How much power do our cars lose at altitude?
05-14-2002, 04:18 PM
#15
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I took my car up to Big Bear from LA on Sunday(7000ft).... I noticed some difference
but nothing that couldn't be dealt with. I was still passing fools left and right. On the way down I had two adult passengers, a $7,000 downhill bike and equipment. A last generation Supra Turbo and I got stuck behind a trailer for a few turns which gave me ample time to scope this guys ride out. Mostly it just looked like exhaust work. We come up on a passing lane and he nailed it, while I mildly got on the throttle since I had one passenger(girlfriend)who would get squeemish. Anyway, his car made A LOT OF nice sounds, and really went nowhere. I was with him to the next corner and he was trying hard because the passing lane was going to shut down. I slowed early, he barely made it past the next car and overcooked the turn. I took my time and got around the Honda Civic and then fooled around with him some more. Mostly just to annoy him. All in all, I think his car took the bigger hit at altitude as well as that thing being a heavy b**tch.
05-14-2002, 04:44 PM
#16
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Turbo cars are not heavily effected by altitude as N/A cars are.
If you stay for the summer, we will goto LACR which is 2900ft above sea level, we will also goto Carlsbad which is 600 ft above sea level. The ifference between the two tracks range from 5-9 tenth of a second. Palmdale (LACR) sucks, desert air, and heat.
05-14-2002, 04:48 PM
#17
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S4Irish and I had some fun with a Mustang SVT at about 9500 ft at S-Car Nationals up to Estes Park
Pulled on him everytime...n/a at altitude....no chance.
Had the car over 12,000 feet at the top of Loveland Pass...felt fine...but wasnt really pushing it. But in short..ya you are going to lose power at altitude..but hey...our cars need 02 to run... ;-)
And in fact at about 5500 feet in the 1/4 Mile...most cars are about 1 second slower then at Sea Level...go to Bandimere Speedway ;-)
Had the car over 12,000 feet at the top of Loveland Pass...felt fine...but wasnt really pushing it. But in short..ya you are going to lose power at altitude..but hey...our cars need 02 to run... ;-)
And in fact at about 5500 feet in the 1/4 Mile...most cars are about 1 second slower then at Sea Level...go to Bandimere Speedway ;-)
05-14-2002, 04:58 PM
#19
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Ha, an SVT at this altitude? I'm not impressed!
A friend with a Cobra runs a 14.2 at PMI and he has some minor mods done. A chipped S4 would run him into the ground, easy 
