I went to V8TV to see the progress on Lou's Change today. While I was there, Kevin asked me if I would like to go along on a shake down run of the car they are taking to SEMA this year.
The car is called S71. It's a 1971 Cutlass S. It is beautiful. The quality of the build is excellent. The color really pops in the sun. At first glance, it looks like a really nicely restored car with a stockish interior and nice wheels. Closer inspection starts to realize goodies like big brake rotors and other tell tale signs of serious performance. Raisng the hood reveals a huge 75mm turbocharger and a humonguloid intercooler hidden behind the grill.
Out of respect for all the things I know Kevin is trying to get done before he leaves for SEMA, I was reluctant to accept his offer to go along but with a little coaxing from Kevin and Trevor I let the voice inside me that was saying HECK YES!! prevail. Boy am I glad I did. That car is simply amazing.
We idled away and down the road waiting for things to properly warm up. The car drives and rides like any perfectly restored 71 Cutlass S. No squeeks, no rattles, not too loud and not too quiet. You could ride in this car all day no problem. Hearing each other talk was easy even with the windows down.
Eventually we got to a rarely used country road that Kevin uses for his shake down runs. All the gauges were saying everything was ready for lift off and up to operating temperature.
He told me that around the next bend there would be a long straight stretch and he would show me how the car accelerates.......
Oh My Gosh!!
That car is Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde!
When he first put his foot in it the car started to accelerate as you would expect but then the "expected" acceleration turned into
unbelievable acceleration.
I don't know how to explain it exactly. I have a C6Z06 that accelerates with authority but this thing is very different. I would have to say the acceleration is more exponential than linear.
First you feel your back pushed against the seat. Then you can feel the seat being progressively compressed more and more as it just keeps pulling harder and harder. Things in your peripheal vision speed up and you get a kind of tunnel vision as they become more of a blur.
The long straight away was soon behind us and when Kevin lifted his foot the wastegate dumped its load making a very cool noise that sounded like surface to air missles launching.
Two words describe it: IN SANE!
I can't imagine how cool it is going to be for the owner of that car to literally blow someone in the weeds and when the job is done the wastegate will telegraph that "I'm done embarrasing you now" signal.
I now better understand why you Turbo fans are so into them.
Very Very Cool.
Here's a couple pics of that bad boy. For those of you lucky enough to be going to SEMA, I think it will be parked outside at the MagnaFlow display.
