One cool Cuda: Carl Cox's Pro Mod dragcar

Carl Cox made a welcome return to the UK's Santa Pod dragstrip a few weeks ago to shakedown his new Pro Mod drag car. Pro Mods are purpose built cars, with replica street car bodies, and the fastest class of drag cars with working doors.

"I've been having some fun at Santa Pod, although first time out on the track with this car I did hurt the engine and possibly the gearbox as well. So we changed the gearbox for the spare that we had, and the converter, and the stator. It seems to run much better through the gears but we also changed the dynamic of the car and how it drives now is much better.

We initially struggled with the car with how I was trying to get down that quarter mile, but we run in some eighth mile passes and we got some data, but we know that it can run faster.

My Pro Mod is a good looking car. It has a certain 'character' at the moment which we're trying to iron out through the MoTeC management system. We've made some changes to the rear steer, and the ballast at the front. It's been a bit of work, and fairly time consuming, but it's all about getting used to the car and for me to get more seat time in.

There's no way you can just get a brand new car and run the numbers. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't. So we're ironing out these things, spending the time to get it right.

We've got a lot of data on the car now. And I'm really happy getting in and out the car, and feeling comfortable with it. The last car I had we ran some good numbers with it, but I wasn't as comfortable in that as I am with the Cuda. This is the one for me.

I'm really looking forward to getting back the drag strip soon with the crew and hitting the quarter mile as fast as I possibly can.

This car is basically built for a 5.85 index race car in the Pro Mod series. 250mph plus on the eight mile is what I want. That's where I live, that's where I want to be. That's what we're gong to work towards. I'm really happy about where we are with this car, and what's to follow in the future."