We need to talk...

..about serious stuff that matters. Face to face. About things like Superchargers, Turbochargers and Landspeed racing.

If you'er a car guy or girl in need of therapy and a couch. Then we're ready. You've found what you're looking for.

Come to Kalkbruksgatan 2 tomorrow and we'll be there to support good discussions during the Ringödagens Swap Meet.

Besides. Mercedes C63 Magnuson kit is on sale. How about that?  

White Salt, Blue Skies, Black Mountains and Good friends.

Contrasts. That's what it's all about at Bonneville Salt Flats. Hot days and cool nights. Colorful race cars on the white salt under the blue skies. Deadly strict safety applied by socially skilled inspectors. Tough environment conditions endured by humans with a crave for speed and an unspoken understanding of what mother nature could create at places like this at any time.

Teams on low budget next to million dollar +400mph masters.  

Magic? Engineers and mechanics don't believe in Mumbo Jumbo. They want fact's and figures. Our brains are wired that way. But still...even a sane brain sometimes get poetic.

Green on a salt surface of dreams.

Motorcycle racer seconds before the throttle opens up.

Green grace.

 Analysis and Team Sprit. Combined.

Rick-The-Car-Fixer being celebrated at the fantastic, no thills, Salt Flat Café in Wendover. 

Rick just before his +200mph run on which the engine blow.

Because we love turbos and boost pressure.

Peace. The Desert silent after a roaring race just before the push car arrives.

A moment of relief that no coach of any kind can supply.     

The Aftermath.

We're still in US and we're still walking on clouds, after our achievement at Bonneville Speed Week. While we've been reversing the practical stuff, we've been thinking and we've been talking. Talking about everything that we've experienced and learned so far within land speed racing.

Here's a summary; Our Amazon has a potential to be really fast. How fast? Nobody knows. The car seams to be durable. Nothing broke after 15 races!

But we do need a new calibration with the correct race fuel that is available at Bonneville Speed Week. That will be done in L.A during autumn 2018. Seams doable.

The chassis is better than excepted and then engine has a lot of power. The car is significantly better than when we made our first Rookie Run at El Mirage 2017. New boost control, perfect corner weight, 40/60 weight balance front/rear and not the least more weight makes the car much more stable at speed.

We've learned to cope the strange feeling that comes with driving fast on salt and dirt. The initial fear is gone. Which means that we've got Salt Fever and will aim for the record. We have almost completed all certifications that we need to go for the record.

No more salt anywhere and adjustment done; new spark plugs & cables, new oil...Our Amazon is waiting for the winter rest. This is he final picture before we left Erik's and Ruth's place. And yes, cars were smaller in the 60-ties.

The race is over for this time. At this point it's was time for a cold beer and some reflection together with other racers.

We left Bonneville Salt Flats in a salt storm. A new experience which made us wrap up things fast.

Again, we'll be back. Revitalized. And fast.

Salt Fever.

There are moments in life which you tend to remember. Here's one. The laptop sits safely on a Dodge SRT 6.4 hood, the moonlight lights up the proud team while a train is howling restlessly through the night.

Proud team?  Yes, the team is proud. Because we've completed 15 runs (!) at Bonneville Speed Week with our mean green machine and all team members managed to reach Category C Competition License level. Which means that we can exceed 175mph 

Was that all? Nope. Magnus reached to Catagory B which means that he's ready to aim for the record.

How about that for an evening in Wells, Nevada?

The Team in stormy weather on salty ground. Inner peace arrives.

The team where it counts to be.

We'll be back.

Salt and Speed is addictive.



We're at Bonneville Speed Week! The Race is on!

We're racing. The short dark nights are cool, but the long days are hotter than hell. We're at the end of the rainbow. We're at Bonneville Speed Week with our Salt Slush Amazon! Here's a short status report before I need to sleep dreamlessly for some hours.

 

The Amazon is now approved at both El Mirage and Bonneville!  

Morning in at The Salt Flats. Approved. Ready. 

Catrine & Carina are ready too. 

Race cars must be towed when sailing on the salt. We're heading to the start line 4. Temperature is raising.

 

Karl-Johan is not freezing at this point. It's 38deg C outside. Luckily he has his 5 layer race suit and helmet on... 

Tensions released! Kalle is happy as can be after a successful Rookie race. Next step awaits. 

No glory without pain. While the race car works fine, the starter motor in our Suburban gave up today. On the Salt when the Burb was working as push car. But, with support from the amazing Carrillo Brother Auto Service in East Wendover I managed to get the Burb towed and repaired in 4 hours. On a Sunday. Won't happen in Sweden. Ever. Thanks!!

Summary: We managed to complete 3 successful Rookie runs today at Bonneville and fix a broken Chevy Suburban.

We'd better call it a day and get going with some more racing tomorrow!

United in the palm shadow. The team and The Amazon. Day 5 in US

We haven't seen our race car since May when we test drove it at El Mirage after Erik and ourselves had tuned the weight, chassi and engine calibration. Therefore it's nice to meet again in the hot shadow outside Erik's workshop in L.A.

 

Now, when the whole team has gathered in L.A, we need a couple of days to make tick in all the box on our to do list. We need to get our race gear, preparing the race car with the last details and fill our Suburban with equipment needed for Bonneville. Then drive for a couple of days. Vacation is definitely over. The fun begins.

Anders has already learned to work in 35 degC /95 degF 

A big tachometer is now installed. 

The Borg Warner EFR 9180 turbo has got a cover in order to keep engine bay cooler and the paint on the hood ok... 

 

Dry, cool and marked for life. Things are getting better. Day 3 in the US of A.

After trouble comes peace. At least temporary. Our Suburban has got a new Thermostat, a new Coolant pump and new hoses and is now it's sealed and dry. Moves majestic.

We're touring around in So Cal, while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive in US. Step by step we're heading towards the Amazon and Bonneville.

The Burb runs fine, but something was still missing…

 

From good to great.

Other than that? Carina finally had a Martini at Musso & Franks.

 

Dreaming is over, we're in the brutal reality. Day 1 in US...

Before we left Sweden, Carina stated; 

-We'll be spending the first two days working on the old big block Burb.

I ignorde her negativism and gave our the team Cassandra a realistic answer;

- Don't you worry, it ran perfectly when we parked it. In April...         

So here we are outside Magnuson Superchargers in California. Anders and I are investigating...a minor water leakage...  

One hour later. Anders and I are changing a water hose.  Yes, Carina took the picture.

1.5 hour later. We managed go change the hose, just to realize that it was the coolant pump that was leaking and not the hose. We left the Burb at Pep Boy Service station in Ventura and went to our hotel. We'll pick it up on Thursday. Hopefully sealed and dry. Yes, Carina took the picture.