G_Sleigh_STi

1st run i thought was shocking, i bogged down on the start wheni let the clutch go it clamped at 2500rpm and felt so so so so slow off the line.

2nd run i held and slipped it at 5000RPM and flew off the line, it felt fast as F**K! but look at these time slips! It says to opposite! Better to start low revs?

Also how on earth is my top speed higher on the slower run?

More help or advise on how i can run my car better would be appreciated.

Stats
----------------

Subaru impreza 04 STI8 333bhp TSL pack

1ST
----------------
.500 reaction
1.746 60ft
5.621 330ft
8.826 1/8th
77.21 1/8th
13.753 1/4
98.93 1/4

2ND
----------------
.090 reaction
2.538 60ft
6.159 330ft
9.196 1/8th
80.83 1/8th
14.024 1/4
100.43 1/4

p.s i was chuffed to bits! As i beat a spanking looking Nismo GT Skyline R33 by a good 4 car lengths

Frazer

333 hp and your taking 13.8 secs to get to 98 mph with a 1.7 60 ft (must have a rubbish mid range)

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

My 1st time ever down the Pod I got 13.7 in a MY00 with a backbox and decat midsection, but lost to a standard P1 with lexus lights which did it in 13.6, the shame off it.

G_Sleigh_STi

lol. That dont help.

I think i just aint got a clue how to quarter mile to be honest and my clutch is so screwed that i am losing mega mega seconds from it.

Some one wanna take my car down the strip whos a 1/4 mile driver? I wouldnt mind seeing what i am doing wrong

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Top may well be faster on your slower run as you have spent more time accelerating!!

G_Sleigh_STi

I dont think ive ever seen a forum with so little advise given by its experts.

You ask any question on SSC about Saxos and you get every last bit of information known on that topic! LOL.

Anyone going to give any helpful advise for a newbie 1/4 miler?

ZEN Performance

Make sure you're reading the slips right for a start, ie make sure it's your car!

I would say you need to concerntrate on the gearchanges too, but I think there is a good reason your runs are so odd looking.

First of all, at the Pod, reacton time is from amber lights, and zero is a perfect reaction time, (so you can go before green without redlighting) do you beleive you managed to react to the AMBER LIGHT in 90 milliseconds? I don't think so. The reason your good run is so slow, is you crept on the line before actually launching properly, which is why you have a very poor 60ft time. Even in your wildest wheelspinning dreams you wouldn't get a 2.5 60ft time. SO I would say that your best run should have been around 13.0-13.4.

The way to get round this is to launch off the handbrake, just on lightly, released as you launch then move hand to the gearstick ready to change into seconds gear.

Paul

Andy.F

I thought if you cut less than 0.400 (or was it 0.500) ? it was a red light ?

G_Sleigh_STi

Right so i need to get the starts right, thats quite funny because i felt like its the best ive ever pulled off and destroyed both cars i ran against of the mark.

So off the line i need to stop slipping the clutch as much and just drop it? and use the handbrake?...

So.. hold the handbrake just slightly while holding the clutch at biting point and holding it at 5000rpm. When the light changes drop the handbrake and the clutch? and prepare to change up?

Is that right?

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Can you post pics of the slips?


It does look odd.

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

why handbrake paul? is SP downhill or uphill

G_Sleigh_STi

The slips say exactly what ive written there. LOL.
Why do we need photos? I can get them scanned in if it makes the difference?

pippyrips

i had my first experience of a 1/4 mile on Sunday at usc. I got a reaction of 0.09 seconds on my 2nd run and got no redlights. Got to say it was good fun

olliecampbell

iTrader: (3)

It was a cracking first run there pippyrips, poor old si

ZEN Performance

The pod has a zero perfect rection for RWYB days. This differs if they run a pro tree when it has a 0.4 sec reaction I think from the final amber.

Paul

ZEN Performance

Clutch drag most likely. I have always launched off the handbrake for this reason, as it means I can be near the biting point without creeping.

Paul

Andy.F

Get a decent clutch then

G_Sleigh_STi

Ah i didnt get what you meant at first by creeping but i get you now! Right well i hear your pretty **** hot at all this stuff and run one hell of a motor, so its probably best i take your advise and try that

pippyrips

Thanks Ollie - would like to think she could go quicker and i definitely got the bug! although you never know when your about to do one run to many a la Simb. At some point you have to think would you prefer to get home or go a few 10th quicker and knacker the clutch etc

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

So why did you 1/4 mile knowing your clutch is sha@@ed..?

Nick Read

LOL Good call!

1/4 miling throws up a lot of anomalies like what you described and often what feels like a good launch is actually crap. If you start low in the revs then you don't risk time-wasting wheelspin and everything that your car is putting out is going down on the tarmac. Only problem is that you bog down i.e. get stuck below the power band. It might result in a decent ET but top speed may be crap.

On the other hand a full-on wheelspinning and smoking start sees you right in the power band, quickly into 2nd gear where if you're careful you'll have full traction and decent speed. In this case (your second run I think?) you're up to speed and gone at a distance where in your first run you're still chugging along in first. However, your 60ft time was crap because of the wheelspin so you get the opposite effect from the first run - decent trap speed but not such a great ET.

Quarter miling is a very complicated business if you really want to take some time and get good at it, i.e. get the very best out of your car. Anyone can within reason drive a fast car in a decent time up the quarter. Ekeing out those last couple of tenths is what sorts the men from the boys.

Rules of thumb:
A 60ft time under 2 seconds is pretty good, any time you lose over the 60ft will show up as time lost at the finish line.
Letting your tyres down a little may help your launch, but don't go much below 25psi on low profile road tyres.
Any road car that crosses the line at over 100mph is quick. Even scooters can do 13 second runs - it's not all about the ET.
Practice your starts at your nearest industrial estate when it's quiet. If you can balance the throttle so that if you put your foot down just a little more it would wheelspin, you're there. That is the most efficient way of putting your power down.
A normal organic clutch will not withstand repeated hard standing starts, however 'uprated' it might be. Standing starts need a paddle clutch.

All IMHO of course. Hope this helps and good luck!

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

Technique, a decent lack of mechanical sympathy, are just as important as power.

I love it when people say that 1/4 miling is easy, and corners are the hard stuff, to then see them struggle when they do have a go

It can be won and lost on the launch, and then won or lost on gear changes, as can be seen here http://www.stevend.org/uploads/SSO2005Final.wmv

The white car (belonging Zen Performance) ran a 1/4 0.3 seconds quicker than me in the grey car (belonging Lateral Performance), yet lost as i got away from the line before him, and he just couldnt regain the lost ground.

2 fairly equally matched cars in power (550+), one stripped out (white), one not (grey), one on S02 road tyres (grey), one on road legal slicks (white). 2 equally skilled drivers

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Bet the vid brings a big grin to your face everytime hey. Well deserved.

You didnt deliberatley take so long staging so as to gain advantage, did you?


Bob

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

No, i prefer to be at the stage 1st, which Paul knew. He was staged before i had even come into the correct lane . I also wanted my foot in exactly the right position on the clutch before i staged, so had to take it out of gear a few times to adjust.

It does make me smile though . Paul was chuffed when he beat me at TOTB though

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Andy.F

Surely not Steven Paul told me his car is a fully trimmed road car

G_Sleigh_STi

Ah thats some great advise spot on.

Also my standard clutch that came with the car so far has taken around 25 high RPM pull offs and i think its on the way out.

I dont want to go for a paddle clutch or an on/off clutch as i want to have a nice easy to drive car aorund town.

What suggestions are their for clutches that can take say upto 400bhp and still organic?

Gerald-S1

reaction time

G_Sleigh_STi

huh?

Nick Read

If you want an 'uprated' organic clutch and don't intend doing any more standing starts then there are bound to be loads of Scooby experts here who can make suggestions. My suggestion is that now you have been bitten by the quarter miling bug, you WILL keep going back, and you WILL **** out whatever organic clutch you put in there, doesn't matter whether it is designed for 400bhp, 500bhp or 1000bhp, it's just a matter of time. Organic clutches are just not meant for standing starts. Depends how deep your pockets are I suppose.

You don't need an on/off race-style clutch. A normal RALLY-style cerametallic paddle clutch will do the job with a sprung centre. They have a similar feel to an organic in that there is a slight amount of slip allowed - helps with getting around the service area in a rally at parking speeds - but when you need it to bite, it will do that, all day long. You can do standing starts off them, bang the gears in and out with no sympathy whatsoever. A paddle clutch is a hassle in heavy traffic though, constantly having to knock it into neutral, then put it in first, slight judder and you're off, brake, knock it back into neutral etc etc.