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OneFast97GST

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Guys-

I just thought you might want to know this. I went to Union Grove(Great Lakes Dragway), near Milwaukee this last weekend with my GS-T. It was my very first time down a dragstip. It was hotter than a bastard and i thought my times sucked. I left all my launching techniques back home. Do you guys ever feel you do better on the street than at home. I was more worried about my reaction time and the guy next to me than my launches. I sucked every time with 2.4sec average times. Oh well, first timer. And street tires suck for front wheel drive cars on the drag stip. I think they spin alot more on the rubber that's on the track.

Anyway, i wanted to compare my times with the Gtech since that's what i've been using at home. My first run was like a 14.30 something. The Gtech showed like 15.10. I'm like, WTF!!!! I did 4 more runs comparing it and it was like 6-9 tenths off every time. I thought that dam thing was useless. However in the evening at around 8pm i was going to give it a try again after the sun went down. Son of a B.... the thing was reading GREAT.. I was only hundreths off from the actual timeslip. For example, If my timeslip showed 14.05, the Gtech would be like 14.11. I did 3 remaining runs to back this up. My guess is that the Gtech was misaccurate from sitting in the hot sun all day in my windshield and then was fine when it cooled. The mph reading will always be off from the timeslip. On those 3 good runs, the mph was about 4-6 mph off. Gtech measures mph different than the dragstrip does. But i'm more concerned about E.t. anyway.

The jetcar that showed up there was AWESOME!!
 
Did you take the GTech off your windshield and put it back on for the late night runs? If so, I bet you did a better job mounting it for the evening. The little accelorometer (sp?) in the GTech is SUPER sensitive to being leveled. I'm sure you're familiar with that dance you have to do to get the level to read 0 - you just did a better job at night.

BTW, nice times for a FWD.

My $.02
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Tomfree- actually, no i just had it in the Window in the same place all day. It was blasting hot out on Saturday. I stopped running from about 5pm till about 8pm after sundown, then made 3 more runs. That's when the Gtech began making accurate readings for me. The sun was down and it was half way breathable outside. I would roll up my windows after each run to prevent theft, so trapped heat didn't help any.

Thanks for compliments on my times. 14.05 @ 101.5 was my best time of the day. I wanted so much to break into the high 13's but my 60's just got worse. I guess i had stage frights. I get nervous under pressure. BTW- that's with a small 16g, at 16.5psi & 18" tires. Guess that's not too bad of times. Most of the Mustangs there were running mid to high 14's with the except of a few built ones that had drivers behind the wheel running into the low to mid 13's.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
By the way- My best Gtech time, is 13.31 at 17psi, pump gas. It felt like every bit of 13.31. I now know from track experience, what a dozen 14sec runs feels like vs. a 13sec to know if the Gtech is bs'ing me. Gtech displays 0-60mph too, and most of mine are in the low to mid 5.50's. If that's accurate, that's not too bad for a FWD and considering that some of the Porches are in the 4.50 range.
 
OneFast97gst.....is your car red? I have a red 92 GSX and I was there this past weekend too and ran some shitty times, miss gear everytime and manage to pulled a best of 13.8@104 1.78@60'. I wanted to break into the 12s but it was a bad day for me, maybe next time. I just had it tune by AMS too and we came straight to GLD to see how it run. I was only running 17psi with 93 pump gas. Next time it will be 22psi with 116. This will take me into the 12s for sure.
The weather was very hot and a lot of people ran slow times, except the drag power jet engine car. That is the true sound of a TURBO. 5 sec car.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
dsm99-

Yep, it's red. There were 2 '97's there, mine was the GS-T. I saw your car there. I think you probably had the fastest DSM there that day. I thought I saw you dip into the 13.60's though. Maybe it was someone else. I talked to the guy that had the '97 GSX and watched him a few times. Looks like he had problems launching it. Well at least i'm not the only one who thought the track was bad that day. Street tires just don't cut it on those launch pads(for FWD's).

Not sure when i'll be down there again, That's about a 4 hour drive me up, from central WI.

Later.
 
Hey guys

I'm planning on going to Great Lakes next Tuesday.
Is it open everyday?
And how much does it cost to run?

Thanks in advance. (yeah im a newbie, never raced at the strip before ):(
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Yeah i believe it's open just about every day. Check first before you drive there. It was like $35 to test all day there. Well worth it. You guys have it made down there. It's $85 at Rock Falls near Eau Claire to test. What a rip off -eh? Yeah Al Corda track owner is money hungry.
 
Lang, the here's the link:

www.greatlakesdragaway.com

I believe that it costs only $23 bucks to do all the runs you want. They have a schedule that you can look at to see when the day is open to everyone. The best way to get there from the city is to take the tollway north towards Wisconsin. Beware, there is a toll near the stateline which is .75 cents. So don't forget to bring change! Continue to drive north until you reach the exit for KR. Turn left onto KR and head west about2 miles and the strip is on your left. Have fun and good luck!
 
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