Dirty pics

[Graf Orlok]

I took my baby to the Alvord Desert in eastern Oregon this weekend. It's a dry lake bed similar to Bonneville but a little closer to me. In the 70's, a lady piloted her rocket car there to 500+ MPH. I wanted to see what my MS3 would do. I couldn't get past 130 in it's current bone stock configuration.

It was fun but I've been detailing all day long trying to clean up all the dust and I'm still not done. Was it worth it? Definitely. Will I do it again? Probably not.

Enjoy the pics.

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/1.jpg
Drive straight to the middle of nowhere then turn left.

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/2.jpg
Good to go

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/3.jpg
Looking at my dust after turning 180

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/4.jpg
Dirty little rear...

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/5.jpg
...But the face is clean

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/6.jpg
Good morning

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/7.jpg
130 MPH tracks

http://elemenno.info/images/desert/8.jpg
Adrenalized!

[NCZ13]

holy crap, that looks like fun =)

[phillyb]

that's a good looking back end

[bykeryder4life]

that pic of the dirty rear of the car is sweet, looks so mean with the dust. I am surprised you couldnt hit the full 155mph. I have gotten my car up to top speed many times and fairly fast too. Maybe the dirt instead of asphalt made too much drag and held you up?

[silverspeed03]

Still got the temp tags on too. NICE!!!

[mckraut]

Very nice pics, looks like a good time!

[CWPspeed3]

That looks like a lot of fun, looks sweet regardless of being dirty. You couldnt get passed 130 stock? probably just due to conditions, I had mine at 140 stock before I had to back off due to space restrictions.

[mdavis]

I'd strangle a homeless man to have a place near by to go do that. Thats really surprising it wouldn't do more than 130. I mean if you come close to redline in fifth (i know the turbo cuts out at about 5500) then you are shifting at ~120. 6th only had 10 more in it? I had mine up to 148 when evacuating new orleans for gustav

[Loose]

Sweet Dude...that looks like it was a bunch of fun!

[FrequentFlyer]

Guys, the elevation there is 4,000 above sea level, which is probably a good reason why he could only do 130. That's probably a good 30-35hp loss at that altitude.

[mdavis]

Guys, the elevation there is 4,000 above sea level, which is probably a good reason why he could only do 130. That's probably a good 30-35hp loss at that altitude.

+1...he needs to move

[Hank3]

VERY cool! Thanks for sharing the pics :)

[robin2660]

Guys, the elevation there is 4,000 above sea level, which is probably a good reason why he could only do 130. That's probably a good 30-35hp loss at that altitude.

Plus, look at that surface. There's more loss there than on tarmac for sure. If it were sand it'd be even slower ....

[msp 2212]

haha that looks fun and the car is still "clean" lol

[Graf Orlok]

I'd strangle a homeless man to have a place near by to go do that. Thats really surprising it wouldn't do more than 130. I mean if you come close to redline in fifth (i know the turbo cuts out at about 5500) then you are shifting at ~120. 6th only had 10 more in it? I had mine up to 148 when evacuating new orleans for gustav

I think I was at 105 or 110 going into 6th and that was probably just shy of 5500 RPM. Of course I was hoping for 150 and was expecting at least 140 so I was also kind of surprised about only getting 130.

I really do think the surface had a lot to do with it. I mean it's solid but you can feel the resistance. It doesn't feel like tarmac at all nor does it even really feel like dirt. Hard to explain. The stuff has the consistency of talc (hence the mess in every crevice).

I guess I'll just have to try again on asphalt for comparison.


@mdavis - now that's how to evacuate (yes). Seriously though, I hope everything's ok for yourself and everyone else down there.

[dkswim]

looks like fun

[mdavis]

@mdavis - now that's how to evacuate (yes). Seriously though, I hope everything's ok for yourself and everyone else down there.

I left friday morning before the rush at 5am. What took some people 5-8 hours took me ~19min (getting out of the city). When I got to Mississippi I let loose, I'd say there was about an hour where my speedo never dropped below 115. You could practically watch the gas gauge drop.

Things weren't so bad in NOLA, I feel for Galveston though.

[skylar2ups]

Great pictures... makes me want a speed real bad.

[oldnotdead]

Very cool place, nice pictures. My wife and I plan to stop at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge next week on our way to Yachats. I believe it's very near the Alvord desert. Not sure I'm ready for a top speed test. I hate what altitude does to your power, we're at 4600' here in Utah and very thankful that the MS3 has enough power to be fun even at that altitude.

[gtlaw]

those pics are incredible

I'm really surprised at that MPH. I do 140 all the time with ease. that surface must add alot of resistance.

[iredremix]

wow that'd be fun to do.

[tiagotiago]

Great pics and a great place for sure!! I can only guess how much fun you had!! I wish a place like that close to home.

The first pic (turn left) looks so enticing as a rally corner, I can imagine a hatchback drifting through the corner, kicking up massive amounts of dirt.

And like most, I'm also surprised you "only" got to 130. My guess would be that it's a bit of a combination of altitude (though this is a turbo engine, which makes it somewhat insensitive to altitude, but there must be some loss), increased rolling resistance and maybe the desert heat (unless you made your runs only in the morning, when it should be cool enough).

[paylew]

That looks like a blast, wish we had something similar to that around here!

[Moultese]

That's just awesome. What is the legality of this? I would also think you could go more than 130. I was on the highway fooling around with a buddy and hit 120 and still had WAY more left in her. Perhaps it was the desert surface that prevented you from hitting 140.

[15min5k]

Yeah my car gets to 155mph with passive ease. I wouldn't think changes in elevation would have such a profound affect with a turbo'ed car. Cool pics nonetheless!

[skylar2ups]

That's just awesome. What is the legality of this? I would also think you could go more than 130. I was on the highway fooling around with a buddy and hit 120 and still had WAY more left in her. Perhaps it was the desert surface that prevented you from hitting 140.

I just have to say your signature is AWESOME!

[Abilor]

I left friday morning before the rush at 5am. What took some people 5-8 hours took me ~19min (getting out of the city). When I got to Mississippi I let loose, I'd say there was about an hour where my speedo never dropped below 115. You could practically watch the gas gauge drop.

Things weren't so bad in NOLA, I feel for Galveston though.

Hello? HELLO! There are some folks here in Red Stick (Baton Rouge) who still don't have power *or* electricity (as the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff said on the radio at one point). Our roof is still being repaired, and a lot of the lines in our neighborhood are down. It's like a blown to hell vietnam jungle covered in purple and gold here.

We aren't 1337 disaster victims like Nawlins or Galveston though, no one puts on the news... (pissed)

At least I finally got my metro gray GT today though, and the debris is cleared enough that I won't drag small trees behind me driving into our neighborhood...

[happy and angry]

You had your time in the spotlight with Katrina! Stop whining!

[Abilor]

You had your time in the spotlight with Katrina! Stop whining!

Sigh. Katrina was New Orleans, not Baton Rouge. Nothing huge happened to Baton Rouge during Katrina, but the eyewall of Gustav rode right through my yard, and all we see on the tv (when it came back) was New Orleans is okay, and Galveston is the only real damaged place. This is very much not true, and its hard convincing people in the rest of the country that Baton Rouge is A.) NOT New Orleans, and B.) We got HAMMERED. Some more so than others. Literally and figuratively. When the Parish sold booze again I mean.

[Moultese]

I just have to say your signature is AWESOME!

Thank you!

[Jon MS3]

nice tent

[BoneyJive]

Haha wow. I had fun just looking through these pics. I'm sure you had even a funner time being out there. Thanks for posting these.

[aaronc7]

funner

[Fenrir]

Amazing pictures. If I were you, I'd take the back shot and frame it. :D