is it just me?

[Chuckman]

or is my car a little slow?

normally i wouldnt ask this sort of question as i'll take what i can get, but i was really hoping for more out of my car at the strip friday.

best was a [email protected] with a 2.08 60' (i had a 2.04 60' earlier, and a 2.02 the last time i went, but ground 4th and missed 3rd respectively).

just seems odd when there were cars at the same event with close to the same setup as me running much closer to the 14.0 range, even with worse 60' times. its making me wonder if i really suck at driving that much or if theres something wrong with the car

 

[GTOreturns]

Street tires? Those arent bad times, and pretty good 60's if your running street tires. What are you shifting at? Stock fuel pressure regulator? What's your timing at?

 

[GTOreturns]

OOPS! Just saw you got Nitto's. Your 60's have to be lower, if you can get them down to 1.8 or lower you will be flirting with 13.9's in the 1/4.

 

[Chuckman]

OOPS! Just saw you got Nitto's. Your 60's have to be lower, if you can get them down to 1.8 or lower you will be flirting with 13.9's in the 1/4.

yep, nittos, running 25psi of air at the track, was shifting at about 5500 at the begining of the night, then switched to 6k and it ran a bit faster. launching at 2k. stock fuel system, timing set to 14 advance.

 

[GTOreturns]

yep, nittos, running 25psi of air at the track, was shifting at about 5500 at the begining of the night, then switched to 6k and it ran a bit faster. launching at 2k. stock fuel system, timing set to 14 advance.

Lower the Nitto's to 18psi, this will let you launch at a higher RPM. Your stock motor has pretty much no power at 6 grand. Try shifting at 5000RPM. Then go up in 100RPM increments.

Nitto's are tricky heating up, just spin em till they "start" to smoke and stop. Ive over heated my Nitto's and it just creates spin off the line.

 

[GTOreturns]

What RPM are you crossing the line at?

 

[stykthyn]

...

 

[Chuckman]

Your stock motor has pretty much no power at 6 grand. Try shifting at 5000RPM. Then go up in 100RPM increments.

Nitto's are tricky heating up, just spin em till they "start" to smoke and stop. Ive over heated my Nitto's and it just creates spin off the line.

this is why i started out shifting at 5500. the 6k shifts seemed to be a bit faster, but i also got the nittos heated up a bit better on that run. ill try the 18psi next, i just wasnt all that comfy with going that low on em to start with since i still gotta drive the thing home.

not sure what rpms i crossing the line at, getting close to 5k i think, i haven't been paying attention to it as i know im not going to shift into 5th.

 

[MikeROD16]

try to set the timing not to 14 but to 12,, maybe its too advanced. just my guess, wouldn't hurt to try. but anyways, also make sure u have no extra load on your car and pour in some good gas *cough*110 octane*cough*. Little things can accumulate and add to your E/T. Check air filter, spark plugs, etc.

 

[skunk21]

this is why i started out shifting at 5500. the 6k shifts seemed to be a bit faster, but i also got the nittos heated up a bit better on that run. ill try the 18psi next, i just wasnt all that comfy with going that low on em to start with since i still gotta drive the thing home.

not sure what rpms i crossing the line at, getting close to 5k i think, i haven't been paying attention to it as i know im not going to shift into 5th.

gtoreturns pretty much gave you a good starting point. Go to walmart or some place like that and pick up a little compressor that plugs in a lighter so you can play with your tire pressures. Your timing seems good, you might be able to go to like 16 if you don't get any pinging and then drop back to 14 for the street. Like gto states the stock motor/cam runs at at that rpm range so play with you shifts and time them so you stay on cam or in the meat of the powerband.Once you can get your 60ft's dialed in better and your shifts I'll bet you see a big improvement.

 

[82CapriRS]

seems a lil slow to me 2. traps low for mods. i have around the same mods but carbed an im trapping no less then 98mph. with a 2.1 60ft on street tires i ran [email protected]. i have less gear too (3:55s). only thing i can think is maybe im lighter...with me in it an half tank its 3080lbs

 

[Chuckman]

seems a lil slow to me 2. traps low for mods. i have around the same mods but carbed an im trapping no less then 98mph. with a 2.1 60ft on street tires i ran [email protected]. i have less gear too (3:55s). only thing i can think is maybe im lighter...with me in it an half tank its 3080lbs

of course now that im looking for it, i cant find it, but i could swear i've trapped 97mph or so with the old goodyears on the back once it finally hooked (time was still low 15's then). then again i could be remembering way wrong (probably am).

next time i go, ill try your guys' recommendations. hopefully it'll get me a lot closer to my 14.0 goal.

 

[blackened88lx]

Lower the Nitto's to 18psi, this will let you launch at a higher RPM. Your stock motor has pretty much no power at 6 grand. Try shifting at 5000RPM. Then go up in 100RPM increments.

Nitto's are tricky heating up, just spin em till they "start" to smoke and stop. Ive over heated my Nitto's and it just creates spin off the line.

Really? I've heard online and from people I know with them that you have to do a massive burnout with nittos to make them even think about hooking. Maybe it's different with the auto

this is why i started out shifting at 5500. the 6k shifts seemed to be a bit faster, but i also got the nittos heated up a bit better on that run. ill try the 18psi next, i just wasnt all that comfy with going that low on em to start with since i still gotta drive the thing home.

not sure what rpms i crossing the line at, getting close to 5k i think, i haven't been paying attention to it as i know im not going to shift into 5th.

Are you going off the stock tach? This may be the confusion in shift points. The stock tach in my car is definitely nowhere near 6k when it shows 6k. It doesn't hit the rev limiter (6250) till the tach is past 7. So that gives you an idea of how far off they can be. Just get a feel for when the car stops pulling and that's pretty much exactly where you want to shift.

try to set the timing not to 14 but to 12,, maybe its too advanced. just my guess, wouldn't hurt to try. but anyways, also make sure u have no extra load on your car and pour in some good gas *cough*110 octane*cough*. Little things can accumulate and add to your E/T. Check air filter, spark plugs, etc.

Seriously, you need to stop giving people advice, especially about stuff at the drag strip. These cars LOVE timing. Mine goes better with every little bit I add, I believe it's around 17 now. Race gas has absolutely nothing to do with making a car faster, it will actually make it slower if it doesn't need it. The sole purpose of race gas is to resist detonation in high compression or boost applications. Therefore, 225hp 9:1 compression n/a 302 does not need race gas.

OP: The car definitely doesn't seem to be trapping anywhere near what it should. My stock '88 with exhaust, 3.55s and the timing bumped went 14.0 at 99mph with a TERRIBLE 60ft, a hot engine and a couple hundred lbs of tools and **** in the car on the only run I got. I'm not sure what pressure nittos like to run at, especially on a 17" wheel, but most tracks have air to air up before you go home, so feel free to experiment. I would try as low as 15 or so. Throw some more timing at it, and experiment more with shift points, and powershift it if you're brave. Maybe throw a short belt on it You should be able to get 100mph out of it. What's your elevation?

 

[MikeROD16]

well, im sorry, if u mix in race gas with regular pump gas, it will improve slightly. I have a crapload of friends that have tried it on their cars and it works. ive seen it done to 5.0's grand nantionals and even stock rangers. As for timing, it seems like he is going to drive this car dialy of often. i doubt he would want his car running to the track at 17. but w/e, like i said, the timing i wasnt too sure about.

 

[stykthyn]

that might work with a GN, but mixing race gas in a 9:1 or even 10:1 compression motor is a waste of time and money. If you arent sure about something ask before you post. you just come off looking ignorant. one of the many reasons kids get flamed around here.

 

[MikeROD16]

well, im sorry im saying what ive seen and been taught

 

[GTOreturns]

Driving around with 18psi is no problem. It's plenty of air to drive home or even stop on the way home to refill them. Remember it's a radial and has stiffer sidewalls then slicks, so don't be afraid of this.

A few years ago I just bought some new Hoosier Quick Time Pro's, there pretty much slicks, and not radials. Well I was racing at Englishtown and bolted them up to drive there. (There Dot legal) It's a 2 hour drive for me, and the guy that mounted them put 14lbs of air in them thinking I was just using them for the track. I never checked them till I got to the track!

 

[blackened88lx]

that might work with a GN, but mixing race gas in a 9:1 or even 10:1 compression motor is a waste of time and money. If you arent sure about something ask before you post. you just come off looking ignorant. one of the many reasons kids get flamed around here.

Exactly.

well, im sorry, if u mix in race gas with regular pump gas, it will improve slightly. I have a crapload of friends that have tried it on their cars and it works. ive seen it done to 5.0's grand nantionals and even stock rangers. As for timing, it seems like he is going to drive this car dialy of often. i doubt he would want his car running to the track at 17. but w/e, like i said, the timing i wasnt too sure about.

No, it will not help at all. I wouldn't try learning something from kids that put race gas in stock 5.0s and rangers to try and go faster. What does timing have to do with daily driving? As long as it's not advanced enough to ping it will only run better. It will improve gas mileage as well.

 

[82CapriRS]

OP: The car definitely doesn't seem to be trapping anywhere near what it should. My stock '88 with exhaust, 3.55s and the timing bumped went 14.0 at 99mph with a TERRIBLE 60ft, a hot engine and a couple hundred lbs of tools and **** in the car on the only run I got. I'm not sure what pressure nittos like to run at, especially on a 17" wheel, but most tracks have air to air up before you go home, so feel free to experiment. I would try as low as 15 or so. Throw some more timing at it, and experiment more with shift points, and powershift it if you're brave. Maybe throw a short belt on it You should be able to get 100mph out of it. What's your elevation?

17 degrees?? hmm im only at 13 or 14. you think bumpin it more would help that much? i thought that would be way to much. learn somethin every day...

 

[bentley429]

I changed the spark plugs, retarded the timing down to around 11 from 16 and put some 110 in my duramax and it seems to run a lot better? Pretty stock too, you guys are wrong.