Taking the new car to the track

[skorpion317]

I'm going to NJ's Island Dragway this Friday night. It will be my first trip to the strip with my new car (old car was a '98 Camaro 3.8L/A4). The new car is a '98 Camaro 3.8L/M5/open diff/3.23s, with a Whisper lid, K&N Filter, !FRA, Magnaflow catback, and LS1 aluminum driveshaft. I've removed the rear seats, and the passenger seat and the spare/jack will be coming out. I'll also be running on a 1/4 tank of gas.

My old car went 15.489@86.48 MPH with an SLP airlid, K&N filter, !FRA, an open diff/3.08s, and the same weight reduction. 60-foot time was 2.131 seconds.

I'm expecting better times from the new car, as it is lighter and has a couple more mods than the old one. I'm also expecting to have a little fun with a ricer, who happens to be my cousins' neighbor. He's got a V6 Ford Probe, with a fart can, CAI, aftermarket 17-inch wheels, and a ton of stereo equipment. He said he could beat me in a race, so I invited him to settle things on the track. Maybe I should put some money on it, just to make it more interesting? ;) Anyway, wish me luck. I hope to improve my personal best time.

[FloydSummerOf68]

Re: Taking the new car to the track

Good luck, you should be able to run low 15s if the weather is good and you get a decent launch.

[skorpion317]

Re: Taking the new car to the track

The launch is definitely the most important thing.

I'll be running on the stock 16" wheels and 235 mm-wide tires. I considered throwing on rear the 18" aftermarket wheels with larger (I think they're 275s) summer tires I got along with the car, but I was worried about the increase in weight, plus the 2" difference in wheel sizes.

[skorpion317]

Re: Taking the new car to the track

I ran a few quick calculations about the weight reduction I've already done, and what I'm going to do when I get to the track. All numbers have been taken from Brett Franker's "4th Gen F-body Weights Page", unless otherwise noted. Here we go:

Curb weight - 3324 lbs. (taken from 1998 GM press release)

Stock steel driveshaft - 34 lbs.
LS1 Aluminum driveshaft - 11.5 lbs
Difference - 22.5 lbs.

Spare/Jack - 36 lbs.
Front leather passenger seat - 32 lbs.
Rear seats - 29 lbs.
Rear hatch divider - 4 lbs.
Rear floor mats - 1.8 lbs.
Front floor mats - 2 lbs. (my own estimate)

Full tank of gas - 15.5 gallons x 6.1 lbs. (approximate weight of a gallon of gas) = 94.55 lbs.
1/4 tank of gas - 23.6375 lbs.
Difference - 70.9125 lbs.

Final weight (w/o driver) - 3125.79 lbs.
Final weight (w/ driver) - 3402.79 lbs.

That's a little over 198 lbs. removed from the car's curb weight, and all of it is easily reinstalled.

Temps will be in the mid-to-low 70's.

[WishIHad$$$]

Re: Taking the new car to the track

I wouldn't trust the weight from the press release. If you want to be totally sure, get the car weighed.

[skorpion317]

Re: Taking the new car to the track

I wouldn't trust the weight from the press release. If you want to be totally sure, get the car weighed.

I'm just using it as an estimate. I'll get the official race weight of the car tonight.

[WishIHad$$$]

Re: Taking the new car to the track

Good luck, don't expect your best time tonight of course, unless you have some experience launching a manual at the track.