Thanks for the help retiring the wagon .

[Stav]

After a dismall night at wsid tonight I am stopping the mods on the wagon and seriously contemplating stopping the racing.

I have had a dream run with it. Not many people with an au can seriously say theyve pulled a 14.2 in a 280,000 km au wagon.

While I really wanted to go out with a 13 I have just decided that to get there will take alot more work and patience which tonight I have run out of. My advice to all would be to racers of the au six do not use caltex. I normally use bp ultimate. In my last week I used caltex 98 vortex and can honestly say that it has killed the cars power. The lifeless throttle response,dead low to mid range power is highly likely to it.Especially as it happened the same tiome I filled up. Air fuel ratios went haywire. Tonight was the first time since getting my first 15.19 that I felt such sluggish takeoff. I know now that apart from the mods that fuel is one of the biggest factors to a cars performance.

My 14.301 in 30 degree heat and then a few 14.2's in winter all on bp ultimate. Tonight stripped out interior my 60 footers were in the 2.1 range..very lifeless and dead as a door nail. Mph was at 96.Hardly 13 second territory.Et's were both 14.4's with minimal weight.Not that bad but not so great either. I know the car has a few issues .I will fix them up and tune the car for daily duties in my work/family life.

Id like to thank Jon Bays ,Casper,spoolman ,stiddy,chief and all the other great guys for their advice and help.

I have had alot of fun doing up the wagon and I have decided to retire it from racing. It could have possibly run a 13.9 or even a 14 but its not like a 13.9 that can be done every day so I it doesn't mean that much to me bar bragging rights.

Maybe I may change my mind in the future but that will depend on me finding a better combination that can run mid to low 13's and still be daily driven.

Casper and Hamo captured my imagination at a time when I believed that extractors would result in a no run for the ford...how far weve come

Tripower....you're still the king mate 14.226 vs the wagon 14.241. Wish I skipped breakfast that morning.

If I discover an ultimate combo for the wagon thats when I may run again. I was hoping to see some big mph out of it but it just didnt happen. If I decide to go further in future I may run if I feel the car is running spectacular but that is unlikely.

I will hang around to help people along and the mods too. Thank you all its terrific.
Stav

[GK]

Cheers Stav!

GK

[chief]

Stav it has been quite a journey and honored to help you out. You would have to be the most persistent AU owner out there bar none. I know your AU will still hold its own and that you will be forever tinkering with it.

I am sitting here at the computer trying to think of ways to get you into the 13s....

[Stav]

Originally Posted by chief

Stav it has been quite a journey and honored to help you out. You would have to be the most persistent AU owner out there bar none. I know your AU will still hold its own and that you will be forever tinkering with it.

I am sitting here at the computer trying to think of ways to get you into the 13s....

The help you and your boss Daniel gave me will always be remembered mate.You guys are very very good. As a pepped up bloke ..in the future the wagon may be deregistered and made a full race six cylinder au. But for now...I want to make it a tad quieter and tune for bit more ecnonomy.Its done its best up until now...poor thing..heheh.

[T3man]

Stav, all you gotta do to get a 13 is drop your diff ratio even further so your max speed at max revs in top gear is the speed you want to cross the line at - eg 100mph. OK, you aren't going to get fuel economy. In fact you won't be wanting to even drive the thing on the street BUT you will be the first to run sub14 secs in an AU 4.0l wagon I expect. Do it just for fun - then go back to your normal street diff heheheh.

[Stav]

T3 man...what I had planned for this season simply never got around to doing it. In the cards was a 4000 to 4500 stall converter. My 2500 stallie is way to small. The first au six to get a 13 will do it with an awesome 60 footer. I also wanted to run six throttle bodies. Unfortunately family commitments and offloading one of my houses took priority and its toll. I am going to get back on my feet and maybe if it feels amazing..give it a go. But it will be a fair while.

[Peuty]

Now call me crazy, but why stop racing altogether? Why not still go out there and have fun with it all? Seems you are taking it all a bit too seriously.

[Stav]

Originally Posted by Peuty

Now call me crazy, but why stop racing altogether? Why not still go out there and have fun with it all? Seems you are taking it all a bit too seriously.

I was a bit cranky last night when I posted. I will not totally discount going ever again.However it will be simply for fun on the rare occasion. I wont be chasing records anymore. As for mods...I will not do anymore to it but get what is there working properly.

I have looked back at last night and slowly gone through the contributing slowdown factors.

Number one is the caltex fuel..crap.
Number two...cooler thermostat.Guaranteed for your car to never reach its proper tune by staying in cold start mode too long and never running anything but too rich..

An exhaust leak.Sounds like its from my cat.
My walbro is noisy.I suspect it is not supply consistent flow.

I ported my throttle body and removed restrictions...it seems to have also made it a little slower. I am going to refit the old throttle body and a dodgey restrictive gasket asw as before.Also fiddling with the stoppers may have contributed to slower low down power.

Ill fix whats not right and as mentioned go out socially .

There were alot of people there last night and I managed 2 runs only. In any case the wagon felt shocking down low straight after the caltex fillup.
I pump bp in it and you feel the difference real quick.

Is still am sticking to say its retired. Even though I have left my option open to go some time down the track I dont think it will be for a long while.

I was setting goals and beating them every single time.There is only so fast a car will go.

[aye you]

so are you sticking to the Au or moving to another ford?

[Chamelion]

I don't mean to be rude mate, honestly I don't.. But I do need to voice my concern as a fellow wagon owner.. Don't spit the dummy over a couple of bad runs! If you want to give it up, fine, just don't do it for the wrong reason(s).

Matt.

[StealthAu]

I wouldn't worry to much about this, it isn't the first time Stav has posted a thread to this tune. Stav, your kidding yourself, you know you will still be trying to crack a 13 even if you aren't willing to admit it today, also if the main problem was dud fuel it wont take long or cost any more then usual expenses to resolve this for next time.

[Stav]

I'm definately not getting rid of the wagon. yes to this tune with family not really approving of it because of the speeds. This time its me taking it down a big notch. Brendan..I owe it to the car and myself to keep it as best as I can. I have not done any significant modifications for well over a year.Last power mod was the head,cam and openning the rear of my exhaust to 3 inch.

I got 170 rwkws on Croydon dyno and I expected a 14.4 or 14.3. It again had certain issues.Those solved and back to the track when I was challenged by a mate here in summer heat and scored a few 14.3's.
The 14.2 run was a bonus that I never really expected.This verifies that the car is pulling 160 to possibly 170 at the treads.

I am not dissapointed with the car..its awesome!! In the same breath I can also say that it I am happy for it to remain a 14.2 car as is for a while and in future to do whatever I want to do with it. Wsid is great fun but daily driving is normally the best!!

Last night my 60 footers let me down.Not wheelspin but no power there. I will sort this out pretty soon.

If I get a second wind of inspiration then I will only race when I believe the car will run 13's all day, every day.

[sly]

Stav you need to get Jonbays to take you for a drive in grandpa's Aurion to put the fire back in your belly...

But seriously a 14.2 sec I6 is an achievement to be proud of. They're typical times for an E49 Charger or Phase III HO when they were new. Both are a lot lighter, not burdened with emissions controls, and had serious factory money thrown at them to achieve that level of performance.

My wagon stock was already the quickest car I've ever owned. I'd cream myself (I suspect that when I get my project done it'll be coming from next door... ) to have something as quick as those icons which loomed large in my childhood... I'm old enough to remember Barry Seton manhandling a Falcon around Bathurst. But to achieve that bracket NA...

Stav, I salute you. IMHO you're a legend.

[Stav]

Your right...I orignally wanted something quick on the street. the au's have been called ugly,been passed by 4 cylinder egg beaters and so I set out to set the records straight. Not too shabby.If the wagon gets to a point where I think it will do the time I will run it. It has to prove itself to me first.That way I stop getting my hopes up high and putting too much pressure to make it perform.

Maybe the wagon needed some nasal erectile spray or something to get it to perform better? Maybe next time.heheh

[SpoolMan]

Go Stav, your enthusiasm for your wagon and the fun you have had with it has been great to watch…
Good luck with whatever you choose to play with next…

[eXi7w0unD]

throw a supercharger on it already. i dun really see the point of this n/a 6 doing under 14.

if u do achive it ull be a hero to us au owners but who else..? no one else would really care? and of the people that would follow in ur footsteps and do certain mods to their car like u did; theired only be a few of us.

*shrugs*

not bagging u out or nuthing. spose i just dont understand.

[Stav]

Originally Posted by eXi7w0unD

throw a supercharger on it already. i dun really see the point of this n/a 6 doing under 14.

if u do achive it ull be a hero to us au owners but who else..? no one else would really care? and of the people that would follow in ur footsteps and do certain mods to their car like u did; theired only be a few of us.

*shrugs*

not bagging u out or nuthing. spose i just dont understand.

Hehe ..I am a bloke who once did a google search and found this forum.. I really wanted to have this hobby as it was new to me and I wanted to learn whatever I could.I wanted to take it further.It wasnt about pleasing the crowd ..its just a testament to my commitment to push this puppy to do what it should have from factory.Scream!!

[eXi7w0unD]

well congrats then, have u taken out the back seats? lol maybe a few more lightweight mods will get ur <14

[Stav]

Originally Posted by eXi7w0unD

well congrats then, have u taken out the back seats? lol maybe a few more lightweight mods will get ur <14

Nar ..I felt criminal doing that last run stripped. Fact is it gives you a clearer view on the whole topic.

While people do strip out their cars and claim records on this forum like they've achieved alot , the fact remains that the car as is is not really fast enough. It doesnt matter who they are.Fact is that if we are going to brag that our cars are fastest and we strip them out then they are really not. The relevance to the vast majority of people who read the forum is to see who is the fastest. By weight stripping who really is the fastest? Heheh not even the guys with the records know.

[Stav]

Its been a week now ..its been time to think about what is next...what is next is the realisation that despite the setbacks,despite the dissappointments that I never give up until I reach my goals. Was I peeved last week...yes.Sometimes its easy to give up but it is these trials which make the desired results well worth it.

On the cards are several last round of mods which should see the car go quicker.

The wagon has a mystery illnesss at themoment and I suspect it is an airleak or valve lift or valve sealing issues. Well see.

[Mont5.0]

hope you work out the problems. Good luck

[Craig]

I am picking up my just purchased AU tomorrow Stav and will be looking for some hot times as I have a few "go fast" parts from Tri Power's 14.22 AU we played with about 18 months ago.

Looking forward to the challenge to be honest and will even bring it up to WSID and give ya a run. :

Cheers Craig

[Stav]

Originally Posted by Craig

I am picking up my just purchased AU tomorrow Stav and will be looking for some hot times as I have a few "go fast" parts from Tri Power's 14.22 AU we played with about 18 months ago.

Looking forward to the challenge to be honest and will even bring it up to WSID and give ya a run. :

Cheers Craig

Ive been waiting for you over here mate.hehehe

[FS5]

crikey stav ,whats going on mate one bad run with some dud fuel ....we all been there mate.
you can't retire it now your so close.
fill it up with ultimate from your regular servo and run it again.

96mph is still crackin mate...especialy in the wagon.

[Stav]

Originally Posted by FS5

crikey stav ,whats going on mate one bad run with some dud fuel ....we all been there mate.
you can't retire it now your so close.
fill it up with ultimate from your regular servo and run it again.

96mph is still crackin mate...especialy in the wagon.

Yes mate agreed.
Something else happened on the night that went down like unbeaten bbq octopus in my guts!! I want to keep it off a public forum so it stays off.


The car is definately crackin!! It will take alot lot more to stop me from reaching my goals. My knee jerk reaction was what I posted up top. I think this may be linked to my reaction times Why couldnt my brain react as fast
On another note..what was I thinking? I have done no mods to the car since last year.It is at its limits for the mods.It needs a bit more r&d . I am chasing more power in the next round of mods as a bigger stall converter may not be so great for the daily driver,