INVADER - Nitro Slash drag car

[johnnydmd]

After all of the weight loss, the car weighed in at 5.83 lbs. That was nearly .6 lbs of weight shed! I even found some CF beadlock rings to replace the heavier alloy ones. Not a huge loss there (8gs) but it's rotating mass.

Got some orange anodized bolts coming in to replace the black ones, should look pretty dope.

We had 57 deg day on Saturday, so I took this car out for some testing. Got some full passes in, though still a little cool for really slamming it. Ran a bunch with and without nitrous.

The car was no question much faster with all the of the weight off. The weight loss in the rear was greater than in the front, plus with limited traction, so it seemed a little more balanced and didn't ride the bar too badly on the hit - though it came up as the car's momentum built.

I first started using the nitrous using the button on the grip, holding it in for the boost. I found this a little difficult actually. I also noticed I was only using about half of what was in the chamber. So, I decided to switch the activation to a toggle instead. Much better, just hit it and forget it, let it ride through the hit.

The difference in power was very noticeable. When I hit the nitrous, the car really got loose, and I had to get out of it. I tried a couple of times hitting it right off the start, and that resulted in aborted runs because the car was sideways, so I started hitting it at about 15 feet, and that seemed to stay reasonably hooked up a couple of times. I can't wait to try this on an 80 deg day. I did manage a couple of really good hits though, but the sun was starting to drop and the temps with it rapidly, so I didn't get to try different boost levels, etc.

 

[Chubaka]

I want to see you build a nitro moster truck with nitrous. Bet a 3 speed savage would fly with the high speed 3rd gear.

 

[Doom!]

Sounds like next season you might be able to pick up some of the ground you lost this season.

 

[johnnydmd]

Sounds like next season you might be able to pick up some of the ground you lost this season.

Maybe Couple of the other guys on the team want the systems too...

I want to see you build a nitro moster truck with nitrous. Bet a 3 speed savage would fly with the high speed 3rd gear.

I don't think nitrous is a good application on something like that for the reason that I think it'll just burn the engine up. Nitrous Express and RB Innovations make nitrous systems that were used on MT's, throttle activated type. Lotta burnt glow plugs from those, from what I've heard. To me it's an ok thing to have in a drag car because it's never getting hot enough or used enough to generate a ton of heat.

 

[luke66]

i gotta find a nitro slash to build one of these

 

[Grizz03]

@johnnydmd That nitrous setup is slick!
Have you ever tach'd your engine (recorded RPM's). It would be interesting to see the quick jump in RPM's with and without using Nitrous.

 

[johnnydmd]

@johnnydmd That nitrous setup is slick!
Have you ever tach'd your engine (recorded RPM's). It would be interesting to see the quick jump in RPM's with and without using Nitrous.

I haven't, but my offseason plans include buying a mini dyno, so I'm going to have some pretty good, real-time data for sure.

 

[johnnydmd]

Here are some pics of it. With the wheel ring change, it's 5.78 lbs now. If we get another warm day I'll try to post some videos, and this time not crash my drone. LOL.

One thing I could do is cut down the cooling head, but I really don't like how sensitive the engine becomes to mild temp changes and keeping it tuned, plus I can't use my little portable engine heater without a tall head. I think it's probably light enough now anyway.

 

[ahr43]

Great build johnny. Love the coil-style front wheels. Ran an AL pair that design up front on my rail and am running JC nylon coils on one of my cars now. One note of caution on coils, though. Stay away from banging the track side boards if you can. Coils will take a bend easily doing that.

Mini-dyno on the bench sounds good. Anxious to see that set up. Keep on keepin on. . .

Cheers. 'AC'

 

[johnnydmd]

Great build johnny. Love the coil-style front wheels. Ran an AL pair that design up front on my rail and am running JC nylon coils on one of my cars now. One note of caution on coils, though. Stay away from banging the track side boards if you can. Coils will take a bend easily doing that.

Mini-dyno on the bench sounds good. Anxious to see that set up. Keep on keepin on. . .

Cheers. 'AC'

Yup, definitely those front wheels are light, though I have wrecked a few times and they survived while the ones in the rear got demolished. Lucky I guess!

I'm thinking of ordering another cooling head and cutting the top half off. I don't want to cut it all the way down because I've noticed when doing that the slightest temp changes alter the tune too much. That head is massive for sure, I don't think I need all of it for drag racing. Will be easier to warm up with a smaller one too.

 

[Lukedavis]

Dude, This build is fricken sick!

 

[johnnydmd]

I wound up cutting the head down (had a spare just in case it didn't work). I only cut half of it off. After talking with some nitro-heads that was a suggestion to try first.

It still ran well and held its tune, even on a rather chilly 45-degree day. I was working with the OG Invader car to get that one correct with shift points, etc., so I took this car along to play with once I got done with the Vette. I was making some pretty good hits with both cars (I did a lot of weight loss stuff on the other car as well), very surprising though I was using tire warmers, and doing long, long burnouts. Both cars were running like scalded dogs - even without the nitrous. I did a couple of hits with the nitrous and quickly saw that wasn't a good idea as the car got loose, so I called it a day. Both cars are bump-start now.

All of my car's engines except Invader 2 are broken down and stored in bags/boxes for the Winter. For I2, I'm getting ready to do a bearing job for some more "free" power. Then I'll put it away too. I finally got a nice bearing tool. No more using wood dowels!

 

[Doom!]

I wound up cutting the head down (had a spare just in case it didn't work). I only cut half of it off. After talking with some nitro-heads that was a suggestion to try first.
View attachment 177848

It still ran well and held its tune, even on a rather chilly 45-degree day. I was working with the OG Invader car to get that one correct with shift points, etc., so I took this car along to play with once I got done with the Vette. I was making some pretty good hits with both cars (I did a lot of weight loss stuff on the other car as well), very surprising though I was using tire warmers, and doing long, long burnouts. Both cars were running like scalded dogs - even without the nitrous. I did a couple of hits with the nitrous and quickly saw that wasn't a good idea as the car got loose, so I called it a day. Both cars are bump-start now.

All of my car's engines except Invader 2 are broken down and stored in bags/boxes for the Winter. For I2, I'm getting ready to do a bearing job for some more "free" power. Then I'll put it away too. I finally got a nice bearing tool. No more using wood dowels!

View attachment 177849

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! Bearing tool looks nice.

 

[Greywolf74]

I wound up cutting the head down (had a spare just in case it didn't work). I only cut half of it off. After talking with some nitro-heads that was a suggestion to try first.
View attachment 177848

It still ran well and held its tune, even on a rather chilly 45-degree day. I was working with the OG Invader car to get that one correct with shift points, etc., so I took this car along to play with once I got done with the Vette. I was making some pretty good hits with both cars (I did a lot of weight loss stuff on the other car as well), very surprising though I was using tire warmers, and doing long, long burnouts. Both cars were running like scalded dogs - even without the nitrous. I did a couple of hits with the nitrous and quickly saw that wasn't a good idea as the car got loose, so I called it a day. Both cars are bump-start now.

All of my car's engines except Invader 2 are broken down and stored in bags/boxes for the Winter. For I2, I'm getting ready to do a bearing job for some more "free" power. Then I'll put it away too. I finally got a nice bearing tool. No more using wood dowels!

View attachment 177849

Where did you pick up that nice bearing tool? i wouldnt mid getting one myself.

 

[johnnydmd]

Where did you pick up that nice bearing tool? i wouldnt mid getting one myself.

Got it at AMain, think it was only like 87 dollars. Total bargain. Used it last night, it's awesome!

 

[johnnydmd]

Got some testing in on Saturday, as it was 45-47 degrees. No sun though, so still a bit dodgey. Packed the truck up and headed to my test spot, one last test with the ceramic bearings in.

Used the black body out of thinking I don't want to demolish one of my good green ones. I knew that this wasn't the best idea, but we are about to get doused with Winter here real soon apparently, so figured one last try to see what it can do and get some video. Conditions last time were about the same, and I had some traction issues, so my hopes weren't real high.

Figured I'd take a pic in case I wrecked it.

The car is a pretty far cry from the original, 2019 version! (bottom car was 6.7 lbs, with a small block and plastic gears vs 5.9 for the big block, steel geared car on top that has twice the HP!)

No wrecks, this was after two passes, car intact!

So, two hits, and they were both full passes, though I did have to get out of it at about 110-120 feet and coast to the 132 mark, but still going by the video time, these were right at about 2.0 seconds. The car started pulling right, which was probably due to losing traction when the car hits the peak power band. Doesn't help that it's riding the bar pretty much the whole run too (I do have the bar set really low, so the front wheels aren't too far up, but still had no steering). Thinking I should have used the green body because the wing on that body has way more downforce. Might have at least stayed planted.

 

[Doom!]

Glad to hear there were no casualties. Kinda cool seeing the before and after shots. Much has changed.

 

[johnnydmd]

Glad to hear there were no casualties. Kinda cool seeing the before and after shots. Much has changed.

What's really crazy is that parts from that original car are now used in four different cars!

 

[ahr43]

Outstanding run. Two thumbs up. Twice.

Come spring when the blacktop warms, bet she'll be cranking out some 1.90s. 'AC'

 

[johnnydmd]

Come spring when the blacktop warms, bet she'll be cranking out some 1.90s. 'AC'

I put the engine back together over the weekend and fired it up in my garage. Wanted to test out the big nitrous bottle. (pic from another post here)

It's double the size of the little one, which definitely worked but after seeing how much that .12 jumped in power with the little one, I figured the .30 needed a larger shot. I did a few tests to see how the engine reacted with it just sitting there idling. With the little bottle, the RPMS would just jump up. Testing with the big one, it's hard to explain, but the RPMS do surge, but it's a different sound altogether, kind of what I hear with the .12 and the small bottle. So, I think I was on to something.

I put the body on and charged the nitrous up to 70 PSI for a little test in front of the house. It was only 45 deg and the wind was picking up and temps dropping, so I didn't figure driving out to my usual spot would be a good idea since it's usually much windier there. Did a quick launch test, hitting nitrous at 10 ft. Good freaking lord Maybe one day I put these things on a dyno to find out just how much more power it's throwing down, but I can say, it's definitely a LOT.

I don't have video, but we have warm temps on the way, I should have something this week.