Background:

• 500 miles on the odo (just got it last week)
• Car is totally stock (no mods whatsoever)
• Front tire pressure 25lbs.
• Jack/spare in the car
• 1/2 tank of fuel on board

Weather conditions were good:

• Clear
• Temp - 49°F
• Dew Point - 40°F
• Humidity - 68%
• Winds WNW - 4 mph

First runs were made directly into setting sun in this East to West track. Couldn't see my gauges the entire race. Ran mid-hi 15's.

Parked car until after sun set. Next run pretty good launch, but on the 1/2 shift (no power shifting) tires spun so bad I had to let up off of the accelerator. Another mid 15" run.

Last run of the night. Decent launch, tires barked on the 1/2 shift, and I could actually SEE the gauges the whole way down the 1/4 :


14.87 @ 95.6mph! Only my 4th time racing this car, the engine wasn't broken, and I'm 100% stock.

After I put a few thousand miles on the car, mid 14's stock shouldn't be a problem.

Later all ...

 

dam you didnt even wait for it to break in?

 

You go to amature night on Wednesday?

That's a pretty decent time for Lebanon considering the guys at the Northeast meet w/ Stage II or better couldn't even get in the 13's...

I think 14.2 with GMS2 was the best run of the day for those guys. Aparently traction is difficult at Lebanon. I've never run there...

 

Yea, I ran a 14.5 a few weeks ago. Most of my runs were 14.8ish Seems like a nice time to me. (I was stock btw) I still am having a gard time launching this bad girl

 

good run. 500 miles go back when you hit 4000 miles. I just recently got my 07 SS S/C and noticed it didnt pull as hard right away. Now its up to 4000 miles and i notice it pulling ALOT harder then it did when i first got it. Everything must have broken in.

 

once you get full boost (after a few K miles)
and learn to drive this nasty little FWD (took me almost a year to truely get good launches)
youll see some improvements

14.8 is nothing shabby at all for a stock new car and new driver.
good job.

 

Damn man, thats pretty good. I had to take it to the track 3 times before I broke into the 14/'s. Two thumbs up.

 

Thanks for all the props guys!

You're the best.

And what do you mean my car "wasn't broken in yet"?

LOL

I mean, after all ... I did have 500 miles on it!

And I'm pretty sure that I'm only getting around 11lbs. of boost right now. So the times/trap speeds should be getting better.

Thanks again peeps!

 

BTW. I forgot to mention that when I put on my helmet (I like to use my helmet at all times) my head no longer fit in my car!

I'm just 6ft. tall, but even with the seat all the way down the top of my helmet was hitting the roof of the car.

???

Anyone else have this problem?

 

lol when my hair is long and I spike it with gel it hits the roof too!

 

Its broken in from factory. Honestly I belive in running a car hard so everything gets lubed up good. Performance department told me its track ready from the showroom floor. Mine had had 0 problems and ran very good.

Anyways, congrats on the runs. Not bad at all for the first time. You know with some more practice your looking at 14.4s+ or maybe better. These cars are great and very capabale of running 14 flat low 14s stock. Check on the offical 1.4th mile list. Somebody ran a 14 flat on there. I was able to stay in the top 5 with a 14.2. Some stiff compt.

Now that is funny lol. I don't have this prob cuz I'm only like 125 pounds and 5 foot 5 inches.

 

Well, before I go to the track again I'm going to try and find a helmet that has a lower profile.

Mine's an old one, so maybe the newer one's aren't as bulky.

It just doesn't feel right making a lap down the 1/4 mile w/o a helmet ...

 

my 1st run ever was 14.90@98mph

factory stock

 

my first run was a 15.1. got it down to a 14.5. youll improve a lot, nice runs.

 

With how many miles on your car?

I have only 500 miles on the odo, and the car is only pulling 11lbs. of boost right now.

^^^I need the 12 1\2 lbs. of boost that Chevy promised me!

LOL

 

I do, even without a helmet. I'm pretty big though, 270lbs. and 6'2", and I have a sunroof so I think that doesn't help things either. I have really short hair but I can barely feel my hair touching the headliner when I sit up straight and every once in a while it gets to me. To fix it I just slouch a little bit or open the sunroof However, since I am most comfortable sitting straight up I have the seat back almost vertical as well.

Cliffs notes: 6'2"+ghetto booty+sunroof+vertical seatback setting = hair rubbing on headliner

 

Yeah 14.8 is not bad at all for only having 500mi and boosting 10psi (I saw you said 11, but I'm pretty sure its computer limited to 10). I remember back when my car was new, I raced my buddy's stock 06 RSX Type-S from a dig once. He beat me on the launch and stayed ahead. I pulled on him ever so slightly but never got closer than 1 car length. 1200mi later, my car is hitting full boost (12.5psi), I've learned how to drive it much better, and now I'm pretty sure I'd win by a landslide if we raced again.

To pull off a 14.8 with only 10psi and 500mi of driving experience with this car, I'd say you did damn good.

 

i ran it a the track for the first time not too long ago but i have stage 2 and a 2.79 inch pulley.

i ran 14.2 all day but my 60 ft were never below high 2.2's, 2.3's. it was 85 and humid all day too.

traction is a major issue. i spin hardcore. but i didnt have my tires as low as they should have been.

i was running around 27 lbs in each tire.

SS33 went lower around 24 lbs and ran his personal best 13.6 i believe.



All in all good runs!

keep it up and get the smaller pulley and larger injectors and keep racing that Cobalt!

 

Well. I won't be going back to the track until I'm making full boost. But before then, I'm going to have to come up with some kind of a solution. I hated racing w/o a helmet. Maybe the leather seats will have "settled" in a little by then, if not ... I wonder if I can lower them a bit?

Thanks Pyros, but I've been getting peaks of 11lbs. of boost almost since the day I picked up my car 10 days ago.

???

What gears are you spinning your tires in, first or second? I kept my starting line rpm's down to around 1500 and eased out the clutch some, so I didn't spin too bad there. And major spin on the 1/2 shift only occurred to me on the track's left lane.

Are you powershifting?

I'm figuring on not making any mods for right now, seeing as how I'm not even making full boost yet (what's the point, right?).

But in the Fall, I just might go directly with St.2 (gotta love the manufacturer's warranty if a dealer does the install!).

PEACE ALL

 

That is really strange. My car off the showroom floor was boosting at 12 pounds. I know boost can change with location and elevation but thats the only thing that should effect it. All Cobalt Ss/Sc should be boosting the same and not change inless you change the pulley size. ^ That was all off topic....

Keep practicing man and you will get lower 1/4th times.

 

Well, I've got 700 miles on my car now and I'm definitely boosting 11lbs.

There seems to be a consensus here on this forum that the SC will not pull full boost until it is fully broken. Is there a link to Chevy/GM where this can be verified once and for all?

And yes, with full boost and a couple of more laps down the 1/4 mile I should be able to get the car down to it's recognized best of 14.4/14.5. I see in your sig that you ran faster than that stock, but anyone who runs faster than a mid 14" box stock either has a factory freak, ot they are being loose with term "stock" (ahemm).

P.S. Regarding your sig: I see where you say that "My stock 1993 GMC Typhoon is faster then my stage II cobalt!" But I think you'll have to agree that the SS/SC is a whole lot better looking than a "truck". LOL

And I like your quote from Matthew as well. I'll be adding this quote to my own sig:
"Wrong is wrong, even if everyone else is doing it.
Right is right, even if no one else is doing it"
– St. Augustine

 

Wanted to comment on a few things with your above post.

1. There seems to be a consensus here on this forum that the SC will not pull full boost until it is fully broken. Is there a link to Chevy/GM where this can be verified once and for all?

There is no such site, reason why is because that is not true. The LSJ is already broken in from factory and ready to go. That is a fact. Not trying to discourge anyone but weather and elevation will change boost. Gauges can be a little off also.


2. I see in your sig that you ran faster than that stock, but anyone who runs faster than a mid 14" box stock either has a factory freak, ot they are being loose with term "stock" (ahemm).

I'm the first one to freak out about people saying there car is stock when they change tires and have a airbox mod or something to that effect. I have alot of experiance drag racing which may of helped me at the track. I also know tricks without changing parts to increase a tenth or two. Also the two tracks I go to are among the fastest tracks on the East Coast. With all of these factors added in it makes sense what some of us guys can run in a stock SS/SC. I'm the only one to date hitting 100mph in the 1/4th stock but others have beat my E.T. Just some more proof its not all about mph trap times.


3. P.S. Regarding your sig: I see where you say that "My stock 1993 GMC Typhoon is faster then my stage II cobalt!" But I think you'll have to agree that the SS/SC is a whole lot better looking than a "truck". LOL

I could not agree more, the Cobalt looks 100 times better but the Typhoon is way more rare. One of the reasons why I have one. It really is a garage queen atm.



4. And I like your quote from Matthew as well. I'll be adding this quote to my own sig:
[B]"Wrong is wrong, even if everyone else is doing it.
Right is right, even if no one else is doing it"

I love that quote because it reminds me very much of what I believe in. I'm honored that you would also want to put it in your sig but if anyone should get the honor and respect give it to God. Its his own very words.


Well anyway, where is my +rep for my bible quote!?!? lol


P.S. What did you think about my advice about tire pressure?

 

With 700 miles on my car now, I think I've hit 12 1/2 lbs. boost a couple of times already.

Agreed.

BINGO! And there's the answer.

While Lebanon Valley Dragway is not nearly a slippery as it once was (I've been racing there on/off for the past 20 years) it's a lot better than it used to be. Still, I only have 4 runs in with this car so far so I need some time to get familiar with it. Also, just about every engine ever made will make more hp once it's broken in and has loosened up a bit.

Yes, the Typhoon is a rare vehicle. But for me personally, I only have the time & energy to keep just one vehicle at a time. Enjoy your rides though!

Cool! But what I meant to say was that your quote inspired me to put up a different quote of my own (because some forums are "antagonistic" towards anything religious).

It is God who will give you props for your faith ... at the end of your earthly journey!

Well, with 25lbs. air in the fronts I spun badly on the 1/2 shift in the tracks L lane. But I barked the tires nicely on that same shift on the track's R lane.

For FWD cars, I think that the "going" pressure for the fronts is about 5-7lbs. less than what is called for normally.

Thanks for your comments!

 

how can you say its not true, when so many of us have seen our stock cars boost get higher as time went on?

we have no website proof that its true.
but theres no proof to the contrary either.

but there is LOTS of accounts of it being true....

 

I had it happen to me. I was hitting roughly 70kpa when I first bought my car. I got on it pretty hard about 5-7 times in the first 500km's then took it easy for the next 500km's. Then after hitting 1000km's I noticed I was hitting about 86kpa. So I don't know what to say.