Life is Great with a 6.0-liter V8
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  • Sacramento Raceway Test & Tune

    Posted on October 24th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    After the drag racing experience at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I have been wanting to get back to the strip to see what the G8 can do now that I know a little more about what I’m doing. I was feeling slightly disappointing with my times/speeds from Vegas, but understood that the elevations and temperature really played a big part in how I ran. When the NorCal Goats planned a trip to the Sacramento Raceway for a Test and Tune, I knew I had to go along.

    Sacramento Raceway (elevation 30′) is a great facility to get the G8 out to. A group of us were heading-out from the Manteca area, so I drove the back-way over to Tracy to scout out the photo locations for tomorrow’s shoot. Several of us got together and then headed-up to the track. We arrived when the gates opened and had some time to relax and let the engines cool off from the drive. I also took the opportunity to empty my trunk of all non-essential equipment.

    When the track get hot I headed over to tech (which wasn’t really an inspection at all) and then into the staging lanes. Having spent some time reading about different launch techniques, I decided to just let the G8 do it’s thing. I turned off TCM, left the car in drive, and launched from idle… the resulting run was the quickest pass I made all day… a 13.53s @ 106.4mph (2.12s 60′, DA 1021′). The launch was perfect (no wheel spin at all) and I accelerated all the way through the 1/4 mile… holding 3rd gear through the end (without hitting the rev limiter).

    After the first pass I wanted to see how Sport mode would work, and to my surprise the run was slightly slower… a 13.64s @ 106.1mph (2.168s 60′, DA 1021′). I think the slower time came from the chirp that was caused when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. While it sounds cool, the loss of traction doesn’t seem to make for a faster time.

    I then spent the rest of the afternoon experimenting with different launch techniques, but was never able to better my first run. The last run of the day I used the same launch technique as the first run, but had aired-down the rear tires to 30psi (they were at 40psi to start). The temperature had increased a little, resulting in a DA of 1247′, but I was able to pull-out a 13.62s @ 106.9mph (2.224s 60′). I think that if I would have run the same PSI with the colder air from the morning I could have squeezed out a tenth or two.

    Spending time working over the numbers, I was really surprised to see that my times were very consistent. When correcting for the DA run, my best from Vegas was within a tenth of a second and 1mph of what I ran in Sac. Given there was nothing changed with the car, it’s expected.

    I am content with the 13.53s @ 106.4mph (I even put it in my signature on the message boards), but I think if the temperature gets a little cooler I will be able to run in the low-13s. I don’t think I have been bit by the never-ending faster ET bug (yet), but spending time at the track with the rest of the GOATs is a blast.

    After the day at the track, a group of us headed-out to Sacramento for some photography. The goal was to get a few shots for the NCG Calendar I’ve been working on, and I think things worked-out well. I’d share some of the photos, but they are a secret until the calendar comes out!