Help at the strip!

[zmw]

okay - first time at the strip with the 300 SRT8, just broke past 1000 miles... No so excited.... the car is much faster than my times would seem to indicate.

track temp 88
ambient temp 84
bone stock but with a k&n CAI (which did make a very noticeable difference)
all season 245s rather than the F1s

uhhhh traction was NO problem, i tried ESP on, off and FULL off, same times with in .1 60fts were between 2.08 and 2.2 and ETs 13.79 to 13.86 with traps between 104.8 to 105.8

I know there are a couple things wrong - 1. I weigh 305 lbs, that's no good - 2. i had well over 15 gallons of gas (needle was still pointing full when i arrived) but other than that things seemed okay, the car bogged at the line, or definitely didn't take off like i have felt it take off before...

So mostly i'm just looking for tips, tricks, thoughts...

the car is FULLY loaded, with the gas, and me it weighed 4540lbs

i really expected to be mid to low 13s, i knew i wasn't going to be in the 12.9s

Peace - Z

[vvv90]

Was it humid out? Your engine temps might be the culprit here. You want them to be at 203 or less. The only way you can achieve that is with a .10 cent fan mod or at night or both. I'm guessing by the traction not being an issue you were running during the day so the engine temps might have been around 210 or higher?

What is your altitude???

[zmw]

210-215 degree engine temp, not particularly humid - i would say 40% maybe? it rained really hard last night.

And for traction not being an issue, yeah the sun was on the track pretty good - plus the track i was at has a particularly sticky launch section - i would say it would have been HARD for me to break traction at the line w/o power breaking.

Are engine temps really that big of a deal with this car? It's amazing how different cars have such different demeanors. On the STI temps were never an issue, it was all about traction and making sure you had enough fuel to prevent det.

Altitude is like 620 ft ASL.

-Z

[vvv90]

Originally Posted by zmw

210-215 degree engine temp, not particularly humid - i would say 40% maybe? it rained really hard last night.

And for traction not being an issue, yeah the sun was on the track pretty good - plus the track i was at has a particularly sticky launch section - i would say it would have been HARD for me to break traction at the line w/o power breaking.

Are engine temps really that big of a deal with this car? It's amazing how different cars have such different demeanors. On the STI temps were never an issue, it was all about traction and making sure you had enough fuel to prevent det.

Altitude is like 620 ft ASL.

-Z

To answer the question in your third paragraph...

YES!



You need to get them down. Heat soak kills the power on these cars. If you don't have the $0.10 fan mod then keep your engine killed with the hood open and push it through the staging lanes....No, I'm not kidding. JMatt does this AND he has a 170 degree T-Stat.

With your 60's and trap speed there's no doubt you should be running 13.2's. PERIOD! (considering relative low altitude and humidity)

Keep those temps down!

BTW: do a search on the "fan mod" and you'll find out how easy it is to do. It's nothing more than a piece of wire that you bridge two connections with once you've removed your aux fan relay.

[zmw]

will the GSM mod effectively do the same? - I am having the trans TSB and brakes and stuff all done tomorrow, along with whatever the latest ECM is - can't test and tune again until wednesday next week again so we have some time to figure it out.

-Z

[vvv90]

Originally Posted by zmw

will the GSM mod effectively do the same? - I am having the trans TSB and brakes and stuff all done tomorrow, along with whatever the latest ECM is - can't test and tune again until wednesday next week again so we have some time to figure it out.

-Z

Yeah, if you wanna drop 250 bones for one, otherwise it's 10 cents or less.

[JMatt]

Actually, your times are not bad given the temperature and total vehicle weight. Next time go with 1/4 tank of gas. Also, let the engine cool WAY down. Try a run with engine temps of 180 or less. The engine temp alone may make .4 seconds difference in your time.

Overall, you're on your way to watching your times drop.

My first runs in the car were 2 years ago in temps similar to what you report. I ran in the high 13's stock. With exhaust mods, 180 degree thermostat and manually turning my fans on, I run about 13.2 at 75 degrees outside temp (600 foot altitude).

Keep trying!!!

[zmw]

does the GSM ESP mod do anything worth the extra scratch? money isn't the issue... from what I read about the fan mod it requires removal of a relay and just hard wiring it?

-Z

[JMatt]

When a group of us met at the track last week, we quickly made $0.10 fan mods for everyone. They work great. Don't know why yuo'd want to spend more then the $0.10 mod.

OK - maybe the $5 mod is worth it too, but beyond that seems silly.