There have been a lot of 60ft discussions recently however none of them really applied to my cause, so here is another thread. Did any of you guys ever manage to break out of the 1.8sec 60ft on a stock car?
I am running M/T DR's on 16" CLK wheels, which instantly resulted in a drop from 2.0 to 1.83x in 60ft times. The ET went down from 12.6 to 12.3 and as I learned to use the DR's I started pulling consistent 12.2 @ 114.mph However, despite launching from a dead hook I cannot break out of the 1.83x times. Also, last week I installed an 82mm TB and had Mike from EC flash a box tune on the car, I took the car to the track almost immediately, and my times went down to a consistent 12.04- 12.05 @ 116mph. However, the 60ft times still stayed in the 1.83 range. The best time to date was 1.816.

Just to give some background on the car, it is running a stock pulley, has a resonator, secondary cat delete and an 82mm kit with a box tune. The DR's are set at around 18psi. IAT's are in check with a larger H/E and a fresh pump(around 138 by the end of the track). No DTC's, tried sneaky resets and all the adaptations. The S/C belt has around 5-6k on it and the car peaks at 10psi and seems to hold 8-9 psi under heavy load. There are no boost or vacuum leaks.
As a side note, the previous owner did have glycol problems with the transmission and had it rebuilt, however I can not vouch for the torque converter. At this moment I am starting to suspect the TC, since it did give me the usual glycol shudder and drone until I flushed the entire system. It's been driving well since then but it does seem the lock up is acting up in the TC causing the car to upshift too soon and drag the TC on decel. All the adaptations are well within spec, solenoids are all new, conductor plate is fresh as well.

I know it got a little long winded,but maybe someone can point me in the right direction. So to all you drag racing aces, do the 1.8x times make sense on DR's with a dead hook, or should I be looking at a low end power delivery problem?

I would have EC send you another tune and you may also be down a few pony's due to the secondary cat being removed. You should be in the 1.7's if not better. My best 60' on 17"MT's is 1.71

1.7s is what I would hope for on DR's which would put me into the 11's. Mike@EC is local to me so I met with him in person, told him all the things done to the car and he picked an according tune. Car immediately felt faster which was confirmed with a 0.2sec drop in the ET and a 2mph increase(weather conditions were identical to the previous non tuned run)

Not a drag guru here, but what is your launch set up? I wonder with a stocker plus tune if you are better off grabbing a few revs at launch. It is almost like you need to try to brake those MTs loose before you know you have everything they will give you.

Sorry, I missed the 82 mm TB.

My best 60ft was 1.79 on street tires and that was stock.. So with an 82mm TB on DRs, you should be definitely be pulling consistent 1.7s.. I leave the transmission in sport and the ESP on.. I usually launch around 1k rpm's and do a nice smokey burnout before..

THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

I've gone in the 1.60's on street tires and a 1.50 flat once and a bunch of mid 1.50's on Hoosier drag radials. Does the car bog out of the hole at all? If your dead hooking then maybe your down on low end torque. Do you have any videos of a run?

On a side note if your dead hooking skip the burn out next time and see if that helps any.

Those are some impressive numbers! Were you running a stock converter? I will definitely try not to burn out before the run, but last time I did that I chirped the tires and was back into 1.9xx-2.00 in the 60ft but I might've caught some water in the front tires.

It does not feel like the car bogs, but I do have a feeling that I am down on torque. In the 1/8th I am at 91mph for the 12.0x runs and usually right around 89-90mph for the 12.1x

My rear main seal has been leaking for a while, so I might just throw in another torque converter while I'm in there since I've been having some odd behavior from the transmission since day 1.

Thanks for all the responses, I'll keep digging

I would sure want to know how much spark i have coming out.

I have a custom converter now that i never got the chance to really figure out what it likes best but i've cut tons of 1.60's on the stock converter and Lowprofile has cut a 1.50 flat. Another thing to think about is weight. For some reason the weights of these cars vary a lot. My car weighed 4500+lbs when i was cutting 1.60's on street tires and was at 4380lbs when it was doing 1.50's on drag radials.

Nice to see another 1320 runner. This is my process at the lights so take it as you like:

* run the car in dyno mode, tranny in s mode, and suspension in c setting, not raised.
* clk steelies with hoosier drags at 13-14lbs typically but varies depending on how the track hooks.
*burnout for a good 5 seconds letting slowly off the brake so that you smoke the tires up to the line.
*power brake and launch off idle, then put your foot through the floor board.

Result: 1.5x 60's consistently.....

You will either hook or spin, if I spin, abort the run and try again.

guys dont forget to flick those tires first in the water then pull up to do the burnout.

I would much rather dead hook, especially with DR because they don't recover as easily as slicks. Also, wheel hop, on off traction is what breaks things.

If you are dead hooking then you just need more torque down low. It's hard to compare your car to others in other locations cause perhaps their weather was better and what not and their cars simply made more power which allowed them to get better 60ft times. Their tunes may have had more timing advance down low as well which would also make for more low end torque...who knows.

Have you dynoed your car? Take it to a dyno and do a run from low rpms to redline. You may find your answer.

data logging it off the dyno is the best bet with the tires on for racing at the track. thats where fine tuning comes in. I have a dyno and thats exactly how we do it if you want to improve at the track

inflate the front stockers to 50psi to limit roll out resistance , should help .

Bad info right there. Don't spin the tires thru the water!!! that puts water up into the wheel well that will drip back down onto the tires. I've seen people get some kinda p*ssed when the car in front of them spins thru the water box.

you dont do it in the water you drive through and flick them once out of the water box. and if your in good with the track like where we race the guy starting will tell point and line you up exactly where need be. thats why we do not run bs sixty foots when at the track

#!

here is my bad info 1:18 into the video and i have new there is barely any water on the ground just enough to make the tires barely wet for the burnout.

I would have to agree with this, I tried doing what 99lightning did in the video and completely spun off the line despite doing a nice burnout OUTSIDE the water box. I usually go around the water box, back into it and crawl forward until the guy in the lanes gives me the thumbs up, followed by a nice 3-5 second burnout while slowly letting off the brake just like chawkins2001 suggested, as I do this I can feel the tires grab by the end and I proceed to stage. I launch in S mode on the transmission, suspension in comfort, ESP usually ON. Almost always raised up since I am lowered. The best times I got was leaving from idle without loading up the TC.

I have been pretty religious with this launch technique, so I might need to experiment with the ESP/Dyno mode, as well as powerbraking a little to as previously suggested.

Chawkins2001 could you elaborate on the power braking/leaving at idle part? Do you power brake to preload the TC and get some flex out of the driveline to like 1100rpm and then just let go of the brake/go WOT simultaneously, or are you completely at idle when the light turns green and just power brake for a second to get the rear end to dig in a little.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!!

Get a looser torque converter and watch your 60ft times drop a couple tenths. Usually a tenth off your 60ft will give you 2 tenths in the quarter. The torque converter is a HUGE bang for buck if you're able to install it yourself. Pick what stall you think you'll be happy with and then get one 3-600+ RPM higher. You have the tire, now get the stall.

I'm one of those guys. Its a water box not a bird bath. Getting water all over things and dripping it all the way up to the line and down the track can put a race car on slicks into the wall. Same goes for the clowns running the air conditioning down the track. Turn that crap off and stop leaking water all over the race track. You may just keep someone from dying.

Yea I hate going for test and tune nights when you have people with no idea out there. 2 weeks ago it was bad enough to do 4wd burnouts launching my 8100lb truck so that should give you an idea how bad test and tune is here.

To the OP: after you stage press the brake then give it a little gas to raise the rear of the car a little more and take some slop out of the driveline. ESP off or even in dyno mode. Then try to floor it and see of it hooks and go from there.

Just an update for those having the same issue. I replaced the torque converter with a factory rebuilt unit while doing the rear main seal as well as both primary O2 sensors due to aging codes. Looks like the problem got resolved. The car feels ALOT quicker. Took it to the track today, consistent 1.7 60' times, coupled with 52 degree weather resulted in a 11.68@120mph pass.

82mm TB, EC tune, stock pulley, MT drag radials, resonator/secondary cat delete, Frozen Boost H/E.