Eastern Members - My suck ass & scary track results

Well lets just say I suck at driving my car!

I got 9 runs in tonight, (could have gotten more but called it quits) which is 1 more than I had all last year with the car!

It was a "balmy" 55 degrees when we got there & 52 when we left.

My 1st run I took my wife as I always do, she loves going going down the track.
I dogged it best I thought I could, ran a 13.64, oops! ;)
I had to put the helmet (bought one for $85 last night in Windham NH) on & leave her in the stands.

Went back, put on the ET streets I bought from John, launched & that's when I got scared shitless!
I don't know if it was because my front tires are wider than the ET's, that they are radial & the rears are not, the track was slippery, no line lock to heat them up properly, I dunno, but man-O-man was the car squirrely as hell going down the track!
I thought for sure I was gonna lose it & hit a Jersey barrier!
I let off when it felt that way & ran 14.2, twice so I let the air pressure out from 15 to 12 psi, same situation so the 315's went back on & I put them down to 22 psi like Don told me.

Now aside from the LS6 intake & LS1 edit from Don, nothing else changed from last year far as performance upgrades go.

Matter of fact, I think going from the stock 17x9's to the 17x9.5 & 17x11's are a performance hindrance.

Anyway, I was able to beat my best ET last year of 14.4 with a best this year so far of a 13.2 so that proves Don's tunes work, thank Don!

Links to my time slips:
Last years best ET (car 847) (http://home.comcast.net/~myws6/13secslip.JPG)
This years best ET (car 719) (http://home.comcast.net/~myws6/13secslip2.JPG)

Don told me to shift at 6K, but to me it seems like taking it to 6K is taching out & not making any power.
Is that just the way an LS1 feels?

I know this isn't fast for most of you, but I'm still new at racing RWD & will get better as time goes on this year.
BTW, I had the only TA & 4th gen racing there tonight.

I'm also still on the stock 10 bolt.

Have faith... it will get better. The big rims that you have the 315's are probably a hinderance... get those e.t streets back on, 15 lbs of air, and heat them up. Not sure what size they are... but the 26 x 11.5's worked at LVD for me tonite decent.. but the track prep seemed alot better then last year too.

Get yourself a line lock too.. the fun factor on the street, and the help at the track is well worth is. SJM sells a nice one, or a simple SLP ( what I have ) works well too.

put more air in the ET's to start, and then slowly go down.. start at 20.. then you will get used to them

Less air in the ET's = more swaying down the track.

sorry to thread jack but in a manual car how the hell do u launch with linelock? because it seems u would have to react sooner to turn it off or am i missing something?

sorry to thread jack but in a manual car how the hell do u launch with linelock? because it seems u would have to react sooner to turn it off or am i missing something?


he meant he didnt have a linelock for the burnouts

Less air in the ET's = more swaying down the track.Ah.
When you mentioned 22, I thought you were referring to the street tires.
sorry to thread jack but in a manual car how the hell do u launch with linelock? because it seems u would have to react sooner to turn it off or am i missing something?
he meant he didnt have a linelock for the burnoutsExactly!

Anyway, by looking at my #'s, it's definitely got a high 12 in it, I just have to hook & even with the M/T's the best I could muster was a 2.19 short time.
With my 315's my best 60' was 2.11 & I averaged 2.20's.

Maybe when the weather warms up it'll hook better.

They usually don't spray any prep on the track at NED on street nights, and for some reason, after 6pm, it seems to get real slippery up there--dew settles on the track rather quickly right around dusk. Also, anything under 17 psi w/ET Streets run tubeless can really make a F body sway on the top end--as you presumably found out...You'll get used to it, Butch. Just need more seat time at the track... Best wishes. WJ :)

Not bad at all :) I seemed to hook quite well with BFG DR's . Street tires I do 2.2's for the 60' with a best of 2.15 of street... best on DR's is 2.01. Your 13.2 @105 is similar to my hp range. hmm if NED is giving you those #'s ... HMMM :D That is not really bad at all :)

Less air in the ET's = more swaying down the track.

Very "marshmellowie".. :eek2: but the only way to get good 60's.

Butch, another thought... not sure how many miles are on your car, or what clutch you have in it... but maybe it's slipping? get the e.t. streets back on there, and try more air and whatnot in them.. you should be able to get into the 1.8's with those at your power level no problem... that alone would get you into the 12's.

You gonna make it out to Hemmings day at LVD on memorial day weekend? Mark's going with the GLHS, and a bunch of ls1 guys will be there... should be a good time, and the track should be good too.

Butch, another thought... not sure how many miles are on your car, or what clutch you have in it... but maybe it's slipping?The car has 62K miles & only 2K miles on a properly broken in SPEC 3 clutch installed by Don.
It's definitely not slipping.
I can tell the difference between this clutch & the stocker far as the track goes.
You gonna make it out to Hemmings day at LVD on memorial day weekend? Mark's going with the GLHS, and a bunch of ls1 guys will be there... should be a good time, and the track should be good too. I'll be in Atlanta for the F-body gathering that weekend.

Wasn't sure on the clutch.. sounds like you are all set there. Maybe try removing front sway bar, not a ton of weight, but does transfer alot better without it.. and only takes about 20 min to take off.

Atlanta.. that's a ride. Sounds like a good time though.. have fun at it, get lots of pic's while you are there.

For a stock rear I like 22-24psi in ET's.That way you'll get some tire spin out of the whole to soften the hit on the rear.The best thing to get use to it is to run the ET's on the street at 15psi.You'll get use to the feel.

Hey Butch,

It was nice meeting you last night at NED, to bad I couldn't help you represent the 4th gen crowd, I never knew that after market seat belts had expiration dates. Oh well. You've definately have more in the car, I thinks alot of it was just the weather. I noticed most of the cars there were running off their mark with the exception of the AWD crowd. Are you going to the Camaro firebird day on June 14? I will be there, but just in the show I won't be racing. Talk to ya later.

Nate