Took the SS to my favorite track, Steele, Alabama, and set a personal best with cam-only.
11.633 @ 118.01, 1.605 sixty, 1/8th: 7.434 @ 94.56.
A blog for Padre's racing obsessions.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
11's and Then Some
In early November I had a new cam installed, along with what is called an "LS3-conversion". Basically, the new automatic Camaros come with a different cam than the manuals, and also have Active Fuel Management and Variable Valve Timing - fuel economy improvements on many new cars. The AFM turns off 4-cylinders at cruising speeds. Needless to say, pretty useless for my goals.
The new camshaft I chose is from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, famous in the modern EFI hotrod world, especially with Corvettes. Mine is their GT-9 cam, designed especially for blowers, or superchargers. I decided to install it first, to get me into the 11's easily and get me ready for the addition of what will likely be a Procharger D1-SC Supercharger next year. With just the cam, I gained 48 HP, which was exactly what I needed.
Here's the video of the car on the Dyno after the cam install:
And here's an idle video:
Since my GTO days, there has been a Shootout in Darlington SC each November. It is only for GM cars with IRS, mainly GTO's, Corvettes, Camaro's and G8's. I participated in the first one a few years back and now I brought my new Camaro.
Results were great:
Sixty foot: 1.695, 1/4 mile: 11.731 @ 117.58
No reason to go faster than 11.5 until I'm ready for a roll cage, so I'm very happy.
Here's a video form the day, which tells you a bit about me. We were in a bracket race (racers pick their predicted time and try to run as close as they can to it, without going faster), and as I began the race, I realized I had beaten my opponent handily off the line and could "lift" and coast through the traps - so that I would win and not "break out". But, the launch felt so good and the pass felt so right, that I did not lift, "broke out", but set a personal best. All those things went through my mind in the course of about 2 seconds... it's just not in me to slow down. :)
Here's the video:
The new camshaft I chose is from Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, famous in the modern EFI hotrod world, especially with Corvettes. Mine is their GT-9 cam, designed especially for blowers, or superchargers. I decided to install it first, to get me into the 11's easily and get me ready for the addition of what will likely be a Procharger D1-SC Supercharger next year. With just the cam, I gained 48 HP, which was exactly what I needed.
Here's the video of the car on the Dyno after the cam install:
And here's an idle video:
Since my GTO days, there has been a Shootout in Darlington SC each November. It is only for GM cars with IRS, mainly GTO's, Corvettes, Camaro's and G8's. I participated in the first one a few years back and now I brought my new Camaro.
Results were great:
Sixty foot: 1.695, 1/4 mile: 11.731 @ 117.58
No reason to go faster than 11.5 until I'm ready for a roll cage, so I'm very happy.
Here's a video form the day, which tells you a bit about me. We were in a bracket race (racers pick their predicted time and try to run as close as they can to it, without going faster), and as I began the race, I realized I had beaten my opponent handily off the line and could "lift" and coast through the traps - so that I would win and not "break out". But, the launch felt so good and the pass felt so right, that I did not lift, "broke out", but set a personal best. All those things went through my mind in the course of about 2 seconds... it's just not in me to slow down. :)
Here's the video:
Monday, October 24, 2011
New Personal Best
Went back to Steele's Midnight Madness on September 30th. Beautiful cool night. I managed to squeeze out some more timing and set a new personal best:
1/4: 12.152 @ 113.69, 1.677 sixty
1/8: 7.784 @ 89.65
This week, I'll be looking at camshafts and planning the next stage of the car's transformation into a serious contender. For bolt-ons only, my L99 Camaro SS is #7 on the list on Camaro5.com.
1/4: 12.152 @ 113.69, 1.677 sixty
1/8: 7.784 @ 89.65
This week, I'll be looking at camshafts and planning the next stage of the car's transformation into a serious contender. For bolt-ons only, my L99 Camaro SS is #7 on the list on Camaro5.com.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Getting ready for Fall racing!
Recently, we have installed gears (3.45's from a manual Camaro), an underdrive pulley, and a Meziere electric water pump. Also installed have been lowering springs, front and rear sways, and differential bushings.
Altogether, I have not beaten my previous times, not because of the summer, but because the new suspension components have not helped me improve my sixty-foot times. So I will be making some adjustments.
I have made some visits to Alabama International Dragway's Moonlight Madness, which is a lot of fun. Here is a helmet-cam video at Steele:
And a good race with my regular camera against an LS2 GTO:
Then a daylight video with the helmet-cam.
On that day, I had six back-to-back runs with a 12.3 @ 112. Very consistent with the new electric water pump, which keeps engine coolant temps down in the staging lanes.
Altogether, I have not beaten my previous times, not because of the summer, but because the new suspension components have not helped me improve my sixty-foot times. So I will be making some adjustments.
I have made some visits to Alabama International Dragway's Moonlight Madness, which is a lot of fun. Here is a helmet-cam video at Steele:
And a good race with my regular camera against an LS2 GTO:
Then a daylight video with the helmet-cam.
On that day, I had six back-to-back runs with a 12.3 @ 112. Very consistent with the new electric water pump, which keeps engine coolant temps down in the staging lanes.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Dog Days of Summer
No chance for records recently with most track days being over 90*F.
I have been racing and have some good videos.
Here's a good one from Steele, running low 12's on a hot day:
And last week, I took a trip up to Bristol Dragway in Tennessee for their Fas Mart Street Fights. It was a lot of fun, though the track was slower due to altitude and heat. Great facility though, and the surrounding mountains are beautiful.
I have been racing and have some good videos.
Here's a good one from Steele, running low 12's on a hot day:
And last week, I took a trip up to Bristol Dragway in Tennessee for their Fas Mart Street Fights. It was a lot of fun, though the track was slower due to altitude and heat. Great facility though, and the surrounding mountains are beautiful.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Knocking on 11's
Went to Steele again this past Sunday, May 15th, for a beautiful day of racing.
The only change in the cars was the addition of JBA Shorty Headers. The install was very easy and getting it tightened up for no leaks took a while, but it fits nicely.
I used the same tune from the last time, and immediately I was in the 12:20's at almost 113 mph. With some more tweaking of the timing advance to get rid of Knock Reduction up top and be a little more aggressive down low, I was able to set a new personal best:
Sixty: 1.653
330: 5.021
1/8: 7.799 @ 88.66
1/4: 12.191 @ 112.89
The sixty-foot is amazing for a bolt-on car, and the time is great. It means I'm just two-tenths from an eleven-second run, which is very doable with my next mod, 3.45 gears in the rear. I'm just swapping out the differential from a manual Camaro that has 3.45 gears for my automatic differential that has 3.27 gears.
Here's a simple in-car video.
Interestingly, I used an App called "Dynolicious" for my IPhone on that run, and it was very accurate on the timing.
The horsepower is just a calculation using weight (4000 lbs) and drivetrain loss (15%). But more interesting is the horsepower that each change has gained. I put together a simple spreadsheet:
So that's a gain of almost 90 base horsepower since my first run, and the individual runs are very interesting.
Shows you what a few simple bolt-ons can do!
Oh, and I decided to name the car "The Heretic", because the Conventional Wisdom in the hot-rodding world is that Shorty Headers and Midpipes don't gain you much power. Everyone says you must get Long Tube Headers for good power. Well, the numbers are there, I gained 43.14 base horsepower. Since I'm going against that "Gospel", guess that makes me a Heretic. :-)
The only change in the cars was the addition of JBA Shorty Headers. The install was very easy and getting it tightened up for no leaks took a while, but it fits nicely.
I used the same tune from the last time, and immediately I was in the 12:20's at almost 113 mph. With some more tweaking of the timing advance to get rid of Knock Reduction up top and be a little more aggressive down low, I was able to set a new personal best:
Sixty: 1.653
330: 5.021
1/8: 7.799 @ 88.66
1/4: 12.191 @ 112.89
The sixty-foot is amazing for a bolt-on car, and the time is great. It means I'm just two-tenths from an eleven-second run, which is very doable with my next mod, 3.45 gears in the rear. I'm just swapping out the differential from a manual Camaro that has 3.45 gears for my automatic differential that has 3.27 gears.
Here's a simple in-car video.
Interestingly, I used an App called "Dynolicious" for my IPhone on that run, and it was very accurate on the timing.
The horsepower is just a calculation using weight (4000 lbs) and drivetrain loss (15%). But more interesting is the horsepower that each change has gained. I put together a simple spreadsheet:
So that's a gain of almost 90 base horsepower since my first run, and the individual runs are very interesting.
Shows you what a few simple bolt-ons can do!
Oh, and I decided to name the car "The Heretic", because the Conventional Wisdom in the hot-rodding world is that Shorty Headers and Midpipes don't gain you much power. Everyone says you must get Long Tube Headers for good power. Well, the numbers are there, I gained 43.14 base horsepower. Since I'm going against that "Gospel", guess that makes me a Heretic. :-)
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Best First Mod for an Automatic
As has been said, the best first mod for an automatic is a high-stall Torque Converter. This enables the engine to spool up into it's power band more quickly so that the car launches quicker and generally stays where the power is being made, not waiting to rev up to it.
So I had a FTI/RX 3200 Billet Torque Converter installed last week. The only other recent mod was the JBA High-Flow Catted Midpipes, which gained me about a tenth of a second on the ET in the 1/4 mile and about 2 mph on the top end.
The new torque converter gained me 0.43 seconds, including a 1.713 sixty-foot. So the car really launches hard now and the Nitto 555R drag radials are loving it - no spin at all.
My new best time is:
1/4: 12.413 @ 110.18 mph
1/8: 7.965 @ 87.52 mph
sixty: 1.713
I'm very pleased with the results, and there's still more in the car as is.
So I had a FTI/RX 3200 Billet Torque Converter installed last week. The only other recent mod was the JBA High-Flow Catted Midpipes, which gained me about a tenth of a second on the ET in the 1/4 mile and about 2 mph on the top end.
The new torque converter gained me 0.43 seconds, including a 1.713 sixty-foot. So the car really launches hard now and the Nitto 555R drag radials are loving it - no spin at all.
My new best time is:
1/4: 12.413 @ 110.18 mph
1/8: 7.965 @ 87.52 mph
sixty: 1.713
I'm very pleased with the results, and there's still more in the car as is.
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