I went to this thing called race-legal at qualcomm stadium in san diego tonight and ran the 1/8th mile 5 times. I bracket raced but got eliminated in the 2nd round. I really need to launch better. check out these horrible times:

1st run:

rxn: 0.00 - red lighted
60ft: 3.706
mph: 73.53
et: 11.249

2nd run:

rxn: .816
60ft: 2.656
mph: 74.37
et: 10.159

3rd run:

rxn: 3.405 - stalled off the line
60ft: 2.864
mph: 70.53
et: 10.444

4th run: (bracket racing- he red-lighted)

dial-in: 9.75
rxn: .930
60ft:2.687
mph: 73.89
10.198

5th run:

dial-in: 9.80
rxn: .776
60ft: 2.555
mph: 75.37
et: 9.830

Well.. i can say that I can't launch as can be seen by my 60fts/rxn times. I always spin the tires. The first run I spun them through all of first gear. The rest of the runs I spun them almost 2/3 through 1st. It spins waaaaay more easily than on the street. I also shift at the wrong points (either too late or early).. I am planning on going next week early when they will have a bunch of practice runs and maybe i'll do better.

I was thinking of buying a shift light.. It might be pretty helpful.

I know I can do a lot better.. is there anyway to convery my times to quarter mile times (at least an estimate).. a 9.8 seems like it would be 16's in the quarter, and thats worse than my car should do.

 

Your 9.8 should get you around 15.1
Looking at some of my old time slips , I found were a GT mustang ran a 10.185 1/8 and got a 15.407 in the 1/4. Then there is one were some one was racing me , they ran a 9.725 1/8 and got 14.996 in the 1/4.

Have you thought about getting some Nitto’s, they make a big difference.

 

What kind of 60ft times am I supposed to be able to get with street tires (BFG Comp T/A ZR's)? I want to get those down to something reasonable if I can, and then maybe I'll get a set of drag radials. I looked online and it looks like BFG has some good street legal drag radials that are actually affordable.

For a 305 TPI with a 5speed and 3.45 gears when should I be shifting.. i was thinking I should try 5200 rpm.

I also think i need to lower my tire pressure.. the whole time I had it at 30 psi.

 

For your tires I do not know, never ran them my self. I could get 2.205 on my Firestone FZ50.

On your shift point you need to try it at different rpm until you find out were the car runs the best, I would say around 4900 to 5200

On tire pressure, the best thing to do is go out and spin the tires, check the marks you leave, it should be even all the way across the contact point. If it is darker on the out sides then lower pressure, if darker in the middle than raise it. I ran about 35 psi on my street tires and 25 psi on the Nitto’s.


And do not feel bad about your times, the last race I had Saturday night, I was racing a 2000 camaro, it was the kids first time down the track, he had a little trouble staging and when the light went green I was gone. His RT .940 my RT was .678, His 60' was a 2.493 my 60' see sig. He ran a 14.310 @ 99.20. He parked next to me in the pits and I talked to him, hope he ran better on the next run. just remember to have fun.

------------------
Here is what I have done; all new tie rods center link idler arm,
Polly bushings.
Hotchkis; springs, lower control arms, tie rod sleeves,
strut tower brace.
Bilstein struts and shocks. AGR; steering box and pump.
Wheels; Simmons om-17, 17x9.5 with Firestone 275x40x17 FZ50 EP.
K&N air filters, airfoil. Alum drive shaft, MSD coil,MSD6AL.
The TPI has not been ported yet
and I still need to put on sub frame connectors,
and SLP headers.

Best run on Nitto's
60' 1.983 (Feb-10-2001)
1/8 8.839
1/4 13.851
mph 98.14
fasted I have had it
135 mph. (Apr-?-1998)

I have 130,000 miles on it right now .

[This message has been edited by Z_Ghost (edited February 12, 2001).]

 

What RPM are you launching at? Sounds like that starting line was ice! I shifted my 305 at 4600-4800.

------------------
West Coast GM Shootout 2001!
1991 Camaro Z28
5.7L 5-Speed (originally 305)
13.25 @ 107.18 MPH
Southern California
Member: SoCal 3rd Gen F-Bodies
Webmaster: SoCal F-Bodies
-=ICON Motorsports=-

 

That's borderline short shifting. But wasn't your 305 pretty much shot anyway? I recall something like 15.1, right?



------------------
91 Trans Am WS6
Bright White
5.0 TPI auto
Flowmaster 3" 2 chamber catback
Trans Go shiftkit
2000 stall converter

Built on Wednesday

 

The starting line seemed pretty bad. It was kind of sprinkling that day. They were heating the track with some kind of torch.. i dont know if that made a difference, but on the first run I shifted like I would on the street to get a "chirp" and I spun through the entire first gear.

I am going back next week and hope to do better. I might even run a small shot of nitrous (50hp)... since I just picked up the final stuff I needed for my kit (a kind of important part: bottle )

I talked to someone at the track and they said that if I go earlier like at 2:00pm that I can run practices until 10:00pm.. Last time I got there at 8:00 and only ran until 10:30.

Does anyone know where I can get a helmet real cheap, cause I used a loaner.. I don't think they don't care about the snell rating or anything, you just need a helmet. I am assuming a motorcycle helmet would work fine?

Thanks.

 

Oh.. and at first I launched at ~2200.. then less maybe under 2000. I tried launching almost at idle, but I stalled that time..

 

You shift a 5-speed different than an automatic because the gear ratios are closer together, keeping the car in the power band. Plus this 5-speed has 3.42 gears, compared to an automatics 3.23's, or 2.73's. I found that I ended up in my power band of 4500 RPMs at the traps if I shifted to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th around 4600-4800 RPMs. It was different every time depending on the track. And yes, it looked like my 305 have a blower on it before I got it. When I pulled it out, 2 cylinders had bad rings and were leaking oil. It had a best time of 15.23 @ 90 with two people in the car. Then the clutch started slipping. I replaced the clutch and the 305 at the same time.

 

You should be able to cut a 2.1-2.2 60' time on stock tires.

General estimate for 1/8 to 1/4 is to multiply the 1/8 time by 1.55. That puts your 9.8 run around a 15.1ish. That is not too bad considering a 2.55 60'. If you say, cut it down by .3-.4 to a 2.1-2.2 you'll be cracking at least 9.4-.5s in the 1/8, getting some mid 14s.

Every .1 in the 60' is worth at least a .1 in the 1/4 ET (I hear as much as 2 tenths)... Launch properly and you'll be doing pretty good.

------------------
Ray87Z
-Vortec headed 350.
86 IROC w/ a cammed 305 TPI.
Formerly Ray86IROC.
www.inter-scape.com/Ray

[This message has been edited by Ray87Z (edited February 13, 2001).]

 

My advice to you, since I have a stick as well and if I give too much of a rev, I fish-tail,make a lot of noise and all that mess(It looks cool, you gotta admit)
I can't take my car to the track all the time to try-n-test my take-off methods, so i practice take-off all the time at lights and whatever.I noticed that if you can figure out where you can rev enough to just chirp your tires a bit so you don't bog and also don't spin-out. Than just floor it.
You don't have to do a Q-mile to practice this. You can do it anytime and find that spot where your ride get's the best traction w/out under reving.

------------------

1990 Formula
Factory:WS6-TPI-305/Dual Cat/5 Speed.Aluminum Drive Shaft.
Mods:SLP air foil,K&N Filter,All Accel ignition parts,Hypertech Thermomaster chip,Stat,Fan switch.Flowmaster 3" Cat-back exhaust,TB coolant bypass, Centerforce clutch.
Weight delete:Back seat-backs,spare tire.
Near future plans:Some runs at Raceway Park for a time slip, After headers install.Before cam+heads mods.

 

Ray:
Wow.. mid 14's! I didn't think that was possible in my car. I need to work on my launch. Maybe all those things i did to my car actually made it faster than stock. When I get the launch down, then I am gonna actually try my nitrous.

This friday I will have a lot of time to practice, so hopefully I'll get better 60ft times.


pontiac maniac:

I actually have practiced that a couple times, but it seems that at the track it spins a lot more easily. I guess I'll see on friday.

Does anyone know where I can get a helmet cheap?

thanks.

 

www.jegs.com and www.racerwholesale.com both sell G-Force helmets with the new 2000 specs for about $130. Thats the cheapest I've seen. Racer Wholesale might have some other specials going tho.