Lapeer Dragway

MI3S Gathering, October 27, 2001

 

Track Elevation:  827 feet above sea level

Weather Conditions:  40F, 85% max humidity, & 0 - 5 mph winds

 

Before closing out the 2001 drag race season, we needed to settle a couple scores and take advantage of the cool fall air.  Little did we know when we scheduled the gathering that we would be racing in near winter like conditions with flurries possible.  The forecast called for a high of 43oF with a 10 mph NNW wind which turned out to be near zero for most of the day.  I thought the turnout was great given the cold temps with ~8 MI 3S cars making the trip to Lapeer.  Bob & Glenda even brought the Motor Home out to give us some much needed warmth throughout the event.  We were also joined by several friends driving a variety of cars including a '98 C5 Vette, a '99 TransAm, an '02 Z28, and an '86 Buick GN.  A trio of WRX's also made a brief appearance.  We nearly had the track to ourselves with no lines in the staging lanes.

 

Note:  Three videos are being hosted by MI 3S from the track gathering (ranging from 3 - 7 megs each).  In each case, the link can be found next to the times shown below.

 

 

Mike's Buick may have been quicker (ran 11.979), but we didn't

have to show  plumber's crack (bend over) to get our cars ready. 

 

 

Some early snap shots before everyone arrived.

 

Jeff Williamson, red '92 VR-4, GT357 turbos & supporting fuel system

 

Run, Time 60 ft (sec) 1/8 E.T. (sec) 1/8
(MPH)
1/4 E.T. (sec) 1/4
(MPH)
Comments
1)  11:23:31 2.067 8.778 87.51 13.207 110.92 14.5 psi
2)  11:33:20 2.453 9.194 88.01 13.554 115.28 15.2 psi
3)  11:45:56 2.387 9.034 88.19 13.435 111.19 16.0 psi
4)  11:48:53 2.174 8.838 88.58 13.201 111.91 16.0 psi
5)  12:55:28 2.048 8.436 91.89 12.665 119.40 16.5 psi
6)  12:59:35 2.141 8.628 90.61 12.843 120.40 16.5 psi, best 3S trap speed
7)  14:46:00 1.969 8.500 90.16 12.780 116.53 17.0 psi, close run against Bob W., SEE VIDEO
8)  14:55:33 1.873 8.332 90.27 12.618 116.54 18.0 psi
9)  15:08:14 1.955 8.457 90.59 12.787 113.02 19.0 psi

Jeff had a harder time getting off the line than he did at the Import Shootout at Milan the previous month and therefore didn't beat his 12.45 personal best.  What a shame too, the 120 trap indicates plenty of power was being generated.  While data logging, Jeff also noticed that the higher boost runs (#7, 8, & 9) resulted in minor O2 fluctuations during WOT that undoubtedly hurt his times and speeds.  These fluctuations could be anything from mis-fires (week ignition system or plug gap too wide) to fuel tuning (to rich or even lean from a weak pump) although the O2s seemed fat (rich).  Knock was never an issue, perhaps kept in check with the 100 octane he was running.  Because of the issues at higher boost, his most impressive runs were at the lower 16.5 psi setting.  A 1.7 60 foot on either run #5 or 6 would have put him dangerously close to 11s.  Perhaps another day.

Jeff & Bob getting ready to do battle.

 

Bob Witmer (& Glenda), blue '93 R/T TT, GT355 turbos & supporting fuel system

 

Run, Time

60 ft (sec) 1/8 E.T. (sec) 1/8
(MPH)
1/4 E.T. (sec) 1/4
(MPH)
Comments
1)  12:35 2.057 9.441 85.95 13.898 112.59 14.0 psi, breaking in RPSIII clutch, SEE VIDEO
2)  12:42 1.847 8.366 89.62 12.712 114.66 14.0 psi
3)  12:55 1.635 7.936 91.10 12.182 117.05 14.0 psi, personal best ET, best 3S ET
4)  12:59 1.951 8.204 92.06 12.434 117.63 14.0 psi
5)  02:11 2.110 8.558 91.27 12.820 116.86 15.2 psi
6)  02:29 1.928 8.296 91.22 12.574 115.46 15.2 psi
7)  02:46 1.935 8.122 94.13 12.289 118.06 15.2 psi, close run against Jeff W., SEE VIDEO
8)  03:07 3.154 11.159 82.42 16.432 99.24 15.2 psi, Glenda's first ever pass!

Bob also had problems getting a consistent launch but everything came together on his 3rd pass when he nailed his head to the seat with a 1.635 60' on street tires (I believe he may be recovering from whip-lash)!  Would have been nice to see him launch that hard at higher boost levels.  Bob certainly showed 11 second capability, a better launch on run #7 would have planted him into the 11 second club.  The boost settings seemed awful low for those ETs, but that's what a frigid cold ambient will do for our intercooled turbo cars.  Bob was also running on a healthy dose of 100 octane.

 

John Raicu, yellow '94 R/T TT, Basic BPU (boost controller, down pipe, no cats, etc.)

 

Run

60 ft (sec) 1/8 E.T. (sec) 1/8
(MPH)
1/4 E.T. (sec) 1/4
(MPH)
G-Tech Comments
1) 2.059 8.663 87.97 13.107 109.77 13.13 @ 110.0 1 bar boost
2) 2.369 8.948 88.28 13.383 111.18 13.08 @ 113.9 1 bar boost
3) 2.183 8.727 88.96 13.134 111.61 13.05 @ 113.3 1 bar boost
4) 2.438 9.019 88.50 13.435 113.66 13.25 @ 113.0 1 bar boost
5) 2.066 8.597 88.58 13.020 111.64 13.13 @ 113.1 1 bar boost
6) 1.978 8.478 88.53 12.909 110.97 12.97 @ 113.0 1 bar boost, personal best ET

 

John and his brother Mike brought John's '94 to the track fresh from the west coast.  In fact they were setting new limits on the Apexi AVC-R boost controller on the trip to the track since it was still set-up for the warmer west coast climate.  John also had a new Stillen downpipe freshly installed.  Other than a dirty K&N intake filter, Greddy Type S BOV, and RPS III clutch, the car's powertrain was stock and boosted 1.0bars every run on a mix of 94 & 100 octane fuel.  John also recorded the G-Tech times on each run for some interesting comparisons.  Appears the ET was within a couple tenths with the trap being consistently higher than the track times except for run #4.

 

Joe Gonsowski, silver '96 R/T TT, Bone Stock (minus spare & tire iron)

 

Run, Time

60 ft (sec) 1/8 E.T. (sec) 1/8
(MPH)
1/4 E.T. (sec) 1/4
(MPH)
Comments
1)  11:19:58 2.012 8.797 84.83 13.464 105.67 Solo run, had to back off due to slipping clutch
2)  11:23:06 2.064 8.792 84.87 13.520 105.67 Solo run, again too aggressive, poor launch
3)  12:01:01 2.066 8.780 85.24 13.493 105.85 Solo run, bogged on launch
4)  12:04:04 1.772 8.438 84.52 13.087 105.90 5k launch, beat moded WRX, personal best ET
5)  01:42:58 1.784 8.456 84.20 13.127 105.25 5k launch, beat '98 C5 Vette, SEE VIDEO

Fastest known stock 3S 1/4 mile ET (13.087)!  The 60', 1/8 ET, & 1/4 ET on the first three runs are nearly identical to the times I posted at Milan Dragway a month earlier (click here to see Milan times).  The 1/8 & 1/4 speeds on the other hand seem awful high for a stock car (averaged only 101 at Milan).  Not much changed between Milan and Lapeer to account for this other than it was cooler (40F vs 70F), I did swap in new spark plugs, jacked tire pressures up to 45psi front and 40psi rear, and I was running on less gas (2 gallons of Sunoco 94 vs a half tank at Milan).  Lastly, some speculate that Lapeer calculates higher traps, perhaps because it is IHRA vs NHRA rules, or maybe the speed is truly the 1/4 mile trap speed as opposed to the average speed over the last 50' (for example).  Regardless of the calculated speeds, the start beam and end beam are precisely 1,320 feet apart.

I will admit that I drove the '96 hard on the last two runs with aggressive launches that started at 5k and quickly jumped to 6k as the clutch tried to hold (like a continuously variable transmission, CVT).  I followed the launch with some quick shifts (can barely see car dip in video when I shift) and trapped near red line in 3rd gear.  I don't think I could have gotten much more out of it.  Here is a thread on 3si.org with more details on my times, Congrats Joe G. Stock Stealth TT Record.

In the days following, I checked for vacuum line leaks to the wastegates (negative) and installed a boost gage to see if maybe I was over-boosting for some reason.  The graph shows the wastegates are certainly working but the boost spike exceeds the "factory advertised" 2nd generation boost value of 12psi.  Is this abnormal?, I don't know.  On the flip side, the car is dropping too much boost after the spike.  A more refined boost control device would hold boost longer.  Nothing more than an electronic boost controller would certainly pay dividends allowing easy 12 second timeslips with a steady 14psi boost curve until the turbos can no longer support it at higher engine speeds.

Lastly, I weighed my car with a full tank of gas and tipped the scales at 3760 lbs!  My race weight with next to no fuel but me in it would be 3,765 lbs.  Also dynoed the car at DynaTech and made 238 AWHP (all wheel horse power).

 

Rick Wooten, green '93 R/T TT, Near Stock (K&N and gutted pre-cats only)

 

Run

60 ft (sec) 1/8 E.T. (sec) 1/8
(MPH)
1/4 E.T. (sec) 1/4
(MPH)
Comments
1) 1.963 8.912 81.78 13.758 102.08 3-4k rpm launch
2) 1.813 8.772 80.69 13.623 102.24 same as 1)
3) 1.760 8.717 80.42 13.589 101.82 launched closer to 4k, personal best ET
4) 1.899 8.825 80.68 13.692 101.78 same as 3) but slipped clutch too much

Rick pulled off some good consistent times considering this was his first trip to the track with his Stealth.  His Emerald Green '93 was freshly waxed and didn't look like it had the 62,000 miles clocked on the odometer.  Considering he was limited to the stock 9 psi boost level, he turned in some beautiful times.  Rick had ~7 gallons of Sunoco 94 in the tank and figures he weighed in at 3,940 lbs with him (race weight).  He credits the 1.76 60' to DMX, guess I need to start shopping for some new music.  The cold 40F temps certainly helped everyone.

For comparison sake, a handful of LS1 powered cars showed up with best 60 foots around 2.0 and best ETs of 13.2X (6 speed '98 C5 Vette with K&N), 13.31 (an automatic '99 TransAm with K&N and flowmaster mufflers), and a 13.41 ('02 Z28 with B&M shifter for the 6 speed).  Each car made ~10 passes to obtain these times.

 

 

 

since August 7th, 2002

 

Last Updated: 09/22/02 11:20 AM