[watermnp]

Went to the dragstrip today after being away for a long long time. Managed to kick off an [email protected] run, with, ironically, a "horrible" 60' time (1.919). All my other runs were higher ET's (and similar MPH's, with a best of 120.86) due to a total inability to get the car to hook (seemed to light up the tires at ~5000RPM in 1st and after the hard shift to 2nd no matter what). Even on that run I was spinning pretty bad, as illustrated by the 1.9 60' (I used to pull 1.6/1.7 60' times before I upgraded the suspension).

Moral of the story - if you want sweet ET's at the dragstrip, stick with the stock suspension.

Mod's are BPU, cam gears, FMIC. Still on the stock MAF, 275/40ZR17 Nitto drag's, and weighing in at ~3600lbs with a full tank of gas (+200lbs for the overweight driver). Peak boost through the entire pass was 1.35kg/cm2 (19.2PSI). Hope to see a stronger MPH when I get a VPC in and actually tune the car...

-Pete

 

[Steve Theodore]

Pete,

Glad to hear you're back in the US! Anyway, feel free to send the coilovers my way so I can reunite them with the OG MSB that they used to reside with!

Then you can be quicker at the track!

 

[TimZ28]

1) What pressure were the Nittos at?

2) How long did your burnouts last?

Tim

 

[MONSTER]

What suspension mods did hurt you .3-.4 sec?

 

[watermnp]

TimZ28 - Ironically, the 11.87 pass was at 32PSI with barely a burnout, and a fairly lazy launch (first one off the street, that always happens to me). After that, I tried harder, and hit the bog/spin scenario dropping the drags by 2-4PSI each run (down to 16) and cooking them royally each time.

Monster - Since the last time I ran 11's ([email protected]) and consistent 1.7 60' times, I've added coilovers and TRD sway bars. Even at full soft the coilovers don't squat nearly as much as the stock suspension does. :/ I've probably been to the track for about twenty passes since doing this, and haven't yet seen a 60' better than a 1.9 since, and even those are rare.

Oh, well, mostly I run at the track to catch the MPH to see how strong the car is running, but it's still annoying.

-Pete

 

[Eric]

I'd suspect the prep of the track. I've got a BPU mkiv with a road racing oriented suspension (Intrax coilovers and TRD sway bars), and I've gotten a bunch of 1.8X 60's and a few 1.7s with BFG drag radials. I don't get much wheelspin unless I drop the clutch from a high rpm. How are you launching the car? The only way I can get the car to launch well is to leave at 4500-5000 rpms with a lot of clutch slippage.

 

[Grant]

Pete, was this on pump gas like you runs before? I'm wondering how much a full tank of gas takes off, 1 mph maybe?

 

[yz06]

lets look at your timeslip? maybe we can analyze it.

-yz

[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: yz06 ]

 

[watermnp]

Eric - I've heard from many different sources that that BFG's tend to be stickier than the Nittos. I plan on popping up to 315 BFG's later this summer after I burned a new clutch in. My car is probably pushing in excess of 470ft-lbs to the rear wheels, so I definitely have to abuse the clutch to get it to take off in a semblance of speed. The irony is that I light up around 5-5.5K RPM no matter what, unless I'm slipping the clutch all the way through 1st. Don't want to do that, already fried this clutch twice.

Might've had something to do with the track prep, too - on a normal asphalt road surface, my drag radials squeal for bit on the 1->2 shift, but they don't tear loose and put the car sideways, usually, like was happening at the track.

Grant - This was with a half tank or so of 93, then filling it up with 100 octane (was about 9gal). Figure it's probably worth one MPH or so, since they say 100 pounds is about 1 MPH, and a tank of gas would be close to that.

Ironically, I ran through that tank this morning, and filled up with 93 again. With straight 93, the car pulls noticeably harder in the lower gears (clutch disk doesn't hold up to a 3rd gear boost spike anymore). I think I may have been running too rich with the 100 octane, go figure. Definitely need to do some fuel tuning, but I just spent my VPC/etc. money on a new clutch, ouch.

yz06 - Sure, here ya go:

60'     1.919
330     5.173
1/8     7.783
MPH     93.89
1000    10.014
1/4     11.878
MPH     120.46

Notice how the 1/8 MPH and ET is fairly low? (I've trapped higher and ran quicker ET's in the 1/8 running 12.0's at 118-119) That's because of the relatively poor 60' and more importantly, the big loss on the 1->2 shift after the 60' mark.

-Pete

[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: Pete Waterman ]

 

[MONSTER]

Thanks for the info. I have been thinking about the lowering springs (no sways), but it looks like any kind of stiffer suspension would hurt the factory squat.

 

[drizzt31]

anyone have any emperical data on 97-98 suspension versus the 93-96 suspension and how well they launch? I have cut 1.5x with BFGs with the 97 suspension (in my 93-96 car) but some people say the earlier year suspension launches better?

I've also cut great 60' times with my GAB coilovers on the race car, I think if dialed in right, an aftermarket suspension can be great for drag launches, however the sway bars are another story, they can hurt you alot...it has a cage as well which helps also.

-warren