Shameful drag performance
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
Hey all! Im a full time grad student not too much time/money to get serious about auto performance. But just for kicks tonight I went to the local drag strip (the one in Gainesville for those NHRA types). It was test and tune night 15 bucks.
Heres what I ran: 1994 S del Sol (1.5L SOHC with A/C plus Automatic trans) Tanabe G Power Exhaust RS racing short stack intake 18.8lbs 15 TSW wheels + BFG Comp T/A tires and everything removed fom the trunk. Being July and in Florida the temp was around 77 deg F and 90+ on humidity. They do have a weight station at the track but they told me it wasnt on during the off-season. So whatever. Oh Ive got 90200 miles on the engine just had new spark plugs installed and adjusted valves. Plus running 93 octane rego unlead.
What was my 1/4 time? Pitiful. Shameful. Downright embarassing. My best time was 18.210s @ 73.87 mph. And that was with a 1.425s R/T (raction time) -- holy moly thats aweful! My best reaction time was 0.577s but ended up with 18.858s @ 72.73 mph (worst time of the day). Damn
Well there was one thing that made me feel better. There was this dude in a 99 black Civic with a SOHC VTEC (I guess the engine used in the Si del Sol -- so he had a Civic LX I think cant remember) he had a cold air intake (AEM) 17 wheels some performance exhaust with about 15k miles on the engine. Plus some lowering springs. Oh and he had an automatic with A/C as well. Thats all I know. He wasnt doing too much better but a bit more consistent and overall better reaction times. His best was 18.461s @ 75.92 mph -- but that was with a 0.368 reaction time (red light). His other time (with 0.541 R/T) was 18.486 @ 75.18 mph.
Of course our cars werent setup for drag racing -- but I was expecting more like a 16.9s or at least close to that. Oh well. Ive got the printed time slips if anyone wants proof. I was going to post them on my website -- but Ive reconsidered
So here was some more info: a made friends with a 5.0 Mustang dude. He said he paid $2000 for his POS-looking rusted Mustang plus $150 for some gear changing and his best was 14.090 (I saw the slip cant remember the speed). Not bad since he said it was basically stock. There was a Civic out there (not sure what year/type) with a engine swapped -- he had a GS-R engine and various other things (but he had only the driver seat in -- everything else was taken out and the thing looked kind of ugly and not taken care of). But he was doing about 14.3s quarters. There was a 1997 Eclipse GS there (not GS-T but he had the GS-T spoiler). Cold air intake plus exhaust plus NOS (thats all I remember). Ive got two slips showing his time -- the best is 0.663 reaction quarter was 15.476s @ 92.00 mph (not bad eh? if you dig NOS). But Ive seen mildly moded VTEC del Sols doing low 15s.
Unfortunately I didnt have anyone with me to take pictures I was just out there to see what my new exhaust and intake would do. I hadnt gone to the track before I figured my old times were in the 17-18s range. So thats why I was expecting more like a 16.9s quarter times tonight. Nope -- SOHC+automatic+A/C = SLOW. Im not into NOS. I might get a header and up the suspension then go for some auto crossing (havent tried that yet). I think a turbo/supercharger would just tear up the engine (on the S) -- Id rather get a Civic Si or find a del Sol VTEC before I go down the charger route.
Looks like I didnt give the del Sol a very good rep this evening -- on my third run the guy at the start line was like hey kid make sure yer A/C is off. Yeah it was
If anyone has suggestions on how to get that time down under at least 17.0 lemme know (nothing too extreme like an engine swap or charger unit -- would a cold air intake and 4-2-1 header be able to make that much difference?). Could more weight in the trunk actually help? I took out everything (plus spare tire) thinking lighter was better (for drag). And Ive got stock ride height -- would a 2 drop or so reduce undercar drag and improve 1/4 mile performance? The 18s quarter time doesnt make much difference to me -- my Sol is my daily commuter car and what it lacks in performance it makes up in charm (and reliability gas mileage etc It is possible I could have gotten better times with the stock exhaust and intake? Perhaps there was something wrong with the way they were installed (yes the ECU was reset by removing the negative battery terminal for a few minutes after the installs).
Later!
SteveL
slewis@fdt.net (e-mail me with suggestions since I dont frequent the boards) http://delsol.homepage.com
Heres what I ran: 1994 S del Sol (1.5L SOHC with A/C plus Automatic trans) Tanabe G Power Exhaust RS racing short stack intake 18.8lbs 15 TSW wheels + BFG Comp T/A tires and everything removed fom the trunk. Being July and in Florida the temp was around 77 deg F and 90+ on humidity. They do have a weight station at the track but they told me it wasnt on during the off-season. So whatever. Oh Ive got 90200 miles on the engine just had new spark plugs installed and adjusted valves. Plus running 93 octane rego unlead.
What was my 1/4 time? Pitiful. Shameful. Downright embarassing. My best time was 18.210s @ 73.87 mph. And that was with a 1.425s R/T (raction time) -- holy moly thats aweful! My best reaction time was 0.577s but ended up with 18.858s @ 72.73 mph (worst time of the day). Damn
Well there was one thing that made me feel better. There was this dude in a 99 black Civic with a SOHC VTEC (I guess the engine used in the Si del Sol -- so he had a Civic LX I think cant remember) he had a cold air intake (AEM) 17 wheels some performance exhaust with about 15k miles on the engine. Plus some lowering springs. Oh and he had an automatic with A/C as well. Thats all I know. He wasnt doing too much better but a bit more consistent and overall better reaction times. His best was 18.461s @ 75.92 mph -- but that was with a 0.368 reaction time (red light). His other time (with 0.541 R/T) was 18.486 @ 75.18 mph.
Of course our cars werent setup for drag racing -- but I was expecting more like a 16.9s or at least close to that. Oh well. Ive got the printed time slips if anyone wants proof. I was going to post them on my website -- but Ive reconsidered
So here was some more info: a made friends with a 5.0 Mustang dude. He said he paid $2000 for his POS-looking rusted Mustang plus $150 for some gear changing and his best was 14.090 (I saw the slip cant remember the speed). Not bad since he said it was basically stock. There was a Civic out there (not sure what year/type) with a engine swapped -- he had a GS-R engine and various other things (but he had only the driver seat in -- everything else was taken out and the thing looked kind of ugly and not taken care of). But he was doing about 14.3s quarters. There was a 1997 Eclipse GS there (not GS-T but he had the GS-T spoiler). Cold air intake plus exhaust plus NOS (thats all I remember). Ive got two slips showing his time -- the best is 0.663 reaction quarter was 15.476s @ 92.00 mph (not bad eh? if you dig NOS). But Ive seen mildly moded VTEC del Sols doing low 15s.
Unfortunately I didnt have anyone with me to take pictures I was just out there to see what my new exhaust and intake would do. I hadnt gone to the track before I figured my old times were in the 17-18s range. So thats why I was expecting more like a 16.9s quarter times tonight. Nope -- SOHC+automatic+A/C = SLOW. Im not into NOS. I might get a header and up the suspension then go for some auto crossing (havent tried that yet). I think a turbo/supercharger would just tear up the engine (on the S) -- Id rather get a Civic Si or find a del Sol VTEC before I go down the charger route.
Looks like I didnt give the del Sol a very good rep this evening -- on my third run the guy at the start line was like hey kid make sure yer A/C is off. Yeah it was
If anyone has suggestions on how to get that time down under at least 17.0 lemme know (nothing too extreme like an engine swap or charger unit -- would a cold air intake and 4-2-1 header be able to make that much difference?). Could more weight in the trunk actually help? I took out everything (plus spare tire) thinking lighter was better (for drag). And Ive got stock ride height -- would a 2 drop or so reduce undercar drag and improve 1/4 mile performance? The 18s quarter time doesnt make much difference to me -- my Sol is my daily commuter car and what it lacks in performance it makes up in charm (and reliability gas mileage etc
It is possible I could have gotten better times with the stock exhaust and intake? Perhaps there was something wrong with the way they were installed (yes the ECU was reset by removing the negative battery terminal for a few minutes after the installs). Later!
SteveL
slewis@fdt.net (e-mail me with suggestions since I dont frequent the boards) http://delsol.homepage.com
