Took the Seville STS to the 1/8th mile track

mighty_quad4 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 01:53 AM

haha. i had a blast. was extremely funny to see peoples faces looking at a Caddy in the staging lanes.

weather was good. nice n cool. started off at 72 and fell to 60. humidity was high but its FL and isto be expected. was at like 60%. barometer read 30.08.

anyhow, down to business. first off, launching a 300hp, 2 ton car with a 3.71 final drive thru the front wheels is a bitch. i tried TC on, TC off, in D, in 2nd. i tried walking it out with 1700rpm footbrake. tried walking it out from idle. tried stomping it from idle and stomping it from 1700rpm. every single way i tried netted me about a 2.40 60ft time which is crap.

i ended up running a 9.90 @ 73.51mph.

im confident the car is capable of a 9.70 but not until i figure out how to launch it. my friend has a 07 Impala SS with a K&N filtercharger kit and perofrmance Bridgestone tires on it. he ran a personal best 9.39 @ 75.xx mph. we raced a few times and he beat me everytime but i expected him to since his car weighs 400lbs less than mine.

to put this in perspective, my 1990 Olds Calais International Series with the HO Quad4 ran a 9.90 @ 72mph on street tires and a 9.66 on drag radials alone. its wierd cause the STS feels a little faster than the Calais. it probably is but for now, at least on paper, it isnt.

in the end i had lots of fun and learned a bit about the car. cant wait to get my GA finished so i can race it instead. im hoping it runs low 9s on the motor. after i get it dialed in ill put a 125 direct port nitrous shot on it and look for low to mid 8s in the 1/8th mile.

Seafunk99 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 09:37 AM

Why? Buy a cheap mustang or camaro if you want to race. Even if you get your car to a 9.5 and beating the hell out of it to get there, in the end its still slow. Enjoy it for what it is, a comfortable powerful car that will move quickly when needed in everyday driving. You need to borrow a car that will do low 8 to realize you are wasting your time.

CadillacSTS2003 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 10:49 AM

Seafunk...
please go away lol

seriously man its fun to run them no matter what you have

keep at it, my ETC has netted me much faster times and with work and practice you can get her alot faster...

mighty_quad4 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 10:55 AM

thank you for your concern. maybe to understand where im comming from you may need to know what else i own. my current car line up is the Caddy, a 92 GA with a rebuilt Quad4 making around 240 hp n/a, and a 69 Barracuda with a 360 making around 415hp that pushes that car to a best of 12.12 @ 112mph. racing is in my blood. its what i like to do. unfortunately i can not make it a profession but thats life sometimes.

the 92 GA has the Quad4 in it. its current engine set up is as follows: 11:1 forged Ross pistons, Eagle rods, 226/.410 cams @0.050, SAFC-II, titanium retainers, TRS handbuilt, JETHOT coated 4-1 header, Lightweight Flywheel, Spec stage III clutch. havent run it at the track yet cause i still need to tune the engine as the stock ecm hates the big cams. i may ditch the SAFCII and grab some tuning software and hardware from moates.net and do it myself. not as hard as it seems. after its tuned ill be fitting it with a 125 direct port nitrous setup. with drag radials ill be looking for hit low 12s. traction will deffinately be an issue.

the lil 90 Quad4 powered Calais International Series i used to own only had a CAI, W41 chip, and 2.5" exhaust. it turned a 9.6 on motor alone and still got 34mpg to work. its faster than nearly sporty n/a 4 bangers.

the Barracuda is a 69 notchback with a 360, an A904 with better internals, and a 489 cased 8 3/4 with a 3.55 gear. the engine is a 75 block with 974 castings, ported and fitted with 2.02/1.60 SS valves. the cam is a MP purple shaft 284/.484 with matching valvesprings. the pistons are KB hypereutectic units that are 9.8:1 drop in. i milled the block 0.020 to get an even 10:1. i use small tube headers 1 5/8" x 3" collector. the intake is an edelbrock torquerII and the carb is a holley 3310 vac sec unit with larger squirter and the first yellow secondary spring. this hodgepodge of parts hauls ass and got me booted off the track after i borrowed my friends drag radials to hook up. when i was on street tires i could only run low 14s because i was spinning the tires at any speed in first and partly thru second. i had to walk it out for the first 100-150ft. the DRs changed that.
i took the STS to the track to gauge its performance. does it really matter? i guess not since i wont be racing the car around trying to make money in the footbrake bracket classes, but still. its the same reason anyone takes pretty much any car to the track. to get a measure of performance down on paper. i dont plan on racing the STS every weekend or even regularly. i might take it one or two more times at most. i would like to see the STS's timeslip read 9.7x since i know that car is capable. id hate to think that i got a turd car from the factory.

going to the strip and racing for me is more about going that what vehicle you can drive because there is ALWAYS a faster car. its more about doing your personal best and supassing ppls expectations. i have more fun in the slower cars because ppl dont think they can run that fast. i had a crowd of 10 ppl around my Calais when i belted out the 9.6 in the 1/8th mile track. they couldnt believe a n/a 4 banger could run that faster on DRs alone. so, here were are with 10 ppl around a 1990 Oldsmobile throw away car when right next to me is a Buick GNX. a real one-- and ppl are looking at MY car. thats why the track is fun and thats why the STS went.

STSj90 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 11:22 AM

Sounds fun man. Ive wanted to take myne to the track several times. But never had the time to do it. Where in FL are you?

mighty_quad4 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadillacSTS2003

keep at it, my ETC has netted me much faster times and with work and practice you can get her alot faster...

i tried some suggestions that i saw from here though im not sure i remembered them 100%. i had an EXTREMELY tough time with the launch. the track was pretty good so i cant blame it, it was me. i ran the car 4-5 times. im not really sure i can improve much. the TC seems to be stepping in about 20ft out. my fastest time was when i walked it out after launch against the converter at 1700rpm. i let the car launch itself and get rolling, then rolled on the throttle quickly, just slower than a stomp if you know what i mean. any tips?

CadillacSTS2003 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 12:24 PM

Power Brake to 2500 RPM
Keep the car in 2nd gear (dont have to shift it will do on its own but in 1st & 2nd you have more line pressure)
Deflate the fronts to 25 PSI
Max the rears out at 40
Sit in the trunk (have all your buddys do it) to fill up the rear shocks (prevents the body from throwing back as much when you hard launch)
Turn off the tc (you have an 00 plus so you can do this and keep 1st gear)

mighty_quad4 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 02:45 PM

thanks. ill give that a try. when launching from 250o, how do you apply the throttle? do you roll on it quickly, let the car launch itself, or nail it at green? im guessing roll on throttle quickly given what i learned about the car last night.

STSj90, probably nowhere near you. i live in the panhandle. Floridians like to disown the panhandle and call it lower alabama. i am against this. i say the hicks and rednecks invaded FL because they know how much alabama sucks. they just couldnt get any further south cause the truck/mobile home/ wheel barrow broke down before I-75 lol. just kidding, all in good fun i suppose.

STSj90 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mighty_quad4

thanks. ill give that a try. when launching from 250o, how do you apply the throttle? do you roll on it quickly, let the car launch itself, or nail it at green? im guessing roll on throttle quickly given what i learned about the car last night.

STSj90, probably nowhere near you. i live in the panhandle. Floridians like to disown the panhandle and call it lower alabama. i am against this. i say the hicks and rednecks invaded FL because they know how much alabama sucks. they just couldnt get any further south cause the truck/mobile home/ wheel barrow broke down before I-75 lol. just kidding, all in good fun i suppose.

I live in the panhandle too. LOL Never heard of people disowning the panhandle. Screw those people!

Lmao.

I might just be your neighbor. I actually go to a 1/8th mile track. Called breakaway dragway. Ive been to acouple others too. Where are you? I posted in a thread last night about getting up with some people for a meet in the panhandle.

mighty_quad4 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-04-08, 08:28 PM

i live in FWB. Holt is the closest track here. PCB has a track too from what i hear. then theres Atmore but thats a good ways.

STSj90 · #11 (**permalink**) 10-05-08, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mighty_quad4

i live in FWB. Holt is the closest track here. PCB has a track too from what i hear. then theres Atmore but thats a good ways.

Dont look like your too far away. Im in Panama city somtimes. There was a car meet i went to not too long ago in panama city. If you ever want to race. Let me know.

stngh8r · #12 (**permalink**) 10-07-08, 05:07 PM

Looks similar to some of my results.

sample run 1:
2.27/9.88@72.9/15.35@89.8

sample run 2:
2.32/9.87@73.3/15.28@90.6

sample run 3:
2.29/9.84@73.2/15.25@90.9

No mods at the time except tire psi adjustments and removal of the air filter.

Happy Hot rodding

Eric

stngh8r · #13 (**permalink**) 10-07-08, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadillacSTS2003

my ETC has netted me much faster times.

How much lighter is the ETC vs. STS?

TGrits10 · #14 (**permalink**) 10-09-08, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadillacSTS2003

Keep the car in 2nd gear (dont have to shift it will do on its own but in 1st & 2nd you have more line pressure)

Heh, it's always bugged me that even at WOT, the transmission doesn't shift with any urgency. Tonight just for the hell of it, I put it in '2' and let 'er rip....the thing flippin' CHIRPED the 1-2 shift like a champ!!! It was violent

That is all...

stngh8r · #15 (**permalink**) 10-09-08, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGrits10

Heh, it's always bugged me that even at WOT, the transmission doesn't shift with any urgency. Tonight just for the hell of it, I put it in '2' and let 'er rip....the thing flippin' CHIRPED the 1-2 shift like a champ!!! It was violent

ME TOO!

I tried the "gear selector in 2" method last night and it worked fine. Its almost as if this should be more properly labled the "performance shift" button. 1-2 was a nice chirp as mentioned above. 2-3 came with no nonsense or drama, as expected.

Thanks for the tip STS2003.

Eric