1/8-Mile Drags, Barona, October 5, 2007
After a nearly 2-month hiatus away from the track, we were stoked to be able to go back. The weather was very cool (in the 50s), so we hoped for some much improved results. Unfortunately, that’s not what we saw. All it would run was 7.30s and 7.40s. Yuck.
We arrived with two new tunes from Adam (a new street tune and a new race tune). Before the first lap, I dumped 5 gallons of 110 in the tank, loaded up the race tune, and packed the chiller box full of ice, fully expecting the car to run like a scalded dog. It didn’t. In fact, it didn’t matter which tune I ran… the car wouldn’t respond. We even made a bunch of runs using my “old” street tune (which has gone as quick as 7.0 before). Not much better.
I’m not sure exactly what is going on here, but something just isn’t right. I don’t see how it can be tune related (since my old "proven" tune was just as slow), but I have a couple other ideas. First, the fuel I used had been sitting in a 5-gal jug in my garage for a couple months. So it may have gone sour. Second, maybe my plugs were no good, although I never heard any missing or sputtering. Both of those issues will be corrected before I hit the track again (fresh fuel and new plugs are ready to go). The third possibility is that maybe the motor is just getting tired, and needs to be freshened up. It has 17K miles and 600+ runs on it.
Anyway, we got in a total of 16 runs. The track was pretty slick at times… both on the launch and down track. It was just a wee bit too cool out there I think, there wasn’t much heat in the track. With the exception of one run that spun really hard on the launch, all of the runs were in the 7.30s and 7.40s. The average for the other 15 runs was 7.42 @ 93.
Here are the videos from Friday, October 5, at Barona. The videos marked with the asterisks (**) are my favorites.
Video #1, Time 6:33 pm, DA = 1,991 ft:
My first run was with the race tune loaded, and was against a late model Mach 1. Even though the car launched well (lifted the front tire), it nosed over at higher rpms (right before the shifts), and generally did not run strong at all. It also spun at about the 60’ cone. I ran 7.425 @ 94.760, with a 1.644 60-foot time. The Mach 1 ran 9.570 @ 77.901, 2.404. The 94.760 mph trap speed was the highest of the night.
**Video #2, Time 6:45 pm, DA = 1,977 ft:
On this run, I loaded the new street tune in. Even though the car made a hard move to the left on the launch, it still cut the best 60’ of the night (1.629). My opponent was a quick 1967 Mustang. I ran 7.379 @ 94.284, 1.629. The ’67 went 7.050 @ 96.577, 1.540.
Video #3, Time 6:54 pm, DA = 1,958 ft:
Before this pass, the “old” street tune went in. And even though it was my best pass of the night, I was still a long way behind the Corvette in the other lane. My 7.370 @ 94.643, 1.670 was no match for his 6.706 @ 106.891, 1.694.
**Video #4, Time 7:32 pm, DA = 1,927 ft:
I was up against the ‘67 Mustang again on this run. And this one turned out to be a wild ride for me. The car spun on the launch, and then just past half track, it got pretty loose. It felt worse than it looks… but it definitely got my attention! Ed also got a video of this run, which shows the top end wiggle better (
Ed’s video). All I could run after all that was 7.479 @ 93.071, 1.704. The other Mustang ran 7.075 @ 96.691, 1.568.
Video #5, Time 7:39 pm, DA = 1,927 ft:
Run #5 for me was a good chance to see a parachute blossom at the finish line… I was running against a low 5-sec dragster. haha. My 7.379 @ 93.929, 1.650 was no contest for his 5.231 @ 131.944, 1.179.
Video #6, Time 8:26 pm, DA = 1,793 ft:
On this run, I decided to try the race tune one more time. The result was about the same for me, 7.421 @ 94.004, 1.629. The Buick Grand National in the other lane had nitrous on top of his turbo-6, and laid down a very nice 6.639 @ 109.939, 1.639.
Video #7, Time 9:37 pm, DA = 1,785 ft:
My last run of the night was the first round of the Gambler bracket race. I put the old street tune back in, and dialed in at 7.37 (I should have dialed higher… and I knew it when I did it, too). The Duster in the other lane was dialed in at 7.29, so it was pretty close to a heads up race. I managed to snooze at the tree (0.128 to his 0.053), and then the car only ran 7.460. I was done for the night. The numbers: 7.460 @ 93.554, 1.704 to his 7.335 @ 87.032, 1.635.
Video #8, Time 10:21 pm, DA = 1,805 ft:
This was the first of Donna’s nine runs (note: all nine of her runs were done in less than an hour! The “hot lap” queen! hehe). She was running against a Subaru (with a pink roll bar). She spun hard on the launch, which slowed the car way down. She ran 7.572 @ 92.473, 1.784 vs 7.677 @ 91.041, 1.930.
Video #9, Time 10:27 pm, DA = 1,805 ft:
On this pass, Donna was paired up with a Mini Cooper. Talk about a mismatch. The margin of victory was 3.426 seconds… about 30 car lengths. Donna ran 7.455 @ 94.051, 1.715. The Mini ran 11.122 @ 66.527, 2.729. The Mini’s ET at the 330-foot mark (1/2-track) was 7.410… just slightly quicker than Donna’s 660-foot time.
Video #10, Time 10:31 pm, DA = 1,795 ft:
Donna was on a solo run this time. She ran 7.435 @ 92.699, 1.698.
**Video #11, Time 10:37 pm, DA = 1,795 ft:
Donna’s 4th run was against a very quick motorcycle. The car launched pretty hard (you can see light under the left front tire again), but the run was just average. She ran 7.406 @ 94.069, 1.711 to the bike’s 6.315 @ 111.942, 1.574.
**Video #12, Time 10:51 pm, DA = 1,795 ft:
This pass was also a solo for Donna. She got pretty loose early in the run, but she kept the loud pedal mashed and drove through it. Nicely done! The timeslip read: 7.469 @ 92.806, 1.708.
**Video #13, Time 10:57 pm, DA = 1,795 ft:
This turned out to be the quickest run of the whole night. I was standing even with the tree for this camera angle. Donna was running the Mini Cooper again on this pass. She went 7.326 @ 93.329, 1.634 vs 10.801 @ 68.848, 2.718.
Video #14, Time 11:10 pm, DA = 1,802 ft:
Before this pass, I reloaded the “new” street tune in the car. Donna was supposed to have raced Paul in his Ford-302-on-the-bottle Miata, but his car died on the line (it turned out to be a loose connection on the distributor). So, she ended up with a bye run. Too bad, because Paul had been running in the 7.3-7.4 range, so it would have been a fun race. Donna ran 7.446 @ 92.897, 1.662.
Video #15, Time 11:14 pm, DA = 1,802 ft:
Another solo run for Donna netted a 7.455 @ 92.412, 1.649.
Video #16, Time 11:18 pm, DA = 1,795 ft:
Donna’s last run of the night (and 9th in a 57-minute span!) was also a solo, and resulted in her equaling the best 60-ft of the night. She ran 7.419 @ 92.672, 1.629.