1/8-Mile Drags, Barona, July 20, 2007
This was our first trip to the track after having the torque converter replaced, and having lower control arm (LCA) relocation brackets welded on. The hope was that these two changes would improve the launch of the car, as well as increase the trap speed at the top of the track. Although not as dramatic as I had hoped for, we did see major improvement in the launch, and noticeable ET and MPH gains. And even though the 60-foot times weren’t as good as we’ve seen in cooler weather, the car was squatting less and hooking pretty well… good enough that it actually lifted the left front tire several times. We’ve never seen it do that before!
Donna and I got in a total of 19 runs on this night. All of our passes were in the 7.23 to 7.37 range, and the trap speeds were mostly in the 94-97 mph range. The average for the day was 7.31 @ 95.8, which is about a tenth quicker and 3 mph better than two weeks ago (with similar weather conditions).
The weather was definitely in mid-summer form. The high temperature was almost 83 degrees, and it only dropped into the upper 60s by midnight. The dew point was between 56-57 degrees all evening. The density altitude was about 3,900 feet at the time of the first run, and only dropped to about 2,800 feet later at night. The humidity was as high as 71% during the late night runs.
Here are the videos from Friday, July 20 at Barona. The videos marked with the asterisks (**) are my favorites.
Video #1, Time 6:23 pm, DA = 3,894 ft:
My first run was against a 1967 Falcon. This was the first time we ever saw the left front tire lift on the launch. After a 0.079 light, I ran 7.365 @ 95.753, with a 60-foot time of 1.638. The Falcon ran 8.659 @ 80.061, 1.940. (The quality of this video isn’t good… there is a double image and it didn’t focus correctly).
**Video #2, Time 6:28 pm, DA = 3,871 ft:
On this solo run, I cut the best reaction time of the day, 0.009, and again there was a little air under the front tire. I improved a little to 7.333 @ 95.327, 1.616.
Video #3, Time 6:33 pm, DA = 3,846 ft:
The third run was also a bye run. On this run, I decided to try launching from an idle, rather than power braking the car. It didn’t feel like it launched as hard, yet it ran a consistent 7.354 @ 94.887, 1.628.
**Video #4, Time 6:58 pm, DA = 3,731 ft:
Donna’s first run was against Rick Reynolds’ 560+ci, 900hp, 5-sec Pinto. Even though she made a decent run and lifted the tire again, I thought for sure something broke in the rear end. During the burnout, the left wheel just stopped turning, while the right kept on going. I’m not sure how this could happen with a Detroit TrueTrac rear end. Apparently, there was no damage though, and it was fine for every run after this. Anyway, she ran 7.295 @ 96.849, 1.648 to the Pinto’s 5.669 @ 121.149, 1.262.
**Video #5, Time 7:03 pm, DA = 3,690 ft:
On this run, a 2002 BMW was lined up next to Donna. It turned out to be the 2nd best ET and the best 60-foot time of the night. Plus, you can easily see the daylight under the tire on this video. Donna ran 7.240 @ 96.431, 1.590 to the BMW’s 9.166 @ 78.378, 2.102.
Video #6, Time 7:12 pm, DA = 3,626 ft:
Donna ran against the BMW again on this pass. A slight spin on the launch slowed it down to a 7.316 @ 95.856, 1.651. Her opponent went 9.530 @ 78.546, 2.446.
**Video #7, Time 7:35 pm, DA = 3,535 ft:
I was back in the seat for this run, against a 5-sec Mustang-body race car. Just for testing purposes, I put the street tune in the car for this run. It still got a little air, but slowed down to a 7.374 @ 95.391, 1.610. My opponent ran 5.909 @ 116.308, 1.298.
**Video #8, Time 7:46 pm, DA = 3,490 ft:
This might be my favorite video of the night. Donna had a great camera angle for the launch. Even though it wasn’t a great run, I think the video is pretty cool. With a large pickup truck lined up against me this time, and the track tune back in the car, I ran 7.351 @ 94.653, 1.612 to the truck’s 9.910 @ 74.457, 2.564.
Video #9, Time 8:08 pm, DA = 3,331 ft:
This run was a little odd. I had my best 60-foot and 330-foot times of the night, yet the trap speed was off by 2-3mph. I ran 7.312 @ only 92.365, 1.592. The Olds 4-4-2 in the other lane ran 7.994 @ 86.305, 1.805. The video is a little funky because the “Nite Shot” mode was on.
**Video #10, Time 8:17 pm, DA = 3,301 ft:
On this run, I was lined up against a 55-57 Chevy… and a quick one at that. The video angle captures a nice perspective of the rear tire biting into the track, and there isn’t as much body squat as before. And the front did get up ever so slightly. I ran 7.340 @ 94.743, 1.625. The Chevy went 6.712 @ 101.088, 1.435. The “Nite Shot” mode was on this vid too.
**Video #11, Time 9:50 pm, DA = 3,150 ft:
Donna was back in the car against a Camaro. For testing purposes, I changed tunes again, going to the “old” street tune that we’ve been running for the past 10 months or so. Donna posted her best RT of the day with a 0.014, and also ran the second highest MPH of the day. She went 7.301 @ 97.186, 1.649. The Camaro was about 15-20 car lengths back at 9.307 @ 73.541.
**Video #12, Time 10:13 pm, DA = 3,000 ft:
OK, so now it’s after 10pm and the density altitude is still 3,000 feet. So much for good night air. But, the high DA didn’t cause the Corvette in the other lane to lose control. I think we can attribute that to street tires and trying to drive through a fishtailing situation that really should have been aborted. And it was the second time that I saw him get loose on the track. He kept it off the wall the first time, but wasn’t so lucky the second time. Donna ran 7.320 @ 96.405, 1.642. There was no ET recorded for the Vette.
Video #13, Time 10:25 pm, DA = 2,973 ft:
On this run, Donna was lined up against a 6-sec Vega. She made a good lap, 7.288 @ 94.187, 1.608, but was still a 1/2-second behind his 6.785 @ 101.791, 1.455.
Video #14, Time 10:50 pm, DA = 2,914 ft:
Still running the “old” street tune, I had a solo pass on this run. It turned out to be my 8th straight 7.3x run. The timeslip showed 7.313 @ 94.232, 1.623.
**Video #15, Time 10:56 pm, DA = 2,895 ft:
I hot-lapped it around for another bye run, which turned out to be my best of the night. After a pretty good 0.043 light, I finally got into the 20’s, running 7.288 @ 96.863, 1.608. You wrinkle wall fans might like this one.
Video #16, Time 11:06 pm, DA = 2,875 ft:
My last run of the night was against a classic Camaro. I knew he was a tenth or two quicker than me, so I really wanted to cut a light and try to win on a holeshot. Unfortunately, the brakes didn’t hold and the car rolled the beams way early, turning on the red bulb. And then it started to get a little weird down track, so I just aborted it early, before the 330’ mark. The memory of that Vette was still in my mind. I just coasted to an unimpressive 9.228 @ 54.452, 1.678. As expected, the Camaro ran 7.158 @ 99.474, 1.645. And to top it off, he had a 0.602 light, so I had a good chance of beating him to the stripe had I not fouled and then dumped the run.
Video #17, Time 11:29 pm, DA = 2,832 ft:
For the final three runs of the night, I put the track tune back in for Donna. But, this run was doomed from the start. The water box was pretty dry, so she didn’t get a good burnout. The car spun noticeably on the launch, which hurt the 60’ and scrubbed off some ET. It was also a little loose most of the way down, but Donna did a good job of driving through it. She ran 7.369 @ 93.464, 1.701. Her opponent went 10.380 @ 68.355, 2.390.
**Video #18, Time 11:34 pm, DA = 2,823 ft:
On this pass, Donna was racing a motorcycle and she made the best run of the whole night, posting the quickest ET and fastest trap speed. After a 0.070 RT, she ran 7.232 @ 97.209, 1.602. The bike ran 7.785 @ 93.619, 1.994.
**Video #19, Time 11:37 pm, DA = 2,815 ft:
I personally really like this video a lot… the car just shoots out of the hole, and the camera angle captured it well. I can’t tell if it pulls the front tire, but there isn’t a lot of wasted motion on this launch. This tells me that the converter and LCA relocation brackets have helped significantly. Too bad the weather didn’t allow the ETs to be as good as I had hoped for. This run was only 3 minutes after the previous run. Donna and the motorcycle hot-lapped it back and lined up again. The result was pretty much the same as the previous run. She ran 7.268 @ 96.874, 1.610 to the bike’s 7.856 @ 93.420, 2.037.