248-MPH Chevy Camaro: The Less Time, the Greater the Pleasure

And for the most part, that was the right decision. Or at least it was up until a particular moment. While my colleagues assumed positions at the starting grid and next to the track, I decided to get right in the center of it too. For hours and hours, I shot multiple burnouts and launches, and I was happy to be there despite sometimes feeling that my eardrums might suffer later on.

But I wasn't prepared for Zoltan's monster of a Chevrolet Camaro, which he had very appropriately named "Predator." It didn't sound as thunderous once he fired it up, but my brain thought I was in danger once he did a pre-race burnout. If you pay close attention to the video below, you'll see me lunging toward my right as if trying to escape the mighty Predator. "I should've brought some earplugs along," I told myself, realizing it was too late.

Meanwhile, one of my colleagues giggled away after seeing me react to the Camaro. He had borrowed a pair of noise-canceling headphones and could record the action without worrying about his hearing. But you'll still see the camera shaking once the car launched from a dig. I had spotted a team of people unloading the vehicle from the trailer some hours earlier, but I was somehow shocked to learn that Zoltan was the driver.

While I have known him for over a decade, we haven't been in touch recently. And I didn't realize he didn't just organize these races but competed in them. So I decided to learn more about him and the Predator and share the story with you.

Before jumping into the interview, I'll give you some quick stats about this dragster. It used to be a Chevrolet Camaro at one point. But now it's built around a chromoly frame and fiberglass body, with a total weight of 2,535 lbs (1,150 kg). The body weighs just 61 lbs (28 kg), to hint at how insane this build is.

"Predator" uses a 526 ci (8.6-liters) V8 engine that also has a 14-71 supercharger, pushing performance figures up to 3,000 horsepower and 2,950 lb-ft (4,000 Nm) of torque. Zoltan describes it by saying, "It pulls like a train!" Looking at the setup, he mentioned that the car should be capable of running the 1/4-mile (402 meters) in about 6.1 seconds, with a trap speed of over 248 mph (400 kph).

Still, he hasn't reached that performance yet, as he's still learning to cope with all the insanity. He isn't far off, though, as his current personal best sits at 7.01 seconds @ 208 mph (336 kph). He was slightly slower during this recent race, running the 1/4-mile in 7.8 seconds @ 182 mph (293 kph). But that shows that drag racing is more challenging than flooring it down a straight line.

I was curious about where Zoltan's passion for racing started, and learning about his previous automotive endeavors was a pleasure. "I liked motorcycles from a very young age. At age 12, I was already riding a moped, but growing up in a very low-income family; I only had my first car when I was 21."

"It was an old Lada 1200, but my first drag race happened in a Volvo. In 2002, at the Hungaroring, I raced on the 1/8-mile (201 meters), and people were very enthusiastic to see us driving. I didn't like how the event was organized, so I decided to take matters into my own hands in 2003." Before building the "Predator," Zoltan owned and raced several other vehicles, including a Dodge Viper, a Chevrolet Nova, a diesel VW Polo and a Camaro Z28, which had the nickname Dragacs. While he didn't improve his Personal Best during the Kiskunlachaza, he still took P1 in his category, all while dealing with the responsibilities of an event organizer.

I asked him if he plans to change the current setup, and he replied, "I don't plan to improve anything on the car, it's much better than I am at this job, so I have to adapt and become better." So it's a safe bet to say that he will be chasing the maximum potential of the "Predator" for at least a few more years to come, and we hope we'll be there to record the breakthrough as it happens.

When discussing the current state of affairs for drag racing, he mentioned, "I don't think the sport's popularity is declining, although the biggest race I've ever organized happened ten years ago. With my friend Gergo Butka, we had 15,000 people in attendance, but times have changed. The number of fans varies from race to race, but new racers always want to be the fastest, so we're still having a lot of fun doing this."

Lastly, I wanted Zoltan's advice for anyone looking to get into the sport. After all, he's got 20 years of experience to back him up: "I recommend doing it with courage because the adrenaline this sport gives you burns a lifetime of experiences into your brain. And I have a saying that "The less time, the greater the pleasure." Before we get back to you with another dragster feature, here's another look at some of the coolest burnouts we recorded in Kiskunlachaza.