Hey guys, I'm making my second trip to the dragstrip tomorrow night, and I have a couple of questions. What is the best way to launch the car? My friend drove it a couple of weeks ago and launched at 1800 RPM (he ran 15.3 at 90 mph). Also, will the stock rear end hold up to this abuse repeatedly? I am a bit paranoid because I saw a truck blow out its rear end a couple of weeks ago at the track. I do want to see what my car will do (1989 GTA, 5.7L, all stock except for shift kit), but I do not want to risk breaking something as it is my daily transportation. Thanks for your help.

 

a stock rear end will last forever on a stock car with street tires. dont really have any tips though, just try different things and see what works for you.

 

I agree with Texas. It's all about test and tune man. The more you drive it, the better you'll get at racing it. And I wouldn't worry about tearing too much up, of course depending on how you drive it. I raced my '88 Iroc every weekend it didn't rain for 2 and half years, Fri and Sat nights.(Sold it though) I'd shift it at around 5000-5200 RPM at most. Your stock intake won't take much more than that. Also, don't try to stall it out. If you don't have a stall converter in your car, all you're going to do is cause flex on the car which will cause you to lose a little bit on your 60ft. time. Obviously this will cost you 1/4 mile time. I've tried both ways with DR's and street tires, don't stall it. Good luck, and be sure to post your times!

 

try and practice to get a good 60 foot, a 350 tpi gta should run in the high 14's at least.

 

Thanks for the replies. Hopefully it won't rain tonight. All of the literature I have on 89 GTAs says nothing better than 15.1. I'm looking for a 14.9...I guess we'll find out.

 

Thanks for the replies. Hopefully it won't rain tonight. All of the literature I have on 89 GTAs says nothing better than 15.1. I'm looking for a 14.9...I guess we'll find out.

 

What do you mean by stalling it? Reving it in gear until it reaches the stall rpm?

 

My friend has an '87 GTA w/350 and 3.27 gears and the fastest it has gone is 15.19 and that's b/c I drove it. But, every car is different. Good luck again.

 

Id rev it to about 1000 and launch at that. I just got back from route 66 raceway and ran a 14.4 at 94 with it revved to about 800 without wheel spin. I also have headers with deleated airbox and throttle body bypass in my 90' 5.7 Iroc.

 

hey smokey when are you going to the track again i got a really bad itch in my right foot

 

Im trying to get some people together for next tuesday but Im not sure about it yet.

 

tuesdays are no good for me i work nights

 

As stated above, don't be afraid of tearing up the rear end. I got a factory rearend that seen action everyweekend last year and again this year-with slicks so there was no chance of wheel hop-that's how you break stuff. times are in the sig and it's held up great so far, I will get a Ford 9" eventually though-just because.

 

Well guys, here are the results from Friday night:
R/T-.971
60'-2.280
1/8-9.742 @ 72.59mph
1/4-15.184 @ 85.65 mph

not too bad for my first time out.....a friend of mine got a 15.2 out of it the on the second run.... let the mods begin!!

 

Close enough. Now you have a baseline to check your mods with. Don't forget that weather conditions will change how the car runs. It's possible the car could have run 14.9 or maybe slowed down to 15.3.

When checking for changes after modifications, keep track of the MPH. That will show you if anything you changed added or lost HP. ET is only traction. Better traction from things like slicks will lower the ET but the MPH will stay roughly the same. MPH can change +/- 1 or 2 from week to week from just weather conditions. Make another run next week before doing any modifications to see how much it may change.