Cheryl & I attended another track day yesterday - this is the same group that rented out the track a year ago where I put down my personal best 13.264. Conditions were almost identical - low 60's to start out the morning, warming to mid to upper 70's in the early afternoon. For yesterday, I had half a tank of gas.

And I think this is going to be my last track event. I'm considering selling all of my drag-racing paraphernalia. The car's got ~320 passes on it now, and I'm going to break something before long. Also, it's as fast as it's ever going to be.

I had ten runs yesterday. I'm still running the utec and drag radials, along with the stock airbox. I removed the mrev+ lower plenum(keeping the spacer), and am now running the stock revup lower plenum. I've already posted that dyno analysis shows that on my car, the stock revup lower plenum was down a few hp versus the mrev+ over the drag-racing rev range. I'm also running the nismo z suspension(shocks+springs, front and rear(+~65% stiffer than before), so I thought my launches might take a dump. My trap wasn't as high as before, but I only lost maybe half a mph at the big end - the revup lower plenum didn't hurt me that bad.

To offset the stiffer suspension, I feathered the clutch longer than I usually do. That lead to me bogging more than before, which may also explain the lost trap speed. But the difference in trap is so negligible that it really doesn't matter. Regardless, the [much] stiffer suspension simply didn't impact my ET's.

I regularly get 20 to 25 runs at these track days, but I shut it down after only 10. My rear brake pads are almost shot, with less than 1mm pad material left. And that's the stock pads after 66k miles on the odo, and all those burnouts and cool-downs from ~320 runs down the strip. On my last run, my left-rear caliper froze coming down the return road, making an awful sound. Pumping the brakes unfroze it, and there appears to be no serious damage. Regardless, after that, I decided to not run again.

Here are my runs in order.
* I started out taking first gear to redline, then slow-shifting into second. I tried to shift into second a little faster on the second run and missed it. After this run, I short-shifted second like I normally do, for every run other than run #7. Even after missing 2nd, my ET was still better than my best ET on street tires.

** Tried to take second further, missed it.

*** This time I missed third. It was just a lazy shift - I hardly ever miss third. After that, I just put it into 5th and shut off the run.

Notes:
I never had a passenger. This was also by far my most consistent outing. Out of the ten runs, only one launch exceeded 2.0. Over half of the launches were 1.90x or better.

Run number six was the best of the day, and a mere one hundredth of a second off my previous best.

The first run and the last run of the day were almost identical. The launches were exactly the same, too the thousandths of a second. The eighth mile and quarter mile each differed by only three thousandths of a second. On the big end, the traps differed by only 5 hundredths of a mph. On the first run I took 1st all the way to redline and slow-shifted second. On the last run, I flat-shifted 2nd at about 5500rpms. Still very very close.

Who said six speeds couldn't be consistent?

Here are some videos a buddy shot:

Me versus Mustang 5.0 LX: http://gallery.mac.com/academytim#100640
This was my second run, where I missed second. I had that guy beat, but missing 2nd cost me.

Me versus LS2 GTO: http://gallery.mac.com/academytim#100634
This was my third run. I never talked to this guy, so I don't know if he's stock. I doubt it - there aren't many stock LS2 GTO's running high 12's(it happens, but its not common). He was on street tires. I cut a .240 light to his .331 light. My sixty was a 1.896 versus his 2.047. I was leading until about the 1000 foot mark, and he ultimately crossed the line .2555 seconds before me. He out-trapped me by 4mph on the big end, so it shouldn't be a surprise( cubic inches FTW ).

Me versus BlinkerFluid: http://gallery.mac.com/academytim#100641
BlinkerFluid has an APS TT coupe. We both cut great lights: my .073 to his .067. He couldn't get traction for a full 1/4 track, and I jumped out with a sixty of 1.949 versus his 2.351. But like I said, he spun so far that the sixty doesn't really matter. He also missed a gear. Although he out trapped me by 10mph, the combination of my tires and his missing a gear let me cross the line .4755 seconds before him. This was my 8th run.

Also - I drove Cheryl's car a couple of times. Before yesterday, I had only driven her car at a local 1/8th mile for two passes. This car has more wheelhop than my car ever did. Plus, she does no track prep(her preference). Stock tire pressures, nothing removed from her car, and she had half a tank of gas. I'm not used to launching on street tires anymore, and my first pass saw an awful 2.388 sixty. The second pass was much better - I cut a 2.297 with almost no drama, and absolutely no wheel hop. On that run, I feathered the clutch without applying any gas for the first 10 feet or so, then I stabbed the throttle.

That run netted a 9.179@80.71mph through the halfway point and a 14.016@101.80mph on the big end. That was my fourth pass ever in the car. I can't stand the feel and lack of return on her clutch pedal, but her tranny is butter smooth. I flat shifted 2nd at exactly 7500rpm, 3rd and 4th at 7700rpm. The car is two hundredths away from a 13 second pass. Had I had more seat time, we would have left with a 13.9. I'm sure with some prep, it's got a 13.8 in it.

For the sake of comparison, Cheryl's best trap was 2mph slower, at 99.83mph. And here's a video of that 14.01 run: http://gallery.mac.com/academytim#100518

And here are some assorted pictures from the day:

 

awesome times...I miss the drags

 

Damn Trey nice times... almost beat your personal best!

Cheryl nice choice of rims

 

Nice times.. Seems like you are the only one who really drag's their car on here.. The times on driver don't come close to those on my350z.

BTW what time do you think you would get if you were running stock tires?

Seems like a g35 isn't really meant to be modded. At least not performance wise.

 

Why not. The only difference is we're at a 100-120lb disadvantage. There's no reason why you couldn't take a bonestock 1st gen 6MT, add 26" slicks, and run a 13.6@100-101mph. Most G owners aren't as extreme with thier cars as the Z guys because most of us have to use these cars to cart family, clients, or use them as daily drivers. In order to extract the most out of these cars, it comes at the expense of noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH). Most us aren't willing to deal with that. According to Trey, his car has pretty high NVH compared to stock. I'm certain he could run 13.0s if he got a set of 26" slicks. His car will surely pull a mid 1.7 60 foot and that's all it will take to get him a 13.0 and maybe even a 12.9.

 

Nice runs as always Trey. I'm still really confused as to why Cheryl's car isn't going any quicker. I would have thought 13.7s@102mph for sure. It makes me wonder how C&D got 13.7@104mph out of their longterm 07 G 6MT.

 

On a good run, I would run upper 13's. My best time on street tires was a 13.791. However, that was under great conditions and that was with one of my best launches ever(on street tires), but on the other hand I was making maybe 15hp/25tq less than today.

And I disagree that the g isn't meant to be modded. While I think it would be stupid to by a g35 just to take it to the drag strip, I don't have a problem with modding the g35 if you have that itch.

You have to remember that it's a heavier car, with a relatively high compression v6 that's gotta be spun to make any power. In absolute numbers, doing something like an intake or exhaust doesn't have the kind of returns on the vq as it does on something like the ls1. But the ls1 has a huge displacement advantage.

Regardless, if you want to go fast, instead of just quick, you're not going to do it all motor in this car.

 

Because Trey isn't used to the car and I can't drive it. He got notably better traps than I could manage all day and I can't launch for ****. I admit I'm the weak link in this one. I also haven't taken it to the track enough to get any real practice. I just don't have the time or the money to take the track trips at this point. Gas is finally coming down and our best 1/8 mile option just closed up for the season for lack of attendance. Last year they never closed. It's just down here. Maybe with some practice it will get better but right now - it's just not in the cards.

 

Thanks Dave. I don't know what's up with her car. It's got a little more in it - like I said before, I've only got four runs in the thing. I'm sure I could have gotten 102mph out of it - my second run trapped 101.8.

Regardless, it's quicker than her 04. That car never trapped more than 98mph from what I recall(I could be wrong on that). Could be she just has a slower g. Who knows.

However, in comparison to my car, maybe it shouldn't be much of a surprise. I'm trapping upper 103's on my better runs, and with more runs, probably lower 102's in her car. Her car is bone stock - still on the stock air filters and tires. The only difference are the wheels - and they weigh exactly the same as the stock wheels - to within a tenth of an ounce. Plus we didn't adjust tire pressures or remove anything from the trunk.

If you recall a thread from a year ago, I plotted a dyno of her car over my car. Peak horsepower numbers were very close, but overall, my car made quite a bit more power. The only mitigating factors that I can come up with is the fact that her car has 5% shorter gearing paired with a raised redline.

Considering the different preparation for each car, my advantage in power, plus the fact that I'm able to get traction higher in the power band, a difference of 1.5mph in the traps sound about right to me.

What do you think?
** Here's the plot:

 

** Make that - the wheels weigh within a tenth of a pound.

 

nice bud you always have good data

 

Trey, does this latest set of runs confirm/contradict your thinking that you lost your tune previously?

 

That's a great question Jeff. I hadn't considered that. The traps disprove and hunch that I'm down on power. Granted, I'm not trapping as much as I was a year ago in similar conditions, but the difference is very small.

Plus, I'm running the stock intake configuration(lower plenum, airbox). Taken as an aggregate, I'm making a tad less power than a year ago.

Who knows? At this point, the idea of my dead battery wreaking havoc on my ecu's tune seems laughable. However, it's *possible* that the ecu has adjusted itself to within some percentage of what it was before the battery died. After all, it's very difficult to disprove a negative.

 

Thanks for the post, Trey, I really enjoy watching the videos.

 

wow your mid range is killer compared to hers by like 20-25hp/tq that's alot.

What kind of wheels are you using? I asked for price in the time thread then it got OT if you plan on selling.

What do you think out of your set-up gave you the most and what gave you least for drag racing your G?