So apparently I can't launch worth a $#!*
07-02-2010, 11:11 PM
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So apparently I can't launch worth a $#!* I took my car out to the track tonight for the first time since buying it a couple months ago. It's the first RWD V8 sports car I've driven in a "drag race" sort of way...so I had no clue how to launch it...and my 60' times proved it.
I tried revving to ~2k RPM, then dumping the clutch...it bogged down. I tried 1.5K RPM's, bogged down again when I released the clutch. Maybe I need to do it lower, maybe I need to do it higher - clueless here (input appreciated). I'm sure it'll take some practice to get good. Maybe I just need to get it in gear right away and just mash the gas and take off from 700 RPM or whatever? Every other car I've dragged in the past has been an automatic...kind of just point and go.
80* temp, 50% humidity, 295/35/18 Firestone wide ovals. T56, 3.42's, etc. I figured the car is capable of at least a 2.0 60', and probably better.
The last run of the night (left hand slip) I raced a Trans Am on street tires of some sort who pulled a 1.8x 60', a 12.7 in the quarter @ 107.60. My time was a 13.87 @ ~108, so the MPH's are there - just not my driving. I trapped higher than he did.
The car runs real strong and I'm picking up ~25 MPH in the back half, so I was pleased with my trap speeds. I thought the car was good for mid to high 12's, and as the last race showed, if the driver did his part it probably would be.
What's everyone think about the potential 1/4 times if I could pull a better 60'?
I tried revving to ~2k RPM, then dumping the clutch...it bogged down. I tried 1.5K RPM's, bogged down again when I released the clutch. Maybe I need to do it lower, maybe I need to do it higher - clueless here (input appreciated). I'm sure it'll take some practice to get good. Maybe I just need to get it in gear right away and just mash the gas and take off from 700 RPM or whatever? Every other car I've dragged in the past has been an automatic...kind of just point and go.
80* temp, 50% humidity, 295/35/18 Firestone wide ovals. T56, 3.42's, etc. I figured the car is capable of at least a 2.0 60', and probably better.
The last run of the night (left hand slip) I raced a Trans Am on street tires of some sort who pulled a 1.8x 60', a 12.7 in the quarter @ 107.60. My time was a 13.87 @ ~108, so the MPH's are there - just not my driving. I trapped higher than he did.
The car runs real strong and I'm picking up ~25 MPH in the back half, so I was pleased with my trap speeds. I thought the car was good for mid to high 12's, and as the last race showed, if the driver did his part it probably would be.
What's everyone think about the potential 1/4 times if I could pull a better 60'?
Last edited by evo462; 07-02-2010 at 11:22 PM.
07-02-2010, 11:23 PM
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lol....dude try around 4grand and work your way up...i did the same thing the first time i went. now i rev to around 5k and as the rpms fall i pin it and lightly dump the clutch. but you need more then 2k to launch a 6 speed....thats why i want to go with a th400 now.
07-02-2010, 11:27 PM
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That high? I guess I really have no clue, obviously. I suppose that makes sense by the way it was bogging down trying a 2000 RPM launch. LS7 clutch, stock 10 bolt (not trying to blow my rear end just yet) so...
I think I know its potential now, I just don't want to beat on it too hard right now. I plan to put a better rear end in it when I do my turbo install this winter, so I'm trying to treat her nice and make it last until this winter.
I also found out tonight that whatever brakes are on my car aren't sufficient for slowing me down from a high speed pass...they weren't liking it much. Definitely going to need to factor that into the equation as well before I go adding a bunch more HP.
I think I know its potential now, I just don't want to beat on it too hard right now. I plan to put a better rear end in it when I do my turbo install this winter, so I'm trying to treat her nice and make it last until this winter.
I also found out tonight that whatever brakes are on my car aren't sufficient for slowing me down from a high speed pass...they weren't liking it much. Definitely going to need to factor that into the equation as well before I go adding a bunch more HP.
07-02-2010, 11:32 PM
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im doing mine now, i should b able to start it this weekend...but everybody worries about ther 10 bolt and i dont know why??? they are shitty but they are not that bad...my buddy this past weekend at pinks hit 10.81 with the wheeles up 1.5 foot spraying a 200 shot out of the hole and that rear has seen at least 30 hard nitrous passes on a m6
07-02-2010, 11:34 PM
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i was launching at at 1,500 rpm with balled *** tires never bogged just spun like crazy. ran a 13.4 @106
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07-02-2010, 11:45 PM
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It is an LS7 clutch, so it should be able to withstand a little more abuse than the stocker.
Well...I was having a problem with my Y pipe hitting the floorboard and I "band-aided" it by putting some rubber on the Y pipe where it was hitting...I think it helped, but I never tried launching it like I did tonight, until tonight. Maybe it's still hitting and my timing is being pulled and that accounted for the "bogging", I don't know. I don't think so, because it kind of acted like a manual equipped car does when you don't take off right in first and it kind of stalls a bit.
Well...I was having a problem with my Y pipe hitting the floorboard and I "band-aided" it by putting some rubber on the Y pipe where it was hitting...I think it helped, but I never tried launching it like I did tonight, until tonight. Maybe it's still hitting and my timing is being pulled and that accounted for the "bogging", I don't know. I don't think so, because it kind of acted like a manual equipped car does when you don't take off right in first and it kind of stalls a bit.
07-06-2010, 08:27 PM
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I was basically taking my foot off the clutch and letting it engage instantly. I know the car has 12's in it, I had a higher MPH trap speed than a T/A I raced that got a 12.7 on a 1.8xx 60'. I failed the car as a driver 
I felt the trap speed was pretty good for a bolt on car with 77k in 80*+ weather.
I felt the trap speed was pretty good for a bolt on car with 77k in 80*+ weather.
