Dragstrip woes... :(

[stprorolla49]

Last nite I went to Englishtown for test and tune because I haven't raced the car in almost a year and I wanted some practice. Good thing I went, cause I sucked last nite. My previous best was a 14.2@96 w/ 2.01 60', and that was prior to the 3.73's, rebuilt trac-lok, and catback. I made 6 passes last nite, and they were not consistent at ALL! Last time I raced which was last summer, I made 5 passes, and they were all within .03. Last night, my times ranged from 14.8, to a best of 14.17 at 96 with a 2.00 60'. One of the passes I even had an 89 mph trap which I still dont understand. I also had a hard time doing 2nd gear burnouts. I would rev it to about 5 grand, pop the clutch, get on the brake, and keep the revs up. After about 2 seconds, the tires would start to bite, and I'd let off the brakes. I would get no smoke, and I would spin. I was getting frustrated, so i tried a 1st gear burnout. Well i got the tires to spin easily, and i spun them a long time, but barely got any smoke.

I know i need some practice, but does anyone have a suggested launch rpm with my mods, 3.73 gears, and Nittos. The car feels a lot faster since I installed the gears. I know its more than .03 faster, but thats all i could muster last nite. I was very frustrated because normally I'm a pretty decent, consistent racer. I guess I don't have the hang of launching with these gears yet. I should be going 13.8ish at around 98-99 mph with a 1.8ish 60'. Any help would be great, thanks.

 

[Adam95GT]

y dont you pm me when you go ... i could of swore i saw your car at atco awhile back

 

[stprorolla49]

y dont you pm me when you go ... i could of swore i saw your car at atco awhile back

My bad dude, I'll let you know next time I go. Also, I've never been to Atco with my car before, although I have been there many times. There is a guy in central jersey that has a car almost IDENTICAL to mine, so maybe thats who you saw. Same paint, same wheels (chrome tho), same suspension, same hood, same bumper inserts, etc....its scary.

 

[rj95svt]

From what I've seen of drag radials you can launch harder than on street radials but you can't just dump the clutch and expect them to bite. I think a 3,000 rpm launch slipping the clutch a little as your getting into the throttle makes for good 60ft's. I managed to get a 1.98 60ft on regular 245 45 17's in my cobra leaving at 2,000.There is more left in your car that's for sure. I haven't run a 5 speed car in a few years and it took going to the track a couple of times to get back in practice. I'm sure that the new gears made a huge difference in the car (they did mine) so thats probably what the biggest problem is like you said.

 

[stprorolla49]

From what I've seen of drag radials you can launch harder than on street radials but you can't just dump the clutch and expect them to bite. I think a 3,000 rpm launch slipping the clutch a little as your getting into the throttle makes for good 60ft's. I managed to get a 1.98 60ft on regular 245 45 17's in my cobra leaving at 2,000.There is more left in your car that's for sure. I haven't run a 5 speed car in a few years and it took going to the track a couple of times to get back in practice. I'm sure that the new gears made a huge difference in the car (they did mine) so thats probably what the biggest problem is like you said.

Yea my best 60' ever was a 1.99 on 245/45/17 Pepboys specials hahaha. I think the hotlapping on the first 3 runs, plus me getting back into the seat after a year also had something to do with it. Any more suggestions would be awesome!

 

[kck6894]

Don't worry about your tires not smoking. If they are grabbing they are hot. No reason to spin them more if they are already hooking.

 

[stprorolla49]

Don't worry about your tires not smoking. If they are grabbing they are hot. No reason to spin them more if they are already hooking.

This is true...I didn't mean it in a "I'm not cool cause I don't get smoke" kinda way, I meant it in a "last time I got a lot of smoke, I don't understand why I didn't this time" kinda way, lol. I think the only way to fix this is more horsepower

 

[rj95svt]

That'll do it!!!
A set of lower control arms may help the traction cause some too!!

 

[stprorolla49]

That'll do it!!!
A set of lower control arms may help the traction cause some too!!

Yea my plans are to get some subframes, upper and lower control arms, and some Cobra brakes. I wanna get the car set for more power in the future.

I just think i need some practice cause last season i was deadly consistent. I made it to the 4th round of eliminations on a bracket racing day and all my runs were within .03, so i know i can do it. I just need more seat time.

 

[trav_19]

burnouts are for cleaning the tire so no john force burnouts needed... and you will have to experiment on the launch rpm yourself see how high you can get away with with out spinning my 5 speed car lauches best at around 2500 ...try it at 2k then increase 500 rpm till it spins then back it off a little

 

[stprorolla49]

burnouts are for cleaning the tire so no john force burnouts needed... and you will have to experiment on the launch rpm yourself see how high you can get away with with out spinning my 5 speed car lauches best at around 2500 ...try it at 2k then increase 500 rpm till it spins then back it off a little

yea i mean i did really well with that last season, i was launching at 3 grand perfectly with the 3.08 gears, but i think i need to get used to the 3.73's more cause i was burning that ****