FST Willow Springs Straight Away

[aerosquadboy]

I run my FST car at Willow Springs (Big Willow) and the straight away coming out of turn 9 is long, fast and downhill. Do I need to watch RPM on that straight away or do I just mash the gas? Obviously RPM is right at the top of capability and I had a broken push rod the other day and was wondering if that was just normal wear and tear or over revving. Thoughts anyone?

[Doug FST 5]

How high are the rev’s getting? Also - what push rods are you running?

Doug FST 5

[aerosquadboy]

How high are the rev’s getting? Also - what push rods are you running?

Doug FST 5

I am running aluminum pushrods and I do not know what brand because they came with the car. I will be replacing all of them with the CB Performance HD Super Duty Aluminum ones. As far as RPM, my tach read 6700 which I think may be inaccurate. Once I get the new pushrods in, I will get the tach tested for accuracy and can get exact RPM for straight away. Whatever my top RPM is, do I need to back off and hold that or is it OK to just gas and let it slowly creep up?

[rgu]

Hi

Early on in FST we had a lot of stock aluminum pushrods break. Some builders switched to chrome moly pushrods but those were heavy required too much spring pressure. The CB's you got are known hold up as do the Mantons and the Smith Bros-all seem like the alloy and wall thickness are appropriate. Next question of course is the valve spring question. PM me and I'll go through the alternatives and valve seat pressure with you. You can find a list of parts quality discussions on our website. formulafirst.org

Regarding your tach:--While I'm told Willow is a very fast track, 6700 rpm seems a bit high if you were running alone. I would borrow another tach that is perceived as accurate. Just a guess on my part but 6200-6300 outside a draft might be a better expectation. I've even seen someone wire up a Garmin and read out MPH as a tach checker.

[Doug FST 5]

1) Verify and correct the engine configuration as necessary
2) Get a tach you can trust
3) Mash The Gas!

Oh, and have fun!

Doug FST 5

[aerosquadboy]

Hi

Early on in FST we had a lot of stock aluminum pushrods break. Some builders switched to chrome moly pushrods but those were heavy required too much spring pressure. The CB's you got are known hold up as do the Mantons and the Smith Bros-all seem like the alloy and wall thickness are appropriate. Next question of course is the valve spring question. PM me and I'll go through the alternatives and valve seat pressure with you. You can find a list of parts quality discussions on our website. formulafirst.org

Regarding your tach:--While I'm told Willow is a very fast track, 6700 rpm seems a bit high if you were running alone. I would borrow another tach that is perceived as accurate. Just a guess on my part but 6200-6300 outside a draft might be a better expectation. I've even seen someone wire up a Garmin and read out MPH as a tach checker.

Thanks so much for help. I will PM you after I get new PR's in.

[aerosquadboy]

1) Verify and correct the engine configuration as necessary
2) Get a tach you can trust
3) Mash The Gas!

Oh, and have fun!

Doug FST 5

It's rare in life that good advice is also advice you like! Gas will be mashed!

[Daryl DeArman]

Willow springs front straight is level (no more than 2 feet of elevation change) from exit of T9 to just past finish line.
It is uphill 37 feet from s/f line to apex of T1. Over the 2400 feet in length you are climbing uphill around 35 feet.

If you aren't running out of RPMS entering/apexing T8, you aren't going to run out of RPM going into T1.