first time running 1/4 mile with my MSRT

[midoco]

Since I've been on the boards my favorite posts are the stories so here's mine.

Back-story...
I've never been much of a car guy... mostly because I haven't had the money, but last year I joined LX forums after seeing the magnum. I was working a cushy job that gave me plenty of time to goof off and I bet I was on here reading 4-6 hours a day for months. It was bad... real bad. I thought about black magnums 24/7. I was hoping to be able to get an RT someday. As luck would have it some good things happened and allowed me to quit my job, and buy a used black msrt (my dream car) with 5200 miles on it a few months ago. Since then I've been a moddin' fool (mostly appearance stuff).

I had never been to a track when Redfox invited me out to a local 1/8th mile track. I was hooked. My best time was an 8.77 on my stock msrt8. I kept noticing that my first run was always the fastest presumably due to the engine heating up and staying around 210 after the first run. It took some fun out of it knowing that unless I let it sit I wouldn't be getting any faster over the course of the night no matter what I did.

Last week I dropped in a 170 tstat. I did the single jumper fan mod, but wasn't pleased with the way the jumper fit. I ran down to autozone and got a cheap relay. I went home and pulled the innards out of it. I left only the pins used in the fan mod and soldered a nice healthy wire from one to the other then replaced the cap, and ran red tape around it to make sure I didn't forget which one was which. Now when I get to the track I just pull the stock relay and replace it with my red shorted one. No more heat problems. I also went in yesterday to my favorite dealership and got the TCM flashed to the latest rev.

and so it begins...
Last night I went over to Texas Motorplex to hang out, meet new friends, and try my hand at the quarter mile. It was really chilly for North Texas, and there was about a 10mph headwind, but everyone seemed to think the conditions were great for producing power. I saw a bunch of nice cars and was looking forward to seeing what I could do. Shortly after we got there a BUNCH of 350z's showed up, and I thought "I want some of that". After meeting some really great people and chatting for about an hour it was time to hit the track. I had never run a tree were it went one yellow then green, and as usual my reaction times sucked, but what a blast!

My first run was against ColbyRice and his stock Charger SRT. After a small burnout I staged nervously in the left lane, and loaded to about 1K. YELLOW! GREEN! Holy smoke that was a fast. Throttle down, brake off... haulin' butt in auto mode. I hear tires squeal, but I'm not sure if it's Colby or me. Man this feels fast, and she's pullin' hard! About half way down the track and I'm looking to my right expecting to see a charger passing me. Where did he go? Check my mirrors... there he is... I guess he didn't hook up. Crud...where do I let off?!? ...have to check that for next time. Slowing down and feeling the thump thump in my chest, and the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Glance down at my engine temp... yep... it's around 180.

Pulled around to get my time:
rt-.832 -must have taken a nap
60'-2.068
1/8-8.588 at 84.68
1/4-13.266 at 107.37

I basically don't know if this is fast or not, but it sure felt fast! Went back to stage and Colby was ready for a re-match. Off we went again. I was in the left lane again. This time I spun a bit on the line, but not as bad as he did 13.578 at 106.26 ...another win, and I'm thinking "this is a lot more fun than getting my a$$ handed to me by redfox's beast". After the second run I got berated for not having a helmet on. Fortunately Dallas300C was kind enough to bring me his helmet so I was good to go. Thanks again!

I'm really starting to like this. I know that Colby's charger should be faster. We decide that maybe it was lane choice. So this time I lined up in the right lane. He still spun and I pulled for a 13.297 at 104.87. We looked at his tires and decided he might have a problem with cupping or something... that's what I would've said too There was some good-natured ribbing, but we had a good time.


Later on that night I staged up next to a small black SUV. I had never seen one of these before. I squinted and could make out an "SS" on the side. Must be a trailblazer. We lined up. When the throttles dropped he got a great launch and was way ahead. I thought "This isn't even gonna be close" Then the gap stopped widening... and started narrowing. I was catching him! At the line my bumper was on his door.... that was really close! After we got our slips I pulled off and he rolled up next to me. "that thing is fast" he said. I told him I wanted a rematch so we went again. Right before the next run they stopped to clean the track. We were both sitting there idling. I thought "My temp is steady at 179. I bet his isn't". This time I was hungry to beat him. I did a longer than usual burn out... mostly just for fun. He got another great launch and pulled on me... but not as much as last time It felt like my car said "oh hell no!... not again" She pulled and I passed him just before the line! I'm glad I have nice dark tint, cause it would have been embarrassing for him to see me pumping my fist and giggling like a little girl. After that run we stopped to chat. I asked him what he had done to it. He had a cam, a tune, and something about a converter that I didn't understand. He asked about mine... I said "stock with a cooler tstat" He acted surprised and said "that thing is fast" We ran one more time and I didn't hook up. I also ran a jeep (don't think it was an SRT) ... no problem. I got to line up against a 350z. I know it's no surprise, but it was still fun to smoke him. Since I don't really know what I should and shouldn't beat it makes every run more interesting.

After running in auto mode most of the night I decided to put it in manual mode and let it shift on it's own. This yielded the best run of the night:

RT- .470
60'- 1.998
330'- 5.601
1/8- 8.522 at 83.39
1000'-11.060
1/4 - 13.192 at 106.19

Is this a good run? ...I don't know
Was it a great night? ...hell yes!

I don't know much about racing, and I'm sure some of my assumptions are wrong, but I am having a blast clawing my way up the learning curve.

Thanks for making it through the whole thing,
Mike

[JonzMgnm]

Having fun is what it's all about, Mike!

I'm glad to see yet another LXer "hooked on track"!

[hemiwagn]

you may not know a lot about racing but you can sure as hell write!

Great story and congrats on your virgin 1/4 mile night!

[moparman53]

Sounds like ya done alright.

[Redfox0099]

Sorry I couldn't make it Mike....I had a date with my #5 Cylinder intake spring last night... :(

[Redfox0099]

As for calculating your DA Mike do this:

Go here:
http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_da.htm

And then open another page of Wunderground and do ahistroy search like this one to get the info.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/...q_statename=NA

With 500 ft. elevation, 45* Air, Altimeter at 33.5 and Dew at 30* your DA was a -734.....lucky Bastard....DAMM, I wanted to be there so bad .

[Dallas300c]

Good times Mike...sure was fun, already looking forward to the next night at the track...hopefully not as cold the next time though...

[midoco]

RedFox,
so basically... I'll be slower from now till the end of time

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Mike

[nhdave]

RedFox,
so basically... I'll be slower from now till the end of time

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Mike

Not once the moddin starts!

[Jaak]

Great story... I'm looking forward to it myself as I've never run and I'm dying to!

[Ghostface Mag]

Nice runs at the track....

[colbyrice]

The three Runs from the Charger
1) 15.8 <- I am going to post this slip it rules.
2) 14.4 or so ehh..
3) I really wanted to break 14 so I feathered off the line got up to about 10mph then punched it and ran a 13.83

We all had loads of fun.

[moparman53]

Sorry I couldn't make it Mike....I had a date with my #5 Cylinder intake spring last night... :(

I saw it today at the Hemi Shop. How did you do it?

The three Runs from the Charger
1) 15.8 <- I am going to post this slip it rules.
2) 14.4 or so ehh..
3) I really wanted to break 14 so I feathered off the line got up to about 10mph then punched it and ran a 13.83

We all had loads of fun.

to the Forums. What do you drive? RT or SRT?