First time back at the track...

[Gooberlog]

I have used BG synchroshift for as long as I can remember....

Not the II synthetic....the standard BG synchroshift......

Screw the tranny shops......

I did a lot of reading up on this since i believe that my original trans started to eat the syncros mainly because i put in the Royal Purple gear oil GL4 &5 requirements. From what I read about the syncroshift, the shops were saying for a low power build (14b cars in that category obviously) the syncroshift does great, but under the heavy loads of higher torque set ups it doesn't last as long. I had syncro shift in my white car and i raced that alot with out troubles, then eventually the grinding started.
All I know is every awd dsm trans i've owned, after racing the syncros run away to their mom.

 

[Phil1320]

I did a lot of reading up on this since i believe that my original trans started to eat the syncros mainly because i put in the Royal Purple gear oil GL4 &5 requirements. From what I read about the syncroshift, the shops were saying for a low power build (14b cars in that category obviously) the syncroshift does great, but under the heavy loads of higher torque set ups it doesn't last as long. I had syncro shift in my white car and i raced that alot with out troubles, then eventually the grinding started.
All I know is every awd dsm trans i've owned, after racing the syncros run away to their mom.

Ahhhhh...I see.......

I think the wearing of the factory aluminum shift forks with the drag race shifting helps those syncros along too.......

What are these guys using for fluid then?

 

[SBstar]

Shep is recommending lightweight shockproof for drag racing and MT-90 if you plan on dailying/weekend joy riding. I want to say TRE hasn't changed their recommendations at all. And I have no idea what "Jack's" is saying. I run lightweight and planned on switching to MT-90 for the winter.

 

[Phil1320]

Shep is recommending lightweight shockproof for drag racing and MT-90 if you plan on dailying/weekend joy riding. I want to say TRE hasn't changed their recommendations at all. And I have no idea what "Jack's" is saying. I run lightweight and planned on switching to MT-90 for the winter.

This is so funny! It was recommended to me to run lightweight shockproof way back when the synchros started to go in my original tranny, it didn't help, but when I pulled it apart everything was coated in blue. It was like syrup. Back then I remember people badmouthing using Redline in our cars. They all said that "was for Hondas."

I was thinking by tranny shops Travis meant the local tranny shop, not like Shep or TRE

Times change I guess.

 

[Gooberlog]

After the dsmlink test and tune drag day had gotten rescheduled twice due to rain, the third date i wake up to nothing but steady rain. The weather for the Hagerstown, MD showed it to clear up by now so i didn't cancel my trailer reservation with in the required 24hrs. At this point i was committed to rent the trailer and i figured worst case i would see how my truck did pulling the 1G. I get to the U-Haul shop 15 minutes before they open, and i'm the first customer helped. They tell me that they do not have a trailer for me WTF. They said they meant to have me reschedule again since they had one sent out for repairs, but i never got a call. So at this point I figured the track would be canceled due to rain AGAIN, so i told them to cancel my reservation and not to charge me. I went home and looked at the weather and an hour and 15 min up the road looked nice. Luckily Tom from ECMtuning posted a reply on the thread for the track day and he said the weather was great so come on up.

A friend and I drove our 1g's up the road for about an hour and 15 min and made it to Mason Dixon. There was actually about a dozzen dsm's/GVR4's. I think the fastest car out of our group was a 2g w/ a HX-40 that ran a 11.0. Most of us were having troubles getting a good 60' because at this track the wet box is almost unavoidable.

1) My first pass i spun (water) and i missed second. I got it in to second and it bogged and i clocked a 13.9.

2) I then hot lapped and got back in line determined to hit 2nd gear. I spun (water) and grabbed second gear with it still bogging in second. As i went through the top end of the track the car was breaking up and i peeked at the boost gauge that was reading about 23-24 psi. This pass netted a 12.9

3) I went to the pits and tried to lower the boost a little bit. I was talking to the guys and was thinking that it was probably time i go a heat range cooler on my spark plugs at this point. Before i went back out, one of the guys said he was about to swap in some BRP8ES' in to his car and I could use his BRP7ES'. So i swapped them in and took another pass with the adjusted boost level.
I did my best to avoid the giant wet box and pulled up to the staging lights as i looked at the trails of water ahead of me. I gave the car next to me a courteous stage light (single bulb, and once he was staged i fully staged). The car i was racing was the 11.0 sec 2g. The lights dropped, i took my time getting my revs right around 5500 rpm, and i left the line with a 3.** sec R/T. I grabbed second gear and i think i was scared to let the clutch out a bit as it still bogged a bit . I went through third and fourth gears with the car pulling with out any issues at this point and saw the gauge holding a steady 18psi.

My third pass i got my time slip and headed to the pits. My buddy said i spun off the line. I got a 1.92 60' which i was not happy about (stupid wet box), but i trapped a 12.699 @ 110 mph. This i was happy about. I had a goal of running 12.7 yesterday and i finished my season (and the last of my C-16 supply) with a 12.699. I considered this a win and i packed up the car and left the track.

The only adjustments i did at the race track from my street trim were: Ran on straight C-16, set radial tires to about 25psi, removed passenger head light, and after my first two passes I swapped the plugs and lowered the boost to 18.

This test and tune was worth the wait. I'll be eager to hit Capitol next year for a better 60' and E/T. More work will be done to the car before next season but I think i'm done racing the car till then as i'm out of race gas and have no tuning on the car. Feed back as always is welcome.
Travis

 

[SBstar]

Not bad at all, I think you know where all/most of the issues are, so I won't comment too much on those haha. It's always nice to hit your goals, 12.699 on a 14b is nothing to sneeze at either, there are plenty of people with much larger setups who can't do as much. Get that 60ft time down and you'll be doing great next year! Congrats!

 

[Phil1320]

Nice!!! And, you finally got to the damn track!

Your trap speeds suggest 12.2-12.3 ET's for sure. So, you're within .30 of your best 12.42 on your first outing in a long time.....awesome......

...bogging when hitting 2nd gear??? that's weird......definitely want to figure that issue out.....

Yeah, hooking that 60' is the key to ET in a 14b car, unless it's built like Joe B. or Dave W. They are very dependent on tackling the first 1/8 as best as possible, we're just on for the ride for the second 1/8....

Nice job, glad you got a day in before seasons' end.

Don't do a thing to the car before next year. Just spend the money at the dragstrip..............

 

[Gooberlog]

When i fueled up for the long drive home, i accidentally put about 3/4 tank of gas in so i have to do a lot of driving to get down to 1/8 tank. By then the tracks will be closed. Plus i don't have a connection on cheap race gas anymore.
If i do anything between now and next race season, I'm considering:
DSMlink Lite (basic dsmlink package - not available for 1g's yet) $345
Manual Steering Rack $215 ish
Aem Wideband package $218
Tial 44mm wasteagate to go on the PR o2 housing on the shelf $356 new
2 new tires for left side to match right 225/50/16 BFG KDW $70 ea (on sale for almost 1/2 off)
Poly Bushings for rear end and mustache bushings $170 on sale this month
Rear toe eliminators $200
KYB AGX shocks for rear $190

I'm thinking i may have to jump on those tires since they're almost half off. I would also like to grab that manual rack. I don't see too many of them for sale and would really like one on my car eventually.

 

[SBstar]

Get me some weight numbers on the racks if you get the chance haha! Sounds like your plans are pretty good, man how the money adds up though.

What did the rest of the timeslips look like? 1/8th et and mph?

 

[Phil1320]

Get me some weight numbers on the racks if you get the chance haha! Sounds like your plans are pretty good, man how the money adds up though.

What did the rest of the timeslips look like? 1/8th et and mph?

Ditto.....

That's one thing I never included in my weight reduction is a manual rack, I was told it's only about a 3 lbs difference. Remember I have all the lines, pump, bracket and basin out, so it would just be the rack. The main reason for me not taking it out is that I would want it for road racing. The power rack ratio is 15.8 to 1 which is a bit lazy compared to EVO 8/9 at 13 to 1, but the manual rack is like 22 or 24 to 1......super lazy........

 

[Gooberlog]

I heard that the total weight savings from power steering to manual rack is 17 pounds but i don't know where that weight would come from.
1) 60': 1.99 1/8: 9.27 @ 83.25 1/4: 13.93 @ 105.90 (missed second gear and then got in)

2) 60': 1.963 1/8: 8.39 @ 83.51 1/4: 12.93 @ 108.90 (still spinning in 1st & breaking up on top end- boost to high with out tuning)

3) 60': 1.93 1/8: 8.22 @ 85.99 1/4: 12.69 @ 110.44 (spinning in 1st gear- no breaking up- lowered boost to 18 psi and switched plugs to BRP7ES')

 

[Phil1320]

I heard that the total weight savings from power steering to manual rack is 17 pounds but i don't know where that weight would come from.
1) 60': 1.99 1/8: 9.27 @ 83.25 1/4: 13.93 @ 105.90 (missed second gear and then got in)

2) 60': 1.963 1/8: 8.39 @ 83.51 1/4: 12.93 @ 108.90 (still spinning in 1st & breaking up on top end- boost to high with out tuning)

3) 60': 1.93 1/8: 8.22 @ 85.99 1/4: 12.69 @ 110.44 (spinning in 1st gear- no breaking up- lowered boost to 18 psi and switched plugs to BRP7ES')

I'm not sure either, wonder if that includes all the rest of the set up?

Oh yeah....just the way your car sits you can run near or beat your best of 12.42.....It's all in that launch.....I say don't change anything and get back out there and whittle it down before anything.......that's me though....

 

[Gooberlog]

Well i have been driving the car around town and to work and the pump gas is slowly working is way out of the tank. I have about a half tank now so i still have a bit of driving to do.

 

[SBstar]

There's a drain plug at the bottom of the 1g awd gas tank...get it done

Thanks for posting the numbers, I do agree with Phil that 12.4 is attainable with what you have going on currently. Getting that 60ft down a tenth of two and getting that 1-2 shift figured out and you'll be cruising. Looking at your timeslip you gained quite a bit after the 1st 1/8th, for reference my 1/8th et was a 100th slower and my mph almost exactly the same for my 13.6, even with the top half (ie not missing 4th) there is no way I was enroute to a 12.69, you're making good power to make that 1/8th into a 12.69 1/4! Now get that 1st 1/8 down better!

 

[Gooberlog]

Yeah getting the 60' back down in the 1.7's shouldn't be hard once i get to a track that i can drive around the wet box. Some adjustable rear shocks would probably let me work my way down to a 1.6* 60' as i did with my old car. I'm really happy with how far this car has come base on the circumstances.

 

[Gooberlog]

Well based on how well the car ran with a crappy 60', I will try to make it out one more time before the season is over. When i put the FD wheels on the car a buddy had two new BFG KD's laying around that he gave me, and the other two tires i'm driving on are beat Nankangs. Lucky for me tire rack has a a closeout on KDW's which are virtually the same tire as far as tread design. Minor differences, but will match up to the KD's a lot better than the Nankangs. The tires were almost 1/2 off so i ordered a couple and they should be here in a day or so.

So with 4 good racing tires and a track where i might be able to get around the wet box (capitol), i'm hoping to get a better 60' (low 1.7's would be good on stock suspension)and another new best E/T. I would be totally energized if i could beat my 12.42 14b time before the season even ended. This time i plan on removing the passenger seat as my old 14b time was done with only one seat too. My only concerns are weather cooperating and what grade of fuels capitol will have for sale when i get there. I hope the Cam II that they usually have will work on my set up as well as the C16 did for fending off any knock and keep the timing nice.

I hope to run this friday night for test and tune but we'll see. I think after this Friday, Capitol is open for another 2 Sundays and then they are done for the year.

I called up and it looks like capitol has 112 octane for $8/gal. Hope that stuff works pretty good.

 

[Phil1320]

Well based on how well the car ran with a crappy 60', I will try to make it out one more time before the season is over. When i put the FD wheels on the car a buddy had two new BFG KD's laying around that he gave me, and the other two tires i'm driving on are beat Nankangs. Lucky for me tire rack has a a closeout on KDW's which are virtually the same tire as far as tread design. Minor differences, but will match up to the KD's a lot better than the Nankangs. The tires were almost 1/2 off so i ordered a couple and they should be here in a day or so.

So with 4 good racing tires and a track where i might be able to get around the wet box (capitol), i'm hoping to get a better 60' (low 1.7's would be good on stock suspension)and another new best E/T. I would be totally energized if i could beat my 12.42 14b time before the season even ended. This time i plan on removing the passenger seat as my old 14b time was done with only one seat too. My only concerns are weather cooperating and what grade of fuels capitol will have for sale when i get there. I hope the Cam II that they usually have will work on my set up as well as the C16 did for fending off any knock and keep the timing nice.

I hope to run this friday night for test and tune but we'll see. I think after this Friday, Capitol is open for another 2 Sundays and then they are done for the year.

I called up and it looks like capitol has 112 octane for $8/gal. Hope that stuff works pretty good.

The new tires might help, I honestly think you could get down in the 1.7's with the crap tires too, where are your pressures set?

112 should be fine.....what is it, Sunoco?

Don't use CAM2 110 if you can help it. It's a dirty crappy fuel that will definitely kill the sensors.

Awesome, you get another chance!!!!!! I KNOW you can beat 12.42.

Work on the launch, see what it's doing and adjust tire pressures to match. You may need to get down to about 18 psi in the tires. Your launch RPM should be right about 5500...if tire pressure doesn't rectify a too much spinning issue than drop launch rpm in 250 rpm increments and work it that way.

Good luck!!!

 

[Gooberlog]

Not sure what brand fuel it is, but capitol said they have 110, 112 and alcohol. I figured i'd go with the 112. I think my first time to the track with this car my best 60' was a 1.72 on the tires that i have now and stock suspension. So it's do able. I usually launch at 5500 like you said and w/o water from the wetbox i think i will spin a lot less if at all. Last time at the track i tried shifting between 6000-6500 and i think it helped a lot as my car isn't making much power on the top end.

 

[SBstar]

Good luck! I think bringing down that 60 ft will be no problem, not having to track water up like that. Did you ever figure out the "bogging" issue in 2nd? Or were you just slow getting back on the gas?

 

[Phil1320]

HAVING to go through the waterbox like at ATCO is really a pretty poor set up for tracks to have, especially when they do have street cars running on their tracks.

I'm sure that will help your situation...


Historically, I was always a slow 1-2 nose dive shifter, full clutch to the floor, off the gas deal, because I knew I had to drive home. It's possible that's all it is Shane....the 1-2 is the most important shift as far as Im concerned, if it's not optimal, you definitely lose alot of momentum. Now that I think about it, had I been a more aggressive driver, I would have ran 11's the night I officially took the all time record with 12.052 and 12.022 passes. It was a Wed. Street night and none of my friends could make it. I was alone. Breaking would have sucked. Just another coulda woulda shoulda for me. But, I played it smart and in the end, it all payed off.

Maybe he is just shifting the 1-2 a bit lazy like I always did.

I'm psyched you get to run again Trav......do it man

I predict [email protected]

 

[Gooberlog]

I predict [email protected]

That seems about right. Cause i had a weak 60' of 1.92 but was spinning off the line which will raise your mph and i was trapping 110. so if i get a better 60' of 1.7* and it hooks the mph might be right about 109.63.
As for the e/t i'm predicting a 12.410 @ 109.63 with a 1.74 60'. I tell you what if this thing runs <12.42 i'll be one happy camper.
Things are starting to fall in place. I told my boss i want to race friday night and he seemed ok, weather looks good for Friday night so far, my buddy gave me the race fuel can that i needed.
Tomorrow i will drive up to capitol to get some race fuel (112 oct) and drive the laser a bit to get some more of the 93oct out of it and put some of the 112 in and see how she does.

 

[Phil1320]

If you concentrate 100%, make smart adjustments in tire pressure and driving, treat this as a job task rather than a Friday night social gathering, you WILL run quicker than your 12.42. With it being as cool as it is now, I would start with 28 psi in your front tires and 26 in the rear. I ALWAYS started at those pressures and worked from there when I ran street tires. By the way, that was a recommendation that came to me from old school DSM'r, Jack Culotta.......

You can do it

 

[Gooberlog]

I have been running 25 psi all around so far. Maybe ill try the 28/26. It's looking like it may be sunday instead of friday due to more rain. Gotta love Maryland.

 

[Phil1320]

I have been running 25 psi all around so far. Maybe ill try the 28/26. It's looking like it may be sunday instead of friday due to more rain. Gotta love Maryland.

Ok, if that's working than don't change anything, I just remember running 2 psi more in the front as recommended, not sure why, but I stuck with it.

Not just Maryland Trav....CT and new England weather has sucked as well....

Well, good luck dude....

 

[Gooberlog]

Sunday the weather is looking good so afternoon racing at capitol it is. Look what came in the mail yesterday. Looks like i'll have something to do next week. I've been wanting to install a manual rack for years now. Photos of the cleaned up engine bay once it's installed.