The fast 164 at Willow Springs

[djbender@domain.elided]

     I drove one of the GTVs that Charlie Theriot beat with his stock 164 
     at Willow Springs last weekend.  Let me make a couple of comments.
     
     Charlie ended up second in Class D, with a 1:49 or so.  First place 
     went to Mark Hesthal in a well-modified Alfetta GT.  Mark has been 
     dominating the class for the past year or so when his car runs right.  
     Mark had a 1:48 point something.  
     
     The more heavily modified GTVs and GTV6s are in Class C and the 
     winning time there was 1:41 or so.
     
     My 74 GTV has a stock engine (Euro cams but otherwise stock), heavy 
     duty springs and sway bar, adjustable upper arms, and Yokohama A008R 
     tires.  Pretty much par for the course in Class D.  I ended up fourth 
     with a 1:51.9.  Third place went to Randall Higa with 1:51 flat or so.
     
     Randall has been doing this for quite a while, and I have been doing 
     it for 3 years.  But I was kind of rusty at Willow.  Randall's car is 
     closer to stock than mine, and his engine is a little tired.
     
     So yes, Charlie's excellent driving was worth a few seconds over me 
     for sure and maybe a little over Randall.
     
     But the other thing to keep in mind is that Willow Springs is a very 
     fast track, favoring high-horsepower cars.  This is one track where 
     164s and GTV6s can do well.  Charlie blasted by me on the front 
     straight coming out of Turn 9 in practice...his superior line in Turn 
     9 (which I am still "working on") combined with more horsepower caused 
     him to have much more speed down the straight.
     
     AROSC uses a point-based classification system to keep competitive 
     cars in the same class.  For example, a 2-liter GTV starts at 164 
     points.  You can go to 200 points and still be in Class D.  My car is 
     right there at 199 or so.  Tires use most of my points...19 points for 
     6" wheels, 60 profile tires, and soft compound.  The rest of the 
     points are for springs, swaybars, etc.
     
     A base 164 with street tires starts at somewhere between of 190 and 
     200 points.  So you can't do much to a 164 if you want to be in Class 
     D.  And rightly so.  It is a powerful, fast, good-handling car in 
     stock form, considerably faster in stock form than a stock 4-cylinder 
     car from 20 years earlier.  As you can see from the results, some 
     judicious suspension and tire modifications make the earlier 
     4-cylinder cars about as fast as a 164.
     
     But having said that, some tracks will favor the 164 more than others. 
     Willow Springs probably most of all.  Laguna Seca probably least.  Our 
     next event is at Buttonwillow, which has a couple of fast sections but 
     lots of turns as well.  We'll get another data point there if Charlie 
     brings the 164 again.  The other 164 that regularly comes if Phyllis 
     Gaylard...and hers is a 164Q.  She ran it at Laguna Seca and didn't do 
     terribly well but if whe ran it at Willow Springs I would expect her 
     to be right there in the pack.
     
     Doug Bender

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