I went to the track for the first time tonight. I did not do anywhere near what I expected that I would do. My best time was 13.005. I could not seem to launch without crazy tire spin. I was surprised because I never spin like that when I go WOT on the street. My 60' time was 2.148, 330 was 5.677, 1/8 was 8.527, 1000 was 10.963, 1/4 was 13.005, and my mph was 108.66. I made 4 runs, and I tried different things to keep from spinning. I even left it in D on one run with traction control on. I still spun pretty bad and had a 13.220. I expected that there would be a learning curve, but I did not expect to be in the 13s. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

Ohhh.... and I did drive around the water and did a burnout. That even surprised me because when I did the burnout, I spun the tires until I finally let off the gas. There was no sign of the tires wanting to grip.

 

I had the same experience with the spinning.
Seems like I get better traction on the street.

Looking forward to the meet in Phoenix. Evan sez I can run his slicks. That ought to help!

 

the c3 pulley has massive low end torque!! i used the nitto 555r drag radials and spun them also but not as bad. you have the elements of low 12's , now you just need a tune and time on the track to learn how to launch the car and get the 0-60 times down to 1.6 or lower
it also depends on how the track was prepped. little prep means slicker track. and you have a black car. thats an addded 20 hp just on the color!! :}

 

Yeah, the track prep was bad. I went with Buggin, and a friend of his. They were having a tough time with traction also. Buggin has an SLK32, and his friend has an E55. That E55 is a pretty awesome ride. He had a 12.49 with no mods. Beautiful black car also.

So, I have Conti's on the car, which are not ideal for traction. I did not change the tire pressure. What would be the best air pressure to run at?

 

if you plan on taking your car to the track on a fairly reg basis i would suggest getting a cheap set of rears and mounting some dr's on them i can run my 555r's with 35 lbs to the track then drop the pressure to 20 psi and race. up the air and drive home

 

That is what I have been thinking...... There is a track that is only 30 minutes from me, and they have T&Ts every weekend that run through Dec. 12th. May just go ahead and make the investment in some DRs.

 

My best is 13 flat too. I always spin a little off the line but what really kills me is I spin in 2nd around 4000 rpm. I'm sure the car is a mid 12 car (I have a code3) but the driver isn't, yet.
Don't get discouraged. It's not nearly as easy as it looks.

Les

 

Thanks....And I was spinning in second also. I guess that I just don't understand why I would spin so much more at the track than I do while accelerating same way on the street. I will get it figured out, as I am officially bitten by the bug.

 

careful, it gets expensive from here on...lol...costs a lot of money to exterminate that "bug"....

 

I grumble about the track prep but then some turbo tercel puts down a 10 flat. Repeat after me .... real sticky tires, be they drag radials or slicks. I also think the Crossfire needs help with weight transfer to the rear, but I mostly race on a road course so I won't be experimenting with softening up the suspension. Did you notice at what rpm you shifted to 3rd? I data log and when I get wheel spin in 2nd the car shifts to 3rd. This usually happens around 4400 rpm. If I didn't have the data logger I don't think I would have realized what was happening. I'm sure if I ever get a good launch and if there's no spinning in 2nd I'll be in the mid 12's ... and you too. But that's a lot of ifs that I can't seem to overcome.

Les

 

Controlling the wheel spin is a hard training lesson. I launched lower, like 1000rpms, and didn't stomp it until I passed the lights and it seemed to help but temperature and track prep definitely make a difference. Some say warm your stock tires up a bit, some say don't do a burnout at all. I was doing a quick burnout to clean the tire and then staged. Tire pressure is a factor also, so stock is 36psi, I dropped to 32psi and will try a bit lower next time; I am not sure what psi is good for a stock tire at the track so maybe someone else has some suggestions.

 

remember jason you cant go to low on streets as the launch is capable of breaking the rubber off the rim. the dr's are what made the diff in our runs. im positive if you had dr's on our races would have been neck and neck nad it would have come down to who got the holeshot. i was launching at 1500 rpm and standing on it without tire spin in any gear until late in the night.

 

I tried from 18 lbs to 36 lbs. in the rear tires and my best results were with 30lbs in the dirvers tire and 28 lbs in the passenger. This is with PS2's. Yes, I even tried different pressures on each side. Now I'm running Pilot Sport Cups but I haven't be to the 1/4 mile with them. They spin real easy when cold. When they are hot, they really stick.

Les