How about a 5.16-sec./138.1-mph run in just 660 feet? Sounds pretty tasty.
How about doing that naturally aspirated? Delicious!
That’s what Bruce Hall’s and John Reid’s Arctic Cat Thundercat with a Hooper-built 1404cc triple hit this summer at the Milan (Michigan) Aeroquip heads-up races earlier this summer. It was the only non-boosted sled of the bunch, and it finished third.
Reid refers to the sled he co-owns with Hall as a “Polish pumkin” not only because of the color, but also because it’s sporting a Doo-style hood. Why?
“Because it’s possible to buy a Doo hood and cowl that weigh just 6 pounds, compared to 45 pounds for the old Thundercat hood and cowl,” he says.
That 39-lb. weight difference would translate into 1/10th of a second in the eighth-mile races they compete in. So a Doo hood it is, but the heart of the machine is all-Arctic Cat.
It started as a 2000 model year Thundercat engine and bulkhead. Reid swapped in a 2002 Pantera non-ETT tunnel to keep the driver as low as possible.
Engine guru John Hooper went to work on the engine, punching it out to 1404cc with full MSD ignition and timing control, as well as an exhaust system. Reid programs his own ignition timing to make the engine lazy for the first 1.5 seconds under full throttle, in order to get traction to the ground via the Pro Stock Inc. skidframe and 10.5 x 136-in. Camoplast asphalt track.
A Micro Belmont 6-arm billet drive clutch and Pro-4 driven do their best to transfer the power from the engine to to the track.
How much power?
In excess of 300 hp and 200 ft.-lbs. of torque. Pah!
Reid built the sled over the period of last winter, although he’s been racing (grass, asphalt and XC) since 2007. He lives in Traverse City, Mich. He does all the tuning and programming, and has a friend-who-shall-remain-nameless do the driving.
As mentioned above, this beast ripped a 5.16-sec./138.1-mph run in just 660 feet, which is 1/8-mile, on asphalt. Reid believes they have room to shave off another fraction or two, but he’s already thrilled with the results.
Fun to see Hall, Reid and the other fast straightliners build exotic sleds. I’m looking forward to see where he (and they) go from here.
Thanks for reading.
