Incredibly useful technical site, advice on buying parts

[Tooky]

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/marc-tuninginfo.htm it's the story of a guy getting his Eclipse into the 11s for cheap. If you don't have time to visit the site I will quote my favorite sections here:

Look, if you are gonna buy something sooner or later, buy it sooner! Then
you get all the extra enjoyment of having that item for a longer period of
time. You're just gonna buy it eventually anyways. Within reason, of
course.. If it's so expensive that you can't pay it off in 6+ months then I
guess interest would become an issue.

Regarding the talk about spending all the money & not going
much faster.. You guys are close to having a great combo.. You're at the
brink but you're going to need to go a little further to really reap the
rewards. Don't stop right as you've spent 90% of the money you need to
spend to get there..

If you've bought a lot of parts, the things I just mentioned are very
important. Taking the time to go through your combo and purge yourself of
weak links is the difference between the 14 second cars and the mid 13 and
faster crowd. I'm trying not to sound like I'm harping, but I probably
invested the same or less than many of you, but by going slow and making
sure I had the right combo I reaped a lot of rewards.

Actually the real impact is sidewall flex. When you see Top Fuel
dragsters, what do you notice about the tires? Huge sidewalls that flex
a whole lot. Big impact on traction. 16" combo's have far more sidewall
than 17's. When I needed to replace my rims/tires (back when I was
actively racing), as much as I wanted 17's for looks & handling in turns,
I limited myself to 16's for traction.

You could opt to get whatever you like most for looks, and then have a
cheap second set of 16's w/ drag tires.. Me, I just like to drive to the
track, race, and drive off, I don't want to store 4 wheel's and swap all
4 of them twice each time I race..

I ran 11's with a few key things:

1) I worked with Mike & RRE throughout, and I paid attention to what I
was being told and did not then go off and do something different just to
be different or because my buddy had some other part available for cheap.

2) I added parts one or two at a time, and made sure that each new part
was a step forward and not a step backwards before adding the next part.

(I don't mean to quote this verbatim but this section is like gospel to me!! I spent 3 years on the OEM stuff and I'm only nearing the end now!

3) I took the time to tune each new addition before moving to the next
part. If my car wasn't running better from a new part and/or had
performance issues, then I waited until it was corrected before adding a
new part. Adding a new part when you aren't running as you should will
only confuse things further since it's a new variable. I never cease to
be amazed at how many people are running way slower than they should be
given the parts they have on their car, but instead of trying to figure
out what's wrong or take the time to tune their car better, they just
keep adding more parts.

The MSD DIS/2 is likely a good idea. The extra spark is a nice safety
measure and I would have liked to see if using the MSD as a driving aid
(rev limiter functions) would have helped my runs further. Just be sure
to look at the opportunity cost - is there a part that might do more for
you if you used the money for that part instead of the MSD?

NOTE: If you read this all in one shot it almost sounds contradictory (first he says to buy parts now and then he says just use what you've got first, right?). But if you read each section by itself, what he's saying really makes a lot of sense and they don't contradict if you understand what exactly he is referring to.

 

[Mike from Jersey]

Thanks for posting this as it is sound advice for all us modders. I'm sure it comes from someone who learned by his mistakes, like a lot of us have, myself included. I actually used this type of approach with my Vette. As you can see by the sig it works. I chose to do ONE mod at a time , think it out, and tune for it's full potential. Most other C5 guys think that the car has aftermarket H/C or spray, because it runs better than their heavily modded ones. ( some of them have a bigger wallet than their brain )

Believe me, On previous cars I have gone the "every mod that comes along, install it route" and have gone slower, and all I wound up with is a complicated jig saw puzzle and frustration.

Again Great advice and thanks for posting it.

Mike 8) [/b]

 

[Tooky]

No problem, glad to hear it!! Both your Corvette and your Sy are posting extremely respectable times. How do you get the Vette to hook up so well with the IRS and Radials? Or is that just the nature of the LS1 with a torque converter? As for your Sy, I have been looking up to you (and everyone else in the 11s on stock motor with a turbo & converter, I think there are 5 total) for a while and hope to join your ranks in the next 6 months!

 

[Tooky]

Re: Incredibly useful technical site, advice on buying parts

I liked this post so much I want to bring it back up. I hope anyone who has a combo which they feel is not performing like it should, will take this post to heart. What this guy at RRE says is like Gospel to me.

EDIT: I realized I just used the same cliche as I did 3 years ago "like gospel to me". I guess some things never change.