I was out there over the weekend and again was stuck in the 14's when I should be a full second quicker and deep in the 13's. I've always heard that Trails is a slow track to begin with, but this is rediculous. And this time I have proof that it's not just me or my car as a friend of mine that went ran his stock '02 WRX and I watched other stock WRX's run as well and they are both turbocharged and intercooled as well as AWD and they were way off what they should be running. A stock WRX runs 14.4 - 14.6 on average and the ones out there were running 15.5 - 15.8 on average. My friends first few runs were 15.8's, then he listened to me and sprayed the intercooler with ice water and put a bunch of ice on it as well. This made a huge difference in his times, but still far from where he should be, he was then running 15.3's instead of 15.8's which is still a way from 14.4 - 14.6. I was running mid-low 14's when I should be running mid-low 13's and the launches are still a big problem, but I've improved them greatly and having a front mounted intercooler keeps me from being able to use ice like we did with his WRX. There was another SRT-4 with roughly the same mods as mine that had less weight and only managed a best of a very low 14.

The normally aspirated cars seemed to be far better off and less effected by the weather. There was a turbocharged and gutted 1st gen. Neon that spun it's tire 3/4 of the tracks length which was just neat. There were a couple STi's with tons of money in them running in the 11's and a full drag Pontiac Ventura that lifted it's front tires off the ground about a foot on launch running either 9's or 10's. It was great fun, but very disappointing for both of us since we were a full second behind what we should be running. We are now looking into going up to Norwalk since it is a far better and faster track, so we should be running what we should.

Here is the only pic I took with my throw away camera of our cars at the track:


[IMG]local://upfiles/193/683145A9742B44E9AE7CFBA2CA3088A5.jpg[/IMG]

 

i am also not a fan of NTR, which is why i stopped running the nationals, and i always disliked going there for the chrysler classics...i NEVEr run well there...as i am a bit slower than i am at keystone..i ran 12.68-12.71 at PRP, and 12.75-12.85 at NTR...last time that i was at NRP we had mechanical problems as well as an awful headwind and storms all weekend. hoping for a better outting with both cars this coming norwalk event.

look on the bright side, slow or not, you have a track nearby...the closest track to us requires a helmet for EVERY car...

 

What were your trap speeds?

 

Well the way that wind was blowing that weekend, you can bet it slowed you 1-2 tenths in the quarter. It wasn't the car.

 

They were from 95 to 99 MPH (on my slowest and only 95 + MPH run, it was 95.95 to be exact, I got out of it before the end and it was my quickest run up until that point which makes it worse since I might have broke 100 MPH and had a 14.1 finally) and my friend with his WRX only broke 90 MPH, 90.51 to be exact, once with the rest of his runs in the 80's, we iced the crap out of his intercooler to get his best times to the point that before we added the last batch of ice right before his best run, the intercooler was ice cold to the touch without the added ice. I never let my car cool down enough either like I wanted to, but I couldn't resist getting out there and running, it's just sooooo much fun. I really wanted to let it cool down at least once to where it was well below operating temperature and wait until the staging lanes were empty to get a really good run in. A few other SRT-4 guys I ran into previously had roughly the same results, the one has the same basic setup I do, but his brother has the same except he has Stage 2 w/toys and was running 13.2 - 13.3 and he was also running PT Cruiser steelies with solid mounts and stock style wider and taller BFG tires with low pressure, but I do not recall their trap speeds. The problem seemed to be universal and mostly noticed in the turbo cars, the less modified they were, the more it hurt them.

We will be going to Norwalk at some point to run there, since it's a great track.

 

well sounds like you had a bit of fun anyways



whats your RR run?

 

ill be at norwalk for the last CC event with the RT and the mirada...itll be my first time this season in the mirada, and second time in the RT

 

Weather depending, I may be there for that as well and might make a pass or two to see the difference. My dad will be up there with his Charger again as well. Will you two be attending the Nats?

My Roadrunner should be good for mid 12's, but the gearing may keep it in the high 12's. I would love to run it, but it probably wouldn't pass inspection as is to get it on the track.

 

we will be at the nationals watching only...and racing at norwalk

 

With any luck I'll be doing the same. Perhaps we can meet up at some point this time, I think it would be great to finally meet up with both of you and anyone else here that may be going. I might be out on Brice tonight, if so I'll be in the SRT-4 as I need to establish wether or not the Roadrunner is fit for driving (when I started it this past sunday it had a little problem with wanting to die when on the gas). I think it was just the ignition coil rotating in the bracket and grounding out or arching to the fuel line which I've had happen once before, it was dark and I didn't have time to check it out at that time. It could also be the fact that it hasn't been filled up in awhile and it could be rust from the gas tank in the fuel filter, both are simple 5 minute fixes. After fixing it I might take it to Brice on saturday night, it all depends on weather and the police.