Performing testing on any new car can be a long and grueling process. If it’s a performance car the testing needs to be even more rigorous and GM decided to push things even further when testing its new top dog Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

At the Milford proving grounds in the States, Chevrolet engineers pushed the Camaro ZL1 around the track at high speeds for four hours per day over six days straight. That’s quite the work out for a production machine.

The tests were conducted in 40-minute segments, of which there were 36 sessions in total. Many brand new cars couldn’t hack a schedule like that, especially on a track which is designed to unsettle cars and push them to their limits. (more…)

New Zealand racing driver Matt Halliday is feeling confident after his recent testing with Jim Beam Racing in preparation for the Australian V8 Supercar Endurance races commencing this coming weekend. Halliday has been signed to drive in the high profile Phillip Island and Bathurst races where he will partner Aussie driver James Moffatt in their Jim Beam Ford Falcon FG.

The two day test was held at the Queensland Raceway last week and proved to be an excellent opportunity to become acquainted with the team and undertake several fast laps. This year will mark Halliday’s 7th appearance at Bathurst where his best performance has been 4th place overall and 1st Kiwi driver home last year.

“It’s been great coming back to Australia to do some serious testing and get a good feel for the Jim Beam car which performs very well. The team have been great in testing so we will be in with a shot for a strong result at both races if everything goes to plan” said Halliday from the Gold Coast earlier this week. (more…)

How sweet would it be to have a quarter mile drag strip behind your place of work? Pretty sweet, but ultimately very distracting. For American tuners Hennessey Performance Design a drag strip is part of their extensive premises and is used for all sorts of tyre-destroying shenanigans which they call testing.

This ‘testing’ has seen Hennessey take out its latest hard-tuned machine – the Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca. The supercharged engine of the Boss 302 pushes out 650 horsepower which is enough to take the pony car from 0-60 mph in just 3.9 seconds and on to a quarter mile time of 11.9 seconds. Not bad for a car rolling on stock tyres.

Hennessey had cameras to catch the testing action, check out the video below. (more…)

Testing of the new V8SuperTourer, which is due on New Zealand circuits in early in 2012, has gone according to plan and has generated support from Holden on both sides of the Tasman.

The new V8SuperTourer series utilises four-door touring cars built on a controlled race chassis powered by an all-alloy, 7-litre, fuel-injected engine. Racing starts in February next year with several of New Zealand’s leading V8 drivers having tested the Holden prototype race car. V8 Supercar star Greg Murphy, multiple NZV8 champions John McIntyre, Kayne Scott and Andy Booth are among those who have driven the car in testing and rate the race car highly.

One of the directors of V8SuperTourers Ltd, Wayne Anderson said, “The prototype has been essential in the early development of the cars the teams will race in this exciting new series, and it would not have been possible without the assistance of Holden who have supported the build of the car.” (more…)

Speedtech Motorsport have conducted a shootout test of the most popular over the radiator cold air intakes for a Holden/HSV LS engine.

Cold air intakes are a proven way of increasing power and torque in the LS engine and STM has conducted the tests on its VE SS Commodore test mule also known as ‘Project Pushrod’. This test machine was hooked up to a Dynapac dyno where its LS2 6.0-litre V8 engine could tell the story of which cold air intake offered the biggest power gains. Three tests were performed on each intake with the results averaged. The tested air intakes include products from VCM Suite, X-Air, Eastern Automotive and K&N.

Check out a video of the testing below and for a full write up of the results, click here to visit the STM website. (more…)

NASCAR moving to fuel injected engines? Whoa hold up, lets not be too hasty, fuel injection was only adopted by other racing series’ mere decades ago. It’s becoming a reality, NASCAR is moving out of the dark ages and this weekend’s Kentucky Speedway race will be the first test of fuel injection systems for the Sprint Cup cars. The shift to EFI will be completed for the 2012 season with all Sprint Cup cars using the technology.

Why has it taken this long? Well there has been plenty of opposition against fuel injection, since carburetors are fairly simple mechanical devices that don’t allow for easy manipulation of the rules. Fuel injection systems are much more complex and are easier to adjust both mechanically and electronically. The bottom line is that NASCAR has been avoiding fuel injection mainly to stop teams from cheating, or bending the rules to gain a slight advantage.

The fuel injection system components for NASCAR will be built by two suppliers, Freescale Semiconductor and McLaren Electronic Systems, and are built to identical specifications. (more…)

Kiwi V8 race driver Greg ‘Murph’ Murphy was impressed by the new V8SuperTourer after completing a full test session in the prototype of the car at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park last Friday (27 May).

“This was my first drive in the new car and it’s great! We’re definitely on the right track having a prototype for testing and we’re also on the right track with where this prototype will take us with the finished race cars when they get to New Zealand later in the year,” said the Melbourne-based wheelman.

“There are so many similarities to a V8 Supercar, but the V8SuperTourer is lighter. It’s got plenty of power; the chassis is great; it looks great and sounds great. The whole project is very exciting. There’s a little work to do, but the race car is a nice, simple, solid package. Everyone who has driven the car today is smiling – they just love it.”

Murphy officially confirmed on Friday that he would drive in the V8SuperTourer series when it kicks off in February next year, subject to there being no date clashes with his other racing commitments in V8Supercars in Australia. “It’s my intention to be on the starting grid in a VE Holden V8SuperTourer,” says Murphy.

There were wet on-track conditions last Friday but Murphy completed a solid test session as engineers monitored the car’s performance around the 2.8km Hampton Downs circuit. (more…)

The first serious test session with the new V8SuperTourer car took place at Hampton Downs last Friday (6 May). According to reports the new car handled itself well and is set up nicely for racing duties next season.

It was current NZV8 champion John McIntyre who completed the most laps during a full-on shakedown test of the new V8 race car, with fellow two-time NZV8 champion Andy Booth also enjoying a good stint behind the wheel.

In 92 laps on the 2.8km Hampton circuit, the prototype V8SuperTourer didn’t miss a beat.

“We had absolutely no major issues with the car,” said McIntyre. “This is one outstanding race car straight out of the box and we’ve had a really successful day.”

The prototype V8SuperTourer has only just been completed and previously had a 15 lap shakedown at very low speed at Hampton Downs last Tuesday.

McIntyre said, despite the very wet conditions early in the test session, it took just a few laps for him to feel very comfortable in the 7-litre V8-powered racer. “Within three laps at the most, I felt very confident in the car, confident enough to be reaching speeds of well over 200km/h, sliding the car and getting to grips with its handling.”

Between McIntyre and Booth, 92 laps of testing were completed. Various suspension adjustments were trialled to see the car’s reactions around the undulating Hampton course.

“The chassis and handling is very responsive and able to be fine-tuned to suit conditions and the driver. There was a dry line right at the end – just a little damp in places – and our last lap was 1 minute 7.2 seconds and there’s definitely a lot more pace yet to come. (more…)