1/8th mile Questions?

[turbogoo1]

Ok in the spring will be racing season. The only thing close is 1/8th mile. What is others running in this set up? I saw that wade was running 7-8 sec. in this? (I know he is turbo, but gives me an idea, not what mine is going to run)

Also dont want to hear about red light racing.....I need some track stuff.

I am looking for others that have experience in this....I will try and decide which way to go. As far as my mods so far...

1982 L 207k on it (I think) Unsure on po's done to it.
3.73 gears
5 speed
2 1/4 exhaust cat back.
I will get a weight shortly.

I want to be able to decently compete. Without breaking the bank.

I might be going 6m in the spring, so it might change the stats. I have a line on a block.

Thanks for your opinions!

[Lee_MA61]

In the 1/8th you need a good solid suspension. It plays a big roll in your 60ft times and traction. If you can setup a good suspension you can do a lot with a little power. (not saying you don't need good power)

[KurtW85]

well this is good. ive been trying to figure out a good setup for suspension...in vegas 06 i over heard a few people talking about eibachs and gr2's being the best over all.(rear) straight line and decent cornering. and seems to be popular. im wondering what you drag boys are using to hook up suspension-wise. stock springs with some good shocks and a sway bar(helps wheel hop) would by theory be awesome. squat nicely ect... tho obviously with our suspension, squatting makes camber way negitive, their for reducing traction(by theory) hence "airing down" helps... but another thing i noticed... springs help reduce strain on the axles(cv joints more or less) by straightening them...

so, eibachs/st vs stock. what hooks better? lets hear it.
this is not ment to be a thread jack, hopefully all of us can learn what is working out their. this just kinda blends with your questions scott.:eek4dance:

THANKS
-Kurt

[walkerhiboost]

From my experiences: Drop the front sway bar on a rear wheel drive car. Install the biggest sway you can get on the rear. Normally, you would want a soft to mild rear end, but one can't do that with these cars due to the suspension issue. I have used two spring rubbers in the stock rear springs, one on top and one in the spring with KYB Gas-a-Justs. The rear is flat when I hit the gas. If a softer setup is needed, the one spring spacer in the spring can be removed at the track by just jacking the car up.

The removal of the front sway bar just aids in weight transfer to the right rear wheel. Tire pressures are just as crucial as the setup. Run the max in the front and depending on the rear setup and type of tire, 18 - 25 psi in the rear.

[cheappower82]

I'm running a worn-out stock suspension in the back (except the KYB's). My best 60' / launches on a street tire were obtained with 245/60/14 BFG's.....that's the best upgrade I've had luck with N/A.

[pituala]

3.73 is not the best choice for 1/8th mile. You may want to change to 4.10....maybe even the 4.30. Generally speaking, for gearing options, you want to be in the upper RPMs (somewhat close to the rev limiter) in your 1:1 gear going through the traps (4th gear near 6000rpms).

[Tanya]

Holy ish. What is it with you guys running crazy 60 foot times with those 245/60s??


Anyway, you'll probably be looking at 11 second 1/8th miles, 10 seconds if you can drive like a bat out of hell and get some better (read: 4.30) gears

The best mod you can do for your car beyond getting better gearing is dropping as much weight as possible. Anything you don't need, don't use, etc. Get rid of it. A/c, cruise control, back seats, etc.

[Tanya]

Generally speaking, for gearing options, you want to be in the upper RPMs (somewhat close to the rev limiter) in your 1:1 gear going through the traps (4th gear near 6000rpms).


Well, I don't think that's possible in the 1/8th mile unless you're running 5.XX gears.

I was able to run through the 1/8th mile with 4.30 gears in only two gears, redlining in 2nd.

[pituala]

True, but again, the closer to redline you can get when crossing the traps, the better.

[Lee_MA61]

For a 1/8th time, my friend ran 10.8 @ xxMPH in a 82 P-type with the 3.73. The engine wasn't very healthy either.

[cheappower82]

Look for high 9's with the 6M and a good tire

[Dean]

As Donnie said, a strong 6M will run high 9's.
A 5M will run high 10's.
4.30 gears will help you get better times, into the mid 10's.
Every 100 lbs you can take out of the car reduces quarter mile times by 0.2 seconds (same effect as adding about 5 rwhp to a Mk2 putting down around 140 rwhp) so weight reduction can be very important. Reducing rotating mass (rims, tires, flywheel, driveshaft, etc) is even more important. Every pound of rotating mass you remove is like removing 3 to 4 lbs of weight from the car. So, for example, L-type rims on the front with 185/60 tires would remove 8 lbs from each front wheel/tire combo compared to P-type rims with 225/60R14's, and should reduce quarter mile times by 0.1 seconds. (8 + 8) x 4 = 64 lbs reduction. Lots of little things can all add up to make a noticeable difference.

Here's the main problem though... If the car is a dedicated drag car, you can build it to suit that application. If you want the car to be a fun car for carving up the twisties, then that will involve a different suspension setup. I'd suggest you have some fun with the car at the track in the spring but prep the suspension for the twisties as you can have a lot more fun with it that way.
Of course, if you have a bigger budget (or find some old stock of Illuminas somewhere), the other option would be to put in some type of adjustable suspension so that you can have the best of both worlds. My race car has Tokico Illumina adjustable struts/shocks and changing their settings does make a difference. I set them to a soft setting (1 or 2) to get more rear end squat at the drag strip, their hardest setting (5) for the road course and somewhere in the middle (3 or 4) for street use. I don't change the sway bars, etc, but I adjust tire pressures at the track and that makes a huge difference. Warming up the race compound tires can drop my times by almost a half second too and the Supra fans love to see the smokeshow!

In any case Scott, have fun with the car! That's the main objective.

[WadeT]

Scott, get rid of that exhaust straw 2.25" pipe and go 2.5-3". It will lose a tad of snap when leaving in 1st gear but will make more power on the top end, and will rev higher. Second, if you're not going turbo then install a small shot of NOS.

Also, bump up the timing, cold air intake, AFM mod, etc..

[turbogoo1]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It gives me a little light at the end. Most of these are not a budget breaker.

I've convienced my wife into one of two things this spring at income tax time: flat screen or 6m.

Im heavily leaning towards the 6m.

If I wasnt a bit sluggish on wiring, I would go 7mge....but im not the greatest with engne wiring....now stereos...thats different.

[Tanya]

Scott, I would definitely get yourself into looking for a 7M block to play with. As I'm sure you're well aware, the 6Ms are not easily found and I don't think you want to wait until next Christmas to have one. You don't need that special 6M stamp on the side of the block, just make your own with the 5M head and 7M bottom, taking notice to find and use 5M high compression pistons for the extra fun (9.8:1 compression allegedly)