RebekahsZ Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 (edited) Friday night TnT at Hwy 43 Dragway (Lawrenceburg, TN) got rained out. So, we went up on Saturday to try and mix in some TnT runs with the money bracket race. Well, they wouldn't let us. So, we hung out and watched a bit and learned a lot from looking at cars, watching the races (consistently won by within 0.01 of the dial-in), and talking to the drivers. I didn't see any stick-shift cars, although there were a great variety of cars from 4-second (we're talking 1/8-mile tracks) rail jobs all the way to 8-second family sedans. The temperature was dropping and I was freezing without a jacket. Called down to Jake's Dragway (Moulton, Alabama) and they were having TnT. Drove down to try to better my best ET. The air was so clear, cool and low-humidity, I knew there was a best time to be had. I learned a lot from my trip to Centerville, Arkansas, with wfritts911-one thing I learned was that air quality can make a big difference, as I saw my time drop 0.2 seconds over the evening, getting faster as it cooled. That night I set a personal best of 7.09. Tonight started with trouble. On the first run, the car stumbled hard coming off the line. I had intentionally left very little fuel in the tank in order to be lighter. Assumed the launch was fuel starving the pickup in the tank, I went to the truck and put 5 gallons in the tank. Lined back up to do second run-same thing-car fell flat on its face coming out of the hole. Decided that the roll control must be hanging up and killing the motor. Turned off roll control, then on third run-same thing, except that the car never recovered. Turned off 2-step and car ran like a scalded dog. Except, that coming out of the hole, the car wanted to spin, turn hard to the right and wanted to make love to the right-hand guard rail, although it never really got that close. Did that 3 times. Finally figured out that the water box was different at this track and that I was coming out of the water box with tires that were still wet. Started letting car roll out of the water with the tires still smoking and the car settled down on subsequent launches. Ran 3/4 of the 13 runs without roll control or 2-step and scored my best time ever: 7.080 at 99.53mph with a 1.497 60-foot. Without my 2-step, I was very inconsistent, but 2 runs later I bested that with a 7.044 at 100.02mph (another milestone!) with a 1.505 60-ft. Ran a few more runs that were all over the place and got frustrated, found a flashlight and figured out that the 2-step deactivation switch just needed some adjusting. Bumbed a 9/16" wrench and got that taken care of. As I closed the hood, I could here wfritts911 telepathing from Arkansas to me: "Turn-up the 2-step!", so I turned it from 3500 up to 4000 (I know SunnyZ broke his axles at 4500). Next run was a 6.972 (6's!!!!) at 100.11 with a 1.473 60-ft. Followed that up with a 6.960 at 100.02 with a 1.446 60-ft and a 6.986 at 99.68 with a 1.454 60-ft. I had been spinning out of the hole, so I let my air pressure down from about 16 to 13 and turned the 2-step down to 3800: ran a 7.111 at 99.16 with a 1.505 60-ft as the track was closing. Only rarely did anyone line up against me, but I did get to beat a stick-shift supercharged and drag-radial-ed 2010 Camaro (smoked that ask) and I got touched out by a nitroused 2002-ish LS Camaro with an automatic (a good race until I was late on the 2-3 shift and hit the rev-limiter and got walked. Videos to follow tomorrow. My first dyno tuning session is scheduled for Monday-I may not want to change a thing. Re-thinking the whole nitrous thing at least until I become a better driver. When I was a surfer, I used to thank God for a cold front coming thru-seems drag racers do the same thing. I bet I don't go that fast again until Fall. Edited May 13, 2013 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domzs Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Good job . Bet you had fun . Need NOS . LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Congrads.. Easy 10 second runs. Those air temps really make a difference. I had a little time at the track saturday myself and made 2 passes with a 2step and droop limiters, both installed recently. I should of tried one change at a time to better understand what was going on but decided otherwise. My 60ft times fell to 1.798 & 1.672 from a previous low 1.5s and a best of 1.492. My best guess is restricting the front end so much keeps the engine from spinning up as fast ???hints more torque converter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I don't know if you ever get down to New Orleans, but if you do I bet you would do good on the Drag N Lap at New Orleans Motorsports Park.. They use the last 1/8 mile of the straight away so its a 1/8 drag that turns into a section of the road course. The cars have to be good at everything not just 1 aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Infidel Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Congrads.. Easy 10 second runs. Those air temps really make a difference. I had a little time at the track saturday myself and made 2 passes with a 2step and droop limiters, both installed recently. I should of tried one change at a time to better understand what was going on but decided otherwise. My 60ft times fell to 1.798 & 1.672 from a previous low 1.5s and a best of 1.492. My best guess is restricting the front end so much keeps the engine from spinning up as fast ???hints more torque converter! I wish I had time to see your car work from the tree, but I was running around helping my buddy with his car. What was your two step set at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I wish I had time to see your car work from the tree, but I was running around helping my buddy with his car. What was your two step set at? With all the delays on the track I only got two runs. It was good to see another z car out there... Did he solve the belt slip ? The last run the 2step was set at 2000rpm and the car started to creep a bit so I let out of the peddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Don't mean to steel your thread Keith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Infidel Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 With all the delays on the track I only got two runs. It was good to see another z car out there... Did he solve the belt slip ? The last run the 2step was set at 2000rpm and the car started to creep a bit so I let out of the peddle. I ran off to get another belt which did not solve the issue, it will have to be sorted out down the road. The current belt/belt wrap with the 8 rib wasnt enough for the new set up. Next time Fosta is out he should get 8's, everything that could go wrong did this weekend. How much boost are you making at 2000rpm? Also sorry Keith for jacking your thread, solid run. Congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 (edited) No problem, buddy-I'm loving it! I've tried several times to get a thread started on drag racing tech/techniques in the Motorsports Forum, but that forum is kind of neglected and I don't get any bites. I post to learn. I have no idea of how to combine an auto trans and a 2-step, I kind of thought that your torque converter stall and a trans brake kind of did all that for you??? Again, I'm not familiar. I watched the precision of the real bracket racers and I was amazed-I'll NEVER be able to compete with the autos. It sucks that you only got 2 passes, we'd be better to you than that here in God's Country-I usually expect to get 15 runs in a couple hours. That track at Moulton is my favorite and they told me that they didn't plan to do any bracket races, just bracketed "heads-up" racing with a 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 class. I DO want to get back up to Lawrenceburg at least to participate in the qualification portion of some bracket racing-I've got to get practice with another car beside me-it is a whole different game mentally than just time trial-ing (which is most of what I've done). After I beat a Maggie-equipped 2010 Camaro SS, I didn't know which lane got to cross over and take the return track first and we sat there eye-balling each other at the end of the track for a while. I got some advice from another racer after that. After surfing Santa Cruz for a few years I've kind of learned to respect folks and it is best to know the "rules of the road" and avoid collisions and fist fights. I almost got rearended on a return track last year when I stopped to get a big rock out of the road-a rock that would have cost me an oilpan. Socorob-I'll be autocrossing next Saturday in Huntsville. Hoping my Hoosier's arrive in time to mount up. I had a lot of fun with the silly velocity stacks. Before my last run there was a crowd of guys around my car when I opened the hood to adjust the 2-step. I had been telling them all night that the motor is stock and when I opened the hood, there was a roar of "Wow!" Then I aditted it was all fake. They didn't believe me for a while, then we all had a good laugh. Super nice track. Edited May 12, 2013 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I ran off to get another belt which did not solve the issue, it will have to be sorted out down the road. The current belt/belt wrap with the 8 rib wasnt enough for the new set up. Next time Fosta is out he should get 8's, everything that could go wrong did this weekend. How much boost are you making at 2000rpm? Also sorry Keith for jacking your thread, solid run. Congrats. Not sure. I haven't tried to eye ball the gauge when I stab the peddle. My guess would be +- 7lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 No problem, buddy-I'm loving it! I've tried several times to get a thread started on drag racing tech/techniques in the Motorsports Forum, but that forum is kind of neglected and I don't get any bites. I post to learn. I have no idea of how to combine an auto trans and a 2-step, I kind of thought that your torque converter stall and a trans brake kind of did all that for you??? Again, I'm not familiar. I watched the precision of the real bracket racers and I was amazed-I'll NEVER be able to compete with the autos. It sucks that you only got 2 passes, we'd be better to you than that here in God's Country-I usually expect to get 15 runs in a couple hours. That track at Moulton is my favorite and they told me that they didn't plan to do any bracket races, just bracketed "heads-up" racing with a 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 class. I DO want to get back up to Lawrenceburg at least to participate in the qualification portion of some bracket racing-I've got to get practice with another car beside me-it is a whole different game mentally than just time trial-ing (which is most of what I've done). After I beat a Maggie-equipped 2010 Camaro SS, I didn't know which lane got to cross over and take the return track first and we sat there eye-balling each other at the end of the track for a while. I got some advice from another racer after that. After surfing Santa Cruz for a few years I've kind of learned to respect folks and it is best to know the "rules of the road" and avoid collisions and fist fights. I almost got rearended on a return track last year when I stopped to get a big rock out of the road-a rock that would have cost me an oilpan. Socorob-I'll be autocrossing next Saturday in Huntsville. Hoping my Hoosier's arrive in time to mount up. I had a lot of fun with the silly velocity stacks. Before my last run there was a crowd of guys around my car when I opened the hood to adjust the 2-step. I had been telling them all night that the motor is stock and when I opened the hood, there was a roar of "Wow!" Then I aditted it was all fake. They didn't believe me for a while, then we all had a good laugh. Super nice track. Done a little autocross years ago. it is an adrenaline rush and it lasts more than 10 seconds. Set the bar high on behalf of the Z community! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfan1 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Congratulations on getting into the 6's on motor, especially a bone stock LS2!!! Can't wait to get my heap running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNNY Z Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 the bar has been raised! I need to get to the strip..... maybe next weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 (edited) Original post edited (links to youtube videos added). I forgot to mention that the 3.54 gearing on the 26" tire works out perfectly-going thru the traps in 3rd the shift light is on, but the rev limiter isn't barking at me. A question on braking technique after the run: stay in gear and engine brake or clutch in while braking before turning onto the return track? Edited May 13, 2013 by RebekahsZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNNY Z Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 (edited) Original post edited (links to youtube videos added). I forgot to mention that the 3.54 gearing on the 26" tire works out perfectly-going thru the traps in 3rd the shift light is on, but the rev limiter isn't barking at me. A question on braking technique after the run: stay in gear and engine brake or clutch in while braking before turning onto the return track? Now you see why I like the 3.54's! I always engine brake, and use brakes a supplement Edited May 13, 2013 by SUNNY Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Cool on the engine braking, thanks. I'm wondering how the 26" tire is gonna be when you spray and have a faster trap speed. You got room for 27" or 28" with your tire relocation? When I was having trouble with the wet tires, my buddy wanted me to do some dry-hops - not a good idea-holy crap, that whip-lashed the tar out of the old CVs! Won't get baited into that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I should just open up the wallet and go for a transbrake and a higher stall. It would feel good to get rid of that 13" pig of a torque converter. With the summer heat coming on the times are gonna slow some anyway! Hey and I would be putting money back into our economy... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNNY Z Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Cool on the engine braking, thanks. I'm wondering how the 26" tire is gonna be when you spray and have a faster trap speed. You got room for 27" or 28" with your tire relocation? When I was having trouble with the wet tires, my buddy wanted me to do some dry-hops - not a good idea-holy crap, that whip-lashed the tar out of the old CVs! Won't get baited into that again. Should be able to fit a 28" no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfan1 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I have 27's on mine, a litle tight. 28's are a no go for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Gad Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Congrats on the runs!! Not running the car right now, so I have to live vicariously through you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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