QuadCam
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- September 26, 2000
- Messages
- 171
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Miami, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1996 V8 AWD Limited
A couple of days ago, I decided I was gonna take my explorer to the track and see what it runs.
In my anxiousness to go to the track, I decided that if i'm gonna go to the track, I might as well make the trip worthwhile, so...........
I got an NOS Nitrous EFI dry kit put on my explorer. Since we didn't have alot of time to put the kit on, i didn't get the chance to put a pressure gauge on the bottle or a bottle heater. (more on that later)
Another decision that we made was to limit the nitrous injection to a 75 hp shot since we couldn't get an inline NOS fuel pump, and I also haven't put a shift kit in the tranny.
After the kit was installed, I got the bottle filled. Time to do a little testing
with only a 75 hp shot, my V8 AWD limited would jump like a frog off the line. I even got a tiny chirp from the tires. I did a few more 1st and 2nd gear nitrous passes on the street. It definately feels faster, but it still feels docile. I thought that when the nitrous would "hit", it would be violent. It is not that way at all. now, the explorer feels like it has the power that ford should have put in it in the first place.
So, I headed up to the track (90 miles each way.) When I finally got there, it was packed. Cars everywhere. Since I got to the track late, I was only able to make one run. When i finally pulled up to the staging area, I noticed that I was gonna race an LS1 Trans AM. I figured "Oh Well, He's gonna smoke me."
Being that I have AWD, I casually drove around the burn out box, armed the nitrous system, and slowly pulled up to the christmas tree. I looked over, and there is captain Chevy doing a Pro Stock style burn out. He finally staged, the lights came down, and I treed him by .251 seconds. The explorer felt pretty good off of the line. the front end seemed to rise way up at the launch, then it settled and the explorer started pulling. I looked over to see what our hero was doing. I was expecting him to be passing me at any moment. NOPE. he was to busy spinning his tires and fishtailing.
At the 60' timing lights, I already had a .587 second lead on the LS1. I still expected this guy to get his act together and start catching up to me. I know that these LS1s are capable of running low 13s at over 105 mph in stock form.
Now, I was paying attention to my own run. My explorer accelerated too quickly in 1st gear for the stock tranny to catch up (i need a shift kit!!!) BANG. the engine hit the rev limiter, fell on its face, then shifted into second. As I reach the half track (1/8 mile) timing lights, i looked over to the other lane expecting to see the LS1 catching up quickly. much to my surprise, he was about 15 car lengths behind me. I have no idea what the hell he must have been trying to do!!! I now had a 1.168 second lead!!!
from there until the end of the track, I knew that there was no way in hell that he was gonna catch up. I was feeling quite giddy at this point.
The explorer fianlly shifted into 3rd gear, and i cruised through the traps in 15.329 @ 88.18 mph.
The LS1 did end up making up some of the ground. He ended up running a 15.744 @ 97.08 mph. His time, combined with my .251 reaction time advantage, gave me an overal win of .666 seconds.
what a fun ride. I haven't had that much fun at the drag strip for a while.
getting back to the nitrous pressure mystery--- the mph seemed kinda low to me, and I thought I might have been able to break into the 14 second zone. That is why I am wondering if my nitrous bottle pressure was not at an optimnum level. Some guys say that you should try and keep the bottle pressure at 1100 psi. Since my bottle was only at about 75 degrees, I doubt that I could have had a bottle pressure any higher 900 psi. most guys use a bottle heater to get the very pressure up to 100 psi. that pressure difference is definatley worth some good HP.
The other factor was that I was screwing around on the street before getting to the track. I don't have any idea how many pounds of nitrous I wasted on the street.
Next time I get the chance to go to the track, I'll make sure that I have a nitrous pressure gauge and a bottle heater.
In conlcusion, I am very happy with the power infusion. For normal driving, i can turn it off. If i need harder acceleration, I'll just flip the switch. That's exactly what I did on the ride home from the track. A 2000 yellow Integra Type R pulled up next to me while we were going 60 mph. I flipped the switch, and we both gunned it. We were dead even up to 85 mph when he started to inch ahead of me. we both hit the brakes, and that was that.
Pretty cool night!!!
any other nitrous junkies out there??
Andrew
[Edited by QuadCam on 10-14-2000 at 08:51 AM]
In my anxiousness to go to the track, I decided that if i'm gonna go to the track, I might as well make the trip worthwhile, so...........
I got an NOS Nitrous EFI dry kit put on my explorer. Since we didn't have alot of time to put the kit on, i didn't get the chance to put a pressure gauge on the bottle or a bottle heater. (more on that later)
Another decision that we made was to limit the nitrous injection to a 75 hp shot since we couldn't get an inline NOS fuel pump, and I also haven't put a shift kit in the tranny.
After the kit was installed, I got the bottle filled. Time to do a little testing
with only a 75 hp shot, my V8 AWD limited would jump like a frog off the line. I even got a tiny chirp from the tires. I did a few more 1st and 2nd gear nitrous passes on the street. It definately feels faster, but it still feels docile. I thought that when the nitrous would "hit", it would be violent. It is not that way at all. now, the explorer feels like it has the power that ford should have put in it in the first place.
So, I headed up to the track (90 miles each way.) When I finally got there, it was packed. Cars everywhere. Since I got to the track late, I was only able to make one run. When i finally pulled up to the staging area, I noticed that I was gonna race an LS1 Trans AM. I figured "Oh Well, He's gonna smoke me."
Being that I have AWD, I casually drove around the burn out box, armed the nitrous system, and slowly pulled up to the christmas tree. I looked over, and there is captain Chevy doing a Pro Stock style burn out. He finally staged, the lights came down, and I treed him by .251 seconds. The explorer felt pretty good off of the line. the front end seemed to rise way up at the launch, then it settled and the explorer started pulling. I looked over to see what our hero was doing. I was expecting him to be passing me at any moment. NOPE. he was to busy spinning his tires and fishtailing.
At the 60' timing lights, I already had a .587 second lead on the LS1. I still expected this guy to get his act together and start catching up to me. I know that these LS1s are capable of running low 13s at over 105 mph in stock form.
Now, I was paying attention to my own run. My explorer accelerated too quickly in 1st gear for the stock tranny to catch up (i need a shift kit!!!) BANG. the engine hit the rev limiter, fell on its face, then shifted into second. As I reach the half track (1/8 mile) timing lights, i looked over to the other lane expecting to see the LS1 catching up quickly. much to my surprise, he was about 15 car lengths behind me. I have no idea what the hell he must have been trying to do!!! I now had a 1.168 second lead!!!
from there until the end of the track, I knew that there was no way in hell that he was gonna catch up. I was feeling quite giddy at this point.
The explorer fianlly shifted into 3rd gear, and i cruised through the traps in 15.329 @ 88.18 mph.
The LS1 did end up making up some of the ground. He ended up running a 15.744 @ 97.08 mph. His time, combined with my .251 reaction time advantage, gave me an overal win of .666 seconds.
what a fun ride. I haven't had that much fun at the drag strip for a while.
getting back to the nitrous pressure mystery--- the mph seemed kinda low to me, and I thought I might have been able to break into the 14 second zone. That is why I am wondering if my nitrous bottle pressure was not at an optimnum level. Some guys say that you should try and keep the bottle pressure at 1100 psi. Since my bottle was only at about 75 degrees, I doubt that I could have had a bottle pressure any higher 900 psi. most guys use a bottle heater to get the very pressure up to 100 psi. that pressure difference is definatley worth some good HP.
The other factor was that I was screwing around on the street before getting to the track. I don't have any idea how many pounds of nitrous I wasted on the street.
Next time I get the chance to go to the track, I'll make sure that I have a nitrous pressure gauge and a bottle heater.
In conlcusion, I am very happy with the power infusion. For normal driving, i can turn it off. If i need harder acceleration, I'll just flip the switch. That's exactly what I did on the ride home from the track. A 2000 yellow Integra Type R pulled up next to me while we were going 60 mph. I flipped the switch, and we both gunned it. We were dead even up to 85 mph when he started to inch ahead of me. we both hit the brakes, and that was that.
Pretty cool night!!!
any other nitrous junkies out there??
Andrew
[Edited by QuadCam on 10-14-2000 at 08:51 AM]
