The Guys Take Daytonastein back to the
Track
May 17, 2006
The Event:
It was a cool and foggy Wednesday morning but by 9am the fog had
faded away, the sun had come out, and it was time for a little fun with
Stein. Since the last trip to the track, the car had been
aligned, a rising rate fuel pressure regulator had been added in
addition to a second cold start injector. The exhaust had been
opened up, muffler removed. The tiny 0.48 A/R turbine housing was
replaced with a 0.63. The coolant hoses to the turbo were
replaced with lines that wouldn't melt. A ported 52mm had been
added. The cam with the sheared alignment pin was replaced
...and there were probably a few other differences too, but none come
to mind right now.
As with last trip to the track, the location was Muncie Dragway. One of
Mike's long time
buddies and his coworkers from GE in Ft. Wayne had rent the track
from 10 - 3 on a Wednesday about every 6 months or so. On this
particular day, only about 22 people showed up so you could literally
take as many passes down the strip as you wanted with no delay.
Half of the time, only one lane was even in use.
The cars at the event ranged widly. There were 2 motorcycles, a
Ford Lightening, a few Mustangs, some Corvettes, a Camaro, and a well
modded 4 door Grand Prix among other cars. ...oh yeah... and
Daytonastein.
The Car:
Daytonastein to date still doesn't really have that
many miles on it. Since its creation, it has had a number of
minor mishaps and due to time, many of those have left it sitting for
extended periods. And as with every other trip to a car related
event, list minute modifications were being made the day before.
....actually some wiring was done at the track. So just like the
last time at the track, the guys didn't really know what to
expect. Would the car shoot down the track making 3.0
hisotry? Would it burst into a ball of flames at the 1/8 mile
mark? Would the car start?
Again, Ed and Mike stood out as "mad scientists" at the track.
....and seemed to be the only ones who forgot to bring a car with
clearcoat. But after a quick check of the rules, clearcoat wasn't
a requirement and they got in anyway. Actually a number of people
were intersted in the bizarre array of wires and hoses under Stein's
hood.
At track time, the configuration was:
Body: '89
Daytona
Engine: 3.0V6 with a
ported 52mm TB.
Custom rear turbo exhaust
manifold.
Lower intake has the divits
filled.
Fuel:
26# Ford Injectors
2 Cold Start Injectors on pressure
switches
Rising rate fuel pressure
regulator
Turbo: Stock turbo
from an '87 2.2T1 car w/a .63 A/R housing stage 1
Intercooler: Stock Toyota MR2
Transmission: A543 3.5FD Ratio.
Exhaust: 2.5" all the way
back to the bumper. No muffler.
Interior: All there.
Tires:
205 60 R15 ...with less than stellar tread
All else is stock (other than a bunch of guages...)
The Runs:
Ed and Mike got in 16 runs with
Daytonastein. Ed did the driving. Mike
monitored the A/F ratio, cold start activation lights, fuel pressure,
and the boost while Ed tried to find traction going down the
strip. For the curious, below is the "command center" if you
will. The blue light at the left indicates that cold start #1 is
firing. The green light on the side of the multi-meter is the
hastily wired cold start #2. The gauge with the glare is fuel
pressure. The multimeter is the A/F.
The day started out at ~53F and slowly warmed up to ~70F.
Traction was an issue for just about everybody. To launch Ed had
limit the throttle or he would end up spinning the tires or worse wheel
hopping. So the 60' times were not what he wanted.
The guys spent the first several runs dialing the car in. Turning
up the boost and adjusting the on point for the coldstart
injectors. They started at 5psi. Boost came up VERY
quickly... (part of the traction issues...) Over time, they
turned it up till we were running about 7psi in 1st through 3rd gears.
8-10psi in 4th.
All runs were made with two people in the car. (how else are you going
to drive, watch the tach, O2, Boost, cold start indicator
lights??) We were tunning the car to run with the O2 sensor in
the 0.96+v range.
The best run of the day
60' 2.512
1/4 14.961 @98.24 MPH
There was a run that would have been better had it not been for a
missed the 3-4 shift...
Final Thoughts:
-Turbo is too small. The .63 A/R housing helps, but Stein needs at
least a stage 2 or 3 exhaust wheel... The quick spool is nice on the
street, but some lag would help the launches at the track.
-Stickier tires and maybe some suspension mods. A 2.2 60' would the ET
down to ~14.3 sec... There were Mustangs running 14.2@99MPH...
-Maybe a bigger intercooler. Some thermocouples will be added to
the setup for heat monitoring to see how the existing one is doing.
All-in-all it was a good day. We got 16 runs in and didn't break
anything!
Hopefully I will have time to get dyne numbers soon...
Random
Picutres:
Mike snapped some quick pictures of some of the other cars between runs.
