Out of maybe 10 runs, 6 of them have been 13.5 @ 109mph since I've installed the Vortech. I simply can't get the damn thing moving.

Everyone tells me that I should be hitting high 12's with 109 ET's but I'm not even getting close.

Last night I ran a 5AT sedan with a 100 wet shot and he would pull one car length by 330' and from there I would ever so slowly reel him in.

Besides getting slicks and lighter rims, how do I launch this Vortech and get the power up front? I'm fully aware of the drawbacks of the CF S/C, but are there any tricks to get my times down a bit.

So far I've tried:
1. ditching weight (scrapped the child seats, spare tire, tools, etc... from the trunk) - still got a 13.5 @ 109mph
2. I ran at 38psi and 26psi in the rear wheels - both times I got a 13.5 @ 109mph
3. I tried keeping the car in 4th gear (holding it at redline and not shifting the last 50 feet of the track) - still got a 13.5 @ 109. Heck I've even tried shifting to 5th, but I go off of boost and that made me drop 4 mph and 0.2 seconds.

Someone please help! There's got to be something I'm missing. What are the best launch techniques as I'm consistantly getting 2.2 second 60' times?

 

I think this is pretty normal for the Vortech. I ran 13.7 with mine but I did have 20's on. But still I just done think 12's can be done. The night I went I was sooo pissed there was a stock z there that was running a 13.9. This is when I knew the TT had to be bought.

 

What are your 60ft times ? You may need to work real hard on your shifting too . I would get a 2.0 60ft and run 13.2@ 105 all day .....best was 12.98@ 108 with a 1.98 60ft . This is with a AT5 and the 3.12 pulley

Ooops..seen your 60ft's after I posted

 

The answer is simple. Stop wasting your time with street tires. You simply won't run strong ETs with 350whp, RWD, and street tires. Won't happen. It's time to spend the money and get some lightweight 16X8 rims and mount some drag radials. It's the only way.

 

neff drives a 6MT

 

Neff, 5AT's will do better cuz of the shift's are essentially done manually and PERFECT...Tommy (dfwg35) is able to run 12.7 with his Vortech 5AT Coupe...go to his site...www.dfwg35.com ...if I had to do it all over again and knew i was going to be modding my car, I'd def would have went with a 5AT...

 

I agree with DaveB. Note: Are you watching your tack and shifting at the right time?
You have the power to run much quicker. 109 mph is showing you have what you need.

Drag Slick's Is a very easy thing to say, Are you shifting at your peak in all gears? I just love stick shift cars, Its a drivers race now.

 

papa-pasta, Yes sir. I'm watching the tach and waiting for the KP Tech. shift light to tell me when I'm 100 rpms away from the redline. I'm 3 or 4 ticks into the redzone on the dash (darn thing isn't set properly from the factory) and it's definitely not my shifting. Infact, Jeremy's 5AT with the 100 shot of Nitrous, is hurting his shifting for sure. I'm catching him ever so slowly and reeling him in, I just run out of room in the 1/4 mile. With his 5AT and him hitting the Nitrous in 1st gear he jumps a FULL CAR LENGTH on me by 330'. By the end of the race he has me by ~0.08-0.09 seconds, yet I have him by a solid 5mph. I'm definitely outshifting the 5AT or else he would keep pulling on me with a lead right off of the bat.

My problem is the first 60' of the race for sure.

I guess I'll just have to find a cheap set of slicks and new wheels. Anyone know of a set of 16" wheels that will clear the brembos? I'll only need 2 rears.

 

neff,
All of the suggestions so far have merit, but the biggest thing is practice practice practice. I've had a total of about 30 runs in my almost stock 05 6MT sedan. When I first started, it took all day for me to launch in the 2.2 range. Now, almost every launch is 2.2, with a couple of 2.1's thrown in, with a personal best of 2.15. I don't know if I'll ever get 2.1's consistently with my stock rims and tires, but I'm definitely getting better.

On the run where I got that 2.15, I completely ignored the tree(that run, in fact, I had a R/T of 1.4). I watched the tach, and jumped on it at 3k rpms. Many people have mentioned that you need to feather the clutch, while at the same time you need to increase throttle. From personal experience(therefore it might not apply to anyone else), I have not been able to find the right combination of clutch/throttle feathering. Most of the time, I forget to even try it. However, when I have, the best 60's I've been able to achieve is a high 2.3 low 2.4.

So, for me, feathering the clutch just hasn't worked. The fact that when I jump on it, I get horrendous wheel hop, tells me I need to practice that method more. Yet, even with the wheel hop, I've still been able to get in the mid 2.1's, which is encouraging.

As far as shifting speed, I used to believe that there was no way I could ever shift as quickly as an auto. While that is true most of the time, I have pretty much gotten my 2-3 shift down just right. On my last trip to the track, I tried speed/power shifting 2 to 3(whatever it's called; not lifting off the throttle). I was able to make the shift at 7k, even with clutch action, engage third before I hit the rev limiter(7200 I believe), so that's a pretty darn fast shift.

I've never run on anything but my stock wheels/tires, so I can't attest to any performance gains when switching to smaller/lighter weight wheels and drag radials. However, my point of practicing your launch is still valid. Getting your launch down is going to help regardless of which tires you use.

 

Music to my ears. Neff and I will settle this debate soon enough. I'm giving him loads of 6MT practice in the meantime.

(also...If SGP's valve body upgrade wasn't 1200 bucks...I would do that immediately and smoke him up and down).

 

it's not the shifting once you're out of the hole, it's getting out of the hole that the 5AT's are better at...

 

But lets not forget why we bought the 6sp. What fun is it to drive your moms auto?