After attending the BPG event in Salem and only watching the fun people were having with their cars . (Lets face it, its a little imtimidating watching some of the best go at it and make it look easy at that). I borrowed a helmet and hit the test and tune this evening at our local track. Nerve wracking to say the least, but I had it tech inspected and pulled up to line. Went around the water, spun the tires a little but not enough to get any smoke. Pulled up and got both lights. Left the switch pitch in low stall to get an idea of how it would do. Thought I hit a perfect light and could feel/hear the tires get loose and then eventually start to really dig in. ( at this point I knew I was racing ). I left it in drive and just kept it floored. Man it was cooking, Crossed the line and let off, and peddeled the brakes (got to get frt disks on this thing ) pulling up to the timeslip shack I thought I cant believe Its over, That had to be a 12 second pass. Heres what the ticket said: R/T .937 60 2.185 330 5.899 1/8 8.966 mph 79.97 1000 11.624 1/4 13.872 mph 100.30 I thought it was faster, sure felt it, but hey Im very pleased I got the rush that I knew had to be there trying this sort of thing and its been a long wait to even try it. Gives me new respect when I imagine what it must feel like to be be in a really quick car. I know a lot of info can be extracted from these timeslips and if I ever try this again I guess I better get some sticky tires. Does only 20mph gain from the 1/8 mile to qtr mile sound right? Motor seemed to be pulling hard the whole way. Whats the importance of knowing the the 330ft mark? Any help on these issues or just anything odd you may see on the slip, could you please fill me in, thanks a bunch
That looks like a pretty solid run. You've got a lot more ET in it for sure! Traction is the key. Your mph is very similar to what my 71 GS455 was running. I got 13.'4s out of it right around 100 mph. My 60 foot times were high 1.8's to low 1.9's most of the time. Mathematically, that puts you right in the 13.4's. Considering that traction early will cut down your ET later (by more than just the mathematical difference), you should have low 13's in it. Your reaction time was pretty slow. I'm assuming a .500 is a perfect light at your track. Mind you that RT has nothing to do with your final ET/mph, but essentially you're giving out over a .400 head start to your opponent. Theoretically, each .100 is a car length. You're giving up about 4 car lengths to the other car. Before you worry about your RT, you should get your traction issues in order. Either get some slicks or some street legal drag tires (be they radial or bias ply). Once you cut that inconsistency out of the equation, you can pay attention to the RT. Seeing how it was your first time, I'm guessing you're heart was beating a little too quickly to pay attention to your shift points and what rpm you crossed the finish line??? Or do you know when your trans, in drive, does it's WOT shifts? Also, seeing how you were going in low stall ~1400? You will get a lot more out of the car with a high stall launch. But get sticky tires first, or you'll just go up in smoke! I would think you could be knocking on the 12 second door once everything comes together.
Im not JoeRacer....but this is what I've found Given that the car pulls hard, 60' is everything. Analyzing my own timeslips, for my car, a tenth slower in the 60' is equal to alittle over 2/10ths in the quarter !!! I made two passes in Salem that backed this up perfectly. I had plain old street tires, the ones I drove 500 miles there on and that probably have 40,000+ miles on them total. I dont have the slips in front of me, but the first pass I spun while babying it out of the hole to a 2.1 60' and a 13.2 quarter time. Second pass I was a bit more easy on the Launch, got a 1.94 60' and that netted a 12.8 in the quarter. Likewise, on those same tires but at a different track, I pulled a 1.84 60' and the car went 12.66 All the passes FEEL the same after the 100' mark and the car is hooked, so for 1220' of the 1320' quarter the ride feels pretty much the same but from s 12.6 to a 13.2 is a HUGE difference in E.T. !! I've never done a good 2500rpm Launch on full race slicks on my car - I would think that would be good for at least a good 2/10ths more
One of the things I look for is how many MPH are gained between the 1/8 and the 1/4. You gained just over 20, which is pretty decent. But, if I see that number change, I know that my HP has changed. Also, I totally ignore the R/T. That's because I have a street car, not a racecar. If I bracket raced on a regular basis, I would look more at the R/T. -Bob Cunningham
Right, the RT is useless unless you're bracket racing (or heads-up racing) and the run counts. Some people don't realize that RT is the time between either the last amber going on (.500 perfect light readout) or the green light going on (.000 perfect light readout) and when your tire unbreaks the staging beam. You're ET clock doesn't start until the point you unbreak the staging beam. The two together are only important when you're considering your "package," which is how far off perfect you are in a bracket race, or when you're heads-up racing another car in an elimination. If you're making tuning runs, concentrate only on your traction and ignore the light. As long as you don't leave before the first amber comes on, you'll get an ET readout.
good info I guess what I should have done was try again to try and get a feel for getting the best launch I could get and then let off and drive down the track...then once I get that kind of sorted out, then make a another full pass and see what happens. Next time Ill be better prepared and hopefully do a little better. Good info and alot of food for thought. Thanks
