Disappointing time. It will improve.

njhustler

Well-Known Member
385
165
New Jersey
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
Ok so a couple of weeks back , I finally got to run my SI down the quarter mile. I was excited and figured I would run a 14.9-15.1. Unfortunately I was wrong and ran a 15.8 and a 15.7. It really bothered me to run such a bad time , but I got over it figuring it was my first time at the drags with the car. I went again tonite and got in 2 runs. 1st run was a 15.3 @ 89.97 and my second run was a 15.8 @87.80 mph. The second run it felt like the car was struggling. I guess I will keep going and improve my time , whether it be by driving it better or buying upgrades. Only mod is K&N intake. Seems like its kinda hard being consistent in this car. Please analyze the slips and feel free to give advice on how I can improve. Im 817 and 8110.
 

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Did you do anything with your tire pressure, or weight reduction? Full spare in the trunk, jack, full tank of gas etc? Temp/humidity at the track? Elevation of the track can also play a big part. Did you have the rpm's at a certain level and dump the clutch?
 
What I see most of the time is people launching the car at too high of an RPM, you only need about 2000 - 2500RPM at launch, much more and you will kill your time with excessive wheel spin. Also I have noticed these cars do not like the heat, I have seen a difference in performance depending on temp and humidity.
 
Did you do anything with your tire pressure, or weight reduction? Full spare in the trunk, jack, full tank of gas etc? Temp/humidity at the track? Elevation of the track can also play a big part. Did you have the rpm's at a certain level and dump the clutch?

This time around I had a full tank of gas , speaker box and amp in the trunk. I did however drop my front tire pressure about 5 psi , but the tpms went off and I put it back to norm. First run yes , second run no. It was about 70 deg last nite with little humidity. Not sure of the elevation but it cant be high enough to effect my times.
 
What I see most of the time is people launching the car at too high of an RPM, you only need about 2000 - 2500RPM at launch, much more and you will kill your time with excessive wheel spin. Also I have noticed these cars do not like the heat, I have seen a difference in performance depending on temp and humidity.

I tried the 2000-2500 rpm lauch the first time at the track , I saw some guy on autoweek or motorweek say he had gotten his best time launching at 2200 rpms. I plan on going back next wednesday , hopefully I can do better or at least stay consistent so I can bracket race.
 
A full tank of gas will run like 80lbs of weight. Every hundred lbs usually equates to a tenth in the quarter. Sub/amp could add a lot of weight depending on your box.
 
It definitely could've been the weight added and the full tank of gas.

1 gallon of gasoline = ~6lbs.

If the gas tank was 50%, the car would have been around ~40lbs lighter. Or ~60lbs at 25%.
 
I will try to get under 3100 pounds for my next time at the track. I'm going to remove the box , amp and spare tire. That plus maybe a half - quarter tank of gas should do it. I would love to get 14.9 with just the intake , but honestly I dont think she can do it without more mods. I know some people have run that stock , chime in and let me know how you did it.
 
I will try to get under 3100 pounds for my next time at the track. I'm going to remove the box , amp and spare tire. That plus maybe a half - quarter tank of gas should do it. I would love to get 14.9 with just the intake , but honestly I dont think she can do it without more mods. I know some people have run that stock , chime in and let me know how you did it.
I know from experience that a box and subs will slow you down tremendously
 
I would agree. The box is about 40-50 pounds. I will
make sure to remove it when i go again on Wednesday.
 
Some people achieve quicker times by power shifting. (Keeping the gas floored even while depressing the clutch/ shifting). You'll improve times, but I wouldn't advise it
 
My friend told me the same thing. I'm a little iffy about doing it though. I think I did a little on my 15.3 run. I videoed my runs with my iphone. Lol I stuffed it in my gps holder and filmed it from there. I will upload soon.
 
Thanks , I kinda expected a little more out of the car. Seems like too much mid-range torque and not enough top end.
 
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Honestly, compared to my own Si, yours doesn't seem to pull as well up top. I have kept my intake system stock, just use a K&N drop in filter. When I lay into the gas, it pulls best above 5000RPM and keeps gaining power up to 6800 - 7000RPM. Could you be getting heat soak from the intake?
 
Honestly, compared to my own Si, yours doesn't seem to pull as well up top. I have kept my intake system stock, just use a K&N drop in filter. When I lay into the gas, it pulls best above 5000RPM and keeps gaining power up to 6800 - 7000RPM. Could you be getting heat soak from the intake?


No heat soak can really happen with the stock intakes. You can try to do the resonator delete though to get rid of the wanted restriction so you can get a better mid range to peak hp.
 
No heat soak can really happen with the stock intakes. You can try to do the resonator delete though to get rid of the wanted restriction so you can get a better mid range to peak hp.

This is what I am saying, my car seems to pull better up top than njhustler, I am running stock intake with an K&N drop in, hence no heat soak, wondering if his K&N intake may be causing some heat soak issues. I have noticed that this engine doesn't pull as well when it is really hot out.
 
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