Hey guys, recently I've had the change to run my car in the 1/4 a few times and sadly my best time was a 14.2. My 60ft time was 2.5 so I know (among other areas) that there is a lot of room for improvement with my launch. I've searched and found a ton of great information regarding technique but I have a mechanical question that I can't seem to find an answer to.

When I was doing the passes I was shifting hard and fast and I kept hearing this loud clunk right after engaging the clutch. What is that sound? Whatever it is, is it really bad for the car? It's my daily driver and although I'd like to be in the mid 13's while still stock I don’t want to beat on it, it's just not worth it to me at all. So is that sound caused by simply shifting fast and that’s just the way it is, or am I doing something wrong and hurting the tranny.

Thanks guys,
-m

 

When I do my incredibly hard 1-2 shifts (only at the track), I get a clunk in the back that comes from the rear diff. Sometimes, if I hit the 2-3 hard enough, it also clunks, but that's rare.

Now, you already have a mid-13s Evo in stock form...all you have to do is leave the line faster than a granny. I don't even see how it's possible to hit a 2.5. YOu can roll off the line without even trying to launch and do better than 2.5. What's worse is you said that was during your BEST run, which is scary. Rev the damn thing up and launch. There's no reason to waste your money or time at the track if you're not going to launch, because that's the most important part of drag racing. Even with a bad launch, you should be in the 1.9-2.0 range, which would put you deep into the 13s easily. Go try again and don't launch any lower than 5k rpm.

 

Thanks for being honest man. Basically I was slipping the clutch at 3.... pretty sad. I'm going back next weekend and I'll stick it this time.

-m

 

Yeah, you'll do more damage trying to slip the hell out of it at 3k rpm than if you just hammer it. You do FWD/RWD cars from 3k, not AWD cars...

 

Launch that bad boy!!! You have to realy drive that car if you want to run good times. By changing the way I drive i.e. launching and shifting I droped .4 sec in the 1/4. You cant worry about braking something cause you will never drive the car aggressive enough to run what they are capable of runing. Just hall asssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ss!!!!!!!

 

youll bog and destroy things a lot faster at 3 k than at 5-6 k. just slip a tad and feel the g's!! when you cut a good 60 foot.. youll know long before you get your time slip.

 

If you ain't breaking ****, you ain't going fast enough. I stay breaking ****...

 

rev that baby to 5500. hell, go for 6000!! while doing so, adjust the clutch right to the point where you're just starting to inch forward. When the light turns green, pop it! Actually, try lifting your foot off the clutch just like you would as if you had just stepped in dog doo...

 

^ Never heard somone explain it like that

 

Yeah... before this I had a blown dodge dak r/t, before that 2 mustang gt's. I "converted" because it just made sense : o ) BUT I'm still paranoid. We'll I'm going to do what you've said and see how I make out. What was killing me is I was slipping @ 3 for a good .5 before I actually let it out. Dude you guys roll @ cecil county... I've been there in the black evo for test and tune for the last 2 weeks (3 runs total on the car). My launch is killing me.

-m

 

5500rpm and you side step. You shift at around 8000rpm, all the shift changes must be quick and change at 6500rpm for the rest of the gears...If you race on the street, delay the 4th gear also. After 7000rpm for sure...


This are all for stock EVO VIII...If you have done things on the car, do the same but shift at around 7100rpm...


When i shifted late at 7500rpm the time was around 1 sec higher...Beware, doing this is certain that you will ruin your clutch. This occured to me at 3000 miles...Hope i helped...

 

No, do not EVER under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE shift at 8000rpm in ANY GEAR on a stock Evo. In fact, your rev limiter is set to 7600, so that's impossible anyway. You can't even shift at 8000, unless your rev limiter is raised to 8200 or higher.

Also, do not shift at 6500; that's too low. Shift at 7000 into 3rd and 4th. Do the 1-2 shift as soon as it feels right after the hard launch. My momentum usually slows quickly after a hard launch, so I tend to shift around 6800, but it's not the sort of thing where you have time to watch the tach.

 

Yeah its stock w/ the exception of an AEM sri that the previous owner put on. From what I've read, I know thats just about the worst system for our car and I plan to go with the HKS suction. I'm determined not to spend a single dime on performance parts until I can get the car, in its current state, into the low 13's. I'm not going to buy my way into decent runs, thats my logic. Anyhow, thanks again guys for the excellent pointers. I'll incorporate your shift tips Warrtalon and see how I make out. Its raining today but I believe there is another test & tune next weekend @ cc.

Thanks again,
-m