Well, I grabbed a buddy of mine and we went to Gateway Raceway for the test and tune. Neither of us had ever been. We got there about 6:30ish and all we saw were race cars... We felt a bit out of place, but everyone was nice and we figured everything out (watcheing a few rounds helped too). Anyway, I made my first run against an LS1 camaro (14.6@98), my second against a 70 cutlass with 426 dropped in(14.7@91), and my 30 against an LT1 camaro(14.1@102). I didn't do to well, here's my numbers:

This was in D, brake torque and flooring it.
R/T: .649
60' 2.478
330 6.948
1/8 10.575
MPH 68.43
1000 13.667
1/4 16.308
MPH 85.02


This run I had it in 1st, but when I went to shift to 2nd I hit to far and put it into D
1.210 (Wasn't ready...)
2.438
6.811
10.375
69.55
13.435
16.056
85.61

This run I manually shifted, but when I went to put it into 3rd (D w/out OD) I hit it too far and dropped the car into neutral... oops...
.546 (nailed the R/T)
2.431
6.817
10.394
69.03
13.671
16.443
80.55

Ouch, that isn't too good... But, I have my excuses all ready: 1.) It was hot, like 88-90 degrees and high humidity. (nobody was runnign that great) 2.) I was heavy, had my toolbox in the trunk and half a tank of gas 3.) I'm new at this, i was nervous!

Tell me what you guys think, I feel the mod bug hitting me hard now...

 

BTW, my friend was driving a 2001 Focus ZX3 that ran two 18.5's and an 18.3, both were about at 78 mph or so.

ouch even more...

 

No one has any insight into why my car sucks...

 

Car does not suck, driver might be inexperienced, but probably also doesn't suck. Weather can suck, track can suck. Nervousness can cause the slow reac time, and missed gears. I remember the first time I raced my Max at the track. It was hot, in the helmet and all, and the guy next to me was this old red pick-up truck that had no hood and some weird set-up behind the engine. I had practiced my manual shifting, and pulled into staging with the shifter way down in first gear. Go figure, I overstaged (pulled too far forward) and had to try to look down with this huge helmet on, shift into reverse, and stage properly. The light cascade started going as I shifted back to one, and green came wayyy tooo fast. This red truck blew me away...it ran a 12 something (everyone out there was like, "What the...").

I let go of the brake when the last set of yellows come on, but jam the gas pedal a split moment before that (to overcome the stall speed of the torque converters in our autos). Shift from 1-2 at 6000rpm to avoid whacking the rev limiter (car actually shifts at 6500rpm). Shift from 2-3 just after 6000rpm, and you finish the 1/4mi in 3rd gear. Running stock, you should be able to break 16.0 seconds unless it's raining.

 

Luckily, I didn't make a fool out of myself at the starting line, did a short quick burnout to clean the tires (stock ppressure by the way, may need to drop fronts and air the rears), then left at the 3rd yellow (not on my 2nd run, saw green). My second run I actually launched hard enough that my cell phone holder unclipped and went flying. But, I don't understand why I got the 16.3 stock when I didn't do anything except put it in D and drive. I floored the brake and then floored the gas and just released the brake when I saw third yellow. Is this incorrect launching technique? Should I jab the gas just before or what? And I might have to try more shifting, it seemed like it helped, though this slow shifting tranny is gonna need some help...

 

oh man..... I will be at the track at Maxus on saturday... I have never run at a track before either. As for the launch, I think flashing the TC is the best way. Hold the brake in hard and then mash the gas. Release brake a split second later. This will put less wear on the TC and you should not bog. I'll try this method Saturday....

 

Good luck UMD, hope you have a better showing than I did. I figure that if I had nailed the shifts and what not I would have hit around 15.8 or so with the temps and everything. And I might have to try flashing the TC...

 

thanks man! maybe the y-pipe and intake will help me a bit. Too bad I won't have the UDP though....I should get that next week

 

You'll get better as time goes on (and with more track experience).

Good luck Nauman and make us (5th gens) proud.

 

thanks! even if I suck, I will make the SMC proud.... its a win-win situation

 

True... true...