Just got back from the track a short time ago.

History:

Second time at the track. I also used many of the ideas recommended to me.


Test results:

(my two best)

60' 2.254
1/8 9.253
1/4 14.182
mph 97.83


60' 2.46
1/8 9.459
1/4 14.380
mph 99.56

Impressions:

Damned hard to get off the line!

Recommendations and Comments:

You all tell me.


Anyhow, I didn't squeal the tires much, if any, getting off the line. The other couple of times I run, the times were 14.4 or so. Funny,,,,,,but after every damned run, I FELT like I had made the 13's. The feeling I had, when I got my time slip, was the SAME EXACT feeling I had when, as a child, I would open up my grandmother's Christmas present to me and see those cursed fruit of the looms staring back at me. After each run, I just KNEW that I was gonna get me one of them 13's. What I have learned tonight is.......... it is HARD to cut, even a little bit, off your time.

Interesting story. When I got to the track tonight, I met up with a guy there who also had an SRT-4. His was blue. He told me, prior to us running, that he had stage one and the mopar blow off valve. He also has, get this, some kind of drag street tires on his car, and he said that those tires help him launching the car. He had me feel of his tires, but I couldn't tell they felt any different than mine, but he said they were a lot stickier.

Sooooo,,,,,,we raced, and as luck would have it, we raced each other, and as FATE would have it, I got my *** handed to me. He ran a 13.955 with a 98.69 trap speed. Now,,,,on the surface, a 14.1 and a 13.9 APPEAR to be pretty close, but, well, let's put it this way, his tail lights weren't tinted. I got a pretty damned good look at them.

He was a nice guy and we had a good time. I'm sure he had a better time, since he was drubbing me. I guess I need to get stage one, if I ever want to get to the 13's. Something else, I've seen magazines where people test our cars and they get them into the 13's. Well,,,,,I will tell you this, if someone can drive my car into the 13's, then they are a helluva driver. I made several runs, and the 14.1 was the best I could do. I don't see how it could be done with my car. I felt like I did everything right. The only mistake I made was forgeting to lower the pressure in the front tires. Well,,,,I also wonder if I was too cautious getting off the line. I didn't want to spin the tires, but that may have caused me not to be aggressive enough.

Also met a guy there who had a ford lightening pick up. The only thing he had done on it was to change the pulley, and he run a 13.2. Wow.

Hmmm,,,,,,what else? Oh well,,,,had a great time doing it, but then again, I have a great time going to the grocery store. The weather was cool, but not cold, and the humidity was high. Overall, I think it was good weather for running a car. Oh, I did beat a honda dx! It had drag tires on it, too. It was nice to win one, even if it was a honda.

I might have lost tonight because I was carrying extra weight. I was carrying Sandy with me.

 

congrats on the border 13!!!!!

 

I am new to the SRT ...but it sound like your doing great!.... 2nd time to the track and 14.1 ? Sounds good to me!
Stage 1 adds 10 HP and the special tires help allot from what I have read...

Questions:

Are you completely stock?
Did you WOT ( wide open throttle ) shift?
What RPM did you shift at?
What RPM did you launch at?
How was your launch? wheel bounce ?
Do you have a short throw shifter? Motor mounts?
Did you keep an eye on your PSI where did you spike and maintain?

 

Thanks for the comments! First let me say that I had several people on here giving me advice on how to do it, so that helped a lot.

In response to your questions:

1) Hmmm,,,,,I *guess* I am completely stock. I have lowering springs. I am pretty sure that that isn't a performance modification. Soooo,,,,since I do have the springs, then I am not completely stock.

2) No, I did not WOT. I thought about it, but I felt that doing it would be kind of hard on the car. Instead, I tried shifting as fast as I could. And trust me, with our shifters, that ain't no easy task.

3) I tried shifting just in front of redline. I noticed, one time, in coming from 3rd to 4th, that I shifted right at redline.

4) I launched at about 2200 rpm's. However, that fluctuated some, because you are trying to watch the tree and make a good jump and all, but for the most part, I was right in that area.

5) My launch *seemed* okay. If I had it to do again though, I would launch a little more aggressive. I never really had wheel spin getting off the line. I never had wheel hop. If anything, I think I should have dropped the clutch a little more and not feathered it quite so much. I wonder, if I had done that, if I might have been able to hit the 13's. I really thought I had them. The car seemed to bog down too much off the line. I had read somewhere to try and launch the car like you would in regular driving. And maybe that works for high performance cars, but for mine, I really think I could/should have been more aggressive.

6) Nope,,,,no motor mounts, no STS....no anything....just the lowering springs.

7) Do I keep an eye on the PSI???? LOLOL.....No....I couldn't even watch that. I was busy looking at the track, tach and the other driver. Oh,,,,,something else I learned. NEVER focus on what is going on with the other driver. That distracted me soooooo much. Just focus on what is going on in your car. And honestly, even if I wanted to watch for the spike, I don't think I could have and been effective at making a decent run.

I wish I had remembered to lower the tire pressure before running, but when I arrived at the track, there was only one hour left to run. Overall, I can't tell you I was pleased, because it irriates the hell out of me how drivers from magazines car drive a car better than I do, when I own the freaking thing. But, like I said, I had a good time, and ultimately, that's what it is all about.

Hope that helps give you some information on things that might help you.

 

for your second time out, a 14.1 is good! it's that 60' that's killing you. get that sucker down to a 2.1 and you'll have a high 13 no problem! that's what my problem was too, i was doing 2.2-2.3 60' and couldn't break a 14.1 to save my life. then i figured out how to launch and started wot shifting, and a 2.1 60' took me to a 13.8@101. it's doable, just takes some practice.

try launching from a lower rmp and slip the clutch. on stock tires launching from about 1800 always worked for me, kept the wheel hop down and allowed me to get some traction. play with it a little, every car is different.

 

Yea I appreciate it!

This is not advice because I am a new guy so please dont take it as such ... but I read allot and here is just some information you probably already know.

WOT I read -drops the time...probably not good for the car...these guys in the magazines are professionals and they dont own the cars so my guess is they are WOT shifting all the way!

I also read from someone on this forum not to floor it...as the extra gas just boggs the engine out with too much gas...so not sure who is right WOT or Dont floor it??? Seems for everything someone says there is a conflicting opinion...

Here is my experience (lack of experience..ha ha ) I cant launch at over 2000+ RPM I become a kangaroo! I have read allot that the sweet spot is 1500 to 1800 rpm ...this allowed me to launch much faster on the street...without bounce ...not sure why your not getting bounce?

My 100% stock car spikes at around 15 does yours when you are driving around and practicing launching etc? ...just asking because alot of people talk about the main cause for performance loss as boost leaks... I doubt you have that problem due to your 14.1 run ...but you mentioned bogging out...

Thanks for the information!

 

Hmmm,,,,I see. My 60' time averaged in the 2.3 range. I know what you are saying, but it is tough to get it less than that.

Okay,,,,,so when you say "slip" the clutch, does that mean the same thing as "feather" it? I never tought about lowering the RPM's. I was thinking that I should have gone higher, because of not spinning. Interesting. I will try the 1800 launch next time. The only thing I am confused about is what you mean by "slipping" the clutch. I don't see how you high horsepower people launch your cars as well as you do. Just amazes me.

Thanks for the advice!!

 

it's actually easier to launch once you start changing tires. it's a hundred times easier to launch on slicks then it ever was on street tires! dr's are even easier. i much prefer slicks to radials.

when i say "slip" the clutch i mean pretty much just that. don't dump it. when you go to release the clutch just kinda ride it a little. not a whole lot, but give it a smooth release rather than just ripping your foot off the petal. feathering is also a necessary evil when on street tires. you're going to spin or hop a little no matter what you do, so feathering will allow for the tires to catch traction. once you get traction, plant your foot on the gas petal and don't move it until you break the 1320 lights! remember too, that once you get through first you only need to engage the clutch about half way to switch gears.

i've never heard of anyone suggesting not to go full throttle, that's kinda silly.

 

Well your right there knocking on the door. You can be happy. 14.1 is respectable. Your mph is even better than my best. I have a few ideas about why my mph was not so good but thats for another thread. The mph you ran though, indicates you have enough engine for a 13. It is just the 60 foot part that's letting you down. What I find curious is the statement you made about the bog and how you were not really spinning the wheels. I don't know for sure what to make of that. If I leave at 2200, I'm gonna blow the tires right off the car and/or be wheel hopping badly. My guess is you were slipping or feathering (same thing) the clutch a little too much and maybe subconciously getting out of the gas a little. It's good that you did not spin the tires, but I feel you were going a little easy on the car. This car, if running right, has no problem spinning the tires. That was my worst enemy. I kept backing down the launch rpm till I got almost no spin and my best e.t. and that ended being at about 1500 rpm.
BTW, I hardly ever WOT -ed either. the couple of times I did, I got a very loud POP! or BANG! from my exhaust. I did not sound good so I kept working on shift w/lift as fast as possible and it worked ok for me. Overall, sounds like you did everything pretty close to perfect. You just have to "hone" it a little more.

BTW-magazine writers drive - a lot. They should be better than most.
- the pulley change on the Lightning would increase his boost significantly-one advantage of having a super vs turbo charger.

Any plans to get back to the track again this year? I know we have one weekend left before the track closes for the winter here.

 

Yeah PSI it is silly and does not apply to our cars or especially stock ones. But I have heard of such a strategy used on a modded T-type. I believe it was a way to "drive around" another problem resulting from not so well sorted mods. It had to do with a lean condition caused by either marginal injectors combined with too much boost and a very large throttle body or some limitation in fuel delivery whereas the driver could actually get a little more out of his car by backing out of the gas at some point going down the track causing a richening of the mixture.
Like I said, does not apply to us.