bracket racers please come in
I have a tube chassis vette that I race, but I have been throwing around the idea of buying car that i can drive to the track, race and drive home. I did a little research and decided on an lsx powerd f-body. I did some shopping around and found a car that i wanted. So i purchased a h/c/i trans am with a built a4.
My main question is what type of tuning sofware are you guys using to make your cars more consistent? Any tips and tricks you guys are willing to share would be greatly appreciated. I have the suspension worked out on the car, now im just trying to get my e.t.'s not vary as much when the weather changes. How do you keep your cars consistent when you have to hot lap the car as well? Under hood temps seem to affect these cars greatly.
Thanks in advance.
I have a tube chassis vette that I race, but I have been throwing around the idea of buying car that i can drive to the track, race and drive home. I did a little research and decided on an lsx powerd f-body. I did some shopping around and found a car that i wanted. So i purchased a h/c/i trans am with a built a4.
My main question is what type of tuning sofware are you guys using to make your cars more consistent? Any tips and tricks you guys are willing to share would be greatly appreciated. I have the suspension worked out on the car, now im just trying to get my e.t.'s not vary as much when the weather changes. How do you keep your cars consistent when you have to hot lap the car as well? Under hood temps seem to affect these cars greatly.
Thanks in advance.

Down here in Houston Texas we run N/E & Super Pro all the time. Nothing like trying to judge the finishline running a Top Et car coming at you at 170 to 180 mph.

Coach
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I bought the trans am because for an average weekend bracket race, its a lot cheaper to throw a cooler in a car and drive to the track as opposed to loading up our racecars on the trailer and towing there. Also some of the tracks we run at have added an e.t. break to the super pro classes, because of "cry babies" who cant stand getting beat by a slow street car, and because deep staging is not allowed at many tracks anymore either, so i needed a car that could cut a light without going deep.
I have found that the FBW throttle bodys will throw numbers all over the place. The F-Body mechanical TB is the only way to go.
Make sure you have more tire on the rear than you need. Start with plenty of fuel so you don't have to add any between rounds. It makes it tougher to dial.
When it comes to engine tuning:
Run good 93 octane or higher fuel
Copy the high oct spark table over the low oct table
Lower the fan settings so they stay on all the time (controls temp off the thermostat)
This also keeps the fans from kicking on/off through the run.
Zero out burst knock tables.
Zero out spark adder tables (IAT, ECT etc)
I reduce my timing a few degrees and lock it in across the board in high load/rpm areas so KR is less likely to step in and hinder consistency if cool down time is limited.
Always data log your car under all condition after zeroing out the adder tables. They add and remove timing at different points. 25* timing works best for our 11 second car. Get the AFR checked and dialed in on a dyno after this unless you have a WB.
I hope this helps.
I have found that the FBW throttle bodys will throw numbers all over the place. The F-Body mechanical TB is the only way to go.
Make sure you have more tire on the rear than you need. Start with plenty of fuel so you don't have to add any between rounds. It makes it tougher to dial.
When it comes to engine tuning:
Run good 93 octane or higher fuel
Copy the high oct spark table over the low oct table
Lower the fan settings so they stay on all the time (controls temp off the thermostat)
This also keeps the fans from kicking on/off through the run.
Zero out burst knock tables.
Zero out spark adder tables (IAT, ECT etc)
I reduce my timing a few degrees and lock it in across the board in high load/rpm areas so KR is less likely to step in and hinder consistency if cool down time is limited.
Always data log your car under all condition after zeroing out the adder tables. They add and remove timing at different points. 25* timing works best for our 11 second car. Get the AFR checked and dialed in on a dyno after this unless you have a WB.
I hope this helps.
I also set PE Enable rpms to zero and the enrichment rate to 4. Also, if you are still running cats, make sure to disable Cat Over Temp protection.
If you are NOT running cats, then disable COT

There are a few tranny codes (PO507 I think is one of them) that need to be disabled to keep the car from going into limp mode when stalling the car over 3000rpm for more than 5 seconds.
I guess we are afraid we may race each other someday.lol.
I'll post a few more shortly if the thread shows some additional information sharing posts.
There's a chance we will race a few of you or have already, but there is no reason to worry about us
I've bracket raced for 17 years, and the Formula has always been consistent, whether with a stock tune or a modified tune. Key factors IMHO are:
Keeping up on variables. Tire pressure front and rear, staging rpm (and how varying it will affect reaction time), consistent water temp and burnouts, and a ton more.
I always keep a log book with weather and read it to decide dial-ins. Seeing how my car is still slower than most footbrake/no-box cars, I try to dial harder than when running the Nova where the top end mph can afford a number or two either way. Watch what the car does when hot lapped in the later rounds (or practice it at a TNT night to see what the effects are).
Do everything the same, keep your focus and you'll do fine. But there's always someone looking to do better, so be grateful when the win light flashes in your lane!
Good luck!
Derek





