that last time i went to the track, i was very disapointed with my times, and im wondering what could be wrong cus my times are horrible.

here are my times: (this was the best i could do)

Temp: 59 degreese
R/T: .516
60ft: 2.477
1/4: 15.37

this was with less than a 1/4 tank of gass and with the spare tire and jack removed.

i am on stick with intake and a cat-back. i see ppl post saying that they run 15.2 on a stock manual. the car has 107,000 miles on it. i bought it 16k miles ago and have done regular oil changes. i dont have the greatest clutch in the world, but its not so bad that it should effect my times like this. what could be effecting my times like this?

 

1. 60 foot needs work, a 2.2 would get you in the 15.1 area.

2. knock sensor - check for code

3. elevation

4. weather sometimes

5. tune up - check your plugs

about all i can think of

 

does the how to section have somehting on how to check the knock sensor? i have no idea how to do that.

the elevation wasnt too high, and it was rpetty cold that night. im planing on taking hte car in for a extended tuneup next week.
what spark plugs do you suggest i put in?

 

Yeah you can check for the knock sensor code by using the directions in the how to, for how to pull ecu codes. If you get an 04 03 code then your KS is bad.

As Caesar said, a better 60' will get you the 1/4 ET that you are looking for. However, what was your 1/4 mile trap speed?

 

i got 15.37s @ 90.39mph

 

well i checked the ecu for any codes and none came up. the screw that im suppose to turn is the silver flat head one right? i turned it all the way to the right and waited 2 seconds, then all the way to the left and nothing came up.

 

What was your highest trap speed of the day? The other guys here can correct me if I'm wrong, but a trap speed of 90mph is accurate for a 15.3 - sounds like a tune-up might be in order for you, as Ceasar suggested earlier.

Checking compression wouldn't hurt either, when you change your plugs.

 

15.37s @ 90.30mph was my best time and speed of the day.

 

Are you shifting into 4th? Check this out, if I keep it in 3rd my run looks like this:

R/T .658
60' 2.286
330 6.430
1/8 9.878@70.95
1000 12.851
1/4 15.358@89.35

But if I shift into 4th I get this:

R/T .561
60' 2.453
330 6.558
1/8 9.932@72.60
1000 12.832
1/4 15.282@91.54

Look at my trap speed, it went up 2.19 mph just b/c i shifted into 4th. My power mods are Stillen (hybrid) intake and a straight through muffler. So I say try shifting into 4th.

 

ive tried staying in 3rd and shifting to 4th, but no matter what i cant get under 15.3

 

I don't think the times are off by much. Low 15's in a 5spd max with basically no real power mods is normal to me.

 

Don't be discouraged - I remember when Ceasar was running 15.2's and it just seemed like we would NEVER break into the 14's, it just didn't seem like there was anything else we could do..... well, finally that bright red scoreboard threw up a 14.9 - I was so happy!

Like everybody else said, work on your launch, your 60's and Reaction are key to getting a good time. Experiment with the RPMs that you launch at... literally test them at in 200 RPM increments until you find the absolute max. RPM's you can launch at without spinning your tires.
Cut a good light, pray everything else goes great down the track, and bing, you'll be throwing up a 15.0 in no time.

Best advice, don't get fussed about a bad time, everyone expects to be a drag racing King when they go to the track, because, heck, it's just driving down a straight line as fast as you can, but as you get into it more and more, you'll realize that drag racing is a heck of a lot more than just going fast down a straight road...... it's actually kinda technical.

Have fun !!
Nismo_K
Ceasars wife and camera gal..

 

No you didn't gain that speed from shifting into 4th. Analyzing the rest of your slip, you had gained that speed long before you ever were shifting into 4th. Look at your 1/8 mile speed, you were already going 1.65mph faster when you accelerating through the bottom of 3rd gear. Something else gave you that speed, but it wasn't the fact that you shifted into 4th.

 

To the original guy, if you ran a decent 2.20 60' time you would be in the 14s, or REALLY REALLY close to it.

 

thanks for the responses. basically the way to achieve a better 60' time is to work on my R/T and launches?

 

RT has nothing to do with your time if your running Test and Tune. The launch is what it's all about.