Lexmex

That is good to know in case any of the other members want to try this All I remember is that it got in the way of the tube going up for some reason (seems strange now).

Looks like we will have similar weather compared to last night, though a low 48 means I should hit high 50s by track time. Saturdays get incredbily crowded at our track.

Lexmex

My times were sucky last night, too. 18.4s were the best.

Rather than getting ticked off about it, I tried to understand why. We again noticed my tire pressure ran 40 psi hot, so we lowered that. Still same times.

We tried removing the white PCV tube that goes inside my air filter (most of you know the picture I am talking about)...and without that piece I dropped to 18.9, so that is one vital piece.

A couple of other SUVs and trucks showed up. I raced a Chevy 2500 pickup (that should easily beat me with that power and hit mid 17 to high 17s. 18.0 was the best he could, and it was a much closer race due to my reaction.

The one girl I taught how to drag race her Liberty (and she weighs 100 lbs. less than me) was only getting 18.1s to 18.3s, and she had once gotten under 18 two weeks ago. I also helped a guy with brand new Honda Pilot clock 18.3, but he could not do any better the rest of the night. My other student with a Ford EcoSport (think of slightly smaller Ford Escape) only got 18.6 or so and one night he got an 18.0, but even with crowded track traffic none of these times made sense and some the better drivers also knew something was funny.

Now, I checked the air pressure, humidity and temps before I left, basically about 30.0 on the air pressure, humidity was in the teens and temps in the 60s. The 30.0 always struck me as odd. We managed to get a hold of a barometer and checked the racetrack at Tlalnepantla (though closed) earlier tonight and you guessed it, the air pressure was under 30.

So now, I need to get my track one of those Radio Shack devices to measure other weather categories so we all know the true story. Many of the tracks in the U.S. will even tell you at the track.

Lexmex

I was not done modding today. Earlier today, I decide to redo a piece on the original design of my bullhorn/air scoop. The piece you see here was one that TunedRX300 and I discussed at one time. Basically, the air coming up from the bottom gets forced toward the engine rather than partially going out to the top right where the OEM air design takes in its air from behind the headlight.

I cut off the bottom of the black piece and widened it out, and then used a 3 inch diameter l-joint that I cut up to fit inside the new piece.

Lexmex

This was the finished piece and it results in more air flow. The only way I can describe the feeling is that the last modification I had without this piece felt like pushing on an overstuffed pillow (though it still felt really good), but this one feels like pushing on a highly wound up spring. The torque is immediate and I only felt a pinch of lag.

If you want to see the rest of the pictures and descriptions related to this piece, go to the bottom of this page, http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2215309/6

Lexmex

Ran again Friday night and managed 18.250. This was not bad considering it was warmer than last week 68 F

A track friend that has a white VW Pointer with no hood and a ram air intake on top similar to mine has run 17.7 as his best time. Tonight, he could only manage 18.0 and that was with modification since his 17.7 run last year, so the air is definitely pulling down the times. The humidity was 55% with pressure 30.30% though at the track it felt less.

Later this morning, I am going to modify the white piece above tomorrow to make it look more like this piece (though much larger on the new version) below to ram the air in even better. The advantage of the piece in my previous post was wide volume of air, but not as well redirected.

Remember that air tube that has an entrance above the radiator...I scrapped it. During winter, it works well (I tried it with and without and it was always better with it on), but the warm weather seems to be screwing things up and after a couple of runs at the track, it turns out it was better with it off.

Lexmex

No record and I did a new modification earlier today. Temps were 66F and later changed to 68F while racing with 51% humdity with 30.24 air pressure. Fastest time was 18.261. The only other thing I should mention is my fuel was 1/4 tank, not 1/8.

While I did not get a record, I was very satisfied with the 60 foot times. In competition, they were all under 2.750, which is very impressive given that I rarely get under 2.750 that consistently and especially given this weather (I had a 2.711 the night I got 17.931). A few regulars in the crowd could tell the RX was running a little differently off the light from the previous night. It was the most impressive display of torque I have ever seen out of the RX! My record in 60 foot is a 2.694. Those turbocharged VW Beetles I talk about at my track do 1.5 to 1.9 in the 60 foot by comparison, so you can see that the difference I am talking about is significant.

What I did earlier Saturday was exactly what I talked about in the last post. I made a larger piece of the PVC piece that I displayed in the above post, so it can force in the air better.

I added the other photos at the bottom of page 6 in my car domain page, reachable at http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2215309/6

My cousins had already covered up the piece with tape and sealant while I went out to the store, so I could not show the individual pieces that went in separate, but you can see how it arches in more.

Lexmex

I don't plan to do any more air mods for now, though I had a plan to replace that black piece in the last pictures with 3 inch PVC pipe to lead into my air filter (the black piece is still too narrow in width). I still want to run my current mods another week and I have bracket racing on Sunday, so I want to maintain consistency over the weekend down to the tenth of a second (I clocked 18.604s (RX was super hot) back to back last weekend).

Is the turbo coming? Hopefully in about 30 days, I will know if I get started at that point, but I saw these nice examples from a Camry and a Solara, both V6s, though my turbo won't be going in the engine bay as I have mentioned earlier.

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1560056

http://www.solaraguy.org/viewtopic.php?t=19057

Lexmex

One of things I wanted to talk about is specifically why the RX will sometimes be slower on one night. One thing is for sure, living at my high altitude, there is 23% less oxygen according to a friend who teaches at the university in my neighborhood. The air pollution is also a killer. Of course, that is what the RX really wants, not necessarily the rest of the air getting rammed in there.

However, there are some other important factors:

First,

If the air pressure goes down .01in., time also goes down .01 (e.g. if I get 18.000 on one run and the air pressure goes down .01 with everything else being equal, on the next run I would then run 18.010)
If the humidity goes up 5%, times go down .01
Finally, if the temperature in F goes up 3 degrees, times go down .01

If you add up enough changes, you see how you can get to at least .1 and even .2 seconds in the 1/4 mile. The usual factor is that the more cars and people who show up at the the track over the course of the night, that can affect the 'local climate' that your RX must deal with. Thus, there is that narrow window when the track opens that I usually run my RX at.

Lexmex

I did this mod this afternoon. I mentioned I might do this earlier. I really can't tell much of a difference when I floor it, except that it is much smoother in gear changes than with the black piece. This mod is supposed to give a little bit more air. Take a look at the next picutre.

Lexmex

One of the issues with this piece is that it no longer takes air from behind the headlight like the piece on the left. As I mentioned before, this could choke the engine on startup, but apparently nothing. Think of the new piece as a slightly wider pair of lungs.

Lexmex

This before final installation (I will post the rest of the pictures tonight if it works out okay at the track...as I am worried a little on low-end torque with this piece), and we painted it black.

Notice the end white piece (actually slightly yellow) without the attachment on the first picture in this group (as that piece fits inside the air filter).

Lexmex

We got rained out after about an hour and 45 minutes, but enough for me to get some runs in to figure out how the piece works.

First, no record.

Second, if the last piece (the OEM black piece I adapted) meant the best string of low end power runs I have seen, this new mod I did on Friday was the best high end power mod I have done. It runs extremely smooth in shifts.

Third, the drawback of this piece is the low end power, where my 60 foot times were off .1 and I could notice there was very slight gap or delay off the light. With two exceptions on solo runs, I saw that .1 difference.

However, what was very, very noticeable was on the high end, especially on the highway coming back (it wan't raining about 10 blocks toward the highway though right now we have hail in where I live) and the RX just hauls big time. The key is obviously having the u turn with the white piece in the picture above, but by doing that I lose in the low-end since it can't take the extra air from behind the headlight.

On the track, this translated into 122 km/h even on solo runs, which is unheard of in this weather nor had the times I was running at (my fastest time tonight was 18.309). On my two competition runs, I came extremely close to hitting 123 km/h (my record is 123.69 km/h). The RX just roared across the finish line. Normally, I should be hitting 120 to 121 km/h on those times.

Thus, I have to figure a way to balance both the low end and the high end power. I have an idea as I have seen a piece at Home Depot in the PVC department, but I am not sure if they make one for as small a piece as I am using.

The pictures are all uploaded to http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2215309/6

Lexmex

Last night we had about 57 F, 55% humidity and 30.39 air pressure. Tonight, we had 52 F, 82% humidity (high humidity is bad as I mentioned earlier) and 30.36 air pressure. Last night the rain came and shut the track, whereas tonight it came a little earlier than the track opening, but left a lot of humidity.

No record in the 1/4 mile, but it came so ever close.

It started out on a solo run doing 18.6, then 18.4 and another a 18.4. I knew it was doing well as the 60 foot times were 3.0s on the solos and it was hitting 122 km/h. I could not feel the shifts at all though I could hear them, it was just that smooth. Then, it happened, I ran another solo run and the RX clocked a really sick 18.144, 123.17 km/h with just a 3.022 60 foot run. Do the math and you can see that if this had been against another car, and that 60 foot run had been anything close to the 2.711 I ran on that 17.931 record, this may well have been a 17.8

The fastest solo run came on the same night as my 17.931 (an 18.120 with 123.15 km/h and a 2.952 60 foot, thus I had .002 faster tonight in the vehicle speed, a record for a solo run).

The RX wasn't done. I ran against a Neon (the one that is the most powerful Neon that is not the SRT-4) and did an 18.094 with 123.55 km/h vehicle speed and a 2.774 60 foot. The record km/h is 123.69. In fact with just one exception on the 18.6 opening run, the RX ran 122+ km/h.

Except for one exception, an 18.5 after sitting in traffic and those mentioned above, the RX clocked 18.3s on solo runs. Very impressive.

I let the RX sit until midnight and then I took it back out. Meanwhile, the crowd had gathered and more cars came. It pulled in 18.2s in competition after that and obliterated two modified VWs, who I am sure the crowd had their money on.

Granted, the air temp was lower, but the humidity was way higher (I could smell it, too), so what magic did I do in the last 24 hours:

1. Alignment
2. I added a little more oil to where it was just above the dot that delineates full
3. Increased tire pressure to 39 Front and 38 Rear, Cold, It was about 1 psi lower on each tire
4. Remember that problem with not enough low end torque? I pushed the white piece in the picture below back into the air filter a little more so that it is less than 1 inch from the point where the black rubber piece you see starts inside the filter.

Thus, when I launch at the light, the RX pulls in the air from engine bay, blocking the heat that it can with the metal heat shield, air goes through the filter and into the engine (the short ram...think of a twin turbo...well this is the turbo that fires first). Then, the othe air from my bullhorn mod comes in just a little later and goes through the white pipe...the high end turbo example) and pulls that RX down the track. When the RX goes from 2nd to 3rd, there is NO HESITATION, all you hear is the sound of the gear change, but is nearly impossible to feel anything. Extremely smooth gear shifts.

With last night, the white piece was in the position you see in the picture below and was blocking a lot of air from the air filter area from entering.

The white piece no longer has the duct tape on it. It can easily be slided up and down.

Problem solved and this RX just hauls big time.

Lexmex

One thing I have been trying to answer to give you a better sense of the times, is what does it mean when you run 17.931 versus say an 18.931, basically what is the difference in car lengths?

This is matter of some contention.

First, even though one car may get a 17.931 and the other gets 18.931, it is possible that the 18.931 can beat the 17.931 car. First, 17.931 redlights. Second, 18.931 takes off more than 1 second faster on their reaction time than 17.931. Let's say a perfect .500 on the sportsman tree (thank god we are not doing pro trees anymore) for 18.931 and a 1.501 for 17.931, 18.931 will win at the line by .001.

However, and this the main question. Let us supposed that both vehicles leave at precisely .500, perfect launches (the green and red lights both light up on the christmas tree lighting system to indicate this) and one of course reaches at 17.931 and the other 18.931, how many car lengths ahead is 17.931 when it wins.

10 car lengths.

The most common answer is that for every .1 second in victory, this translates into one car length. Sometimes (when I lose) I try to judge this and I think in some cases this is true (when I race against one of the 5 or so racers (or someone plain lucky) who have very close reaction times to my .500s to .600s).

However, I have been very close in reaction time with some vehicles, where I could swear the difference in the ETs was .1 and the nose of my RX is right at the middle of the winning car.

Thus the difference could be .05 to .1 equating one car length.

Thus, my 18.094 versus my 17.931 would have me theoretically looking at my own RX, with an equal reaction time, a conservative estimate of 1.5 car length difference from the front of one RX to the front of the other.

Lexmex

This is another sound of my exhaust taken with the window open and driving on one of the streets near my home. I tried taking one at idle or at normal driving, but could pick up nothing on the sound. This one, you can definitely hear it.

http://www.flurl.com/item/Street_dri...aust_u_105025/