I finally made it to the track last week with my 99 6 spd, stock. I had been reading about expected times for a stock vette and I saw low mid 12's to low 13's. My times were 14.0, 14.2, 14.4. I have to admit I did spin a lot at the light due to my street tires, but I didn't think it was enough for those times. There were evo's and srt's running low 13's.
Will drag radials improve my launching?

 

Man that's what I'm afraid of. I think I want to hit the dyno for a baseline before I go to the track to make sure it's my technique and not my car that is to blame. I'm new in Miami right now too, where did you go to run the car and where would be a good place to dyno before I hit the track here in town? Oh yeah and remember, they may be running low 13's but they are all probably at like 20 psi and you're at 0 psi

 

WHAT HE SAID (HI ANDY)
I TOOK MY KENNE BELL ZO6 TO THE TRACK FEW WEEKS BACK.
647HP AND GOT NO TRACTION =12.63.
TIRES ,THATS WHAT THEY WILL TELL YOU.
ITS ALL A BIT OF A GAME,COS THEN YOU WILL NEED ALL THE TUFF PARTS FOR YOUR CAR =$$$$$$$$$$$ NITRO UK

 

There are a lot of small technique adjustments that will help you shed ET tenths.

Suggest reading this page: General Launch Techniques

It takes seat time making passes to get proficient at launching and shifting an M6/M12 Corvette.

Your development of driver skills will progress faster if you start with stock tires and then later go to drag radials.

Ranger

 

Those are not bad times for someone new to the track. The trick is to hook up without bogging or smoking the clutch and repeat the technique that works. Once you get the holeshot down the 60' and et will improve to be where you feel the car is running its best times.

 

What was your 60' times ???

before looking into upgrade equipment... IMO you need to look into improving your launch first. If you haven't mastered a usuable launch yet, then you won't gain much from all those mods mentioned.

A stock C5 (to those Mustang peeps... "stock" means exactly the way it came from the factory) should get 13.5's all day with a marginal driver.

I could get 13.3's all day in my stock (to those Mustang peeps... "stock" means exactly the way it came from the factory) 2002 A4.

 

The best 60ft I ever got with stock tires was a 2.05 with no consistancy. With M/T drag radials, the best so far is a 1.88, with consistant 1.95s. It spins a little when I first launch then bogs a little, then goes with no spin. If I could get rid of the bog I believe I could get into the 1.7s consistantly. Best 1/4 mile time is 12.95 on a hot very humid day. On a cool dry day I expect to get into the 12.7s.. maybe better :-)

97 M6
stock engine with 238k miles
LG street long tube headers
LS6 intake
Ti catback
Vararam
Tune

 

my 60ft times were 2.25, 2.34, 2.38. MPH was 101,102,103. I am looking to get some DR's to bring my times down

 

you can try the brute force method with DR's... but with a 2.25 - 2.38 60' times... that points more to technique than to bad tires.

I get consistant 2.0 60' times; on a a good night 1.89 to 1.99 (and that's with the factory GY EMT Run-Flats and a stock motor.

Practice... practice... practce

 

Just a small point regarding the difference in expectations for an M6/M12 manual tranny and the A4/A6 automatic tranny....

JuicedVette036, the thread starter is driving a manual.

It is true that ET for an A4/A6 is governed heavily by the 60' time. That's because after the 60', the shift points and shift speeds are directed automatically by the car itself.

That's not the case for a manual tranny, where after the 60' the driver must make two or three shifts and shift speed and shift rpm both depend on driver skill and experience.

conceptually, I divide my M6/M12 passes into two increments.
(1) the 60'
(2) the 60'-1320'

There's a lot of individual tasks in the 60' to 1320' segments that can be practiced to reach optimization. In aggregate they have a huge effect on ET. Shift quality, accuracy and speed can become essentially automatic with practice, practice, practice. But shift points require constant attention. And for a new racer making initial passes in a platform or car, none of those elements are optimized. They all need work.

That's the allure of the manual tranny.

Ranger

 

I just did a 13.3 105 mph in my C5 with an auto.
I left the traction control ON because I fugured it could do a better job of launching than I could, I guess it did.

 

We have been documenting our mods and results of our Velocity Corvette Club project car named VCC-BLU.

You can read about our results here:
http://www.velocitycorvette.com/?cat=2

 

Well...with an A4/A6, once the 60' is in the bag, the rest of the pass is done without much driver intervention, other than keeping the foot on the floor and the car in the racing groove.

In contrast, post-60' the manual-tranny guy must personally control
(1) shift point for the 1-2
(2) shift correctness and speed for the 1-2
(3) throttle action during and post shift
(4) shift point for the 2-3
(5) shift correctness and speed for the 2-3
(6) throttle action during and post shift
(7) shift point for the 3-4
(8) shift correctness and speed for the 3-4
(9) throttle action during and post shift

Any error or imprecision in any of those nine actions will adversely effect the ET for the pass for the M6/M12 driver. Lot more elements to potentially screw up. That's why it takes seat-time making passes to get the post-60' portion of the pass dialed-in. And it's why the lead-poster will need practice, practice, practice on more than just the 60'.

Ranger

 

Keep in mind Florida air sucks. With summer Florida air I'm sure the conditions were less than ideal. Maybe the track prep sucks too and thats why you were spinning a lot. Your 60's are horrible but will come down with practice. Get them down in the 2.0 range or below and you are easily in the mid to low 13s.

 

You just made me feel much better I had mine out about three weeks ago. Two different tracks: Union Grove in WI and Memphis Motorsports in TN. Best time in Union Grove was 12.10 and at Memphis it was 12.66 both had about 2 second 60's. I have now ordered the CCW drag pack, but they are backordered.....

 

Those are really high, with practice you should be able to get into the 2.0xx and even the 1.9's on the run flats.

 

its not tires, its you. Just need to get some practice man, thats all. Keep at it. And stock C5's are not in the mid 12's . its rare

 

Spoken from the perspective of an auto-tranny driver....

Driving a 6-speed manual, the difference in gear shifting and shift points between an average driver and an excellent one is between .40 and 1.00 seconds. That's a bit more than a rounding error.

Ranger

 

Listen to this man..All who heed his wisdom have greatly improved their racing abilities, except me (I drive an A4)

 

He runs 13.67 @ 101 in his A4. What can he possibly have to learn from Ranger about driving an MN6?