sigh...track day, dissappointed in my focus.

[nomoreavril]

ok...before i go onto the horrors of tonight, i have an automatic transmission, i will tell you how my first track experience was, in february:

kennedale raceway, tx. 1/8 mile track

mods:stealth cai, catback

took out my woofers and stuff, had about 1/4 tank of gas slightly worn down tires, did the little spin in the water thing every time, wheel hopped a few races and had to give up on them, average runs were about 10.6/10.7, best was 10.4

i had overdrive on OFF, and was shifting through my gears.

still wintery here, about 60/50 degrees or so, windy. just remember the 10.4


i think i beat a cobalt, saturn ion, and a cavalier, all 5 speeds.

ok now tonight.

mods:custom short ram, catback,engine swap(POSSIBLE, still no proof. more than likely that ford lied to me and is just the same engine...),motorcraft synthetic blend oil(dont know if it counts, but didnt have it back then) strut bar(doesnt matter either, i guess)
about 7/8s tank of gas(oopsie) newer tires, ignored spinny water, barely spun out on take off. i think my best reaction time or something (whatever shows up on billboard) it was like 1.66 or something like that.

had overdrive ON because lately it screws up my shifting and makes it stutter kinda..., didnt shift, someone said it could mess up my times and make me not consistent.

my best run was 10.6 !!!!! WITH MY G FRIEND IN MY CAR
every single damn time i kept running 10.9, 10.9, 10.8, 10.9,11.1, 11.0, 10.9.

someone there told me to hold the gas down, and hold my brakes at the same time, and it might help me at startoff(he had a really fast 5.0 so i believed him, although i couldnt tell a difference) i tried shifting through my gears and it didnt help me.

i beat an older like 80s ford truck or something like that, a crx who i think messed up his launch, and this chic in a hyundai elantra(i dont know why she was there, but it was an auto, no mods, and ran like 11.6s, nothing against girls but yeah)
would the 100+degree weather, and the 7/8s tank of gas matter vs the 60, and 1/4 tank?

or maybe the short ram? i still dont know the performance advantages against cold air, but i have hydrolocked my engine before dont want to go through it again.

[Sponsor]

[nomoreavril]

oh yeah, and i'm going back next thursday, going to take out my audio stuff, and only have 1/4 tank of gas. hopefully this will help me.

[netdrgoon]

The high temps and lots of gas will slow you down from the previous time. On an automatic launch, brake it, and push the throttle up to the point where it is almost going to move. Then as the the lights fall, push the throttle in as you let off the brake. Push the throttle in as much as you can without letting the wheels spin as you go, but do not let the rpms fall off from where they were when you had the brake engaged. If you were to install a shift kit or a lentech valvebody, or get a tune that firms up and changes the WOT shift points, that would also help a lot on your racing. Otherwise you are looking at getting a higher stall torque converter to let you stall the car up further on your launch.

The shift kit is something you CAN do, just might want to be very careful about it. The lentech valve body will basically be the same as adding a shift kit, but you will just replace your entire valve body assembly and not take your valve body apart and modify it as you would do with a shift kit install.

As far as the engine swap, if you post pics of the engine or email them to me, I can help you a lot. 04 Zx3s were either A) 2.0L zetec engines (exhaust manifold in the front, intake in the back) or b) 2.3L duratec engine (black loopy intake in the front, exhaust manifold in the back). If your engine looks like mine in my nitrous thread (with maybe a dull gray valve cover though), it is a 2.3L, likely a PZEV if it has the dull gray valve cover, considering the year.

[sleepyboy]

The temps are a big difference from 50-60 degrees to 100+ so that right there is almost a whole second difference and also the tank of gas did'nt help ether. When I went to the track my car ran a best of 15.8 which makes me happy cause I know its a 15.5 or lower it was super hot 95+ degrees My friend that went with us had a new 05 mustang GT and he could'nt break into the 13's cause it was so hot but he's done it before no problem. So you can see how much weather makes a difference.

[eazyrider_tim]

I posted a thread about the same thing, it seems the heat plagues the autos more than the manuals. Why is that? transmission heat?

[nomoreavril]

heres my engine...
see they TOLD me that it was a rebuilt 05 engine..but it has the grey cover , i was just hoping they just didnt feel like putting the black one on there or something...lol...maybe i can sue them for false advertising?? lol

[nomoreavril]

oh and if anyone wants to know, there was a nice looking mazda3 that was running like 9.6 or so. i dont know what he had on it, but he had a crappy exhaust, and a cai when i snuck a peek at his engine bay. there was a turbo crx there , still wasnt that fast, running about 9.8. a 91 turbo supra only running 10.1, along with an older turbo rx7 running about the same too.

[TriniZX3]

your times sound about right, thats wut i run too. but i heavy the heaviest wheels known to man.

[TriniZX3]

if you brake torque, u can beat most ppl off the line, and ur 60 ft will be decent, but our cars have terrible top end. oh btw im a zetec

[Cajun Boy876]

I plan on running saturday night, I have 2.3L atx too :-) I have cai, and exhaust. Ill post my times when I run. Just hope i dont make myself look like a idiot at the track cuz i never ran at track before :-(.