HA, I couldn't even do 3700 rpm. 3k was my best launch, anything higher I had clutch problems.

 

what car were u racing during the drag race? that other car seems damn quik ... 10.3? hmmm ...

 

Impressive once again...great job!!!

I am set up for a track rentel November 3rd...10am to 5pm so I am hoping to get ~50 degree air.... ahhh I can't wait.

Veetec any luck with that clutch? Dealership messing around with you?

 

Yeah, they want the Nissan Rep to check it out in person now, since their fix didn't take. They keep leaving me messages telling me they will be in touch when he is coming.

I'm about to just leave the car there and tell them to fix it.

 

Can't blame you there... if my car was having issues (other than the normal expected 20K Chevy issues they come with the car from the showroom ) I would be pissed.

 

Because of the nature of the issue (for me at least) having been contained to the drag strip, and learning to work around it (don't launch with as much slip, risk the tire spin more, pull the pedal up and lift when it does slip (key, DO NOT GIVE IT TOO MUCH GAS) etc. I can't really complain. The momentum of the engine alone/the car is enough that if you let the clutch get hot it could slip on its own. It can get so hot it can cause the slave to stick then even when the slave does release it just doesn't hold the power at all.

My friends (that drag race a lot) have said its even common on roller cam small blocks to see the issue come up, example my friends camero you can't push the clutch above 6500 RPM or the pressure plate won't even re-engage it - something with the force pulling the prongs out etc.

 

Aftermarket clutch and pressure plate are #1 on my list after I ditch the clutch line dampener. I noticed the clutch gets hot after repetitive hard driving. What a POS stock clutch.

 

yeah, i'm with peak350, i only get my clutch problem at the track, and it didn't even happen to me this last time. now that i think about it, i only got it on 2 track outings. so iguess i'm one of the lucky ones.

i also do the clutch brake fluid change (www.rangeracceleration.com method) right before i leave to the track and once at the track about mid way through. but i've only done this on the last to track outings cause thats when i came across ranger's site. the time before this, even though i changed the fluid, the pedal still sank when i launched at 4300ish rpm, but i will admit the slipping prolly was a bit to much on that run.

as for the car i was racing, most of them were those stupid loud muscle cars (open headers). i really don't like this track cause they mix all the cars together. the other local track seperates out the street cars from the race cars. it makes it alot easier that way cause u can actually hear ur car. also, this track has pretty narrow lanes of vht, i found myself wondering off the vht just a bit when i shift into second and end up spinning the tires for about a sec and a half, if it wasn't for that, i may have hit a 13.3

 

I'm too lazy to do that every time. I'll throw motul in in a few more months and leave it at that.

The trick is to launch with RPM, use enough slip to get out of the hole, but not for long enough to boil the fluid.

I don't want to say too much or I won't be #1 for very long (not that it'll last anyway).

-Tyler

 

don't worry about telling us the "trick" most people prolly won't be able to nail it anyway (speaking for myself anyway, but i hope i'm wrong)

 

I was just joking about that, the weather is the biggest detriment to me running better times.

But, basically - if you launch the first 5-10 feet right you don't need to have any input on the clutch.

There are 3 things to keep in mind. We have for whatever reasons, a clutch that sticks to the floor when it gets hot. It could be a sticky slave, it could be boiling fluid, it could be a weak pressure plate, it could be too small a diameter on the clutch for the increase in torque, a bad clutch compound that doesn't resist the heat it needs to, or a terrible placement of the slave cylinder so that it overheats like a little *****.

But the three things are:
- Don't slip the clutch too long, it will overheat and give out, then your run is screwed.

- Don't depend solely on your clutch to modulate power. If the engine is going a LOT faster than the clutch more heat is generated than only a little faster. That means you should try using a bit less throttle than you think while you are letting the clutch out, only apply more throttle to keep the RPM's from falling. If the RPM's are falling it means the power is being transferred.
- Try to get the clutch to release and be "trying" to grab within 15 feet. Sometimes its 10', and my best runs usually take 20', but I always aim for ~1 car length off the line to have my foot coming off the pedal. I've gotten enough heat that it doesn't just ****** and spin the tires, but not so much that it doesn't pull really hard into a smooth hold.


If your tires spin start at a lower RPM, if they don't, try a slightly higher RPM and a faster clutch release. My best 60'/330' combo was a launch that I started at 5,500 RPM's, the clutch grabbed almost instantly, the engine bogged to a measley 2,200 RPM's and had to pull its way back, but my 60' was a 1.91 (was honestly not trying for that hard a launch) and my 330' was a 5.5xx if I remember correctly (maybe a 5.6xx....I'll look when I get home tomorrow night). I didn't get a perfect 2-3 shift and so the run went to garbage, but it was a perfect launch to demonstrate that the clutch CAN hold.

FWIW my car sits about 10-20 minutes minimum before my good runs, I leave the hood open, the engine covers off, and push the car through the waiting lines. I don't crank until I'm about to be called to run.

I average 6-8 runs per night, and usually run my best time the 2nd from last run (cooler temps and the last run is usually hot lapped).

Every car will react differently, and no-one has the same conditions I do (unless you come to Gainesville Raceway). There is a great rubber base, a wide strip of VHT most nights, and a large amount of effort made to keep the pad clean.

I'm going saturday, prep is always better on saturdays and I haven't been yet in the Z. I want a 1.8x 60' on the stock tires just to say I did it, and I'll see if I can get a 13.2 out of the car. Probably won't because its hot as ***** this week, but I'll let you know if I find anything that works/doesn't work on the launch (I'm going to try a couple new ideas I've got).

-Tyler

 

^ about what I figured out from launching it on the street (I live on a borderline country road), but don't have the track time to practice.

Ditto, minus taking the engine covers off.


VHT, what's that? I don't think PIR's ever heard of it

 

thanks for the insite, i'll have to try a couple new things next time i go

 

Trade you...high today is 53!!! EEK..

 

I rather like cold weather. Never lived with snow so I can't say its for me, but I will eventually, I can't stand the humidity here, its ****ing brutal in the summer.


And the engine covers didn't really make any difference I could tell, but I dropped a nut when I took them off, and I've been lazy, they'll go back on once I get to the dealer and ask for another nut.

 

Yeah we unfortunately don't get to escape the humidity during the summer ... 90~100% for months and then bam...we went from a high of 89 one day to 53 the next... insane. I don't even want to get into how bad snow sucks.

People say I might miss it if I ever left here but right now I don't know if it's even possible to miss the stuff.

Besides if we didn't have that crap the track would be open more than 4 ~ 5 months out of the year.