I have a 97 z28 w/ catback, cutout, cai, airfoil, some freemods, all tuned up. ITs got 2.73s, a4, and BFG G-Force 245/50/zr16 KDWS tires. Ive lowered the pressure to a little under 25psi with no luck.

I also have tubular phb, tubular rear lcas, and !swaybarm, !sparetire, etc. Im running on less than half tank of gas

I am going to the track tomorrow for first time and I am worried that I will run a terrible time just cuz I spin.

My combination doesn't seem like it would just roast the tires but it infact does. Any stalling up at all just spins like mad.
Also, If i stomp it from a stop i will spin like crazy too.

Is it normal to do this?
I am gonna blame it on the tires, but they have good thread on them, and are supposed to be very good tires.
I am not dedicated to drag racing enough yet to get drag radials.

Any ideas?

 

All suspesion work is worthless without sticky tires. It may had some traction on asphalt (street), but on a well preped strip it needs drag radials or it's going to be very slippery.
If tires are not an option then you'll have to work hard on findinf a launch technique that works best.

 

Inflate your tires to ~35 psi and then see what happens. Don't knock it 'til ya try it.

You know what's funny is, everybody automatically assumes that lower ratios will just roast the tires all day long, and high ratios don't get you moving at all. Well look at my sig! My best 60' time ever was a 1.92 on STREET TIRES @ ~35 psi (w/4.10's), while I've consistantly had trouble getting any better than ~2.1 or 2.2 60's w/2.73's. I've never run with my DR's and 2.73's, but I ran last summer on the DR's w/4.10's and they didn't improve my 60' times at all ... I think ~1.96 was the best? Point is the car was dead hooking and actually bogging down even with 4.10 gears! The problem with 2.73's is that if they break loose, then they're spinning faster than what lower gears would be spinning.

But as far as your traction problems, you may have to bite the bullet and get a set of DR's?

 

yea, if I were you Id grab a set of used DR's or slicks, of course that wont do you any good this weekend. I dont think you can hurt that 10 bolt with an auto. Me on the other hand, im up a creek until i get a better rear.

 

I keep trying to tell people that the first modification, besides practice, should be a decent set of drag radials but most folks tend to buy suspension mods instead.... I agree that some decetn tires would be the best thing to invest in. I know you said you didn't want to spend the money, but if you had some drag radials instead of the suspension mods you would be hooking up right now.

The other variable in the mix is to go to the track when real racers are there, like on a points day or test and tune session when cars with slicks are running. Street nights are often extremely poor for traction.

 

After my experiences last summer running on SaturDAYS and SunDAYS instead of Friday or Saturday NIGHTS, I couldn't agree with you more! I got my best time ever on a Sunday afternoon. On street tires at that!

 

there were some dumpy ricers that sprayed oil down the track in both lanes on a couple occasions and we had to wait for two hours in between two different heats so they could clean it up. but they then preped the track the way they normally would on the AA top fuel nights. i was right behind the second group of ricers when they leaked oil and got some killer traction so i guess that was worth it (also the night i entered the 100mph club). try gettin some sh***y ricer cars to do that at your track, it might help.

 

Get some M/T ET Radials....These things are just plain awesome...255 50R16s on stock 16x8s and you'll find your traction...and I would find some 3.42s or 3.73s, too...

--Alan

 

No question about it, high gears (2.73 & 3.23) are more prone to spin off the line, and once they break loose it's very hard to recover from the spin. 3.73s are great all-around gears for strip street cars and worth the cost. Also, I like the Mickey Thompson ET streets and use the low-profile (26" tall x 9.7" wide) so the car stays geared low.

Once you have the gears and slicks, the LCA relocation brackets are a cheep and effective traction improvement (about $75).


1997 Silver Z/28 LT1-Auto
w/ 30 th Anniversary navy blue stripes and Chrome ZR1 wheels
Kooks Long-Tubes w/ Off-Road Y-Pipe and Cut-Out (no Cats), LT4 Hot Cam, Valve Springs and Crane 1.6 Roller Rockers, GM Performance Roller Timing Chain, Holley 58mm TB, 160 degree thermo, Aeromotive Fuel Regulator, 3.73 Gears, Vigilante 9.5” 3200 stall, TCI Super 2nd Gear Servo, B&M Trans Cooler, MSD Coil and Plug Wires, K&N Air Intake, PCMforLess Performance Program, LT4 KM, Jegs H/B w/ Under-Drive, Aluminum Driveshaft, Aluminum LCAs w/ Relocation Brackets, Mickey Thompson ET slicks and a few undisclosed performance upgrades. (Best ¼ time; 12.44 @ 110.13 MPH, Nov 05 (N/A, no NO2).