well.... i went to lancaster speedway tonight and didnt do quite as well as i expected. out of 5 runs, this was my best:
r/t--------------1.1609
60ft.-----------2.3551
330ft.---------6.5370
et @ 594ft.--9.3960
1/8 et---------10.0349
1/8 mph-----70.43
the rest..sob..:
10.5780@68.9
11.9791@67.54 (missed a shift horribly)
10.4068@69.56
and the firs run i wont even post. i didnt know where the track ended so i hit the brakes way before the end of the eigth. luckily i wasnt the only j/a, the guy i was racing did the same thing lol. let me know what you all think and maybe a pointer or two for the beginner
Was this your first time racing? The 10.03 is not too bad, but you need to bring your 60 foot down.
FU Tuning
thats really not that bad
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
yes, that was my first time. with all the mods i have, i thought i would be looking at something a little better. i didnt even think of it until i got home and online, but i didnt touch my tire pressure. they are set at about 38psi. a little more practice and less pressure up front and i think ill be where i want. are 2.1 60' times possible for me? and if i do get there what can i expect in my overall eighth times when compared to my times posted here?
2.1? unlikely unless you have drag radials
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
10.03 isnt bad at all...
I pull about the same 60 foots and i know i can do better to. I run consistent 10.3's in my ole 2.2 with basic mods.
You could probably get a 9.8 if you launched good and shifted good. Anything else is all in the driving.
(btw 10.3 with my 17's on with stock psi)
Rodimus Prime wrote:2.1? unlikely unless you have drag radials
???? Jeez Rodimus, learn to drive lol...
I run 2.1 60's in the beetle, and i've got stock RSA tires just like the later model LS Sports. I know of a guy who ran 1.8 60's on the same tires but he's just a freaking robot when it comes to racing. Granted, I think the stock tires on the 1SV's are even crappier, but you don't need DR's to pull 2.1's. Just a lot of practice.
Drop your tire pressure to 15 psi, rev up to about 3000 rpm (gotta experiment to find your best point) and let the clutch out fast enough not to bog (you'll feel the whole car seem to just wind down and die on the launch) but slow enough not to spin the tires... it takes a while to find that sweet spot but once you do its on baby. To be honest 10.3 isn't too terrible for the first time out, I know that my car stock was capable of 15.6's or so in the 1/4 but i had a lot of trouble getting it faster than a 16 flat my first time out. Despite what the autocross and road racers will tell you, drag racing is not that easy.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
Jersey Jay 1.8T wrote: Despite what the autocross and road racers will tell you, drag racing is not that easy.
no crap........i autocrossed for about 3 seasons, never dragged, went dragging, and thought "ahh this'll be easy......nothing to drag" right................WRONG.......drag is just as hard as autox and needs just as much skill, i finally brought my drag down to 15.2 but still, i hope to break into the 14's real soon
You'll never touch God's hand
You'll never taste God's breath
Because you'll never see the second coming
Life's too short to be focused on insanity
I've seen the ways of God
I'll take the devil any day
Hail Satan
(slayer, skeleton christ, 2006)
thanks for all of the advice. and jersey j, im not on the stock 1sv wheels anymore. do you still suggest dropping them down to 15 psi? 205/55/16; i think my wheels are about 16lb apiece with some decent summer tires. btw, that track was really sticky. i couldnt spin them if i wanted to, only hop, which i was getting every time i launched almost all the way through first. lol the first time up, i tried to spin them going up to the line to kick off anything that may have been on my tires and hopped them really bad. needless to say i didnt do that again.
well hop is partly caused by tire spin... your other problem is the stock control arm bushings suck ass, and whats happening is that the tire will spin very slightly, then grab, and when it does the bushings compress, and when they release again as the wheel loses traction, it caused the "hop" feeling. 205/55/R16's is exactly what I'm running tire size-wise. Obviously it also depends on the compound... the problem is that it takes a lot of time to find what works best because a lot of tracks are busy and you can't often get enough runs to really see what works better. The best way is to go one night, spend the whole night on 18 psi.... then the next time you go, try 16-17. If on the second night, you find you're getting better 60's than the first, than you know you've made an improvement. Bring a notebook and a pen so that you can log all of the info. Now if the second night sees an improvement, go another night and try 15. I wouldn't go any lower than that for risk of throwing the tire off the rim and also robbing too much top end from the car, until you have tires meant for it like drag radials or slicks.
The only way to get really good is to go all the time, save your data, and to be very focused. Change one thing at a time, test it at least three good runs (no screwups on your part) before you make up your mind on if it works or not. Keep records of what differences each change in the setup made... ie: dropping to 18 psi brought 60' down .05 seconds, brought e/t down .1 seconds, at XX.XX MPH... This way you can see how every change affects the car. Its all about eliminating variables. If you do three changes or mods at once and bring it out, you'll never know which mods were worth it or not, or if one of the three is actually hurting you.
Oh, and i forgot another trick, keep the rear tires at the maximum loaded cold pressure (it should say what this is on the sidewall somewhere.... generally 44-45 psi for street tires). This will in essence make the rear tires harder, so that they will drag against the track less, and spin more freely. It also reduces somewhat the squat of the rear of the car, which is good. Whenever the ass of a fwd car squats that means that the front is being lifted, which means less traction.
Ok here i've gone off on a damn rant again so I'll leave you with that for now. Hope it helps somewhat.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
jersey j, isn't 15 psi a bit low ? wouldn't it make the tires wear a lot faster ?
Also, what would you recommend as the lowest psi for 215/45/17 tires with a max psi rating of 44, Last time I ran at the track I lowered them from 40 to 32 but didn't get any better than 2.35 60' times.
15.958 @ 88.201 stock, still getting @!#$ty launches...
michael groves wrote:thanks for all of the advice. and jersey j, im not on the stock 1sv wheels anymore. do you still suggest dropping them down to 15 psi? 205/55/16; i think my wheels are about 16lb apiece with some decent summer tires. btw, that track was really sticky. i couldnt spin them if i wanted to, only hop, which i was getting every time i launched almost all the way through first. lol the first time up, i tried to spin them going up to the line to kick off anything that may have been on my tires and hopped them really bad. needless to say i didnt do that again.
I wuld not drop tire pressure down to 15 on normal street tires. That is what I run my drag radials at. You probably want to be between 23-28psi.
FU Tuning
Quote:
is that on nitrous?
Heck no!! On nitrous i would have run around a 9.3 or so. My buddys stang runs 8.7's and i ran him multiple times and we were tied from 0-80ish.
DanteMustDie wrote:jersey j, isn't 15 psi a bit low ? wouldn't it make the tires wear a lot faster ?
Also, what would you recommend as the lowest psi for 215/45/17 tires with a max psi rating of 44, Last time I ran at the track I lowered them from 40 to 32 but didn't get any better than 2.35 60' times.
Well i haven't been running the 15 psi way for too terribly long, only i think 3 track days.... however, my previously consistent 2.2's became consistent 2.1's with 15 psi. The tires will probably wear faster but the other thing is you should only be running that low of a pressure at the track, so the effect would be negligible... it isn't safe to run that low on the street where you have to turn and maneuver, but for a straight line it works. For a 45 series.... hmm.. well this is just a complete guess but I don't think i'd advise anything lower than maybe 18-19. In reality I wouldn't even be racing on 17 inch wheels, because of the added inertia and reciprocating weight . Optimally you should have wheels you race on and wheels you drive on. I'd recommend trying to find lightweight 15 inch rims and some performance oriented rubber for the track. But like I said since you don't have much sidewall anyway if you absolutely must race on the 17's, then no lower than 18. Keep an eye on how close your wheel is to the ground at this pressure. If its too close for comfort, bring them back up, i don't want to be blamed for ruining a nice set of rims
Quote:
I wuld not drop tire pressure down to 15 on normal street tires. That is what I run my drag radials at. You probably want to be between 23-28psi.
Well, here's how i look at it. I use 15 psi at the track. I run CONSISTENT 2.1 60' times, even with a clutch that was iffy (can't wait to test the new one), and stock Eagle RSA tires. So anyone reading this can decide for themselves. I was skeptical at first also, but i got this info from the fastest K03-turboed 1.8T owner, Chim-Chim, AKA Carucandra Dasa. He runs 12.4's with 220 hp, a 2400lbs car and slicks. He had run as low as 1.8 60' times on the same tires as me, doing what i'm doing now, plus a really weird, "hold the ebrake and let off the clutch until it just starts to grab at the starting line" technique. Now I don't even have the coordination to do the ebrake thing, but 15 psi works for me. Its not unsafe, so if you're reading this, give it a shot. If it works for you within 3 or 4 runs, then stick with it. If not, try something else. All i know is that I am now quite a bit faster out of the hole than anyone who ever told me to use 23-28 psi
And btw, 15 psi is high for DR's, try 12-13 and see what happens
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
I will say what works for one person might not work for the next. You should try different settings until you find the right one for you.
FU Tuning
John, just a question, but is that timeslip in your profile on DR's?
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
JJ, just wondering if you knew where to get the control arm bushings. and also, do i have to pull my whole front suspension appart to replace them? i already did that once and im not looking forward to doing it again. but if that's the only thing that will take care of my wheel hop i might just do it. do you think the tranny mounts will help any?
^^ motor/trans mounts will help, and yes you do have to pull apart the suspension. I'm pretty sure that 90% of the places that sell motor and trans mounts will have control arm bushings too.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
