MI Viper wipes out drag strip Christmas tree

[FE 065]

When I went out to Stanton, MI's drag strip today, the tech guy looks at me and asks if I've ever drag raced before..(duh)

Seems someone in a Viper got sideways out of the water box and took out the starting line Christmas tree recently. So I guess he thinks all Vipers owners are Dr Strangelove-types.

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A few minutes earlier when I was paying my entrance fee, the cashier had said there was a Viper there last week. Don't know if that was the same one or not.

Anyone in MI know who mowed down the tree?

- Hell of a strip..I had to run my DRs up to 42psi before they'd break loose at all.

Lots of empty(?) 55gal VHT drums at the far end of the pits..

 

[FE 065]

I was just looking at my reaction times.. the first 2 runs they were .018 and .177 thanks to all that VHT I suppose.

Just too much BITE, those w i d e BFG DRs were really hookin' up.

 

[ViperJohn]

VHT has nothing to do with your reaction time. The VHT should have a direct impact on your 60 foot time though. What were your 60 foot times?

 

[FE 065]

Well I think it does. The quicker your car moves out of the lights after dumping the clutch, the quicker your recorded reaction time. The DRs were not spinning at all, and I mean zero. Along with driver starting line technique, traction has to be a factor in RT.

60' times were nothing special, 1.90s with the fat bog.. I bogged badly on each run until I got the DRs up to 42psi. Even at that psi they'd barely turn over.

With the car falling on its' face, it was still running strong enough to - on the first run for example, beat the 11.721 car who had a .634rt in the next lane to the finish line with my .4 slower ET. Without the bogging I'd been well into the 11s I'd say.

..I just talked to a guy who's raced out there before about 20 minutes ago. He said if I'd gotten out of the car up near the starting line, my shoes would probably have been sticking to the pavement.

 

[GTSnake]

What if you didn't do a burn out? That way you may get some slippage and not bog.

 

[GR8_ASP]

Hmm, wonder who took it out. Did they indicate the color or type of Viper? And no I am not the one.

As to traction and RT I would say very little impact. Your depth of stage would have a more significant impact. I can only imagine enough traction to actually go WOT at the launch. Especially at this time of the year with much lower track surface temps.

 

[FE 065]

You pretty much have to go thru the water-so there is some cleaning of the tires needed afterwards. The whole approach under the timing building is wetted down in a narrow strip across your path.

Oddly enough I've just looked reaction time timer info up and it says "The reaction timer starts when the third amber comes on. Since there is a half-second (or .500 seconds) delay until the green light comes on, a .500 reaction time is perfect, the reaction timer stops when the car leaves the starting line."

So how'd I get reaction times of .018 and .177 without a redlight?

I don't know about this strip, but Lapeer Dragway's timeslips show fouls/redlights even during test n tune.

Besides, I just looked and the two timeslips with the low-low rt's how me/my lane as the winner.




No other information of any kind about the Viper that took out the tree. Not sure what you're getting at with this: I can only imagine enough traction to actually go WOT at the launch ..I'd be happy to WOT someone else's car at launch, but not mine

While I think of it, do either of you (GR8_ASP & GTSnake) know anything about a machine shop in Pontiac near Baldwin and Walton porting Viper heads? It's over by The Rocket restaurant on the side street.

A guy I met at Lapeer Dragway is going to be selling some ported Viper heads (that were on someone's car) that came out of that machine shop, and a pair of OE G2 headers soon. I'm supposed to look at them tomorrow after 5pm-maybe take some pics and post them on the 2 Viper forums for him. In fact I think he's picking them up from that shop tomorrow..

 

[1TONY1]

Some dragstrips would show .518 and others would show .018 for the same reaction time. They are just removing the .500 first.
A full tree is usually .500 and a pro tree is either .400 or .500

 

[FE 065]

Must be the reason Tony, though I had an indicated .514 rt for example on run #3. It was shown as .514, not as .014

Still good news though, because it means that even with a big fat bog off the line, I beat the 11.721 car to the finish line with less of a jump on him as I thought then.. Just the difference between his .634rt to my .518rt, or just over an .11 sec jump.

Yet checking the slips, my ET was .513sec slower than his on that run. That's the bog killing my ET.

I couldn't see how far behind he was, but it sounded like about a 1/2 car behind me all the way down. So was the 11.745 car in the 2nd race.

I'd say I can expect to be in the 11.7-11.8 range next time I'm at a strip where I can get a better launch with the tires spinning a bit like the first outing Sept 1. If so, that'd be a healthy gain over that first week's 12.15 or so average. With just one little change

Too soon to tell of course, but...that was 2 cars, one after the other, who ET'd in the 11.70's while trying to catch my bogging off the line 12.20 Viper.

- It's even better when you're racing against a drag only car that was trailered to the strip, sporting a big hood scoop, open headers etc etc.

 

[GTSnake]

Sorry, I don't know of anyone in Pontiac porting Viper heads. I got mine through Jeff Morys.

Baldwin and Walton is right where Jeff Morton's dad's shop used to be.

Too bad I didn't know you were looking for heads. I could have sold you my old heads. I sold them back in May.

 

[FE 065]

I'm not looking for heads , I'm only going to help this guy I met at Lapeer Dragway (Dennis) sell the ported Viper heads and OE G2 ex manifolds that he's got access to, by putting them on the forums.

I told him to get all the info on the heads he could. I'll just post his phone number when he finally has the stuff.

My feeling about buying ported heads is anyone can ream out ports and get a big number on the flow bench-but personally I'd be more apt to buy heads from a shop that's got a reputation for doing porting correctly. The heads might be hard to sell if their from an unknown or little known shop.

Jeff said the original shop was about 1/2 mile west of Baldwin and Walton, then they moved to east of Joslyn on Walton. I used to drive by the old shop everyday to work without knowing any more than it was a Vette shop of some kind..

I'm going to try and get some pics of the heads and OE headers tonight. I guess each of the primaries has a little fitting welded to them near the flange for dyno instrumentation.

 

[2002_Viper_GTS_ACR]

They changed the rules last year I believe, I believe eveyone now does .000 as a perfect reaction time. all Drag strips I have been to over the last year, have reverted to the .000 is perfect. I asked one of the guys at the track, and he told me it was the new agreed upon standard.

BTW, the least bit of motion triggers the reaction time, so im sorry, i dont believe stickys or non stickys would change that at all. Even spinning, slipping or bogging is going to make you move the fraction of an inch necessary to trigger the timmer. What it does affect is your 60 foot time.

 

[1TONY1]

BTW, the least bit of motion triggers the reaction time, so im sorry, i dont believe stickys or non stickys would change that at all. Even spinning, slipping or bogging is going to make you move the fraction of an inch necessary to trigger the timmer. What it does affect is your 60 foot time.

Wrong. Fraction of an inch ?? least bit of motion ?? I knew you wouldn't take my word so here is some reading for you. Maybe you should stick to autocrossing...haha

http://www.staginglight.com/guide/react.html
This question leads us to rollout. Rollout is the distance that your tire has to travel to exit the starting line. The starting line beams are about an inch or two off the ground. If you measure your tire width that far above the ground, you will find that it is about 11-14", depending on your tire height. Let's say it is twelve inches. This means that your car has to roll forward an entire foot before the reaction timer stops. This has two effects: 1) You must react before you see the green-light, and 2) Your car effectively has a rolling start of one foot before the reaction timer stops, and the ET timer begins.

http://www.nhra.com/dragster/1999/issue21/racing_technology.html
"No matter what class, the driver with a better reaction time has a better chance of winning the race. Reaction time, as a number on the e.t. slip, measures the driver and the vehicle performance at the starting line. The driver reacts first, with a foot off the clutch, a finger off the transbrake button, or a foot off the brake pedal. The response to this action is the vehicle reaction time, or rollout. Variables that influence reaction time include engine rpm, clutch or converter slippage, tire spin, engine performance, front tire diameter, suspension setup, staging technique, and any combination of the preceding.

 

[FE 065]

I don't think reaction time affects anything. Except whether a slower car can beat you by cutting the tree closer.

The timers start when you move out of them. You can sit motionless on the line for 5 seconds and your 60' time and ET will be the same as if you left on time. Your R/T time would be 5 seconds though.