Finally made some passes down the 1/4

[cyaford]

First trip to the dragstrip in the Viper. Made 7 passes. 1997 GTS with exhaust, S&B filters, smooth tubes, PS3 tires, and side sill cooling mod. The pcm has apparently been programmed by the previous owner. I installed the ROE SCT 93 tune after the 4th pass and ran over one tenth and 3mph slower. I then reinstalled the "stock" tune. I have about 5 visits to the track in my life with previous cars, and know I need a lot of practice. Stock 97s have been much quicker. My best pass was my only loss of the day, which means I wasn't racing the right cars.

I'm placing my first 6 timeslips below. My last run was a [email protected]. May have been my best run of the day, but I'll never know. 4th did not want to cooperate on my last 2 passes.

Had a great time. I beat my friend in his turbo'd 2003 Z06(bottom left slip), and I will not be racing him again any time soon. He popped a hose off the turbo(??) before hitting the 1/8mi mark and lost boost. You'll notice I left on the first amber light. He was more concerned with getting his launch down, and took a nap at the tree. I'm #62.

 

[-FROG-]

Very nice! Respectable times for being new to the track. Fast car!

Back when my car was having issues missing 4th gear, it was due to a broken motor mount. If your shifter kicks to the right pretty hard when you get on it in 1st and 2nd, then you may have a broken mount. It's common in these cars.

 

[Mopar Boy]

Nice respectable times! Well done!

Robert

 

[SSSSE YA]

It sounds like you had a good time and got to know your Viper a little bit better..

 

[cyaford]

WOW!! 3 months go by and not one reply. Now three on one day??!!

Seriously, thanks for the replies. Hopefully I'll represent a little better on my next visit. I figure I can only get better, especially looking at my 60' and 1/8mi times.

Back when my car was having issues missing 4th gear, it was due to a broken motor mount. If your shifter kicks to the right pretty hard when you get on it in 1st and 2nd, then you may have a broken mount. It's common in these cars.

Motor and transmission mounts are on my winter project list.
I'm sure mine are not holding up well, going by pictures other '97 owners have posted. Even if they do not need replacing yet, they will soon, right?

 

[RTTTTed]

Yah, best time to get a response is dinner and early evening. Posting after midnight may slip through the cracks.

Good fun. New tranny fluid over the winter is a good idea as well as diff fluid.

Before racing the vette again instal a Roe sc. 5# should kick his butt and if you need more buy some drag radials.

Keep having fun with your car!

Ted

 

[cyaford]

Before racing the vette again instal a Roe sc. 5# should kick his butt and if you need more buy some drag radials.

I may need a little more than the Roe. He was feeling the car out that day. His second time to the track resulted in a best of 10.1@142. I'm still 1-0 against him at the track.

 

[RTTTTed]

OK, you're right. I even need a little more than "drive to track" trim. If you're main concern is just to beat the vette, just instal a Nitrous system or two and a set of Drag radials. You should get 9s. I'd suggest a 100hp system and then a 200-250hp to finish the strip with. Have the big kit set for 3500rpm+.

Now if you actually like big power, then instal a Roe with 8# and a Nitrous kit. That should kick his ass and make everyone happy, lol.

Ted

 

[cyaford]

OK, you're right. I even need a little more than "drive to track" trim. If you're main concern is just to beat the vette, just instal a Nitrous system or two and a set of Drag radials. You should get 9s. I'd suggest a 100hp system and then a 200-250hp to finish the strip with. Have the big kit set for 3500rpm+.

Now if you actually like big power, then instal a Roe with 8# and a Nitrous kit. That should kick his ass and make everyone happy, lol.

Ted

My main concern was getting a good feel for my car. I've only had a few prior track visits with a couple of Corvettes I've owned in the past. I'll admit I'm a terrible driver, when it comes to drag racing. I'm still looking for that fine line between bog and tire spin. The 335s do hook better than the 315s I had on my previous car. I was making more power in my '02 Z06(460rwhp/490rwtq), but ran a slower 12.10@124. Hell, some Z06s ran that time stock.

I may look into that dual nitrous set-up down the road. Sure would be much cheaper than going the supercharger/turbo route, but not as much fun.

Ted "B"