Track Weekend-> 4th Round. NEW #'s and MORE

[Moonunit 451]

Went to the Woodburn track this weekend, rain showers, delays,humidity, mud, and on and on, I ran into the FOURTH round of the elimination! Never been any where near that before.

My first KILL was an EVO, not stock. Second KILL was a HOT uknkown beautiful dragster, (pics and details later). Third Kill was the Evo buddy's STI, minor mods. Both the EVO and the STI staged with both lights on entry. The first time I was flumoxed, did everything wrong, but I moved on.

The dragster, moved on again, (details later, I'm exited, but exhausted, ran till after 8 PM tonight). The STI, I ended up toying with, after he messed with me staging, feathering 2nd at half track and finally dropping into third when it was obvious he didn't have anymore, and dropping the the hammer on him. He broke out with his best ever time, as I doged it through the trap at 12.7 or so

Got wasted on the first round of the tree buy a ten second early 70's NOVA who was one of the three of us that were all camping together with cars and a motor home each. He got knocked out in theb5th round

Bottom line, grat time, I kept running BEST #'s UNTIL the eliminations! Then everything went wacko, but, I moved on. Ran low 12'1's as a new best :bang

More details, photo's and video clips are a matter of time and energy

 

[Moonunit 451]

BTW, this is my 4th time ever at the track, I cant burn out and get the OLD slicks heated up right, I can't cut a light, I can't shift at the right R's, plus, there's a lot of other stuff I don't know and can't do that I can't even rememeber right now, BUT, I AIN'T GONNA QUIT TRYING UNTIL I PUT AN 11x UP HERE GUYS, and I WILL :cool The car ran flawlessly, yet again, 14 or 15 passes or so I think I got.

There are folks here that remember how I got to this point, not a dull story

 

[Ripp 73]

Good Night

Sounds like you had a great time. Can't wait to see some pics and video clips. You are so close to your 11.x time. Keep up the good work.

 

[Moonunit 451]

Thanks Ripp 76 My 60's are killing me. Just watched the video's (which are going to be largely unusable. Note to self: NEVER send a boy to do a mans job :L My 9 yr old son did the best he could with little instruction though. Everyone else was busy with their own race stuff) my burnouts are inconsistant and inadequate for the most part and the rubber is old and well into the wear bars, so new rubber should get me there.

New Best 12.156 1.738 60' also my best, at a pathetic 111.73 MPH. 330 5.006, no 1/8th figures in my lane, timing malfunction, 10.138 at 1,000'.

Open to all comentary. Pics and video's gonna have to wait a few days till I can get to some high speed for uploading. Guess those 10 passes I got just felt like a lot more after finally changing my slicks out after 8:30 last night Home by 10 PM.

So, the way I see it, if I can hook it up and get those 60's down solidly into mid low 1.6's I'm there.

Now, and this may surprise ya, but I've read a lot of opinion on this subject, I've chosen to run regular 87 pump gas in this motor. I got my butt chewed out for that yesterday by a buddy running basicly the EXACT same setup that I am. He runs 1.5 and low 1.6 60's down into 11.5's and 6's consistantly. He's also running a 3.07 rear compared to my 3.33's, and a 3,000 stall vs. my 2,500. He thinks I might be pulling timing cause of the low octane gas.

I chose the gas based on the low compression, 9.5:1 that I have. My understanding is that the lower octane fuel you can run without knock is the most efficient. Octane doesn't = power in all situations

Where is my thinking wrong here? He says the engine and computer will recognize knock and pull timing before I'll ever know about it.

What do ya'll have to say on this?

 

[Ripp 73]

Computer huh?

Where is my thinking wrong here? He says the engine and computer will recognize knock and pull timing before I'll ever know about it.

What do ya'll have to say on this?

Computer? You sayin' that Corvettes have some sort of brain in them? Don't believe it Just imagine when you push on the gas pedal that it isn't actually connected to the throttle anymore, it'll all be electronic (oh wait, they already did that for 2005) :eyerole

 

[Ken]

To tell you the truth Colin, I never heard of that theory. Personally, I would always use the highest octane rating available, which means race gas at the tracks that provide fueling stations.

I never use anything less than what's available here in California - 91 octane.

And yes, if your running a computer-controlled engine, the computer will pull timing very quickly.

 

[rrubel]

Ken, I've heard what Colin says. When setting base timing, keep going until you hear knock, then dial it back slightly. The computer may compensate quickly, but you'll still get some detonation.

If you're not knocking at 87 (which our engines were designed for), then you're throwing away money buying higher.

That said, you can advance your timing more (ask Mic...) if you run the good stuff. Probably some power to be found there.

What you really need to do is hook up a scantool while you're playing and actually RECORD whether you get knock.
[RICHR]

 

[Moonunit 451]

Thanks for the comments guys. I EXPECT Mic to find his way in here soon. Rich, I've never really seen anything on bumping the timing on the octane increase, but I suppose that makes sense.

I had EASE when I went down to the Pony last summer and ran a bunch of scans undr varying conditions, no detonation I still have the files I ran. But I quit running it cause my computer crashed REAL HARD while running the program. We thought it was at an unrecoverable stage, but we finally got it to boot and had to rebuild LOTS of stuff. My bro is a program writer and knows computers. the episode, and hours spent, that I could never do, have kept me from trying to use EASE again on my laptop. I'm kinda not smart enough to know how to back stuff up enough to be comfortable.

Tuning for the track is kinda over my head. I know guys, but it's not that easy to hook up. TJ said he can get a little more out of it after my Dyno run, and he'll do a final burn on the chip, but he's running a business, and charged me parts only on the first chip, and nothing for the Dyno runs and asessment. of the burn. I still can't afford to pay for that stuff and I'm not comfortable having favors done that I have no way of returning.

There's no rush, I'll get there, and with my recent brushes with the MAN, I won't likely be showing any of the idiots on the street that want to pose that they ain't got a clue. There's not that many of em anyway. I get lots of questions at the track, but the serious bracket guys aren't impressed, their just out there winning They already got it together. I'm just a duffer who wants to know I can put down 11 sec period.

I know all this is long, and I'm kinda excited to move in the right direction, but I'm thinkin, and hoping that there's folks out there that will be interested enough to read, advise, and learn, like I am

 

[Vettefan87]

What you really need to do is hook up a scantool while you're playing and actually RECORD whether you get knock.
[RICHR]

Yup those things are awesome, they lag, but definetly good for tuning. My buddy with an 89 turbo TA runs 100 octane unleaded and says it makes the world of difference, he says the car just runs smoother. It is my belief that if the motor has a slight knock to it, it will retard the timing, and NOT throw a code. Gas is cheap fill it up a couple of times with higher grade gasoline and see. it is only a few dollars more a couple of times. I am not sure if you will need to like clean it out a little or not with the premium gasoline.

Awesome times though by the way. I want to get to the track, but not ever doing it is kind of keeping me away, lol. I have no clue what to do, I'll have to start asking people.

 

[Moonunit 451]

Justin, it's not about the cost for a few passes. I've read that you WILL do better running low octane if you don't require the the higher octane for a higher compression set up. But Rich's point is well taken.

I ran 108 my first time at the track, all good, stock motor, 14.93 best, mostly 15's. I think my best MPH was 115, but crap ET.

I've never run anything but 87 in this motor so far. If I could bump the timing at the track with higher octane, and know where to put it, finding some real performance improvement, I'd do it. I'm still not fully convinced of the argument. My slicks are trashed, and I can't do a consistant burnout.

Truth be told, till yesterday, I did ALL my burnouts in 1st gear. Oh yea, my mentors would say, you need a better burnout, or (fill in the blank). I merely stumbled on the shifting burnout in a latenight conversation Saturday night for the first time. There is definately a method and art to getting your tires to hook just right! And there are 25 + other things to think about as you roll your car up to the line, and it's harder than you could imagine when you just go to play.

But, It's a kick in the butt, you'll get hooked, first time. Just go have some fun, don't be sceeeerd. The lights are just a distraction, till you get to eliminations I'm lookin for an ET Just do it Justin, and if you are lucky enough to get in the 13's just be THRILLED, and get out your wallet

 

[Vettefan87]

Yeah I should get into the 13's, hopefully lower then what I have gteched the car at, since I can hopefully hook better at the track, then on the street. I don't know I am kind of afraid to break something too, but I shouldn't I have replaced almost everything :L. I hear what you're saying about gas, I have had some bad situations, so I just dont chance it. I might try running mid grade and see but I'll wait till after the cruisefest :L.

 

[Moonunit 451]

Here's some links to a few pics and one video clip. The actual video I'm going to try and edit and resize what I think is interesting and good enough to bother with.
http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/Portraits/RACING/Woodburn5-05/Accomidations1060_940.jpg
http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/Portraits/RACING/Woodburn5-05/BackToTheFuture1040_940.jpg
http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/Portraits/RACING/Woodburn5-05/CTSwheelie1058_940.jpg
http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/Portraits/RACING/Woodburn5-05/DennysTruck1062_940.jpg
http://forus.com/moonunit/corvette/Portraits/RACING/Woodburn5-05/Burnout5-21=05MOV01066.MPG

 

[Mad-Mic]

good stuff Colin! sorry i'm late! what timing are you running now? our cars are rated at 6 degrees advanced and for 87 octane but that doesn't always means thats best. i run 12 degrees advanced timing. more timing = more octane. 108 will do nothing for the car. what octane does is a buffer for knock. more timing = more HP. your computer will retard timing in the last 3000-4000 rpm. that is where the car will go lean. on the lower range the car is getting alot of fuel and less air. think air pump more compression = more octane also. you might think your at 9.5:1 but do you really know? whats your head chamber size? 76 cc? at 68 cc your most likely at 10:1 62 cc 10.5:1 and 58 cc 11:1. gasket size plays an effect too. all this filters thru the equation of timing, spark, fuel, air. do you know what timing actually does inside the motor? what happens is per 2 revolutions the spark plug fires. when this happens the piston is already coming up. what you want is perfect harmony and balance. what i mean here is while its coming up you want the plug to fire and burn the fuel fast but at the precise spot. too high in the cylinder bore and the car loses power ie torque. if it's too far down in the cylinder bore it will lose both HP and torque and can and will cause catostrophic failure if it's too low in the bore. this is how piston's shatter. this is where octane can help by delaying the combustion of the air fuel mix. it also helps on pre-detonation. this occurs when something is glowing hot usually on the piston. valve reliefs on the top of the piston. where 2 sharp edges comes together if it's real sharp and thin what happens the thin spots get hotter quicker and cause the air fuel to pre ignite in the cylinder wall. this is dangerous too and more octane helps this as it's a cooler burning fuel.

now on your 60' times. 3200 stall would do you good still streetable but launch you hard. is your car spinning now? you use road race slicks right? get a good DR. if you are running 255/50/16's run the MT DR or in 17" 275/40/17's. stickiest tires out. unfortunatly they don't make it in a 315. if you want street manners for rain run the Nitto's. BFG's a good overall one also and both of those come in both 275/40/17 and 315/35/17's.

your there man get it down.

narrow everything out of your mind and get into a rythem. get in your car and set in the garage and mental image yourself doing a race. before water clean the tires off, spin em in the water and pull out of the water. do your burnout and look in side mirrors for smoke. as soon as you see smoke let off the brake and do your thing to the line. set the first beam then take your time inching into the 2nd. bring rpm's up and check watertemp and make a mental note. colder quicker hotter slower for brackets. (gee your getting alot of secrets hope no one else in MD reads this Rich and Sothpaw! haha) launch it out and concentrate on the sound of the motor and tach. listen where you shift. that way you won't worry about missing shift points. you'll know by the sound of the motor. watch this vid and you will see me doing the same exact thing every race.

http://www.corvettekillstories.com/photogallery/albums/Mad-Mic/Racing/L98DragRacing.wmv

BTW these were last years runs. the car has alittle more HP in her now

 

[Agent 86]

Sounds like a blast Colin