Going to the Dragstrip, .... Any suggestions?

[Idaho Slim]

Going to the Dragstrip, Any suggestions? EDIT Results.

Havent' been in years, like 27 ago , just wondering with my 96, LT-1 & auto if there are any driving tips on getting the best launch & times, etc? I have read about turning the ASB off and it gives a full second quicker time, any truth to that? If so, doesn't wheel spin come in to play with it off? Any one have a guideline on what rpm level to powerbrake to at the light..... I was thinking 1500?

Thanks ya'all!

 

[JonM]

Not many...go stright and go fast.

 

[Rain]

:bar

Sure miss that IM WITH STUPID smiley... hahaha

Yes, go straight, fast, and first!

Do a forum search. Someone posted a GREAT primer for drag strip success here over the past year or so.

Good luck and have fun!
Rain

 

[Mad-Mic]

drop rear tire pressure to around 18-20 psi. heat them up alittle not much! once you see tire smoke thats all you need. bring the rpms up to about 1300 rpm or so. (right before the car pushes forward or starts to spin) on the last yellow nail it

play with the stall. some launch better at dead idle flashing the stall some like mine like as much brake stall as possible.

 

[redc4corvette]

If you realy want to race your car and want the info here is my experience.
These are my troubles.
You have a 4l60e trans ,that will shift it's self. Don't shift it put it in drive TO LAUNCH not overdrive.
you need to turn off the asr abs on the dash !!! each time you turn the engine off you will have to turn it off again and again.
your asr abs will kick in again if you burn out and the car gets more than 2 degrees off center.
You need to use the burn out box to keep the car streight,only heat the tires until they smoke just a little,lower the tires to 19 lbs.
After 30 mph the asr abs will not kick in.Let the car leap out of the burn out box on its own DO NOT FLOOR THE GAS PEDDLE EASE DOWN ON THE THROTTLE AND JUST LET THE TIRES BURN, THE TRANS WILL SHIFT ON IT'S OWN WHEN THE TIRES ARE HOT THE CAR WILL LEAP OUT OF THE BOX.
Do not do a second burn out!!! if you do the asr abs will kick in and it will retard the timing and the car will run like **** when you launch.

When you do your burn out drive around the burn out box and take your time back into the box, do not! get your front tires wet,you will drip water in front of the rear tires and when you cross the START line the rear tires will break loose.
you must use the burn out box .

When you power break your car at the lights wait as long as you can before you power break it ,most drivers of a newer vette do not know anything about their trans,The 4l60e trans can only be power breaked for 6 seconds or the trans will go away after a 100 or so runs OR LESS READ THE REPAIR BOOK.
After you run through the lights WIN LIGHTS put the trans in o-drive and push on the breaks and turn on the asr abs if you turn to soon on the turn out it will help slow you down.
Vetts have a big problem with the rear-end so if you have more than 65,000 on your rear end fluid, change the fluid ,this will keep you from making a left turn at the 1/8 mile mark.
change your trans fluid and alighn the front and rear tires at a good front end shop.
Unplug your ac wire at the compressor.
1/2 tank of gas will do for the night.
Install a k&n air filter for the air cleaner and change the oil.
Now your 13.80 to 14.05 times and 99 to 103.00 mph times.
will put a smile on your face and have a safe day at the drags!!!!
If you are interested my vett is a 1994 lt1 auto with 307 rear end convertable and runs,
11.22 at 121.23 mph and is called stock except for it's power adder.

 

[Idaho Slim]

redc4 and Mad-Mic.....

thanks a load for the advice, Just what I needed!

A few clarifications.......

Unplug your ac wire at the compressor........ What about over heating?? It hovers around 100+ here at the times the strip is open, i have gathered that the best operating temp is just under 200, (I have 160 t/s, but it non issue at those temps). I figured to leave it on to keep cool, then before my run turn it off, that work ????

Install a k&n air filter for the air cleaner and change the oil. DONE !

Now your 13.80 to 14.05 times and 99 to 103.00 mph times. (YOU'RE kidding me!!!,:confused :cry I thought I read stock times for my car are right at 13.2-13.3 ? am I missing something ?)

Car has just had new plugs, and I am checking timing tommorrow, race Wednesday, I dont intend to make this a frequent thing, however i want to know my times, and then as I do the few mods I plan on I will return to see if there is any improvement.

Going to performance mufflers, Max flow Air Foil, Hi-Perf MAF sensor, and possibly a Hi-Perf throttle body..... oh, and Yes I am going to try a Programmer ( I know, but i wanna :gap ). Thats it for perf mods, then just leave it alone.

Thanks a ton for the advice and I'll report back my times.

 

[DRTH VTR]

Slim

With all due respect to what others have said here, if you are running street tires, stay out of the water box. It does not help street tires much to heat them, and you will leave water in the treads, resulting in less traction. What times you will run will vary with temperature, elevation, etc. When you are staged, step on the brake and bring the revs up to 1500 or so (do not give so much gas that you spin before you even leave the line), then let off the brake and add power at the last yellow light. Wheelspin is the enemy, so play a little to see how to launch best. When comparing launch techniques, look at the 60' time. 1.8 is very good, 2.2 is slow (my experience). Races are won and lost in the first couple of seconds. Also, remember that reaction time has nothing to do with elapsed time. The ET does not care what your reaction time is. It is the time between when you break the staring line beam until you break the beam at the finish line. Enjoy! It is hard to break a stock Corvette with an automatic transmission.

 

[redc4corvette]

HI how are you doing?well here goes,if you have your AC ON the condenser will drip water on the track right in front of your right rear tire, the wheel spin is great but the left turn on launch is bad!
I know it is hot I go out to my vett in the morning to go to work and the engine temp starts in am at 109 degrees.Keep in mind that the compressor will take about 8 to 12 hp away from the engine,it will still come on from time to time that is the way GM set it up so during the winter the ac will not lock up when you turn it on in the spring ,when all the compressor oil is at the bottom to the compressor .
Your mods are ok but the best thing you can do for your vett is install some 3 inch cut outs the exaust in a vett lt1 is already the best flow except for the mufflers install the cut outs in front of the spair tire and mufflers remove the tire carrier when you go to the drags to use the cutouts.
Your computer can be programed by with a hand programmer all you can do is advance timing and change trans shift points raise rev limiter and tire size,coolent and a few other things ,you know what mods and what you want to do to the car.
NO BOLT ONS have helped my car to any large degree for the money .
I have tried all the mods for the vett lt1.
If you want to pick up some power then change the rockers to 1.6 rollers and change the valve springs to LS1 bee hive type and titanium push rods Compcams about $800.00.
that will be your biggest hp gain,the other stuff is bogas.
In short the other mods like pipes headers and so on do not make you very much prower .
The one thing in drag racing when you spin the tires on launch for a street car a small amount of spin is good to keep the car from bogging,If the tires hook and don't spin the engine may not be in a high enough power band and the mph will be high but the et will be slower,and the reverse is true.The 13.20 et would be nice but that is what the LT4 turns stock in the 1/4 mile.
GOOD LUCK AT THE RACES !! AND JUST HAVE A GOOD TIME .
hope this helps and when I race my vett I have to wear a fire proof jacket shoes gloves,talk about HOTad ,CONVERTABLES SUCK BUT I LOVE THE CAR.

 

[Mad-Mic]

Your mods are ok but the best thing you can do for your vett is install some 3 inch cut outs the exaust in a vett lt1 is already the best flow except for the mufflers install the cut outs in front of the spair tire and mufflers remove the tire carrier when you go to the drags to use the cutouts.
Your computer can be programed by with a hand programmer all you can do is advance timing and change trans shift points raise rev limiter and tire size,coolent and a few other things ,you know what mods and what you want to do to the car.
NO BOLT ONS have helped my car to any large degree for the money .
I have tried all the mods for the vett lt1.
If you want to pick up some power then change the rockers to 1.6 rollers and change the valve springs to LS1 bee hive type and titanium push rods Compcams about $800.00.
that will be your biggest hp gain,the other stuff is bogas.
In short the other mods like pipes headers and so on do not make you very much prower .

no offense but bolt on's do work if you know how to tune the car. there is more than just slapping parts on a car and thinking it's gonna go faster. i'm living proof with a few bucks worth of bolt on's can do while doing your homework and knowing how to tune, seat time, re-tune, and more seat time. i'd put my lightly modded bolt on L98 A4 vette up against any bolt on C4 less a ZR1 or Callaway anytime from a dig or roll. don't let my 1/4 mile times fool you. that was only 1 day of semi good air. wait for fall and you'll see some mid 12's out of a Bolt On only L98 A4 car.

LT1 and LS1 based motors like the water temp no higher than 180 degrees. 170 range is optimum for best power. 96's can be tuned with LT1 edit and you can expect 20 rwhp from a good dyno tune easily. you'd be suprised what a set of cut back plugs that are indexed at .050 will do for 1/4 mile time and gas milage.

personally i picked up roughly 40 rwhp and 70 rwtq just from tuning and a few bolt on's and my slips prove it. dead stock the car ran consistant 14.4's with a best of 14.2 and now it's consistant 13.1. not bad for 500 bucks worth of mods!

take your mufflers off and with good air you'd might crack into the 12 second range. don't worry about the Air Foil or the MAF. save your money for long tube headers.

 

[redc4corvette]

no offense but bolt on's do work if you know how to tune the car. there is more than just slapping parts on a car and thinking it's gonna go faster. i'm living proof with a few bucks worth of bolt on's can do while doing your homework and knowing how to tune, seat time, re-tune, and more seat time. i'd put my lightly modded bolt on L98 A4 vette up against any bolt on C4 less a ZR1 or Callaway anytime from a dig or roll. don't let my 1/4 mile times fool you. that was only 1 day of semi good air. wait for fall and you'll see some mid 12's out of a Bolt On only L98 A4 car.

LT1 and LS1 based motors like the water temp no higher than 180 degrees. 170 range is optimum for best power. 96's can be tuned with LT1 edit and you can expect 20 rwhp from a good dyno tune easily. you'd be suprised what a set of cut back plugs that are indexed at .050 will do for 1/4 mile time and gas milage.

personally i picked up roughly 40 rwhp and 70 rwtq just from tuning and a few bolt on's and my slips prove it. dead stock the car ran consistant 14.4's with a best of 14.2 and now it's consistant 13.1. not bad for 500 bucks worth of mods!

take your mufflers off and with good air you'd might crack into the 12 second range. don't worry about the Air Foil or the MAF. save your money for long tube headers.

Keep in mind mad mike that he is running an lt1 1996 the car is in no way the same as the cars in the 80's I also have a 1986 l98 but it has half as much crap on it as my 1994 and is much easier to work on than the 94.
Tuning is alway's a factor .A 1996 has 4 more computers onboard than the space shuttle. It also has an acceloramator on board in the center of the car
under the radio and if the car gets off center by 2 degrees the engine will retard and not recover until the car hits 30 mph.The list of things on the newer cars to slow it down is long.
The conv models have asr and abs and what a wounder, so old ladies can drive it with out getting into an accident.
Drive one some time and you will be shocked.

 

[UB2 SLOW]

Having a 96LT1/LT4 I disagree with the RPMs for launch. The 96's came with the J55 heavy duty brakes as standard. These are 13" in the front. You can bring your Revs up to 2000 and the car wont move. Just a little more than 2000 and the car starts creeping. I have gotten my best launch times by bringing the Revs to 2000 and then going with 1/2-3/4 throttle on the light and the slow pressure down to the floor. Other than that, what every one else says is pretty much accurate. Oh and dont leave the car running between runs, you want the engine to cool down. The best way is to make a run and then let the car sit for 10-15 minutes with the hood open.

 

[redc4corvette]

Take a look at these times. Corvette Action Center | Research Center | C4 | 1993 | 1993 Corvette Production Numbers and Performance Reviews

 

[Idaho Slim]

WELL! Heres what happned .............

Took most of everyones advice THANKS!!! Had a HOOT of a time as did the wife, and she stayed in the stands and filmed and took pics...... said when her leg mends she wants to drive !

Initially I was told that I'd be lucky to run 14.0 by the folks there at the Tech due to the Horrid temps today, 105! and that every one will be running .4 - .5 secs slower, so I thought hmmmmm, since i kinda had set a satisfaction point of 13.5 or better i figured if i hit 14 i'd be happy (sorta) !

My set-up was ........................

-A/C compressor unhooked
- Rear tires @20 lbs.
-ARS off & tranny in (D) drive.
- K&N open lid & 160 degree t-stat.

First run my engine temp was at 208, and because of anticipation and first run etc......... i decided not to do a burnout and barely power-braked (like 1100 rpm) and hit it on last yellow..... to my part pleasure/part disappointment ........ I ran 13.97 .... with a reaction time of .214 (ugh) and when i staged next the flagger sez "PUT yer Helmut ON! " , thats cause they say no helmut needed at 14 secs & slower.

The next 4 runs i could not get under 14.011, trying various things as follows..........all speeds 99 to 101 mph........

2nd - 14.011, temp 207, powerbrake to 1300 rpm, small wheel spin, RT= .206
3rd - 14.064, temp 217, PB to 1300, sm. burnout, wheel spin, RT=.066
4th - 14.059, temp 215, PB to 1500, Good burnout, wheel spin, RT = .040
5th - 14.042, temp 222, PB to 1500, No burnout, wheelspin, RT= .232(oops)

It was apparant my wheel spin was hurting me, and i was flustered that I could not get to under 14 again, so I did the following, (talking to my race buddy) i was getting out of the burnout tracks at the line and tried cleaner pavement, wrong he said! use the tackiness, so ...............
I did Real good burnout turned the motor off the clear the ASR, restarted turned ASr off, in drive,stayed in the hot track lanes, staged with no powerbrake excpet idle, and let'R'rip ! ...... Darkness was coming and no mo runs allowed, I ran 13.91 !! @100mph with a crummy RT of .208, but i was happy....sorta .........

My sorta question is this, Mad Mic & redC4.......how the heck you get the times you are posting??, i am going to flowmaster muffs and some re-programming , but how can you guys get those times??? Mo money $$$ ??? Thanks to all and cant wait to doo it again !!!

btw. the whole bummer of the night was, in every race, i was beating all cars, couple stangs, a 300Z, & some rice , but the one car that got me was a newer fox body mach 1 :cry , he ran 13.6.... it's amazing how far back I was by only losing by .4 secs!

 

[DRTH VTR]

Idaho "Glowing Man" Slim
Just my $0.02 here- The biggest thing you could do to improve your times cheap is to get some better drag race tires. I decided to avoid the 'cheater slicks' because I wanted to avoid breaking drive-line components. I got some BFG drag radials. They improved my 60' times by about 0.3-0.4 seconds, and my et a little more than that. I bought two aftermarket Z06 wheels to mount them on, and I just jack up the car and swap out the wheels when I go out to the strip. I run about 14-15lbs in them.
Jim "Nuclear Man" B.

ps- your times are very respectable. What was the elevation? It matters a bunch.

 

[Idaho Slim]

AH! knew I forgot sumthin !

ps- your times are very respectable. What was the elevation? It matters a bunch.

.............1100 ft. So ... another dumb question here.... elevation, when you get higher, times get slower right?? oH! and my other most curious question is......... How much actually Does the high heat of both my motor (208 - 222) & ambient (100 - 92) affect my times?


"Glowing" Radioactively & Contentedly !

 

[Ken]

Going to the Dragstrip, Any suggestions?

The most important rule of all hasn't even been touched upon yet - the rule is that you HAVE FUN!

 

[Idaho Slim]

The most important rule of all hasn't even been touched upon yet - the rule is that you HAVE FUN!

.... OH YES YES YES I did ! ..

Took most of everyones advice THANKS!!! Had a HOOT of a time

.... my use of the term HOOT! . I was hooting up all night ! :L Both the wife and I commented on the ride home how much of a good time it was, specially the NON aggravation factor, while guys were tinkering , fussing , changing this , changing that , blah, blah, ,............ we sat there with the hood up and watched and with a stocker ran 100+ mph and didnt do a thing ! what fun!!

 

[DRTH VTR]

Whatever decreases the quantity of oxygen per unit volume will decrease the output of the engine. Elevation and temperature are the obvious ones. The elevation cost you about 0.1-0.2 seconds e.t.

Jim

 

[taegdh]

Oh yes, as your temperature, pressure, altitude, and humidity (dew point temperature) go up so does the "DENSITY ALTITUDE" which is a measure of the equivalent altitude as compared to the "Standard Atmosphere" at Sea Level.

This calculation was originally used by fixed wing reciprcating engine aviators to determine how much runway they would need to take off and maintain an adequate rate of climb. Helicopters use it to figure out the power needed to liftoff. On aircraft carriers they use this as part of the equasion into how much power for the catapaults to use for each of the different types of aircraft.

When I was in Subic in the 80's, the runway was only 55 ft above sea level, and is nealy 8000 ft long. Air Force C-5's would come in, and the air is so warm and humid, the DA would be 2000 to 3000 ft or more. They could only safely take off between 4 and 7 in the morning. (Messes up their crew day!)

 

[redc4corvette]

Houdy again!

If you realy want to know here goes.
The corvette already has the best exaust system for flow so headers and pipes are not worth the money if you are going to run cat's on your car.
The best thing to do is call jeg's and get a set of cut outs 3 inch and weld them up before the mufflers and remove your spare tire when you go drag racing.
I have a set of zr1 wheels that I mounted 315/17 nitto drag radials that run at 18 lbs.
The two combind will give you most of your power.At least .40 tents on a good day.
I use a power programer for the cooling the tires rear end, trans shift points and trans firmness only,I can't use the engine programing and I took the factory revlimiter to it's max ,the limiter restracts fuel and the car takes to long to recover and for my vett I would lose the motor if I left it in place.
I have a 6al MSD ignition you have to watch out for because you eather get a bad one or a good one.
Now the car runs 13.50 to 13.70 at 102.00 ro 105.00 mph.
that is with the above mods .
I have tried throttle bodies headers and all the other crap they sell on the after market removed the maf screen and coolent by pass,what a joke I have it back to stock now.
What I run to pull my times is a Barry Grant nitrous works system with a 75 shot the cars goes 12.20 at 110.00 which on those days if I did not run the
nitrous the car would have turned 13.20,a few times I have turned that time but not enought to brag about.
Now I run a 125 shot and turn 11.22 or higher at 121.32 mph.The bad runs are 11.70 at 118.76 and the rear is a g44 or 307 gear.
Any thing else you want to know I will tell honestly.
If you had let your car cool down for the last run and started it at the last minute and brought the engine into closed loop it would have ran 13.78 or so
that is 3 mins of running and 160 to 180 degrees.
REAL GLAD YOU HAD FUN BUT WITH THE WOMAN BEHIND THE WHEEL YOU MIGHT FIND SHE CUTS A BETTER LIGHT ,MINE DOES.
AND BETTER TIMES .
With that one I make an excuse I am 200 lbs she is 102 lbs and I ran the gas tank to 1/2 tank.On the lights well can't lie about that one she is better.:L