[danbuc]

Well, I went to the track today with some buddies of mine from school. A few of them had Lancer Evolution VIII, there were a few civics (of course) and Audi A4, a Golf, and my two friends, one who brought his late 80's Camaro RS, and the other who brought his nice Fox Body Mustang. I got a total of three runs in, which was pretty good. I took a picture of the timeslips since my scanner isn't working. The first run is on the left, followed by the second in the middle and then the third on the right.

The first run I didn't mess with the tire pressure at all, which hurt my traction. On the second run, I dropped the front tire pressure to 28psi, which definitely helped, but my reaction tmie was still kind of slow. On the third run, I dropped the tire pressuer in the front to 34psi nad raised the rear tire pressure to 39spi. I also staged the car at 1500rpm just before the launch which helped my reaction time alot. It was a little colder for the third run so the car was making more power which is evident by the higher trap speed. I was hoping to run a 14.7xx the last run, but I had too much wheels spin, which ruined it. Considering the run before it was a 14.809 with almost a 1mph slower trap speed, I think I could have broke at least 14.799 if I had any traction on the last run. I had to go to the left lane though, which wasn't that great today. Kind of slippery, not to mention the fact that there was no bypass for the burnout box, so I ended up launching with water on my tires every time. Anyway, I took some video as well, but it's was with my digital camera so the times didn't come out very well.



Blackout, I did not photoshop these timeslips. I pulled them right out of my pocket and took the picture. Just thought I'd let you know in case you decide to call BS on these times..hehe. If you wanna see the video I'll host it, and post the link since I knwo you like to see the video as well too.

Anyway, just thoguht I'd share what happened at the track.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I respect those times. 14.8 and 14.9 are reasonable for a Northstar! Actually, they're pretty good for any luxury sedan. I believe the new A8L/Phaeton with their 330hp 4.2 V8 run a low 15. I wonder how this will do against that Fleetwood Brougham w/ the 3.42's

 

[danbuc]

Yeah, that last run would have been a 14.7 somehting, had I not spun the tires so bad off the line. Nobody was getting much traction in the left lane though, and my first two runs were in the right lane.

 

[Blackout]

BS! You didn't go to Atco! But nice times man. Did you go to the track to get some baseline numbers to see if your exhaust made a difference or not?

 

[danbuc]

I basically just went for the hell of it, since I've never taken my car to the track before. I went hoping to run a 14.8 which I did, but I could have done a little better. Their burnout box at Atco is crap, and they don't give you a way to go around it like Englishtown does, so I still had wet tires each time I rolled up to the tree. The second run, I've got video on. Let me see if I can post the link..

http://videos.streetfire.net/player.aspx?fileid=1FAA92B4-E702-4B86-A216-CBD0A69297C9

This was the 14.809 run.

 

[Katshot]

Nice runs. That's pretty much what I would expect, especially for this time of year. To be honest, I think I do better at Atco than at E-Town. To each his own though. I'm pretty much up against a wall with my car. 14.5 seems to be about it unless I can come up with anything better in my PCM flash. Unfortunately, I think the 3.73 gears are what's hurting me to a degree in the 1/4 since I can't get through it in 2nd. I end up hitting the 2-3 shift right at the end of the track and it kills my ET. I played around with the flash a little and haven't been able to get it just right yet. I tried manually shifting it and it DID help my times a bit but I haven't nailed the perfect 2-3 shift manually either (keep bumping up against the limiter). So I just gave up and decided to be happy with my times rather than continue to beat on my car. I DO have an idea that I'd like to try but I just don't have the time to fabricate the parts needed (very hush-hush stuff you know). Maybe I'll get it done over the winter and play in the spring, we'll see. My big problem is now I have a NEW toy to play with (I bought an '05 Jeep Wrangler) and the Caddy just sits. And on top of that, my wife's project car is also on the front burner so she's wanting to get that done too. Oh well, too many toys, too little time!

 

[danbuc]

Well, I've been seriously considering a set of decent slicks, and a 2800rpm stall speed converter for the car. When Mark99STS ran his at the track with that, and the Corsa exhaust (which I have) he said he pulled off a 14.1 in the 1/4. He said at the time, he also had the 80mm throttle body from RSM racing I think, but that he seriously doubted that it actually did anything for the car at all. Even with 24psi in the front tires, and 39psi in the rears, I was still having traction problems. It only got worse on that last run when I held the rpm's at 1500 just before launching. Did wonders for my reaction time, but slowed my time down in the end (even though I still had a faster trap speed).

On a side note, we've been messing around with Nitrous Oxide at my school for the past couple of days, in the 350 engine we put into our T-buckets we're using in class. Seeing how everything is set up, and how to properly manage the fuel and what not, I've been thinking that maybe a 50 shot might be nice to add. I'd keep it a relatively low amount since not much is need anyway. The engine I helped build with another group today made 286hp and 316 ft/lb of torque N/A. With a simple 50 shot it went up to a respectable 356hp, 386 lb/ft of torque. This was all on a basic cast internal 350 block. It did have a cam, holley heads, and a weiand blower on it, but that nitrous really made a nice inprovement.

I'll have to save up some money before I start going crazy. I really just want to get the car running low 14's. Anything in the 13 range, and I think I might start breaking stuff..hehe. Anyway, sounds like you've got your work cutout for you as well. Good Luck with the FTS.

 

[Katshot]

The hard part is being able to walk away and say it's good enough. Most people can't do it and get on the ET rollercoaster. They get sucked in and the quest for the ultimate ET is on. Don't get me wrong, I've been on that ride many times myself with several different vehicles, and it's fun alright but it can drive you crazy, and tap your bank account quickly, and in the end give you a money-pit of a car that will be rather hard to sell. This is why I usually try to convince people to NOT do this kind of stuff to their daily-driver. Instead, I encourage them to get an old beater and mod IT. That way if you break it (and you will), you can just park it until you have the money to fix it, and still be able to get to work etc. without a problem.
It sounds like you're getting an education in auto tech and that's great. The country NEEDS good auto techs. Matter of fact, a diesel tech can pretty much write his (or her) own ticket these days. Good luck with your car. I'll be looking forward to reading about your track days here.

 

[danbuc]

Hehe...thanks. I'm trying not to get carried away with the car, but like you said, sometimes it's hard to stop tryin to go faster. I'm actually heading off to Orlando for the Mercedes Benz ELITE training program down there. A few other people from my school (about 5 that I know of) got in there, as well as some other from various other campuses. It's should be alot of fun, not to mention that I'm not too far from my uncle's boat in th key's...

 

[Katshot]

Hehe...thanks. I'm trying not to get carried away with the car, but like you said, sometimes it's hard to stop tryin to go faster. I'm actually heading off to Orlando for the Mercedes Benz ELITE training program down there. A few other people from my school (about 5 that I know of) got in there, as well as some other from various other campuses. It's should be alot of fun, not to mention that I'm not too far from my uncle's boat in th key's...

Nice!:thumbsup:

 

[davesdeville]

Yeah, not bad congrats.

I wish I were near sea level damnit, I get a 16.001 which is damn good for 7300' density altitude and noone gives a damn. Damn (just had to say it a 4th damn time...)

Dec. 3rd the ETC is going on the dyno. 3 pulls for $55, it's not too bad since it's usually $80/hr and in other places I've seen $100/hr. Plus you get some money if you're the closest person to guessing your 3rd pull. The event's called the Dyno Drags, it's put on by a local dyno shop and racingsouthwest.com.

I'll post the sheets up here if I can (meaning if there's enough dyno time for me to even make 3 pulls.)

 

[lry99eldo]

Good thread guys. Atco brings back many fond memories. Thanks
lry99eldo

 

[CadillacSTS42005]

a 2800rpm stall speed converter for the car.

where can you buy this at how much does it cost?

 

[danbuc]

I don't remember exactly which company Mark bought his from, but the new 3600rpm converter (which is supposed to have the driveability of the 2800rpm he had) he got from Yank Converters. http://www.converter.cc/ . I'm not exactly sure how much it was, but I think it was between $500-600 or so. A higher stall speed converter is one of the most efficient, cost effective mods for these cars, it's just that they are expensive not only to purchase, but also to install (unless you have the privions to do so yourself).

 

[CadillacSTS42005]

humm so it would be better to get that rather than the 80 mm throttle body and plate that i was gonna buy for 200

 

[danbuc]

Well, it's difficult to say. ALl it really does is allow the engine to rev higher into it's power band, effectively launching the car with more power. Since it only uses the existing power more efficiently, I don't think the TB and Spacer would hurt. If anything, it would allow the engine to produce more power, which in turn would still be beneficial.

 

[CadillacSTS42005]

so getting both would be best lol but which should i spring for 1st do you think?

 

[danbuc]

Well, I would say go with the new Torque converter since it's the most bang for the buck, but between purchasing it and installation it will cost alot more than the TB or Spacer. If you have the money, I would say converter first. The only thing is, I'm not entirely sure how much can be gained from the TB and Spacer, so it might be worth it to get that first if indeed it does make a significant difference in performance.

 

[CadillacSTS42005]

i work at a shop and the only problem with putting it in would be finding time to do it. how exactly does it increase the preformance though? would the added peak rpm risk blowin the N* or the tranny?

 

[danbuc]

A higher stall speed tourqe converter increasing the cars rate of acceleration, by allowing the engine to build more power via higher RPM's, before actually spinning the input shaft to the tranny, and then the wheels. The easiest way I can explain it, is launching a manual car off the line. With the stock converter, it's like dumping the clutch at 1500rpm or so. With a higher stall speed converter, it's like dumping the clutch at 3000rpm or so. Just like a manual, allowing the engine to build more power before launching it provides better acceleration. The higher stall speed converter does this, by allowing the engine to build more power before the vicous coupling between the turbine and stator turns the input shaft to the trans.

There really isn't much risk for the transmission, but the axle will be stressed more. The tires will also be much more likely to spin off the line, so good sticky tires is a must for a really high stall speed.