While I am a HUGE fan of Jamie/Evan...I have never heard of eighter of them doing anything remarkable in a gen3..
Sure Jamie ran 11.7 at 121 in his gen2 ACR and 11.59 at 123 after removing his air intake on his gen2 ACR..As well as his 10.9 in his gen4
Evan has his documented 11.7 in a gen 2....
But Ive never herd/read/seen anything from them in the gen3...A gen3 is a totally differant drag raceing machine than a gen2..And I imagine a gen4 with it's variable cam is a totally differant driving car 1/4 mile wise as well...
While I have nonthing but respect for them both....Ill have to go with someone who has actually ran the times in a gen3...
Speed frek comes to mind....And heres what he had to say...Keep in mind he has ran a 11.5 at 121-123 mph in a stock gen3 ...Guys got skills...
here it is, cant say I agree with his light theory..but everything else is worth a try
A very exciting night at the track and several interesting discoveries about drag racing a viper. Weather conditions were practically perfect: temps in the 40's, high pressure and low humidity. We don't get many drag racing days like this in Florida and it really makes it something. The track condition was excellent and several pro stock cars doing testing on this new track set world record times (one I watched ran 6.51 @213) but they don't count as there was no event they were participating in.
My expectations were high and was hoping to set some smoking times and sort out the MPH mystery. Well I did figure out the MPH mystery and it was totally by accident. One other thing that goes on with Florida racing is they often run at night because of the heat. It so happens that the track opens at 4:00 but racing usually starts around 5:00 to 5:30. That is dusk this time of year so it is dark pretty fast. My first pass was an 11.98 @ 120.04 at about 5:45 p.m. when it was still daylight. The car felt incredibly strong and the power shift from 1-2 was unbelievable and so violent I nearly put the beauty in the wall. Fish tailed and wheel hopped violently and left a lot of time on the table in the process. I decided to forego the 1-2 powershift in favor of a speed shift to better control the car and traction thereafter. This made immediate improvement and I clocked an 11.89 and then an 11.86 @ 121.61. The outside temperature was dropping fast now and the car just kept getting stronger and stronger. Next pass saw a mediocre e.t. but a 122.6mph (wow). On the return from this pass it was nearly dark so I turned on my lights on the return lane back to the pits and to pick up my slip. Didn't think much of it. Grabbed the slip and went straight back to line up. I got right back on and laid down the killer pass: 11.80 @ 120.3 with a 1.84 short time. I was fired up, but thought what in the hell happened to the MPH? Well guess what gang - IT WAS THE LIGHTS BEING ON. Believe it or not the headlights will cost you 2.3 MPH (that is over 20 HP at the wheels) in the quarter mile. I would have never believed it but it is true. Apparently those lights **** a hell of alot of juice and that big alternator is kicking on at the top end of the track. On my previous trip I ran entirely in the dark and had the lights on the whole time!!!!! 115.5 plus 2.3 equals 117.8 mph!!! which is where it should have been. I figured it out when I sat in line a long time waiting and killed the engine. When I restarted it I only turned on the parking lights and behold the MPH came up 1.7 on the next two passes. Sooooooo
Lesson 1: Full headlights costs 2.3 MPH in quarter and parking lights cost about .5 MPH. In my last pass I ran 122.9 with no lights on at all. Makes reading the tach tough but necessary.
Lesson 2: I most assuredly would have turned an 11.7 pass on my 11.80 @ 120.3 if I had had the damn lights off. Really pissed me off after I figured it out. I got close with an 11.82 and 11.84 after that but just couldn't quite make it come together again. Both these passes were with the lights on. So the best pass was:
60' 1.841
330 5.072
1/8th 7.709
MPH 94.31
1000 9.943
1/4 11.807
MPH 120.29
Lesson 3 - The runflat likes very little time between runs. If you can come straight back and get back on the track quickly, its traction improves markedly. It builds heat on the run (from the high speed, etc.)and retains some of that for a while. Also, the pressue in the tire will keep creeping up when you do this so check it often. Best tractions seems about 24-25 psi. I had much better luck doing this than going for prolonged cool downs between runs as most people do for improved engine power. Obviously, the engine makes all the power you need. It is getting it to the ground that is the challenge.
Lesson 4 - Burn out strategy. In keeping with above, do a double burn out. Go around the water, then back up to just ahead of it. Do a hard burn out (2-3 seconds) and then hit the brakes, wait a few seconds. You should still have enough room to do one more short burn out before staging. On this second one you will notice the tires get alot stickier. With this strategy you can leave aggressively at about 3000 RPM with full traction on launch and consistent 1.8 short times.
By the time I figured out the light mystery I got in only 2 more passes. Bummer, as I am sure I could have broke 11.7 if I had stuck around. Last run was 11.86 @ 122.99 with 1.89 short time. Another 1.84 or better and 11.7 something would have happened for sure. As I am writing this the density altitude at the track now is -1430 feet!
By 7:30 it was getting very crowded and I had to head home. They were running until 11:00, oh well. This may be it for me in a stock viper as I am going to begin modding the car with a gear change, etc. I am really impressed with this powerplant though. By my calculations this thing was making 515HP at the wheels toward the end (122.9 mph and 3600lbs.) Incredible.
Last question: How much do PS2s help traction. I was giving up alot of time on the 1-2 shift. If the PS2 would allow a good 1-2power shift even an 11.6 might be in the making.