Last year with just an AEM CAI I managed a best of 13.98@100.86 with a 60' of 2.047.

During the winter I did am Earth ground kit and a Borla TD and bought wider and better tires, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. I hit the stip last night and run a best of 14.00@99.8 with a 2.267 60' and wheel hop all the way thru 1st. My next 2 runs had similiar results with nearly identical 60' times.. All night people were complaining the track was poorly preped (It was opening street night)


I was almost counting on getting out with a 13.8 slip at at least 101. My first 2 I launched around 2800 (can be a bit more agressive with these tires), 1 got wheel-hop and the other bogged a bit at 28 PSI. I dropped the pressure down to 24 psi and got a tiny bit of hop and a bit of a bog..

Well now I wait for my plenum, maybe that will get me running high 13's since I can do better then a damn 2.25 60' !!! ARGGH!

Well the good news is I managed a 14.0 with a 2.25 60', last year that got me about a 14.2.

 

I went to the strip last month and was disappointed with the results. See sig..The track wasnt prep. I had poor traction,1st gear I had to let off the gas. Your trap speed should be like 102 or so with the mods. Maybe the exhaust is leaking? Borlas are prone to leak so check it out.

 

Hmmm, I put in octane booster 5 days before racing on a 3/4 tank and ran it down to under 1/4 before hitting the track, is it possible the octane booster is stealing HP?? I figured it can't hurt so I threw it in. Also just before I went up to the track I used my G-Timer on 2 runs and I was having a hard time getting good numbers so its possible.

I was somewhat satified with my times, I double checked one of the slips and one of the 14.0 runs included a 2.267 60'..

But the thing that bothered me the most was the fact that my best trap all night was 99.85 and last year with just my CAI on average 2 out of 3 runs would be around 100.5 and 1 under 100 regardless of 60'.

Next time I go up I am going to have my Plenum installed.. And if I am not running high 13's and above 102 traps consistantly I will never race again at the track and never add another mod to my Z.. With I\E and Plenum I think I should be expecting around a 13.6@104 with a very good 60', I'll settle for running constant high 13's with average 60's since thats all I am getting.

 

My times went down after mods too, but it was because of traction problems. i'm getting better at the launches and turning better times each time out.

 

Ya I need more practice launching with the new tires... Its SO much easier to launch on streets then on the track.

Still, can anybody tell me if add the octane booster could have a negitive effect on my HP? I am not gonna use it next time. Next time with my plenum If I am not running 13.8-13.9 with 2.2's i'm gonna be pissed..

I bought a helmet for a reason (13.99 or lower requires a helmet), I don't want people thinking I am wearing it because i'm scared..

 

I have wondered about the octane booster, because we just have 91 octane out here. I don't know though. It would seem like you would have to maybe run a couple of tank fulls and do some agressive driving to get the ECU to change. I'm not sure even that would work. I don't remember hearing of anyone trying it.

 

Unless you have an ECU adjusted for higher octane, octane boosters do no good.

Did you heat up your tires? I posted a thread about going from 14.1* to 13.78 simply by doing a burnout before the run. Especially with an all season tire, you need to make sure they're warm and soft.

 

Ya actually I did...

I'm already planning my attack.. Hows 25 PSI sound with a good burnout? Did you use the water box or did you do a dry burnout? Did you just dump the clutch to do it? Did you burn out enough to see smoke?

My Mich Pilot Sport A/S grip like hell and i'd have to really bomb the clutch to get them spinning.

I usually do a quick clutch drop after going around the water box to basically just clean the tires.

 

I would stick with 35 psi to start. Last weekend three of us all lowered our tire pressure and we all did worse. Only lower the pressure if you can't hook.

Do a good burn out without the water box. I just wound it up to about 4k and let the clutch out fast. I didn't dump it, but let it out fast. Then ran it until the shift indicator started flashing and let off. Only if you can't brake your A/S's loose would I go through the trap.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

I have Pilot A/S's too and I got my best launch last week at 26#, but Infineon usually has a dirty launch pad. That was from an idle and no heating of the tires. Weds I will use the same psi and heat the tires. At 36# I came off the line sideways and had to get off the throttle to hook.
It just takes some experimenting with the track you use. I have a 5AT btw.

 

Hey guys thanks for the responses...

Last year I managed a 2.047 60' with the stock tires, but that was crazy luck.. Up until now I have about 20 runs at the track on 6 diffent visits and only 3 times I managed below a 2.15 60'

I can't wait to head up again.. I'll have my plenum installed and new hope for launching. I'll probably start off with about 32psi with a good dry burn out and see how that works and go from there.

When I went last week- the track was so bad that after I did my little tire spinner and i'd hit the brakes to slow down to stage and my anti-locks kicked on as if I was slowing down on ice I was like WTF?? How my gonna launch on this..

 

ever had an sti launch on you :P

 

Actually my very first race every at the drags was vs a new Evo with I\E. He pulled 1.5-2 cars on me off the launch (1.8 vs 2.22 60') and we stayed about that distance until about the 1/8 mile and I started gaining and he beat me by 1 car length at the 1/4.

Damn AWD.. Its just not fair

 

the z's that i have raced off the line did not start catching up. yes the 60' time makes it look like the z is no challenge for the STi or EVO. w/n20 i'm sure a z would be a good match.
With intake/turbo back exhaust boost controller and ported wastegate, STi's are running about an average of 12.4-12.7
Thats on pump gas w/o any tuning. Not bad for under 3k in mods.
Sti's are also blowing up when people put bigger turbos on them becase of improper tuning


when i was stock, on the freeway i raced a z to about 140. i was pulling on him the whole time, but he was keepin up. he was always jumping on me though, hitting the throttle before me.

same w/a maxima. he got a hardcore jump on me from a roll, i pulled hard on him but not as hard as i pull on other cars. raced him off the line and it didn't even seem like he was racing :P it was BAD but they are like 15+ second cars.

after i got my catless downpipe i raced a z w/nismo exhaust and intake on the freeway. this guy didn't try to jump on me first on the onramp, he started to hit it. as soon as i heard that awesome nismo exhaust, i stepped on it. immediately i was at his bumper, and had to let off the gas. (i was in 5th gear BTW going about 80) after the onramp, he was still punching it, so i dropped gears and passed him. HARD. i pulled REALLY hard on him. I was surprised how good of an increase the downpipe made. slowed down and paced him. he took the farlane and started weaving on the freeway. he had a 4 carlength lead, and i followed. immediately up on him again. we had room now. paced again, looked over at him (couldnt see anything because of dark tint) revved a little, and he dropped it. i was not far behind the WOT punch and i pulled away from him in no time and car at least 3 car lengths. don't get me wrong i love z's. i love all cars. this guy had it coming, he had zoomed past me on a residential street, and had seen him around town beefing on it.

i will probably get flamed for this but... keep in mind i almost bought a 350z!
btw yes i have an STi

 

I didn't bother reading all that. Didn't have to do with anything, not sure why you went into a babble-fest chalked full of old info. Everyone in the world knows that 99% of most turbo cars can be modded cheaply, I don't get your point if you had one.

All I know is the Evo I menctioned trapped 97mph to my 101, obviously I was catching up. Wether he was a good driver or not I don't know or care, just gave my experience.

And I raced an evo on the highway from about 60 to about 120 when I only had an intake. The guy in the Evo had an exhaust and I have no idea if anything else. I gained maybe a total of 5-10 Feet on him from 60-120.

 

it was a bit babbly. and like i said i expected to get flamed guy in the evo must have been a poor driver to trap under 100. i havent been to the track, but ran 13.1 on a gtech and trapped 108 (stock) i'm not saying the z is a slow car by any means... when i was stock it was pretty close on the freeway but i was pullin

 

I don't have a lot of trouble with stock wrx's and srt's at the drags and I have 5AT. Can't handle a sti though.

 

Octane boosters don't hurt or help N/A cars...
When you get 50K or more a fuel system cleaner is nice to do every now and then though...

 

I was thinking it could actually hurt because the ECU might not adjust to it properly and since the ECU is getting "abnormal" information might pull back fuel or something to limit the power.

On my G-Timer 2 since my exhaust I average about a 13.7@102.x with about a 2.07-2.10 60'. I put in the octane booster, removed about 70lbs of stereo stuff and spare the day before the track night and did a couple of runs the next day and only managed a best of 13.8@100.8. The temp was actually cooler too.

 

you car will not make any adjustments to fuel settings due to an added octane. the added performance of higher octane comes from the ability to run a leaner mixture without detonation. so if you are running stock a/f ratios you will not see any gain from a higher octane. some ECU's will adjust timing when it does not sense detonation, as a benefit to give more power. adding octane is not going to cause detonation at all. if your ECU has variable ignition timing, and it senses detonation, then it will retard the timing causing a loss in power. using octane some kinds of octane boosters will cause your 02 sensors to think the catalytic converters are not functioning correctly. this will result in a malfuction CEI, which should not affect performance at all. basically, there is no way octane booster is going to decrease your performance, even on an N/A car. Your decreased time at the track could have been due to several different reasons (barometric pressure ect).