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Bernd
*GenIII*
 
10/07/2002
10:34:38
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 Subject: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Congratulations to Ron Merx for the fastest pass in a street driven Dakota R/T:
10.77 @ 131mph - Houston Raceway Park 10/06/02 !!
Stroked, Blown, Nitroused, and doing it while burning the tires through the first 100 feet.
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT - V6
Supercharged/Intercooled @ 10# w/Nitrous
14.55 @ 96.01mph
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conig
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
10:54:38
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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dang, thats all I'm gonna say.
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
11:05:15
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Anyone get it on video????
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Bernd
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
11:46:38
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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A few people at the show took videos of the run. I'm waiting to see if Lynda (his wife) has him on tape as well.
BTW: It's not a 408 "Stroker" either. (387CID Stroker - based on a 318.)
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT - V6
Supercharged/Intercooled @ 10# w/Nitrous
14.55 @ 96.01mph
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
11:52:40
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Uh, not to question a mid 10-sec street driver, but what's the idea behind stripping out the factory 360 and starting over with a 318-based stroker?
More ability to wind it up higher?
What's the secret/strategy?
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Bernd
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
12:21:13
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Mopar R3 block is what he's using. But yes, the 318 does rev quicker and higher as well.
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT - V6
Supercharged/Intercooled @ 10# w/Nitrous
14.55 @ 96.01mph
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
12:33:11
|  RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Any idea of how much boost/nitrous shot it took to do that? What type of dyno # he is getting out of it?
I would have loved to have seen it and tell him congradulations.
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
12:33:53
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Any idea of how much boost/nitrous shot it took to do that? What type of dyno # he is getting out of it?
I would have loved to have seen it and tell him congradulations.
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IntenseDak39
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
12:34:46
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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i just want to hear the definition of "street driven"... does that mean he drove it there? or that he drives it around town at midnight? either way that is one fast truck!
--"did you mean the charger, because that's got a hemi, too!"
98 Dakota Sport V6: 8.95@77.9 mph (1/8th)
99 Oldsmobile Alero GL3 V6: xx@xx mph
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Bernd
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
12:37:45
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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He drove it to the track and drove it home (on the street/highways). It's inspected and registered as well.
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT - V6
Supercharged/Intercooled @ 10# w/Nitrous
14.55 @ 96.01mph
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alex
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
10/07/2002
13:29:19
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Message:
$treet Driven? Okay.
Regi$tered? I can buy that one,too.
$troker based on an R-Block? Oh. $o, that'$ how did it. I $ee. Well, that'$ not ju$t your average $treet ride, then.
Gue$$ I forgot I was me$$in' with the Texa$-$tyle big league hitter$, here...
Gue$$ you gotta pay if you wanna play.
(For tho$e of you who are unclear... that pretty much mean$ that the motor co$t$ pretty much the $ame amount a$ the original R/T did from the dealer.
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dakota657
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
14:00:31
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Ok i am dumb, but i I have a 318, 5.2 it is considerd an R engen? And if it is an RT would it not be a 360 9.5. whow did he get 387, could i go that to my truck, how?
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kota on 20s
GenIII
10/07/2002
14:21:09
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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i think it could easily be a street driver. just think about it...
when driving on the street, you dont HAVE to be in boost at all, and he is probably spraying a 100-150 shot (if not more), and that can stay off to while street driving.
its probably loud, but hell, just crank up the stereo..hehehe
-Eric
Injection is nice, but i'd rather be blown.
5.2L, 5speed. Powerdyne SC, 50mm TB, 2bbl M-1, 1.7RR's, MSD 6BTM, ciramic JBA headers, carsound cat, dumped gibson
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bernd
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
14:22:34
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Of course it cost money to put the truck into those times. HP cost money...how fast do you want to go?
No...the stock 318 isn't even close to the "R" block from Mopar.
Ron was using the Mopar 360 block last year and was running 11.5-11.7's (and quicker) on that motor.
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT - V6
Supercharged/Intercooled @ 10# w/Nitrous
14.55 @ 96.01mph
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alex
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
10/07/2002
14:25:45
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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The R-Block stands for Race Block which is a specialized motor that you can get from Mopar Performance. They are intended for race engines that professional engine builders would create for dirt track cars, sprint cars, and pure drag racers. They are expensive and the cost would not be justified unless you were hand-building a motor to go in a truck to just kick everyone's ass (like Ron Merx did).
You can stroke a 318 motor to 387 cubic inches with a stroker kit that is available from Speedtweaks or from Hughes Engines or several other performance shops. They involve gutting your engine and rebuilding it with the new parts and often involve a fair amount of machine work, too.
Get out your checkbook.
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
14:31:26
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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I'm sure it's fully streetable. If you can live with a 3200 stall converter and 4.56 gears and a manual-shift automatic. And 6 mpg. And reliability issues......
I dont' want to hear about "oh it's totally reliable" until he's putting 25,000 miles on that truck per year. Anyone can drive a 10 sec vehicle to the track and back, but it takes a man to let a 10-sec truck idle in traffic with the A/C on and temps hovering around the 110degF mark.
No I'm not questioning Ron's manhood... I'm just saying the same thing Bernd is saying.... HP not only costs money, it takes serious committment. You can have a pure race car or a pure street car. As soon as you try to cross over between the two (as most of us are trying to do) you begin to run into problems.
How Fast Do You Want To Go?
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rtdkota
R/T
10/07/2002
14:57:01
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Alex, before you flip out over it.. here's some info--
It's idle was no where near as radical as some other Rts out there--- it's got all the AC stuff still on it, no short belt-- still has the 9 blade stock 99 clutch fan. Runs RT wheels in the front-- Runs with the tonneau cover on as well.
I believe he's running the 3.92 gearing too (I could be wrong-- don't hold me to that, but it's definately a 9 1/4 rear end).
That truck could easily be driven on a daily basis-- Reliability??? I see no reason it couldn't run 25k+ if you took care of it-- 20k worth of 1/4 mi passes?? Probably not.
Sure, speed costs $$$$... It appears that Ron has made the knife edge a little more dull between a street truck and a race truck... He's pretty much made it.
Sam
www.socaldakota.com
"Congrats to Ron once again!"
RTDKOTA
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
15:21:38
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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I'm not flippin out... I'm just a little wary when the words R-Block and Street Driver are used in the same sentence. There's nothing wrong with driving an R-Block truck on the street, and as a matter of fact I am in total awe of Merx in general.
I am just budget-ally challenged...... I guess my original question was "how do you go 10's in a street legal pick-up truck?"
Bernd replied "R-Block."
That immediately indicates (to me) the extreme lengths to which Ron will go and how much money he is willing to spend. This takes the street-driven Dakota racer to a whole new level that is COMPLETELY outside of my grasp (financially), so I am just being jealous on the keyboard. The fact that it idles at (prolly) 950 rpm and never overheats and has A/C is just salt in my wounds.
I just have this overwhelming desire to go mid 12's with NO POWER ADDERS in a 25k/yr street driver. I am trying to figure a way to do it for less than $15,000. In the meantime, Ron Merx is suddenly required by the NHRA to have on a fire jacket while racing..... aaaaack!!
Of course this whole thing kinda makes Quaranta's truck seem kinda slow, and we all know what kind of money he's driving around there. Hmmmm....
Dakota Battle Royale? Team Blue versus Team Yellow? Hmm......
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MikeD
*R/T*
10/07/2002
15:49:45
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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I was a few trucks behind him in the staging lanes and there were a sh!t load of R/T around me all watchin him and when he hit that 10.7 everyone was just standin there jaws dropped. It was awesome.
A ton of R/T's out there!!
~Mike~
Get In...Sit Down...Shutup...& Hangon
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big_torque
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
16:12:23
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Toying with some #s here .........
I came up with 665 RWHP (4200 lbs) to do a 10.77
Something like that. Thats insane. How do you keep that straight ? YOU ARE THE MAN , RON !
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IntenseDak39
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
16:26:22
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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MikeD,
what did you run? with 307 naturally aspirated horsepower at the wheels it had to be a damn good time!
--"did you mean the charger, because that's got a hemi, too!"
98 Dakota Sport V6: 8.95@77.9 mph (1/8th)
99 Oldsmobile Alero GL3 V6: xx@xx mph
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
16:28:17
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Huh. The calculator I went to with 4200 lb running 131 mph, it came up with 700+ rwhp..... damn.
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Waltherone
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
16:50:02
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Damn, I tried taking off work to go to this too but got stuck working because of lots of people quitting recently.
MikeD I didn't know you were around here, are you in the houston area or did you make a lil trip for this like Bernd?
And what'd you run just out of curiosity :)
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Bernd
*GenIII*
10/07/2002
18:34:43
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Ron's truck is over 4300lbs. (From what I remember, right at 4350 - weighed at the track.)
A/C is funcitonal and yes Sam...I think he's still running the 3.90's.
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT - V6
Supercharged/Intercooled @ 10# w/Nitrous
14.55 @ 96.01mph
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
10/07/2002
18:42:17
|  RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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So what type of specs are we looking at:
turboed or vortech supercharger?
16lbs. or more of boost?
100 or 150 shot?
Does he run non magnum heads like w5 or what?
We need the juicy tidbits or an idea of what it takes.
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
18:49:45
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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There was a story on his old configuration in the Mopar Muscle from two issues ago. But that's when he was running high 11's....
He's running a Vortech, and I think maybe at 10 psi unless it was 12 psi. The heads.... well, you can probably shove your whole forearm thru the ports (at least on the exhaust side). The nitrous..... just a guess, but prolly a 150 or 175 shot.
Maybe that's an exaggeration, but if I remember correctly, it is a Vortech with two-digit boost levels. And it almost has to be 3-digit nitrous levels....
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POWER HUNGRY
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
19:17:39
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Do you know if he is running pre-magnum w2 on the R-block? Do you know if he has a web site or if he might put it on dragtruck.com?
I was at the track this week end when the turbo crowd was there. I was talking to Matt Scranton's father about thier turbonetics celica and our trucks. He stop the turbonetics operations manager and ask if they were going to build a kit for our trucks and he said, "it wasn't in the plans." I got a catalog from them and precision turboes and I think i'll just have to pick one out for myself. I might get team bullish who were at the track or Pat Musi to help put it together/tuning. The bullsih cars were running awesome with thier TT supra inline sixes(6.95@202)!
Watching people race isn't controlling my appetite any longer I need to get some balls for my 318.
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D
GenIII
10/07/2002
19:19:57
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Damn! Dodge needs so much more respect
than what its given.
2001 4.7 CC auto
shaved door handles & tailgate
welded Sir Michaels roll pan
Painted Porsche black
DJM drop 3/6
airaid intake
180 stat, ported-polished TB
Dynomax 3"dumped, carsound cat
HO cams/manifold & 3.92 gears collecting dust!
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/p0intless/lst
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
19:24:21
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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I dont' know of any website, and he's not on DragTruk yet. Then again, if you can win some cash on the street, why advertise?
As for his heads, I think they were just Magnum R/T heads from Mopar Performance.
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dreammold
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
19:59:56
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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i dunno if its just me but why would he even call his truck the fastest street r/t, what is the r/t? the r/t is the 5.9 with the rims and the other goodies, the heart of the r/t isnt even in his truck, so wouldnt it just be another v8 dakota with r/t rims, prob would of been cheaper just to buy a 6cyl and put the r-block in it.
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alex
Dodge Dakota
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10/07/2002
20:08:09
| RE: Fastest Street Driven R/T
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Yep, that would make total sense.
If he knew on the day that he bought it that he would eventually want to run 10-sec 1/4 mile passes.
But chances are, he may not have known that he would eventually build the truck to this state.
So he just started out like the rest of us... just seeing what made it go faster. But it was an R/T on the dealer lot, and so it's currently the fastest street-driven R/T in all the land.
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