17psi (wastegate pressure) and took it very carefully.

I passed all my licence tests within 3 x 1/2 track runs (10.1, 9.2 and a 9.3, all at around 125-130mph)) I was then allowed to run a little harder if I was comfortable.


On the 4th run still with 17psi (1st ever unrestricted pass for the car) it ran 1.21 60ft spinning the tyres hard, it got pretty nasty so I pedalled it and spun pretty much all the way to 1/2 track where it got all out of shape, I backed off and coasted through with an 8.8 @ 138mph which betters the current track record and NZ record for my class (current track record is 9.2 and current NZ record is 9.02)

To beat the record on my 1st ever proper pass in a rail was awesome, its sure very different to drive than the 240z and its going to take a lot of getting use to but we'll slowly chip away at it and see how it goes.


We will go back next weekend to a test and tune day and have another go, then the following meeting is the NZ Nationals which is a huge 2 day event, if we run under the current record and back it up at that meeting we'll be able to claim a record.

Oh, btw, its just on 300kg over minimum weight for my class which is a little more than I expected but it looks like we'll be ok even carrying all that extra weight.

Onwards and upwards.......

November 10, 2009...
We took the new FED to Meremere for licencing passes and 1 gentle test run.

The FED (Front Engined Dragster) has a fully water cooled, streetable RIPS RB30 in it, its the actual motor from the world record holding 240z, its been cleaned and re-painted only, we didn't even change the spark plugs or oil so this motor has done ALOT of hard work over the last 2 years.

I had to sit a new unlimited licence as it was a new type of car for me, On the licencing passes your not allowed much power off the line and you must coast past 1/2 track, I'd also never driven anything like this before so I was quite nervous and more than happy to take it very easy

Licencing passes:
10.1 @ 105.86mph
9.26 @ 123.56mph
9.25 @ 136.29mph

The track record for my class (DD/D) is 9.2 and the NZ record is 9.02 so we were pretty happy with the licencing passes.

I was then allowed to do a soft run and go further than 1/2 track if I was comfortable, I tried but it was real slippery and I got into trouble at just before 1/2 track, backed off and coasted through with an 8.87 @ 138.88mph

Here's some pix:







We can even drive it back from the runs
More testing this weekend then its on to the NZ Nationals (biggest 2 day drag meeting of the year) where I'll be put in with the big boys with their blown alky big block dragsters.


November 13, 2009...
Off for more testing on Sunday and we've found a couple of things we've changed that should help improve the handling (fingers crossed, lol)

I'd like to be able to run dead straight mid to low 8s before the Nationals in 2 weeks, here's hoping we sort it.



November 15, 2009...
We only got 1 run in at the test n tune before it rained
Our steering geometry changes seemed to have made a big difference, the car ran much straighter, still with alot of wheelspin and even with a lift off the throttle for well over a second at "the bump/shift point" at around the 150 meter mark, then gently back on the throttle, still at the same low boost as last weekend it ran a 1.1 60ft, 5.1 to 1/2 track @ just 124mph lol, and 8.4 @ 146mph, I was pretty happy with that.

We also did some testing on launch control and it seems we'll be able to get it working pretty well which is good news as it means we can run without NOS (and the penalty that comes with it) if we want to.

I'm pretty sure there'll be a video with sound on youtube later tonight, I'll link it if I find it.

I can't wait to get on an even better track and start winding it up.



Some more photos from Test n Tune:
Dragster Burn Out








Also a bit of Data that may be of interest, presuming a constant G for the first 60ft, 0-72mph in 1.1 seconds (average accelleration of 2.75G) no wonder I had a sore neck for the first time!


Starting the 2010 Season...

The FED is all set to go and we have put all new Link logos on the car.
We have had some teething problems with the CDI but Jase is pretty confident he is on top of it now. Our first test 'n tune is tomorrow so hopefully all is well and the car handles and sticks better with the new wings and larger rear wheels and tyres. We will be really pushing for a 6 this season.
I'll keep you posted and update you after each time we are out.
We are also displaying the car at NIZ Fest at Hampton Downs and Meremere and we may do some demonstration burnouts and/or 8th mile passes depending on weather etc.
We are also running a South Island round of the NZDRA series in December at Motueka so really looking forward to that.
Just a quick update about the weekend.
We went to Taupo for a test 'n tune and a niggly electrical problem caused a cut out on our first and second attempt at a run.
Back to the pits and luckily Jason found a setting in the laptop which needing changing and it appears the problem is gone.
With the motor sounding awesome again we went back out for another go. Beautiful big burnout to scuff in the new tyres and right before I was about to back out of the burnout, BANG and instant free revving (over 10,000rpm when it let go).
Early last year we had trouble with the transmission and all presumed it had broken again, we loaded up with our tails between our legs and headed home.
Luckily, with all the covers off, its turned out the locking ring on the coupler which is between the trans and diff had come lose and allowed the coupler to come out of the diff. Not really sure how that happened as I remember tightening it as I was showing one of my new guys how it all worked.
In any case, unfortunately we didn't get any good runs in but we plan to go to Meremere on Saturday for another test 'n tune and hopefully we'll have better luck.
The car is looking great and we are getting lots of positive comments on the way it is now. Lets hope the wings and new tyres work and we can chase that 6 second pass.


November 26, 2010... We had a great weekend at NIZFEST
We had a display at Hampton downs with the Dragster and the RIPS Borg (silver R33 GTR) which attracted a lot of attention.
I was lucky enough to be the first ever to drive a dragster around the Hampton Downs circuit and it was great fun, my lap times were down a bit but it sure was fun on the straights!!!
The FED had no problem maintaining 90deg water temps all the way around which proved it was a true street engine, I even stopped to lay a nice burnout on one of the straights where my cap blew off (big thanks to Mothers Polishers for giving me a new cap and some cleaning product!!!), hopefully someone got some good photos and we get to see them.
On Sunday we headed to Meremere for a fun drag day where the NIZFEST team had asked us to do some demonstration runs, we took the opportunity to find the niggly missfire we had previously had, and as hoped, it turned out to be a faulty crank trigger sensor, all sorted!!.
It was incredibly windy (around 30-40mph) and dead head on, the track wasn't prepped at all and it was very cold so good times were not on the cards.
With a gentle launch and on and off the power a little we managed a 7.7 @ 165mph so with a combined wind speed of around 200mph I'm happy to report the car was rock solid, very stable and it ran straight, looks like the wings and tyres are going to work well without the head wind at 180mph+.

December 1, 2010... RIPS FED makes the TOP 8 against Nitro and Top alcohol dragsters!!!
What an amazing weekend, I've never been so happy to lose a race!! Sound strange for me to say that, well here's why..........

We entered an open season, all in, up against ANYTHING drag meet on Sunday at Meremere where there were Nitro and Top Alcohol dragsters, Top door slammers and plenty of other SERIOUS cars in the field. My first qualifying run ended with an abort after wheel standing towards the left guard rail, the track wasn't there yet and lots of guys were having trouble.
We decided to go conservative, hope that others didn't de-tune enough and with any luck we'd get down the track and post a time good enough to make the top 8 shootout and others wouldn't............IT WORKED!!!!  We qualified No8 against the big boys!!! That in itself was a dream come true. I knew I'd probably get beaten but just the chance to race against these guys was something I'd wanted for a long time and to say I was nervous would be an understatement.
We added a bit more power and decided to try and cut good lights and get down the track straight and true and "hope" the other guy red lighted or had some other problem.

Once you were in the top 8 the races were run off an index basis, your PB (personal best) + 0.5 seconds, my PB is 7.26 so my dial in was 7.76, my first pairings PB was 6.46 so his dial in was 6.96 and he has to give me a head start based on that time difference.
I decided on a short burnout to get to the tree a.s.a.p to try and rush the other guy might also help. I cut a good light (.117 to his .194) and was on my way 0.8 seconds before him.
I can't describe the noise of having one of these things coming up behind you. I lost a lot of my sense of my own car - I couldn't hear it and it almost seemed like even if something was going wrong, I wouldn't know and I wouldn't lift. I was on auto pilot, foot hard to the floor all the way and he "just" caught and past me at the finish line, margin of victory to him of 0.177 (6.398 to my 7.452) but I was the happiest loser you have ever seen I tell ya!!!
2nd race went much the same but this time it was against a 5 second top alcohol dragster driven by one of the best in the business. I did the short burnout and up to stage as quick as possible tactic again but this time he cut a better light than me (his .078 to my .169). I had a 1.27 second head start and once again the noise and vibration of 3000hp bearing down was incredible. Once again I was caught and beaten to the finish line by 0.200 seconds and once again I didn't care (his 6.073 to my 7.452)! I'd had the 2 best races of my life and to even make the field against these guys was a big deal for the RIPS team.
We have found that the new wings are working too well, they are giving too much downforce and robbing us of ET and mph but the car runs straighter than it ever has so we'll de-tune the wings and get it back to the point where we have just enough downforce to get the job done and chase that 6.
Thanks again for your continued support. We are at Meremere again this weekend for the V8 V Jappa drag battle where we need to be running very low 7s to be competitive. Lets hope the weather/track is good and we can get enough wing out and enough power in to do well there.

December 6, 2010...  R.I.P.S. FED Wins at Drag Battle!

Another awesome weekend with Azhah and 4 & Rotary Promotions putting on a great event, the weather was great and there was a good sized crowd.

The concept was an open season event for V8s and Jappa's, 2-3 qualifying runs then everyone put into 6,7,8,9,10 second brackets based on your qualifying times with heads up racing to follow to find a winner in each bracket.
There were plenty of serious V8s in attendance with several of them capable of 6 and 7 second runs but the track didn't feel too good before the first round of qualifying so we felt baby steps were the order of the day and to finish first, first you must finish.
We took some rear wing out but left everything the same as the previous meetings last run of 7.45 @ 175mph and straight off the trailer with a gentle launch, we ran 7.35 @ 181.75mph. Super smooth and straight as a die, we had qualified No1 after the first round.
The V8 boys were struggling and I didn't hear any strong full track passes, instead a lot of misfiring and aborted runs.
Round 2 of qualifying:
We felt we still had too much rear wing so we took another 2 degrees out and gave the tune a tickle up so we would hit it harder to 1/2 track. We had a beautiful clean run although a little slippery at the end. It felt super strong to me but the timing lights didn't work!!!  We were gutted because we knew it was a beauty.
The V8 boys were having trouble with reliability, broken transmissions, oil downs etc and after round 2 our first run still had us in the No1 qualifying spot.
 Round 3 of qualifying:
The V8 boys were starting to get on top of the track and their cars and I heard a couple of clean strong runs.
We put a little rear wing back in but left everything else the same so we could get a time to try and keep our No 1 qualifying spot. The car ran great, nice and straight, and we managed a 7.29 @ 296kph (185mph).
We checked the data of the run with no time slip, compared it to the 7.29 at 296kph and Jase is sure it was a 7.1 at over 300kph. It may well have been the world record run we needed to take the title off HKS Japan (7.18). Oh well, although gutted we didn't get the slip, at least we know its in the car and we will be able to do it again sometime.
One of the V8 boys ran a 6 so we qualified No 2 out of the whole field but were quickest in the 7 second bracket.
I'm not 100% sure what happened to the V8s in the 7 second bracket, maybe breakages, maybe none qualified in the 7s. It was an all Jappa 7 second bracket and we were paired against the Curren Brothers Rapid little RX2 in a best of 3 shootout.
There were delays while the track was cleaned after serious oil downs (both lanes on separate runs) and we were warned it was slippery out there. Also the wind had picked up so we decided to de-tune a little, try to cut good lights and do our best.
First of 3:
I red lit by 0.004 (left before the green light) and although we beat him to the finish line no problem, I handed the win to Brent Curren. :-(
Second of 3:
I decided to take it easy on the tree and just do what we knew the car could do consistently. I cut a slow light and ran a 7.43 to his 7.86 to take the win.  1 all.
Third round:
We decided to do the same again. We wanted the win bad and in all honesty, we needed the prize money so we could travel to Motueka this coming weekend. All went to plan although I got all out of shape just after 1/2 track and had to lift. I got back in it and "just" took the win with a 7.61.
Big thanks to Link for an ECU that is so easy to tune to track conditions, big thanks to Jase from Infomotive for working the laptop to make it all happen on the day and big thanks to my crew, sponsors and supporters. Without you all we simply couldn't be out there doing it.
Here is a video a friend took from the stands and I'll get our footage up on youtube a.s.a.p.
This coming weekend is the first round of the NZDRAchampionship series in Motueka where we hear the track is pretty "average" with very little run off. It should suit us though, as we are running the NZDRA series in EE/D without NOS and we have a 9.2 second record index to race against (we have already run 7s during testing in EE/D specification) so we will have a good advantage over the others, therefore no need to push very hard at the end of the track.

December 13, 2010... RIPS FED claims NZ record and secures substantial points lead after round 1 of the NZDRA series

What a fantastic weekend, lots of ups and downs but it ended up perfectly for us and we now have a serious points lead going into round 2 of the NZDRA series.

The Nelson and Motueka guys sure know how to make you feel welcome, its a beautiful place and it turned out to be a hot one. The goal of the trip was to get maximum points to start the series off well. We needed to claim 2 x NZ records and win the meeting to do so.It didn't all go to plan but the end result was actually better than we first thought.
Under normal circumstances there'd be a full field of cars, you'd qualify, get points based on where you qualified then race for points each round with 5 extra points on offer for claiming an ET and/or mph record. At first we were disappointed to find that only 2 cars had turned up for the Competition class of the series, as that usually would mean both guys get equal points for "appearing and qualifying" but due to the lack of a full field no more points are given as the "racing" doesn't actually happen.
We knew we were still eligible to claim an ET and mph record and the 5 points that comes with each during qualifying so we thought that was our best hope of getting at least 5 or 10 points over the other guy. We knew the track would be slippery so we took out as much power as possible and thought we'd still have enough to easily claim the NZ ET and mph record for EE/D which stands at 9.22 @ 137mph.
The other guy started his engine only to find it was history and he was out for the day. He didn't do a qualifying run so he now only gets 10 points for entering.
We went out for the first qualifying run, smoked the tyres, had lots of tyre shake and then a very slow accelerating car, something was seriously wrong! We ran through with a terrible 9. 7 @ 141mph. . . BUT we had now done a qualifying run and were entitled to another 60 points.
The 141mph was quicker than the current EE/D mph record but we could only claim it if we backed it up.In the mean time we found a big split in the inlet plenim which was quickly patched up with a length of wood, race tape and a motor cycle tie down - kiwi ingenuity at its best!! There was a serious problem with the torque converter in the trans which we think was caused by, or at least, unknown existing damage was compounded by the brutal tyre shake on the run.
A long story cut short . . . we went out, limped down the track and did another terrible 9.8 run at 144mph which was enough for the NZ mph record, claimed the points and very disappointingly our day was over due to no drive from the transmission.
Although gutted, once we started to think about it, we'd actually had a great day because "if" a full field had arrived we would have not been able to race anyway, THEY would have got all the points and we would have come home well behind in Series points.
Although no-one ever likes to see a competitor have problems, the fact the other guy who did arrive, did have problems, and didn't do a qualifying run it means we got a lot more points than him. So all in all, we left with a 85 points lead over everyone in our class and that is not going to be easy for them to catch back up.
We'll get the transmission fixed this week and be ready for our next meeting in Taupo early in the new year.
Thanks for your continued support and I'd like to take this opportunity to let everyone know we now have Rotorua Steel Structures Ltd as a new sponsor, it couldn't have come at a better time and we really appreciate the deal they put down for us,
Sorry about the quality of the newspaper article - it had to be cut up to fit on the scanner!
January 13, 2011... RIPS FED wins dragmasters pairing 3 - nil

Another great day at the drags although once again very hot and very slippery with track temps reaching 150 deg. (ideal temp for traction compound is 90-110). Dragmasters is an event where a team of Jap cars race against a team of V8s to decide an overall winning team, the Jap team has won it the last 2 years in a row and we were looking to make it 3 from 3.

The well known and quicker cars get issued a pairing before the event based on their previous best ETs but also on the day other cars can try to qualify to be in the Dragmasters team and the ones that don't can race in 9.90, 10.90,11.90,12.90 brackets and so on. Once they have done 2 qualifying passes the Jap cars and V8s are matched so as to give close heads up racing, its a great concept and brings in the crowds of loyal V8 and jap fans.
 At the last minute, I ended up being the Jap team captain as Glen Sucking couldn't make the event which was a real shame. About 5 or 6 pairs (including myself against a 7.4 second big block altered) had been pre-arranged and about another 6-7 Dragmasters team pairs were decided on the day based on qualifying times.
We knew it would be slippery so on our first qualifying run we set it pretty soft and with 3 lots of tyre shake and 3 pedals before 1/2 track (only 136mph @ 1/2 track) we managed a 7.65 @ 172mph. My paired competitor went up in smoke off the line and ran a 9 something.
2nd round of qualifying we took some more power out early on and added a little bit more up top, left pretty well (1.10 60ft) and got to 1/2 track OK with 147mph then it smoked the tyres at around 300 meters and we rolled through with a 7.55 @ just 165mph. My paired competitor went up in smoke off the line and ran a high 8 I believe.
After qualifying all the chosen Dragmasters pairs would have 3 heads up races, each win scoring a point for their team. It was clear the winner was going to be whoever could make it stick and be super smooth with power delivery, we knew we could run under 7.5 with less power than we had been trying to use so decided to detune even more and just go from A to B and smoothly as possible.
By now it was very hot and there'd been a problem with the timing gear, they took about 2 hours to try and sort it then came to us and said we can race but we won't get normal time slips, just a hand written slip with our own ET and MPH with no info for the other guy, I thought that was fine, as long as we knew who had won.

Round 1:
We both went up in smoke off the line and it was a pedal fest, I could hear him for a while but I kept coming on and off the power, gently feeding more in each time and managed to somehow get to the other end with a crazy slow 8.44 @ 175mph to take the win.
Round 2:
I got away "ok", he went up in smoke off the line again and although I had to pedal it 2 or 3 times I pulled a huge lead and took the win with a low 7.98 @ 166 mph.
Round 3:
He informed me he wasn't going to come back out and it had cooled off a bit so we decided to set the tune on "kill" and see what we could manage. Got off the line pretty well but about 50 meters out we got massive tyre shake and went up in smoke, I pedaled it, then gently got back into it and drifted a pair of black lines all the way for a 7.65 @ 176, what a ride!!
All in all a great day but unfortunately the Jap team as a whole were having serious traction problems and overall the V8 boys managed to get the job done better than us to take the V8 teams win.
  
I've got a fantastic crew and they all work hard each day racing all for a few beers, lots of laughs and some KFC, hahaha, massive thanks to all my sponsors and supporters. The next meet for us will be Jan 23rd if its not too hot, it looks like we have a lot of work to do to get that 7.19 record of HKS Japan and even more to try and get that 6, but nothing REALLY worth having comes easy.......



January 18, 2011... RIPS FED wins the Hell Pizza Summer Slam


What an incredible day and by FAR the hardest we have ever had to work for a win.

It was crazy hot (around 30 deg C outside and around 60 deg C in the car sitting on top of the trans and diff), we were at our highest altitude track in Taupo, it was slippery and we entered a DYO competition class with a 27 car field of very experienced, mostly V8, DYO racers.
1st round of qualifying smoked the tyres just before 1/2 track, got massive tyre shake, headed for the center line then the left hand wall, the most out of shape I have ever been in this car but managed to keep it together and roll through for a 8.09 @ 169mph.
When I pulled up at the end the engine was missing and popping. It turns out the tyre shake had thrown the fan belt off and the resultant low voltage was not enough for our new CDI ignition. Damn that tyre shake can be violent!! A very rushed replacement of the fan belt (not quick or easy to change in this car) and we were ready for round 2.
2nd round of qualifying went much better with a gentle launch and slippery 7.59 @ 171mph. With that we managed to qualify No1 out of the 27 car competition field but we would need to win 5 rounds to get the job done.






Round 1:
The other guy was a no show and we ran a 7.67 on a 7.50 dial in.
Round 2:
I had to give the other guy a 2.38 second head start and its so hard to watch a guy drive off for that long but I cut a good light (RT 0.021) caught him "just" before the finish and backed out, I was sure I had the win but the timeslip came up that I had run a -3.601 1/4 mile!!!! and it gave the win to him... After it was shown to be a timing error (turned out the timing blocks on my lane were miss aligned) it was agreed we needed a re-run.
Round 2, part 2:
My opponent changed his dial in time slightly and this time I had to give him 2.45 seconds head start, he drove off again while I watched, I cut another good light (RT 0.055) and didn't quite catch him, I thought I'd lost but it turned out he'd dialed in at 9.950 and ran a 9.895 so we took the win.
Round 3:
Due to qualifying No1 we got a bye run and just accepted the green for the win to help save time as the meeting was running well behind by now. It was now 6:54pm and we were through to the semi final, it was crazy hot and our trans still hadn't cooled down properly from the run before the bye. Despite that I presumed it would be OK and I dialed in at my usual 7.50, he dialed in at 10.75. I watched him drive off, cut a 0.123 light but it was very lazy off the line and I didn't quite catch up, I thought I'd lost but he broke out!! I ran a 7.834 and he ran a 10.727 (0.023 too quick)
Round 4:
The other guy was in a N/A big block coupe and was rearing to go because he knew we were having trans problems and needed time to cool down, we stalled them for 20 minutes and then headed for the start line.
I knew we were going to be slow and I knew we'd lost 3 10ths on the previous run due to heat so I decided to dial in real slow, hopefully catch the guy early, back right off and play the side by side game till a fraction before the finish line where I'd nail it again and hopefully beat him across the line with out breaking out. 
Round 5:
I dialed in at 8.10 and he dialed in at 10.05, he drove off, I cut a 0.102 light and was off after him, I caught him just after 1/2 track, backed right off, did the side by side and the last minute nail it thing and I crossed the line just ahead but I didn't know if I'd broken out (run quicker than my 8.10 dial in)
My crew at the finish line radioed my crew at the pit tower and we got the win with a 8.388 @ 133 mph to his 10.427 @ 135 mph, I was over the moon but almost passed out from the heat (the trans and diff I was sitting on top of were now at over 130 deg C and we had a 10 minute tow back to the pits).


That was by far the hardest and hottest days racing I have ever had with 8 runs needed to take the win, my crew Jason, Brad, Spook, Dan, Sheryl, Makaela, Paige, Annie and Ange worked very hard and all did a great job all day, it was such a team effort and simply not possible without all of them and all of my sponsors


January 30, 2011... RIPS FED RB30 Finally Expires


Well, I suppose it had to happen one day but unfortunatly "the old faithfull" failed due to a silly mistake following an unusual situation not an issue with the engine itself which is really gutting for us.

We'd done our usual warm up and 3 qualifying passes, (an 8.3 after somoking the tyres off the line, a 7.49 and a 7.48) all went well and the track was starting to heat up which ment we were going to lean on it a bit harder and try to get the times down some more.

The last qualifying run was at 12:59 and after we'd packed the chute and topped up the fuel we all settled into our chairs to wait for the call for the first round.

There was a lunch break and delays for some reason and time just flew by, without taking much notice it was soon 3:20 and we were told we'd be up in about 15 minutes.

We pushed the car up to our usual waiting spot about 20 meters from the start line and waited for the cars we knew would run before us to come out for their runs.

We'd usually have about an hour between runs and then we'd fire up the engine when there were 2 runs to go till ours, that gives us time to get some heat into the oil and coolant and for me to settle in and prepare for the run.

We didn't give it a second thought that there'd now been 2 1/2 hours go by since our last run and all of a sudden, out of the blue, we were called up to the line, we started the motor and I made my way to the burnout box while the guys wiped stones off the tyres.

I was on a bye run, running on my own, therefore no-one to wait for and I was given the go to do the burnout, I did the burnout and backed up as usual.

I came into stage, once again with no-one to wait for so it all happened pretty quick, come up on boost and left just as usual, it hooked up real nice and I felt I was on for a great run, about 150 meters out, all of a sudden I lost power and smoke started pouring from the exhaust, the motor was still running and I just presumed we'd blown the turbo, I kept coasting, presuming everything else was OK and then near the finish line my visor got covered with antifreeze and I couldn't see a thing, I ran through with an 8.8 @ 96mph still not knowing what had happened.
Once I'd slowed a little more I opened my visor so I could see and the safety guy at the end of the track was signaling me to pull left and shut down the motor, it was still running and I shut it down, pulled to the left and came to a stop as quick as I could.

I was still in the car and confused about what could have happened because I had antifreeze on the screen, on my helmet and on my race suit and there was no sign of oil as far as I could see but then the safety guy told me there was oil on my side deflectors in front of the rear tyres.

As we were towing back to the pits I saw the clean up crew on the track just after the finish line so we stopped and asked if they needed a hand, we were told to get the car to the pits in case we could fix it before the next round.

Once back at the pits and we found a hole in the side of the block and the undertrays and nappy full of oil and mangled parts we got the pit runner to radio the guys on the track to see if they needed us down there but were told it was all under control and not to bother comming down.

We were all scartching our heads as to what could have happened then it started to come together once we looked at the data.

My water temp was just 35c when I started the burnout and 60c at the start of the run, we had a sudden loss of oil pressure during the burnout and it was low during the run.

We have since found the oil filter had collapsed due to the oil being too cold and although there would have been 130-140psi going to the filter (instead of 80-90 when up to temp) we had MUCH less than we usually would have at the engine/crank during the run.

We were leaning on it pretty hard (2.5 bar boost) and the old girl just decided to throw No2 out the side.

Although gutted that we didn't get more heat into the motor to get the oil pressure down, it really has done a huge amount of work and given us over 3 years of trouble free racing with 100s and 100s of runs with a huge amount of them in the 7s, all with 2 oil changes, 1 set of spark plugs and a set of rings and bearings about 15 months ago.

Its also lucky we had big undertrays and a huge nappy because there was a real risk of fire and oil under the tyres.

I'll get pictures of the damage a.s.a.p but it looks very bad and I'm not sure how soon we are going to be able to fix it all.

Video from the race:

February 3, 2011... The Damage...
  








The FED Lives again!...
After our massive blow up 4 days ago on Sunday at Meremere where a rod came out the side of the block and caused massive damage to alot of expensive parts, I'm happy to say after countless hours we are all back together with a new motor made up of all sorts of used parts, hopefully it will do us proud on Sunday at the 2nd round of the NZDRA championship which we currently lead.



February 4, 2011... Testing new motor...
While giving the new motor some more running and load on Friday the 4th Feb 2011 before the Northern Nations we decided to test the Co2 injection we have on the turbine housing, with just 800psi and a small jet we are getting very promising results, looks like its going to work well.



February 6, 2011... Results!
What a week and what a weekend!!

Last Sunday night none of us would have ever imagined we'd have had a new engine in the car and be at the Northern Nationals, let alone winning it and claiming 2 NZ records to boot.

After a big blow up last weekend we worked hard and got a "bitza" motor together and were all in and running at 3pm on Thursday, we were "running in" the motor and testing Co2 injection on Friday, doing our usual prep and loading up on Saturday and racing on Sunday, I really have to thank all the guys who helped out, without all of them we'd never have made it.

We had the car all set up for EE/D which means we can't use Nitrous and the current NZ record for the class was 9.22.

On the way to the drags we set a goal of qualifying No1, winning the meeting and claming both the ET and mph records for EE/D as that would give us maximum points and a substantial lead in the NZDRA championship we were already leading after round 1.

Everything went exactly to plan, we ran 7.8s with a mild "run in tune" lol, we claimed max points after a great days racing and we were all absolutely over the moon.

Big thanks to Brett, Brad, Spook, Jason, Sheryl, Annie and all my sponsers and supporters, I have a great team and it really shows when the going gets tough.

Getting strapped in and confirming the game plan


WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WILL BE NO BEER AFTER?!!!


Fantastic feeling at the end of the day


getting pushed up to the winners circle


Accepting the trophy etc from Chris Tynan, the CEO of the NZDRA


Quite an emotional speech to thank "the boys"





The next meeting is this coming weekend, about 600 miles away in Christchurch, so thats going to be an interesting 6 days I'm sure.



February 22... Christchurch Earthquake, & a mixed bag at the 4 n rota south island champs
I'll keep it short and sweet as we are still getting to grips with what has happened in Christchurch since we left.

We put the FED on the Link G4 display at the car show and came away with some trophies which I was very surprised to get as there were some serious dedicated show cars on display: 






On the Sunday we went to the Ruapuna circuit to drag race on the back straight, we had no idea what to expect so
detuned as muchg as possible for the first run and netted a 7.6 @ 172mph.
The track was very smooth and flat and I was looking forward to another run but we found water in No2 cyl and now that I have the head off I have found the head gasket we used in our haste to get the motor back together for the last meeting was not up to the job, with very low power it gas axed its way from No2 cylinder to the water jacket, our day was over but we did still get the quickest time of the day.........

Warming Up
Almost ready for the first run of the day
Discussing our options........ we established we had none and had to just leave the car on display for the rest of the day, absolutly gutting after traveling all that way for just 7.6 seconds:


The culprit, an inferior type of head gasket which I will never use again
Masterton Series Rained out..March 2011


Unfortunately the Masterton round of the NZDRA series was cancelled due to rain. We were hoping to get some runs in to try and make up for the bad luck we had in Christchurch 3 weeks ago.

Although the meeting didn't go ahead there is a silver lining, we now have a points lead that can't be caught by anyone else in our class so with the Nationals next weekend being our last round we will go all out to get the HKS world record of 7.19 and we'll officially be 1NZ for competition division, something we have been working towards for just on 3 years.
Here's where the points stand now and max points per meet is approx. 140.
I thought rather than just have the FED parked up at the workshop, we'd get it on display at the newest specialised performance shop in Rotorua, SS Customs. Its a good spot for extra exposure for everyone and with RIPS and SS Customs working together on many up coming projects (including our new dragster), it was an ideal spot to display it for a few days. Big thanks to Peter for giving us such a high profile spot in his incredible showroom.
Our next meet is the Nationals on the 19th and 20th of March atMeremere so fingers crossed we get good weather and we can give our best shot at the world record. It would be an incredible way to end the season if we can be 1NZ and claim the long standing world record off HKS Japan,

Well the 2010/2011 drag season is over and we are now officially 1NZ, something we've been working towards for years. Its been a massive effort for RIPS, the crew, our families and we definitely couldn't have done it without the kind support of all our sponsors.



Celebrating the completion of a successful  2011 seasonThanks to:



Below is a list of some of the events we attended this season and our results:


  • Winner: WDRC Outlaw drags 2010
  • Winner: NIZFEST 2010 quickest/fastest car of the day at the drags and the first dragster to ever drive around Hampton Downs circuit.
  • Winner: Round 1 & 2 of the NZDRA series.
  • Winner: NZPC V NZV8 Drag battle in the 6.99-7.99 second bracket
  • Winner: Century batteries Northern Nationals 2011 
  • Winner: Hell Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival summer slam 2011
  • Winner: V 4nrota south island champs, best overall 6cyl vehicle
  • Winner  V 4nrota south island champs, best overall engine bay
  • Winner: V 4nrota south island champs, quickest car at the drags 
  • Winner: Mothers dragmasters 2011 pairing 3: NIL
  • Winner: Overall NZDRA championship for competition devision.
  • Round 3 of the NZDRA Series (rained off)
  • Runner up: Mothers dragmasters 2011 team
  • 4th: Fram Comp meet #1
  • NZDRA National Records x 5 this season.
  • NZDRA DD/D current record holder
  • NZDRA EE/D current record holder
  • Quickest Import of any kind running in NZ this season.
  • World record: Quickest and fastest RB30, 7.26 and 185mph
I believe we would have had the highest enter/win ratio of any drag car in NZ this season.

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