I made it to the track last sunday, first time with my new 3.73 gears in. I had been running with stock 2.77 gears. Car didn't go any quicker than my last run in early May, but about the same. No real major changes to the engine, just fine tuning with PROM burning. I had 2 runs in the 14.6's and 2 runs in the 14.8s. I know my car is quicker than that. In may I was in the 14.6 to 14.8 range, but last year was in 14.4-14.5 bracket, and my best run ever, 14.413 @ 95.57, was in October 2000, with less mods and junk ADS chip.
I had 5 runs that day, ALL in the 14.4s. It was a cool day then. I keep good records of all my runs and car updates.

Now here is the important part, my tires. Been running 10 year old BFG comp T/A's, which are slowly becoming used up. I think that is my problem, can't get any traction. My 60' times ranged from 2.205 to 2.358. That 2.205 came when I launched the car easier.

My best 60' during that Oct.'00 day was 2.146, and all but 1 run was in the 2.1x bracket.

Some friendly racers at the track mention my tires are the problem. Need something sticker, softer. I think the above 2 runs in the 14.8s were due to low tire pressure. Someone at the track said run'em real low, like 10-12. I tried 15psi, and both runs got those 14.8 times. Bad idea I think. For my elimination, went up to 20 psi, dialed in 14.80, and broke out big with a 14.664.

I can give out more details of ride, as people need to know. Just ask, don't really feel like typing them all out right now!

Thanks for your opinions.

 

Get some new tires and try again.

It's hard to do a comparison at different times of the year. In May the track is still cold. By August the track has warmed up but the air is bad. In the fall the track can still retain the summer heat in the ground but the weather turns colder.

My car reacts different over just 2 weeks. I've run 11.6 on one week then 11.4 on another just because of how much the weather has changed.

Last week I traveled to another track. Saturday was very hot and sunny and the track was very slick. Terrible 60' time and poor ET. Sunday it cooled off a few degrees and got cloudy and I ran my best times ever.

Barometric pressure and humidity stayed roughly the same all weekend so they didn't factor much into the increased time for me. Just the fact that the track surface got better giving me better traction.

Once you get some better tires you should see an improvement in your time. Being able to get below 2.0 60' times on street tires is a challage.

 

I think youll appreciate some Nitto555Rs, a tenth in the 60 is two in the 1/4. Which is about true, with exhaust I should dropped about 2 tenths, I gained 2 mph but my 60ft went from 2.0 to 2.2, go figure...seems about right 2 me!!! The Nittos hook my car up fine, you may still need to feather it with your gearing and torque but my gears are lower and i have much less torque.

 

Yep, been looking closely at those Nitto DR tires. May even get some soon, and get to the track one more time before winter. I barely put 3000 miles on my car per year, so hopefully they will last me a few years.

Ironic, Stephan you mention the weather conditions, someone else who emailed me, kind of mentioned the same thing. I do know that one oct day, it was ideal weather. Back in May the track was junk IMO, I think only the second run on it this year, lots of dirt, etc.

I still have the stock convertor, but that will change next year. I just would like to get into the 13's, without touching the cam, heads or block.

PS; where is the best place to get those Nittos? I have been told they go fro around $140.