My first runs.

[Warren]

Well, I made my first runs at the test and tune tonight. I got there really early, and watched for about 45 minutes before lining up. I had never been to a dragstrip, let alone raced, so I needed to get the idea down first.

Sigh. First run:
R/T ... .739
60' ... 2.683
330 ... 6.942
1/8 ... 10.254
MPH ... 75.10
1000 ... 13.059
1/4 ... 15.420
MPH ... 97.31

I really dont want to talk about run #2, left TC on and bogged down both in 1st and in 2end. R/T improved to .277 though.

Best run of the night was run #4:
R/T ... .164
60' ... 2.389
330 ... 6.433
1/8 ... 9.669
MPH ... 76.25
1000 ... 12.435
1/4 ... 14.767
MPH ... 98.30

Overall I was pleased with my R/T. I did 5 runs and besides my first time I never got below .284
I did not let any air out of the tires, or 'warm them up'. Had half a tank of gas (~90 octane). I tried to concentrate on the tach and shift at our calculated RPM of 5600, but overstepped it a bit a couple of times and did the 6K shift. The wheelhop bothered me a couple of times. I figure this is a good baseline to start from, and encouraging because I did get better with each run.
I was really suprised at some of the other vehicles there. Lots of built cars, but a few guys with their daily drivers. One dude was running his '79 silverado in the 17's. This was a LOT of fun though. Only thing I did not like about the whole night was having to wait ;) I see a new hobby forming...

Ok, now that this long read is over, I welcome praise, frown on bashes, and loathe trolls. :sneaky:

[AmesGTO]

Cool. How did the shifting go? Did you do well with keeping it from burning out? I haven't figured that out yet.

[Warren]

I need to learn to shift better. At least I did not miss any gears. As far as burning out, yeah, I did. I was advised to get up to 3K before takeoff and I tried it once, terrible wheel hop. I think better tires would take care of that ?? Also, remember, I am no NikkiVee. :)

[FLORIT]

Despite all my "theory" about shift points, while playing around with a friend of mine who drives a souped-up S10, I bumped the rev limiter in 1st and my GTO bogged down. I'm glad the next light had turned yellow so I had an excuse to "ease off" the throttle. ;)

Just goes to show you, in the "heat of the moment" it's hard to shift exactly where you want.

[Dbluegoat]

Warren,

Don't feel discouraged, my first time ever were runs of 14.6, 14.7 and 14.8 in the 1/4
The weird thing is my best time 14.6 was my first time ever and I was nervous as hell. I too feel like it could become a new hobby, it was loads of fun.

[FLORIT]

Dbluegoat, the steadily declining ET's are probably a result of what is called "heat soak". Your engine gets hotter and hotter, and even if you wait between runs it probably never cools down enough. I was watching some guys pack ice on the intake manifolds between runs to cool their engines. I know metal will contract when it's cooled and something about that makes me nervous. Will our "polyurawhatever" intakes expand and contract with temperature changes?

[DevilYellow]

Warren ... dont worry about the RT it has not effect on the ET...just go slow and practice launching. I would sit at a green light for maybe 20 seconds to spool up and have a perfect launch with my regal.

[Hardware]

I have been drag racing my street cars for 20+ years, and i always seem to get a butterfly or 2. Keep practicing. Oh, By the way. I Had our A4 Barbados blue at the track. best was 13.98 @ 101. wasnt to concerned with reaction . just concentrated on different launching techniques.

[Old Goat]

I have been drag racing my street cars for 20+ years, and i always seem to get a butterfly or 2. Keep practicing. Oh, By the way. I Had our A4 Barbados blue at the track. best was 13.98 @ 101. wasnt to concerned with reaction . just concentrated on different launching techniques.

Way to go! Holding up the honor of us slushmen!... :thumbs:

[Hardware]

Way to go! Holding up the honor of us slushmen!... :thumbs:



gotta love that Blue..... :thumbs:

[Rocket]

Keep working at it. The 60 foot times are killing you. Thats where time is Gained-or-Lost! I think the GTO should turn a LOW 2 sec 60 footer.
My Poor Ford Probe turned 2.15 on street tires. So Just try to NOT burn the tires. Hook it up and go. You can NOT accelerate much IF your tires are spinning, so ride th eclutch to avoid it.
Also every second you have the clutch pushed in trying to shift just makes your time that much worse, so get that sucker into gear and mash the Loud Pedal asap while shifting.

[ColoradoGoat]

Great Job Warren!! For your first time out you should be Proud! As far as RT goes, repetition, repetition, repetition. Keep working at it and your RT’s will come down. I learned early on when I used to race that practice makes perfect. Keep it up and let us know how it goes.

[Warren]

Great Job Warren!! For your first time out you should be Proud! As far as RT goes, repetition, repetition, repetition. Keep working at it and your RT’s will come down. I learned early on when I used to race that practice makes perfect. Keep it up and let us know how it goes.
I was actually a little happy with my RT, it just kept getting better and better. My times did the same. I only got in 5 runs, and each time except for my very last time the times kept going down. One thing I did notice, that cone on the end of the induction gets HOT. I hope that LS1Speed comes up with a cold air enclosure for it soon.
More important than anything, it was a LOT of fun. I had set a goal of getting a 14.5 before I went, and didnt get that. Oh well, I knew it would be fun, but not THAT much fun. Wish I would have known what a Gambler's race was, I think I would have tried that out (if nothing else, I would have had a couple more runs.) Gives me a reason to go back though. :D Like I needed one.

[ColoradoGoat]

I was actually a little happy with my RT, it just kept getting better and better. My times did the same. I only got in 5 runs, and each time except for my very last time the times kept going down. One thing I did notice, that cone on the end of the induction gets HOT. I hope that LS1Speed comes up with a cold air enclosure for it soon.
More important than anything, it was a LOT of fun. I had set a goal of getting a 14.5 before I went, and didnt get that. Oh well, I knew it would be fun, but not THAT much fun. Wish I would have known what a Gambler's race was, I think I would have tried that out (if nothing else, I would have had a couple more runs.) Gives me a reason to go back though. :D Like I needed one.

Go ahead and admit it Warren you are hooked. :)

[Dbluegoat]

I have been drag racing my street cars for 20+ years, and i always seem to get a butterfly or 2. Keep practicing. Oh, By the way. I Had our A4 Barbados blue at the track. best was 13.98 @ 101. wasnt to concerned with reaction . just concentrated on different launching techniques.


Hardware,
Did you foot-brake or just slam the gas? I think next time I go I am gonna shift it myself. Also how long did you spin the tires before getting to the line?
Thanks

[FLORIT]

Spin the tires until the smoke obscures your vision. :D

hahaha, just kidding, I have no idea. But it's a good question. I've wondered the same thing. It is my understanding that doing a burnout with street tires doesn't really help because the rubber is so hard. You should do a quickie just to knock the rocks off, but an extended burnout isn't going to change the street tire temps very much.

But I would like to know the answer to this question for when I install my Nitto 555R drag radials. What is the proper technique for a burnout?

[Rob]

Street tire burnout, you just spin them to get them clean. Usually just nailing the gas will be enough. Don't even use the brakes until you come up to the line.

Drag radial burnout, you want to go at least 4-5 seconds. I do it until I see smoke in the mirrors. A4 cars, just powerbrake. M6, I did 2nd gear burnouts doing about 4-5K for the duration of the burnout. You bring the rpm up to about 35-4K and dump the clutch and jump right on the brake and modulate gas and brake pedals to keep the desired rpm. Might take a little practice :)

[Warren]

Street tire burnout, you just spin them to get them clean. Usually just nailing the gas will be enough. Don't even use the brakes until you come up to the line.

Drag radial burnout, you want to go at least 4-5 seconds. I do it until I see smoke in the mirrors. A4 cars, just powerbrake. M6, I did 2nd gear burnouts doing about 4-5K for the duration of the burnout. You bring the rpm up to about 35-4K and dump the clutch and jump right on the brake and modulate gas and brake pedals to keep the desired rpm. Might take a little practice :)
Thats what I couldnt quite figure out, how to clean them off, use the clutch, brake, and pedal all at the same time. All the guys standing around the line made me nervous to even try. Plus that water they were spraying down looked NASTY. I just drove around it, did not want to get any of that sick looking black stuff all over my pretty yellow color.

[GTOsoon]

Thats what I couldnt quite figure out, how to clean them off, use the clutch, brake, and pedal all at the same time. All the guys standing around the line made me nervous to even try. Plus that water they were spraying down looked NASTY. I just drove around it, did not want to get any of that sick looking black stuff all over my pretty yellow color.


I usually drive around the water box and just do a small burn out to make sure my tires are clean. Doing a burnout on street tires just turns them to grease.

[Hardware]

Hardware,
Did you foot-brake or just slam the gas? I think next time I go I am gonna shift it myself. Also how long did you spin the tires before getting to the line?
Thanks

Definately Drive around the water...

My Best time, I did a dry launch with no real huge burnout up to the line. Then i staged and flashed the Converter. (just stabbed it off the line). A set of drag radials will help out alittle.

The last two times i ran, i had a problem with the car hitting the Rev. limiter before it shifted into 3rd.. So those times were my worst.