another new best E.T for my car!!

[Reaper1]

So the night was full of ups and downs. This was SUPPOSED to have happened Wednesday night, but for some unknown(REAL) reason the track decided that wed. test-n-tune was only going to be every 1st and 3rd wed. of the month 'till October.

Anyways...we get there today and as soon as I get through tech it starts drizzling. It does that for 15 minutes or so, then stops. The track was dried and opened, so I make my first pass...which sucked horribly.

So, I go back to the staging lanes, and the sky decides it wasn't quite done....an hour later we're back racing.

Anyways, the meat and potatos:
best run of the night looked like this:
60' 2.299
330 6.252
1/8 9.391
mph 79.53
1000 12.042
1/4 14.284
mph 99.25

So, new best ET: 14.284!! That is also accompanied by a new best 60'(for this car) at 2.299. (I did this running against a Saleen S281 non S/C car...he only pulled 100.70mph!! He did beat me, but seeing his time and 60' made me have something to shoot for and compare to! )

Taking the advise of board members I decided to try a lower rpm launch and keep the tire pressure higher than I used to(28#s was tonights magic setting). The launch rpm for that race was around 3000-3500, shift points around 5500-5700. I left it in 3rd all the way through the traps where it was spinning around 6200. My Devil's Own was 100% water this time(still can't find any methanol here!!) coming in at 12psi and full bore at 18psi. I noticed that my boost was no longer holding steady at 20-22#'s any longer. By the end of the track I was down to about 18#'s. I *think* that's due the small .48 turbine housing and the 2.25" SV housing. Am I correct? A/F's started out around 11.7, then slowly dropped to around 10.9 by the end of the race.

One thing that intrigues me is that I've done some mods to the car that I would have *thought* would have made my ET's go up. #1 is my 3.50 FD. I noticed a drop of about 2-3mph from that, but my ET's got slightly better. Now I've gone to a taller tire, and my mph is back up(it was rock steady at 98-99mph tonight, I actually ran the EXACT same mph twice!!), and the car is yet again faster! I would have figured just the exact opposite! Of course the new wheels and tires are not only lighter than the stock ones, but also much stickier!

Speaking of sticky...I couldn't get much wheel spin at all off the line! I actually WANTED some to help prevent bog, but I just couldn't do it! That leads me to my final down for the night. My last run I decided to up the rpm once again to about 4000rpm for launch to see if I could get the wheels to break loose a little on launch to help the bog. What happened next REALLY kinda p*sses me off. I actually got a decent launch(for me anyways..cut a 2.330 60'), but the clutch wouldn't fully engage! At first I thought it was wheel spin, but when I shifted to 2nd and the rpms went up, but the car went nowhere, I let off as I knew the clutch was being blown away! Now, the car does NOT make that much power to blow away a 6-puck ceramic disc with a TIII pressure plate! We're talking 291ft-lb of torque at the wheels here. Yes, it's a good amount, but it shouldn't be enough to mess up that clutch! The car's weight is right around 2900-3000#'s(probably...'88 Shelby Z, full street trim, hardtop car...only things lighter on the thing are the seats and the wheels, but I had my tools in the back which are about 30-40#'s), but even with the stickier street tires I shouldn't have had this issue! I'm thinking there is a sticky spot on the tranny seal retainer where the throw-out bearing rides as it did fine driving home and a few dead stop street launches on the way home, along with a hard 3rd gear pull. I dunno...but after that run I packed it in and went home.

I REALLY wanted to back up my new ET, but I'm STILL having teething pains trying to launch this car! I'm getting to the point where I don't really even want to drag race it anymore as it is REALLY hard to do! Auto FTW for dragging! Oh well...I might try it again. Hopefully I didn't smoke the clutch like Ondonti did where it won't grab anymore. It seems to be fine now, but I don't know if the combination of the really sticky track and the car's power and weight did it, or if it was just a fluke.

Anyways, there's my long winded track story. The firend that went with me got video of my good run. He's hoping to possibly have it up on the web maybe tomorrow. If so, I'll link it here.

[ShelbyMopar89]

Have any proof?

[Reaper1]

^^ As soon as you get the video up on the net I will!!

[xtrempickup]

make your own methanol. or just buy bottles of HEET dry gas. i mix it with distilled water to run a 75/25 mix, but you can run it right out of the bottle for 100% strength

[Reaper1]

I've not been able to find HEET down this way. Maybe I'll look at other moisture removers for gasoline, but usually the cost is WAY more than what I usually pay for a gallon of methanol! I was going to get a quart of denatured alcohol(basically will do the same thing), but it was $6!!! for a QUART!! I only pay around $5 for a GALLON of methanol!!!!

[ol"blue]

Don't they have a Co-Op near you ?

[ShelbyMopar89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper1 ^^ As soon as you get the video up on the net I will!!

Sorry man did not get to it today but I will try to get uploaded tom night after work.

[UR2SLO]

You guys really haul ass with those turbos. Im running a 3L in my duster and my best was this weekend when I ran a 15.20. I was killing them out there. I beat 80's vettes, 96 stang, 70 chevelle, stock SRT-4 and 2 Cobalt SS. My best races were with a Kawasaki 750. Im a tenth faster so its all about the launch. Since radials dont hook he beat me once.
The look on the old guys face driving his vette as I drove past was priceless.

[1991SpiritES]

If i had the guts to launch my Mazdaslow6 I should be able to beat you, but i dont' think that will ever happen. Sorry the Tequila talking again!!!!

[Reaper1]

Mike...i known the alky is talking, 'cause there ain't no way I know I have to worry about you driving and me loosing! LOL I know how you drive! Your nickname is "The Intimidated"!!!

UR2SLO...I have quite a bit of experience with 3-liters. I'm one of the "old timers" so to speak. Anyways, 15.20 is a good time for a fairly stock 3.0. I can see the '80's Vette and the '96 Stang. The SRT-4 and the Cobalts...definatly driver error on their parts. If you were running with a Kawi 750, the rider was affraid of the bike, he should have KILLED you!! Those are mid 12 second bikes with a good rider. I'm not trying to take away from your times, so don't take it that way, please. You did good! Just saying the other guys can't drive! That's THEIR fault!! LOL

[Ondonti]

Can you explain 99mph in 3rd gear on a 5 Speed @ 6200 rpms?
near 26" tall tires and a 555 trans?


Pretty sure you have a tII plate though, and its probably weaker then you would expect a TII plate to be.
Your clutch is toast as long as you keep the power where its at. It might seem okay but if you abuse the clutch a bit it will let go again and it will keep getting worse

[jim34]

I agree you must have some slippage on the top end my car with stock gears will go 103 in third at 5800

[Reaper1]

OK..I'll be the first to admit that my stock tach is off. I KNOW it's off, but I'm not sure by how much. Maybe later I'll do the calculations to see what the rpms's *should* be at 99mph in my car.

There is also one thing you have to remember, the mph at a track isn't the intantaneous speed at the finish line, but more of an average speed between the 1000' and finish line. So it's possible that I'm going faster than 99mph AT the finish(when I look down at my tach, I've never looked at the speedo).

Also, remember that my tranny isn't a stock A555...I've got a 3.50 FD in it from an A520.

Ondonti, you could be right, but it's NEVER done that at the track before and it was holding fine the rest of the night. The clutch doesn't slip at all doing hard pulls. I understand what you're saying, and I beleive you, that my clutch is more than likely done(but it works for the moment, so I'm sticking with it). As I said, I think what happened was that the TOB got stuck and didn't let the PP fully engage. I noticed a sicky spot on the seal retainer when we put it back together this last time, but after we lubed it, everything seemed OK. Obvioulsy I was wrong.

At any rate, I'm sick of ceramic clutches. If you can't slip them, then how the hell are you supposed to drive the d@mn thing in traffic and not look like an idiot or shock the driveline all the time? I'm sorry, I don't like those htings, so I'm going after what I want and know WILL work. I don't know when I'll get it, but at some point in the future I WILL have a twin disc clutch using either organic or kevlar material. I don't care about expense at this point..I care about drivability and being able to hold my power without sacrificing other things.

[Ondonti]

I was not implying clutch slip for your traps, your trap speed seemed "high" for your RPM because I was using frank's gearing calculator and the only way to run that fast is use 26.5" tires (and maybe a bit taller since traps are an average).
Or your tach is fairly off. If you have a 24.5" tire then your tach is off 500 rpms above 6000.

[Reaper1]

According to Tire Rack, my tires are about 25.1" tall(which they should be as they only have about 1000 miles on them and I was running 28psi in them that night).

Can you please send me in the propper direction to use Frank's calculator? I'd like to have a go at it!

It would not surprise me in the least if my tach is off by that amount. I know it reads higher than it should at idle. Stock tachs are notorious for being off!!! I'm REALLY thinking about building a custom dash!