The 14b Drag Race Discussion Thread

[SBstar]

The English racing little auto is the only car I've seen without rear brakes. I'm not that crazy about weight reduction to risk any safety! I do run the small single piston fronts though.

Steve, your video link doesn't seem to work? Maybe cause I'm on my phone though.

I'll have to do some testing on the plug thing. I've always ran the projected tips.

 

[1SloEvo]

I agree Phil. You could step up to the wilwoods, but at that point, the biggest reduction is probably up front anyways and will probably help even more than the rear. I'm not planning to put that kind of money into this 14b effort anytime soon, so that's out for me. But I don't think I'll have a problem getting the weight down. Pulled a combined 18 lb from the doors...and still haven't pulled the crash bars yet. I need to get a new spot weld cutter to pull those out.

If I need the weight down, I'll do like I've done on a previous one...hack the rear frame rails aft of the rear crossmember and put in a chromoly bar. This also calls for removing the floor. This is good for around 10-15lb IIRC. At least with the AWD floor. I could also do another tube front from the shock towers forward. That saved about 25lb or so. There are many ways to save weight on these cars. A lot of it is expensive and time consuming, however, lowering the safety of the car should never be in the mix.

 

[Phil1320]

The rumor is that it's the same guy who is known to run ceramic wheel bearings to shave a tenth... (no clue if there's any truth to it, just heard it from the interwebz)

I've also heard of people pulling their calipers and compressing the pistons so the pads don't have any drag on the rotors. Then don't touch the brakes during staging/launch. Would REALLY want those last few hundredths to go that far, and you wouldn't be able to use the parking brake for burnouts or as a staging brake.

Ha, go figure.

I'd love to know to stage without touching the brakes.

I agree Phil. You could step up to the wilwoods, but at that point, the biggest reduction is probably up front anyways and will probably help even more than the rear. I'm not planning to put that kind of money into this 14b effort anytime soon, so that's out for me. But I don't think I'll have a problem getting the weight down. Pulled a combined 18 lb from the doors...and still haven't pulled the crash bars yet. I need to get a new spot weld cutter to pull those out.

If I need the weight down, I'll do like I've done on a previous one...hack the rear frame rails aft of the rear crossmember and put in a chromoly bar. This also calls for removing the floor. This is good for around 10-15lb IIRC. At least with the AWD floor. I could also do another tube front from the shock towers forward. That saved about 25lb or so. There are many ways to save weight on these cars. A lot of it is expensive and time consuming, however, lowering the safety of the car should never be in the mix.

I would only do fronts as I do use my ebrake at staging...

Yeah, there's plenty of weight left to come out for sure.

 

[bastarddsm]

What's the easiest weight to remove besides a/c cruize and interor? I want to loose 300lbs and not gut my car.

 

[1qkfwd]

This brake talk is pretty funny. Only part of the brake system ill be ditching is the complete E-brake setup. But I will be adding a staging brake for burn outs and preloading. I really would like to bolt on a light weight set like the wilwoods.

What's the easiest weight to remove besides a/c cruize and interor? I want to loose 300lbs and not gut my car.

You've been around here how long now and haven't figured out all the weight reductions we can do?? Really depends on your budget and what you don't want to sacrifice. There are all the basics, a/c, cruise, power locks, manual windows, small battery, rear seats, electric seat belts, front/rear crash beams. Then you can get into, rear hatch Lexan, aluminum driveline, CF hood, lighter brakes, chromo front cross member, steering wheel, brake booster delete, wheels, and so on.

 

[Phil1320]

This brake talk is pretty funny. Only part of the brake system ill be ditching is the complete E-brake setup. But I will be adding a staging brake for burn outs and preloading. I really would like to bolt on a light weight set like the wilwoods.




You've been around here how long now and haven't figured out all the weight reductions we can do?? Really depends on your budget and what you don't want to sacrifice. There are all the basics, a/c, cruise, power locks, manual windows, small battery, rear seats, electric seat belts, front/rear crash beams. Then you can get into, rear hatch Lexan, aluminum driveline, CF hood, lighter brakes, chromo front cross member, steering wheel, brake booster delete, wheels, and so on.

It is funny as hell.

Lightweight brakes front and rear, with staging brake would be optimal. Dumping the e-brake assembly would be great. But, that's some big cheddar right there. Guess you have to weigh the cost against what you think your improvement will be. But, you're at the point where there's no more free weight loss, so, pick your poison.

My immediate thought for weight was crash beams. A quick 75-80 lb. loss.

 

[Steve93Talon]

Got a new video from a friend who was at the track:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jvxewx9BC1g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[1SloEvo]

Nice!!

 

[SBstar]

Thanks for sharing the video! Nicely done

So, Phil and I were talking and I joked about a "Where are they now" type of post for this thread. So many have come and gone and never posted that they accomplished anything. I did not make the post since I didn't want to cause any bad blood/negativity since we've had enough of that already. Part of me was poking a little fun, but also I am curious as to the status of a few of the projects that poked in. Now to my point, I knew there was a post from someone that said they had already ran 10's. I just couldn't remember who had said it and when or where. I finally found it! It was posted back in 09 on Phil's thread when he first broke into the 11's.

Amazing, my shop has a 14b project that is into high 10's but the engine set up is far from stock, the fact that your engine is so close to being "blueprint" and the car is still pulling 11.75 is amazing.

 

[Phil1320]

That is a sweet vid! Lots of hoppity hop hop out of the hole though...

 

[1qkfwd]

Got a new video from a friend who was at the track:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jvxewx9BC1g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Shes pretty

Takes off like a jackrabbit hahaha.

It is funny as hell.

Lightweight brakes front and rear, with staging brake would be optimal. Dumping the e-brake assembly would be great. But, that's some big cheddar right there. Guess you have to weigh the cost against what you think your improvement will be. But, you're at the point where there's no more free weight loss, so, pick your poison.

My immediate thought for weight was crash beams. A quick 75-80 lb. loss.

If funding is there next year im going to do the front upgrade for sure. Its money but will serve two things, should stop better and the weight reduction. Well three things they look sick as F@*K

Thanks for sharing the video! Nicely done

So, Phil and I were talking and I joked about a "Where are they now" type of post for this thread. So many have come and gone and never posted that they accomplished anything. I did not make the post since I didn't want to cause any bad blood/negativity since we've had enough of that already. Part of me was poking a little fun, but also I am curious as to the status of a few of the projects that poked in. Now to my point, I knew there was a post from someone that said they had already ran 10's. I just couldn't remember who had said it and when or where. I finally found it! It was posted back in 09 on Phil's thread when he first broke into the 11's.

Hahaha I think I remember reading that. I know of a build that is not going for the record anymore. Think aluminum and meth

 

[Phil1320]

Thanks for sharing the video! Nicely done

So, Phil and I were talking and I joked about a "Where are they now" type of post for this thread. So many have come and gone and never posted that they accomplished anything. I did not make the post since I didn't want to cause any bad blood/negativity since we've had enough of that already. Part of me was poking a little fun, but also I am curious as to the status of a few of the projects that poked in. Now to my point, I knew there was a post from someone that said they had already ran 10's. I just couldn't remember who had said it and when or where. I finally found it! It was posted back in 09 on Phil's thread when he first broke into the 11's.

Ok, now that you post it up, I do remember that!

 

[SBstar]

That's what my launches looked like at the shootout! The one in-car video shows it best.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDfebc0011Q]SBStar at the 2013 DSM Shootout - YouTube[/ame]

From looking at the outside videos and a few pics the rear squatted too hard and the front lifted to much, hopefully setting things stiffer will resolve a lot of that.

And yes, I saw that the methanol drinking aluminum 14b contender has moved on to different pastures. Spoonman's shop car was supposed to drink methanol too, must be something in that mixture.

 

[1SloEvo]

Shane....get rid of all that weight in your car. Who needs carpet or the stripped down dash panel?

 

[Phil1320]

Just of note, I recently was notified of a possible new 14b effort that may get track time before the season ends. I'll leave it at that as I don't want to steal anyone's fire. I'm sure if anything notable takes place he'll post up here as he is a dsmtuners member.

 

[SBstar]

Shane....get rid of all that weight in your car. Who needs carpet or the stripped down dash panel?

Gotta have a little class! The carpet weighs 1 lb total, and getting rid of the dash would save 5 lbs at this point. I can find that weight elsewhere and removing it at the very end would make zero difference in ET or mph !

Just of note, I recently was notified of a possible new 14b effort that may get track time before the season ends. I'll leave it at that as I don't want to steal anyone's fire. I'm sure if anything notable takes place he'll post up here as he is a dsmtuners member.

Interesting, considering how many cars run 14b's in general there are lots of them. But, for you to mention this one I'm now interested in what kind of setup is being thrown out there! Can you let on if it's fwd or awd?

 

[Phil1320]

AWD AT

 

[1qkfwd]

Just of note, I recently was notified of a possible new 14b effort that may get track time before the season ends. I'll leave it at that as I don't want to steal anyone's fire. I'm sure if anything notable takes place he'll post up here as he is a dsmtuners member.

I like hearing this. Glad to see more people wanting to give this a shot.

 

[ArcticTsi]

Happy to finally have the 11 second monkey off my back, not to mention a new personal best on any car/setup (previous was 11.82 @ 123 on my S258 T3 setup on pump with my '90 TSI beater). I'll get the slips scanned and upload the vids tomorrow and post them up.

Congrats Steve! I have not been on here in some time. Just retired from the military and now getting ready to put the Talon back in storage again. When, I get situated and have some new found down time, maybe I'll dust her off again to get here deeper into the 11's.

Keep it up guys, the DSM community has some awesome people in it.

Later,
Jose
aka ArcticTsi

 

[1qkfwd]

That's what my launches looked like at the shootout! The one in-car video shows it best.

SBStar at the 2013 DSM Shootout - YouTube

From looking at the outside videos and a few pics the rear squatted too hard and the front lifted to much, hopefully setting things stiffer will resolve a lot of that.

And yes, I saw that the methanol drinking aluminum 14b contender has moved on to different pastures. Spoonman's shop car was supposed to drink methanol too, must be something in that mixture.

Never got a chance to watch the inside launch til now. GEEZ!!!!!! Talk about toss you all around. What rpm are you launching at here? Doesn't even sound like your in the two step long enough to build full boost. BUT its working to an extent. Looks like some of us need to get a bit more aggressive on the launch.

 

[SBstar]

That was at 6500 I think but was a very poor launch 1.5x something. Think that was a 11.4 pass as well.

 

[SBstar]

Went out to Martin last night to try to learn some new things and more then likely finish up the season.

Changes to the car have been the FP manifold (on loan), new BR8ES plugs (the change to non-projected), stiffened up the suspension settings front and rear significantly, and added 1 degree of timing to the upper rpms and pulled 2% fuel across the board.

The weather was cool, 58-62* which was nice for some cooler intake temps I'm sure.

First pass the launch felt pretty weak and was with a 1.52 60'
Ran a 11.22 @ 120.42 - New mph best and broke the 120 barrier!

Second pass I tried dumping the clutch too fast and literally dumped it. Jackrabbit out of the hole, decided to let off after 3rd gear.

Third pass I knew it was the last one so I tried hard to get it closer to "right".
1.49 60' (good not great)
11.15 @ 120.87 - Backed up that 11.14 well and 2.5 mph faster then that run.

So no new best ET for the car, but at least I got some new mph out of it and learned a little bit. The stiffer suspension definitely helped, I just need to dial in my left foot more for next year.

Plans now are to get over to Force to see Tyler about slapping it on the dyno and seeing what she makes. After that I need to start figuring out the budget. I want to upgrade to V3 Link and I know I need the rollbar, 5-point, fire jacket, scattershield, and driveshaft loop. Hopefully I can get it all done before next season.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed, I really wanted at least an 11.0x pass to end the year, if not a 10.999. But, the season was a tremendous success for only 3 track visits. I learned a lot about the slicks, I know what is possible and what I have to work on. I gained .4 in the 1/4 over last year, and picked up 4 mph. Not bad.

 

[pneumo]

Wow! Shane that's just amazing!

 

[SBstar]

Wow! Shane that's just amazing!

Thanks Dave! Helps that the car was 2410 on the scales with me inside! I'm probably not quite at what your power level was, but I don't think I'm giving up too much. We'll see what the dyno says I suppose.

 

[1SloEvo]

Very nice Shane!! Congrats on the new MPH!! A low 1.4x 60' would've put you in the 11.0x range! As you mentioned, get the launch consistent and I think you'll be right on the edge of breaking into the 10s!