First time at the track with my 94 GSX

[SonySlave]

Well me and BigRand got to Pacific Raceways at about 9:10am and there were only a few cars there. 1 WRX, 1 2.3L TSi AWD, me in my 94 GSX, Randy in his 99 420A Turbo, and like 4 4th Gen Eclipses... It felt like an all Mitsubishi day at the track! No rain in sight. Good news. The crews are still finishing drying and prepping the track asking us to drive around the end of the track to help dry it. 12:00pm rolls around, cars are showing up left and right and the weather was only getting better. 1:00pm rolls around and there are tons of cars now in line and they just start tech inspections. 2:30pm comes and FINALLY the first races start... Overall good day and the rain didn't hit until about 4:45pm when the races were over, so perfect timing there!

Here were my best times of the day, and it was my first time racing this car...
This is stock with only an open air filter and 6-puck clutch!

Race #1:
R/T: 0.278
60': 2.089
330': 6.244
1/8: 9.717
MPH: 71.86
1/4: 15.144
MPH: 89.54

Race #2:
R/T: 0.183
60': 2.268
330': 6.484
1/8: 9.968
MPH: 71.58
1/4: 15.375
MPH: 90.51

Race #3:
R/T: 0.137
60': 2.090
330': 6.175
1/8: 9.590
MPH: 72.62
1/4: 15.000
MPH: 89.83

Race #4:
R/T: 0.009
60': 2.191
330': 6.372
1/8: 9.808
MPH: 72.31
1/4: 15.226
MPH: 90.36

 

[Caithness]

Nice R/Ts there. 15 flat is a pretty good time for stock.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Get those 60ft times down, and you should be good to go for mid 14's.

 

[DRated]

Great job. Just an exhaust and you could be down to low 14's.

 

[C_Keagy]

do you pull out your head light at all? if you do i found it easier to pull the whole assembly out so you dont have to mess with the spring. but i gained 2mph when i was running a small16

 

[kelvinb]

were you bogging off the line with the solid hub 6 puck?

 

[oddrob]

Can't get any closer to the 14's, just a 60' away. I wish this freeze would be over so the east coast tracks would open.

 

[chicagoavenger]

March 4th and the track opens here!!! Good times for it being stock

 

[SonySlave]

I plan on hitting the track as often as possible this season and really get some practice in. All of these runs were launched at about 4-4.5k, and shifting about about 6200rpm. I was bogging a little bit off the line, of course, as you can see with my 60's... it could be the clutch, but I also contribute that to lack of practice in this car. I'm going to try a couple other launch rpms and see what happens. I haven't messed with the headlight removal yet, but I plan on trying next time. I finish the 1/4 just after I shift into 4th but I can stay in 3rd if I really want to, but I lose power past 6200 so I just shift into 4th.

My only concern with frequenting the track is breaking something... The car has 122k miles on it and I'm a poor college student. I already blew up my 95 TSi AWD (7-bolt, rod bearing spun), and that killed me, so I sold it and picked up this 1G for $3000. But this car also has a 7-bolt and it's not crankwalk I'm afraid of, it's spun rod bearings. So I just can't justify spending a lot of money on maintenance like a full timing belt job, head freshening, MLS HG, and ARP studs on this 7-bolt, which it could use right now, when I could just build a new 6-bolt... I dunno...

Any advice or tips for me on racing or my motor worries?

 

[Black95TSIawd]

The day you seriously start worrying about things, is the day they break. Make sure you change your oil at the right time and with a quality filter. Don't drive it like an F1 driver all the time and you should be good to go. Its usually the small maintenance things that you have to be accustomed to doing and saves the car in the long run. Also, if you need to do a t-belt job, do it now and yourself. Grab a haynes, shouldnt be too difficult, and a great stepping stone.

 

[Forced4]

I finish the 1/4 just after I shift into 4th but I can stay in 3rd if I really want to, but I lose power past 6200 so I just shift into 4th.

I am kinda shocked that you would be at that high of RPM. I ran 14.701 in my 91. I went through the traps at about 5200 RPM in third. Lemme find my time slip...

R/T: .472
60': 1.975
330: 5.925
1/8: [email protected]
1000: 12.186
1/4: [email protected]

I think I launched at about the same RPM you did. I also noticed the car fell down at the top of second gear and felt flat at the top of third. (I am getting a new pump and injectors installed shortly.) I had only a Apexi N1 cat back and hard UICP with slight boost increase(around 16PSI). Oh, and a K&N filter. I wonder if the clutch is having an effect off the line that you are trying to overcome the whole way down the track. You did say there was a little bog off the line, right? I did not have that.

Rich
Forced 4

P.S.
I had about 125K or so when I ran that. I am at about 145K now.

 

[SonySlave]

Yeah, I do bog at the line a bit, especially without a stutterbox and zero boost off the line... But I'm not very accustomed to what a "real launch" vs "bogging" feels like in my car... I owned a 98 420A eclipse before the 95 talon and it was slow as snot... So this is my first experience with any real power... When I go back to the track I'm going to pay closer attention to the rpms I'm at in what gear to try and get a better idea of shift points, etc...

I do my regular little maintenance jobs: oil changes, BPR6ES spark plugs every oil change, coolant... I have the mechanical know-how and the service manuals to do the big service jobs, I just have difficulty with time, tools, and space to do the bigger jobs like pulling the head or doing the timing... Maybe I'll have to take a weekend and hit up the Auto Hobby Shop on base to do those bigger jobs! $5/hr with full lift and enough tools to build Shep's car from the ground up!!! Not bad if I may say so! It pays to be in the Air Force!

Any more advice would be awesome!

 

[Forced4]

You don't really need a stutter box to get off the line. I don't have boost off the line either, but it will come in quick enough. You are still running the stock turbo 14B, right? I'm it could help though. Just a bit of practice and you will start to drop those 60' times. I would suggest however, that you run a BPR7ES if you are running an increase in boost levels. You really don't need to change them that often either. I change mine like every 12-15K, depending on how hard I have been on them. They look fine every time and I have yet to have a misfire due to the plugs. I was jsut looking at your numbers again. You are making more top end than I am. I would say if you knock the 60' down you will be a good 14.6 14.7. That tenth in the first 60' is going to be even more at the end. Overall, Great first time out though. Enjoy the car. I have my T-case out right now we'll see if it's ok, and I might actually get to drive it again. I miss driving it.

Rich
Forced 4

 

[SonySlave]

Yeah it's still the 14b... I'll look into getting those plugs for sure, I'm just following the spark plug FAQ and since I'm basically stock, I'm using the 6ES's... I'm going to try and get into the 14s stock just to say I did.

Thanks for the advice guys, keep it coming!

 

[kelvinb]

have you done all the free mods yet? id suggest doing the bcs plug removal thing. i jumped from 10 psi to 12 with that. also ive noticed that the grip from street to strip is 2 different worlds. practicing launching on the street really wont give you a feel at all for the track. i bogged horrible when i did it. id suggest either launching at higher rpm (i was around 5k and still bogged) or let the clutch out alittle slower

 

[Caithness]

My personal experience with plug heat ranges is that the 7es plugs fouled out on me quickly and caused misfires when I wasn't constantly beating on the car. The 6es work great, fire through 25 psi and race gas with the stock .28 gap, and don't foul themselves out every few months. I don't think the 7es are necessary or even advisable until you reach much higher levels of modification, say the 400 whp+ level.

 

[MidShipCivic]

I am kinda shocked that you would be at that high of RPM. I ran 14.701 in my 91. I went through the traps at about 5200 RPM in third. Lemme find my time slip...

R/T: .472
60': 1.975
330: 5.925
1/8: [email protected]
1000: 12.186
1/4: [email protected]

I think I launched at about the same RPM you did. I also noticed the car fell down at the top of second gear and felt flat at the top of third. (I am getting a new pump and injectors installed shortly.) I had only a Apexi N1 cat back and hard UICP with slight boost increase(around 16PSI). Oh, and a K&N filter. I wonder if the clutch is having an effect off the line that you are trying to overcome the whole way down the track. You did say there was a little bog off the line, right? I did not have that.

Rich
Forced 4

P.S.
I had about 125K or so when I ran that. I am at about 145K now.

What RPM did you shift at ?

I wish I get to run a 15 flat when I finnally get to drive my TSI AWD ( I'm currently fixing it never driven it under it's own power) Thanks for the info guys