Help with my dragstrip experience
 

At New Hampshire Epping dragstrip I am running mid 13s with hot tranny and hot 200 degrees coolant temps all day in 70 degree weather with just a no tune Vararam maybe 335-350 whp still less than Ls3. The things is with the crapomatic, I mean automatic, I can't rev before takeoff or anything :mad0260::mad0260::mad0259::mad0259:, a Pontiac G8 maybe GXP nosed me out lastnight with a low 13.2 vs my 13.5. Also my car always feels somewhat restricted at the strip like TM is really holding me back. At the strip my car never threw me back into the seat, however on the street it does in a very violent manner, could this be the heat killing my performance:iono:, this is after a 70 mile drive to the strip, sign in and then hit the track asap, with a 10 min cooldown for sign in only. With the button shifters or full auto car runs the same time. Would a tranny cooler, 160degree Tstat, Linelock help , I already have BMR trailing arm and LSRs toe link arm, wheel hop mimimized:thumbup:, stock 60lb plus wheels and tires crappo Pirellis . This strip is listed to be 90 feet above sea level, does this hurt.

Did you hold down the Traction Control button for 7 seconds to turn off all the nannies? I'm thinking a transmission tune would help you more than anything.

This was a couple of weeks ago, I am number 642 on the right, I tried all traction options, all on being the slowest by a hair. Stabilitrac Competitive mode was the best, 8sec hold down resulted in wheelspin and not good 60ft. This is a copy of my best run with Vararam no tune intake and Janetty tune,( For CAI intake) this was a test, however even this run the L99 tranny shifted very very slow and felt like a 15sec time, turned out to be a 13.1 at 108mph. :iono:. This is the things though, when I first installed the tune 5 days prior , with the Vararam the car ripped like a freaking retard, however by Friday 13th 2011 (date of this run), 5 days, 300miles later the car got slower, this tune wasn't meant for the Vararam the install was only a test, but on the first day, Dammmmmmmmm is all I could say, weird to say but it felt too damn fast to know what the hell is going on:happyanim::thumbup::headbang:, it would push me back in the seat and keep me there until I let off literally. If I had been to the strip with the tune just installed and I posted a low 12s time I wouldn't have been surprised.

First off (70 degrees and 90 ft elevation track) = pretty good conditions
So you should be able to run low 13s with a decent 60' time.

What are your 60' times? The first 60' is the most important part of the run.

I've always run with TC off (that's it). I use either D or M letting the computer do the shifting and my car has always run good times.

Also
Show up early and let your car sit (open your hood) and cool to prevent a heatsoaked engine. To launch, do a brake stall launch (1000 rpms) rolling into the gas. With a decent 60' time (around 2.0) you should pull easy low 13s in 70 degree air.

And I wouldn't talk down about the automatics. My car only has 352 rwhp (dyno jet) and it ran 12.1 @ 114 mph. So an L99 A6 doesn't need the same RWHP as the LS3s to run fast times. A big part of that is Torque management. Once you get your car tuned (by a skilled professional) you'll be a lot happier with your automatic.

Have to agree w/SGO. Also, if your serious about going quick in the 1/4 mile a torque converter and Phil from Tampa Tuning tweaking the tune and you wont believe its the same car. :thumbsup:

Why can't you hold the brake and gas at the same time before launch and release the brake and launch?

My car runs 13.2's with a Roto-Fab CAI, no tune. Perfect everything (weather, launch holding my mouth right, etc), I believe it will go into the teens.

You may also want to try different air pressures.

And I drive about an hour to the track then park the car for about 45 minutes.

Andy

Oh how can I forget I was supposed to contact those guys about 2 months ago about a Tranny tune :facepalm:.

Actually my air pressure now is good. Now that you mention it I don't ever let my car cool down after my drive except for sign in. If I do a 45 minute cool down I think that alone will result in high 12s for my car in it's current state.

160 T-stat will help keep some of the temps down. Do the generic heater hose relocation and take the engine cover and turtle shell off. This will help let it cool down between runs which you should be letting it do.

Like others said though the converter is going to help a lot on the L99.