INDIANAPOLIS - Pulling out of the pits for the first time Wednesday, Scott Dixon could tell his car wasn't accelerating as it had during the Indy Racing League's first three races.
Once Dixon got the car up to speed, he liked the way the IRL's new engine performed.
"It's a lot slower," he said. "You don't really notice it much on the track, but coming out of the pit box you do."
The IRL is making a midseason change, reducing the 3.5-liter engines to 3.0 and changing the aerodynamic package to limit speeds and improve safety. The first time the engine will be used in race conditions will be at the Indianapolis 500 on May 30.
Between now and then, drivers are trying to figure out how to regain some of the lost power.
Some drivers tested the engine April 2, but they had time Wednesday to do more extensive work with it.
On the first day of a two-day open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, drivers tried different setups, something teams were reluctant to do during the closed test April 2.
Wednesday's windy conditions and cool temperatures weren't ideal for fast speeds. In the morning practice session, southwest winds blew at 18 mph with gusts to 29 mph.
In the afternoon, some drivers thought it was a bit stronger. The Mexican flag in Adrian Fernandez's pit was fully extended most of the afternoon and even curled around the flagpole.
That may have explained Dario Franchitti's close call about 45 minutes into the three-hour afternoon practice. Franchitti brushed the wall, bringing out the caution flag but the Andretti Green Racing team driver was not injured.
Still, speeds were increasing. IRL officials have said they expect qualifying speeds to drop about 10 mph from Helio Castroneves' pole-winning speed of 231.725 mph last year. After going just 216 in testing almost four weeks ago, they were up to nearly 220 on Wednesday.
"A lot of the first test everyone was trying to get the bugs worked out," Sam Hornish Jr. said. "A lot of it is that everyone has fine-tuned some things."
Roger Penske's race team seemed to have most of the answers.
Hornish, a two-time IRL points champ, turned the fastest lap of the day - 219.271. Castroneves, Hornish's teammate and a two-time Indy 500 champ, was next at 219.256.
Robby Gordon, a NASCAR driver who will attempt to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on May 30, was third at 218.921, and Dixon, the defending IRL points champion, was fourth at 218.876.
Two other drivers also topped 218. Alex Barron went 218.608 in the morning. Darren Manning, Dixon's teammate with Target Chip Ganassi, went 218.319 in the afternoon.
The drivers could feel the difference.
"There's quite a bit of a power drop," said Manning, an IRL rookie. "The first time we ran it, it was very good. But it's better now."
The biggest surprise was the performance of the Chevrolet engines.
After struggling during the first half of the IRL season last year, Chevrolet finally was competitive late in the year.
On the first day of the two-day open test, Chevrolet and Toyota had a huge advantage over the Honda-powered cars.
Hornish, Castroneves, Dixon and Manning are all powered by Toyotas. Gordon and Barron both use Chevrolets, and the two engine manufacturers each had five of the 10 fastest cars Wednesday.
The best speed by a Honda driver was Kosuke Matsuura, who was 12th at 216.428.
Gordon said the key to adding speed will depend on how drivers decide to use their rear wing.
