My first real drag race

[Nightrage]

Last night as I was coming home from work, I wound up sitting at a red light next to some sporty looking car (he was on the passenger side). It was dark and as you all know, visibility is an issue in our cars. I couldn't figure out what he was in. He started revving and edging up to keep nose to nose with me. I saw him look at his passenger, then look back at me smiling and laughing. The light turned green and we took off. I annihilated him. I rolled down my passenger side window as we were driving and he told me he wanted to race again from a dead stop. I agreed. He revved at me while we were rolling and we went at it from a roll. I tore him up again. We made a U about 2 miles down the road as we didn't catch any lights. No cars were coming so we stopped dead. He counted to three and we took off. My tires spun all throughout 1st. It hit 5,500RPM's and I didn't want to redline it, so I shifted to 2nd and finally caught traction. I was only doing about 20MPH at this point as my car got no traction whatsoever. The car lagged like heck as 20MPH is hardly 2nd gear material. I made the mistake of flooring it off the line. Live and learn. He was ahead of me at this point but only by a car length since he didn't get traction either. My car finally picked up some speed and I cranked past him. I hit 70 and let off. The speed limit was 40 and I didn't want to cause or recieve any trouble for driving like a moron. He caught up to me and told me to follow him. We pulled into the Dunkin' Donuts up the road and chatted for a bit. I found out that he was driving a modded Integra. He had head work and a cam, plus the car was set up for a turbo which he said was going to be installed in the coming weeks. Him and his buddy seemed to know what they were talking about. They were nice guys. He said his car was running high 13's, mid 13's on a good day which I question. I took him by 2 car lengths or so. My car is basically stock aside from the intake and my crappy Flowmaster set up (which probably cancels out any performance gains I'd see from the intake ) so I doubt I'm in the 13's yet. All in all, it was a blast. I can't wait to get modded

Now that I think about it, shouldn't he have eaten me alive from a roll? He has less parasitic loss through his drivetrain and we both had traction at this point. I'm lost.

[Joe 1320]

Now that I think about it, shouldn't he have eaten me alive from a roll? He has less parasitic loss through his drivetrain and we both had traction at this point. I'm lost.

Probably not. An engine set up for a turbo but not yet having the turbo will likely be a dog. I doubt he was in the 13s without the turbo so IMHO you should have walked him.

[Nightrage]

I think he meant that he had everythig forged because he told me he was getting ready to replace all of the fuel lines and such. At least I think that's what he meant. Way to make me feel like crap, Joe

[Joe 1320]

He had head work and a cam, plus the car was set up for a turbo which he said was going to be installed in the coming weeks. .

That's the part I am talking about. a turbo grind performs best under boost. Without the turbo on there, he won't be making really good NA power. Still a good kill, but I seriously doubt that in NA form he is running mid 13s. You know how ricers are...... mid 13s to them means the track was only 1000ft long.

[Nightrage]

Now, if I add some suspension pieces for better traction, will it kill my rear end?

[Joe 1320]

Now, if I add some suspension pieces for better traction, will it kill my rear end?

That depends on how you drive it. High rpm clutch dumps with a sticky tire is going to break it quickly. If you leave at a reasonable rpm, let the engine accelerate the car and don't powershift it, it will likely stay together if you add a differential girdle and stronger bearing caps. At least that stuff will keep the case flex down to a minumum and give the internals some kind of chance.

[Nightrage]

I launch from maybe 2,500 RPM's. I'm deathly afraid of damaging my car too, so I'm not into power shifting or anything like that. I shift pretty darn quick as it is. I've been told it sounds like I'm driving an automatic. I was planning on getting the girdle, but what are bearing caps? I've never heard of them which is probably a bad thing. Man, now I want to go mod crazy lol

[Joe 1320]

Actually I should have been a little more specific about the bearing caps....... you would use studs on the stock bearing caps, the differential girdle has preload bolts that reinforce the bearing caps.

[casey02ws6]

I am sorry - I cannot get over the LT1>LS1 in your avatar - lol.

Nice kill

[Z Ya Later]

Bad Tom, bad. No soup for you lol

Nah, nice runs man . 2500 rpm seems a little high though for a clutch drop (hence the spinning tires all through first). Granted my gearing is different, but I've found that about 1500-1800 rpm works a lot better (slight squeal vs. spinning 1st). Try launching at a lower rpm and you should grab better out of the hole.









And get some mods lol

[Nightrage]

Well, I made the mistake of burying the gas pedal the instant I was completely off the clutch. I should have eased into it, then stomped on it when I was sure I had traction.

Tonight I ripped on it just for fun and maybe it's because I don't have as much experience as the other members of this board, but I think there's something strange about my car. Sometimes it seems to pull harder than others, even when the temperatures outside and under the hood are the same. At times, it even seems to lag off the line, yet it doesn't have any mechanical problems that I know of and the clutch still feels as tight as the day I got it. Also, tonight I was at about 5,500 RPM's in first and I think I was doing around 45 MPH. I was almost certain that this car would be at a higher speed by then. At 2,400 RPM's in 4th gear, I was at a steady 50 MPH. Is that right? I don't think anything was altered on my car as far as gearing goes, but for some reason I recall people telling me they were hitting 53+ in first. Could it be that they brought it higher in the RPM range? How high can we rev these things before problems start to occur? I've heard some people say that you can easily "float a valve" (not exactly sure what that means, but it doesn't sound promising) if you hit 6,000RPM's, then I've seen other people here talking about bouncing off the rev limiter with no problems. Sorry for all of the questions and my overall lack of knowledge. I really need to learn more about these cars. It's frustrating to be the novice around a bunch of guys that have been working with cars since they were old enough to turn a wrench. Thanks fellas.

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

Well, I made the mistake of burying the gas pedal the instant I was completely off the clutch. I should have eased into it, then stomped on it when I was sure I had traction.

Tonight I ripped on it just for fun and maybe it's because I don't have as much experience as the other members of this board, but I think there's something strange about my car. Sometimes it seems to pull harder than others, even when the temperatures outside and under the hood are the same. At times, it even seems to lag off the line, yet it doesn't have any mechanical problems that I know of and the clutch still feels as tight as the day I got it. Also, tonight I was at about 5,500 RPM's in first and I think I was doing around 45 MPH. I was almost certain that this car would be at a higher speed by then. At 2,400 RPM's in 4th gear, I was at a steady 50 MPH. Is that right? I don't think anything was altered on my car as far as gearing goes, but for some reason I recall people telling me they were hitting 53+ in first. Could it be that they brought it higher in the RPM range? How high can we rev these things before problems start to occur? I've heard some people say that you can easily "float a valve" (not exactly sure what that means, but it doesn't sound promising) if you hit 6,000RPM's, then I've seen other people here talking about bouncing off the rev limiter with no problems. Sorry for all of the questions and my overall lack of knowledge. I really need to learn more about these cars. It's frustrating to be the novice around a bunch of guys that have been working with cars since they were old enough to turn a wrench. Thanks fellas.

Your questions about speed vs. RPM are all dependant on gearing - transmission, rear end, and tire size. An A4 car, with a 2.73 rear may very well hit 53 mph at 5500 RPM. Personally, I was at 6,000 RPMs in 1st gear with my M6 and 3.42 rear. As far as speed vs. RPM, there is probably nothing wrong with your car.

As far as the stumbling and hesitation, that might be a problem, but I'll let someone else chime in on that since I'm no expert.

Float a valve is referring to the valve springs no longer being able to keep pace with the speed of the motor (RPM). The revs build too high for the springs to open and close the valve quickly enough, and what ends up happening is a valve hangs open when it should be closed... it's a good way to lose power, and it could potentially cause engine damage if the piston is on its way up on the exhuast or compression stroke while the valve is hanging open... SMACK!!

[Nightrage]

Thanks Jay!

What's the highest I can rev my stock motor without doing damage? That redline looks very tempting when I'm ripping on it, but I really can't afford to screw something up. If I do, I have no other way of getting around.

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

Thanks Jay!

What's the highest I can rev my stock motor without doing damage? That redline looks very tempting when I'm ripping on it, but I really can't afford to screw something up. If I do, I have no other way of getting around.

Redline should be fine. The rev limiter is in place to guard against these types of engine damage.

Where the rev limiter won't help you, is if you miss an upshift and accidentally downshift. In that case, the car will be forcefully put in a gear too low for tire speed... thereby mechanically over-revving the engine, even though the rev limiter has shut the fuel supply off.

[fastTa]

Well, I made the mistake of burying the gas pedal the instant I was completely off the clutch. I should have eased into it, then stomped on it when I was sure I had traction.

Tonight I ripped on it just for fun and maybe it's because I don't have as much experience as the other members of this board, but I think there's something strange about my car. Sometimes it seems to pull harder than others, even when the temperatures outside and under the hood are the same. At times, it even seems to lag off the line, yet it doesn't have any mechanical problems that I know of and the clutch still feels as tight as the day I got it. Also, tonight I was at about 5,500 RPM's in first and I think I was doing around 45 MPH. I was almost certain that this car would be at a higher speed by then. At 2,400 RPM's in 4th gear, I was at a steady 50 MPH. Is that right? I don't think anything was altered on my car as far as gearing goes, but for some reason I recall people telling me they were hitting 53+ in first. Could it be that they brought it higher in the RPM range? How high can we rev these things before problems start to occur? I've heard some people say that you can easily "float a valve" (not exactly sure what that means, but it doesn't sound promising) if you hit 6,000RPM's, then I've seen other people here talking about bouncing off the rev limiter with no problems. Sorry for all of the questions and my overall lack of knowledge. I really need to learn more about these cars. It's frustrating to be the novice around a bunch of guys that have been working with cars since they were old enough to turn a wrench. Thanks fellas.

You have the MN6 T-56 six speed transmision in your car. It has the following gear ratios:

1st: 2.66:1
2nd: 1.78:1
3rd: 1.30:1
4th: 1.00:1
5th: 0.74:1
6th: 0.50:1
Reverse: 2.90:1

So according to the math using a 275/40/17 (25.66") tire, if you were doing 45 MPH in 1st gear and the tach was showing roughly 5,500 RPM, that would equate to a 3.51 rear gear ratio. 50 MPH in 4th with the tach showing 2,400 RPM would equate to a 3.67 rear end.

Now obviously there are no such gear ratios available for the 10 bolt, but there are a 3.55 and a 3.73 available. You gave your indicated RPM's in likely rounded down numbers, so it's likely that your engine speed was actually a little higher which could be closer to a 3.55 or 3.73 rear end. It sounds to me like you may have an aftermarket ring and pinion with a numerically higher gear ratio.