JUIC3D

Hey all,

I bought my first vette about 3 weeks ago and had a chance to take her to the strip yesterday (5.21.11) and wow, what a blast! I definitely need to improve my driving but I now have a baseline on which to improve. This is the nicest car I've ever owned and the first time I've ever drove at the dragstrip save for a 15.8@92mph pass in my old 1995 Eagle Talon about 8 years ago. I made one pass and the clutch let go and I had to limp it home.

Anyway,
It was about 96* here in Florida yesterday with a DA of around 2000'. I made a total of 12 passes in about 4 hours. The car is a 100% bone stock 2008 Z51 6 speed manual JSB coupe. She still has the original factory air filter and the only mod I did before running was pull the fuse for the exhaust. I let her cooldown between runs and had the factory runflat tires aired down to 20 psi. I obviously need to work on my launch as the best 60' I could get was 2.1xxx. Oh, and I also need to learn to turn traction control off as it screwed up my burnout on more than 1 occasion. Ah, the glories of learning!

I tried to follow the guide on David Farmer's page and once the initial jitters of drag racing subsided, I was able to become more consistent and focus on my launch and shift points.

My best e.t. was 12.807 and my best mph was 112.8
Once I got the launch down, it seems the runs were very consistent and I may have been able to get a 12.7 in but that will have to wait for another day.

My wife was along for the adventure and shot video of just about every run and I'll post them up shortly.

It's not the fastest car but it sure was fun watching the times improve throughout the day. I can't wait to put some money into some mods and try to get to the 11s.

Tips, tricks, and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading! Videos are uploading


---

---

---

SlowAzzVette

Very nice write-up. Thank you for sharing. I have yet to take mine to the drag and try it out.

NOCRISIS

,and congrats on the new ride,,,,

DRLC5

Where do you live? I am about 90 minutes from Bradenton. Cape Coral. I used to run in Bradenton years back. Sounds like you had a blast.

pettvette

20 lbs in the rears is way too low... 26-28 hot would work much better. I have found that anything lower than 28 on my car returns slower runs....

JUIC3D

Thanks everyone. Ya, it was an absolute blast. Did you look at the first slip? 15.1? I overheated the clutch when I tried to do my burnout and it ended up sticking to the floor in first gear for the first 1/8th mile. I parked her for a little while after that so it could cool down.

Lesson learned, turn off the damn traction control.

DRLC5, I live in Ruskin, just east of I75@Exit 240. I think I'm going to head back for a Thursday evening run in June. Night racing is from 6p-11p.

JUIC3D

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that out next time. I had them at 30 and the tires just blew off, then I put them down to 25 and kept them there for a few runs and finally left them at 20 for the rest of the afternoon.

I think the biggest majority of it is the driver mod. What's a respectable 60' for the factory runflats?

Wayne O

Well done...good on you for running your car at the drag strip!

It may not be your 'thing' but if you enjoyed the drag strip you might enjoy running a road course. There are many safe, well run venues where you can learn at your own pace. Whatever floats your boat don't make it a one time deal...practice, practice, practice. IMO getting your Corvette on a drag strip or on a track is what it's about. Have a blast with your car!

JUIC3D

I'd love to do some road course racing and maybe some driver improvement schools but I have no idea where to even begin to look for something like that here in Florida

Joe_G

Way to go! Nice improvement as your day went on. It takes practice...and even when you are practiced, it's a lot of fun when you execute a perfect run. It's like golf, you don't always hit it 300 yds but when you do it feels great.

1.8 60 foot would be a good stock 60 from run flats.

There is a ton of great information on this page, pay particular attention to the clutch fluid maintenance. I've done this religiously since new and have 52,000 and 436 5-6,000 rpm launches on my factory clutch. They are tough clutches.

www.rangeracceleration.com

Tide Will Roll!

That sounds like Huge Fun!

Get ready to spend money on go faster mods now

Bert

Roll Tide!

JUIC3D

Ya, I love that website. There is a plethora of good information there. I followed that launch guide as best I could but I still need to learn.

I did the clutch fluid mod the first week I had the car and will probably do it again this afternoon since I drove it hard yesterday.

If I could cut a 1.8 60' that would presumably put me in the 12.4-12.5 which would be fantastic.

Videos are finally done importing from this old crappy Sony handicam. Youtube here we come.

Torchsport

Ah, the glories of enjoying your car, and not being afraid of giving it a workout!
Nice story. Thanks for sharing your excitement!

JUIC3D

Ok, so after reviewing the videos from yesterday, let's just say the wife needs a little more training in that department. She's a hell of a lady, but a camera woman she is not. I bought a GoPro yesterday so I'm itching to try it out. I'll be sure to post up videos from an upcoming trackday adventure.

JUIC3D

Ya I didn't buy the car to sit in my garage and come out on the weekends. It's a daily driver and will be pushed as far as my limits will allow

Joe_G

Good for you.... a man after my own heart. We're lucking living in FL that we can daily drive ours year round. I daily drive mine and race the beejsus out of it on the drag strip and road course. Even a car show once in a while. They are amazingly versatile vehicles. I get 21 mpg on my daily drive...can't beat a 10 second machine you can drive to work and get 21 mpg.

jackhall99

Google high performance driving schools. Whether in FL or going elsewhere, that is the best and cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

Enjoy your car. They are awesome vehicles.

Regards.

Joe_G

Safemotorsports.com is my favorite group because there are no run groups, it's open track all day, run at will. And a great bunch of folks. They are based out of Tampa and go to Sebring (which is mg absolute favorite track), PBIR and they used to go to Homestead.

There is also Chin Motorsports and Hooked on Driving.

Also check out the excellent autocross and road racing section of this forum for great advice.

JUIC3D

Good tips, thank you guys.

Joe, did you ever go to that follow-up event at Palm Beach? I decided to stay here and run at our local track to get some baseline numbers and get my feet wet. Also, what's your best et/mph in the quarter and what all is done to the motor/suspension? Thanks so much.

speedlink

Do a search for The Ranger Method. This is for your clutch. It will keep it in tip top shape, and working properly. If you are going to track, you should do this regularly.