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Winters98GT

Whoop...whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop...GANGNAM STYLE!!!
Founding Member
Nov 29, 1999
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I just got back from the track(HMP). I added a set of drag radials today. DA was 2055ft when I left the house. It cooled down some, DA was probably between 1800-1900ft during the passes. My car is bone stock down to the filter. it put down 351rwhp. Race weight is 3320.

Made three passes, then I called it a night.

.3554
1.8496
5.1685
7.9481
90.13mph

.2833
1.7865
5.0544
7.8286
90.08mph

The clutch took about 3 minutes to come off the floor the last pass. I had to sit and wait after I made the last pass, and figured enough was enough. I am hoping for 7.60's with cooler air. I need to work on getting the 60ft down in to the low 1.7's too.

Anyways, just figured I would post my times as always, even though I don't own any 2v's right now.

Next project I am eying is getting a 99-00GT high mileage project car.

Mark
 
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That's not bad at all, especially for a bone stock car. The best z06 I've ever seen run ran a 8.25 1/8. I think he was stock as well, and really didn't have the driver mod.:nonono: And I was riding in the Duramax that beat him down the 660. :D And I'm sure you'll get some better times w/ a lower DA. :nice:

-Will
 
That's not bad at all, especially for a bone stock car. The best z06 I've ever seen run ran a 8.25 1/8. I think he was stock as well, and really didn't have the driver mod.:nonono: And I was riding in the Duramax that beat him down the 660. :D And I'm sure you'll get some better times w/ a lower DA. :nice:

-Will

Will,

I have seen some crazy, crazy times out of those cars.... I mean trucks. A few of them, in full street...work trim are running low 12's, high 11's. :rlaugh: Nothing like getting your doors blown off by a 3/4 or 1 ton truck:rlaugh:

The fastest stock C5Z on drag radials, if I am not mistaken is a 7.4x
 
Will,

I have seen some crazy, crazy times out of those cars.... I mean trucks. A few of them, in full street...work trim are running low 12's, high 11's. :rlaugh: Nothing like getting your doors blown off by a 3/4 or 1 ton truck:rlaugh:

The fastest stock C5Z on drag radials, if I am not mistaken is a 7.4x

Yea man. The quickest vehicle's I have ever ridden in were diesels. And it really is fun to go to the track and outrun Cobras, Vettes, Subarus, Supras, you name it.:D This Duramax ran a 7.70 that run; stock turbo, stock injectors, and the same all-terrain tires he drives on every day. Then, when he gets done racing for the afternoon, he goes and hooks up to a sled and drags it down a 300 ft dirt track. Then drives it home that night. Crazy stuff.

I have a cousin that used to have a Z06, about the same year model as yours. Was a sick nasty car. Goes really fast in a straight line. Then goes around a curve marked for 25 mph at 60 mph like it's not even there. I'm a die hard Ford guy, but if I bought a GM car, it would undoubtedly be a Vette. :hail2:

-Will
 
Yea man. The quickest vehicle's I have ever ridden in were diesels. And it really is fun to go to the track and outrun Cobras, Vettes, Subarus, Supras, you name it.:D This Duramax ran a 7.70 that run; stock turbo, stock injectors, and the same all-terrain tires he drives on every day. Then, when he gets done racing for the afternoon, he goes and hooks up to a sled and drags it down a 300 ft dirt track. Then drives it home that night. Crazy stuff.

I have a cousin that used to have a Z06, about the same year model as yours. Was a sick nasty car. Goes really fast in a straight line. Then goes around a curve marked for 25 mph at 60 mph like it's not even there. I'm a die hard Ford guy, but if I bought a GM car, it would undoubtedly be a Vette. :hail2:

-Will

yeah, those diesels can be so fast. The one problem I have though, is that the all terrain or truck tires, can drag water down the track. Similar to ricers driving through the water box. Most the guys I have seen do not drive around the water and then back up, but drive all 4 wheels through it.

I am a ford guy as well. Since I am a big track guy, I went with the 03Z over an 03-04 cobra. The cobra is a little more unique, but traps 1-2mph slower, is heavier and doesn't quite handle as well. I was doing to do a little road racing, but have gone back to my roots.

The down side to the Z, is that the cobra has a forged shortblock, and you can make a lot more power with a stock 03-04 than the ls6. The stock ls6 is about done around 575-600rwhp.

Both cars have a hard time at the strip launching with stock suspension and drag radials. IRS is a bit tricky.
 
yeah, those diesels can be so fast. The one problem I have though, is that the all terrain or truck tires, can drag water down the track. Similar to ricers driving through the water box. Most the guys I have seen do not drive around the water and then back up, but drive all 4 wheels through it.

Yea, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. I've actually raced my car a couple of times behind guys that did this. And when you have a little old 200 rwhp Mustang spinning 200 ft down the track....yea....But the guys that are actually serious about racing and know a little about it (you normally have to to run sub-8 second 1/8 miles) don't do that. Like you said, it's normally the guys that have never been to the track before or the little ricers.

I want to have an 03-04 Cobra one day, and the main reason is because of the forged block. I hope to have a nice 500-600 hp weekend warrior/track car out of one some day. But till that day comes, I guess I'll have to settle for my little ole 200 hp 98 GT. It's still fun to me, and everyone I take riding in it, so I guess it'll do for now.

-Will
 
went a bit faster tonight. Added a set of LT's and Ram Air. I had a spec 3 clutch put in yesterday, and I already hate it. I knew I would, but there is no other cheap clutch for my car that can work at the strip.

Made 2 passes. First pass, the car would not go in to 3rd gear. Second pass, went 7.66 at 95.21mph. 60ft suffered and only went 1.85 as opposed to a 1.78 when I was stock. Ricers were everywhere tonight, water down the track. Everybody was spinning. Overall, I was happy to go faster with a new clutch. Weather was very nice tonight.
 
Good times Mark and I guess thats one way to break in the clutch :rlaugh: Impressive trap--I am interested in the car at the 1/4 to see how well we are gaining on the top end.

For what it's worth--looking at an s197 at the end of the month for a DD. You're going down after some goodies ;)
 
Good times Mark and I guess thats one way to break in the clutch :rlaugh: Impressive trap--I am interested in the car at the 1/4 to see how well we are gaining on the top end.

For what it's worth--looking at an s197 at the end of the month for a DD. You're going down after some goodies ;)

Mad Maddox, You might be the one bud I know that would lay the smack down on me, and I wouldn't care! I'm glad everything looks good for your mom. It was good chatting with you for the better part of almost an hour the other day.

As for the car, I just can't figure it out. I did make a couple passes at HRP right when I bought the car a year ago, but the car only trapped 109-110mph stock. This was when I trapped 91mph in the 1/8 at HMP. At HRP with the same DA, my 1/8mph dropped 2mph. I think my problem lies in 3rd gear. After talking to other m12 ls6 owners, it seems that you need to run the car all the way untill redline in 3rd gear, as opposed to lower shifts in the 1-2. I've compared the 60ft to 330ft transitions of my car compared to other similar cars, and it seems I am right where I should be.(for some reason, this seems to be very important in my car with different clutches) I just can't figure out what went wrong after that when I ran the 1/4. That is why I really want to get more experience in the car before I head back out to HRP.
 
It's all in the early stages of the pass that the time is altered so if you dig HMP for practice, then so be it. My little auto npi (rip haha) only stood a chance for the first 330' though I could 60' foot with the best of them. The more passes you get the better the times you'll get, though how much abuse are you willing to throw at the car/rearend? I imagine you are playing with an expensive break if the worst does happen.
 
The worst is going to happen when you race, As we both know! If it does, I'lll be back to cruising the stock 06 civic. Car rips it up! I think I can go 18's in the 1/4!
 
Let me know when you are ready to put it against the 08 chevy :rlaugh: Loser pays entry fee/dinner

As for the vette, 5mph gain in the 1/8th is quite a jump, once you dial the car in with the new clutch you'll find better times. I assume the tires weren't having too much of a problem with hooking even though the imports love to drag some water and its impossible to avoid water at hmp
 
I ran again tonight, this time at Hennessy Motorsport's track, Lone Star. Track prep was decent. I ran 3 hot laps right off the 65 mile trip, didn't shut the engine off once. Coolant temps were at 210* after the first pass, and 220* for runs 2 and 3.

Ran a 12.14, 12.11, and the last pass 12.02 at 117mph.

During all three passes, I experienced severe wheel hop, and was very violent inside the car. First during the launch, and then from the 1-2 shifts. I am very lucky that the car did not break. Time to get rid of the 18 inch drag radials and go with 16 inch tire to extend my wheel hop threshold. After the last pass, I decided not to run anymore due to the wheel hop. I have no doubt that I could have gone 11.70-11.80's tonight with a nice cool down, but I would have risked coming back on a flat bed. Also, my 1/8 mile trap speeds were down 2mph from last night.
 
Time to dial in on the suspension and restrict the wheel hop before you come out of pocket on something more expensive. Car is running good times for limited mods :nice:

Going to try out bushings first, then maybe a different tire with more sidewall. I should have run 11's easily, but the wheel hop was so violent that I have no doubt it killed my 11 second pass. Here is what another guy posted to help me out. It applies to many cars. Very, very good stuff, I believe he is a tech at MTI in Georgia
What causes wheel hop?
A lot of people don't know why wheel hop occurs, which often leads to them throwing the incorrect parts at the car in an effort to eliminate the issue. Fortunately understanding (and correcting) wheel hop is not difficult. Here is what happens. When a car accelerates, you can picture the forces involved as something (the ground) pushing the driven wheels of the car forward. Obviously if you push the wheels forward, the car is going to move forward also. However, the wheels are not rigidly fixed to the chassis, so when the ground pushes on the wheels, they move forward a bit in the wheel well. Normally a car's acceleration is so small that this motion is negligible, but when a car accelerates quickly, especially during a launch, the wheels can move forward quite a bit in the wheel wells. As the wheels move forward, significant toe changes occur. Now, everybody knows that a tire can provide the most grip when it is perpendicular to the ground, parallel with the acceleration, and pressurized to provide the optimal contact patch. That being said, if the toe of the driven wheels changes during acceleration, the grip of the tire must be changing. Wheel hop is a result of this change in grip. Here is the sequence of events:

1.) Acceleration begins with good grip.
2.) The wheels move forward, toe changes, and available grip is reduced. Wheelspin occurs.
3.) During wheelspin, acceleration is very small. The wheels move back again, toe changes back, and the tire regains grip.
4.) Acceleration begins again, and the process repeats itself.

This rapid switching between grippy acceleration and wheelspin is wheel hop. My above description of the wheel hop process sounds tame, but the frequency of the grip changes and the magnitude of the forces involved is what makes wheel hop so violent. Race tires can prevent wheel hop since they have more grip (i.e., they don't lose grip even with the toe change), but cars that wheel hop with race tires will do so in a much more violent fashion.

How do I get rid of wheel hop?
Getting rid of wheel hop really isn't difficult. If you can limit the motion of the wheel with respect to the chassis, then the toe changes during acceleration will be small and the tire will not suddenly lose grip. If the tire does lose grip (common on a high-HP car of course), then it won't suddenly regain grip due to the wheel moving back to it's static position. How do you keep the wheel from moving with respect to the chassis? Well, assuming your car has reasonably rigid suspension arms, then all you need to look at are the suspension bushings! The wheel can move with respect to the chassis because the bushings flex...especially old, stock rubber bushings. Sometimes simply replacing old rubber bushings with new rubber bushings is all that is required. However, on a modified car that posesses more horsepower than the designer's intended, upgrading to stiffer materials like nylon or polyurethane may be required. The ultimate solution is to use rod ends or spherical bearings at every suspension joint, but that is unreasonable unless your car will never again see public roadways. Anyway, by simply upgrading your bushings, the suspension bushings will not flex as much under strong acceleration, the wheel will not move far forward in the wheel well, the toe of the car will not appreciably change, and your tires will not lose grip. Wheel hop will have been eliminated.

In some cases weak shocks can allow a perturbed wheel to continue hopping up and down since the motion is not damped. This is a less likely scenario, but shocks should not be ruled out as a potential culprit.

What doesn't get rid of wheel hop?
As mentioned earlier, a lot of people throw the wrong parts at the car in an effort to eliminate wheel hop. First, springs and sway bars will generally not do anything to promote or prevent wheel hop. Additionally, suspension settings, such as camber and toe, will generally not help the issue. It is the change in toe that leads to wheel hop, not the static setting. Tires do not cause wheel hop, though they do determine the grip level at which wheel hop occurs. For example, race tires, with their increased grip over street tires, will not break traction until you reach a higher level of acceleration. Some people might think that race tires solved their wheel hop problems, but in truth they merely changed their "wheel hop acceleration threshold" from a level below their launch acceleration to a level above their launch acceleration. Once they increase their horsepower to the point where they can accelerate enough to once again reach that threshold, their wheel hop will return.

Limited-slip differentials will also not prevent wheel hop. They may increase the acceleration threshold at which wheel hop occurs (much like installing race tires), but once again an increase in horsepower will eventually reintroduce the problem.

Check your shocks. If they are not malfunctioning, then you need to increase your bushing stiffness.
 
That is a very good read and shouldn't be too difficult of a task to change. Even if it doesn't fix the situation, it is likely time to change them out anyways with the age of the car.