Took the Challenger to
75-80 yesterday; first time out w/ the car in 2009 and the first time at 75-80 since 2000. Got there early enough to get in six time runs before packing up. The track is still a real throw-back to '60s-era drag racing and the big advantage for me is it's the closest 1/4 mile track to my home (48 miles). I'm glad it was re-opened this year after having shut down some time ago.
I made a number of changes to the car outlined
here in a recent post and was really curious how the car would run compared to when I ran it at MIR last fall. However, from previous data I had comparing the two tracks, I knew even if it was running on par w/ last year that testing at 75-80 would show results a couple of tenths and 2+ mph off from what it would turn at MIR. FWIW, the results from 2008 could be summed up in the following re-hash of the last day at MIR:
1.463 / 6.698 / 101.45 / 10.582 / 126.18 / 65*, 42%, 30.38"
1.464 / 6.682 / 101.71 / 10.563 / 126.12 / 72*, 33%, 30.35"
1.459 / 6.681 / 101.47 / 10.570 / 125.97 / 73*, 33%, 30.33"
Running the car straight from 75-80's tech w/ nothing but changes to tire pressures got the following results:
1.479 / 6.845 / 99.55 / 10.805 / 123.55 / <No Weather #s>
1.412 / 6.786 / 99.16 / 10.756 / 123.49 / 78*, 47%, 29.35"
1.415 / 6.790 / 99.29 / 10.754 / 123.69 / 74*, 53%, 29.35"
1.491 / 6.833 / 99.95 / 10.786 / 123.83 / 72*, 50%, 29.37"
--- tires lost hook right off the line and aborted run ---
1.363* / 6.906 / 99.86 / 10.860 / 123.76 / <No Weather #s>
I put an "*" by the last run's 60-ft. because I think there must have been something wrong w/ the track's equipment. No way my car's going to run a 1.36 60... and the rest of the run's #s don't "fit" w/ that good of a launch, either. I'm even curious if the two 1.41s are valid, since the only thing I did differently on those passes was raise the launch RPM from 1700 to 2000. And when I tried the same thing on the fourth run, it didn't hook as well, as the 1.49 indicates. The last pass that actually hooked up (since it simply blew the tires off right from the launch on my 5th pass) I'd dropped the launch RPM back down to 1800.
Given the differences in atmospheric conditions, I plugged in the #s into my Compulink ET predictor program and it says that the 10.754 @ 123.69 from Saturday "should" have been a 10.585 @ 125.67 under comparable conditions to that string of 10.5s @ 126 from last year. So... given the carb setup changes, the intake change, having to remove the "Super Sucker" spacer because of hood clearance, etc., it looks at this point as if the car still runs pretty much the same as before. I'll be back to MIR at the end of the month (if not earlier) for their Mopar event, so I'll have some more direct before & after #s.