very disapointed....

blueolds01 · 09-25-2007, 09:17 PM

okay so tonight i went to dragway 42...one of the local drag strips. i ran 4 times.

1)16.3098@85.53mph w/2.4169 60ft.
2)16.4280@85.27mph w/2.5149 60ft.
3)16.3248@83.38mph w/2.4449 60ft.
4)16.6317@83.37mph w/2.4940 60ft.

about 2 months ago i ran at norwalk and ran twice

1)16.293@84.44mph
2)16.338@85.34mph

i dont know what to think of this...i have 80k on the car. i thought alero's were suposed to run high 15's stock. i was lauching at about 2k rpm. should i try somthing else next time? tell me what you guys think.

blueolds01 · 09-25-2007, 09:34 PM

think the dhp would help much?

01silveralero · 09-25-2007, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueolds01

okay so tonight i went to dragway 42...one of the local drag strips. i ran 4 times.

1)16.3098@85.53mph w/2.4169 60ft.
2)16.4280@85.27mph w/2.5149 60ft.
3)16.3248@83.38mph w/2.4449 60ft.
4)16.6317@83.37mph w/2.4940 60ft.

about 2 months ago i ran at norwalk and ran twice

1)16.293@84.44mph
2)16.338@85.34mph

i dont know what to think of this...i have 80k on the car. i thought alero's were suposed to run high 15's stock. i was lauching at about 2k rpm. should i try somthing else next time? tell me what you guys think.

track prep sucked? if i had catback would have maybe 14.6

blueolds01 · 09-25-2007, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 01silveralero

track prep sucked? if i had catback would have maybe 14.6

track prep...what do you mean...the burnout...?

Mischief007 · 09-25-2007, 10:21 PM

Launch at idle as well. No point revving the car up.

blueolds01 · 09-25-2007, 10:46 PM

so its gotta be in the start....maybe ill go again next tuesday... this makes me mad.

[ion] C2 · 09-26-2007, 09:23 AM

track prep as in the gripping compound they lay on the track so you don't spin your wheels as you take off. did you have any wheelspin off the line?

Daytona · 09-26-2007, 01:04 PM

Yeah, your idle was WAY too high at launch, especially if it's an automatic. Our convertors flash at @ 1600-1700 RPM. By launching higher than that you are working against the convertor and it will result in slower ET's and trans trouble (just ask Redog about that).

Lower your front tire pressure a little (28 psi) and launch - regardless of manual or auto trans - at around 1400. Much more consistent launches and qicker ET's.

Your car could also be slower because of all of the mileage on the car. If it's all casual highway miles it'll wear differently (and more slowly) than hard driving in and around town. Plus keep all excess weight out of the car (60 CD's and a 10-CD changer in the trunk or massive speakers in the back, will add serious weight which slows cars down).

[ion] C2 · 09-26-2007, 01:14 PM

1400RPM eh? I thouht it was 2200, that's what I launched at last time I went and got terrible times. I'm going tonight so I'll take that into consideration and do a 1400-1600 launch. Also will have pressure around 28PSI. Will also have passenger/rear seats out, spare tire/jack, and it will be around 67 degrees and I'll be icing down the intake/supercharger before I run.

Daytona · 09-26-2007, 02:19 PM

No need to remove the seats, etc. unless you really want to.

And the trick behind auto trans launches is "banging the convertor", meaning launching a few hundreds lower RPM than the convertor is set for so that you aren't overpowering the convertor (higher than the convertor) or winding it out too long (ultra low RPM launch). It's more efficient & effective this way.

Ronnie who works the lanes at RP on Sundays taught me that trick years ago. He's an accomplished & respected NHRA Stock Eliminator racer and hasn't steered me wrong yet.

Redog used to launch way too high and ended up hurting his trans. Once he follwed my (Ron's) advice his ET's dropped significantly and his launches were much more consistent.

[ion] C2 · 09-26-2007, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daytona

No need to remove the seats, etc. unless you really want to.

i thought we want the least weight possible, and that the seats are somewhat heavy

Daytona · 09-26-2007, 02:38 PM

True. I guess I misunderstood your intention. When I normally refer to "removing as much weight as possible" I am usually meaning to drive the car factory-clean - meaning leave in seats, jacks, etc. and remove all superfluous jackets, CD's, books, etc.

If you do decide to remove everything else (or as much else as you can), remember that typically 100 lbs. = 0.1 seconds. Remove 175 lbs from the car and it should reduce your ETs by 0.175 seconds. I emphasis 'should' because where in the car you reduce weight makes a big difference. In our FWD cars you'd want to keep as much weight over the front tires by removing center & rear weight. Removing front weight certainly does help but if you remove too much from the front relative to the rest of the car's weight reductions you could make it harder for the tires to grip at launch. Don't know a good formula for you to determine how much is too much in the front. You'll need to figure that one out by trial and error.

One area most people forget is the gas tank. For FWD cars you'd want 1/4 tank or less in there for 2 reasons:
1) More gas = more weight, more gas weight = the greater the rear weight bias in the car (vs. the front). Plus when the gas swooshes in the tank under acceleration it pushes to the back, fourther accentuating the bias off the front tires as they try to grip.
2) it's lighter

[ion] C2 · 09-26-2007, 02:43 PM

Gotcha. I'll have 1/4 tank by the time I get there. Most all the weight I'm taking out is from the rear, so that's good. The weight of the s/c also adds more to the drive wheels. Wish meh luck, lookin for 14.99 or less.

Daytona · 09-26-2007, 02:58 PM

Good luck!

Also, most tracks have a weight scale somewhere near the return road. Try to weigh it if you can and then report the weight here - both with and without driver. That'll help us gauge the car for you.

blueolds01 · 09-26-2007, 03:02 PM

when i ran i took everything but the subs out...they weigh 50 maybe 60 pounds...i guess i should've taken em out. this car owned by a girl before me and she drove highway...and the funny thing is i got my lowest time with some else in the car at norwalk....lol. non of this is making sense, i lowered tire pressure, there was only a 1/4 tank of gas...is it me or the car?

Redog · 09-26-2007, 03:18 PM

16.3 is actually in range for a totally stock 3400 Alero.

Lauching at 2200 RPM's really doesn't help and kills the tranny. I blew a chuck off my tranny and it cost me $2 grand to fix.

Lower tire pressure to 28 ~ 25, lauch at 1000, do a decent burnout nothing too big but do it in 2nd gear. Drive the track in 3rd gear.

If you have an intake, remove the driver's side headlight for better airflow, but only if you have an intake.

The DHP will not help you much. It's one of those things that benfits you if you have a few mods. Intake and exhaust is always a good start.

Dump the spare, jack and your sub, run with 1/4 tank or less

blueolds01 · 09-26-2007, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redog

16.3 is actually in range for a totally stock 3400 Alero.

Lauching at 2200 RPM's really doesn't help and kills the tranny. I blew a chuck off my tranny and it cost me $2 grand to fix.

Lower tire pressure to 28 ~ 25, lauch at 1000, do a decent burnout nothing too big but do it in 2nd gear. Drive the track in 3rd gear.

If you have an intake, remove the driver's side headlight for better airflow, but only if you have an intake.

The DHP will not help you much. It's one of those things that benfits you if you have a few mods. Intake and exhaust is always a good start.

Dump the spare, jack and your sub, run with 1/4 tank or less

i have a 2.5" cat-back w/dual 40's and a wai. i just put on some kyb's (traction) and its got new plugs and wires....i acctually removed the headlight for the 2nd run...look were it got me.

01silveralero · 10-11-2007, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redog

16.3 is actually in range for a totally stock 3400 Alero.

Lauching at 2200 RPM's really doesn't help and kills the tranny. I blew a chuck off my tranny and it cost me $2 grand to fix.

Lower tire pressure to 28 ~ 25, lauch at 1000, do a decent burnout nothing too big but do it in 2nd gear. Drive the track in 3rd gear.

If you have an intake, remove the driver's side headlight for better airflow, but only if you have an intake.

The DHP will not help you much. It's one of those things that benfits you if you have a few mods. Intake and exhaust is always a good start.

Dump the spare, jack and your sub, run with 1/4 tank or less

ill admit this only time i ever ran 16.3 was with no third gear

blueolds01 · 10-11-2007, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 01silveralero

ill admit this only time i ever ran 16.3 was with no third gear

theres a confidence booster!

your trap speed was 87mph just like mine, if i got a better 60' could i get into low 15's?

Daytona · 10-12-2007, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueolds01

15.7@87mph w/2.34 60'!!! finally 15's. launched at 1000rpm, 60 out, no burnout. THANKS GUYS!

Congrats!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spilner521

These guys are talking about V6's. You have a 4 cylinder. That means your converter stalls at 2200-2300 rpms, not 1700 like theirs. Also, the transmission on the 4 cylinders shift at the 6500rpm redline everytime except going into 4th, but since you'll never reach 4th in a quarer mile at WOT, manual shifting above redline would be bad. As for leaving it in 3, it might be a good idea. Give it a try and see how it does, and launch at 2000-2200ish.

You are correct.