Winter Test & Tune

My last two trips to the drag strip have been on less than ideal days. The session at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway had a DA of 4569′ which really killed my times. The previous session at the Sacramento Raceway was better, with a DA of 1247′, but when I heard that the DA today was going to be below sea level (a negative DA) I just couldn’t pass it up! After the Toys 4 Tots cruise I headed to the Raceway and joined-up with two other people who were running.

I had not planned on running when I filled-up with gas the other day, so I had half a tank of fuel when I reached the track… way more than I’d like. I lowered the rear tire pressure to 29psi (similar to where I left off at the last Test & Tune), but left all the stuff in my trunk (full size spare, jack, bags/camera, etc.). After going through tech I headed to the line for my first run.

I spun the rear tires to clean them off and quickly staged… the other car staged really quickly, so I tried not to lag. I launched from idle when the third yellow light illuminated (my RT was a nice 0.247s) and proceeded down the track very smoothly. I crossed the line in 3rd gear (Drive mode) and was really pleased with the way the first run had gone. I had reason to be impressed, as I ran a 13.44s @ 106.4mph (DA -172′)… which is a new personal best!

I emptied out all the stuff from my trunk and spent the rest of the day battling traction issues. I had several runs (in both lanes) where I just couldn’t launch without getting nasty wheel hop as I went into the power. I was typically able to get-out and back-on to salvage a 14-second run, but that wasn’t what I wanted. On the last run I was even breaking-loose as I was shifting from 1st to 2nd! Because of this I was unable to better the time from my first run… looks like I’ll need to spend some more time learning how to launch!

I had hoped to get into the 13.3’s (what I’d estimated I could run with a nice DA), but I was content with bettering my personal best. If I would have been able to hook-up, I’m sure I would have put down a better time. I think the next time I come to the track I will be sporting an upgraded suspension, a set of drag radials, and more than likely a nice power-adder.