I ran my car for the first time today down the 1/4 mile at Fayetteville...got 3 runs in. I expected better, I ran a best of 13.4 @ 107.4 MPH, and backed them up with 13.6's @ 107, all on street tires. My reaction times really SUCK, about a 1.2 on all 3 runs. I'm new to this drag racing thing, is it me or is something wrong other than my technique? I was expecting around a 13 flat...

 

Which car in your sig did you run and what were your 60 ft. times like? How about ambient air conditions? Your reaction times don't have any affect on your ET's.

 

I ran my '94. I was just thinking that I still have my 1 5/8 headers on it and the stock TB, so that might be contributing to the problem...probably would help if I had it tuned further too.

Guess it's alot of things...

 

Well, if you could get your 60' down you could probably be at 13 flat.

I am assuming you are around a 2.3 60' now.

 

ok first things first...get some drag radials...they will greatly improve on everything. second it was your first time there is always gonna be improvements with practice. now DR are not the answer to everything but theywill help your 60 ft greatly. 13 is not a bad goal. i ran 13.6 with just intake exhaust. just keep working on it and dont ge discouraged

 

I'm going back sunday. Yeah, I'm averaging a 2.3 60' time. I'm sure I can squeeze at least a couple more tenths out of it by working on my launch, I'm just slipping the clutch off the line since I'm on street radials now...can't even lay into it until I'm going like 40 or 50 mph.

I'm upgrading to 1 3/4 shorties and a larger TB soon before I have it dynoed and tuned, so hopefully that helps too...

 

Back when I was running 107 in the 1/4, a 2.06 60' got me a 13.13. Every car is different, but I would expect similar times from yours(maybe better) with a 2.0x 60'.

 

Doing better lately. This past time I ran a 13.25@108 given the same setup; only difference was the oil was changed to Mobil 1(from a 50/50 mix) I'm getting better with the reaction times, gotten as low as a .612 but seem to be consistantly running .8XX seconds.

Longtubes, 58MM TB and tuning are starting to seem very tempting

I've been thinking about running drag radials when my tires wear out, but chose to wait for awhile since my tires are still in great shape. I've been worried that my handling would suffer and I've heard about them only lasting 10 or 15k miles. I put alot of highway miles on my car! That and I have a puny thirdgen aluminum driveshaft that I'm worried about tearing up.

 

Just to be sure...you do know that your reaction time doesn't affect ET?

Hows the track prep? Sometimes a really bad track prep is really the culprit. I would check with other locals and see what kind of 60 foots they are cutting. If it seems like it's the track, just swap over to another one for a night.

 

In all brutal honesty, if you arent sure what you are doing right/wrong and you cant tell what the car is doing..... you need more repetition and seat time than anything.

Once you get used to driving down the race track you will notice things you and the car are or have been doing. Your ETs will slowly begin to drop as you begin to see things in a new eye.

Happy Motoring!

 

Brutal? no. Honest? yes. I haven't had much time at the track to get used to how the car responds there, and I probably wont since I dont want to beat it up too bad until I get on my way building the 383. I do know I still want the longtubes and other mods so I'm still planning those since I really think my shorties are killing off a few tenths, but yeah, I need to get more consistent.