Stock Turbo 3.6 on Drag Strip

[IMONBOOST]

Drag racing is not my thing, but I have amassed many speeding tickets so I have to start taking my racing elsewhere and Trackdays are scarce in Puerto Rico. So anyways, for those that do know about drag racing, here are my results for my turbo 3.6 whose only mod is a cat by-pass and smog delete:

First pass -> 1/4 mile 14.170 @ 106.34 mph (Wheel hoping thru 1st gear, had to change to 2nd gear way before redline and wait for boost to build up again)
Second pass -> 1/4 mile 14.039 @ 107.51 mph (Just rolled out on 1st gear and then WOT.

Only did two passes, because the wheel hooping was not doing the car any good. I am not sure if this is good, decent, or bad. I know these cars are supposed to be in the 13s but I don't want to imagine how the magazines launch these cars.

[RarlyL8]

107mph trap speed puts you in the power/weight range to get into the deep 13's or better. Wheel hop kills trannies so stay away from that at all costs. You might look ito better shocks. Once the hop is gone and you get a decent launch you'll be in the 13's without abusing the clutch.

[IMONBOOST]

Thats what I thought, the car should be good for at least high 13s without too much drama. Did not try slipping the clutch because it is brand new and was worried about glazing it after all the $$$ into it. I think I will never try hard launches on the car, but I would love to get at least low 13s with a smooth rollout on 1st and then WOT.

That said, as soon as you have your 965 headers done let me know.

[gsxrken]

I've never drag-raced my 930 and I never will, but I think someone could get better times than that. I've had motorcycles and muscle cars at the dragstrip- the bike in the 10s and the cars in the 11s. A good time is ALL in that first 60 ft... if you slip the clutch too much, or not enough, or spin the tires, you might as well shut the car down and coast the rest of the way. Any hiccup and you can easily add 1 second to your times.
You cannot kill a bike, and muscle cars are can be made fairly bulletproof for cheap. But the damn Porsche trans, diff, CV joints etc and the associated $$ when the SHTF, no way. I don't blame you for babying it. It's not built for that sticky tire launch.

[drmatera]

whats your launch technique? I haven't had that problem yet on my 930 and I've been 1.77 60' . I'm betting your 60' was around the 2.40's. With a better launch you should be in the low 13's at 110mph atleast.

Don't feel bad, these cars are not that easy to launch. But get it right and she'll lay down a number you'll be proud of.

[IMR-Merlin]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

I've never drag-raced my 930 and I never will, but I think someone could get better times than that. I've had motorcycles and muscle cars at the dragstrip- the bike in the 10s and the cars in the 11s. A good time is ALL in that first 60 ft... if you slip the clutch too much, or not enough, or spin the tires, you might as well shut the car down and coast the rest of the way. Any hiccup and you can easily add 1 second to your times.
You cannot kill a bike, and muscle cars are can be made fairly bulletproof for cheap. But the damn Porsche trans, diff, CV joints etc and the associated $$ when the SHTF, no way. I don't blame you for babying it. It's not built for that sticky tire launch.

Drop that clutch too quick on that Gixxer and you will be up on one the whole 1/4.

[IMONBOOST]

No technique at all, just put the car in motion on 1st and WOT. The 60 on the second pass was 2.58.

[drmatera]

I like to launch like this


hold RPM to 4000-4500, as I start to apply the clutch I go WOT then release the clutch fully. It reduces the shock to the drivetrain and puts load on the motor to build boost. You'll get a drop in RPM as the clutch bites but the turbo should be spooling by then to help bring in the power. My car is a 4 speed so i don't think you'll need as much "launch" RPM as I use so try 3000 rpm first

[IMR-Merlin]

I used to launch my GTX like this.

I would heal toe the gas and brake, hold 3500 RPM and let the clutch drag a little so that I could build up boost. When the light changed, I would slide off the brake, go WOT and dump the clutch. 1.3 turbo with 20 PSI of boost, needed that hair dryer spinning to get a good 60'. I would assume the same is correct for these cars. In a few months when my car is done, I will find out.

[aschen]

No offense but are you sure your car is 100%? A quick search of the internet yeilds magazin tests of low 12s at 117 mph in 94. With your non agressive launch and Im sure your first trip to the dragstrip in the car I would expect the higher elapsed time. But 14 seconds is pretty slow and the trap speed of 107 is really low. The trap speed is less sensative to driver technique.

107 mph is the right trap speed for a 335i which weighs 400lbs more and has 50 less hp. Agian not trying to be a jerk but the performance seems way too low for a 3.6 turbo.

[IMONBOOST]

Well, I would love the turbo 3.6 to be a factory low 12 second car but I am pretty sure it is not. In any case, maybe a turbo 3.6 S and still that was probably after 100 launches and treating the car like is not yours. That said, I do believe the turbo 3.6 should be an easy mid 13 stock and low 13 with a very good launch.

In my case, I have only visited the drag strip two times in my life and done a total of 4 passes.
2 passes on the 965
1 pass on a Ferrari 308
1 pass on a 911 Carrera 3.0

So I am a non experienced person on the drag strip. Like I said in the opening thread, not my thing. road course, that I do have experience, but thats another story.

In the end, I did find out that I have a bad fuel pump and I was running 10 psi. I just closed my manual boost controller to be at factory spec but seems like it just does not work that way. I set the car back to 14psi which is what I usually run at, factory is suposed to be more like 13 psi. Regardless, at the spec that I raced that night, on my way to the track I raced against my uncles mini cooper s with 265whp from 60mph to 140mph and I pulled him like 30 cars. Not the best comparison but at least a reference.

[Cobalt]

Originally Posted by IMONBOOST

Well, I would love the turbo 3.6 to be a factory low 12 second car but I am pretty sure it is not. In any case, maybe a turbo 3.6 S and still that was probably after 100 launches and treating the car like is not yours. That said, I do believe the turbo 3.6 should be an easy mid 13 stock and low 13 with a very good launch.

In my case, I have only visited the drag strip two times in my life and done a total of 4 passes.
2 passes on the 965
1 pass on a Ferrari 308
1 pass on a 911 Carrera 3.0

So I am a non experienced person on the drag strip. Like I said in the opening thread, not my thing. road course, that I do have experience, but thats another story.

In the end, I did find out that I have a bad fuel pump and I was running 10 psi. I just closed my manual boost controller to be at factory spec but seems like it just does not work that way. I set the car back to 14psi which is what I usually run at, factory is suposed to be more like 13 psi. Regardless, at the spec that I raced that night, on my way to the track I raced against my uncles mini cooper s with 265whp from 60mph to 140mph and I pulled him like 30 cars. Not the best comparison but at least a reference.

The problem with the 964 turbo is it is an awful car to launch and is not a drag racer. I tried many times to get decent runs in my car and found that no matter what I did i was dead slow from 0-20mph. Took nearly 2 seconds or more each time unless i was willing to dump the clutch which I wasn't interested in doing. Yet the car did a 0-60 time of 4.8 seconds So it took only 2.8 seconds to go from 20 to 60. My 928 GTS will do a 1/4 mile in 13.5 seconds at 104 mph all day long but that is as fast as that car will go and the turbo just walks away from it from 60 on up. This is where these cars shine.

I have run my 3.6T following 993TT's with some modifications and 996TT's, from 40 MPH it will gain on them without issue and pass them if there was enough road. So the cars are not slow just not an easy car to launch.

I finally gave up and modified the exhaust for less back pressure and although I have not tested it since, it is far faster than it was when I was using the G-tech getting the 0-20 times of 2+ seconds.

[drmatera]

dumping the clutch is not the secret to good launches with these cars. High revs and slipping clutch are the key. You don't shock the drivetrain

[willtel]

[RichardE]

Whatever happened to the handbrake start?

[drmatera]

those videos prove you CAN drag race a 930... and it's fun as hell

[Tippy]

That thing made boost early in first gear. Is that stock?

[RarlyL8]

Stock? They can't chirp a tire stock, ha!

[Cobalt]

Originally Posted by drmatera

dumping the clutch is not the secret to good launches with these cars. High revs and slipping clutch are the key. You don't shock the drivetrain

Slipping the clutch or dumping it will result in exactly what you see in the video. Either way it is abusive to the car and is not where these cars perform best.

Originally Posted by drmatera

those videos prove you CAN drag race a 930... and it's fun as hell

I see nothing of the sort that is what my car does and it is a dog from 0-20 just as this thing is. looks identical too since it is the same color. lots of time lost with wheel spin and lost boost by hitting red line too quickly. I can get better results by not pushing the car as hard. Thhis is the only other cobalt blue over black 3.6 i have come across anywhere thanks for posting.

Originally Posted by Tippy

That thing made boost early in first gear. Is that stock?

Definitely not stock has a light weight flywheel, exhaust work and more than likely some engine mods. You can tell by how he is revving the engine. A dual mass fw will not drop in revs so quickly. this will help with launch times. He also has a boost gauge in place of the clock so i would assume it is modified at least with 1 bar spring or more.

My car would spin the tires in stock configuration in first gear. In its current form it will break the tires loose in 1st and again at 5000 rpms in second and 3rd too. So pedal control is critical.

[Pimpim]

Originally Posted by drmatera

those videos prove you CAN drag race a 930... and it's fun as hell

I drive drag when ever I can,and it IS fun as hell . Video below

Garaget | Ett klipp till mot en annan Lotus Omega...