Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

I spent all night racing my Maxima at the Las Vegas Drag Strip. They had a special Supras event. Oh man, it was so bad. I saw many Supra's running low/mid 10's. That is crazy. One slapped up against the right side wall and it came around on him and he hit straight on the left side wall. It was totalled...I feel for him.

As for me, I could only get 16.70's out of my car. I am disappointed. I was manually shifting at redline through every gear. I never did try to drive regular in "D". This was b/c I kept winning the bracket races. I didn't want to change my time by screwing with my car. I ended up walking away "Runner-Up". I don't think i will rag out my Maxima anymore. Gotta take care of it. Does anyone have any clue why my car ran so slow? I just had a tune-up. My O2 sensor has never been changed. (100K miles and counting) I can't think of anything else. Well, thanks for reading.

dmontzsta

iTrader: (8)

Maybe because it is a bone stock auto. Or alot has to do with the driver also. You have to really know your car!

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

its an auto and there might be maintenence issues.......get a FULL tuneup, change the ATF and get back to the track, tires and suspension can contribute to slow times as well! but VE autos should be around 16.4-.5 stock, from what I've seen.

Chris91SE

iTrader: (1)

i've noticed this with many VE auto's and i think it could be a maintenance issue as well. i've run with 2 friends that have bone stock VE autos and i always stay pretty even with them. based on my best time i think you should be a few .10's quicker stock.

Bman

Heh, cool, Vegas has more than one "Strip"

About your 1/4 mile times, if DA-MAX says 16.5 or so is about right, then 16.70 doesn't seem so far off - maybe it's just how well the car launches. Also, I dunno how hot it still is there, but if the pavement is hot and slick that can't help the launch. Another thing is the air might be hot and Vegas is higher in altitude isn't it? Thinner air = lower HP. Car mags say 5-speeds run about 90mph through the traps, so an auto should only come in a few mph under that. What are you getting? This might all be bunk if you're actually trying to tell us 16.70 is unusually low for you in Vegas.

Bman

darn it Jambo, fix the darn "Edit"!

I mean "....if you're actually trying to tell us 16.70 is unusually high"

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

I know Vegas is about 2500 feet or so in elevation. It was about 10:30pm before I got my FIRST run in. I waited about 2.5 hours in line to wait to race. I had my hood up trying to cool my engine. My engine was as cold as could be. The outside temperature was a VERY cool 74 degrees. The humidity was about 10% something low like that. Very Dry. Here are my numbers:

Here are my numbers:

R/T ... .635
60' ... 2.588
330 ... 7.204
1/8 ... 10.905
MPH ... 66.98
1000 ... 14.051
1/4 ... 16.703
MPH ... 84.96

Yeah, you're probably right Bman. Thanks.

And also DMontzmax, it was my very first time ever drag racing anything. I am 20 years old, so I know how to drive, but I think actually drag racing your car is a very different story. It was so much different than people expect. I have looked at the power line charts thingy for our VE's and it REALLY drops in power at 6700. I think I held 1st too long. So, I know you are right when you say I have to know my car before I can run as good as it will go. Thanks.

Da-Max, I just changed my ATF at Jiffy Lube. I got the full tranny flush. It shifts much smoother now. Also, I have new Bosch Platinum Plugs, Puralator Fuel Filter, new air filter, I can't think of anything else. I also have brand new H rated tires pumped up to 40 lbs. The max on those tires are 44 lbs. Oh, 89 octane since I got the car. My suspension is stock and probably needs to be replaced. I need to look into a suspension mod also. Research Time for me. Let me know if I am forgetting something for maintenance. (100K miles) Thanks.

Rancid90SE

not tryin to get on anybody or offend anybody but whats the point of racing an automatic,i got goofy once and took my 96 dodge 2500 Van with a 5.2 V8 and ran a 16.6@84 but i notice alot of guys on the forum with autos,do you guys prefer them or just thats what you ended up with?

lp

iTrader: (1)

Some live in an environment where an auto makes more sense, some inherit them from the olds, others may buy one because it's in nicer condition than the 5 Spd's in the area and some no doubt just prefer to drive them.

Racing an auto makes as much point as racing a 5-speed or any other 14-17 second street car, it's entertainment.

Aaron, you may want to experiment with running a lower pressure in your tyres. 40lbs is pretty firm for the straight track and some sidewall 'give' and the larger contact patch with say 25lbs would probably improve your launch. Just my 0.02c.

Nismo87SE

I don't know what the correction factor is for 2500ft ASL. However I can tell you that without anyother modifications your car would have ran 16.0-16.3 with a better launch. That 2.588 60ft is horrible, had you cut a 2.2-2.3 60ft you'd run 16.1x-16.3s. How did you launch your car? Where you powerbraking or flash stalling the TC, what rpm did you powerbrake at and how long did you hold it? Did you allow your car to cool about 15-25min before each run? It kinda sucks to find out how bad we really drive once we hit the track. Before that you think you drive the car very good.

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Nismo87SE, I power braked my car to about 2000 rpms. I held it for about 1, maybe 2, seconds before I launched. Yes, the engine was as cold as it could be before I ran it. I popped the hood and let my engine cool down after the 16.70 run. My second run, it was cold again after 45 minutes of waiting. I ran a 16.74 on the second run. After that run, I immediately ran again, since I was in the finals, and ran a 17.1 at normal engine operating temperature. Ouch! Did I do something wrong to get that horrible 60' time? Please let know if you have ANY suggestions.

LP, how would low tire pressure result in a faster time. I was told that more tire pressure would result in less resistance on the track and I would run faster. Of course, I am having no problem with traction, if that's what you mean. Please explain. Thanks.

Rancid90SE, I got an Auto b/c I wanted one. Not too race, but to be my daily car. I just don't like driving a 5 speed every day, unless I want to race. So, I got an Auto Maxima since it was the fastest 4 door Auto under $5000. I think it was a good choice. Oh also, if you are into bracket racing, automatics are the only way to go.

Thanks everybody for the great feedback. Please keep giving me any tips or suggestions that you may have.

Bman

Yeah, LP is talking about traction - lower pressure (to a point) will help because the tire "squats" more like he said. Good thinking. Leave your rear tires at 40 (or higher?).

I have to hand it to you for taking your car to the track. I drive pretty hard in daily normal driving, but even with my newly acquired "silver bullet" the thought of racing full-on, charging towards that 7-grand mark in my stick shift gives me the *******! I'm scared of missing a shift or bumping up against a rev-limiter that may or may not exist and watching a rod fly through the hood or something! Not that there's a dragstrip anywhere near here though.

LOL! That IS a great story, I'd think it'd be funny as heck to see this big (white?) van doing a smoky burnout! About automatics, as with Aaron, one nice thing is that at least he doesn't have to worry about shifting before the redline (if he just sticks it in "D"). Also, it's easier to be more consistent in your runs with an auto, which is important for bracket racing. I was going to say something about how a lot of hardcore dragracing people use 2 or 3 speed autos, but then I remembered that it's only because of their huge and archaic V8's.

Bman

Doh! Forgot to ask: You said you don't have a traction problem Aaron, don't our VEs have enough grunt to light up the front tires even in auto form?

lp

iTrader: (1)

I thought you may have been spinning them up off the line and as already stated the lower pressure in the front helps to a degree with limiting that. Its true though that it also increases rolling resistance.

The key is most likely the launch/shift points but I'll leave that to the experts, I've never even seen a VE engine down here.

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

On a normal street, without a power brake, with a cold engine, I can flash stall the car and spin the tires and couple times over. But, with a power brake, under the same circumstances, it will really spin the tires. But, when I was at the track, I rolled up to the staging lights and I can actually hear my tires sticking to the track b/c of the track bite they have layed down. I don't think I can loose traction since the track is SO sticky. It will almost take your shoes off, if you walk on it. So, if someone has ever lost traction with a VE Auto, I would like to know. B/C that means that I might be losing traction. It's just hard to tell. I don't have enough experience to really know if I am losing traction. I know when you lose traction with a 5-speed, you get REALLY noticable wheel-hop/spin. My Auto was definitely not hopping. Let me know on your thoughts.

I took pictures of me racing an RX7-Turbo. It was a kid that didn't really know how to race a 5-speed. So, his best time of the night was a 15.90. I was right behind him. I just hope I can get them scanned in the computer one day. I don't have a scanner.

As for taking my car to the track, I am not going to make it a daily thing. I am not too worried about racing my car since I do the same thing on the street by myself. I don't EVER rev my car in the Red. Dangerous, I love my engine. I might take it back to the track to see the improvement after I get my WSP Y-pipe. How much do you think I could gain with just the Y-Pipe? And does the Carsounds Cat, really make a difference in performance vs. a stock, old, cat? Thanks.