95greense

First time racing my 95 auto max with 70,000 miles. The only performance item that I have is a stillen intake. This time seems really slow and was wondering if this was around the average time for an auto max.
I'll also post my times week by week as I add a y-pipe, UPRD ecu, air box mod from the 5th gen board, and possibly valve body mod if anybody is interested in the improvements these items make.
Thanks

Zprime

I think that is a good time...
hey..don't sweat 1/4 times and stuff...the more power mods you get the more torque you'll have , you'll get better time
I heard somewhere upgrading our transmission to something better like level 10 trans might knock of 0.5 sec out of 1/4 time...pretty good...but it cost like 1000+
anyhow...yeah...YPIPE is a sure power gain
ECU...maybe maybe not...

PiotrC70

I find that unless you run slicks, you get a better start on regular asphalt. At the track, you're pretty much trying to get a good start on peoples burn out rubber.
My friends car w/ no tune-up and bald tires ran a 15.5 and he's a 5sp almost fully modded. I laughed because I KNOW his car can run a 14.7 or so.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

May be your altitude too. Where you from anyway? The elevstion is a big factor.

95greense

I was racing at Los Angeles County Race track and I'm not sure of the elevation. Does anyone know what the stock 1/4 mile time of an auto max is? I'm just assuming that my car is really slow because I saw that somebody with an auto max and the usual bolt ons said that he ran a 14.9 or something. Sure hope that my upcoming mods will at least get me comfortably into the 15's.

Thanks again

bullseye

Just for comparison (since I have a 5-spd), my first trip to the track yielded a 16.2/88.4 with a Greddy catback and a Stillen intake. As you continue to race, you gain a TON of experience. You learn tricks of the trade, like how to lighten ship, adjust air pressure in your tires, cool down oil, engine coolant, & air, and how to launch, just to name a few. You may reduce your e/t by a full second just by finding out what the heck you're doing! I did. Additional mods may help you pick up 1/10 here and another 1/10 there. I ran my best time after I added some BFG Drag Radials to the front, which sliced 2/10's off my previous best on the first run! It's fun, but remember, it co$t$ $ome buck$ when $omething break$... Good luck.

PiotrC70

In your mods list you say you have forged rods and pistons...
Did you do a custom internal mod or what... I'm looking at boring out my cylinders and doing the works on it and was just wondering...

Don in Texas

iTrader: (-2)

Thats in the "Plans for 2001" list (like everyone else has). Before you buy forged rods and pistons (about $2500), you should already know that you have forged rods and pistons in your car already. .

It will only build strength, not HP.

Don

nforg

Just wondering, do you just floor it, or do you put it in 1st and shift up so you shift closer to or at red line?? Also did you keep overdrive on?? Also did you have a full tank of gas?? 17 gallons is a lot of weight, I don't know what the right amount of gas should be kept in when at the track, obvisoley you wouldn't want it anywhere near low if your flooring it, maybe 1/4 tank?? I dunno, I'm sure someone will respond with an accurate answer to that.

-Nate

Washington DC Maxima

the car. My best with intake only is 15.4 in my 96 Auto with stock 96SE rims. I was averaging 15.5 & 15.6's.. You just need more practice. My first run ever was probably a 16.1. Currently I'm getting 15.8's & 15.9's with my 17" rims.

95greense

Hmmm...wondering if I made any mistakes with setting up my car or the way that I launched. The car was empty but had the spare, 12" sub in box, two amps, and only 1/4 tank of gas. The tires (16" 2K rims) were at 35 psi warm which is the max psi listed on the tire. I left overdrive off but was only at about 4K on the tach at the end of the 1/4 so I don't think it would matter. Lanching I brake torqued to ~2K and floored it after. I actually got the 16.66 (best time for the night) when I hesitated for a second before flooring it. When I floored it right away wheel spin raised my times. I'm hoping that with practice my times will improve but don't think that it'll make that big of a difference due to the fact that I have an auto. But I am pretty sure that once I get some decent tires that will help alot. Not sure if slicks are the way that I'll go but definately something better than the factory crap. Lastly, about things breaking, I've already started putting money away for the day that my tranny goes

nforg

New tires will definitly help. I had some serious wheel hop and spin problems and then I bought some new michlin's and that problem was solved.

Once you get new tires you shouldn't have to wait that second to avoid wheel hop/spin, with my michlin's I reved it to 2400 and then pounced on the gas and they would just chrip and the car would take off, I'd shift up at 57-5900, which would end up actually changing into gear at like 60-6200, not the best thing you can do for your car, but what can you say.

-Nate

nmax21

hey man, have u tried manually shiftin out that auto? The warm air out there could be hurtin' u a little too. My max ran a 15.1 and all i have is a stillen intake, and the back muffler off. That gives u some power also. That back muffler is restrictive as hell. My 97 se w/18in rims out runs a lot of stock mustangs around here. Just tryin' to help ya. I got some cheap power tricks, so hit me up if u have anymore questions.p-sout

Synki

The time is pretty good for a first timer. Everytime you do a run, you gain more knowledge of what to do next time.

My first time racing i ran a 16.5 and kept getting faster, after 4 runs i ran a 15.6 @ 87.95mph. This is when i had only a CAI and ran on chrome rims in my 99 cali max (auto).

95greense

thanks alot guys for the tips. as for the weather unfortunately i was running at night and the temp was in the 50's or low 60's so i can't blame that...damn. thinkin bout it, my runs got slower through the night because of wheelspin off the line. so this weekend when i go back i'm gonna be more conservative and only brake torque to 1.5k. i'm also gonna do the air box mod and try manually shifting the auto.
about the exhaust i'm gonna get the y-pipe next week and see what kinda improvements that makes. but i guess it won't exactly be accurate b/c some of my gains will be due to increasing track experience.
thanks again for the tips

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Launch @ 1100.....Jim ***** launched @ that rpm and was hitting mid to low 15's w/ sn auto...and a few mods....the y-pipe will help out TREMENDOUSLY!!!! Good luck and let us know the results!!!11

maxfreak_98

The OE tires ARE crappy. I couldn't get any traction in first gear when I had them. The Dunlop's (5000) I have now are great! I run around 20 PSI when I go to the track.
What are your 60' times? That's the key to getting a good run (my best is 2.23). Also, the less gas the better,and clean out the trunk (I leave the spare in).
I would think your auto should be running at least in the high 15's.
Have fun!

98 SE
5 Speed
CAI
Y Pipe
RT cat
Mid Pipe
Stock Muffler

14.73 @94.1

JimW

Launch at 1100 rpm, on the last yellow, release the brake and stand on the throttle AT THE SAME TIME!! Do not rev up the engine while holding the brake. YOu want to "flash stall" the convertor, by releasing the brake and matting the throttle at the same time, you will get better launches and 60' times that way. I was able to dip to 2.21-2.18 60' times using that method.
If you don't have a Y-pipe, you would want to shift at 5k on the tach.From 1-2. Revving it higher will just make noise, and it will slow you down. It did in my case. Without a Y pipe, the engine doesn't breathe well above 5k.
With the Y-pipe, you can shift at 6k. Keep in mind, the tranny will shift at approx 500 rpm past the point you move the shifter. i.e., move the shifter at 5k, the tranny will change gears at 5500.
I used to shift 2-3 at 4500 before my Y-pipe. Second gear is very long in the auto, and the engine tends to pull better at lower revs in 3rd gear, rather than higher revs in 2nd gear. So shift out of 2nd at say, 5000.
Most importantly, let your engine and tranny cool before runs. I would open the hood, and let the engine cool enough so that I could rest my hand on the intake manifold without it burning. When the intake is cool, you're ready to go. Start up and motor to the lanes. Don't bother revving the engine up or doing burnouts (trust me, it will just kill your tranny, been there, done that)
By the time you get to the tree, you're engine will be at operating temp, just perfect.
Good luck

bigtexan7

Jim W.

How do you make the car shift at anything below 6000?
Whether or not I shift manually or in drive, my car under wide open throttle will not shift gears at any rpm below 6000 unless I raise the gas pedal. I can hold it past 6000 manually, but can't make it shift before then. Am I missing something? thanks for the help.

JimW

I guess there's nothing you can do about it, other than release the pedal slightly to get the upshift.
If it won't upshift that way, then the other alternative is to let your engine cool down as I mentioned. If it's cool, it'll make more power in the high range. I have many, many timeslips so that is the way that I found I went fastest.
Often times, I pulled out the drivers side cornering light to inhale some fresh outside air. Didn't do much for et, but it did increase my mph fractionally.

nforg

When you floor it if your in d3 or d4(od), your car won't shift until red line ( near it ), this goes for every car that I know of too, I thought the same thing when I read that, but I figured I'd let the speed racers tell tall tales.....

Using gears to shift manually in an automatic does it (sometimes), but it still is in control. For instance if your going 100 and you shift into second your automatic transmission won't actually shift into 2nd because if it would severly hurt your engine, hence why automatic's have limiters which won't let the engine go into a gear that will exceed that. The limiter is that little niche just inside of redline. If you have it to the floor and your in 1st and shift to second, it wont shift until it wants to, also you wouldn't want to shift at 5000 rpm, you want to shift at higher rpm's, it doesn't just make more noise hahahaha I thought that was hilarious. Although please by all means state your source on where shifting at 5000rpms manually in an automatic provides the best accleration, a real source not just personal experience.

-Nate

ZuMBLe

iTrader: (1)

I always shift from 2nd to 3rd at redline. My theory was that it would be deeper into the powerband in 3rd then. I know one thing for sure. 1st to 2nd. I shift at redline. The tranny finishes the shift past redline and 2nd gear comes on HARD! On my last run I spun 2nd gear. =) Nice.. hehe

ZuM

95greense

okay....my 60 foot times are laughable.....2.472. Definately gonna try to see some improvement there. If 1100-1500 is the right launch rpm then I was definately over that. Oh well. I'm thinkin bout holding off on mods until i can get a correct baseline so i can get an accurate measurement of the improvement of each mod.

One thing that several racers in the area told me is that los angeles county raceway has some serious elevation which coulda really slowed me down. I'm gonna try a different race track and see if there are any improvements. Actually, given all the new tips, if i don't improve i probably don't deserve to race and i'll go buy a scooter.:P

About the shifting thing, i probably waited for bout 15 mins before runs and was running the heater. With the shifter in D, i shifted a tad under red line for 1 and 2. But i'll see if i can get it to shift earlier by manually shifting.

95greense

okay....my 60 foot times are laughable.....2.472. Definately gonna try to see some improvement there. If 1100-1500 is the right launch rpm then I was definately over that. Oh well. I'm thinkin bout holding off on mods until i can get a correct baseline so i can get an accurate measurement of the improvement of each mod.

One thing that several racers in the area told me is that los angeles county raceway has some serious elevation which coulda really slowed me down. I'm gonna try a different race track and see if there are any improvements. Actually, given all the new tips, if i don't improve i probably don't deserve to race and i'll go buy a scooter.:P

About the shifting thing, i probably waited for bout 15 mins before runs and was running the heater. With the shifter in D, i shifted a tad under red line for 1 and 2. But i'll see if i can get it to shift earlier by manually shifting.

Thanks again for the additional advice

bigtexan7

If personal experience at the track isn't a 'real' source, then go on......hearsay, I suppose. Not me.

95greense

hey zumble.....you spun your tires on the 1-2 shift with an auto? what mods do you have? do you have don's vb mod? I can't even imagine spinning the tires in my car with the soft shifts of the auto.
Thanks

ZuMBLe

iTrader: (1)

For performance I have, JWT Pop Charger, Stillen Y-pipe. Thats about it. I also have a Hayden 403 tranny cooler. I have a 97SE Auto. For that run I ran a 14.89@96mph according to GTECH. I believe that # to be wrong. Probably a slight slant somewhere along the strip my friends and I used. The temp was about 28 degrees outside. No spare tire, running street pressure on tires. I only weigh about 150lbs. I manually shifted from 1st to second at the redline or a little bit past. And the tranny completed the shift to 2nd into the red. My car doesn't shift into 2nd softly if I keep it floored. 3rd gear comes on soft though. When I was doing the run I saw my car bog 2nd gear a bit. But when I told my friend about it. They said they heard a my tires chirp after I was already moving. =) Which would make sense why I saw the tach bog for a split sec when going into 2nd gear. I think I heard a it also. But with the intake and y-pipe screaming.. its hard to tell.. =) I dont have don's vb mod. He stopped selling it just when I saved up the money for it. Oh well..

ZuM

Synki

I cant wait to go back to the track and see what Don's VB did for me. Even with my vb mod, it doesnt always chirp. Sometimes it shifts hader then other times. Inconsistent for me but it still shifts faster and is more responsive. I have had my tires spin before though (1st to 2nd).

JimW

Since you're so knowledgeable, I won't debate you. But if you want to know my sources, I'll tell you. I have approximately 45 timeslips from running my Maxima at the track. Each with very specific notes taken on the back, and recorded in a wirebound notebook. Items such as the launch method, shifting technique, tire pressure, fuel gauge reading, and temperature gauge reading. I kept very specific notes so I knew what worked and what didn't work. I know that I ran as much as .2 quicker by shifting early before I had a Y-pipe. As each of my timeslips also includes what mods I had at the time.
And, Mr. Know-It-All, my 95 GXE would shift at 5000 rpm when left in drive. As a matter of fact, come to NYC and I'll get the new owner to take you on a test drive. It still does shift at 5000 rpm.
Also, I will say that the redline on the tach is a few hundred rpm LESS than the rev-limiter. The rev limiter is a crude fuel cut-off to prevent over revving. Which, since you KNOW EVERYTHING is the WRONG way of limiting revs. WHY? because in a high-revving engine, the last thing you want to do is lean it out, because you have the same thing you have in an oxy-acetylene cutting torch. The proper method of limiting rpms is to have a ignition cut-off, like most MSD& Crane ignitions have.
Based upon my timeslips, I found that revving above 5000 with a stock exhaust and intake just makes noise, as mMY et's were slower by approximately .15 by doing so.
Case closed.

ZuMBLe

iTrader: (1)

Right now I'm running a JWT pop charger with a stillen y-pipe with stock exhaust/cat and stock wheels. What do you think the shift points should be. Since I'm running a stock exhaust.

ZuM

JimW

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ZuMBLe
[I]Right now I'm running a JWT pop charger with a stillen y-pipe with stock exhaust/cat and stock wheels. What do you think the shift points should be. Since I'm running a stock exhaust.

ZuM

The Stillen Y makes the exhaust far from stock. Many other folks have dyno tested the exhausts and found that the Stillen Y makes the biggest improvement in HP. IIRC a GReddy is worth something like 5hp, while a Y is worth 10-11.
In any event, with a Y and intake, I've found the best shift points to be 1-2 @ 6500(moving the shifter at 6000), 2-3 @ 6500 (same procedure), and if you race to higher speeds, let the tranny shift itself into 4th (will be about 5200 rpm.
Looking at my old timeslips (and I can tell you for sure later when I get home) I was running 15.4 -.5's consistently without the Y, shifting at 5000rpm (5500 shift point). Then I installed the Y and immediately went to low 15.3's. I experimented with my shifting rpm's and found that shifiting at 6000 (6500 shift point) gave me the best et's and trap speeds. Now 15.2's @ 90 flat.
I then yanked out the MAF screen and started running 15.1's, and that's where my story ends.
With a Y and intake, my best et's came at 6500 rpm shift points, with a 1100rpm launch.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Good ol JimW.......The guru of auto N/A max drag racing Sup Jim.........It's me.....mchavez@lanl.gov

95greense

well i checked out the website for los angeles country raceway and they say that elevation is something like 2600 feet above sea level. Would that make a huge difference? Seems like it would but there were a bunch of civics in the 12's and some domestics in the 10's that night.

JimW

Not a difference of 1 full second, but it makes about .5 difference in the case of an altitude of 2600 ft.

Here's a fun link to play with, use the NHRA correction factors to determine your et at sea level

http://prestage.com/index.asp


I will estimate that you should be good for 15.7's in your state of mods right now, at your altitude, with a little practice.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

I am hurting man..........My altitude here is ~5900.....ouch!!! Has anyone heard that turbos are unaffected by altitude? Meaning that a car will run the same times @ 6000' as it would a sea level?

95greense

according to motor trend they say that all cars suffer at higher altitudes but forced induction cars seem to feel it less than NA cars.

15.7? that's almost a second difference. Guess i've got alot of practicing to do or maybe i'll just put on some 5HP stickers.

JimW

Forced induction cars have the ability to make their own atmosphere so to speak. Turbo's and superchargers will pressurize their intakes regardless of the density of the outside air. They will cram all the air inside themselves as they can. They suffer less than NA cars do.

Yes, I think a 15.7 is in the bag for you... Should be pretty easy.
Now as for Manny at 5600', whew. That's pretty high up there.. He's gonna have to work at it.

Dave B

Woo hoo, I'm running a 14.7@95.3mph according to their correction calculator EVEN with my pathetic 2.4 60 foot. So if I could get my 60 foots into the 2.1 range, I could be running a 14.3 on a sea level track. I wish.....

All kidding aside, I don't know how much of that program I would trust. It says that my car could only manage 15.2s@90mph with my current hp/tq to the wheels. It says I've got 210 fwhp and that I'm only using 191 fwhp when I'm running my 14.9@94mph.


Dave

nforg

I went to the library today and I couldn't seem to find the source labeled as, "JimW's 45 scratch writing on the back on track slips." I didn't say I knew everything, but thanks for letting me know. Also, track slips are not a realible source due to all the variables involved.

I just simply wanta know why 5000 is the best, I was always under the impression the closer to red line the better. But if 5000 is better, why? and why isn't say 4500 better, and what makes 5500 worse?? Is this due to your specific modifications that make 5000 the best, or is it the best for all automatic transmissions??


Also I said, all the car's that I knew of, wouldn't shift at 5000, but If you say yours does I'm not calling you a liar; but I'll pass on the inviation to NY, thanks. I did like your detailed response on my example of how an auto will override what the driver does though (refering to rev-limiters/ing).

I will admit I am completly ignorant to why 5000rpm's is the best place to shift at, please educate me. I hope your response on why 5000rpms is the best shifting spot is as technical as it was on rev-limiters. Thank You.

-Nate

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Heez sayin that shifting at 5k and the trsnny then shifts @ 5.5k and that is where the peak hp is supposed 2 be (5600)