Post by Aurora40 on Nov 13, 2004 15:24:36 GMT -6
First off, let me just say this place is nicer than 75-80 Dragway, and I think it may be slightly closer to me. It has better layout and seems a little nicer and the workers seemed a bit more safety-conscious. You can read my first track visit in Edmund's Aurora forum in the Acceleration section.
Before I left the house to hit the dragstrip, I removed the spare tire and the rear seat bench (which only weighs like 20 lbs, it's really light). I also gassed up with about 3.5 gallons of 93 at Sunoco (I thought they'd have 94) which would put me at about a 1/4 tank after the ~60 mile drive to the dragstrip.
When I got there, I didn't mess with the tire pressures, which I'd set to 33psi a few weeks back, and didn't remove the headlight or anything. Just ran it like I drove it there.
First run I was making the mental checks. But I got up there quick and forgot to put it in 2nd. So I launched about 1500 rpm, traction off, in D. The car pulled real hard, snapped the shift at 6400 rpm, and kept going. Unlike my last trip to the track, 3rd gear felt very strong. Last time 1st and 2nd felt strong but 3rd really fell flat. I smoked the guy in the Pontiac Grand Am V6 next to me on the way to a 14.97 @ 91.92 mph with a .208 RT (they don't include the clock time, so .000 is the best) and a 2.311 60' time.
I knew it was a great run, the car felt strong, but I figured maybe I'd be under 15.5, which was my big goal. When I got the time slip, I about freaked!!
My next run was my best. I was opening the hood while I waited, but surprisingly no one else ever did. I ran a 14.86 @ 92.23 mph, with a .220 RT and a 2.294 60' time against that Grand Am again. Interestingly, he didn't wait in line, they brought him over from the middle. I guess he knew the track folks or something (they'd also annouce the Grand Am V6 running in Lane 1, but say nothing of my car), and maybe he thought I'd be a good matchup for him. His best against me was a 16.38, and even by 330' I was 4/10ths of a second faster (enough to cover my longer RT). He also redlighted each run at about -.03 seconds RT.
On this second run, I remembered to toss it into 2nd. I figured it wouldn't make a diff as the car ran to 6400 anyway. Holy crap did it ever! The car charged so hard the needle crossed into the red hashes at 6500, and it jerked sideways on the shift!! It definitely felt like it broke a tire loose, though there was no audible chirp. The car definitely skipped to the side, though. It was awesome!!
Then I smoked a guy in an old-style Miata. By that time, the announcer was announcing my car as an Olds Aurora and noted that it had been running pretty strong.
This run had my highest trap speed, ran a 14.89 @ 92.56 mph.
Then I took a break, ate some nachos, and watched the action with my wife. I saw a Mustang GT (the body style where it could be a 5.0 or a 4.6, both of which made about 215hp) run a 15.2, a totally riced out Accord run a 16.3, and even saw a WRX run a 14.8 or so. So there were a few cars I was pleased to see I'd have smoked pretty badly. A slammed/tricked GTI ran a 14.2, and I can't recall the others that ran slower than me (I think a Hyundai Tiburon that was all pimped).
Then I took a last run for the heck of it and we left. It was my worst run, but the car was parked on the grass so the tires were wet and grassy. I didn't do a burnout any of the times. I ran a 15.00 @ 91.41 against some Eclipse. I think he was spraying because I took him off the line, took him to 330', and even passed the 1/8th marker first, though that was due to my better RT, but then he took off. He ran a 13.77 @ 107.85 mph. This time was the highest launch rpm, of probably 2000+ rpm. I'm not sure it helped, though it's hard to say if my poor run was due to the tires. My 60' was 2.320, my 330' was 6.376 (my best was 6.304). But launching at closer to 1500 rpm seemed to work fine and doesn't seem as bad for the car.
So there you have it, a 14.86 @ 92.22 mph... Pretty dang impressive, and much better than I was expecting. The temps were just under 50F, my gas tank was about 1/4 full, and of course this time I have the Corsa exhaust. It's a heck of a lot better than the 16.06 @ 85.77 mph best I ran the last time I was at the track!! I'm soooo happy with the car!!! ;D
Before I left the house to hit the dragstrip, I removed the spare tire and the rear seat bench (which only weighs like 20 lbs, it's really light). I also gassed up with about 3.5 gallons of 93 at Sunoco (I thought they'd have 94) which would put me at about a 1/4 tank after the ~60 mile drive to the dragstrip.
When I got there, I didn't mess with the tire pressures, which I'd set to 33psi a few weeks back, and didn't remove the headlight or anything. Just ran it like I drove it there.
First run I was making the mental checks. But I got up there quick and forgot to put it in 2nd. So I launched about 1500 rpm, traction off, in D. The car pulled real hard, snapped the shift at 6400 rpm, and kept going. Unlike my last trip to the track, 3rd gear felt very strong. Last time 1st and 2nd felt strong but 3rd really fell flat. I smoked the guy in the Pontiac Grand Am V6 next to me on the way to a 14.97 @ 91.92 mph with a .208 RT (they don't include the clock time, so .000 is the best) and a 2.311 60' time.
I knew it was a great run, the car felt strong, but I figured maybe I'd be under 15.5, which was my big goal. When I got the time slip, I about freaked!!
My next run was my best. I was opening the hood while I waited, but surprisingly no one else ever did. I ran a 14.86 @ 92.23 mph, with a .220 RT and a 2.294 60' time against that Grand Am again. Interestingly, he didn't wait in line, they brought him over from the middle. I guess he knew the track folks or something (they'd also annouce the Grand Am V6 running in Lane 1, but say nothing of my car), and maybe he thought I'd be a good matchup for him. His best against me was a 16.38, and even by 330' I was 4/10ths of a second faster (enough to cover my longer RT). He also redlighted each run at about -.03 seconds RT.
On this second run, I remembered to toss it into 2nd. I figured it wouldn't make a diff as the car ran to 6400 anyway. Holy crap did it ever! The car charged so hard the needle crossed into the red hashes at 6500, and it jerked sideways on the shift!! It definitely felt like it broke a tire loose, though there was no audible chirp. The car definitely skipped to the side, though. It was awesome!!
Then I smoked a guy in an old-style Miata. By that time, the announcer was announcing my car as an Olds Aurora and noted that it had been running pretty strong.
This run had my highest trap speed, ran a 14.89 @ 92.56 mph.Then I took a break, ate some nachos, and watched the action with my wife. I saw a Mustang GT (the body style where it could be a 5.0 or a 4.6, both of which made about 215hp) run a 15.2, a totally riced out Accord run a 16.3, and even saw a WRX run a 14.8 or so. So there were a few cars I was pleased to see I'd have smoked pretty badly. A slammed/tricked GTI ran a 14.2, and I can't recall the others that ran slower than me (I think a Hyundai Tiburon that was all pimped).
Then I took a last run for the heck of it and we left. It was my worst run, but the car was parked on the grass so the tires were wet and grassy. I didn't do a burnout any of the times. I ran a 15.00 @ 91.41 against some Eclipse. I think he was spraying because I took him off the line, took him to 330', and even passed the 1/8th marker first, though that was due to my better RT, but then he took off. He ran a 13.77 @ 107.85 mph. This time was the highest launch rpm, of probably 2000+ rpm. I'm not sure it helped, though it's hard to say if my poor run was due to the tires. My 60' was 2.320, my 330' was 6.376 (my best was 6.304). But launching at closer to 1500 rpm seemed to work fine and doesn't seem as bad for the car.
So there you have it, a 14.86 @ 92.22 mph... Pretty dang impressive, and much better than I was expecting. The temps were just under 50F, my gas tank was about 1/4 full, and of course this time I have the Corsa exhaust. It's a heck of a lot better than the 16.06 @ 85.77 mph best I ran the last time I was at the track!! I'm soooo happy with the car!!! ;D
I'd "heard" of one classic guy with a 1995, chip, exhaust and some intake thing saying he hit 14.9 in the 1/4, but it was fairly unofficial. I think it was on autopia and I'd PM'd him as he was a fellow Aurora owner. So perhaps having the quickest time so far be from a very lightly modified 2002 will change the tune of some of you classic owning haters out there... 
I heard of it from a Callaway owner. Guy has a 1996 Grand Sport SuperNatural. He ran a 13.2 just a few weeks ago (similar weather). And that Grand Am and Miata didn't run impressive times, nor the 16 second Accord. Seemed the "downhill" only helped me... 
