Driver: “Paul Marston”
2016 saw the return to full time competition of the PT Bruiser in Super Pro. With the development all but finished, it was time to put her on the rolling road at John Sleaths to figure out the fuel system. During 2015 after we got the car figured out, it became apparent the the top end speed was lacking a little. With the new much larger hoodscoop we figured it needed more fuel.
If you have ever done this kinda thing you will know it’s a scary thing to do, strap down a car with nearly 1000hp and wring its neck!! But it’s the only way to be sure it works properly, it would save you virtually a whole season of testing in one day.
Armed with this we started the 2016 season. Due to bad weather forecast Paul drove the 100% Whoopass Monza at the Festival of Power and debuted the PT Bruiser at the FIA Main Event, with a brand new set of Hoosier Tyres fitted, a change from the usual goodyears. With the PT Bruiser now packing around 950hp its always a wise idea to have a backup plan and with the cold and rain the Monza will get down the track a lot easier than the Bruiser.
Summer Nationals again at Santa Pod saw the PT Bruiser still have an inconsistency due to lack of an accurate temperature reading. Due to running alcohol as a fuel, you need heat in the motor to be able to burn the fuel and make good power. This ended up biting us in the second round as the Bruiser did dot have the legs to keep in front of Dan Giles who got us in the lights. But the motor and car left in one piece and we knew what we had to do.
FIA European Finals saw the PT Bruiser as No1 qualifier in Super Pro and was faultless throughout qualifying. The crew really had a handle on her and were right on the money. Alas Paul went red by 1/100th second and lost in round 1. But the PT Bruiser was now a real player.
Chrysler PT Buiser 2023 UPDATE
Well a lot has happened since our last update in 2016. Don’t worry, its nothing bad. We elected to swap out the Chrysler Wedge Pro Stock motor. This was to make the Bruiser more competitive, the class we were mainly running in, Super Pro ET.l In the latter rounds, you simply do not get a lot of time to do the essential between round maintenance that is required of this nature of engine. To be fair the crew were working three times as hard as some of the other teams and in the same time they are allowed. This was becoming an increasingly obvious problem. Despite taming the motor itself down power wise to increase its longevity between full rebuilds.
The between rounds maintenance remains the same. The decision was made to source a replacement powerplant that was fairly equal on power. After some careful research, we made our selection. A Donovan all ally big block, slightly more cubes being 540ci, a nice weight saving due to the ally block and it would run the same alcohol fuel injection system. This was all done in the latter stages of 2016. The motor was sourced and built by our very good friend Gary Springford at DRE in Romford, Essex UK, who just happened to have exactly what we needed. Fast forward thru covid and out the other side, the PT Bruiser was dyno’d on John Sleaths rolling road, after some tuning we ended up with a very respectable 900HP at the flywheel. The PT Bruiser has competed sporadically over the past years. The reliability of the Donovan has proved a winner, and has made her more competitive. Despite being eligible to compete in a few classes, she had not really found her home.
A new class emerged during 2022, being 7.60 Heads Up, which is a doorslammer only category, where the cars can run as fast as it can but no faster than 7.60 ET. The PT Bruiser competed in the inaugural demo of the class in 2022 and in 2023. Although, despite trying the Donovan combo and then switching back to the Pro Stock Motor, we just could not quite coax enough performance out of her to truly be competitive. So the 2024 season beckons, let us see what’s in store for this most unique and storied race car.
Performance
- 0-60 MPH – 1.2 Seconds
- 0-100 MPH – 2.5 Seconds
- ¼ MILE – 8.08 Seconds
- MPH – 167 MPH
- Fuel Consumption 4 Gall Per mile
Current Spec
Chrysler PT Buiser Gallery
