Help me drive faster.

I took the Z-28 out to the track for the first time today. It's an 1/8 mile track and it was at least in the upper 80's today. Elevation is pretty close to sea level. My mods are linked in my sig.

These were my best two runs tonight -

Run #6

RT - .385
60' - 2.172 (best)
ET - 9.084 (best)
MPH - not recorded :(

Run #8

RT - .200 (best)
60' - 2.847 (terrible, I know)
ET - 9.724 (terrible again)
MPH - 81.163 (best)

I can't remember how I launched for those particular runs. For some runs I just eased out of the line, for others I dropped from about 2000 RPM. I was spinning even with that low of a launch RPM. I'm shifting at around 55-5800 RPM. I'm trying not to beat the car up *too* badly. Any pointers for a n00b like me? Also, what times should my car be capable of? (I'd like a goal to shoot for! :)) Thanks, guys!

Run #6

RT - .385
60' - 2.172 (best)
ET - 9.084 (best)

I was spinning even with that low of a launch RPM. I'm shifting at around 55-5800 RPM. I'm trying not to beat the car up *too* badly.


*check in here under 60'times


you answered your own question
get traction ,2.172 ain't all that bad with street tires
9.08 would have made me happy the first time to the track
beat the hello out of it to go fast

Shoot for at least the 8.755 my car ran with intake/exhaust. Granted it was February and i was doing 1.90 60fts, that's your goal. I'll have some videos in here soon for you.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/97-z28-vs-97-z28_175278.htm

I was pretty happy with the 9.08. I ran a couple of other 9.1x's later in the evening that I was fairly pleased with as well. I guess I'm looking for some pointers in getting out of the hole faster since I guess that's where most of my time is getting eaten up. I only missed one shift in a dozen passes, so I'm not terribly worried about that.

That being said, my tires are getting pretty close to being worn out, and they're not exactly high-dollar grippy tires. They're the Hankook K104 tires that came with the wheels when I bought them. I'll be looking forward to cooler weather as well. :)

Chris, I'm bringing out both my Nikon for pics and Canon for vids next time we go. :cool:


Edit: You posted my worst run of the night, the only one I missed a shift on... :o :p

That run was:

RT - .582
60' - 2.237
ET - 9.507
MPH - 65.426 (I just coasted after missing 3rd. :p)

so where did yall run at?

so where did yall run at?

Dorchester Dragway. It's a little 1/8 mile track about 20 minutes up the road from us.

I wished I were 20 minutes from a dragstrip, piedmont is 35 miles through the woods about 50 minutes and 40 turns.
rock is 60 miles and about 6 turns last time I did it in an hour towing

remove the front swaybar
lower the rear air pressure to @22psi
raise the fronts to max+
remove the spare and jack
run with 1/2 tank or less
remove those 2000 cds and pictures of mdacton youve been collecting" all the bs "
I personally am not going to take the seats out
try different burn outs to see which hooks better, mine likes a good long slow second gear burn out not high speed
try different launch rpms
but with a straight gear you have to snatch the stick out of the floor, hammer it hard

good luck

Well your sportlines are not helping with the weight transfer, ask how I know. But you MPH is low and that is the indication of the power your car is making. You should be netting around a 83 or so in the 1/8.

The best mod for your car is seat time. I would run 8-10 times at each test and tune until I figured my car out. You will do the same. You do not even have to remove the sway bar. Just remove one of the endlinks and it will allow the wheels to lift.(I still have to try this too:o)

I would be looking to hit the 8.6-8.7 range. A certain Mustang I know with around the same mods is getting low 8.6s. There is your motivation, lol.

Chris

Well there are so many variables to drag racing. You got long tubes,58mm throttle body and street tires. What kind of clutch? Original? From your 60ft, you are spinning off the line, which should give you a slingshot affect on your mph. Until you get some sticky tires, and good clutch, because sticky tires will overwhelm the stock clutch, your just out spinning your tires. You have to get the car running consistent, then start with where you stage the car, considering your R Times are consistent, and learn where to stage to lower your R T. As far as speed goes just get the car consistant, and you can at least bracket race it.
I started at the back of my car with tires, centerforce clutch, and a Ford 9 inch, detroit locker, to get the car to run consistant. Put many a LS1 on the trailer. They were fast, but they weren't quick.:D

I would imagine it's a stock clutch, though I'm not sure if the previous owner had ever replaced it or not. I doubt it's original with ~130,000 miles on the car considering it isn't slipping. I am spinning off the line and occasionally in second gear as well, which I know affects both ET's and MPH. I guess I'll just keep going out there and practicing. I need new tires anyway, so I'll see how much difference that makes whenever I get them. Thanks for the help so far though! :)

You really need new tires. They are whats hold you back along with your driving skills. Seat time is going to be your best friend, you lack experience and are suffing because of it.

Drop the front sway bar, put 40psi in the front tire, and drop the rears to 25psi. Those 3 things should be good for a tenth. The first time you hit it without the front bar your going to be like hily sh!t. The front of the car comes up a lot.

I think you may be in need of a tune up or something is wrong because your trap should be higher. Especially if you have LT's. You should be breaking into the 8.90's or at least have a trap speed that shows your car is capable of it.

Do you have a pcm tune? Have you ever been on a dyno?

Just looked at your mods. Sell the 58mm tb its way too big for a stock motor. You should be able to get around 250, 300. That would be enough for some 255/50/16 bfg or MT drag radials. Pick up a set of salad shooters on the FS section for 50, 75 bucks and then you have a extra set of track tires.
Or you could buy some summit racing steel 15's for 75 and mount up some 275-60-15's. The 15's will really hook.

Next, i woud think about pcmforless for a tune rather that what you already have.

Just looked at your mods. Sell the 58mm tb its way too big for a stock motor.


Would there really be a problem with just leaving the 58mm TB on the car? I don't see the point in selling it, especially if I decide to build for real power at some point down the line. :)

Would there really be a problem with just leaving the 58mm TB on the car? I don't see the point in selling it, especially if I decide to build for real power at some point down the line. :)

I have a fully built 355 and still don't need a 58mm TB. I prefer to have higher velocity, but that's a whole different thread/debate.

I also think you'd be better off with stock springs and some drag radials.

Since this thread is about driving faster, not modding, are you power shifting? Don't take your foot completely off the gas when you shift. Keep the RPM up, but don't blow the motor either. That way it pulls you into the next gear instead of slowing down some.

too many people have more throttle body than they need. I am pretty sure its hurting you as of now.

I also think you'd be better off with stock springs and some drag radials.

Since this thread is about driving faster, not modding, are you power shifting? Don't take your foot completely off the gas when you shift. Keep the RPM up, but don't blow the motor either. That way it pulls you into the next gear instead of slowing down some.

sounds like good solid advise

too many people have more throttle body than they need. I am pretty sure its hurting you as of now.

Just looked at your mods. Sell the 58mm tb its way too big for a stock motor. You should be able to get around 250, 300.

how about this keep what you have and run it.
if you feel like you need a stock one ,one of your friends
to the north has 2
there are lots of things that could be affecting your runs,

mileage ,my old engine didn't get to 80mph in the 1/8th
tune,
bad driver "I think this is it"
afraid of the competition, "Chris",
the car in front of me oiled the track down so I spun, and went so fast ,(because my 58mm throttle body is bigger than yours) they didn't record my time:yes:
my personal favorite"my avatar is way better than yours"

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn22/slowride94z/boobgun.jpg

Ill give you 10$ for that pos 58mm tb:rolleyes:

As far as getting stock springs, the car is a cruiser first and a racer second. I mainly enjoy driving the car around town and love the way it looks with the Sportlines. :) I'm not power shifting, and I realize that could be costing me some decimals, but I'm trying not to blow 'er up either. I think I've still got my stock TB around somewhere. It's just a matter of digging through old parts to find it. :p I've got an unmolested (but descreened) MAF in there now. I've got a MAF that was ported and polished. That was on there when I bought the car. I had some issues that I was trying to work out so I threw a stock MAF on it in an attempt to eliminate issues.

- As far as mileage, I'd imagine that 130,000 miles has probably sl owed my old Z-28 down a bit.
- I'll admit that I'm probably holding the car back more than the car is holding itself back. I've only had one day at the track. :)
- I'm not afraid of competition. I knew Chris would be considerably faster than me. If he gets too cocky about beating me on the track, I'll just beat him up. I'm bigger than he is. :p
- I try not to make the typical ricer excuses, but my tires are pretty worn. :lol:
- Yes, my avatar is better than yours. :p
- Sorry, I'll be keeping the pos TB. Hehe.

What you really need is seat time. Sure the 58 is a little big but its not going to really kill you at WOT.

I have dropped my times 3 tenths with just seat time. It is the second best mod you can do on your car. Paying it off is the first.:D

Paying it off is the first.:D

That was done a month after I got it. :)

- I'm not afraid of competition. I knew Chris would be considerably faster than me. If he gets too cocky about beating me on the track, I'll just beat him up. I'm bigger than he is. :p

- Yes, my avatar is better than yours. :p AND EVERYONE ELSES:yes:
- Sorry, I'll be keeping the pos TB. Hehe.

glad you have a since of humor, I didn't like SOME OF the tb statements,sort of pist me off:lol:

just for the record mine will never be paid off
2000$ for trans then what?
still driving it with no reverse

are you thinking of going to the rock in December?
cost 10 to run and 10 to get in normally

glad you have a since of humor, I didn't like SOME OF the tb statements,sort of pist me off:lol:

just for the record mine will never be paid off
2000$ for trans then what?
still driving it with no reverse

are you thinking of going to the rock in December?
cost 10 to run and 10 to get in normally

I attribute my sense of e-humor to spending so much time in the lounge. :p

I seem to dump money into mine on a fairly regular basis. Price of admission for having a 10+ year old car, I suppose. I didn't know about the Rock in December, but then again, I don't usually keep up with that kind of thing. I'm interested though. 20 bucks isn't bad and it'll be a nice track instead of the ghetto strip up the road from me now. ;) If anything, I'll be able to snap some nice pictures out there. :)

your biggest problem is knowing how to drive. you need practice and alot of seat time. anything you do to the car is going to change it...the shift point the way it drives the power etc.

Just keep on driving it and document everything, then when you go backwards you know what did it.

That's what I need to do next time is take notes of what I did for each run. Instead of just getting back into the staging lanes right away, take a minute to write down what I did at launch, everything I can think of, and compare times to see what does what. :)

Instead of just getting back into the staging lanes right away :)

oh man do a good 20 min cool down fans on hood up


if it looks like the line is long I turn mine off then neutral up to the end of the staging line

now I have done burn downs back to back ,trying to get better 60's or trying a different burn out.
If you get to Rockingham early you can do back to back to back
at Piedmont it always crowded
when I decide to do my last run Ill let it set for a good while cooling off and get my best time of the night

oh man do a good 20 min cool down fans on hood up

I would only do about three runs in a row before shutting down and letting it sit. :)

That's what I need to do next time is take notes of what I did for each run. Instead of just getting back into the staging lanes right away, take a minute to write down what I did at launch, everything I can think of, and compare times to see what does what. :)

get a log book.

I save all my time slips from each day at the track. I staple them together and keep them in a folder. Looking back you can see youself getting faster and better at driving.
The 60fts will be more consistent, the ET's will drop, and you will have less missed shifts/screw ups. You can also figure out what your average ET and MPH is and hopefully you will see them getting better and better each time to the track.