posted 05-17-2003 12:17 AM                  

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Tonight "C5Frank" and I ran our Prowlers at Moroso's open drag strip night. I ran my best time ever, despite the 80% humidity. My best time was a 15.018 sec @ 87.77 mph. My 1997 Cat has a stock engine (214 HP) and MTD Air filter.

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quote:

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....and it breaks the tires loose when you nail the throttle without the nitrous!!!

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So... here is a got to read about the strip: The Land that Time Forgot!

And here is the dragstrip: Worlds Oldest Dragstrip Be sure to look at the old pictures for some of the early hot rodders - you will probably remember a few. I met Wally Parks here about 5 or 6 years ago!

The dragstrip is at an altitude of 2454 feet and they race the old fashioned way, at the airport! That suites me just fine, the last time I ran down a dragstrip, they still had flagmen!

So, the first race...I lost to an SRT w/turbo charger. Man, lost to a dang Neon!!!!

code:

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            Him              ME
Reaction:  .183            .428
I1         2.539          2.314
I3         9.600          9.885
MPH(I3)   80.229         71.187
E.T.      14.627         15.362
MPH       97.120         89.033
Win Margin .981

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code:

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            Him              ME
Reaction:   .278           .355
I1         2.675          2.371
I3        10.103          9.973
MPH(I3)   75.526         70.835
E.T.      15.205         15.472
MPH       97.107         89.607
Win Margin .344

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The third run I won. It was a disaster! My dealer was there and was taking pictures of me, so that was a little distraction, but I really blew staging. I made what I though was a perfect staging. I was staring at the staging lights, patting myself on the back, completely spaced out! The I saw a black blur in my peripheral vision. I 'woke up', saw the last yellow go out and stabbed it. Tire spin really excessive, the back end even moved a little to the left. The black blur was the other car and was about a car length and a half ahead of me when I left the starting line.
When the tires finally grabbed the kcat took to pursuit and I caught him at about the 1/8 mile. At the traps, I saw him in my rear view mirror. Unfortunately, I don't know how I did on that run. When I got home and studied the time slips, I found I had two slips for the second run. The win was bitter sweet, because the car was a small car, like a Honda Civic (never really took a good look at it, so I'm not sure - just that it was small) I had a ball, but I wish I could have done a little better.

posted 05-17-2003 07:41 AM                  

sounds like you had a great time.

block-buster

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posted 05-18-2003 01:43 PM                  

First Run: 14.929/91.677
Second Run: 15.036/92.268

Gee, checking the ET/MPH, the longer I take, the faster I go!!

Now, some questions for those of you that are more experienced -

I did dead throttle take offs. If I built static in the torque converter, would I increase or decrease my tendency for wheel spin? I would think increase, but I haven't tried it.

If I ran 'out of the groove', would the street tires have a better chance to connect?

Does locking the tranny down into third have that much effect on ET?

PS don't suggest modifications, I don't have the spare cash. All improvements would have to be on technique.

posted 05-18-2003 08:15 PM                  

Did you hold the break and rev the engine to 1500-2000 rpm's before taken off?

How do you drive this cat on a daily basis? I've been told (and I could be wrong, please correct me if I am) that the computer calculates how you drive and shift your cat. More aggressive driving will result in a faster shifting tranny which may effect your 1/4 mile times? If this is true, "drive it like to stole it" and this may give you better times.

Can I recommend MTD air intake... stock air box chokes the cat... you have to let it breathe.

posted 05-18-2003 10:49 PM                  

Driving daily is best described as 'old lady'. Going to work, out of 15 minute drive, 10 minutes are spent stopped and idling. On the way home, 'old lady' again, but once off the base I do a short half throttle burst to 45. I turn off to home about three blocks later. Yeah, I know, not exactly high performance driving. I'm limited by speed limits and an aggressive military police force.

Also, at the strip, I didn't do any burnouts. The first run I did a polite quick spin in the burn out area. On the second and third run I drove around the burn out area.

I let the engine and tranny cool for about a half-hour between runs.

Does anyone know if removing the inserts from the tailpipe will improve the ET?

posted 05-19-2003 01:59 PM                  

Glad you had a good time...

You might try lowering your rear tire pressure to 23 lbs...

Also, even if you go around the burnout, try to spin your tires a little just to get any dirt or water off... It's not a case of heating up the tires (not needed for street tires). Just try and getting any loose trash of water from the previous cars going through that area...