Tim's first track trip was back in 2005, and much to his delight he clicked off an 11.7 at 119 mph-at the time he was only shooting for an 11.9 pass. A week later, when he was burning the second of seven chips, he realized he was still running zero degrees of timing. Using his Innovative wideband while tuning the car on the street, Tim was able to get it to run 11.1 two months later, with no changes other than burning a couple of new chips. At that point, he got 10-second fever. Interestingly, Tim swapped out his 26x11.5 ET Streets for a set of 255 Mickey Thompson drag radials, and with the cooler air and shorter tire, the TPI cranked off a 10.9 pass. The following year, and with only a new chip, Tim was able to whittle his best time down to a 10.78 at 127 mph, with a best of 129 mph. Tim uses 100 octane at the track, but has run the same boost level using 93 octane pump gas. As for cost, he estimates that about $8,730 has been spent on the car, including the original purchase price. At this point, he couldn't be happier.
Tim has occasionally street raced his car, winning a number of races-even when he had to give folks a ton of spots because they were afraid of the turbo. "I gave a guy 10 off the flag, and I still put four on him. Man that guy got salty," Tim remembers. A regular of the Real Street Drags held at Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin, Tim earned street cred by driving the car to the track, running 10s on street tires, and then driving home. The moral of this story? Watch out for those stock looking Third Gens.