traction? what the hell is that???

[creative1]

well... i finally got enough courage to take the old 4700 pound beast to the dragstrip tonight (friday night), and have mixed feelings about it.

i had some consistancy early on... the first 3 runs... a reaction time of 1.3 seconds... lol

well, seriously, i was rather impressed. first off, i should say that until tonight, i had never seen the christmas tree through a windshield, so it was a learning experience... lol. now for some results:

first EVER run:
reaction... 1.2878
60 ft......... 2.3465
330 ft....... 6.5549
1/8......... 10.0388 @ 71.12 mph
1000 ft... 13.0557 @ 80.74 mph
1/4......... 15.6292 @ 87.31 mph

now... let me say that i was expecting (realisticly) somewhere around 80 mph and oh... maybe mid 18's... so i was shocked when i got my time slip. ;D

so... i experimented some. i tried launching at stall speed (around 2000 rpm)... 3rd run:

reaction... 1.2844 (see, told you i had a little consistancy... lol)
60 ft......... 2.9078
330 ft....... 7.5382
1/8 mi..... 11.0368@70.95 mph
1000 ft... 14.0204@82.50 mph
1/4 mi..... 16.5266@89.50 mph

launching at this rpm is NOT recommended... the tire spin stopped about the 100 foot mark (or maybe it was the 200 ft mark... it spun for a long, long time) when i shifted to 2nd... lol

and now for the last (and best) run of the night...

reaction... 0.6236
60 ft........ 2.3381
330 ft...... 6.4794
1/8 mi...... 9.8727@72.65
1000 ft.. 10.0361@83.50
1/4 mi... 15.3004@90.00 mph

so... see what giving Don a few bucks will do? for a pretty much stock 440 in a 4700 lb vehicle with only one leg, i was rather impressed. oh... the last launch was at about 1000 rpm... and i won the race! of course, the 12 second camaro had to red light... but i DID win the 4th race fair and square! i beat an old 1/2 ton ford pu... lol... he "inherited" my 1.2 sec reaction time, but i was still faster and would have won even had he cut a perfect light.

i did learn that waiting for the last yellow light is a no-win situation... lol

anyhow... THANK YOU DON! now if you could just sell me a half second to apply to my 60 foot times...

[NZ440RT]

Well done mate, that sounds like a good time to me. 15.3 @ 90mph.
I haven't been down a drag strip before but will do one day, I'm only young (21) so there's no rush, got to get me some more street Mopars first, Charger, Cuda......then a bad arse bracket car, A-Body with either a 340 or 440......and hang on!!! LOL!! ;D

Anyhow good stuff mate, sounds like you had a blast.

[devilbrad]

Let the addiction begin.........

[creative1]

well, here is an update...

went back to the strip on saturday and made 3 more runs, this time without the tool boxes tied over the right rear wheel. the truck got faster each run, even though my 60' times slowed by a tenth. i think the emptying gas tank had something to do with it... lol.

i think 8 passes used at least an equal number of gallons of gas, but the last run ended with an et of 15.1127 and a speed of 91.78 mph. so... i figure that i can get into the 14.90's if i go with only 5 gals of gas in the tank.

i may have to walk home, though, lol.

[Don]

Here's rule of thumb for you:

If the vehicle picks up as the air quality goes down then your running to lean and you probably need to add some jet.

Theroy is: as the O2 level drops the ratio of Air(Oxygen) to fuel decreases and makes it richer and it doesn't run out of air before the piston hits the optimum position for the expansion stroke to do it's job...hence more power.

We generally like the car to slow slightly as the air quality decreases or what we refer to as Air Density or A.D.

This tells us that we're plenty fat and won't risk a lean condition and possible melt down.

[chopzuk]

Can you please define good air quality vrs bad air quality?
At the track, as the night got cooler, (humidity level rose) we got faster. I assumed it means I'm a little on the rich side of my jetting. It started out as 93* and 27% Humidity. Went to 73* and 55% humidity as the evening turned to night. First run was a 6.37, and the last was a 6.107. We didn't change anything (didn't even pull the hood off) and we maintained traction and tire pressures. Thanks in advance for any info. Chopzük

[Don]

As the temp dropped the air got more dense so you had more molecules of O2 per cubic foot of air so you were able to burn more of the fuel in the charge.

Remember we burn Oxygen not fuel, when the O2 runs out the fire goes out, what's left over just runs out the tail pipe.

[moparmarcidaho]

heck any old farm boy knows that the tractor will have more suds just about dark than it does at noon,air quality always gets better at dusk,might even pick up a gear while plowing.I have noticed this driving truck too.

[atoetly]

Traction what the hell is that? Something I can't seem to find enough of either after to many beers and a bad case of the runs. ;D