Had a few new personal bests tonight. New PB ET: 14.093@100.16; about 7 hundreths off my previous best. New best trap: 101.68, about 1mph better than my previous best.


Details, analysis, questions, excuses, and the dissertation will follow tomorrow.

 

And to OCG35, you had too little faith. I've not only reached my goal of 14.1, but also a 14.09(I know, basically a 14.1). I said I wanted to reach those numbers "in my current trim", which was without my crawford cats. Even so, I got there.

I'm not calling you out man. It just goes to show that these cars can put down decent times even in "near-stock" form.

 

nice times man, we dont have our sigs any longer, what do you have done??

 

Nice job, Trey.

I see 13's in your near future.

*jealous*

 

Congrats. Will look forward to the commentary.

 

Cool, good job bro!

 

Great runs once again. I thought you had given up drag raing for a while 14.09 is still a 14.0 in my book. Did Cheryl run too?

I can't wait to make some passes at that track when I get down to Atlanta in early January.

 

Yes I did. Consistant 14.5's with 2 14.6's (i think). Trapped 98 3 times. Will post more details later. We didn't get home until 3:30 this morning and I have only had a few hours sleep.

 

I've got the ztube, k&n filter, 350z midpipe, and crawford cats. Not go-related, I've also got a set of coupe springs/shocks.

 

Before I go into the details, let me first apologize for my tendency to be so wordy. I've been told I "lecture". Oh well.

In cases such as this, I am deliberately descriptive. The reason being that in sharing absolutely every detail of my experience, somebody is bound to learn something. Even if I make a statement that is flat out wrong, someone will learn from my being corrected.

That being said, be prepared for a length read.

 

My goals for last night's track visit were pretty high: 13.8@102. My previous best was a 14.16@100.6, and that included a pretty cruddy 2.3 sixty foot.

How did I think I had *any* chance? Several things. First, the last time I was at the track I had been on a quarter tank of some local cheap brand gas. It was 93, but cheap nonetheless. This time I planned on using 93 from Chevron.

Next, I have new wheels/tires. The wheels(18x8.5) are 23.4 pounds a piece. The tires(245/40/18 Kumho ECSTA ASX all seasons) are 26 pound each, for a total of 49.6 pounds at each corner. Previously I had the OEM 18's with Goodyear Eagle NCT5's. I have seen posts that these wheels/tires weigh 49 pounds, and other posts that claim 51 pounds. Either way, although I didn't reduce the rotating mass, I certainly didn't gain anything. The new tires are 10mm wider each, and being all seasons, I figured I'd get better traction in the conditions versus my stock summer tires.

The next factor was launch. With my previous personal best, I had a crappy 2.3. I figured if I could regain the ability to pull a 2.1, I could at least hit a 13.9.

The last factor was shift points. I have received varying advice on shifting, but regardless, I shift at redline. At my last dyno, the operator reported reaching an indicated 7500 rpms on the tach, but the dyno registered an even 7000. That was a fourth gear pull, so in 4th at least, the tach was roughly 500 rpms in advance of actual engine revs(at an indicated redline at least). Understand that statement is predicated on the belief that the dyno was accurate. Also, according to my dyno charts, my HP peaks between 6200 and 6500 rpms. After peak, my car continues to make power fairly evenly all the way till redline. So, I figured I would try to shift at an "indicated" 7300. If it worked out, I would get an extra 300rpms at "close to" peak HP, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears. If it worked, I figured it would be good for at *least* a tenth and 1mph in the traps.

So, I explained my goals. I explained how I thought I could achieve those goals. In my next post, I'm going to go into why it didn't work out.

God, I feel like I'm blogging again....

 

Conditions this night were nearly identical to the my previous trip. Temps in the 35-38 degree range. However, humidity was a tad lower at 65% versus 80%. I had high hopes, but I didn't achieve my admittedly lofty goals.

First run of the night. Cheryl and I pay and immediately line up in the queue. She had a better reaction, and better times at each stage in the run. She crossed the line 0.0968 seconds before me. She just flat-out beat me.

On this first run, I did *not* powershift the 1-2 shift, but I did try to shift at 7300rpms. Unfortunately, at an indicated 7100, the fuel was cut and it felt like I was thrown into the seat belt. In the wife's 04, when you hit the limiter, it "bounces", meaning revs drop a few hundred and then resume climbing. In this case, it felt like the car just died. As soon as I realized I had hit the fuel cut, I shifted to 2nd, with my foot off the throttle.

Hitting the fuel cut caused two things: 1st, it cost me at least 2 to 3 tenths, if not more(but my trap was still respectable). The seond is that it blew up my theory of the tach being ahead of actual engine revs. Because of this, I didn't try going all the way to 7300, in any gear, for the rest of the night.

Just before this run, I met up with the new guy with his 05 IP 6MT Coupe. He was having problems launching, so I asked if he wanted to ride with me. When the tree went started, I reved up to about 3 thousand rpms, and realized I was in neutral. That just screwed up my run. So I didn't go at it hard for the whole run. Hence the low trap.

Lined up with a late model camaro from a local car group. I'm pretty sure he had the LS1, but I'm not entirely sure it was the SS. This guy was really cool. He let us borrow some tools later in the night. He said that bone stock over the summer he was hitting 13.5's, but I can't remember his traps. Since then he's gone to some sticky compound street tires, full catback, and some other stuff I forgot. He was really pissed about how his car was performing in the cold temps. Overall, I had a poor run. Got another 14.5, and my trap was really low for some reason. I powershifted through this run through all gears. Regardless, another slow time, and another low trap. Go figure.

Ran by myself. Got my first 2.2 sixty foot. I'll discuss my launch technique later. I didn't powershift the 1-2 shift, but did the others. Got a 14.1@98, both of which were disappointing. But at least I finally got a 2.2.

This run was against a previous-gen v6 mustang, with two passengers in addition to the driver(all kids/teenagers). On the previous run, the mustang was right behind me, so he got to see me run that 14.4. I don't know if he was just having fun, or what, but he was outclassed. He had a better reaction time, by roughly .3 seconds, but I instantly realed him in and just left him behind. When I crossed the line I concentrated on braking in time for the last turn, and by the time I looked for him in my mirror, he was gone. It turns out he took the first exit on the cool-down lane.

Anyway, got my first 14.1. Though a high 14.1, I was showing some progress. I still hadn't trapped at 100, but I did get a 2.222 60', which is among the lowest of my past 30+ runs. Slow, slow progress.

Ran by myself again. Got another 2.2, almost a 2.3. Hit 14.3, and trapped at 99 again. I powershifted the entire run, so I don't know what went wrong here. Still haven't broken 100.

Ran the guy with his coupe. When I staged, the revs dropped REALLY low, and I thought I had stalled it. So I bounced the throttle a little bit to make sure my car was still alive, and by the time the revs came back down, the coupe had already left. Because of this, I yielded a 2.769 reaction time(scary huh?) versus his .647. Needless to say, there was no way in hell that I was gonna real him in. So, I figured I could concentrate completely on my launch. I revved to ~2600 this time, dropped the clutch, slammed the throttle, immediately lifted the throttle for a split second, then slammed it back to the floor. Throughout the run, I powershifted. It felt like a good run, because towards the end, I was actually pulling on him. When I got to the booth, I saw I had gotten a high 2.1 sixty foot. That is my first 2.1 in over 30 runs. Then when I saw my ET, I was ecstatic. A new personal best. And I had finally broken 100mph.

Hot off my new personal best, I got right back in line and ran against Cheryl. Bad move. I had a brainfart, and didn't rev at all before I dropped the clutch, so I basically launched at ~800rpms. Thus the 2.5 60'. Then I missed the 1-2 shift. After that, I proceeded to miss the 2-3 shift as well. Only misshifts of the night. Regardless, I got a horrid 15.3. Very embarrasing. The only encouraging thing was that even including two misshifts, I still trapped at 97. Hey, it's something.

Ran my friend in his SRT4. He actually filmed this run(I'll post a link to it in next post). First time to run him all night. I got another high 2.1. Midway through the run, I realized that I had been shifting too slowly. So I made an extra effort to make my last shift(3-4) extra fast. It helped. Though I got another 14.1, I broke 101 for the first time ever. A new personal best trap. In fact, I beat my previous personal best trap by 1.08 mph. Not too bad.

I *nailed* that 3-4 shift. Of course I can't give an accurate shift duration, but I'd have to estimate at no more than 1/4 of a second. In fact, I'd bet it was under .2 seconds.

Last run of the night. Hot off the 101, and the fast 3-4 shift, I thought I might be able to get a 13.9. I concentrated on the launch, concentrated on shifting as fast as possible, and got another 14.1. Trapped at 100 also. It felt like a good run, but at the end I knew it wasn't going to be a 13.9. Just like the previous run, I had nailed the 3-4 shift, and had a great 2-3 shift. Even so, I still only trapped a 100.

 

Last post on the times/analysis/etc, promise. At least until someone asks a question

Anyway, I didn't get a 13.8. I didn't trap a 102. Hell, I didn't even get a 13.9. Why?

Well, Cheryl's best ET's were marginally better than her last trip, but her traps were quite a bit better. Overall, if we compared mean ETs/traps between the nights, she showed a nice improvement.

Myself on the otherhand, did not. And neither did my friend in his SRT4. Despite a few new personal bests, and even a few 2.1 60's, I'm betting my mean times would be lower than the last trip. And I'm not the only one. Several of the guys I talked to that night were in the same boat; despite similar conditions, we just couldn't reproduce previous results. Cheryl appeared to be more of the exception, not the rule.

Last time, I had just under 1/4 tank of a cheap 93 brand of gas. Friday night, I had a full tank of Chevron 93. That's right, a full tank. That surely didn't help. Also, after some thought, I'm pretty sure that I just happened to get a bad tank of gas from this Chevron station. I've never purchased gas at this particular station before. In fact, I wouldn't have last night, had my regular Chevron still been open. The reason I think I might have gotten a bad tank is that on my last few runs, I noticed knock at >5500rpms. The other reason I think I got a bad tank of gas is that in over 60 previous runs, and various WOT runs on the interstate(legal, of course), I have *never* heard any indication of knock. Never. Not even at my track trips in temps approaching 100 degrees, nor when it was dyno'd in the summer in similar conditions. So, although the knock concerns me, it's actually encouraging. I'm assuming that if the engine was experiencing knock, that timing was pulled. If my last few runs still yielded 14.1's/14.0's with pulled timing, then there's still potential for improvement.

Another reason why I couldn't achieve my 13.8 was my assumption that I could shift at an indicated 7300 rpms. That proved to be false. At least that's what I thought. After further thought, I'm pretty sure 1st gear seems to be pretty dead-on. The discrepancy in rpms I had observed earlier occurred in 4th gear. I have no idea why there would be a discrepancy, and what any discrepancies would be different amongst the gears, but that seems to be the case. So, in the interests of research, I plan on finding a nice empty stretch of road that I can use for testing. I will see exactly what the fuel cut is in each of my first three gears.

And lastly, I've reviewed(in my head) my shifting. 2 to 3 is ok, 3 to 4 is pretty damn fast, but it just takes me forever to make the 1-2 shift. I'm talking at least a full half-second. My tranny has always been overly notchy, and there's always been a great deal of resistance when going from first to second. Regardless of notchiness/resistance, the physical throw from 1 to 2 seems to be the longest throw in my gearbox. I mean it's even longer then 4 to 5, or 5 to 6. If I can make that shift faster, say in the .3 second range, that's two-tenths RIGHT THERE. That's a 13.8 RIGHT THERE. I see a new tranny fluid in my very near future.

Oh, my launch technique. I've said over and over again that I refuse to feather the clutch. I've found an alternative that works for me. At the same time that I drop the clutch, I slam the accelerator to the floor. This immediately induces spin on my left-rear tire, and wheel hop on my right-rear. As soon as I sense any spin, or hop, I *slightly* lift the throttle, say 1/3rd of the way. This usually causes the rears to grip, immediately. As soon as they do, I put the throttle back to the floor. Last night, with temps in the 35 to 38 degree range, yielded two high 2.1's, and a bunch of 2.2's(the 2.4's and 2.5's where I just royally screwed up the launch notwithstanding). On the two runs where I got 2.1's, I launched at ~2600. Now I need to try launching at something lower, starting at ~2400 and working my way down in 200 rpm increments till I find the sweet spot.

So, the next time I go to the strip I plan on actually doing some proper prep. 1/4 tank of gas( as opposed to a full tank ). Pulling the spare/jack(never done that before). And possibly running with a 5 gallons of 100 octane race fuel. If I still get knock, I'm just screwed

So, I can and will improve my 1-2 shift. I can do some actual race prep. I can run better fuel. So, on my street all-seasons, I plan on getting a 13.8 on a perfect run, but a 13.9 minimum, before I put the MREV on.

Now, I must admit that I think I'm an above-average driver, but a pretty sh!tty racer. My R/T's are pretty decent if I don't give a crap about my launch, but I *cannot* get a good launch AND a good R/T. It's just not gonna happen. So, pro racing isn't in my future. Another area for improvement is consistency. It seems that every time I go to the track, I have at least 1 or 2 runs where I screw something up. Either I miss a shift, have a brain fart when staging(like leaving it in neutral), or something. Also, I always start out with bad runs, but my last 3/4 runs are always my best. So I definitely have to get in the "groove". But once I do, I'm pretty consistent.

cheers

 

Me versus my friend's SRT4. This is what the tails of an 05 Sedan look like

Requires an mp4 codec, or quicktime:
http://media.putfile.com/srt4_v_g35sedan

**EDIT**
The quicktime plugin doesn't seem to be working with my moz/firefox. Works fine with IE.

 

Wow, you're as wordy as me

IMO, the full tank of fuel will slow you down. Static weight really works against you, especially at the beginning of the race. Next time show up with about a 1/4 tank of fuel. Yank the spare, floor mats, and any other loose articles from the car. I'm not talking about yanking your owners manual or CDs, but don't run down the track with tools and such in the car. Yanking all the things I listed plus running less fuel will shed well over 120lbs. That's pretty significant for a car like this. If you were more consistent, you would see just how much of a difference 100+lbs makes, especially in trap speed. I know in my lighter Maxima, 100lbs was good for a solid ~.12 and ~1.8mph when comparing slips of the same day and same 60 foot.

As for the clutch dump launch, I would never recommend it unless you want a date with your dealer to fix a snapped $500 halfshaft or a $1,200 clutch. Clutch dumps with an immediate stab of the throttle is horrible for the drivetrain. What you're basically doing is violently shocking the drivetrain. It introduces for the following problems:

1) Higher potential for a bog which will kill you times
2) Wheelhop which is a sure way to snap a halfshaft, snap engine mounts, and munch bushings.
3) Wild wheelspin which will result worse ETs
4) It's absolute hell on your clutch and tranny. Far worse than slipping the clutch.

It always been my experience with both RWD and FWD that slipping the clutch from a high rpm will always results in better and more consistent 60 foots, better 330' foots and ultimately better 1/4 ETs. I'm not talking about slipping the clutch for an extended period. I'm talking about doing this:

1) Stage
2) Rev up to 3500-4000rpms and release the clutch just to where it's about to catch
3) When it's time to go, hold the rpms and release the clutch to right where you feel the car moving 1-2mph, then release the clutch fairly quickly and feed the car gas and keep the rpms above 3000rpms. This should be a quick motion. The key is to get rolling first before really letting the clutch out. WAY too many racers think they're John Force and want to go WOT straight from a standstill. On street tires, you need that initial roll to help plant the tires and remove nearly all of that driveline shock. Don't be in hurry. A low 2.1 or high 2.0 60 foots feels pretty dang slow in a RWD car.

This type of launch consistently netted me 1.9-2.0 60 foots in LT1 F-Bodies and 5.0 Mustangs and mid to high 2.1 60 foots in my Maxima. All cars had all season or summer rated rubber.