I finally got a couple of runs in with my stock base Z the other night(K&N drop-in, no spare). I would estimate there were at least 1000 people there. No pressure at all!!! lol...

The car ran a very consistant 14.0@100mph. All of my runs were within a few hundreths of a second.

I had pretty crappy 2.2 60ft times but I was on stock potenzas at 35psi so I expected that much. I drove around the water box and that did not seem to please the crowd. Dumb rednecks. Street tires + open dif. + water = teh suck. The track seemed sticky to me though so no complaints there.

Temp:83F
Humidity:60%
Elevation:1200ft
Barometric pres: 29.90

A little hot and humid at decent elevation and low pressure. None of which seems condusive to running fast times. Someone had posted a calculator to adjust for conditions and it said something crazy like I could have ran a 13.6@102 in ideal conditions. So I guess 14@100mph seems a littler better considering the conditions? I know the conditions can play a big part but I'm not a drag racer so I don't really know how much it can affect times.

Any input??

 

i think your conditions might be off a little, that corrects to a 13.4@104.


http://www.modulardepot.com/density.php

 

There we go, thanks for that link.

The weather conditions are per weather.org, and for a city that's a few miles away. They log weather conditions by the hour and I can go back and look at exactly what the conditions were. I'm almost certain the weather conditions are very close to being accurate. It was definitely an icky summer night and my car was not as peppy as it could have been.

I was using the elevation of the same nearby city because I didn't think there would be much difference. It turns out you're right. The tracks website lists elevation at 1054 feet. A bit of a difference.

My best time was 14.038@99.92 which that thing translates to 13.51@103.66... After my first run a few people actually came by when I was waiting for my next run to tell me nice job. I'm not a drag racer though so I don't really know what the norm is around here, or for that track. I do know that I've beat a lot of people street racing who thought they were going to smoke me. At first I thought my times were mediocre but I'm starting to think they were a lot better than I originally thought.

I'm not so sure that thing is absolutely accurate but I guess it gives the right idea.

 

Are those corrections accurate? How are they getting those revised numbers?

 

who knows. its still .5 a second slower than my old turd on street tires

 

And you would be lucky to hang around a road course, what's your point?

Any experience drag racing at different altitudes?

 

i think corrections = crap...


drive somewhere and actually run those times and i think its accountable...


until then....

 

Temperature and humidity play a big roll in ET. As I mentioned in another thread. I run 13.40 seconds in the spring and fall, and 14.00 seconds in the summer. Its no big deal because I race against other cars which are also effected by the same conditions. Generally, I do not adjust ET in my head for better ET: I just race with what I got.

On a side note, you develop a keen sense of conditions and ET racing Summit ET. During morning practice, If I am running, say, 13.65 seconds, I will dial-in 13.70 for the first round of the day because temperature is increasing. After sunset, I might drop my dial-in by 0.50 seconds.

 

what, all i need to do is crawl under my oil laden chassis and attach my sway bar and rip up a road course. my car will do fine and when those base brakes of yours fade and you come in to a corner too hot ill be seeing ya

 

yup the base brakes do suck!! proved that two weekends ago!! they are fine 60 to 0 but anything higher, they just stopped working!!

 

I posted my fastest time. I also posted the conditions. After my first run and seeing my slip, I was like.... ehh... that sucked!! I thought it was mediocre. Once I thought about it and factored in the conditions, the times started to seem much better. Do you not agree?? I was just looking to hear from some people who have a better feeling for the effects of changes in the environment on timeslips, since I am not a drag racer.

Hey david, thanks for posting that, that's what I wanted to hear.

It was my first time dragging the Z so I had absolutely nothing to compare to. It sounds like you fluctuate up to .6 seconds at the same track. You mention that temp and humidity play a big role. Do you also keep track of the barometric pressure when you run? It seems to me like fluctuations in the barometric pressure would be like changing altitude. Maybe not room for a huge difference like with temp and humidity, but the effect should still be noticable eh?

I'll have to go back to the track when the conditions are ripe. I'll make sure I bring a helmet because I should definitely be in the 13's.

 

Unless he has upgraded his brakes he has no room to say that. The non-track brakes are most likely just as good if not better than stock mustang brakes, not to mention my Z is most likely lighter than his.

 

Yes. but I do not give same day fluctuations the same importance as temperature.

 

Ah yes, I see your point. You are more interested in the changes that affect you there and then. I doubt the pressure would normally change much over the course of a day? I don't know I'm not a meteorologist, lol.

 

LOL. Pro-racers have a weather station. They plug the data into a computer. The computer calculates their dial-in.

 

That would make a ton of sense if you took the sport that seriously.

Weather stations like one of these? http://www.altalabinstrument.com/dlite.html

The "computer" would basically do the same exact calculations that the link in jackies posts does??

 

i totally know how weather effects your times. but i am saying, in order for you to run a 13.0 @ ??? you cant run a 13.5 when its hot and say well... corrected its a 13.0

thats all i am stating...


not sure how mustang cobra brakes are at all... dont like many american cars these days

 

That looks pretty fancy. I see regular big weather stations (similar to those on a boat).

 

That's also what I was getting at when I said I'm not so sure that calculator is completely accurate. I would have to run a 13.5 before I would ever claim a 13.5. I ran a 14.038 in crappy weather.

But I disagree with that last part. You can certainly say "corrected it is xx.xx" because you are specifically stating it's corrected and not your actual time. That's not to say if the conditions were perfect you would actually run a 13.0. When you say "corrected" all of that would be implied and I see nothing wrong with that. I believe the magazine testers correct their numbers or list the variables, if I'm not mistaken.

The calculator just gives me a ballpark idea that I would run noticably faster times with better conditions, which I can not doubt. As to exactly how much faster I can run with good conditions, I have no idea. Time will tell. I will go back when conditions are ripe just for sheets and giggles and I will make sure to bring a helmet.

Maybe when I get more runs under different conditions I can test that calculator and see how accurate it really is. Maybe some of you guys with more runs under your belt who log your weather variables can test its accuracy.

It would be nice to hear someone admit I ran nice times given the variables and it was my first time at the track, but I drive for a living and I know how to drive so I don't need anyone to stroke my ego. I already know the times were good. A lot better than I initially thought.

 

you could always say "My car runs a 13.6, if i were a better driver!"