20 Sec Quarter . .

So up here i’ve been running a measured 1/4. Well, problem is, at first i’ve been running 23 Seconds in the 1/4. Now i talked to a friend about this, and he said my launch was bad (Launched at 7K RPM). Told me to go at 2500. SO i took the opportunity, and did what he said to the word. That made me run the 1/4 in 20 seconds. Well, one thing i’ve found is its like i have no torque. I don’t get pushed into the back of the seats or anything. Also, i shift at just around 6500 - 6800 RPM. But like i said, no torque?

Also: I’m at 133,000K Miles.

You’re not going to get thrown into the back of the seat with a car that has 130hp/130ft lbs of torque.

tweakfreak on teamzx2 had some good info on this…

http://www.teamzx2.com/index.php?topic=21452.0

Your take off needs to be not spinning out… the quarter mile is aquired in good time by a SMOOTH launch, well timed shifting and good traction. If you drop the clutch at 7k you’re gonna spin out for sure and probably end up munching up your spider gears (which you’ll probably end up doing anyway racing a stock zx2 at some point).

Better tires will help you in launch if properly warmed up and shifting at better shift points.

The mileage on the engine may have something to do with it but i’d gather that if you are shifting at the right shift points your take off is crazy off or you have something not running like it should be as zx2’s supposably are capable of 16-17 second quarter miles.

I started launching at 2500K, and i get 20 Second Quarter miles. I shit very high, damn near rev limiter. So i should be atleast 17’s?

All depends on how well the car runs. We’re talking a stock, new, shiny zx2 runs 16s-17s i’d imagine if things run bad or “just not like they used to” as a car will do as it ages it may go up, hard to tell. Depends on how good it runs.

Theoretically, yes, 17s or 18s or something close to those with near perfect shifts.

I shift very high too. couldn’t stand shiftting low. :smiley:

**sorry Derek there was a typo with Shift… you left the F out.!!! **

COuld it be my clutch, i’m kinda thinking it is . .

It is entirely possible. I’m at 110,000 miles and mine chatters and feels weaker than it used to :frowning:
Does not slip, just chatters and feels weaker than it used to.

If you are totally worried about hook up on your clutch get a new one or get a better one and put that in there.

once that clutch starts to slip…at all…i would start worrying about getting a new clutch in there and not 1/4 times.

What is a slip? No one has explained?

A clutch slipping means that the clutch isn’t able to hold itself down.

For instance, from a stop when you put the car in 1st gear and slowly let out the clutch, the clutch is “slipping”.

When a clutch is finally let out and engaged it’s “holding on” and you’re in gear, right?

So when a clutch gets old, worn out and starts crapping out it will do things like chattering (where the clutch slips but instead of slipping like it should the clutch feels like it is skipping instead of smoothly slipping as you let it out) and sometimes will start to slip (the clutch no longer is able to fully engage and starts quite literally slipping, kind of like it’s letting go if you know what i mean).

Think of it like this…

Lets say you are a clutch, and you’re job is to hold onto something right? Lets say what you hold onto for some random example is a broomstick. Your friend hands you the broomstick and says “ok, hold on” and you have enough strength to hold onto that broomstick and not let go. Lets say your friend holding onto the broomstick is the engine… now if you make an engine super powerful and have a weak clutch the clutch will slip, or not be able to hold on. Lets say your friend has 300hp and you can only handle 150, he starts grabbing onto the broomstick, so do you and you can’t hold it, he’s stronger than you and you let go… Well… your clutch does the same thing if it can’t hold the power it’s given. Lets say over time you get weaker, and this zx2 only has 130hp and you can handle 180hp, you say “no problem”, you could hold on all day, no issues… but over time you get weaker and weaker, your clutch plate materials disintegrate and things just flat out wear out over time (its a fact that it happens with all clutches as parts do wear out) and one day you get to the point where you can’t hold on all the time…

When this starts happening it feels like you’re in gear but you can’t go, the rpms may raise and it’s in gear… sometimes it isn’t THAT bad but maybe it just doesn’t feel right or doesn’t feel like it’s doing as good and won’t engage.

Here’s a great example. Next time you go drive, put the car in 1st gear, and drive around at 20mph ok? Now, as you are driving, SLOWLY put your foot onto the clutch and SLOWLY push it in, at some point the clutch will start to “slip” and start to let go and you’ll stop going, THAT is slipping.

Shifting at 7,200 in first, 7,000 in second and riding out third to the end will probably help a bit. That is when the torque in the current gear will equal the torque in the next. Are you at altitude? That will have a large effect on times.

Unless your engine hasn’t been well taken care of, mileage shouldn’t matter that much. Do you have a good synthetic in there? Oil can change a lot of things.

If you haven’t changed the clutch at all or in a long time, you probably will want to change that out.

Observed at: Great Falls, Montana
Elevation: 3678 ft / 1121 m

My elevation, and today the humidity is at 79%. But i normally race on hot dry days.

That is going to take off a good chunk of time at that altitude… I’d be pretty surprised if you could get 16 out of it.

I’m gonna drive down, and see if i can hop on the dyno in the morning . . Then we shall see whats up. I’ll post the log if i can. .