Hey everyone... It seems that even with the car acting all messed up lately, I've been getting some horrible times. I've posted my last 3 recent trips to the Orlando Speedworld Dragway in Bithlow, FL. The track is horrible, but is it this bad?

Click here to see the timeslips

I get massive wheel hop at any launch over idle. On my dyno page, the last dyno shows that I got 219 HP with 235 ft/lbs TQ. What else could be causing a 219 HP/235 TQ car to run slow runs except for traction?

Current performance mods with above timeslips are as follows:

November 21, 2003
PR CAI
Nissan Timing Advance (+17° BTDC)
Greddy E-Manage Engine Management Unit
Definitive MotorSports UDP
Stillen Headers
WSP 2.5" B-pipe
Custom 2.5" muffler-section piping
Flowmaster 60 Series muffler
Enkei CDR9 18x8 Wheels
Yokohama AVS ES100 Tires (not 100% sure of size because car is in shop)
TEIN Springs
KYB GR2 Struts
Addco RSB
Courtesy Nissan FSTB
Powerslot Rotors (with new Nissan pads)
*Custom Sub Box was not removed, nor was spare tire
Runs were made on 1/4 tank of 93 Octane gas.

November 26, 2003
PR CAI
Nissan Timing Advance (+17° BTDC)
Greddy E-Manage Engine Management Unit
Definitive MotorSports UDP
Stillen Headers
WSP 2.5" B-pipe
Custom 2.5" muffler-section piping
Flowmaster 60 Series muffler
Enkei CDR9 18x8 Wheels
Yokohama AVS ES100 Tires (not 100% sure of size because car is in shop)
TEIN Springs
KYB GR2 Struts
Addco RSB
Courtesy Nissan FSTB
Powerslot Rotors (with new Nissan pads)
*Custom Sub Box was not removed, nor was spare tire
Runs were made on 3/4 tank of 93 Octane gas.

December 12, 2003
PR CAI
Technosquare ECU Upgrade
Definitive MotorSports UDP
Stillen Headers
WSP 2.5" B-pipe
Custom 2.5" muffler-section piping
Flowmaster 60 Series muffler
Enkei CDR9 18x8 Wheels
Yokohama AVS ES100 Tires (not 100% sure of size because car is in shop)
TEIN Springs
KYB GR2 Struts
Addco RSB
Courtesy Nissan FSTB
Powerslot Rotors (with new Nissan pads)
*Custom Sub Box was not removed, nor was spare tire
Runs were made on 1/2 tank of 93 Octane gas.

 

And for the record, I ran a 13.8 at 103 MPH before the headers, the rims and tires, and the TS ECU were installed. I recently moved and haven't yet found the 13.8 timeslip available to post online.

 

Warning: Brutal honesty below

Your 60 foots are so dismally bad it's really hard to tell what the car should be doing. You don't have any other slips except for a 13.8 slip We really need to see your other slips showing 14s and 13s so we can see the way the car is performing when it's running right. What were your 60 foots like at the prior track? A "bad" 60' with FWD is something like a 2.3 or 2.4 and 2.5-3.0 is realy bad. When the wheelspin is so bad off the line and thru well through the 60', things like ET and MPH get really thrown off. Seriously, if the wheelspin and wheelhop are so bad, just let off and go get back in line. It's not worth breaking the car and as you can see, the timeslips aren't happening.

Didn't you also mention that the car is popping out of gear on the runs? If the car literally falls out of gear and goes to neutral during a run, you will surely be .5-1.0 second and 3-5mph slower. It's the truth.

What is you launch style? Are you feathering the clutch at all? I use to think my car was seriously overpowered because when I launched at 1500rpms with a quick slip, I got nothing but huge spin and 2.4-2.5 60 foots. It took me a year to learn to launch higher (4000rpms), slip the clutch to get the car rolling a bit, slowly release the clutch and feed the gas, then quickly release (not dump) once I feel the tires are hooking okay. I never use WOT below 5000rpms in 1st. The trick is not to be in a hurry. I know it's a race, but you've got to be patient.

Orlando might be a slower track than the one you were running at previously, but I've seen slips and videos of other cars running some sick times with minimal mods at Orlando in the winter. Examples include Celica GT-S' running 14.4s@97mph with a CAI and removed muffler, stock 97 Cobra doing 13.4s@104mph, 12.9 second stock LS1. The night you ran conditions were pretty good with low 60s/upper 50s, high baro pressure (30.1-30.2), but the humidity became high at night which might suck out .1 or so.

As for the headers, I'd get rid of them. They're clearly not helping. I think that would solve a lot of your problems.

As for the wheels, at least use the stock 17s. Shorter sidewalls = worse traction. At the track, I have immencely more traction with my narrow all season 15" tires compared to my wide, low, and corner grippy 17s.



Dave

 

I agree with Dave about the 60 foots . You need to work on getting the 60 foot down and you should be around mid 14's but you have also done lots of mods ??? Which would make me think the 2k2 max should be doing much better than this, but i dont really know.

 

I don't know about a 13 sec ET, looking at the timeslips your car should be good for 14.8-14.9s @ 92-95mph. Also what are you doing on the launch those 60' times are horrible? If the wheel hop is that bad I suggest filling the motor mounts with polyurethane. Another problem is your trapspeed, in the 1/8 all I saw was 72-74mph, a 100mph car would trap around 78-83mph.

Based on your results I say don't go to the track again without slicks. Get a nice set of 22x8x15 slicks on some lightweight 15in rims. I hate running my se-r without slicks, I get wheelhop and it spins alot. Where as with slicks its like running on pillows, no wheelhop, little wheelspin, basically set the rpm and release the clutch.

 

the 60's are bad like everyone is saying, but what i dont get is how come your trap speeds are so low. With all your mods you should be at 100+ MPH. I think the headers got to go, and find that 13.8 timeslip! I want to know what your 60's were on that run. And that 103 is where you should be...

 

I was under the impression Emax was the only 02 6 speed to ever get into the 13s (13.8s@102mph).


Dave

 

Well, part of the problem is that the tranny is being replaced. It locked up on me about a week and a half ago and left me stranded in the middle of the road. This could explain the "tranny popping out of gear" scenario, which happened 4 out of 5 runs on the last visit to the track. I can't launch at anything over idle, basically due to traction.

I spoke with some guys who normally run at Bithlow and at other area drag strips. They said that they all ran better times at other strips when compared to Bithlow's times. So I guess that is why I asked about the track.

I have the 13.8 here somewhere, but I moved 2 months ago and am still missing some boxes of papers that were on my desk. Hopefully after my holiday travels are over, I can find it again.

I do agree that the headers should go, but I haven't had a full chance to test them out because of this stupid tranny deal.

Oh, and the 60 foots are bad because of no traction. I get massive, I mean MASSIVE, wheel hop coming out of the traps. I spin and spin and spin and spin until about the 1/8 mile or so, depending on the launch. I've ordered the PR motor mounts to help reduce the wheel hop. It is so bad that even high RPMs and clutch feathering doesn't seem to make much difference out of the hole. But once I'm out to about the 330, it's all good from there. It seems that I have to play "make-up" from the 330-on just to pull what I'm pulling.

I've also tried changing shift points between gears. I found that, unlike Dave B, if I shift from 1 to 2 at 6k, then redline 2nd and finish in 3rd (7300 RPM limiter), then it makes for a better run.

Next time I visit the track, I'll put back on my stock wheels. They've got Nitto 450s on them. So we'll see.

Right now, I just want the car back. The dealer has had it for over a week now.

 

dang those are some bad 60fts

reminds me of the last time I went to the track with my old Celica

R/T: 2.746
60: 2.843
330': 6.841
1/8: 10.093
MPH: 76.09
1000:12.874
1/4: 15.231
MPH: 96.18

check out that R/T and 60ft

 

Jeremy, bring the car to Bradenton for the TR track meet. That way you can try on a well preped track. Are you sure this can't be attributed to the driver a little. I'd be more than happy to get the car in the mid to low 13's for ya, 2-3 runs is all it'll take.