Real world Automatic R/T 1/4 mile times...

[TaylorSF]

I just drove the family over 50 miles away to go to a track. I recently hit 1000 miles on my Challenger and figured it was time.

I had always wanted a daily driver that could break 15s. Neither my 69 GTO I had in high school or the 85 LB9 Z28 I had in the late 80s and early 90s did. I just did not have the money or it would have been easy to make them. Plus they were both automatics. My 90 Eagle Talon Tsi manual was also a 15s car.

I went to the track hoping to break 14.5 on my first run. I have not run quarters since the early 90s. My second goal was to at least tie the Edmund's 14.1 time on the manual R/T. I dreamed of getting in the 13s.

It was 80 degrees when test and tune started today, plus I drove there fully loaded, and was running with over 3/4 tank of gas. Add in a child seat, stuff in the trunk, etc. and I was pretty sure I would not be getting in the 13s. Remember, this is totally stock, except for the engine cover being in the trunk instead of under the hood.

My TorRed automatic 5.7L R/T drew lots of attention, even though it was a middle weight golden glove level boxer surrounded by heavy weight champions. There were dudes there running in the tens and hitting over 120mph. And there were some pretty fast streetable modern cars also. Supercharged Cobras, tuned up new gen Vettes, etc.

As expected, my old, out of practice ass blew the first run with a reaction time of 1.9. But the new R/T is fairly forgiving and I did a 14.3 at 100.4. Man, with a 1.0, let alone a .5 reaction time that would have been sweet.

I came back and lined right up for another run. With a reaction time of 1.1 I ran a 14.7 at 100. The little Hemi does not like back to back runs in 80 degrees weather.

I let her cool for about half an hour with the hood open. With a lousy reaction time again, 1.3, I ran a 14.1 at 101. Whew. If I could not match the Edmund's driver (even though he had the edge with a manual), I do not deserve the car.

After ten more minutes of waiting and letting it cool, the kids were driving my wife nuts, she had lots of other stuff to do, I figured it was time to call it a day soon. She did not ask to leave, but her and the daughters enjoyed the first few runs and that was it. My son would have stayed all day and was p.o.'d he did not get to ride with me though!

With a better reaction time of 1.0, my last run was 14.2 at 101.

When all is said and done, my reaction times kept the car above the 13s. Even with those times, a cool fall day like I was hoping for may have done the trick also.

I could not have been any rustier, and the runs under my belt back in the day were not even real tracks either. I'm not saying I'll have 0.5 reaction times next time out, but if I get under 1.0 on a cool day I'm pretty sure I'll be in the 13s stock.

(Speaking of .5 reaction times, a dude in a Chevy pickup with a sweet sounding small block pushing 400 cubes of displacement did that and man could he shift- he ran in the 13s with daily driver weighing over 5000 pounds)

I have not really found any auto R/T numbers out there.
For manuals, I have seen
Edmunds 14.1 at 100.8
Motor Trend 13.6 at 104.9
on one other site I found 14 flat at 105.

If I had the 1.0 reaction time on my first run I could have beat the Motor Trend manual time. I really look forward to seeing some other Autostick R/T times. I'm sure some of you will smoke the manual times on your first time out. I promise to get better.

I hope to get out again totally stock, except for my functional hood scoops should be in soon. Thats still a stock option.
For the Ram Hemi, Vararam promises .3 in the quarter. I don't know what their Challenger 5.7 Hemi will offer. Either way, my best reaction time (best being relative) of 1.0 would have given me a 13.4 on my first run. A point 5 reation time would have been, well, you can do the math. Does that sound possible?

[Steeler]

Reaction times has no bearing on E.Ts. Reaction time is the time it takes the driver to break the beam from when the light turned green. E.T is the time when the beam is broke to you trip the beam on the other side of the 1/4.

The time you really need to look at is the 60ft time. Obviously it's the time you break the beam to the 60ft marker. A bad 60ft time lets the driver know if he spun at the lights or bogged.

[TaylorSF]

Steeler,
Thanks, I did not realize that.
My 60ft run times were-
2.3
2.5
2.2
2.4

[mr.abuse]

Steeler.. is correct..did you drive around or thru the water box??

[SRT8U]

If you get those 60 foot times down you will be well into the 13's!

[SRT8U]

A few questions...
Did you do a burnout at all?
Autostick or Auto mode?
Traction control on or off?

All of these will have a bearing on your times.....
We have found Traction all the way off, no water box, burnout, and no auto stick will give you the best times. Obvioulsy other mods like a 180 tstat, fan mod tune etc etc will as well!

I think the auto Challys should be able to get under 14 seconds. The 5.7 Auto's have better gearing more hp and lighter weight than teh 5.7L Charger/300/Magnum and most of those cars could run 14-14.2 stock. So I think sub 14 is very possible!

[stan618]

thanks. good to know for a future R/T auto owner...
also did you brake torque at all?

stan

[TaylorSF]

Originally Posted by mr.abuse

Steeler.. is correct..did you drive around or thru the water box??

through it, you could not really get around it. I did not smoke them up either. Brake, two or three seconds of gas, then to the line. No power braking or revving up at the line. traction control on, half down till rolling then wot till the end.

[Steeler]

Originally Posted by TaylorSF

Steeler,
Thanks, I did not realize that.
My 60ft run times were-
2.3
2.5
2.2
2.4

I wouldn't be ashamed of your times at all. I bet there is plenty left in her too. Once the weather cools, and other little tricks you can do.

I can't tell whats a good 60 on this car. I used to pull 1.7's and 1.8s on a bolt on 5.0 liter Mustang. But that was a way lighter car. But look at the inconsisties from your best 60 to your worst. .3 tenths right the added to your runs. When you have a chance see what the difference in e.ts are from those runs.

Next time you go, don't worry about cutting a good light. That's only important when you care about winning the race. Practice your launch until you get it right. If your at a track where you get alot of runs, feel free to get off of it if you feel you didn't get off good. You'll know when you get a good launch. What you want is the car to leave as hard you can without any spin or bog. It will be cool if you know someone, you can borrow some stickies from. But running on a already sticky track with a set of sticky tires will run the risk of trying out your lifetime powertrain warrenty on your halfshafts. I'm not even sure I have the guts to try it, even though i always like a day at the track

[TaylorSF]

auto stick was off. It does not shift sharp and fast on autostick, and I can't really beat the full automatic that way.

I'm sticking with street tires. I'm not after the best possible times. I'm thrilled by having a stock, streetable, daily driver that can hit the 13s. That's pretty much all I hoped for. I'll give myself a few more shots to hit 13s stock.