Ok-went to the track for the first time ever and had a great time. Read Ranger's acceleration tips, read about the tree, etc. But a lot of it went out the window once the helmet was on, the windows up and I was staring at the ambers dropping to green. Never did get the hang of starting the launch on the third amber, but I'll keep practicing.

But now for my questions - what does it all mean? How can you tell how your car performed from the various times? Best run of the night:

R/T 1.122 (crap - I actually saw the green light go on)
60' - 2.053
330' - 5.590
1/8 - 8.413 @ 88.89 mph
1000' - 10.801
1/4 - 12.821 @ 112.65 mph

This is a '01 Z with a CAI. WideOvals for rubber. Engine temperature was hot at 225 degrees. So what does this mean? I'm thinking my 60' time is a reflection of the launch and some wheelspin (I don't think I bogged). My first run was 13.038 @ 112.61 mph. I thought it was interesting that the two trap speeds were 0.04 mph apart.

Some of you experienced guys chime in and let me know what this all means (besides more seat time, lower R/T and 60' times. Shifts all seemed pretty good around 6200 - never felt the rev limiter hit.

 

To me it means you drove the car very well for your first time out.
And the best part is you had alot of fun doing it.
R/T doesn't affect ET so if you are only running for ET on a particular run then you can ignore the tree.
Work on the launch and try and get that 60' in the low 1.9x's or high 1.8x's.
All your number seem in line, now time to fine tune things.

 

Unless you really suck at driving or something goes wrong trap speeds should almost always be the same or very similar.

As for 60's, 2.0 is AWESOME your first time out. Your ultimate goal on street tires should be to make that first number a 1, so a 1.XX is what you want.

R/T doesn't matter at all, if all you care about is your time than sit there for a couple seconds to make sure you got everything in order to get a good launch. If you want a tip though, leave on the last yellow light. This doesn't mean anticipate the last light, it means leave once your brain processes it's the last light, that will get your R/T's down a lot for bracket racing, if you care about that.

 

Robz and Milan - Thanks guys for the information and compliments. You actually answered another question for me regarding the impact of R/T. I definitely wasn't thinking that way on the line and had so many things going through my head to try and start launching on the 3rd amber that I was going on instinct off the line and through 1st gear. 2nd-4th I was able to concentrate on the shifting and staying straight. Definitely was a blast!

After being there and seeing how these cars stack up against other things out there (in stock or modified form), I have to admit I am blown away that they this type of performance in a straight line. Maybe some day I'll be using it for some twisties and once again be impressed.

 

2.0 on wide ovals for your first time is very impressive , very hard to go below that without practice, but once you learn how to, then it will come with ease and your times will drop greatly... Shifting drills will also improve your times dramatically. I have ran as far as 12.2's on wide ovals without getting sub 2.0 60' times.

Unfortunately for me, I could never master the art of sub 2.0 60's on street tires. I began getting below 12.20 with a set of Old school bfg dr's. Even then, my best 60' with those was a 1.83 wich netted the 12.1's passess.

I learned to quick shift the 1-2 and powershift the 2-3 and 3-4.

My only modification at that time was a CAI. I'll narrow it down for yaa.

1. CAI and no powershifting, shifting 6400rpms average 2.1 60'. Best time 12.47.

2. CAI speedshifting 1-2 and Powershifting the rest, ****ing 6400 averange 2.05 60'. Best time 12.24

3. CAI & DR's speedshifting 1-2 and powershifting the rest, shifting 6400 average 1.90 60'. Best time of 12.14.

I never launched the car above 3k rpms. After talking to a few vette owners at the track, I realized my launches were too soft and were affecting my 60' times. One of the guys at the track one time was running my same car as me with the addition of Lt's. He was launching at 4500rpms and netting 1.7's 60' short times and averaging 11.90 passes.

I'm just throwing as much info as I can so you can get ideas and use whatever you can from this along with your own techniques and hopefully produce the best times you can with your car. Ranger offers great tips, but there is nothing set in stone. Everyone's car is different so you have to mix and match everything you learn from all members in here with what works best for you. Best of luck.

 

First quick primer, I've got a shoe box full of timeslips (~300). I am no john force, I'm certainly not the best, but I know what I'm doing.

All that to say, I think I have the slowest stock Z06 in the world. lol. I got 22 passes a couple of weekends ago in my 01 (~5,000 miles, engine still tight?) on the literally 8 yr old F1 SC's. No matter of heat input, small/large burnout, more throttle less clutch, more clutch less throttle could get lower than a 2.0 60'. That I can accept, it's an old performance tire. What I can't understand, is as soon as the car was barely moving, I was WOT, a brief lift for the 1-2 (very fast lift shift), and 2-3 and 3-4 were all powershifting. IOW, there was absolutly no way to make this car go any faster as I was @ 100% throttle for virtually the whole pass. Best run was 12.8@111. Air was about 75 degrees, no wind, at night so a bit more humid, 400 ft elevation.

111 mph just seems low to me for a non tire spinning, powershifting "that's all it's gonna do" series of passes. Most of the runs were 110 mph, the best of the bunch @ 111. I know the ET will come down with some drag radials, or even fresh F1s, but the mph just is really low.

Need to get it on a dyno

 

BonestockZ06 quoted:

I learned to quick shift the 1-2 and powershift the 2-3 and 3-4.

My only modification at that time was a CAI. I'll narrow it down for yaa.

1. CAI and no powershifting, shifting 6400rpms average 2.1 60'. Best time 12.47.

2. CAI speedshifting 1-2 and Powershifting the rest, ****ing 6400 averange 2.05 60'. Best time 12.24

3. CAI & DR's speedshifting 1-2 and powershifting the rest, shifting 6400 average 1.90 60'. Best time of 12.14.

I never launched the car above 3k rpms. After talking to a few vette owners at the track, I realized my launches were too soft and were affecting my 60' times. One of the guys at the track one time was running my same car as me with the addition of Lt's. He was launching at 4500rpms and netting 1.7's 60' short times and averaging 11.90 passes.

Great information Bonestock! If I were analyzing, I'd say you got the two things I need to improve on to get a better time - the launch and the shifting. No doubt, I'm still learning both. I started in 1st like I normally would, bringing up RPMs while releasing the clutch sensing for bog or excessive spin - just happens so fast. I think I'll be working on finding the "sweet" RPM window to allow me to go into 1st without worrying about either, that will just take time. As for the shifting, I'll start Ranger's regimen of training. 1-2 was a slight lift with quick engagement. I think 2-3 and 3-4 were power shifts, but in reality I could have been slightly lifting also. I was focused on making sure I didn't hit the rev limiter at WOT and when the needle swung past 6,100 I started the shift. I'll have to get a camera in there and one on the outside to see how close I am really getting to redline and how much the nose of the car dives under shifting. I know in watching a Ranger's classic runs, his nose pretty much stays up the entire time, indicating to me that the shifts are so fast and he knows how much grip he has that he is about perfect (as reflected by his low 12 times in the '01 Z). Practice will certainly not make perfect for me, but it will help loads. Again, thanks for the look!

Vids (2nd at night is the 12.821 run):
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/C...-KN_166150.htm
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/C...run_166158.htm

 

Good runs. I noticed that your 13.03 et was with a 2.16 60' and your 12.82 et was with a 2.05 60'. This would signify that your shifting is consistent. Typically, for every 0.10 in 60' is worth 0.15 in et. The engine temp is definately too high. I like to be staged with the temp no greater than 194*; otherwise, timing gets pulled. Ranger has a great fan trick for this to cool it between runs. You will also cut time by shifting close to the rev limiter without bumping it. (6300 for 1-2 since the tach lags and 6500 for all the rest) The following is a cut and paste of a previous post. Hope this helps.

Comp mode (Saved me big time once.) As for the rest: I heat up the SCs til I get good smoke. My clutch release is usually between 3000 and 3600 rpm with the rear tire pressure of 24 to 27 psi depending on the track prep and temperature, fronts at max psi. I generally use Ranger's technique of full clutch release within the first 10' of travel except that I begin to feed it throttle near the very top of the clutch release. Very quick shifting is imperative. Ranger's shifting drills help. Track prep, engine temp (don't exceed 194*), weather conditions all affect your times greatly.

Logging all of your runs will help to analyze them. An Excel speadsheet could also calculate your incremental splits. (ie. 60-330, 330-660, 660-1000, 1000-1320)
Good luck and congrats again.

 

The launch and shift is all there is to it! Great job for your first time (at the track no less!).