Had the car to the track last weekend for the first time this year. Last year ran 11.796 with a 1.52 60ft on the old motor. With new motor ran 11.475 with a 1.613 60ft. I'm knocking the slicks off it every pass no matter how I launch it. Last year with less hp it would give a quick spin, then hook and lift the front end about 8". Rear suspension is all tubular with heims, good stock shocks and cut stock springs. I run the stock swaybar preloaded on the left, and an airbag in the right rear, normally at about 20psi. My question is have I reached the end of the line for my 26x10 slick, and do I need to go to a larger slick? Or with more susp work can I shove more power through these slicks?

 

Slicks don't last forever even if there's still lots of rubber on them. You also can't blame it all on the slicks. Poor track conditions may give a poor 60' times even with new slicks.

As for the limits, Stock Eliminator cars are running high 9's and low 10's on no more than a 30x9 slick. Of course, track conditions when they run those kind of times are national and division event quality.

 

If anything, you've reached the limit of older tires and/or the track prep for that day. - There are guys going 1.3x 60 fts and running low 8's/high 7's on 26x8.5 slicks @ 3000+lbs.

 

Ok, slicks are 3 yrs old. Don't really know how old is to old. I understand with good to perfect conditions, and with a track only car I could probably get these to hook. But my normal track has minimal to no track prep, and this is still primarily a street car. Maybe my question should have been at what power output did you decide to upgrade to a larger slick?

 

imo, if you already have the adjustable suspension stuff, you can most likely go much faster on those slicks. (unless they have been sitting outside and driven on the street for 3 years.)

 

It's always a bragging right to claim you have a fast car on a small tire.

I back halved my car mainly to get more rubber on the ground. When traction is very good, I can carry the front wheels past the 60' mark. When traction is poor and the small tire cars are spinning off the line, I can still usually power my way down the track.

 

That's kinda what I was thinking. I still want to be able to use the car for autocross and road course track days, which really limits me on the suspension mods that I can do for drag racing. I know that I could get this car to hook with this slick, but it may become unusable for other types of racing. I see that M&H makes a 26x12 slick. But i don't see anybody using this size slick. The height would work good for me because it wouldnt screwup my gear ratio for the street. Is anybody using this size slick? And do you think that the extra 2" would make that much of a difference?

 

i agree, it is a bragging right to go fast on small tires.

tb2, i went 1.53 on a 26x11.5x16 et street on stock 4th gen wheels in my LS1 car. manual trans, 376 rwhp, mostly stock suspension other than eibach pro springs, non-adjustable lca's, and a non adjustable jegster chassis mounted torque arm. full weight.

there is guys going 1.teens on 275 radials. 28" tall. the 8.5 outlaw guys run a 26x8.5 and have been dang near that quick to the 60.

 

Might need to adjust suspension for more power possible. My ET streets are 26x11.5x16s and they are 5 or 6 years old, but as a rule of thumb, they are in the dark deflated when not in use. Mid 1.5x 60 foot times launching with a manual at 5500-7000 RPM, might nrre to look into adjustments.

 

key to small tire success seems to be adjustable rear shocks and ride height adjustment in the rear (to find tune lca angle)

 

I was kinda wondering about that. I have a good set of shocks (std street car stuff) on it now. Never played with a set of good adjustable shocks. How much improvement could I expect? Or I guess the question I should be asking is how much am I screwing up my launch with a stock shock?

 

The three year old tires is the main culprit. The tires lose a lot of moisture just sitting in a controlled environment. I went to DR's a few months ago and happen to get a set of 3 year old new tires. I wondered what happened to my car in the first 60 ft. After looking at the date code I was shocked. I had a new replecement sent on the distributors dime and the 60ft went to 1.23-1.25. Not sure why I didnt look when I got them. You can have all the adjustable items for the rear but without good rubber you'll be hard pressed to find the problem to decrease the 60 ft's times.

 

the three year old rubber is definitely a key factor in your performance right now. get some fresh tires. i do enough racing to go through a set a season so i don't typically keep them around long enough to think about tires being too old.

i'm only running some Competition Engineering 3-ways in the rear, but i'm not hitting the tires as hard as some of the outlaw 8.5 guys are and such. i'm also running a bit larger tire than you so it's a bit more forgiving (28x10.5S). are you running that 26x10 on an 8 or a 10" wheel? i don't run anything smaller than a 10" wheel now, even with a 8.5" or 9" tire. by spreading the tire out, it seems to be more consistent. i'm seriously considering a 12" wheel soonish with these 28x10.5's.

 

Good point. When I get home I'm going to check the production dates.

I'm running a 8" wheel. My son showed me some video he took last night. I will try to post it up when I get home. But you can see the cars rear takes a quick squat, almost a bounce, and then quickly bounces back up. So it looks like some better shocks may be in my future. Any suggestions?

This whole thing just threw me. Last year I was hooking ok with a 1.52 60ft. Add more HP and one year later and I can't get it to hook at all.

 

i know what you mean. i was going mid 1.5x sixties with my baby cam'd ls1/4l60e. my fastest time was a 12.02 @ 111. my new setup has been 10.76 @ 126 and has only been a 1.50 sixty, lol!

 

Yea, exactly. Car runs almost four tenths faster on the new motor. Definitely making more power, and yet I lose .11 on the 60. And with no changes to the suspension (that was working decent). wtf.

 

sounds like you're hitting the tires really hard, but not enough power/gear to keep the tires planted, and they're bouncing. mine does this some too. double adj rear shocks will help cure this. as can lca angle adjustment (amound of "hit" the tires get) where is the lca? (i assume you have lca relocation brackets?)

proof you've not exceded the limit of the tire size:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwQOmR9BQ78

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqx7BuBThoU&NR=1

 

Hard to say without seeing video. The body of the car shouldn't really squat or rise.

My girlfriend shot some great video of me this year. I slowed it down to see exactly what the car was doing on the launch. When I launched, you can see the diff drop down and plants the tires. The body doesn't move until the front end starts to rise up. A good shock setting allows the shocks to extend quickly then the compression is slower to keep the tires planted. If you see the back of the car drop on launch, technically, the diff is moving up which can cause a lack of traction.

Suspension settings will determine how the diff reacts when the car launches. With a torque arm, the only really adjustability you have is with LCARB. Changing that angle of the LCA can change how the suspension reacts.

Your cut factory springs are probably not helping either since they changed the suspension geometry.

 

if the car is squatting, you need to hit the tires harder. the rear of your lca's should be lower than the front, for starters. i see you have cut stock springs.... if you lowered it without adding relocation brackets to the rearend, buy some of them and install before the next track outing. on the shocks, i didnt really need double adjustables until i put the radials on. up until that point i had koni spa-1's in the rear, and those seemed to work great. on slicks my only issue was wheelstands. (28x10.5 hoosiers)

 

diggler, do you have a p/n for the koni's your were using?

 

Like i said, my ET streets are 5 years old and still do great getting shocked by 6500 RPM clutch dumps. But i keep them deflated int he dark when not in use.

 

^^you'd be suprised how well your car would work with a brand new set of slicks on the right sized wheel

 

i sure dont... i cant seem to find them for a thirdgen? i'll see if i can look on the shock body next time im in the shop.

 

I have the relocation brackets in the second hole right now. That seemed to work the best last year. I cut the stock springs because after the car was gutted it sat up like a 4wd. I think I'm going to look into putting some double adjustables on this winter. That way I can also go to a coilover to have more control over my ride height.

It looks like new slicks will be coming very soon. Thanks for your help guys.

 

You need some springs with a softer spring rate then.

 

Tried some new wheels and tires from a friend and it did not pick up any at all actually. I was surprised.

 

.......I'm going 1.1x 60fts tripping the beams on with the rear tires on a set of 10.5w's that are at least 6 years old, probably 7-8.........

 

Has anybody tried this stuff? Thinking about trying it to get me thru the rest of the season, then get new slicks before next summer.

http://pitstopusa.com/i-5067215-pro-...er-1-pint.html

 

on a car with a four link and a progressive controller, setup to pull tires on gravel with wore out bfg radial t/a's iced over with mud on the ground....

lol, sorry jp, but this isn't a solid apples to apples comparison when you throw your car in the mix true small tires get the sidewalls beat out of them quickly with a heavy car. the very reason i went to a stiff wall tire this summer.

 

I did a 1.42 60' on a 28x9 slick that were about 3 or 4 years old at the time... Takes a bit longer to get a good burnout on them these days.

 

..gotta go check my stuff, someone apparently gave me a free progressive controller....never had one of them before. - My junk leaves all-in right off the t-brake.

It's more apples to apples than you think. Most guys swear my tires are only good for 10-12 passes and 6-8months max from date of mfg, yet I'm going faster to 60ft than most and running their used take-offs.

If we're both around 3000-3200lbs and both running the same compound/construction 2-ply side wall, tell me why your sidewall gets beat up faster than mine if I'm hitting it with more power?

 

Shagwell, exactly which 10.5w's are you talking about?

 

da BIG ones...lol! 33x10.5w-15 We run outlaw10.5 & pro-street nitrous.

If I can off this mus-rat I'll probably geta set of bead-locks for the camaro and then we will be testing on the 29.5x10.5 non-w's. - With as dead as OL10.5 is around here we're hoping to be able to play in some of the more open TT5/limited street stuff. Gonna be tough to get the 1471 tame enough to leave on them little tires though.

 

I run ET street bias ply DOT "slicks" and they seem to loose their grip at the 2 year mark but thats with street driving to the track and back, and not running too much, mostly sitting in the garage, deflated ofcourse. By 2 years they dont hook as well but with a good burnout and track prep they still hold. I usually replace them every 2 years depending on how much I use them. My last set I think are technically 3 yrs old but one year I was plagued with problems and didnt get to race except for 3-4 passes. Rest of year they just sat. So they do dry up and get harder.

Nothing beats a fresh pair tho.