THE NEXT STEP
Doing the same thing every year doesn’t interest me at all,” states supercharged outlaw dragster driver Russell Christoffersen proudly, although his next move isn’t one that we were expecting. His well-known five-second twin turbo dragster is set to be put up for sale at the end of this season as a roller, while he changes into a door car. Having built and developed the 3000-ish horsepower 532ci Chev combo, Russell’s decided it’s time to learn the art of suspension and chassis tuning by transferring it all into an all-new package. For this, he’s landed a C7 Corvette body produced by Cynergy Composites in Canada. The swoopy body is around 900mm longer than a production C7, although the real drawcard for Russell was that it is based on a late-model vehicle.
While most people would turn to a professional chassis builder for the chassis, Russell’s keen to tackle the build himself. Having front-halved the dragster, amongst other chassis projects, he clearly has the ability to do it. Although he knows he could build a lightweight chassis, ensuring the completed vehicle meets the minimum weight break for Top Doorslammer is the target.
The twin Garrett 98mm Gen 2 turbos and Emtron KV-16 ECU from the dragster will transfer over, as will the lock-up converter, although the two-speed transmission will be replaced by a three-speed from M&M Transmission. As always, Russell will have his crew around him helping out, but will continue on tuning duties himself, stating that learning as he goes is a big part of the appeal for him. This time around, though, he’ll be the only one on driving duties, as the Corvette will be much more of a handful to get down the track than the long-wheel-base dragster has been.
When we caught up with Russell, he was looking forward to winding the dragster up and sending it off in style. To do this, Karen Hay was back in the car for the Auckland Invasion at Meremere Dragway, and, while the 5.78 may have remained, she managed to run that at 249.43mph. Having watched the dragster evolve under Russell’s ownership, we’re looking forward to seeing what the Corvette build brings; on paper, it has the potential to shake up Top Doorslammer.