Thread about running your car on the 1/4 mile (from ROTORSTOCK Chit Chat)

[ScuttleRX]

Next year, how about a few more people actually running down the strip, even if only a couple of times?

Yeah if there were a few more FD's in the queue i might not have had to keep getting my ass kicked by the bedford van!

Commentators words 'heres the van running against, oh i believe its the same car back for more punishment! rematch, rematch!' :D

[20B_boy]

Originally posted by davefrith
The guy in the beetle springs to mind
Bang on Dave, this guy is a regular there. I love that car as was having a sniff around it just before the street fighter bit was going off. His mate was trying to explain what was happening and that RWYB wasnt doing at the moment. From the little I could gather he appeared to be moaning and :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored:ing about how his bug was pulling 11s which was quicker than most of the cars there and that he'd paid his money etc etc

I presume its the same format i.e. RWYB for the public during most of the events at Shakespeare? cause when we went up for the BIG (I mean BIG - it was totally packed, you had to fight for a bit of room to park - and there were loads of 12-11-10-9 and a few 8-second cars running all day). Including matey boy in his bug again.

[davefrith]

Originally posted by 20B_boy
Bang on Dave, this guy is a regular there. I love that car as was having a sniff around it just before the street fighter bit was going off. His mate was trying to explain what was happening and that RWYB wasnt doing at the moment. From the little I could gather he appeared to be moaning and :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored:ing about how his bug was pulling 11s which was quicker than most of the cars there and that he'd paid his money etc etc

I presume its the same format i.e. RWYB for the public during most of the events at Shakespeare? cause when we went up for the BIG (I mean BIG - it was totally packed, you had to fight for a bit of room to park - and there were loads of 12-11-10-9 and a few 8-second cars running all day). Including matey boy in his bug again.

ah you were listening to his little tantrum as well then :)

I heard
"i'll move now but I'll be back in a minute to show them all how to drive"

ito be honest it wasn't his fault really, shakespeare had obviously not advertised the MRC event all all to regular customers who had turned up for the RWYB


Dave

[J4P RX]

Surely people cant be worried about their engines? The convoy was loads more brutal than running the strip would of been!

I think it just comes down to the same old thing it normally does on here which is not that many people are really prepared to use their cars properly ;)

Ive given up on getting people on track, theres only about 3 or 4 people who are always up for it out of hundreds of members!

[davefrith]

not going on track i can kind of understand, cost is probably the only factor stopping people, theres no other reason not to use their sports car

Next year for the vent to be more popular, people need to give the strip a go, if its blows up on the strip then it will blow up on the road sooner or later anyway

[Archbish]

I dunno - I know of more FD's blowing on the strip than blowing on the roads mile... In a matter of 4 hours, pink panther and max's motors both popped. If there was that sort of failure rate on the road, the specialists wouldn't be able to keep up!!!

That's why I suggested the support for next year! I've never been down the strip, and didn't this year for a couple of (what I consider) good reasons!! If a sticky was created offering preparation advice for a day at the strip, and techniques that may help noobies, that would be invaluable. I would definitely be more confident of having a go... ((If the car had been mapped I would have had a go - but I've been buggin people for weeks about the 1/4...!!))

Geff, Ross, Carl, Rich, Tim, Clive, Glenn and the regular strippers - could you please just stick up a new thread explaining:
- prep before the day
- prep on the day
- how to launch
- when to change gear
- things to look out for before stripping
- myths... (will it break this, that or the other, etc)
and finally - the worst things you've seen/experienced (mainly of the humiliation side) so we know whatever happens, you experienced racers have done it to...!!

[davefrith]

Its fairly simple, start car, drive to line, light goes green, you drive to the other end as quickly as possible :D

its not really more complicated, obviously you should be confident your car is running right etc, but shouldn't you be driving on the roads as well

I am sure everyone here has nailed it in the 2nd and 3rd on the road

[John Yorke]

The more this type of event happens the more people will be inclined to have a go. As Rich says it is a buzz and is safe -rather than risking it on the road.
From reading the posts today I would say most everyone enjoyed the day and it is great that we all came away with a grin and I have only seen constructive comments.
Maybe it is time to start planning the next one Clive [grin]

[davefrith]

Originally posted by John Yorke
The more this type of event happens the more people will be inclined to have a go. As Rich says it is a buzz and is safe -rather than risking it on the road.
From reading the posts today I would say most everyone enjoyed the day and it is great that we all came away with a grin and I have only seen constructive comments.
Maybe it is time to start planning the next one Clive [grin]

agreed well said

[Martiny]

I CAN understand people running the track and not the strip. the track, if you ask me, is easier on the car than the strip. Yes, you will use up Tyres, and perhaps find the limit of your brakes.

You can do good lap times and still be reasonably gentle on the mechanicals, by being smooth. In fact, being smooth is one way of going quick.

The strip is going to shock your side shafts, diff, gearbox, and the diff, gearbox and engine mountings. Not to mention the clutch!!

I prefer the track, where the driving ( or at least driving around CORNERS) is the important thing, not how many mods you have.

What I dont get is guys spending tons of cash on mods and not doing either, but then - each to their own , eh? ;-)

[bobster]

Running the strip will put more stress on the car as the airflow is not constant. The temps I was hitting on the strip were quite scarey. Mostly due to sitting waiting in the que when something went wrong. My 2 fastest times were actually my 2 safest runs in the car. If I am running my car next year I will certainly be upgrading the cooling system.

Sorry to hear about the blown motors. Robertio and I weren't sure what had happened when we saw Max's car sitting at the gate on the way out.

[davefrith]

true, but are our cars really that fragile ?

[Archbish]

Hmmm - I don't generally try and get to over 100 mph from 0 after holding the car for a few minutes with the engine running on the road. 50mph onwards, yep, but I don't think I've had foot to floor all the way through for over 12 seconds...

And without checking the water and oil, just turning up and throwing it down the strip seems pretty expensive...!!!

There are going to be tricks and ideas the experienced are going to be aware of that I for one am not. Fensport spent the whole time spraying the engine with water (I assume it was water), and I have to assume all those running good times had factors and mods that made the engines more secure than not. The strip IS different to running on the road. There's more traction, and you're dumping the clutch at high rev's, and as bobster says, his intake temps were high...

[moakesr]

100% agree with that comment.

I have hardly ever used WOT on my car, yet I can get from A to B very quickly, I try to be as smooth as possible and only use as much boost as is required for each specific situation.

I will be trying a track this year, if I can find a circuit with generous run off space. I like the idea of drag racing, however as every event is at least 150 miles away from where I live, I don't fancy a long trip home courtesy of the AA after a quick blast down a drag strip.

If you want people to risk their prized possessions, then information, encouragement and advise is needed. Don't berate us for not using our cars, we all get our kicks from our RX's in different ways.

Richard

Originally posted by Martiny
I CAN understand people running the track and not the strip. the track, if you ask me, is easier on the car than the strip. Yes, you will use up Tyres, and perhaps find the limit of your brakes.

You can do good lap times and still be reasonably gentle on the mechanicals, by being smooth. In fact, being smooth is one way of going quick.

The strip is going to shock your side shafts, diff, gearbox, and the diff, gearbox and engine mountings. Not to mention the clutch!!

I prefer the track, where the driving ( or at least driving around CORNERS) is the important thing, not how many mods you have.

What I dont get is guys spending tons of cash on mods and not doing either, but then - each to their own , eh? ;-)

[ScuttleRX]

The temps I was hitting on the strip were quite scarey
Know what you mean, my first few runs my air temp was starting in the 60's, hitting 80's by end of run.

Which is why later on you might have seen me pushing car to start line with the bonnet up :D i was more worried about my temp after a combination of that and then wearing long sleeves and helmet <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/28/28_1_9.gif' alt='Sweating' border=0></a>

It was starting on around 45 then going up to 60 by end

[J4P RX]

I take mine hard to the buzzer in 2nd and 3rd all the time. I really dont see what the difference is on the strip apart from a hard launch which I dont do all the time.

I do have a tendancy to powerslide out of junctions though, so thats bound to be as harsh on it!

Sitting in a hot traffic queue as far as I can see then nailing it could be my only concern, but you can always push it with the bonnet open!

[Archbish]

I take mine hard to the buzzer in 2nd and 3rd all the time... I do have a tendancy to powerslide out of junctions though

I trust you don't live near too many schools... :rolleyes:

[Martiny]

quote "Don't berate us for not using our cars, we all get our kicks from our RX's in different ways.

Richard"



Beratement (is there such a word?) not intended!!! thats why I put a smiley. Maybe I should have said "thats not for me", cause thats what I mean.

example - if an ECU upgrade to my "road only" FD was going to cost me £2k, I would rather take that money, find an RX-3, and see if I could catch Dave Nixon on the track! I realise that lots of guys would rather upgrade the ECU in an FD, but thats not what I would do if I had 2K (or even 1K ) spare.

[moakesr]

Originally posted by Martiny
Beratement (is there such a word?) not intended!!! thats why I put a smiley. Maybe I should have said "thats not for me", cause thats what I mean.

example - if an ECU upgrade to my "road only" FD was going to cost me £2k, I would rather take that money, find an RX-3, and see if I could catch Dave Nixon on the track!

I freely admit, my car is over waxed and cleaned, modded far more than it needs to be for how I drive it, and is more capable than I am as a driver.

Racing doesn't run in my blood, a love of a good looking and well engineered car does, each to his own.

I am preparing for an engine at some point in the future, having gone past the magic 50K mark it is inevitable. When it does I will either build myself an engine (It's my 2nd car, so there will be no hurry), or get Carl to build me a strong street ported motor.

Combine that with some racing and advanced driving lessons, and THEN I will give it the stick it deserves.

Richard

[sadgoth]

There are a few things about it though, I considered running the scooby but didn't for 3 reasons:
a) like Archbish, I'm a newbie to drag stripping, no idea how to do it!
b) the car is for sale and I wanted to keep it in one piece!
c) didn't want to turn up on the startline in a quick scooby then do a 16 second run and feel inadequate!

Next year the FC will be ready and I'm hoping to have had the chance to try a few RWYBs to get the hang of it, but yes any help from you experienced lot would be great in terms of what revs to launch from, when to change up, what mods are best suited for the strip and what to watch out for to try and keep your motor in one piece!

What happened to Max's car then? I saw him to say hi to when he was changing the air pressure in the tires but that was the last time i saw him!

I heard that the Pink Panther had had problems, what happened there?

Rich what times did u manage with the FC? What mods were you running on it?

[davefrith]

ok I'll rephrase

I was suprised not to see more people going up the strip, I don't think the strip is as scary as most people seem to think it is

Obviously its everyones choice, I would have just presumed more would take part

I think thats the debate over, each to their own and all that :)

[bobster]

Originally posted by davefrith
true, but are our cars really that fragile ?

This was a major concern for me. We put a wideband on 3 of the cars that came from scotland, 2 MX5's and my FD, to look atr the fueling. We sorted the other 2 out but my FD was running leaner than it should do. I was worried about it but decided to run my car anyway. My AFR's had me in the peak power region, but still not happy they were safe.
A big bottle of octane booster later and the knock levels were happy enough. The car ran like a freight train in 3rd.

So in answer to your question NO:D

But I am going to sort the fueling as soon as I can because I am afraid

[moakesr]

Originally posted by davefrith
ok I'll rephrase

I was suprised not to see more people going up the strip, I don't think the strip is as scary as most people seem to think it is

Obviously its everyones choice, I would have just presumed more would take part

I think thats the debate over, each to their own and all that :)

Indeed it's not really a debate, just banter :)

Trust me, to a drag strip virgin, it's really scary! :eek:

...anyway, all that wax might make it quicker, slip through the air easier, maybe I should have had a go :p

Richard

[davefrith]

Richard you never know ! :)

[Donato]

I did 5 runs on sunday but my car developed problems so couldn't run at all on the sunday otherwise i would happily have gone up and down all day! :rolleyes:

[gsb876]

As most of you guys know my cars making around 450-460bhp but did not drag as cant afford for a "pop" so to speak.

The reason i didn't go on was simple really "if my car went pop, then how the f*ck do i get home?"

Although the car needs remapping anyhow but other than that i could have run at low boost but no point in that!

Once the cars remapped and i'm happy with the fueling .....maybe

It was the purple rx7 with dragon performance down the side.

[Archbish]

so you did 5 runs, developed problems, and then ran back to EDINBURGH without issue.

1.25 miles on the strip = problems
320 miles (each way) on the road = no problems

Now, I'm not one to be pedantic.... :D

[moakesr]

Originally posted by Archbish
so you did 5 runs, developed problems, and then ran back to EDINBURGH without issue.

1.25 miles on the strip = problems
320 miles (each way) on the road = no problems

Now, I'm not one to be pedantic.... :D

Amen to that 'Bish

[Donato]

And to my work 35 miles away this morning...

its intermittent

Rotorstock to Edinburgh was sitting at constant speed and not once hitting the rev limiter. The strip is pretty heavy going on the engine...

Doing the runs has definitly effected it, after my runs it the idle was up and down(it was ticking over at 100revs!!), since the day i picked it up from the garage the idle was so smooth you could hardly tell it was running.

Monday morning it started and ran so badly that someone reckoned it had thrown a tip, the cat overheat light was on constantly it sounded like Dell boys three wheeler and in fifth gear it couldn't have pulled a drunken soldier off your sister (a common problem :D )

An hour and a half later it ran fine (although idle still crap)

I did speak to the mechanic guy who was helping Brian with his car (sorry never got your name), he reckons my secondary injectors are not fueling properly but its intermittent. The problem with intermittent problems is exactly that.... i wish i knew.

I am going to make some improvements to the engine in the coming weeks/months, so if/when i find the problem i will post it..

I'm just glad it got me home!
:)

[Archbish]

that is what I mean by wanting a checklist before taking it anywhere near a strip...

unless I am 100% certain of the health of my car, it isn't being risked. It's driven on the roads well within it's limits (and an FD within it's limits is far faster than a focus well within it's limits!!), and it's not going to get taken anywhere near it's limits unless I'm satisfied the odds of me driving it home are very, very high.

Once it's got a map, WI, and the advice I'm pleading for (come on guys, I'm on my knees here!! :D ), it's simply not going to get hammered. A could do a 45 sec 1/4, but where's the point?

[Donato]

Forgot to say its intermittent as the 2nd turbo not kicking in happened about a month ago, then it was fine until my second last run on sunday, then all the other faults after my last, then fine again....
:confused:

[Donato]

Oj - that is what I mean by wanting a checklist before taking it anywhere near a strip...

You are right there!

I will not be taking mine anywhere near a strip until i have completed all the work i have planned for it, and made sure i get a clean bill of health from someone who knows exactly what they are talking about! Im just glad it didn't go pop and i now have a chance to find out what did go wrong.

[Roundabout-Now]

I thought the weekend was very, very cool. I had great fun - right up to the point that I broke the car. Still won the prettiest car award though :D

I was a bit suprised that there weren't more people running, especially on Sunday - I was able to end a run and then go straight back on again with no queue at all - not that it was a good idea as I should have been letting the car cool down a bit. 10 runs in a row I think it was. But I enjoyed it. :P Wish I could have got a better time in though - just didn't get traction in 1st or 2nd on my road tyres.

The track staff seemed very organised, although security seemed to all have different instructions which resulted in some confusion.

I don't think the 1/4 mile does that much damage to your car though - I think there may have already been a minor problem with mine (gut feeling) and the runs just highlighted it and possibly accelerated it a bit. Depends how you drive it I guess. Anyway, a blown engine is just an excuse for a bigger power rebuild. ;)

Well done to the guys who were getting good times, especially Ross and Geoff who were flying the flags for the FDs.

Nice to see so many Rxs in one place. Absolutely awesome.

I was gutted for Brian, especially after he spent all that time replacing his diff only to find the gearbox had gone as well. :(

The bad points were pretty much the same as others have said..

Lack of signs to the venue and within it.
Poor announcing for the shoot-out.
Not much to do if you weren't racing - as I found out on Monday. :rolleyes:

I'm sure there was other stuff I was going to mention (good stuff, not bad), but I've forgotten what it is at the moment. Just sheer tiredness I guess.

BTW - looks like the engine is going to need a rebuild, but won't know how bad until it's in pieces. I've just had a look at the telemetry for the last 4 runs, and not sure what it all means. Anyone who knows how to interpret this stuff want a copy?

And next time can someone tell me that I've left my Pink Panther show plate on when I go out to get petrol :rollin

[Martiny]

So, maybe we should change the rules to say cars are allowed to go HOME on a transporter!!!:D

I might have been tempted if I had full secondary boost :-( I dont like pushing a car when everything is not 100% So, I agree with you there, OJ.

On doing a slow run.... the guy in the vauxhall has the right idea! He was having fun, in his car, on his budget and...

he beat all of us that were in the stands!!

[ScuttleRX]

What sorta times were you getting in the pink panther?

Looks lovely in the flesh(metal!) by the way, girlfriend was pestering me all day asking when the pink one was gonna run :D didnt realise you were having troubles, hope you get it all sorted ok ;)

[J4P RX]

Well im not defending us so to speak, as there was a few problems which people are being naive if they dont recognise. Just trying to keep things kind of on track and not into a slating session.

I had a really good day, but then I have a Rotary car so its easier from my point of view to do. I can see how owners of other cars, especially just those spectating with a lack of information would be dissapointed.

I dont mean to take anything away from all the hard work organising either. Lots of effort has gone in, and for the troubles and feedback it is unfortunate but considering the situations at the track I think they done a good job to even get it how it was. I doubt anything more could of been achieved on the day.

Lee

[gsb876]

Lee,

sorry didn't see you there mate, saw your car parked there ( i think) has Blitz sticker on the side??

Gurj

[J4P RX]

Yeah lots of people to speak to etc etc, lots id have liked to have spoken to also but at the big events you tend to miss people.

Doubt you saw my car, I went in the 200SX. Havnt really driven the FD properly in months now. Felt hard done by having to pay the full 18 and not the Mazda price lol. I guess I made more than the £4 back in fuel consumption though.

I still really wanted to run the FD however, just to see what the time is and I recon I would of had a shot at the fastest on stock twins too but we will never know :D

Cheers
Lee

[maximtaylor]

Originally posted by sadgoth

What happened to Max's car then? I saw him to say hi to when he was changing the air pressure in the tires but that was the last time i saw him!



That was just prior to my last run!

Basically I was changing up to fourth gear at about 7.5k revs when I heard it go. I immediately coasted to save the engine as best I could and stalled. Ended up going over the line at about 90 mph in complete silence (for a change!!) @12.89 secs!!!

I know what went wrong, it's my fault and I should have sorted it before RotorStock. Call it tuner laziness (me!!!)....

BUT the reason I bought the FD was to drive it very hard, and a hard life that engine has had. It's done more mileage on track than off, and in addition has seen around 50 runs at Pod and Shakepeare.

It has also seen a few close shaves whilst doing some experimental on road mapping - well, one must experiment, musn't one :rollin

As those that saw me afterwards will agree, I was in good spirit despite this, and will return shortly with another good engine (even better in fact) with appropriate bits! I'll make sure I don't cut corners either.

I do agree that CO2 extinguishers would be a great idea :) might give people a little more reassurance. Can't be cheap though?

Regards

Max

[Roundabout-Now]

My best time was a mere 13.011 on Sunday :(

Lost it all in the first 2 gears and then got a terminal speed of 118mph virtually every time, so the power was there, just wasn't getting it down in 1st or second.

Figured I'd beat my time easy on Monday, especially when my first run was a 13.149, but then the engine went on the second run. Just looked at the slip from that first run and I'm wondering if the engine was losing power towards the end of that run, as the 330 time looks better than I can remember doing all day Sunday.

[ScuttleRX]

can imagine 1st and 2nd would be pretty hard to tame in that beast!

Could you post some of your other times 330, 660, would be an interesting read :)

So will it be a rebuild to the spec it is now, or you gonna try for some more ponies?:)

[Nath]

ah sorry to hear about your car max was going well as well ,

as far as im aware i belive that Co2 works well , have ssen it on a few vidz, bikes use them as well and get much better times.

[Martin]

so a few people blew their 7's?:( and who actually managed to get on the strip? and what times?

[Roundabout-Now]

I'll put my 330 times in another thread (probably in the 1/4 mile section) in the next couple of minutes, just so we don't pull this thread too far off topic.:cool

(Update: posted it in the main table of 1/4 mile times thread)

[scooby_si]

i think the main problems have been covered & i trust that shakespear raceway do now understand how big the jap thing can be & that it can be a viable & there's no need for any mark up or such like & that it is an easier event to get running smoothly but i totally echo all thoughts that it was a top weekend & good to meet & see so many rotaries :god & i think Clive et al should be proud of what was achieved!
Totally gutted for the pink fella, no not him ya pervs <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_1_25.gif' border=0></a>, but the nice roundabout man who wasn't shy in using his toy despite only having been reunited earlier that day (sure it was a welcome break from having to put up with sum strange drunk fello the previous day <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_4_118.gif' border=0></a>) & with sum baiting i was half tempted to run the mundeo but anyway hopefully next time i will have proper car & i can have a play which may mean i'll be in a sober state & be able to help more with the helping stuff.
Otherwise as i say was great to meet more of you & yer fabulous cars <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_17_11.gif' border=0></a>
Si

[Glenn Butcher]

Hi all, I have moved this Thread/Posts here (from the ROTORSTOCK Chit Chat section). As I thought it was a very good thread and will help people out etc.

[tsh]

I didn't run cause I've got a couple of minor problems, but I was certainly getting a high under bonnet temp in the convoy, which was a bit of a worry!

I've run at WOT for many minutes before on the roads, so not really too worried about breaking a stock engine - unless that was what eventually lead to my rebuild 3 years later!

Sean

[james01uk]

anyone would think mazda's were crap the way you guys go on.

our cars can handl;e huge amounts of power and if I can drive safely down the 1/4 mile anyone can :3gears-rh

but each to their own lets see what happens at rs111