dirksmoothe1

well, my best is in the 2.4 range, but I constantly stay in the 2.5 range... I know that Aaron want's to figure out how to get lower times, and so would I! Lower 60' times equal lower ultime ET's...

any suggestions for us Auto kids? besides the obvious get a 5spd remarks.

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

well without a high stall TC, I'd guess a good set of tires and a moderate to high tourque brake should get you a decnt 60'....nothing impressive, but decent. I just ran a ~2.0 60ft in my friends Eclipse last Friday, but don't expect that from any N/A Max!

dirksmoothe1

yeah, that is sorta what I thought... hmm....

what was your best DA-Max?

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Yep. High stall TC from Protorque. I'll be getting one.

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

um my best was a 2.4021(just checked my old slip), that was off a flash stall launch, I think one of the biggest mistakes I make at the track is drive through the waterbox, I figure since most of us aren't using slicks or "big time" drag radials avoiding the water box would help for some better off the line traction as well!

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Yeah, the director guy at the drag strip won't let you drive through the water box if he sees you're a regular street car. I always drive around it and then line up. I do a moderate torque brake and I got a 2.456 60' in an Auto VE. I now am getting a consistant 2.4's with my UDP. Without it, I was getting consistant 2.5's (w/intake and Y). Without the Y-pipe, I was getting consistant 2.58's with a torque brake. So, you see the UDP helps the low end power alot.

But, my problem is that I seem to have a decrease in high end power b/c my trap speeds lowered by about 2 mph. I think it's the top end of 2nd gear and the 2-3 shift that seems to be hurting the trap speed. The top of my 2nd gear doesn't seem to pull like it use to. hmmm....maybe UDP's decrease HP and increase torque. But, overall, my 1/4 mile time got better by 2 tenths.

So, dirksmooth, what exactly did you do when you ran your best time? torque brake? manual shift? remove AC belt? Advance Timing? What mods did you have at the time? Thanks.

flyry110

i'm runnin 15.2's and 15.1's (with old clutch) but my 60' times are horrible!!!!! i'm pullin like 2.6's!!!! what the heck!!!!

dirksmoothe1

I tell you honestly, I don't know how it happenned, but here are the answers...

Greddy Sp Cat back exhaust
JWT Pop Charger
advanced timing.
half tank of gas
Full interior
spare in the trunk,
removed headlight and corner light on driver side for some better air to get to the intake
torque brake to 1400rpm launch at the last green light for a good .rt, manual shifting at 6300rpm
heater going the whole way to take the heat from the engine.

that was it... 15.78 @ 88.7 mph...

since then I have added a PR cai, and a catco hi flow cat... the y is coming and jeff92se showed me the little secret to faster shifts on saturday... the dropdown resistor...

dirksmoothe1

whoa there sonny jim... how are yours so bad?

flyry110

i dunno!!!!! i think the track i was at sucks!!!! everyone complains about traction there. we have a vid of my car runnin, and you can still see the tires smokin at the 60' line!!!! i wasn't even launching that hard!!! i'm gonna run at a local place around here in teh spring. Probably just before i do the VET. hopin for high 14's. . . .

dirksmoothe1

yeah, track traction can sometimes suck... I bet that is what it is... Czar and Jonnymax have consistently hit 2.3's

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Dude, be careful with that resistor though. If you go around with that resistor unplugged for prolonged period of times, say goodbye to your tranny. Unplugging the resistor gives you a good idea of how much time the VB mod would take off your 1/4 time though. I'm sure just unplugging the resistor is good for .3 - .4 off your 1/4. Just do it the proper way, the VB mod.

dirksmoothe1

I will only do it on the track... I did it twice and put it back on and the car is fine... as for the next time I do it. I will have the tranny cooler which should cool it down a bit more... I plan on getting the vb mod but at a later in the season date... we will see what happens the next time I get to run the car, unfortunately, in seattle, that won't be till next march at the earliest...

should be a blast though!!!

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Yeah, I agree with James on the resistor thing. I talked to Matt and he said shortly after unplugging it, he had to get a tranny rebuild. I think that was on his GXE. So, I would talk to Matt before you decide to take it out for good.

So, dirksmooth, that's an awesome time. I have never tried removing the headlight and corner lense for better airflow to the intake. I wouldn't imagine that's what got you in the 15's, but I bet it helped very slightly. Do you know how cold it was when you ran the 15.78? I ran my 16.14 in 45-50 degree weather. I bet if I shift the 1-2 at 6300 rather than 6700, I might get better results. If I leave my selector in "D", it shifts the 1-2 at 6000. My 2-3 shift shifts at 6500 if I leave it in D and if I manually shift it, it's 6700.

I made a cool engine run when I left it in D and I ran a 16.58 or so. But, I also manually shifted it the previous run with a warm engine and I ran a 16.50. So, it's still hard to tell if manually shifting the Auto helps that much. I have come up with a guess that manually shifting your auto at redline shaves off about two tenths. But, it's still hard to say.

dirksmoothe1

I think that if you shift a bit before redline the engine will stay in a sweeter spot once the shift is over, closer to the 4500-4800 peak hp rating that I got on the dyno... as for the weather that day, it was cold, like 50-60 degrees in late Aug... plus, it was a way cold engine run, not on the bottom of the temp guage, about a quarter of the way up though...

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Yeah, I have seen a dyno sheet and I see that the HP drops straight down at a certain RPM. Since my car is very close to yours, I need to take a look at your Dyno sheet and see when the power starts to drop a lot. That is when I need to shift. I think since I am holding the gear right up to 6700 redline, I am losing a lot of time b/c the engine is done making it's power at around 6400. Is this about what your dyno sheet shows?

Do you shift the 1-2 and the 2-3 at different RPMs? I shift them both at 6700 if I'm manually shifting. If I put it in "D", the 2-3 shift will be right up to redline. I guess the ECU knows that holding the 2nd gear longer, will be better.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

just for the record, I never had my tranny rebuilt. I said leaving the resistor out put it on the fast track to NEEDING a rebuild, but it still ran just fine... any time I had the resistor unplugged, my "P" light would blink 10 times at me, telling me fluid pressure was too high.. this only happened after a few 0-100mph runs on the highway, and then it was constant after that.. if you unplug the resistor, you should NEVER run the car out of 3rd gear. if you ever hit o/d, it'll begin to kill the tranny in no time, due to the high fluid pressures.


As for my 60' times, I had 2.351 and 2.325 on my first two trips down the track.. that was basically just dumping the clutch about 3k and keeping it on the floor.. I got quite a bit of wheelspin, but not as some others. the VQ 5 spd I was racing in one race also had a 2.358 60', while the Camaro SS I killed had a 2.65 60'

I was told that track was also the "bad" track in the area, and that Heartland raceway is about .5 faster on our cars.. off the line, I should see easy 2.1s if I have a 2.3 at the other track.. hmmm. that means 14s for me easy.

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Sorry Matt. I thought you blew your tranny. I kinda want to try to unplug the resistor just for one run to see what it does. But, I am scared for my tranny. It can't be any worse than doing a torque brake every time for 2 seconds before you launch.

On my last run I hit the rev limiter and my car stayed in that mode for about 3 minutes. I was running on 5 cylinders for a while. I thought when you bump the limiter, it only skips one cylinder when you're over 6700 rpms. But, I was coasting and when I pushed the gas while in 1st gear, it was skipping a cylinder. Then, it just went back to normal after I start driving back down the side road on the drag strip. Thanks Matt for jumping in the conversation.

dirksmoothe1

I will try to get it scanned in by this weekend, but yeah, after the 4800 mark, the power drops pretty steadily, but at around 6200-6300 it drops significantly, I just keep it going till 6400 all the time cause that makes the shift take it to about 4000, which is right before peak hp...

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

That's sounds right. Since I have never looked at a dyno sheet for an Auto VE, I am just assuming that shifting at redline was best. I was thinking that if I can hold the gear right up to redline, it will put me in a higher rpm in the next gear. Which will result in the next gear being in the peak power range. But, since you have seen your dyno sheet and it drops off significantly at 6300, that is the perfect time to shift.

Question: Does it matter what gear you're in for the dyno sheet to be accurate? For example, will the power still drop off at 6200 in 1st and 2nd gear?

When do you shift the 2-3 shift? My car only shifts at 6600 everytime, reguardless if I am manually shifting or in "D".

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

do you guys really think manual shifting makes a big difference??? from my experince a good flash stall yeilded the best results on my car even when I had my crappy *** dying suspension and "bus" tires! but serirouslyI think if I went all out and got me some decent QUALITY tires I could easily run mid/high 16.6's in my VG auto all day with just intake and muffler!

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Yes, it does yield better results in the VE Auto. In other cars, it may not. In my car with intake and Y, the difference was .133 in favor of manually shifting (Nov. 10th). With intake, Y, and UDP, the difference was .432 in favor of manual shift (Dec 1st). But, that could have been due to my engine temp being a little warmer than my best run of the night. So, I still believe, as of right now, that manually shifting your VE Auto will make your car about 2 tenths faster. Especially if you know exactly when your peak HP starts to drop significantly. But, I will run my car next season at lower evelations (I am moving to NC) and I will continue to experiment to figure whether manually shifting your Auto actually helps. Right now, I think it does.

I know in other cars, manually shifting your Auto might not yield the best time. I know in my brother's 2000 Accord V6, he got better results with leaving it D.

dirksmoothe1

I manually shift as well... it's more fun and my times are always lower doing it that way...

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Why did you change your name?

dirksmoothe1

I don't know if I got banned for some reason or Jeff92SE hates me... but I can't post with my old name...

so I am now a newbie again...

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

You weren't doing anything wrong, I don't think.

It's still hard to believe that you're running 15.78 with only POP charger, advance timing, Catback, and suspension. I believe you though. I am looking for another mod. Can you talk me through an advanced timing job? Do you have AOL, Yahoo, MSN messenger, or ICQ? Is the advanced timing noticable? Obviously b/c you're running deep in the 15's w/o a Y-pipe. Would you recommend suspension for my next mod? I would love to drop my car, but I don't want it to look like too much....in other words, I don't want a low rider. I just want enough of a drop for my performance to get really good. I would like to talk to you. Let me know your messenger service.

I am using Chevron 89 octane right now. The highest octane most gas stations have is 91. I think I can get 93 with 76. Can I get by with 91 for everyday use with advanced timing?

Oh yeah, what octane were you running when you ran your best? I was running 89 Chevron w/o adv timing. Man, this Newcastle is good.

dirksmoothe1

I was running 93 octane, with a bit of the horrible for your gas lines Octane booster... as for the gas to use with advanced timing, I would use at least 91, but I always put the readily available 93 in mine... a bit more, but I don't want detonation... The advanced timing was pretty noticeable... in the way my gas guage went down, but as for performance, it's simply like asking your fuel pump to pump more gas in and more air in... the performance was that noticeable till you got to the red area of the tach... in the high end was where the advanced timing was the best.

as for instructions... I have AIM, Dirksmoothe1... I will give some pretty easy instructions... I did mine with the aid of a timing light though so it may not be perfect...

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Is advancing my timing, something that could do in less than 5 minutes? How many miles do you get with a tank of gas? In the city, I have been getting about 270-280. That's b/c I can't stay off the gas. I want to be able to switch back to regular timing if gas prices and gas mileage get too sucky. I will probably be able to get a timing light if you think that is the best way to do it. Thanks.

dirksmoothe1

timing light is by far the best way to do it... I simply put the timing to maximum without detonation...

my gas mileage is pretty poor, I get roughly 17-20 a gallon and am usually lucking to hit 270 in the roads... highway I am fine, but most of my driving is in city lately... I get about 320 on the highway for range...

the timing thing is hella easy, just loosen two bolts and move the cap away from you for advance, toward you for retard...

2 minute job...

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Drop down resister mod, 10 seconds.

dirksmoothe1

hahah... dude, Jeff, that mod is scary a bit... been reading up on it a bit and it's not really reccomended, but I will get a tranny cooler and see what happens next season... I wanna try it. but for now, my car shifts like an auto normally does...

HELLA SLOW!!!!

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

My 1-2 shift doesn't really seem that slow, but my 2-3 shift is REALLY slow. I might try the unplugged resistor next racing season to see what it does.

When the weather starts to heat up next year, I am getting a tranny cooler. It seems like the way to go with the hot weather.

dirksmoothe1

we should get a tranny cooler regardless of climate simply cause the way we drive builds alot of heat in the tranny... especially with torque breaking and flash stalling and all

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

I have heard people talk about how you should disconnect your tranny cooler when it gets cold (below 50). That's b/c it takes too long for the tranny to heat up on cold days. I think it helps a little in the VE heat soak department, too.

dirksmoothe1

yeah, definitely want to turn it off in the winter...

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

WRONG!! Running a tranny below it's "correct operating temp" will kill it faster than overheating... when it's cold, it lets the clutches slip too much as you're going out of one gear, then snaps into the next gear. very hard on everything in that case.

the best thing to do is buy the correct sized cooler for the summer, and bypass or disconnect it for winter. read the auto tranny cooler sticky at the top of the baord for more info on it.

dirksmoothe1

whoa there ninja cowboy, no need to get all in arms there...

smooth, I will read the sticky...

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Matt, so what about those with the VB mod? Certainly the cooler shouldnt be bypassed or disconnected during the winter, no? Could you elaborate?

dirksmoothe1

good question James...

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

I have no experience with the VB mods, so I can't say with any expertise, BUT the best way to do things would be to install a temp gauge on the tranny fluid and adjust your cooling as necessary to keep the tranny at it's correct temps. maybe install some type of small thermostat that will bypass the cooler if the fluid temp is cold. ??