need some suggestions (1/4 mile times)

[3gboricuaRACER]

ok, I went to the track for the first time in my life and did really bad. I got beet by a stock civic ex that i beet like five times at the street races. I got a 3g lx-i wit cai, advanced timing, 2 1/4 exhaust w/ high flow cat, fully stripped from drivers seat back.

My times were 18.4, 18.5, and 18.9. My best r/t was like 1.200. And I would launch at like 4500 rpms.

whats the normal 1/4 mile time for my car, wit a good driver.

I mean on the street, I just beet a gti 1.8t .<--- (bad driver)

But on the track my car runs shitty. Some tips please.

[mag_pbg]

I would say work on your reaction times, and is it a automatic if so try starting out in D2 then work your way and keep down shifting into D3 for additional speed bursts. If you have a manual, work on getting the shifts just right. CAI, and some exuast is good, but it doesn't really give you a whole lot of HP boost. Just keep mod'n the car and work on a few things and you should be able to get your times down, oh and if I remember correctly www.car-stats.com rates a 86 Honda Accord LX-i at 17 sec. stock

[Gregg86DX]

What was your trap speed? Your r/t was 1.2, but what is considered a perfect r/t?

[3gboricuaRACER]

No, my car is manual. I guess I had a bad launch because when i raced the ex, he did 17.2 and I did 18.4 but we both got the same mph (77mph)

[86LXItooFAST4me]

isnt like .250-.600 perfect reaction? i think its like .650 but im not sure. i know it somewhere around there.

[88LXiHB]

REACTION TIME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ET!!!!!

You could sit at the tree for an hour, and you time STILL wont start untill you trip the first set of beams on your roll-out.

When I go to the track, I sit there untill I'm ready. I'm king of 1 second plus RTs, but they play no role in my ET, so I make sure my revs are right and everything before I leave. Don't get rushed by the tree, it's all about YOU.

Trap speed vary from car to car, 77mph is slow, but I'm betting that's all your car has in it, dont worry about it.

Do you have a copy of the slip you can post/type up? 60' / 1/8th / 1/8mph are better indicators than RT and ET...




BTW, perfect lights are .500 for the sportsman, and .400 for the pro tree, I THINK.

[sporkHSP]

if stock rating is 17s than i would say you got some work to do with the shifting... another thing to remember is that the 3gee powerband is alot lower (around 3000-5000 in my experiences) than a civic powerband is, you may be losing time and power if you rev too high in all your gears.
if you only trap at 77 mph you can hit that in 3 gears, but if you shift quick enough, you can use as many as you want... its better to use 4 whole powerbands than 3 whole gears IMO.

[88LXiHB]

if stock rating is 17s than i would say you got some work to do with the shifting... another thing to remember is that the 3gee powerband is alot lower (around 3000-5000 in my experiences) than a civic powerband is, you may be losing time and power if you rev too high in all your gears.
if you only trap at 77 mph you can hit that in 3 gears, but if you shift quick enough, you can use as many as you want... its better to use 4 whole powerbands than 3 whole gears IMO.

The Accord ran 17s 18 years ago, I hope you don't think that they're all still good for that...

[AccordEpicenter]

man i always say stuff when people get into this argument... My accord with some weight reduction is running probably high 15s-16 flat (last run i made was 16.2 at the track... but ive made some improvements since then) and im still using a modded stock air intake and a stock exaust with no muffler... misc small mods and tuning tricks (the car only weighs about 2480 race ready) stock engine (with a light knock sound... maybe a wrist pin, or piston slap... not sure) on my 132k mi stock engine... which i have beated the loving piss out of for 50 of those 130k miles... perfect reaction on a sportsman tree is .500

[sporkHSP]

i have 90,000 miles on my car, with EFI i would hope to god that i could get 17 second times in it. and with mods into the 16s. i know my times in the sedan are higher becasue of the carburator, but im willing to bet i would be running the same times i would have run in the 80s, or better on my engine.

[RobbyKlotz]

around here since we are NHRA sanctioned .000 is considered perfect on either tree, they just set it to .500 or .400 in the tower. I worked at a drag strip as the computer operator for 2 years

[3gboricuaRACER]

Well, when I'm running, Ill launch at like 4500 rpm and Ill keep spinning tires for like almost 5 seconds. I know that has to be killing me. And I throw all me gears at like 6800 rpms. Am I loosing power when I do that. At what rpms should I throw my gears. Im a good shifter, I just dont know when to do it.

Oh, and when I saw that timeslip I threw it away becuase I was really disappointed.

[Gregg86DX]

Well, when I'm running, Ill launch at like 4500 rpm and Ill keep spinning tires for like almost 5 seconds. I know that has to be killing me. And I throw all me gears at like 6800 rpms. Am I loosing power when I do that. At what rpms should I throw my gears. Im a good shifter, I just dont know when to do it.

Oh, and when I saw that timeslip I threw it away becuase I was really disappointed.

Ok, so you know the 5 seconds of tire spin is killing you, so don't do it. Some tire spin is ok, to keep the motor up in it's power band, but you basically only want enough to keep the car from bogging. Try launching at 4000, or 3500, or 3000, etc...

You're way past your power band at 6800 rpm, try shifting at 6000 and see what happens, then try 6200, 5800, etc...

See the pattern? Practice, practice, practice, and try different things. That is how you improve.

Watch other people's trap speed and compare it to their ET. Really good drivers with a properly set up car will get lower ET's with slower trap speeds. They make their time on the launch and good driving. Find people that are trapping around your speed and check their ET. This should give you an idea of what your car can do.

Gregg

[NXRacer]

REACTION TIME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ET!!!!!

You could sit at the tree for an hour, and you time STILL wont start untill you trip the first set of beams on your roll-out.

WTF are you smoking?? Of course it has something to do with your 1/4 mile time. Why else would they do it?? Some pro drags are lost by a 1000th of a second on the tree. Your ET time is started as soon as the light turns green.

[88LXiHB]

WTF are you smoking?? Of course it has something to do with your 1/4 mile time. Why else would they do it?? Some pro drags are lost by a 1000th of a second on the tree. Your ET time is started as soon as the light turns green.

You've got to be kidding me.


*EDIT with usefull info rather than hatred.*


The timer only starts once your front tires leave the starting line and the Stage beam is re-connected. It does NOT start when the green light comes on. Because of this, reaction time does not in anyway effect your ET. To repeat that, the R/T timer stops when the Stage beam re-connects and the ET timer starts when it re-connects....never the two shall meet.

[86LXItooFAST4me]

HIT'EM NX!!! HIT'EM!! yall are great, just passes my day by here at the ol' suck ass job.

[Gregg86DX]

You've got to be kidding me.


*EDIT with usefull info rather than hatred.*


The timer only starts once your front tires leave the starting line and the Stage beam is re-connected. It does NOT start when the green light comes on. Because of this, reaction time does not in anyway effect your ET. To repeat that, the R/T timer stops when the Stage beam re-connects and the ET timer starts when it re-connects....never the two shall meet.

Yep, and along the same lines, the ET means nothing in heads-up racing. The person that crosses the finishline first, wins. It's very possible to run a slower ET, but still win the race, because you caught the other guy sleeping at the line.

Gregg

[3gboricuaRACER]

Ight Im going to keep on tryig because thats crazy 18.4, if I do those times again, I going back to the track until I get a well amount of money into that motor.

[88LXiHB]

Yep, and along the same lines, the ET means nothing in heads-up racing. The person that crosses the finishline first, wins. It's very possible to run a slower ET, but still win the race, because you caught the other guy sleeping at the line.

Gregg

That's the beauty of it, I never said it didn't help you win, I just said it played ZERO role in your acctuall ET.

I'm not saying don't ever worry about your R/T, cause it can save your ass, but it's not like the lower it is, the faster your ETs are...

[A20A1]

I flat out got a better E/T then a civic but he beat me across the line because I waited... I gave him too much af a head start I guess.

[sporkHSP]

. I know that has to be killing me. And I throw all me gears at like 6800 rpms. Am I loosing power when I do that.

ummm correct me if im wrong, but arent you past redline at 6800... definatly need to shift sooner you and your car will like it alot more... please

[88LXiHB]

I flat out got a better E/T then a civic but he beat me across the line because I waited... I gave him too much af a head start I guess.

Yeah, unless you know your car has the trap speed to catch him, get out sooner.