Went to the local 1/8th mile tonight, and I must say I was quite disappointed. My personal goal tonight was to hit an 8.8@81. Back in December, when I ran in the 13's, I had a few runs of 8.9@80. I was hoping with my mods(exhaust and mrev, though I did ditch the hiflow cats) I'd improve by 1 tenth, and 1mph. I didn't. Didn't even come close.

Here's my info: (60', 1/8th ET, 1/8th trap)
1: 2.319, 9.298@79.66
2: 2.295, 9.344@79.37
3: 2.253, 9.361@78.39 (passenger, and had to completely come out of throttle when 2nd swung my tail out)
4: 2.269, 9.262@79.21 (passenger)
5: 2.338, 9.371@79.05
6: 2.266, 9.280@79.19
7: 2.263, 9.171@79.51
8: 2.278, 9.548@77.86 (I wheel-hopped all the way through 1st, hence the low trap)
9: 2.331, 9.377@78.80
10: 2.201, 9.268@78.27 (had passenger filming)
11: 2.245, 9.406@77.18 (had same passenger filming)
12: 2.275, 9.227@79.50
13: 2.460, 9.470@79.37 (horrid launch)

If you throw out the runs with passengers, I averaged 9.2xx@79xx. I'm not happy with those numbers.

79mph should be good enough for a 9 flat, or a high 8.9(I know, I've done a high 8.9@79). I couldn't hook for ****. I tried launching anywhere from idle to 3500. On the last run, I tried feathering the clutch, forgot to apply any gas whatsoever, and bogged so bad I almost killed the car. Hence the 2.460 60'.

To top it off, I had mad wheel hop. In the past when I got wheel hop, it would only be the right wheel. Tonight, it was both wheels, back and forth, back and forth. On one run, I wheel-hopped all the way through first, with only about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. Even when I launched from idle, as soon as I hit somewhere around 1500 rpms, I would get reciprocating wheelhop. It was nuts.

There are a few good things about the night though. I was much more consistent, especially the first 6 or so runs, even considering I probably didn't launch the same way twice all night. Also, I didn't miss a shift all night. Further, I've improved my shifting speed. I've still got work to do on my 1/2, but it's a vast improvement over the last time I went to the track. Though I'm still not Alberto-fast quite yet.

Another bright spot is how I ran in comparison to the guys in the other lane. Like I've explained before, I couldn't give a **** about my reaction time, so I don't think I once won a race at the finish line. However, I had better ET's than the other guy in 9 of my 11 head to head runs. Also out of those 11 runs, I trapped lower than the other guy only once, and that was to a Z28.

I ran my buddy's SRT4 probably 5 times tonight. I out ET'd and trapped him every run. I averaged at least 4mph higher traps then he did.

I ran Cheryl I think two or three times. I outtrapped her all night by at least 4mph, but on the last run of the night(when I bogged the hell out of the car), she out et'd me 9.433 to 9.470. On that run she shot out of the hole(with a 2.191 versus my 2.460), and I pulled her *hard* until the finish line, where she crossed 2 hundredths of a second before me.

I ran a guy in a late model Z28. He ran a 8.849@81.40 versus my 9.268@78.27, the only time I was outtrapped all night. If my car had been running like it should, and I been good enough to hook up, that would have been a close race. I had a passenger filming that run.

I also ran a late model mustang GT with a loud-*** flowmaster exhaust(don't know what else). He ran a 9.510@75.50 to my 9.406@77.18, where I had a passenger filming.

The other memorable run of the night was against a guy in a brand-new STI. It was literally just days old, and had never been to the track before. I'm hoping the guy learns how to drive it, because he ran a 9.913@74.66(with a 2.448 60'!) versus my 9.377@78.80. That's just wrong.

There was also a guy in a brand-new C6 Z06, running 8.2's@88. It was an older guy, and maybe he wanted to take it easy, but that's just dog slow for that car.

All in all, I'm quite displeased. This just reaffirms the fact that something is going on with my car. I've got to figure out what it is. I'm quite pissed I didn't hit 80 a single time, even after 13 runs. As for conditions, it was high 40's. The next step is to dig up the old timeslips from december(when I ran the 13's), and compare my 1/8th mile trap to the SRT4's, and to Cheryl's. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I doubt I was out-trapping them by 4mph in the 1/8th at the time. If I wasn't, then at least that's an improvement.

And I gotta learn how to friggin launch this car. After well over 100 runs, one would think I would have learned by now.

 

LOL !!!

Nice update, even though you were not satisfied with the results. Few things are more frustrating at the track then a slippery launch pad.

When are you going for the gold with some ET streets or similar?

 

It's a matter of finances my friend. At this point, I'm not sure DR's would help me. It's not an issue of the DR's per se, but my ability to take advantage of them. If I can't launch for **** on my street tires, I don't think I could do so on DR's either. Just a guess.

 

if you have drag radials or ET streets, you can simply dump the clutch at around 5,000 rpm or higher any dummy can do it...or slip the clutch a bit to be safe, and get some nice 60fts in the 1.7-1.8 range.

street tires are tricky to launch on, not drag radials or slicks.

 

This man speaks the truth. ETs will hook so hard that you should worried about breaking something, not spinning.

Trey, why only 1/8 miles? Was this a different track? If so, there's no way you can be comparing the times. Every track is different.

 

I guess I should really go ahead and get the friggin DR's. But at this point, it seems like a shortcut way of getting better times. I'm not ******* the people that use them, but part of me thinks I should at least master my launches before moving on to DR's, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

Think about it this way. In autocrossing, one generally doesn't want to get too involved in suspension mods until one really knows how to drive his car. I guess I just don't want to admit that after 100 some odd track runs that I don't know how to launch my car.

We've got cheryl's stock 17x7's in the basement right now. We've got to decide if we want to mount some DR's on them, or some r compound competition tires for autocrossing. But our local SCCA chapter lost the venue it's been using for years, and the other venue we had lined up chose not to let us return after the first event, so the rest of the season is on hold. Guess I'll do the DR's

 

Yeah, this track was an 1/8th mile strip. They do T&T's on Thursdays, and that matches our schedules better than the local 1/4 tracks.

You're right about comparing times. I shouldn't have let myself fall in that trap.

 

Hoosiers were the only way I could launch with enough consistency to bracket race successfully.

When your 60' varies by less than 2/100ths, you can truly see the results from small setup changes. (power or suspension)

 

Trey,

I'd get ET Streets or Hoosiers barely legal street DR before I'd get Nitto or BFG DRs simply because these tires will hook regardless. Unless DRs are properly warmed up, they won't really hook any better than a street tire. With ET Streets, you can very the amount of hook by rpm, psi, and heat in the tire. If you're feeling crazy then you can get them super sticky and attempt to rip off some killer ET or you can get them a little cold and have them hook and spin a little, reducing load on the drivetrain. ET Streets have been good for legit high 1.7s/low 1.8s in 4th and 5th gen Maximas. I'd think with RWD and more power, the G35 should be able to get mid 1.7s pretty easily. That means it could be quite possible to run 13.3s@103mph.

I see your point about learning the car first then going with the tires, but the problem is street tires and track conditions vary a lot. With stickier rubber, the car will almost always hook regardless of track prep or at least it will be far more consistent.