...and i am the worst driver known to man. i made this car look really slow.

but keep in mind that i didnt prepare the car for the track either. had everything in my trunk that i normally do, had the spare still in, regular tire pressure, street tires, no icing the intake. no taking out the rear or passenger seats. and for the record i had 1/4 tank of gas.

okay, ive had the car for 1.5 weeks (almost 1200 miles so dont worry). it is the first manual car i have ever owned. i just learned how to drive stick, *period*, a few months ago. also, it was my first time ever to a drag strip. i was nervous as hell. excuses...whatever. im so disappointed with myself.

i got 3 runs in
First Run:
R/T - 1.343
60' - 2.523
330 - 6.542
1/8 - 10.004 @70.27
1000 - 12.949
1/4 - 15.401 @ 91.89

being my frist time ever to a track i had no idea how things worked. the R/T was so bad because i rolled past the 1st stage and was about to back up when the tree came on so i did the best i could. i dont even know what RPM i launched it at. also, i F'ed up going into 3rd gear.

Second Run:
R/T - .937 (better, yet still bad)
60' - 2.528
330 - 6.854
1/8 - 10.207 @73.74
1000 - 13.055
1/4 - 15.472 @ 93.50

no excuses here. i was ready this time. again, i was worrying about not looking like a fool and im not quite sure where i launched it. im thinking 4k. 3rd gear gave me no problems.

Third Run:
R/T - .712
60' - 2.505
330 - 6.516
1/8 - 9.967 @ 71.40
1000 - 12.885
1/4 - 15.340 @ 92.26

launched at about 3.2k. missed 3rd gear yet again (this happens to me a lot for some reason. even on the road. only going into 3rd)

im really really p!ssed off with these times. being new to the car, new to driving stick ,new to the track i know i can only improve but im extremely disappointed with myself. my biggest problems is my launch obviously. my 60's are horrendous. then there's that 3rd gear thing but ill fix that. i never even practiced at all before i went. i had never driven this car hard from a dead stop before. what RPMs should i be launching at? any tips for me? next time will be much, MUCH better. no doubt in my mind.

 

don't shift at redline, your power goes by by after 6,000rpms.

 

i was shifting at abut 6,300. (at least on the 3rd run i was when i got my nerves and could focus)

 

I wouldn't worry to much, you will improve. Hell you could have been me. I went the strip for the first time in february and on the first run I toasted my stock clutch. 17 sec 1/4 mile times and a $700 bill for a new clutch.

If you have not done so I would replace the tranny fluid with Redline MT-90. It will make your shift into 3rd much smoother.

 

who cares....you'll have many times to go to the track, its the first time so dont worry nothing happened

 

How could you have toasted your stock clutch in one day at the track? Fully stock car too???

 

99,700 miles on orignal clutch. It was time for a new one. I have a y-pipe and PR CAI.

 

your problem is the 60' time. You need to launch lower until you can get used to the power so that you get better traction.

Ignore that person who said don't shift at redline because they are not thinking about the fact that when you shift at redline you land at a higher RPM in the next gear (i.e. you land in the powerband) so you will have a faster run overall.

lower you tire pressure - this will also help with traction... once you get down to solid 2.2 60' times you will be well into the 14s

 

Ignore me?

I just looked at his 60 ft times. They are kinda bad.

According to our "Track Expert" Dave B, 2k2 owners should be shifting near 6,000rpms to land back into the sweet part of the powerband. Anything over 6K, you will lose time because you're out of the powerband. If you want to discuss this, ask Dave

 

you suck.

 

when dave is as fast as me then I'll listen to him more (I do respect most of his advice still, he just never pulls off impressive times himself) A lot of people have a lot of advice, I have the timeslips and videos to back up mine.

 

Definitely possible.

I saw an Audi S4(or A4) 2-door, bi-turbo, run a 13.5 which is magazine rated around 14.1 for that car, because the DUMBA$$ launched at 5-6K rpms.

Basically, at the end of the track his car was smoking and he couldn't get it to move. So, he called the tow truck while his buddy scraped off the track numbers. Funny thing is, he still had the dealer paper plate on it. Hmmmm, try and explain that one to the dealer.

 

i'll have a 1/4 mile of like 20 seconds

 

Not true at all, look at My Dyno chart.




The best place to shift is past redline at 6800 RPM on the tach(which in reality is 6500 RPM, the tach is off on the 02's).


3rd gear is notchy and you have to consintrate on how you shift into it, I get stuck on my 2-3 shift every now and then. Your trap speed is low becuase your shifting to soon and jaming 3rd, you should see another 5 MPH if you shift at 6900 RPM and nail 3rd correctly. Those 60 fts really need some work too, that will take some practice since your new at driving a stick. The best technique I have found is reving the car up to about 3800 RPM and then slowly release the clutch and add more gas progressively, if you do this correctly the car won't bog or spin the tires and your 60 ft's will drop down to about 2.2(depending on the track surface).


I have yet to go to the track my slef but I have practiced quite a bit with my G-Tech pro. Last night on the slitely sandy street I pulled off a 14.42 @ 102.9 MPH(G-tech traps about 2-3 MPH high)

 

Hey Ethan April 3 at NED will be a good time for you to run it. I know its a long drive for you on a weekday and all but just think the ultimate shootout Emax VS DmbMaxima.

 

I wanna see them race an altima on video!

 

The first time I go to the track I will be stressen and would probably rather go by myself Opening day will have way to much traffic for my likeing too

 

Did you hear what that 13.9 Altima ran yet? 14.4

 

eh? so he was lying?

 

14.4x? How many times did he run that? Too bad it wasn't a stock altima either. There is a huge difference between a 13.9 and a 14.4x!

 

I don't think he was lying, I do think there is a possibility his time slip was screwed up though, tracks do that once in a while.


Phatguy go check out the thread at altimas.net, the post is in the "2002 section". The track was fogy and a little damp they said.

 

it's a very tough car to drive i had mine for 4 weeks when i went to the strip and it was the only manual i ever owned. i learned in 4 weeks. i was amazed at my time of 14.367 which stood for months as the fastest time. i'm looking to beat that time in the next couple weeks. 3rd is a hard gear to hit, i finally got it down but it takes time and practice. but those short times, even with the HLSD, LAUNCH A LOT LOWER i think i launched at 2400, feathered teh clutch out, floored it and got wheel hop throguht 1st and then took off, 2.16 and 2.17 back to back.

 

What kind of times do you think you will get this time around? How much do your 18's weigh?

 

Lil OT
What kind of rear plate cover are you using?
I hate dealer stickers and dealer plate frames.

 

It's a MAXIMA chrome plate cover. It looks nice and clean. I bought mine at a performance shop for like $20 but I think "Nissan" actually makes it, you could try your dealer. Make sure you get some piaa HID(wanna be) lights too, they look great and match all my other lights .

 

i figure with the light 18's i got, just over 20 lbs a rims and the SICK WIDE Bf Goodrich G-FORCE T/A kd's and me being a slight better driver now and with the intake, if it's below 60 degrees a 13.9, that's my wish, we'll see what happens. they did resurface the track at NED so it should be sticky for me.

 

Can you post up a pic or thread with that plate cover?

I have the hyper whites in my plate lights now to match my side markers, fogs, trunk, doors, dome and headlights. Just missing the map light one. I like the softer light on the stock map though.

 

====================================ME
================================Emax

 

Who would handle better and sound better?

You guys should dyno on the same day back to back. That would be interesting as well.

Emax when are you doing the UDP? You can find them for a good price on the .org. Just post up wtb or put it in your sig like me. I got one slightly used with belts for $132 shipped to Canada. I ordered the seal you mentioned as well. $10cdn I think the UDP will give me a little more overall power but from researching it should give me more useable power through the rpm band. Find out soon enough. I also think the UDP will help compensate my 18's as well.

 

hahaha! Ya right . Bring your smack talking down to R.I. and I will give you a good old fashion can of woop a$$


Phatguy, I will see if I have a close up shot of my plate, if I do I will post it in a few minutes.

 

 

Ah ok I think I've seen those on ebay once it a while. There is an OEM one and a one that some guy makes as well.

 

Ya, on the inside of my plate it say's "made my nissan" .

 

 

Damn, that's harsh Let me just say you'd never get a 14.2 at my track, trust me. My 60s are crap (high 2.2s and 2.3s). I think we both know my car would be right next to you if I was able to pull 2.1 60s. Look at the trap speeds


The reason everyone probably has a hard time hitting the 2-3 is because of the way they hold the shifter. Take you palm and point your fingers to the passenger side, wrap your hand around the back of the shifter with your finger wrapped around the passenger side of the shift ****, then push up. The car should go up into 3rd with no hang ups.


Newman-
Don't worry about your ETs. It was your first time. Your 60 foots are killing you and it will take lots of practice to get it right. For every .1 you can shed off your 60', you should see about a .2 reduction in ET. 2.2 60 foots should be your goal, but if your track isn't great, it may be very hard to get these kind of 60s. I've calculated the 3.5VQ shift points from 7 dynos I've seen (excluding Emax's dynos because he'e the only 2k2 showing power past 5600rpms, I think it's a fluke). The 1-2 should be done at 6500, 2-3 at 6200, 3-4 at 5900. The trick is to find out how "off" your tach is so that you can determine these points. The lower the gear, the more the tach is off.

You should be congradulated because you actually took you car to the track and ran. Too many guys in here base their car's performance on street kills which are meaningless in my book.


Dave

 

The tachs seem to be off by ~500rpm

 

It's not a fluke, it for real. Keep in mind Dave that the 2002's tach is slow by 300 RPM, so go ahead and add 300 RPM to all your calculations. BTW it's not just my car's tech it's every 2002 I have seen. BTW I also found a 2002 Auto altima that breathed well like mine in the upper RPM's on the dyno.

The 2-3 shift is hard becuase the gear box has a lowsey designe. I never missed my 2-3(just my 3-2 ) on my 95 and 98.

 

I meant to say "made by nissan"

 

aww.. you changed it. u no fun at all

 

I was thinking of going with my friends and running the my car at the truck too. I live near Boston area, is that track close by?

Couple of my friends want to ran too. One has 2001 A4 1.8T chipped and another has 330xi and another has TL-S.
So I want to see if I can beat them all at the track.
Me and my friends never ran at the track, so want to see what I can do.