First off, I now have a greater appreciation and understanding when looking at peoples 1/4 mile times.

I went to Budds Creek today and did my first ever 1/4 mile run. I was pretty nervous because I had no idea what to do. The officials there were pretty cool about it and told me how to line up etc.

My goal was to see what my trap speed would be since this seems to be a good indication of power output. I wasn't too worried about the ET, but would have liked to run a good time.

My first run was a disaster... LOL.

I lined up and decided that I would try the two-step. I actually lowered my two-step with EcuFlash to 4000 rpm instead of the 6000 rpm. I pretty much suck at launching and wanted to try to preserve my clutch a little.

The staging lights lit up - the tree started counting down - when it hit green I took off. Immediately from the start my rpm's shot up to 7000 rpm. I don't know if it was wheel spin - or if I was frying my clutch. I would think it was more me abusing my clutch. It was pretty damn fun being able to floor it and fly down the track without worrying about going to jail! I don't know how my shifting went because I was kind of caught up in the moment. I finally made it down the track.

Here are the first run results:

R/T : .957
60' : 2.670
330 : 6.861
1/8 : 9.993
MPH: 79.59
1000: 12.635
1/4 : 14.816
MPH: 104.76

Pretty disappointing, but I didn't really expect much since I had no idea what I was doing.

The second run I decided to just take off like I would on the street. No two-step. I bogged on the launch (not surprising) and finally got going. I paid more attentiong to my shifting and felt like I was doing a pretty good job.

The results:

R/T : .571
60' : 2.707
330 : 6.547
1/8 : 9.542
MPH: 81.81
1000: 12.087
1/4 : 14.205
MPH: 107.62

My 60' was slower, but I made it down the track quicker. I have no idea how to read the timeslips to gauge power etc. Nor do I know what areas can/need be improved upon. I know that if you get a better 60' you get a faster ET.

I didn't run anymore because I needed to get out of there and it was getting a little crowded. Plus, I didn't want to embarrass myself anymore. Hah!

I thought the 1/4 mile was pretty much a no brainer. I thought all you had to do was point your car in the right direction and mash on the gas. I now realize it takes a little (lot) more skill!

I'm pretty sure my car has trouble holding boost because my tuner commented on that fact when he was tuning my car (boost was dropping to 16 ~ 17ish psi). I'm not sure if the results prove that or not because my MPH went up on the second run and I'm sure there is a lot of room for improvement. I have a Forge WGA waiting to be installed so maybe that will help.

I'm also carrying a full stereo upgrade: 12" sub, 2 amps, custom enclosure etc.

If you guys could analyze my runs and comment on where and improvement could be made and how that would increase the MPH and ET.

I'm not sure how to read the 1/8 MPH compared to the 1/4 MPH.

Be gentle - I know that the times are horrible...

Thanks!

ps - it was pretty damn fun, but I think I'm going to stick with running on roadcourses since it seems to agree with me more! LOL.

 

remove the restrictor pill from the slave cylinder, put on a ss clutch line and PRACTICE,PRACTICE!

 

LOL.

Yeah I know I need to practice.

I'm just not comfortable with the whole slipping and dumping the clutch thing. Hah!

I'm more comfortable driving when on a roadcourse.

I have to admit though. Going down the drag strip was pretty fun!

I was more interested in what my power output was like.

How do you analyze the 1/8 MPH versus the 1/4 MPH. It seems that I picked up a lot more speed compared to other time slips I've been looking at.

Most are only gaining ~ 20 MPH. I was picking up almost 25 MPH.

My car was filled with everything that I would have on the street while driving plus about 1/2 tank of gas.

 

Your trap speed is un-usually low its most probably because of your 60' ft times. I would imagine that a evo 8 w/ cams should trap at least 111-112 mph? A 107 trap is good enough for mid to high 12's with great launch + shifting, but with cams you should be trapping much higher.

Don't be scared of launching the car as the factory clutch w/ restrictor will take most of the driveline shock IF you do a quick slip of the clutch when launching.

Launching at 4k will just cause your clutch to be fried because the rpms are way too low, bump the 2-step up to at least 5000 and progressively work your way higher until you nail the launch. ( I think 5500 is a good middle-ground)

 

I'm certain with better driving I should be able to improve on the ET. I think that I should be able to get a better MPH as well because the first run I burned the clutch and wasn't barely moving off the line.

The second run I did one of those bogged starts. The car went forward - then jerked then started to go.

It was utterly embarrasing to say the least.

I don't know how the hell you guys get these sub 2.0 60's.

Also - I didn't know that you do more damage when I launch at 4k rpms versus 5k rpms... Is this the case?

 

Wow Russ yea man if you keep drag racing you just need practice on those 60ft. I mean I ran a 13.00 at 107mph with a 1.899 60ft on my 1st trck pass with my car. You trapped 107 on your 2nd run, which a 107 alone should net a mid 12 pass. I was thinking high 13's based on the MODS you have....but it takes practice. I enjoy the 1/4 miles since it's a total rush to me....never been autocrossing.

Russ rev that evo up to 5k......letout the clutch like inches until you feel your car engage. When green hits hammer the gas and and let off the clutch quickly.... front wheels will spin a bit and you'll rocket off for sure. You problay didn't give it enough gas the 2nd time vs. how high your RPM's were when launching which is why you bogged. Funny how you said 1/4 mile is no brainer, lol. You can have a fast car but what's the fun if you don't know what it is capable of doing...........even though the evo was really never intended for drag racing.

Upgrading to GSC 280 cams& 10.5 hotside here soon so hopefully I see mid/low 12's before the season ends. Well I'm sure you'll have better results next time should you run.
Peace.

 

Yeah.

I'm pretty much burned the clutch on the first run. The revs just shot up to 7000 and the car didn't really move. It finally caught when I let off the gas.

The second run I just bogged off the line.

I really need to practice and make some good runs with a decent launch because from what I've gathered through searching if I don't really launch the car you can't really get an indication of the power being made.

I jumped about 3 MPH from the first run alone on my second pass and that one sucked as well.

 

I don't think his power is low. You have to remember that he's only at 16-17 psi. 107 mph despite his poor launch seems like decent power to me for what he's got.


Kapolani, I did what you did my last time out, only worse. My 60' was 2.7 and I burned through 1st AND 2nd. Don't feel too bad, but improving to 2.5s for the 60' isn't really what I'd call "improvement".

 

I should be trapping 110ish so I don't know if I can improve that with better driving.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be.

I was pretty horrible!

 

We can't analyze the runs, because they both are a complete waste. I didn't know 2.6 and 2.7 60's were possible. You can beat that in a bicycle. Good on you for going out there and trying, but those launches are just atrocious. A _bad_ 60' is a 2.0-2.1, and that's what most people get when they are new and screw up. I say this, because your launches had to include something far more than just burning the clutch and boggin. I'm guessing you tripped the lights before you started the launch or something, because even a bog would be a 2.0 or something...not a 2.7. These 60's are so bad that they are totally killing both the ET and mph.

You have been reading too much and not racing enough, which is why you think you can just base your power off the trap speed. It is a general rule of thumb, but it ASSUMES a half-way decent launch. Once you get over 2.0 60's, the trap speeds start suffering. I think that if you did a normal launch to hit a weak 1.9-2.0, you'd see 110+ traps.

I can't believe you lowered the 2-step to 4k. You have GOT to IM me, PM me, or email me before doing stuff like that. That probably took 10000 miles off the life of your clutch. The reason why launching from 4k is so bad is because it's impossible to get the car moving properly from such a low rpm. Hell, even 5k is too low for me, although some people can do it. I have my Valet mode set to 3500rpm, and it sounds like a dying rhinocerous - it bounces off the limiter so slowly and laboriously. Couldn't you hear it doing that? It needs to bounce fast, not slow, because you need to build boost.

Anyway, you should set the 2-step back at 6k, then go launch for real. You said the 2nd time you launched like you would normally on the street. If that's how you launch on the street, my grandma's got somethin' for ya in her Cavalier, haha. =P

 

Time to hit the track again! Although you are definitely picking up good mph in the back half, the ET and MPH are not accurate enough to even get an idea of the type of power you are putting out. You will definitely pick up more mph with a better complete run.

Kenny

 

I didn't expect anything less from you...



I like the part about "I didn't know 2.6 and 2.7 60's were possible..."

That was classic.

I pretty much only know how to toss the car around... LOL..

Didn't know that _lowering_ the two-step was a bad idea - I actually thought it would save the clutch - because I suck.

FWIW I have 39000 miles on the car with the stock clutch - so you can tell I pretty much never launched the car. I was able to do it once and had to hold on for dear life. The next time I did it I pretty much burned the clutch so thought to myself that's enough of that...

I actually had fun at the track. I always thought it didn't take too much skill to get down that sucker. I couldn't have been more wrong. There are a lot of variables that go into making a good run. At least for me! It was such a rush waiting for the tree to drop though!

I have to admit - I lost to a 350z on that 2nd run. He had a 13.8 @ 100 to my 14.2 @ 108. I was pretty much embarrased by that. In fact there were some hondas that had faster times.

Forgive me.

 

Yes, many track-only guys think drag racing is just floor-it-and-go, but that is by no means the case. Just as you ran 14.2@108, I ran 12.30@108, so that gives you an idea of how much a difference driving can make.

It's good you had fun, but you will have an absolute blast if you go back and actually cut a real launch.

Oh, one other point I forgot to touch on previously was your comment about picking up 25mph in the back half. Again, that is misleading, because the reason you're picking up so much mph is due to how slow you were at the 1/8th. If you think about it, it's much easier to go from 79-104 than from 90-115. As your car gets faster, it becomes harder to pick up that extra mph on the top-end. That's why you see huge turbo cars running 9s and 10s hit 110mph in the 1/8th but only 140mph in the 1/4. 30mph is more than 25mph, sure, but it's not a huge difference. The huge difference is that we are only going from 85-110 while they are going from 110-140 in the same distance...nasty!

 

Yeah. That makes sense. I was thinking somewhere along those lines as well.

For the most part the car was trying to make up for my crappy driving down the back end.

I'm just curious how much improvement I'll gain if I get that first 1/8 speed up by cutting a lower 60' and getting more momentum for my 2-3 shift.

My 1/8 mph seems really low compared to some of the other times I've seen.

I'm going back in a couple of weeks to see what I can do.

 

Another thing I would like to press upon is if you dont want to actually launch the car then why drag race it? If you have no intention of doing this then you are waisting your time.