I'm posting this here because my local strip isn't "official". If I should have posted in the other racing board, would one of the moderators please move it? Thanks.


Hey everyone. Today was the first time I ever went out on the strip. There's a 1/8 mile track about 5 minutes from my house, so I thought I would swing up there and see what the L98 would do.
There's no timeslips or anything there, just a "run for fun" deal.

1st pass: Raced a thirdgen camaro, appeared to be an '85 or so, with about everything removed under the hood except for the water pump and alternator. Exhaust cutouts too. He took me by 2 car lengths.

2nd pass: Raced a 2003 Eclipse, 3.0/5spd, I had a horrible launch, and he took me by half a car length.

3rd pass: Raced the eclipse again, again I had a horrible launch, and he got me off the line, but once I hooked, he didn't make any headway on me.

4th pass: One more time against the eclipse, same results as pass 3, and I realized something.

The firebird was spinning tire clear in to second gear, so when it finally hooked, it was already in second, which slowed me down because I had to downshift.

I learned a couple things today, mainly about the auto transmission, and I need to learn about traction!

Edit: I should have asked this originally, but can anyone offer some tips on launching? That was my biggest problem.

 

i would launch in drive, and just dont wot right away, slowly get on the gas. untill at least it shifts into second then wot. what kinda tires are you running? u maybe might have the wrong pressure.

 

The tires I'm running aren't anything special. They are Kelly Charger 215/65/15, with 35 PSI. At this point, I really can't afford sticky tires, (unless someone here knows of some relatively inexpensive styles?) so I'm just running with those. I was wondering if a 225/70/15 would give me better grip however. Any ideas?

 

take 10lbs of pressure out of your rears at the track. 225/70's will give you less traction(too much sidewall).

 

Id get some 255x60/70what ever u have x 15. Think thats the biggest size you can throw on those 15x7s, thats the size im runnin...or maybe its 265, anywayz im runnin one or the other 255x60x15 on the rears and 225x60x15 on the fronts. I still get no traction but atleast its the biggest tire I can fit on those 15x7" beasts lol. 215s are way 2 small brotha.

 

I always thought that if you had more sidewall you would get better traction. Shorter sidewalls are more rigid and less yielding. I could be wrong though. You definitly need a bigger tire in the back. 225's are small! I have 275's on my car, but then again, I have 15x8 rims. If you lose traction right off the bat, don't floor it off the line, ease in to it.

 

Yes, bigger side wall is more traction, can deflate more and put more rubber on the ground its not really hard 2 figure out.

 

Thanks for the pointers guys. I'm going to try letting the pressure out when I head out there again this Sunday (only day they're open). I'm also looking in to getting some headers and cutouts for the exhaust. The L98 is mostly stock, except for enlarged plenum openings, a K&N filter, and a shift kit. I'm looking in to more things but I really think the traction is a big issue at the moment. I didn't realize you could put a 255 on the rear wheels. I'll be looking for a set of those as well.


edit: I hope this will yield a bit of difference, otherwise I may have to change my screen name to Not_So_Quick_Trans_am
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nevermind already covered about sidewall and traction

 

Here's a thought: would traction bars help the wheels, or would that be kind of unnecessary considering the torque arm is there?

 

Ya they would, replace the lower control arms and get some relocation brackets. You'll be amazed at how bad the stock LCAs are.

 

i agree with the whole replacing of the LCA's .. man what a world of differance. just wait until you compare the aftermarket LCA's with the stock ones oncer there off , then youll see what you have no traction!

 

your not talking those things used on a lot of older camaros, novas,chevelles and all firebirds are you?

those things are for leaf springs


LCA on the other hand are different

 

Yeah I meant LCA's, sorry for any confusion.

 

so you were letting it shift automatically?

shift manually, start in 1st, rev as high as you can (stock stall doesn't go that high) and roll your foot on the gas thru 1st, then shift into 2nd, mine is REALLY easy to short shift 2nd....

if your spinning tire at launch then your engine is probably reving REALLY fast since there is no load on it, so basically your spinning tire, reving to 5 grand, shifting into 2nd, getting traction, then your not in your powerband and you short shifted 1st....def try to launch in 1st, once you run a good number of times you'll be able to feel when your car stops pulling (normalling around 4500) and then shift into 2nd.....it's rough....it's so loud at the track and everything happens so fast...and pretty much once you start spinning that run is ruined....just gotta get a feel for how fast to roll on the gas

 

I just had the shifter in "D" and went. I'm going to try the tire trick and keep it manual to see what happens. So you are saying not to put full pressure on the pedal in 1st, and kind of ease in to it? I agree, I was trying to pay so much attention to everything at once, it was kind of hard to keep up lol. But I imagine it all comes with time.

 

I went today to the track, kind of on short notice, so I didn't get a chance to try letting some pressure off the tires. I did however (thanks to a really nasty speed bump) run without my rear muffler hooked up, and I think that helped for a few HP. I also was only running a 1/4 tank of gas as well. I only had time for 2 passes:

1st pass: Raced a buddy's neon, for fun, and took him by 2 car lengths, with much better traction as well.

2nd pass: Raced a new mustang GT. I had him off the line (for some reason my car was hooking phenomenally well), but that didn't last. At the finish line my front bumper was at his rear bumper, and I was quite surprised at how well the L98 kept up with the mustang, considering I've heard stories about how quick they are.

 

what were your times??

 

no timeslips, sorry. They don't have any at the track. Just race who you want and see who wins. I'm going to have someone stand with a stop watch and clock me next time just to get an idea..... it's only a 1/8 mile track to, but it's local, so I'm not complaining.