gassaver at the dragstrip, SOHC POWAH!

[lovemysan]

I figured I'd post this myself before I get ratted out by carlosw2. LOL. I posted this over at saturnfans. All in good fun. It would have been my best tank ever. But...

I'm on vacation this week at my parents. After dinner saturday evening My dad and I were driving home and we passed a country drag strip. Its called pickwick dragstrip in counce, TN. Its in the "sticks". He thought it would be fun to watch so we stopped in. $5 admission and $5 run. I pulled the spare, mats, jack and child seat and lined up. There was no line to wait in all night. My times averaged 10.8-11.3. My best was the second pass(no cool down right off the street)

2.6s 60ft
10.75 @ 63.5mph 1/8th

My second best was a 10.78 after a 40 minute cool down and the air filter pulled and air box propped open. I think I could run 10.5s with icing the intake and a cold car. I had no wheel spin all night. Hey I have 75hp, LOL.

My car currently has

full synthetic fluids
hot air intake
sealed engine compartment
full belly pan
rear wheel skirts
slightly taller michelin harmony tires

The car in is present condition is easily heat soaked. I made 11 passes. I also discovered that the gear shift got very stiff after a few passed. It was so stiff I nearly missed second twice. Its done this before and after a couple of days normal driving it loosens back up again.

Pulling into the dragstrip the tank sat at 55.2mpg @415 miles when I left it was a 53.6mpg. After 2 more days driving it was back at 54.06mpg for 518miles. I video'd a couple passes but when I got home I found out the camera had no sound

[bbgobie]

Scared me, I thought you did 10.75 1/4 mile and are still getting a heck of a lot better mpg than me!!

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by lovemysan

I also discovered that the gear shift got very stiff after a few passed. It was so stiff I nearly missed second twice. Its done this before and after a couple of days normal driving it loosens back up again.

Hmmm... methinks that's clutch related.

[lovemysan]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

Hmmm... methinks that's clutch related.

I don't think so. Clutch pedal position doesn't seem to affect it. It gets stiff after being hustled into 2nd. I worked in and out of gear for a couple of minutes trying to get it to loosen up but eventually I just let it work itself out. Its a "GM cable shifter" making it not particularly deliteful to use in the first place.

I'm not terribly worried about it but I intend to start a thread on saturnfans about it.

[cfg83]

lovemysan -

Rats. Scooped again.

CarloSW2

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by lovemysan

I don't think so. Clutch pedal position doesn't seem to affect it. It gets stiff after being hustled into 2nd. I worked in and out of gear for a couple of minutes trying to get it to loosen up but eventually I just let it work itself out. Its a "GM cable shifter" making it not particularly deliteful to use in the first place.

It's not the clutch pedal, just that ime once the clutch starts to go or is improperly adjusted, after a bunch of shifts in a relatively short period of time it'll be harder to get it in gear since it's not grabbing the flywheel well enough. The clutch pedal will feel exactly the same, but it'll be harder to get into gear. Otoh, I have no clue about your shifter setup, so that could be binding too or something I have no clue about. If your clutch cable is adjustable you may need to take a look at it.

[korax123]

clutch was getting glazed over from heat problably.

You can prob run 10.2 -10.3 with a lower 60' time. On 60's a 2.2 - 2.3 is good for a FWD car.

[usedgeo]

[QUOTE=lovemysan;70941]
The car in is present condition is easily heat soaked. I made 11 passes. I also discovered that the gear shift got very stiff after a few passed. It was so stiff I nearly missed second twice. Its done this before and after a couple of days normal driving it loosens back up again.

/QUOTE]

If I shift my car and get through the syncro but not into gear and just rub against the locking nubs my car does excactly the same thing. It seems to be related to vibration of the shift mechanism. I have imagined it is sand getting knocked loose and falling into the mechanism. I have done this 2 or 3 times and it takes about a week or so of normal driving for it to get smooth again. It happens when I miss second also. It would be good to find a fix.

[lovemysan]

[QUOTE=usedgeo;71009]

Originally Posted by lovemysan

The car in is present condition is easily heat soaked. I made 11 passes. I also discovered that the gear shift got very stiff after a few passed. It was so stiff I nearly missed second twice. Its done this before and after a couple of days normal driving it loosens back up again.

/QUOTE]

If I shift my car and get through the syncro but not into gear and just rub against the locking nubs my car does excactly the same thing. It seems to be related to vibration of the shift mechanism. I have imagined it is sand getting knocked loose and falling into the mechanism. I have done this 2 or 3 times and it takes about a week or so of normal driving for it to get smooth again. It happens when I miss second also. It would be good to find a fix.

VOILA!!

sounds like yours is the same as mine. It takes a few days to get it worked out. I think I try shifting over 5000rpms very softly and see if it still does it. It feels as if you've slightly bent a shift fork at first and then after a while it heals itself.

I was thinking the same thing about sand or grime in the linkage. It probably has something to do with the shift assembly being made of buggers, toejam, and use clothesline.

[CoyoteX]

you should try really heat soaking the engine and see if it is faster

My Camaro is ~.1 faster in the 1/8 if I hot lap it and never shut the engine off. I also turn the A/C on high on the trip back to the staging lanes to not let the car cool down. I turn it off well before I stage just to make sure it isn't dripping water. Of course the car has a plastic intake manifold so if you have an aluminum intake, heating the incoming air might do more harm than having a nice hot engine and drivetrain will gain. You might have to bypass the throttle body heat to make it faster with the engine hot but that is pretty easy to do usually.