Elevation affecting 60's
 

So I went to the track last night. The elevation is 3200'. Track prep wasn't good at all. However a friend of mine who owns a lincoln coupe runs very consistent at a track in Missouri. His car doesn't make enough power to really spin the tires off the line but his 60's were considerably slower than usual. I was wondering does elevation affect 60's?

I'm thinking no since there isn't much power needed when coming off the line it all depends on track prep.

Yes it does..Altitude affects performance, you lose 3.5% of your horsepower for every 1000 feet in elevation and .2-.3 sec in the 1/4.

coach i didnt even know u was on this forum anymore

No time slips.
No comment.

Why do you even post sometimes?

I know it affects 1/4 mile time and 1/8th mile time. My problem is does it affect the 60' time though?

Of course it affects the 60' time.............

I dug my **** out the trash. I will even add a video. Why not. Also for reference last night was 6324' above sea level.

Here's the rundown on a few slips.

This was my third run. I let the car cool for about 20-30 mins. I slipped the clutch at about 4k.

2.7170 60'

9.5502 @ 594 ft

10.1560 1/8th

74.27 mph

This was my second run. I slipped the clutch at about 3k rpm.

2.3678 60'

9.3287 @ 594 ft

9.9409 1/8th

73.51 mph

This was my first run. The car was somewhat hot from the drive up to the track. I started at 3500rpm and dumped hoping to catch traction.

2.3492 60'

9.1819 @ 594 ft

9.7920 1/8th

73.75 mph

Video will be up later.

OK now I am happy.

6 seasons of drag racing and I find little correlation between 60 foot time and density altitude. My primary consideration is staging pad preparation. Something I have no control over.

I can run 2.2 second times. There is some water on the staging pad, and the track does cleanup. I then run 2.0 seconds. This big fluctuation makes it difficult when bracket racing.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...race073010.gif

BTW ricer math gives you 15.2 seconds.

As promised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab2Mf5Ec3h8

Because he needs to keep bumping that post count. How do you think he got to 30,000+ posts in 6 years?


Anyways, sure it can affect your 60' times a little tiny bit if your 60's are power limited rather than traction limited, but I doubt that's the case here.

I don't think elevation affects your short time that much to where you can't do better than a 2.34.

Watching your video, it just looks like you can't hook from either lack of track prep (very possible, especially on test and tune days) and/or you're launching wrong (you need to modulate your throttle better and not dump your clutch). Also, it looks like your shifting is inconsistent, so you may want to work on that.

While you work on improving your drag racing skills with more seat time, you'll begin to notice a pattern on what you and your car can do with different DA, track prep, launches, etc. You will, at that point, have your answer. Good luck.

Thanks alot for the reply. I'm leaning mostly towards the lack of track prep during test and tune, my lack of experience on various tracks, and DA's. All of these indicate that I need more experience. However, my shifting was and has always been consistent. Always a WOT shift at 7k rpm exactly. It's very hard to tell watching the video. Once I get my camera mount installed inside my car it would be a lot easier to show my launch and my shifting to see where I need work.

But also I tried 3 different ways of launching. None seemed to get traction. So the next time I go out to this specific track it will be on a ET street Radial and not on a test and tune night.

There's a difference of ~.15 seconds by 594' after the first 60', with similar short times. Doesn't that mean that your 1-2 or your 2-3 shift isn't as consistent as you'd like to think? Maybe it's just me, but "consistent" means within hundredths, if not thousands. :dunno:

Here's an example from my 4 back to back runs in '07 running N/A and on street tires:
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3.../DSC00318a.jpg

I'm not trying to knock you, but just pointing out the fact that there's always room for more improvement, even in the areas about which you feel confident. :)

Looking at it now. Could possibly be a problem with my 2-3 shift most likely. Either that or heat soak. I don't really know because looking at my trap it's nearly identical. So if my shift were a tad slow then my trap speed would be off by at least 1 full mph. I have some 1/4 mile slips that show that difference. I remember on one of the runs I shifted a tad before 7k. Don't remember which run it was but it happened.

Really though man my best bet is to just go back out there without excuses on a better tire setup, fresh mind, and more experience at this specific track. This way I won't be guessing what my issues were and are.

^ That's exactly what I was saying earlier. As you practice more and more, you'll learn the ins and outs of everything and your "average." Keep us updated on your progress and post up in the top 25 when you get a chance.

Will do.

Practice will get you better numbers. I suspect July is hot as hell. Not ideal for ET.