Racing Blog, written by Mark Mainiero:
Jeremy and I took our 2010 convertible display car to the track yesterday. We were waiting for a chance to run in less than 95 degree heat & humidity. Yesterday, while far from ideal, was as good a day as any to try.
We had turned 10.17 in good conditions earlier this year and 10.30′s in the heat. Then we took the car back to Jim D’Amore at JDM Engineering (the car has a JDM engine pkg and tuning) in August to install a larger balancer pulley which increased the rwhp from 660 to 700.
I know from 40 years of racing experience that although 700 rwhp won’t win top honors in a dyno queen competition, when coupled with a good suspension and built with a total combination in mind, it can go really fast. When I say total combination, I mean a power curve that puts power where it can best be used and a suspension that will put it to the ground. Anyone that saw the 5.0 Magazine King Of The Street competition at Bowling Green will quickly see that dyno numbers without driveability or a balanced suspension doesn’t mean much. You had to either laugh or cry when watching it.
Our 2010 convertible has a UPR adjustable panhard bar and UPR Pro Street lower control arms with Energy urethane bushings, along with a pair of QA1 adjustable rear shocks. I wanted to show just how much performance can be reached without sacrificing ride quality. We had already achieved our 21mpg goal, so there was just one more mountain to climb.
On our first run the car spun the tires a little and bounced through first gear. The timeslip read 10.11 @ 134. We were close. It ran a 1.51 60′ time on that pass.
We placed a quick call to Jim D’Amore and it was decided to power brake the car at 1800 rpm, up from the previous 1200. This would hopefully prevent “porpoising” (bouncing) as it would lessen the hit of the convertor. Then Jeremy Martorella, with his years of suspension tuning under the wing of Billy Glidden, remembered something important. We had set the shocks on soft for daily driving. He climbed under the car and quickly tightened them up.
On our second pass Jeremy brought the rpm to 1800. The car launched straight as an arrow, pulling the wheels a foot in the air. When the scoreboard displayed the 60′ time of 1.42, both Jeremy and I knew this should do it. After what seemed like the longest eight seconds ever, the scoreboard lit up with our triple digit ET. 9.96 @ 135
Think about it. Ford, UPR, and JDM teamed up to build a car that has every creature comfort, rides like a Lincoln, gets 21mpg, and is quick enough to run NHRA Super Gas (9.90 index). Ya gotta love technology !!
Find the original blog here:
UPR’s 2010 Convertible runs 9.96 @ 135!