I took my 09 Cobalt to it's first Test & Tune on 7/20/2014 at MasonDixon Dragway in Boonsboro, MD. The balt is stock except for a K&N air filter and the balt has 29K on it. This the fourth vehicle that I've owned that is a manual. This was my first time at a test & tune with the Cobalt & fwd. I have only participated in two other test & tunes over the years.

The temps were in the upper 80's most of the day. I made six runs that day, 3 in each lane. My best time was run #2 at 14.975 @ 98.38, so I have a ways to go. I did not use nls, I wanted to see what the car can do without it. I need to work on my launch & 60 ft times. I had lots of wheel hop on launch and tried to shift just above redline. I know that I'm most likely launching the car to hard - I tried to lower the RPM's on launch, but probably not enough with the adrenaline flowing and first time back at the track in years.

The night before, I set my front air to 30 lbs and left the rear tires at factory spec air. I have read several threads listing the front air pressure set to anywhere from 28 - 22 lbs, are you setting this at the track or night before and driving to track at those pressures?

Finally as a side note, I took my 10yr daughter and it was very cool seeing her giving me the thumbs up when I was staging the car. We had a good time that day.

Here are my times, any suggestions / pointers would be appreciated:

I only used Launch Control on the first one:
#1 (Left lane) - Launch Control
.717 Reaction
2.473 60ft
10.110 1/8th ET
89.48 MPH <<<<<< this seems off to me
15.259 1/4 ET
97.50 MPH

#2 (Right lane) - best ET that day
.388 Reaction
2.392 60ft
9.874 1/8th ET
74.11 MPH
14.975 1/4 ET <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
98.38 MPH

#3 (Left lane) - best MPH that day
.453 Reaction
2.589 60ft
10.234 1/8th ET
73.48 MPH
15.360 1/4 ET
100.14 MPH <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

#4 (Left lane)
.545 Reaction
2.473 60ft
10.204 1/8th ET
73.88 MPH
15.310 1/4 ET
98.43 MPH

#5 (Right lane)
.660 Reaction
2.453 60ft
10.095 1/8th ET
72.20 MPH
15.279 1/4 ET
98.26 MPH

#6 (Right lane) - last run and only other under 15 sec, cloud cover
.693 Reaction
2.447 60ft
9.890 1/8th ET
73.86 MPH
14.999 1/4 ET
98.48 MPH

Thanks,
VA2009SedanSS

 

Get an air compressor lower pressure at track 20-24 on street tires air them up when your done. 30 psi is prolly why your seeing wheel hop, the only time ive had it happen was at the strip using launch control with 30+ lbs in the tires

Did you have a passenger?
Those times seem alittle low I have a bone stock tc and my last trip did a best of 9.40@78 in the 8th with a 2.2x 60ft. Im not a great driver or anything close the car is capable of much better than I can do. Im not saying you suck at driving or life I might just look into maintenance type stuff like plugs boost leak check valve gunk etc.

 

I haven't been to that track in years. Ah memories...

 

Nice

 

Thanks for the air pressure suggestion, that's something to look into. No, I didn't have a passenger while making any of my runs. I cleaned out the trunk too. My 60ft times need some work.

Can I ask at what rpm are you launching your TC balt at and what rpm's are you shifting at? Any other suggestions?

With the wheel hop I was having, I also hit up against the rev limiter once or twice which slowed me down. I want to go back in the fall when things are a little cooler and see if I can improve my times.

Thanks

 

im no pro, and i never took mine to the track till after it was tuned, and had boltons. One thing i will advise you against is wheel hop. What ever you have to do, don't get into it, cause it will kill your trans and control arms mounts.
If you are stock, shift earlier, as your turbo probably runs out of steam past about 6,000. Use the torque more to get down the track, and stay in the efficiency of the motor ( below 6,200).
You actually have a better chance at traction than if you crank the boost up, which adds tons of low end torque. Air the rears to 38-40 lbs ( assuming your tires are rated for that) and fronts down around 25-28. Slip clutch out of the hole at about 2,200, and trust me it takes practice. You may go higher ( i cant remember back before at least gms1) but don't shock the trans too much or you will get into wheel hop. Lastly, dont worry about reaction time at all, just try and get the car down the track. I always let the other guy go ( especially if i think i can run him down) so i can concentrate on getting down track. FWD sucks compared to rwd at the track, but is great in winter. If you get tuned and bolted, it gets harder, trust me, the chances for wheel hop go way up, but 3rd gear is awesome.

 

I might go a little higher than 2200 stock maybe 2500-2700 depending on conditions
Also dont forget to turn traction control off a LITTLE wheel spin seems to help my 60ft on skreet tires. As far as shifting run that bish to redline 1-2-3 and short shift 4 @about 6 maybe. Other suggestions would be to avoid water box if possible but def do a burnout most street tires will not benefit from being "heated up" just get the debris off

 

Thanks for the tips. This was only my third time at a Test & Tune and first time with the Cobalt / fwd, so it's a learning curve getting the balt to launch without wheel hop and finding the right shift points. I'll try out some of these tips the next time I take the balt to the dragstrip.

Thanks,
VA2009SedanSS

 

Thanks for the tips. I was launching way higher than 2500 - 2700, so that is something to work on.

I did turn traction control off and only did one run with launch control, and that didn't go too well. I'll try your suggestions about the water box, I did go into the water box each run.

Thanks,
VA2009SedanSS

 

First off your gonna want to turn ESC off just hold down the traction button and itll say esc off. My buddy ran his car at the track with launch control and everytime you launch it itll say traction active on the monitor if you turn esc off youll be able to get a better launch. And like said before go around the water box and just do a quick 2-3 second burnout if you call it that to get the dirt and rocks off your tires. And then it just takes slipping the clutch practice to get a good launch down and some good tires for a good 60ft

 

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The time on left is 100% stock..slipped clutch at 3k launch, nls every gear, stayed in 3rd thru the quartermile.
time on right, a few lil mods 28psi up front 45psi in back. 3k launch shifted normal to 6k in every gear.

 

Thanks for the reply. I only used launch control on the first run, the other five I turned traction control completely off. I'll have to try going around the water box next time and try to launch at a lower rpm.

Thanks,

VA2009SedanSS

 

Wow, great times there, especially the 100% stock times. I have to try the lower tire psi up front next time as well as run higher psi in the rears. I was launching higher than 3k which had me wheel hopping and my 60 ft times show it. So I have some work to do. Thanks for the reply & suggestions.

Thanks,
VA2009SedanSS

 

Practice makes perfect!