Author: AutoMoto Reviews
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First, the burn: Straight-line testing at NAS Lemoore. Yeah, we know, we technically should have called this story “Burn & Turn” because we conducted our straight-line acceleration tests to 180 mph (and beyond) at the Lemoore Naval Air Station before dragging knees at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. But the Navy folks graciously fit us in when they could, and, besides, we think “Turn & Burn” rolls off the tongue much better. It also beautifully conjures up images of fighter jets in action. And at NAS Lemoore, there are plenty of them. In fact, the Navy’s entire West Coast fighter/attack capability of F/A-18 Super Hornets is stationed at this huge facility in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. The station is effectively a city, a place where Navy pilots sharpen their skills by flying regular missions and practicing carrier landings on the smooth, rubber-streaked 3-mile runways that once served as emergency landing strips for our now-defunct space shuttle program. Our mission was simple. As in our original “Turn & Burn” in our July 2008 issue, we gathered a crop of current hyperbikes and unleashed them on runway 32R in a speed contest to hit 180 mph and peak velocity. Unfortunately, the supercharged Kawasaki H2R trackbike, the real catalyst for this test, was not made available for us to test (see below for details). Nevertheless, we still managed to assemble a stellar group, with the BMW S1000RR and Ducati 1299 Panigale S joined by the street-legal Kawasaki H2 and Yamaha YZF-R1M. For some good comparative fun, we also brought along a 650-horse Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and a plug-in hybrid, a privately owned 903-hp McLaren P1, chassis 144 of 275 being built. Road Test Editor Don Canet, no stranger to speed, would ride each bike, while Derek Hill—former F3000 driver, son of Phil Hill (1961 Formula 1 World Champion), and a huge motorcycle enthusiast—was our shoe. Cars and bikes were stock, but we allowed the motorcycle companies to equip their machines with any optional track-only ECUs, in the interest of best performance. However, once we saw that the Panigale 1299 S had arrived without mirrors and license plate (and Ducati didn’t even have the parts back in its Sprinter), we allowed all bikes to run that way. Also, the BMW S1000RR was fitted with an accessory Akrapovic pipe due to bad communication on our part, but all other bikes ran stock exhausts. So join us now for our test, which took place on a mild spring day, with temps topping out in the mid-70s. Elevation at NAS Lemoore, for the record, is 230 feet, and the wind was mild all day. Our cars and bikes would launch from the north end of runway 32R then disappear into a shimmering mirage with engines audible the whole way. At 180 mph, they’re gobbling up nearly a football field every second, and all the while, GPS satellites communicated with our VBox test equipment to capture all the crucial data. Now, our vehicles, in increasing level of performance. Please THUMBS UP and ＳＵＢＳＣＲＩＢＥ to my channel if you've not already - Thanks for your support! :) ➽ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoL89UdKaKpam4cntiSKpiw?sub_confirmation=1