I drove 2:30 hrs. to the drag strip, and before doing so I put in some cheap QT 89 octane gas, I know bad idea, to make the trip. The car was not running its best and I could feel the timing backing off due to the cheap gas.

Anyway, here are a few of my results, starting with my first run. The 60 ft. light was not working on the left lane, and the 1000 ft. was down all night in both lanes.

R/T ... .729
330 ... 6.505
1/8 ... 9.911
MPH ... 72.11
1/4 ... 15.320
MPH ... 90.89

R/T ... .362
60' ... 2.330
330 ... 6.409
1/8 ... 9.753
MPH ... 73.60
1/4 ... 15.071
MPH ... 92.37

R/T ... .621
60' ... 2.192
330 ... 6.250
1/8 ... 9.600
MPH ... 73.40
1/4 ... 14.941
MPH ... 91.97

R/T ... .632
60' ... 2.229
330 ... 6.282
1/8 ... 9.627
MPH ... 73.57
1/4 ... 14.952
MPH ... 92.26

I made quite a few adjustments while running, since I am still new to racing with the Maxima. I found that my m.p.h. were higher and my times a bit lower when I shifted into fourth at 6,200 rpm's, instead of leaving it in 3rd. I also realized that it ran better when shifting just before redline in the first 3 gears, I was changing at just past, then finally right at redline all night.

I wasn't concerned with R/T since I was learning to launching this torquey car.

It was also quite obvious the car was backing off on the timing from the cheap gas. I put in Amoco on the way home and it started running quite a bit better.

I am thinking with higher octane Amoco gas and a few more runs that a 14.7 at 94 should be easily attainable.

Not bad for a completely stock 97 SE 5 speed eh.

I should also note that the muffler isn't stock but even MORE restrictive, because the previous owner had a rear end collision and upon getting it fixed she had a quieter non performance muffler put on.

Nice to finally get some baseline runs though, before I start modding it.

 

NEVER put anything less than 91 octane in the Max. This is no piece of **** VTEC

 

Nice times man. What kind of launches were you using? I found that my best time came with a 3000rpm clutch drop which netted me a 2.209 60', that's the run I ran a 14.87@92.68 on. About how far before the finish were you shifting into 4th? I would estimate I was about 200 feet from the finish when I shifted into 4th. I've never tried leaving it in 3rd, or launching higher than 3000 rpms, which are things I'll be trying next time at the track. Good times.

 

Nice times man, I would reccomend that you ALWAYS use atleast 91 octane.

 

Congrats on the times. Those are pretty good times considering this car only has the same stock hp as your Prelude and almost 300 extra lb. I remember you got the Maxima to be more sensible than the old Prelude but I guess your addiction is catching up w/ you again. It won't be long now before your car starts spending weeks in the shop getting engine work done again. How are you planning to modify the Max? NA on a VQ is gonna cost a lot more to build than that freakishly powerful H22A you had. The Max seems to hold boost or nitrous much better than Preludes and combined w/ your driving, I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up w/ one of the fastest Max's around. This time around, please lower the car and make it stand out a bit. The Prelude looked ok w/o any visual queues or handling mods but a crazy fast family sedan beating the crap out of people w/ 4" of wheel gap and tons of body roll into the corners is kind of sickening. I also wonder why you didn't just drop the Prelude engine into your Accord. That would have been an evil combination and even more of a sleeper.

When does the track season end? I think my brother Shadow, wants to hit the track once he gets his nitrous sorted out. You guys should go head to head to see if a 50 shot is enough to overcome his automatic and 19" wheels.

 

props to a good driver.

interesting to note... a stock celica just busted out a 14.8xx also.

 

I really think the Amoco gas would have netted noticably better times and about 1-2 more m.p.h.

Mishap,

The strip is open again on Sunday afternoon from 2pm to sunset. I am thinking of going again, with good gas.

Also I left my Prelude stock looking for the most part because I liked the sleeper image. With the Maxima I plan on modifying the suspension after I do the intake, exhaust and hopefully this January a s/c.

Nealoc187,

I was launching at about 3k rpm's. The shift to fourth was close to the end, but I was watching the rpm's hit right about 6,200 or so when I shifted.

Today, while driving around with the Amoco gas, the car felt noticably stronger. If only there was a strip around when you need one.

 

nice times

 

Why did you do that? Always follow what the manual says.

 

I hope the manual doesn't say anything about always observing posted speed limits... :-)