Local Drag Race (long but good content)

[Raymond A. Kawski]

I went to the local drag races today.  They take the small airport
and use the runway as a dragstrip.  They don't have times and they
have a makeshift tree.

This was my first time taking the Turbo to the
dragstrip.  Unfortuantely I've been sick so I wasn't able to swap
my Quaife diff equipped tranny in.  So I had to run the open-diff
98 tranny.  Also they don't let you use slicks unless they are
DOT legal.  Mine are not.

Anyhow my first run is against this Neon.  Hah what a joke.  I
take my brother with me so I can have him monitor guages
for me.   I obviously beat the Neon.

Next race was against a Grand Prix GTP.  I launch at 3K and a
few seconds after launching crazy wheel spin.  Thru 1st
and 2nd.  I tried to throttle modulate but wasn't helping.
Finally I hook up in 3rd.  And I wind up toasting him before
the end of of the track.  This time I had my friend Steve
watching guages.

I had them making sure EGT's weren't going to high and that
my boost wasn't creeping at all.  Needless to say they weren't
paying attention well enough for me.  Turns out my boost
controller was set at 12psi and not 14 that I thought it was.
I had been messing with the BOV all weekend, thanks to Jay
Whitley.  So the next run was against no one so I turned the boost
up to 14.

Then I parked and waited for my friend Joe to get there who would
watch the gauges better.  Joe finally gets there and everything
is running fine.  Towards the end of the day I start trying to
get more traction.  I had already done tire pressure and
suspension stuff to eliminate the wheel hop.  I thought about
turning off the boost controller off for 1st gear then turning it
on 2nd gear and higher.  I had enough slack that I could have Joe
hold the boost controller and when I shifted to 2nd but before
I gassed it I would say now and he would turn the boost
controller on.

Just before we tried this I raced a friend of my brothers who
has a a WS6 Trans Am with NOS.  1st and 2nd gear spinning.
3rd gear I hooked up.  We told him he couldn't use his NOS but he
said if I was catching him he was going to use it.  Well guess
what I was catching him and he juiced in 3rd but I was
about 1/2 a car length behind him when we crossed the finish.

I went against him again.  This time trying 1st gear w/ 6psi of
boost and then 14psi for 2nd on.  This worked pretty well.  I
raced the WS6 again.  He decided to juice it the whole way this
time.  He sat at the light giving me a car length before he
even moved.  I hooked up really well traction thru 1st.  Shift
to 2nd turn boost controller on stomp on it.  He was coming
up quick but he was still 3-4 cars back when we crossed the
finish.

I parked the car for a little while and number of people came
over to see what was under the hood of the 4 door family
car.:)  That was cool!

Someone asked what I was running and I told them I hadn't been to
the strip yet but that I beleive its somewhere in the
mid 13's to low 13's.  This dope in a Shadow 3.0 V6 that I had
raced earlier in the day.  Was like I don't think so.  I beat
him but not until the end.  I said I have no traction
in 1st or 2nd.  Then somoeone else asked me a question and
I ignored this dope.  Finally I tell the Shadow guy lets go.
Just prior to his stupid statement he asked to race me again I
told him I was letting the car sit for a little.

So now I go against this dope in the Shadow again.  I
pile *3* people in my car.  Me, Joe, and Steve.  We tried
the 6psi in 1st and I was getting spin at 6psi this time.
2nd gear spin at 14psi.  Needless to say when I grab 3rd
gear I walk by this dope like he's standing still.  His car was
quick and I think he had more done to his car then he was
saying.  He claimed to only have exhuast and such.  But he
still was hooking up pretty good and going faster then I
expected he would.

All in all I was quite happy.  I had a few times where I had
4 runs back to back.  The car never overheated, never
detonated either.  When I did park the car I would check the
IC pipes.  The pipe at the Throttle plate was warm.  Not real
hot at all.  Pipe closer to IC exit was cool.  IC was
*COLD*.  Compressor outlet was hot but you could put your bare
hand on it no problem.  My STB on the other hand you couldn't
even put your finger on it for more then a second it was so hot!
The Swain Coatings are great.  Keep in mind that outside
temp was 50 degrees but I was still damn impressed seeing as
the car wasn't getting any real cool down time between runs.
And the water injection is still not hooked up!

My only problem was that at the end of the day I tried
to launch in 2nd.  And bogged.  Then the next time the
clutch started slipping.  I must have glazed the disc.  I
drove home and the pedal felt a little odd but its not
slipping at all.  It chatters a little but I assume that
will go away after I baby the car for a little while.

I have to I'm really happy with my turbo project.  Even
though it was a lot of money and you need to constatly
fix/tune things.  Thanks to all who helped with it.

I can't wait to get the Quaife Diff tranny in.  Also 3"
exhaust is coming soon and turning the water injection
on.  The next time I'm at the local drags these guys are
really gonna be like holly sh*t look at the family car go.
The car is going to be killer on a roadcourse!

RK
T28 w/ T04B housing thats kicking butt!
--
Ray Kawski
1998 Sentra SE Turbo, 1991 NX 2000, 340K mile 1991 Sentra SE-R
Poconos, PA