sauceman

I had promised to my wife I wouldn't race until the warranty would be over, so now I'm free to race.

Over here, we have street drag nights, every friday nights, at the track of Sanair, close to my place.

So I showed up, and raced 3 cars:
1. Chrysler LHS (can you believe it?!): Well, it wasn't a race. I had forgot to turn off the VSA, so the car died on me at launch, but once I got going, he was finished. At the end I was looking at him in my side mirror.

2. Acura CL Type-S: Stick-Shift. I thought, OMG I am gonna get my ass whooped. Well believe it or not, it was dead even all the way to the end. So much that we don't know who won. But I can tell you guys I had a really good launch which saved my ass a little. Anyhow, I was really pleased with that race.

3. Acura 1.7 EL: 5 speed. That was a shameful race. I didn't pick on my size and there again wasn't a match, and I should have warned the guy who obviously didn't have a clue the TSX was a wee bit more powerful. Nevertheless, the guy was still smiling after the race and he was amazed with the TSX. Guess I got lucky he was a good guy!

Anyways, that was pretty much it for the evening, the waiting line was 30 minutes long, so I didn't have a chance to complete my list of cars that included a VR6, SE-R, as well as an H22 Accord.

Next time, I guess.

ABP-CL9-TSX

A list of good cars that showed up, record or take pictures of any of your runs and other people's runs?

I am planning on taking my TSX to the track again sometime in June. I had a blast last summer.

fdl

Suprisesd to here you kept up with a cl-s. Pretty impressive.

So was this a dragstrip? Do you have timeslips? Just wondering what your 1/4 time was.

I know sometime at these "street drag" nights they dont give time slips, but i think thats kinda :ghey:

sauceman

Yeah, they don't give timeslips on friday nights. Once a months, every last Saturdays, they will give timeslips, so I'll see then.

It is definitely gay, though, but I think if they did, they wouldn't have anybody at the tracks for the rest of they week-end. Plus, it only costs $5, so I guess you can't expect to have it all.

Agent Chen, I don't have a digicam, but I would like to buy one in Wilmington, Del. when I go down in NC for summer vacation, so maybe then I can post something.

ilitig8

Technique?

launch RPM, clutch drop or feather, power shift?

Vandy

Kanon23

what about for someone that drives AT?

ilitig8

Well I rekon:

Prior to the line, let the car warm to thermal balance, check the tire pressure (I will bet the TSX does best at 40psi, often people lower pressure on street tires, great for drag slicks, usually bad for street tires!), ensure you have no more than 1/8th tank of gas, make sure no extra weight is laying around (CDs, spare in the trunk, woofer boxes etc)

Get in line with the rest of the riff raff, and hope you aren't paired with a pro-street Rat motored Camaro

1. drive around the water trap
2. spin the tires a tad to clean them and pick up some traction compound if those ahead of you have used it
3. stage deep
4. brake torque until it is about to creep
5. brake off and on the gas when the last yellow comes on
6. shift the slush box when the revs hit red
7. marvel at the ET/trap
8. pick up the slip and realize how slow your RT was
9. check out the 60' time and consider how to spend your cash to get the car to hook quicker
10. get back in line, leave the car running, maybe with the hood up
11. repeat 1-10 until they shut the lights off

12. make excuses on the way home; think of what the fastest car you think you can convince your buds you beat; figure next week you can just run a 19.9 and erase the 1 from the timing slip and become a FWD god....

Well thats what I would do....

Vandy

PS FORGOT VSA OFF!

fdl

Vandy, I'd say thats just about dead on

accsuperstar

wow warranty over already. impressive!

i think i will head down to the track once i get some sticker rubber on just to see what i would run.

ilitig8

One thing I am confused about from the original thread, why wait until the warranty is over? I feel a WHOLE lot better running my cars while the warranty is in effect. Though I wouldn't suggest calling Acura for a tow while still sitting at the berm at the end of the track while some stewards are still collecting pistons and con rods and the rest are sweeping the kitty litter off the trail of vital engine fluids that lead from the trap right up to the engine bay of your mortally wounded TSX...

Vandy

ilitig8

You might want to rethink sticky rubber alone. From what I have seen the TSX has some wicked wheel hop with high RPM launches on OEM rubber, more traction will likely make this worse. We have a former world class Mustang driver on the M3 forums who runs a mid 12s in a basically stock M3, no wheel hop with 5k launches but drag radials gave him some nasty hop.

Vandy

Zapata

vandy,
is this the dude who ran a 12 something in a silver m3??????? People said it was stock....

sauceman

I was fortunate the track was pretty sticky, it was forgiving, but yeah, basically, rev at 3000-3500 rpm, don't quite dump it, but don't waste time either, NEVER let your foot off the gas until you are at the other end of the 1320, and powershift your way through. Shift at 7400rpm, not lower.

I was in 4th gear at about 146-147kph at the end.

And yeah, avoid the water trap, no need to heat the tires, they were ok, and they didn't hop. Tire pressure at 35psi. Weather at 22°C.

ClutchPerformer

ilitig8

Can't be sure its the same guy but I am betting it is. Lee has a timeslip/video documented 12.49 @109. The trick here to believing it is stock is the 109 trap, which is only about a mile or two an hour faster than most magazine lift shift runs, so the HP is right on stock. Although, I have been down the 1/4 and 1/8 enough times to drive from Miami to Seattle, Lee has probably run enough to circle the globe...a couple of times. His runs really are an amazing example of what the M3 is capable of. I wouldn't bet against Lee running a 14.5 in a stock TSX.

Vandy

Billiam

Out of curiosity, why would you advise deep staging? It has its purpose, but not really on a "run whatcha brung" night. Just my opinion.

Zapata

interesting and awesome. Is there a website Lee hangs out on?

ilitig8

Usually on run-what-you-brung nights you won't win or lose by a tenth of a second BUT the ET will be what you are looking for, on those nights for me ET is king so I am going for the edge on ET not crossing the line .1 quicker from green! On those night I am not even concerned with RT again just getting the best ET, so if I break the light a second after green it isn't a big deal if I took the extra moment to get my launch perfect its all about ET when the pairings are "out of the hat". I m just racing myself.

Vandy

ilitig8

Lee is quiet except for when he makes a new low ET run, but his exploits are related on M3forums.com

For the latest search 12.49

Vandy

dabuda

nice runs!

warranty expired? promise to wife? now i know why sauce put on so many miles in such a short time

sauceman

I was back at Sanair tonight for a little more action and fun. Got some for sure. The track was as slippery as it was stcky last weekend. It took me a couple of races to figure out how to launch the right way on a cold track. (5-6°C outside temp)

Raced 6 times:

1. Civic 96-99 with a B20 swap. Bad start, spun the wheels badly, and ended up 2 cars length behind, never could catch up, though I was following. Loss:thumbsdn:

2. Sentra SE-R with I/H/E. Better start, but couldn't follow, he was steadily moving away from me. Lost by 2 cars length.:thumbsdn:

3. Raced a pal from clubaccordquebec.com 91 Accord with H22 complete I/H/E, a probably a couple other things as well. Had a good start, he messed up, but caught up on me big time and won by a car's length. I don't want to imagine what it would have been if he had a good start. Loss :thumbsdn:

By now, I had figured that launching at 2500, let the cluch slip a certain amount was the way to go. The next launches were near-perfect, except for #4.

4. 88-91 Civic with a B16A1 with I/H/E, cams, etc. I forgot my VSA on! Hit the rev limiter in 2nd while looking for the damned VSA switch. Totally messed up the race. Still, I ended up only 1 car length behind. I wanted a rematch, but the kid didn't want. He knew what was awaiting him... Bad loss:thumbsdn:

5. Raced a 99 Maxima SE 5MT. Yes a 5-speed Maxima. Great launch, won by 2 cars length. Finally got it right.

6. I saved the best for last. I raced a 6MT TSX with a Injen CAI on (note that I am bone stock). He heated his tires, I didn't. He weighed a good 60lbs less than I. His passenger was equivalent to mine. He has a 10,000km engine, I, an 80,000km engine (advantage to me on this). I gave him my very best launch of the night, and was off to a 1½ car length win!!! Woohoo!!! That felt soo good, especially after all the mistakes I made. Driver's race, I won it.

Now, I'd love it if Dan went to the tracks too and posted some results. I just can't believe I ended up dead even last week against a CL-S. I need it to be validated. Know that the CL-S driver wasn't that bad...

tc86

do they not record your actual time? i was thinking that these races you participate in are quarter mile distance...maybe i'm wrong? if they are quarter mile, i'd like to see the times you recorded, if you don't mind.

tony4311

lol just gotta laugh when people "warm up" street tires.

Nice win on the drivers race

sauceman

Just proves how useless it is. But hey, thanks! It was so damn good for the ego!

ABP-CL9-TSX

very nice race, its fun to goto the track, not only to see how your ride does, but how others do.

ilitig8

Nice latter runs, glad to see you were getting dialed in.

As to heating street tires at those temps it IS useful, plus even in 100 degree heat it is almost always helpful to spin the tire a bit if nothing else to clean them off. The other reason to spin before staging is even if you avoid the water box (advisable for MOST DOT rubber) sometimes there is water splashed to the sides and the last thing you want is a damp tire. In the end I always spin before staging.

Vandy

tony4311

I still see it as a waste. normal tires don't need to be warmed up like slicks which are meant for it. The tires get cleaned off half a second after running. Even then there's not going to be a lot of dirt and such on the tires to cause any problems.

sauceman

You have to avoid for sure the water trap. All I can say about heating the tires, is that it didn't do it for the guy I was racing. The only thing I did was drop the tire pressure to about 25 PSI, because the tarmac was so cold.

ks112

Can someone please explaing what power shifing is? is it shifting without the clutch

sauceman

Not necessarily.

I believe it's good to use the clutch, but you can make a very quick full-throttle shift. Then you'd just quickly slap the clutch as you upshift as fast as you can while not letting go of the gas. At least it's what I do, if I knew of a better method I'd surely try to apply it though.

dzuy

sauce, do you have an auto?!?!?!

and you kept up with a cl-s?!?! i would figure the type s would burn you too. interesting.

Dan Martin

sauceman

And the track offered really nice grip. That was to my advantage. No way I would have been able to follow on the street though.

Junkster

dzuy, ya noob...

Junkster, whose thinking "Chrysler LH?! At a drag strip?"

dzuy

nm. i was confused b/c he was givin instructions for a AT b/c someone asked for it.

if someone asked me how to race a AT tsx, i would tell them

1. get a MT.
2. race.

sauceman

Yeah, lol, it's really the "race what'cha brung" and " have fun with not much" type format. It's nothing really serious, and half of the time, the show is as much in the stands as on the track.

A few weeks ago, I saw someone in his Samurai hit the track against an Integra. Well guess what, he ate the teg alive, it was soo damn funny, the guy was shifting madly in the truck, he was at the top of his 5th gear at the end of the track, and he was ahead of the Integra. We all had a really good laugh, it was such a surprise.

And the driver must have been sweating like crazy, we could see him and he was all over the cabin to shift the truck. I've never seen someone shift so quickly with a 36" stick.

sauceman

Friday night races for me tonight.

I didn't race much, but the 2 races I did, I won them both.

EP3 (Civic SIR) Won by many, many car lengths. The guy seemed to have shifting problems, but what the heck, I had him right in 1st anyway, he wouldn't have caught back.

But the big ego-booster was definitely a pretty tight win against an SE-R Spec-V. I gave him the best launch I could do, considering the conditions (20°C, mild-temp track), and it was decided only at the top of 3rd, and shifting into 4th. Won by ¾ car length.

Still no time, unfortunately.

Oh and both cars are supposed to be bone stock... same as I.

sauceman

Just merged the 3 threads and made one title out of it, so don't look for the 2 others.

ks112

ummm wouldn't shifting under full throttle grind the gears?????

sauceman

Nope. The double syncros do the job very well.