New worst track times

[Craig 94 TA GT]

I went to the last "Wed night drags" night of the year. I knew they wouldn't prep the track well, but I thought my Nittos would still stick. I also knew that it may not be a great idea because of my ongoing losing oil issue. My best run was several minutes from getting there, with the tires at 31 psi, still warm. The worst runs progressed as the night went on with tires at 18 psi. The problem was that I couldn't do a burnout to heat the tires. My brakes couldn't hold the car when I'd try to power brake. It would spin a little, move forward, wheel hop then move forward really quickly. So I was running on cold, unclean drag radials. I don't know what that was about, but I had brake problems in the past and will update that post. It was a sad night for me, and everyone. 60 foot times for me ranged from 2.2 to 2.5.

A brand new SS dialed in at 13.6 - he couldn't get better than that. Another new SS ran in the 14s all night. From what I remember: bolt-on 1999-2004 GTs were dialing in around 14.0 to 14.6 (they were optimistic about the 14.0 and even admitted it as most ran 14.4-14.6), LS1s (from bolt-on to stock) were around 13.6 to 14.2, a blown new GT was running 13 flat, new Infinity G35 (or 37?) running 14.9, '03-'04 Cobras running 12.9 to low 13s.

My best run was (which is my worst time ever prior to last night, be):
60: 2.2 (estimated - they didn't have that, but it's real close)
330: 5.445
660: 8.274 @ 87.591
1000: 10.735
ET: 12.819@111.391

On the drive home, I noticed I lost my cooling now - another post I've been dealing with. I think that this almost confirms everyone's suspicions. If I have a hairline leak of oil into the coolant, it could lose its heating properties or sludge up the heater core. 5 WOT runs may have accelerated the process, reaching a peak around 6400 RPM.

[Joe 1320]

It's possible that only the headgasket is bad. Normally when the fire ring cracks, it does so around the formed lip. Some fluid may be going into the combustion chamber while oil could mix with the coolant.

do yourself a favor and don't drive it any further. Pull the heads and check gaskets.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

That's what I was afraid of
I'm talking to the engine builder to see if he'll do something - at least check it out.

The good thing is that I gained some trap speed since the last track visit, which means hp isn't decreasing. I still expect the setup, once fully tweaked, to run around 113, but not much more because of the baby smog cam and smog exhaust setup.

Here are a couple videos of the night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgghWcW87BE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYkSWkogP1E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh_bexyGNC8

[ConElite]

What elevation is this?

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Pretty close to sea level...I think around 100 feet. The conditions for hp were pretty good that night, but for traction, it was a nightmare. That's why everyone was super slow.

My biggest problem was that the brakes couldn't hold a brake stand so I couldn't clean or warm up the tires. The last run against the LS1 was horrible with approx a 2.5 60'. He dialed in at 13.5, I dialed at 12.7...had the traction been optimal, I'll bet he would have dialed around 13.0 and I would have 12.0 or even 11.9.

Your closest track is Fontana right? That's about 1000' elevation?

[Joe 1320]

My biggest problem was that the brakes couldn't hold a brake stand so I couldn't clean or warm up the tires.

Have you tried regular brakes plus full lock on the parking brake? I found that usually works on automatics.

[Trash man]

Have you tried regular brakes plus full lock on the parking brake? I found that usually works on automatics.

Joe - wont the parking brake attempt to hold the rear wheels from spinning? i kno that works on FWD cars.

[Joe 1320]

Yes. I use that after heating the the crap out of the tires during a regular burnout. Maybe I misread his explaination.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Sorry, I wasn't clear....what I meant was that I couldn't heat the tires, or hardly spin them because when I'd try to spin the tires when holding the brakes, it would move forward, wheel hopping. I would assume lousy brakes would be the cause, or possibly way more pad on the rear than the front...which is my current situation. I would think that the front calipers are already pushed forward and don't retract unless you c-clamp them back, but I don't know about brakes that much. Maybe they start in the same position, and since the thicker rears allow for less movement, the fronts only clamp on the rotor so far?

Here's a perfect example of what happened that night...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTT8gLD2rI8

Right after I backed up, I was standing on the brakes, as you can see, pressing on the gas didn't spin the tires, but the whole car wheel hopped and shuddered forward. In March at the drag strip, all I needed to do was stand on the brakes, and hit the gas..the rear wheels could spin all day without the car moving. However, that was with different, worn rear pads.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Get a line lock. You may have more brakes and traction than power and it is hard on the rear brakes and drivetrain to do burnouts like that with the brakes applied. I know a lot of guys do it that way, especially with stock cars, but if you like going to the track, at least get a line lock and do a proper burnout. If you get a line lock and still can't do a burnout, then either you already have great traction or there isn't enough water or your engine is weak or something is slipping.