SPECIAL: Infiniti Pursues Land Speed Record
3 August 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Detrich to Drive Infiniti Q45 Powered by Indy V8 at Bonneville Speed Week
GARDENA, Calif.-- Did you ever wonder what would happen if you put a 650-horsepower Infiniti Indy V8 racing engine in a production Infiniti Q45?
Well, Infiniti Motorsports manager Frank Honsowetz was curious about the idea, and enlisted the support of racing enthusiast Larry Detrich to build this hybrid. After a year of preparation, this modified performance luxury sedan is ready to race. Its proving ground: the salt flats of Northwestern Utah, where Detrich will drive the car, campaigning for a land-speed record at the 2000 Bonneville Speed Week, Aug. 12 to 18.
"When people ask me, 'why are you doing this,' my answer is why wouldn't we do this," said Honsowetz. "The Infiniti Indy V8 is the big brother of the engine found in a Q45. We want to see what the car can do with this racing engine. I think it would be pretty exciting to see an Infiniti Q45 go close to the same top speed as an Indy car."
The project started more than a year ago, when Larry Detrich, 59, a longtime SCCA club racer, had dinner with Indy racer Lyn St. James and her husband, Roger Lessman. The topic of dinner conversation eventually turned to land speed racing, a lifelong passion of Lessman's.
Detrich was thrilled with the thought of racing on the historical salt flats and getting his name in the record books. St. James, a former Infiniti Indy driver, and Lessman suggested contacting Frank Honsowetz at Infiniti Motorsports about the project.
"When I called Frank, I was pleased to find out that he already had the idea on his mind," said Detrich, a retired computer consulting firm owner from Denver, Colo. "A few months later we received an Infiniti Q45 and a motor from Ed Pink Racing Engines."
Detrich and friend Mark Mercer, a veteran Indy car crew chief, spent the summer of 1999 preparing the Infiniti Q45 to the specifications outlined by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) for the Gas Coupe/Sedan class.
The workload included fitting the 4.0-liter, 32-valve, DOHC, Infiniti Indy V8 engine to a new drivetrain and adding the necessary safety enhancements. In preparing the car for the run on the salt flats, the crew was mindful of keeping the stock components wherever possible.
"After working on this car and seeing how it is built, the all-new Q45 has been added to my shopping list for next year," commented Detrich. "People will be surprised at how much of the original car is still there."
The team held its first test with the Infiniti Q45 with Indy power in July 2000 on the 1.3-mile course at the El Mirage dry lake bed in Southern California. After a few trial runs, to setup the fuel mapping for a change from methanol to gasoline, Detrich ran the car at 10,000 rpm in fourth gear, an estimated speed of 175 mph.
"The car settled down and handled very well in our test runs," reported Detrich. "It tracks as well as it does because of the sophisticated factory suspension system. We should be quick right out of the box on our first run at Bonneville."
Detrich expects to easily surpass his 175 mph time on the longer Bonneville course during land speed racing's premiere event in mid-August. To get in the history books, he will make a bid for the 188.114 mph record for the E/GC class, set in 1994.
The SCTA/BNI Bonneville Speed Week, held at the salt flats located 100 miles west of Salt Lake City, near Wendover, Utah, kicks-off at noon on Saturday, Aug. 12. Racing will continue until Friday, Aug. 18 with results posted daily on the web site, www.scta-bni.org.
Text provided by Heather Handley
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