RT Timeslips

[Bo]

Well..... The RT now has a little over 850 miles, so it was time to make the drive to Houston Raceway Park today and get a few timeslips! It was HOT (>90 degrees), and the humidity was BAD (normal for those of us in Houston) The good thing is the car is very consistent.......... Here is the data........

60' 2.239
330' 6.289
1/8 9.534
mph 76.02
1000' 12.349
1/4 14.706
mph 95.77

60' 2.201
330' 6.241
1/8 9.492
mph 75.92
1000' 12.314
1/4 14.676
mph 95.67

60' 2.215
330' 6.254
1/8 9.497
mph 76.13
1000' 12.306
1/4 14.659
mph 96.03

60' 2.227
330' 6.280
1/8 9.531
mph 75.88
1000' 12.350
1/4 14.711
mph 95.58

FYI.......

--Bo

[E55 KEV]

I was hoping it would do a low 14's and at least 100mph.

Motor Trend got 13.9 and 102mph FROM 300C.

[TehKing]

Jeezum crow those are crappy 60' times for a RWD car!

Mashing the gas and getting wheel spin?

[snickle]

It will probably take some playing around to figure out how to get the best times out of these cars. The ESP, auto shifting etc will take time to figure out the best way. I would expect the number can be improved on.

[joekd]

pretty consistent times for such a fresh car though

thanks for the results!

[schmeky]

As a former long term bracket racer, I can attest to how the high ambient temp and humidity can affect a car in the 1/4. Run this same car on a relatively cool day with lower humidity and it could run a 14.3 at around 98-99 mph.

Also, playing with stall speed off the line can make a difference, keep a 1/4 tank of fuel or less and watch for head winds. Could see a 14.1 or 14.0 at 99-100 mph.

[bigdaddyoc]

Were those runs with ESP on or off and was that manually shifted or just drive? Taking the conditions INTO account helps a little but that still seems dissappointing. My impala with less HP and a little more weight ran that. And that wasn't with any major mods, just simple bolt ons but still not 345HP.

[E55 KEV]

Once this puppy gets some decent high performance rubber with a lower profile the timeslips will be something to brag about. :D

[liquid]

E55 KEV, still the best times for a new full-size RWD fresh outta the factory... considering the only non-luxury competition right now is a Crown Vic which gets high 15's-low 16's.. :oops:

[bigdaddyoc]

This might be wrong but I was always told that these lo-pro tires actually hurt you in drag racing. Something about the lack of sidewall flex that helps you in cornering actually is a negative in launching and dragging. It does make some sense....guys that spend lots of money on getting these cars lower ET's sure aren't running 40 series tires on 20's...just my observation and what I've been told.

[rcktpwrd]

you are correct bigdaddy, for drag racing you don't want low profile tires. you want a tall side wall to allow the tire to wrinkle and put the largest contact patch to the ground possible.

[Glazeworld]

This might be wrong but I was always told that these lo-pro tires actually hurt you in drag racing. Something about the lack of sidewall flex that helps you in cornering actually is a negative in launching and dragging. It does make some sense....guys that spend lots of money on getting these cars lower ET's sure aren't running 40 series tires on 20's...just my observation and what I've been told.

From what I understand, with the larger wheels, it's the size of the wheel that slows down the car. A 20" wheel has a lot more mass than an 18" wheel, and therefore takes more power to get it rotating (nevermind 4 of them...)

[rcktpwrd]

not bad numbers Bo... If you can DROP the 60' times you will pick up a lot in the 1/4...
roughly figure for every 0.1 quicker in the 60' you pick up 0.2 in the 1/4...
also on a cooler less humid day you'll probably pick up a few tenths...

[PR300C]

Hey Bo
How was the reaction of the people at the track?
I'm pretty sure it caused some stir...

[PR300C]

To discuss Track tires and so, will take so much time ...
Basically for a "regular rwd" street car you want your front tires at max pressure to reduce rolling drag and then play around with your rear tires pressure to make sure you don't spin your tires too much.
Cars like these with ESP need this to avoid the system intervention. Also you could move to stickier tires (not necesarily wider ..)... Ok we will not get INTO this ....
Bottomline, nice numbers Bo and congrats on being the first member with posted Track Numbers on the Forum.

[Bo]

OK......looks like there are a lot of questions.......

I had ESP off for all of the posted runs. I did make one pass with it on, just to see what the difference would be. The car went 14.74 on that pass @ 94.61. With the ESP on, the car really bogs off the line.... but of course, no wheelspin! I played around with launching the car. It seemed to work best about 1600-1700 rpm. Any less than that, and the car seems to bog down..... any more than that will smoke the tires pretty good.

I also let the trans shift on its own.... I will tell you that the lazy shifts FROM the tranny cost a tenth or 2..... the car certainly does not shift like the Kurtz prepped 200 did in my old Buick GN! Next trip, I will play around with manual shifting.

As for the 60' times..... you will be very hard pressed to improve on those much with the stock tires. Maybe a tenth..... Without some mods in the tire/suspension department, you won't find any 1.xx 60' timeslips.....

As for comparing it to the Impala SS... I owned a 94.... it ran 15.1x consistently when it was completely stock, and 14.70's with exhaust and intake. I would say with those basic mods, the cars are very close... just as my other car is currently (02 Altima 3.5 5-speed -- 14.60's stock). The upside on the Impala was the shifts were much crisper. I ended up taking the easy way out on the Impala.... and just sprayed a 150 shot to get it running 12.70's with tires.

Reaction FROM others at the track....... I had more questions than I ever did with the Impala, GN, and Syclone combined! Since I have de-badged the rear of the car..... I probably get even more questions than most.

Did I want it to go faster? Of course! Will it go faster...... if the weather was more accomodating, I would say so! I just wanted to give everyone some REAL times to compare....... and of course, obtain a baseline for my RT.

OK..... someone else give us some timeslips...... and let the mods begin!

--Bo