I am new to the 'Z' family and am getting used to the power and also it being rear wheel drive which is my first (owned a Civic Si before this).
I was looking for tips on quarter mile runs on teh track. I am going to the track to get some stock times before I start with the mods. What could I expect from a stock Touring 'Z'? Any help would be great.
Thanks

 

I can give ya a few general tips....

- Air up the fronts to ~40psi, drop the rears to around 25psi (may have to experiment to see what pressure gets you the best 60's)
- Don't do a smokey burnout, just spin the tires for a second or two to clean them off
- Take out as much junk as possible, jack, spare, CD collection, etc etc
- I usually run with a little over 1/4 tank of gas
- When the 3rd yellow lights up, drop the clutch and enjoy

 

What about as far as the launch? How high or low should I release the clutch at without a lot of tire spin? Also, should I have the traction control on or off? Thanks again for your help.

 

I'm assuming you have 6 speed trans.

Try launching @ 3K rpms. The optimum rpms will obviously vary with track conditions. If you get an OK launch with 3K & the car hooks up good, try 3.5K or 4K & look if your 60' improves.

Also you may want to slowly release the clutch (rather than just dropping it).

Either way, you may want to play around with your technique & see what you feel comfortable with. Track conditions will play a role.

Other than that, go by what NHRATA01 said

 

u have to rev RIGHT at 6600 rpms or a little before that or the rev limiter will screw u.

 

and please turn off traction

 

I agree with all of this except for the burnout part. I've had my best runs when i cook the tires good. When i don't heat them up thoroughly, i just spin, and spin, and spin.

 

There's always debate about this, some swear by it, some swear against it. Perhaps it depends on the brand of performance tire. I tried the smokey burnout thing with my stock goodyear GSC's twice and neither time did they ever hook well. Of course, they only hooked marginally better when I just did the quick cleaning spin. Cooking the nittos definitely makes them stick better, thats for sure.

 

Yeah, it's amazing how different rubber compounds can be. Like the Nitto's for example. Most people believe their a good sticky tire. I had a set that, ummmm, i dunno....exceeded their shelf-life?.....they were hard as bricks, and wouldn't stick to fly-paper.....i've been pretty happy with the Bridgestone's the Z's come with......they get pretty gummy after a couple of good burnouts......now if only the contact patch was bigger

 

I wanted to thank everyone for their help. I went to the track last night and did fairly well. I could still work on my jump, reaction time was up a bit but 60' was not bad. With some work I think I could get into the 13's. I only ran it three times cause I didn't want to beat on it too bad since it is still fairly new.

.286reaction
2.214 60'
14.2 Quarter mile
101.1 Trap speed

 

wow .286 reaction , is it me or is it a new worlds record ?
u sure u got the number right ?

 

Are they using the new reaction times at that track???? I know that nhra is doing it this year and wondering if some of the tracks have started it for test and tune sessions.

.286 + .500 = .786

 

Cut and paste from nhra.



1/30/2003
Beginning at the K&N Filters Winternationals, the opening round of the 2003 POWERade Drag Racing Series, NHRA will implement two significant changes on the starting line for the NHRA national events.

First, the numerical value of a driver's reaction time will be modified at each of the 23 national events. The modification simplifies the process of understanding a driver's reaction time to activation of the green lights on the Christmas Tree. Previously, a perfect reaction time for professional, and some sportsman drivers, was a .400. For the remaining sportsman competitors a .500-light was considered a perfect reaction time. Under the new changes, the timing system will be modified to display a perfect reaction time as .000 for all categories. This change only applies to the 23 national events that make up the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

On a pro Christmas Tree, a .399 light, or anything lower, would be considered an early start, activating the red light, which would result in a disqualification. Under the new system, a .399 will now be displayed as a -.001, a.398 will be a -.002, and so on. Anything from a perfect reaction time of .000 and above will be a legal start. The new timing system in no way affects any driver, vehicle set-up, or any other significant aspect of the competition on the drag strip.

Also, as previously reported, NHRA will implement the use of LED amber lights on the Christmas Tree starting system, replacing the traditional yet damage-prone incandescent lights.

"The biggest advantage is that the vibration, especially that caused by the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, won't cause the LED bulbs to burn out like it will an incandescent," said NHRA's Graham Light. "Amber bulb failures, especially during full Tree countdowns in the Sportsman classes, lead to re-runs and other problems. We are trying to avoid that problem as well as step up our technology.

"We tested the new bulbs without problem during preseason testing in Tucson," added Light, "but racers attending the Winternationals and subsequent events are advised that the LED lights illuminate quicker, by about three-hundredths of a second, than the incandescent lights."