Heathcote Park Test & Tune 02-02-2003

A quiet weekend at Heathcote before the upcoming 4, 6 and Rotary Nationals at Adelaide next week, there were a few quick rotors out for some last minute testing.

The majority of them were from Rotorworx, with Matt bringing his 'EZYTEN' 13BT 1300 up and now running a front mounted intercooler, the car was spinning the wheels past half track and while looking entertaining for spectators, it wasn't good for its times, with the car running a best time for the day of 10.38 @ 136mph, new slicks will be put on before Adelaide where its hoped that the car will break into the nine-second zone.

Another car that was hopeful of cracking the 9's was Marty's 'ETAV8' RX-4 Sedan. Back after a long break, the car runs a large turbo and Jerico 4-speed gearbox. It managed to run a personal best of 10.19 @ 140mph right off the trailer, but unfortunately on its second pass it 'ate' a diff and as you can see in the photo, totally destroyed the 9-inch. They are planning to repair the car in time for the Adelaide event.

Dave McPherson brought his record-holding untubbed 'TUFFR1' KE20 Corolla out and ran a 8.89 @ 153mph before a couple of low 9 passes.

The biggest news of the day was with Dalton Automotive who unveiled their new Series 6 RX-7 dragcar. Looking very slick with its all-black paintjob, the car was testing its launches and 60-foot times. It runs a huge single turbo with a methanol-fuelled 13B motor.

Rod McDonald's 'DRAGRX' RX-3 coupe, also from Dalton Automotive ran a best time of 9.61 @ 141mph.

There were a few other neat street rotors out including the blue RX-7 which ran into the high 11's, as well as the yellow RX-3.

The white Mitsubishi L300 van was probably the biggest surprise of the day when after a few passes it managed a best time of 10.83 @ 122mph, and also ran a few more times in the 10.8's. The van uses a decent shot of nitrous on its V8 motor.

For a list of dates for Heathcote Raceway for the rest of the year click here...

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