hawk99

This is going to be a long post, so please bare with me. If you want, I'll ask the questions in very brief forms at the bottom.

I have some questions about what to do to my car next. Let me start off by saying that I have about a 2.1 60'. The car has an SLP lid, and at the time I wasn't running an air filter, and I unhooked the exhaust right after the Y-pipe to open it up a little. I have Nitto 555R tires. Does this 60' sound right? It seems a little high to me. Now the track is notoriously known for being slippery (It's just in a parking lot, all they've done is put some sticky compound down). At any RPM (Including Idle) I launched at, my tires would spin. So last time I raced, I did so at a full time drag strip to improve traction. I was able to launch at 1500 RPM with no tire spin, but my 60' still remained at 2.1. The only thing that might have caused it that I can think of was because I was running 87 octane (Don't worry, I've since learned better, I only run 91 now), but would that really make a difference on my 60'?

So, I'd like to try and get my 60' time down.

1. Would a stall converter help my 60'? From reading around here, stalls make a world of difference. But, if my car already loses traction from idle, isn't launching it at 3200-3500 RPM with a stall going to cause a ton of tire spin?

2. I plan on getting 4.10 gears pretty soon. Will this likely help or hurt my 60'? I'm guessing it will give me roughly .5 in the 1/8, does this sound about right?


Now my dad doesn't like the idea of a stall, because that sudden jerk of power can cause a lot of strain on the car, so he doesn't want anything to break. He'd rather not worry about the launch, and get a shift kit to make the shifting quicker and more effective, along with headers and a ported or bigger throttle body.



Summary

-My 60' is 2.1 and I have no traction
-Will a stall converter help my 60' or will I lose too much traction
-Will 4.10 gears help / hurt launch?
-Would a shift kit / headers / TB be better than a stall?


I know this is a long post, but I really appreciate any input.

slowjoe99

iTrader: (7)

Stall will help your 60 definately! but like you said, only if you can get traction. With my guess stall would help more than all that other stuff combined. You may need some suspension work to get better grip. And if you are gonna get stall definately get Sub Frame Connectors and a transmission cooler. They will keep you from twisting your car all up and keep your tranny cool after the stall converter.

Omega Doom

iTrader: (2)

get the stall but don't forget the tranny cooler and tune cause' they all go together! the stall will not break anything that couldn't be broken racing anyways? get some DR's to help it hook, but do the headers and exhaust before the gears(let that be the last thing you buy performance wise) good luck on whichever you decide!

Rede

iTrader: (2)

My stock track times were 14.16 @99mph with a 60' time of 2.0 to 2.1
First was useless and the car hit second and held at 70mph till I was about 100 feet out, then it started grabbing traction again at 50mph.

I have since gotten a Vig 3200 converter installed, 3" hi-flow cats (stockers were plugged pretty good and throwing codes) and running 16"x8" MickeyThompsdon ET Drag Radials. (track only)

My best 60' time has been 1.79 and my best 1/4 mile time is 13.16@100.9mph.

The mph didn't change, but I made great gains in 60' time and have NO wheel spin or hop.

The rest of the car is bone stock except for a SLP Flowpak which does nothing more than provide a lid and some rectangular CAI ducting.... the bellows are useless and just make the lid a lot harder to keep snapped shut.

Track is at 2800' of elevation with calculated altitude of 3800-4200'.

Once you get a stall onverter, brake torque at the line to just before the rear tires break loose, the front tires slide or your breaks won't hold... then slip your foot off the very corner of the break and floor it!
Always stage swallow too. Meening, as soon as your stagged, stop. This will give you the same rollout every time, keeping your reaction times consitant as possable and it'll give you a few inches to accelerate before breaking the beams to help your 60' times slightly.

You can also take your spare tire and jack out of the bac to shed a few minor pounds.. roughly 30..?

darrensls1

You want a stall regardless of traction. A 3400-3800 stall would help get you to and keep you in your powerband. It'll also help eliminate the dead spot.

Traction is a combonation of tires, technique and track prep. Nitto 555R's can do well under the right conditions. I ran them on my setup and have dead hooked 1.7x 60's with them. The key for me was the following:

A). 20 psi

B). Long burnout in 2nd gear. I would count ten seconds off after I started seeing smoke.

c). Quick stage. If it takes too long between the burnout and the launch itself the tires may cool down enough to hurt traction.

If you do all the above and still can't hook then you may need to consider Mickey Thompson Street Radials and or switching tracks.

4.10's are a bit steep for an auto. I would strongly reconsider that move and go with 3.73's so your not running out of 3rd gear so quickly. Not to mention they will suck for MPG on the highway.

Either way traction will be harder to get. But once you get it the gears will help your 60' which in turn will help your ET.

As long as you get a transmission cooler you'll be fine. The stock stall sucks for a few reasons. It's way too small of a rpm stall (1800) and keeps us way below powerband when flashed. It's way too small of an STR (1.6) and makes 60's suck even with traction. Any decent size cam will not work well with the stock stall either.

Look at my sig. 12.3 @ 109 and 1.65 60's on stock gears and stock suspension. That's dead hooking with stock tires size M/T street radials. There is no reason you could not duplicate this or even beat it with the right stall, gears and launch.

Good luck.