Bought my 2009 V 6MT about three months ago. It's completely stock and I plan on doing a round of mods on it soon. Decided to run down at Atco Raceway tonight and see if I can get a baseline on the cars times before modding so I know what my mods yeild. Not proud of these but here goes....1st run with no burnout and traction control on 13.4 @112mph. Second run, a little launch in the water box to dry the tires, traction control on 12.9 @114mph, 3rd run same as 2nd with traction control off and ran same time and mph, 4th run 12.84 @ 115mph. Those runs were all within 45 mins and right as the track opened so it was still cold on the asphalt. Let the car sit for awhile and the track heat up. Went out for one last run. Small burnout to dry tires, traction control off, car spun like crazy right thru second gear where it threw me sideways and I had to get out of it..went 14.8 (ouch) at 111mph. My question is what's the trick to getting off the line. In all the runs I left the tree at 2000rpms and as you see I got mixed results..nothing consistent. Runs were on stock michelin ps2's with 36psi...other than dropping the air pressure to 26-28psi, are there any other tricks to leaving the line. All my 60ft times were horrible from 2.2-2.5. Thanks for your help.
I run Bridgestone RE-11s and lowered my pressure to about 19 psi. My 60ft is not much better at 2.0 but better than when I ran with my PS2s. I can get frustrating but with a manual you HAVE to get it right to put up good times.
As you've seen, this method of gauging mod after effects is the most frustrating one. Take it to a shop and get it dynoed for a baseline. After, go back when the weather is as close to the same as the day your baseline was done and put it on the rollers again. It's the best way to get what you want. Easier on your tires and frame of mind, too. :thumbsup:
Start with about 24psi in your tires and work down or up depending on results
On street tires drive AROUND the waterbox not through it
Do a brief clean of the tires (not a big smoke show) and roll up slightly past the beams and reverse back to stage. This will get more VHT on your rear tires and help with hook. (Do not burn out up to or past the beams)
Experiment with launch rpm and do not drop / sidestep the clutch. Roll up off the clutch and into the accelerator in a smooth fast motion. It should feel like a fairly strong lurch and rollout followed by big acceration.
It's going to be hard to hook a street tire with the V's power levels but the above should help. If the track isn't busy hotlapping and going right back into the staging lanes may help ET where you'll have more heat in the tires. mph might suffer a little if the car is warmer but your overall ET could improve.
As you've seen, this method of gauging mod after effects is the most frustrating one. Take it to a shop and get it dynoed for a baseline. After, go back when the weather is as close to the same as the day your baseline was done and put it on the rollers again. It's the best way to get what you want. Easier on your tires and frame of mind, too. :thumbsup:
Great minds think alike. I figured I had to go to the track at least once before I modded my car, but I am actually set up to do pulls on the dyno next Saturday. I figured that would get me the best baseline since track runs have too many variables with each run. From most of what I read I should be in the 435-445rwhp range and with the few mods maybe 525rwhp. Will see how things go. Thanks for the advice
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Thanks for all of the advice. It looks like lower tire pressure is a definate to get more contact surface on the track. What's everyones thought on the traction control. I left it on for the majority of the runs and the car seemed to fall on its face off the line. I guess the computer backs off throttle when the tires break loose and slowly let's you get it back as traction starts. The run without the traction control on (stabilitrak competition mode), the car was all over the place and spun for probably 1/3 of the track til it went sideways and I had to get out of it.
Yeah, that pressure will help but as you know no matter how you slice it a 19" rim with a short sidewall will not win any launching contests. Your trap will tell the tale of your estimated HP anyway given a known weight. My opinion of the traction control is you're probably feeding it too much pedal from the go. We will lose the battle of the "push" with the computer everytime unless you shut it down completely. Unless you're running some slicks and leaving on a hard launch I think the TC is your friend once you learn how to talk dirty to it. There was nothing I used to love more than a 14.4 @ 114. :bigroll:
If you stay with street tires and try to run good times at a track the your going to have to pick a track that preps real well. Here is a good example, my V with RE-11's at PBIR ran a 1.75 60' 2 times. Back here in Cincinnati it ran a best of 1.9X with most being 2.0-2.1. Thats when I broke down and got some MT drag radials with 18" wheels. It now does 1.6-1.7 60'. I wonder what it would back at PBIR.
FWIW I never run with traction control on. I cant stand how it falls on its face and how much power it pulls from the motor. Just learn how to use your right foot and you'll do much better than the computer can.
Just a quick update. I bit the bullet and bought a set of wheels and Nitto NT05R drag radials. Went to the track last night and did a little experimenting. Ran a 12.7, 12.8 and best of 12.5 @ 115.11mph. Still need work on the sixty foot times. Last run was a 2.0 others were 2.2. I was afraid to leave the line with too much rpm so I bogged on the first two runs. Last run I launched at 2500rpm and it hooked good for a minute then bogged a little bit. Tires worked great and I think with a little bigger burnout to get them real sticky and leaving at closer to 3000 rpm, I should get to the 1.7-1.8 sixty foot range and bring my times to match the mph and be around 12.1-12.2. Thanks for the advice and feel free to comment on anything.
Nittos are one of the harder tires to hook with a six speed so the fact you're bogging is good.
Next time try the following:
Drive around the water box and reverse in.
Give the tires a brief spin and roll out about two feet
Try to do the burnout in second gear to near redline (will get more wheelspeed and heat in the tires)
Stage in first gear and bring the revs to 4000rpm
On third bulb lift off the clutch and roll into the gas in one smooth motion.
You should feel a strong lurch and then hard acceleration. Consciously keep the pedal to the floor and watch the tach. Shift right at redline.
This should yield good results. If you spin, lower the tires pressure and launch rpm. If you bog increase launch rpm.
I'd start with the Nittos around 18psi hot. When these tires are cooked get the MT DRs.
Nittos are one of the harder tires to hook with a six speed so the fact you're bogging is good.
Next time try the following:
Drive around the water box and reverse in.
Give the tires a brief spin and roll out about two feet
Try to do the burnout in second gear to near redline (will get more wheelspeed and heat in the tires)
Stage in first gear and bring the revs to 4000rpm
On third bulb lift off the clutch and roll into the gas in one smooth motion.
You should feel a strong lurch and then hard acceleration. Consciously keep the pedal to the floor and watch the tach. Shift right at redline.
This should yield good results. If you spin, lower the tires pressure and launch rpm. If you bog increase launch rpm.
I'd start with the Nittos around 18psi hot. When these tires are cooked get the MT DRs.
Thanks for the advice. I wish I could drive around the water box but unfortunately at the local track (Atco raceway), there is a wall on both sides and you have no choice but to drive thru it. They wave you up and tell you where to stop but I usually disregard and turn my side mirror down so I can see the edge of the water. Previously I always did my burnouts in first gear but it revs out so quickly, I decided to use 2nd gear on my last run (12.5 run) and found it easier to feather clutch/gas near redline to keep the tires spinning. I have also never run on drag radials before last night so didn't know what kind of rpm I should try to launch at without having to worry about wheel spin leaving the line. I guess my 2500rpm on the last run was still too conservative and that's why I felt it hook up momentarily but then kind of bog. What are your thoughts with traction control. Seems that I am leaning toward leaving it off and trying to do the pedaling myself to keep traction
Definitely leave traction control off and don't be afraid of a little spin off the line. You should be able to modulate it pretty well with the throttle.
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