TDogg72

I am quite disapointed at my first time racing my C5(i have had it a month)
My times were in the very low 14's, but from what I hear, they SHOULD be in the mid to low 13's (1/4mile) should they not??

My car is a 99 C5 Hardtop.
I am running NITTO Extreme Performance 555 Tires (Tons of Tread left) (PSI in tires was around 30)
Performance Mods are:
B&M Ripper Shifter
Corsa Indy Cat-Back Exhaust
K&N Air Filters

All races I had my Traction Control / Active Handling OFF
My A/C and Heat were OFF
I had a half tank of gas - Chevron(best gas in town) Premium at 92 Octane
I did NOT power shift
The races took place at Portland International Raceway.
Around 70-100ft above sea level (I think)
The temperature outside was between about 77 and 68 (I raced for about 5 hours, from dusk till early morning)

With those few things I was expecting to be in the low 13's but it just didnt happen.

My launches were mostly at or very close to 2000 RPMS, one of them however (I think my 4th run) was closer to 2500.
I did NOT do burn outs before racing (want my tires to last)
I would spin the tires a little on my luanches but really not that much.
All my shifts were very close to red line if not red lined..

I put all the info on my stubs into a spreadsheet, all 5 of my races, as well as a few other times from some other C5's I found the times of, as well as what C5motorsports.com claims to be the typical 99 C5 1/4 Mile time..

Please look at the below pic and then answer this question..
Are my Times Normal?
If not, than do you think there is a problem with the car... or the driver?!

Please give me some suggestions and feedback!

:confused:


Take a look at a video of one my drags.. It is the 2nd one on the above matrix.

http://home.attbi.com/~myc5/race3.mpg


[Modified by TDogg72, 2:04 AM 6/25/2002]

CMilVette

What RPM were you shifting at?
Your times are off, and MPH rather low, even with your 60' times.


[Modified by CMilVette, 4:10 AM 6/22/2002]

TDogg72

I was shifting close to or at Red Line.

CMilVette

Hmmm, as long as you had the pedal mashed down, and were getting nice clean, quick shifts, then I don't know what it could be.

Were you at a high altitude track? any pinging?

I would think that you should be low 13's to possible very high twelves with good 60' times, and MPH from around 106-111 or so.
I shift around 6200. I hope you figure it out, and practice never hurts either. Good Luck
:cheers:

TDogg72

Thanks for the responses CMilVette.

Pedal was indeed "smashed", and my shifts were VERY quick and crisp.
Altitude.. I believe it is under 100ft above sea level. The Track is Portland International Raceway in Oregon.
Pinging.. I dont think so... what exactly does it sound like?

The car has a little over 40K miles on it and it is in great condition, and sounds great, before and after my brand new exhaust system..
I am clueless as to what it could be. I am hoping to hear that it is either me or the time is not that far below average.


[Modified by TDogg72, 10:28 AM 6/22/2002]

no cure

ET doesn't mean much to me, that is totally launch dependant.
your trap speed is low. especially for a sea level track. but weather can Greatly affect your run, especially mph.
at sea level, on a good air day, you should run 109 mph.
my bone stock as delivered 99 FRC (stock runflats stock pressure) ran 13.4@109. however, on a mid 90's degree day you might only run 104-105 mph.
what where the conditions when you ran?
if you didn't have the last run showing 103 mph, I would suggest there could be something wrong with your car and to get it dynoed.. but you did run 103, not 100, so most likely it's "operator error". your 60' times, while slow are not terrible. many stock C5's only cut 2.2 short times, anything in the teens is decent. but you for sure are laying down on the big end. are you shifting into fourth? if so, that is your problem. bone stock you go thru the traps just banging off the rev limiter at 109 mph in third. shifting to fourth will just slow you down untill you have more power, a bunch more to offset the shift, like able to run 111strong, 112, etc.. an then it's gotta be a snappy shift.

see you on the road course
David

Mitch C

Your 60 ft. times are not very good to put it kindly, that is the major part of your problem. Get a good set of drag radials(BFGs) if you don't want to burn out your street tires, the DRs will give you much better traction which translates into much better 60 ft. times and better ETs.


98 A4
Powerloaded
Donaldson Blackwing
172 t.stat
Pro Torque 2400
3.42 Gears

rwj383

Hey, TDogg;

When was you at PIR? I ask because perhaps you've seen me there in my 2001 Coupe with the nitrous tanks on the roll cage (see sig for pics). anyway, judging from your timeslips, there is much to be gained yet: your car is faster than this. You can get this 60' times down with some practice, burnout, lower tire pressures. That will really help you out. You arent running with TC on, are you? On those nittos you should be able to pull a 2.0 or better 60'. my car is still at Carr getting new tranny, clutch & more go fast stuff. Look for me at the tracks in about 2 weeks. Feel free to get ahold of me: rjudd@tqs.com. I live in Aloha. see you at the track.

mackeyred96

I see 3 thing you need to improve on.

1. YOUR 60'

2. YOUR 60'

3 . YOUR 60'


Improve on those 3 things and you'll be fine.

Wt99C5

did you turn off TC and AH?
If not those are the times you can expect.
car will run like crap off the line.
did you have a full tank of fuel?

Matt Gruber

with 40k miles, have you changed the
SPARK PLUGS?

Vic'89

The MPH is very low, something doesn't sound right.

A C5 should easily go low 13's at 107+.

Vic

The One

Your 60' is absolutely the issue here. :yesnod: If you had Traction Control on that would just compound the problem. Get back out there and practice!!! :D

JC

TDogg72

I just updated the following things to my original post to answer some of your questions..

All races I had my Traction Control / Active Handling OFF
My A/C and Heat were OFF
I had a half tank of gas - Chevron(best gas in town) Premium at 92 Octane
I did NOT power shift (should I be?)

I think on all the races I was shifting into fourth. My first like FOUR runs I didnt even know where exactly the end of the track was(for sure), so I just kept going till I crossed this one line which seemed more than a 1/4 mile away.. but I learned later that it is these two cones in the middle of the track.. so on my fifth run I payed attention. I recall shifting right at or just barely before the 1/4 mile line because I was about to go over red line.

I just bought the car a little over a month ago. It had 39,000 miles on it and I have no idea whether or not the spark plugs had been replaced. Perhaps this could be the issue?

Depending on how much Drag Radials are, I don't think I want to get a pair, since I was not planning on racing this often.

Just as alot of you have said, a number of C4 and even a C2 owner/racer came up to me and I was asking them what was wrong as well as a few other non-vette owners and like everyone was saying that I had to get my 60ft times down. But I just don't understand why they were high and HOW I am suppose to get them down!? I tried 4 more times after my initial drag and I just wanst improving much.

rwj383, I raced last night(6/22). I saw NO other C5 owners :sad: :sad: Wish you were there.

Well, I am thinking maybe I should replace the spark plugs. What are some good plugs to put in?


[Modified by TDogg72, 5:52 PM 6/22/2002]

Vic'89

I see everyone saying that he should get his 60' times down, that is fine, but what about his MPH ?

98 - 103 MPH for a C5 ? That is very low.

Vic

Mitch C

With your poor 60 ft. times the problem more than likely is the way you are launching your car. Is your car bogging down when you dump the clutch? Are you getting a lot of wheel spin? M6s are tricky to launch perhaps you need more practice to get the right technic down pat.

TDogg72

Bogging down... a little bit yes, that is one of the reasons for my slow 60ft. The tires spin a little bit but not too much.
I have videos of two of the races, I will have them on the computer/internet today or tomorrow hopefuly for you guys to look at.

I know you dont want the car to bog down at all, but if I launch at a higher RPM, I will get more spin. What is better?
And should I try dropping the clutch a little slower?...

pdvale

TDogg,

From your times, it seems you car might be down on power. From my limited experience, your MPH should be fairly consistant, but your ET gets better with practise.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pdvale/cars.htm

On my page I have some timeslips from a stock Camaro SS, they are around your times, just .3 quicker. I also had a low MPH, some other Z28's were consistantly around 105..

When you work it out (I am sure you will) let us know.

Paul.

Dr. Evil

Alot of people shift too early. You say you were shifting just before redline. By redline do you mean the rev limiter or the red area on the tach? If you were shifting just before the needle hit the red area on the tach that could be part of your mph problem or all of it even. I know on Ls1 f-bodies the rev limiter is 6200rpm and I would shift at 6100rpms. It wont hurt to bump the rev limiter a few times here and there as long as you dont stay on it for extended amounts of time.

AP

probably the shifting?