Hey guys, I'd like to take a second to introduce myself. My name is Clayton, live near Indianapolis, IN and just recently purchased a '06 Cobalt SS S/C. Well I have a friend that lives about 1/2 mile from ORP (O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis) and he has had a 1969 Chevelle with a 350 in it (the original 396 is being slowly rebuilt in his garage with the very little spare time he and his dad get) since the day he turned 16. (Yeah, he's spoiled, ha) Anyway, ever since my recent purchase I've been dieing to get to the track, so i conned (sp) him into going up yesterday.

Let me remind you my car is completley stock, with the exception of a K&N drop in air filter, I ran street tires (Cooper Zeon ZPT's), and this was my first time at the track. (with any vehicle)

So I was wondering what you guys thought about how I did my first day out, since I'm a newb to this forum thing, I'm not sure how to post pics of my timeslips, so I'll type them out (and NO, I'm not going to lie about what I ran, lol)

1st RUN:

R/T: .689
60': 2.343
330': 6.468
1/8: 9.809 MPH: 72.72
1000': 12.704
1/4: 15.128 MPH: 95.23

2nd RUN:

R/T: .715
60': 2.659
330': 7.223
1/8: 10.638 MPH: 72.45
1000': 13.549
1/4: 15.973 MPH: 91.50

3rd RUN:

R/T: .410
60': 2.394
330': 6.437
1/8: 9.750 MPH: 73.16
1000': 12.642
1/4: 15.055 MPH: 92.01

4th RUN:

R/T: .439
60': 2.439
330': 6.650
1/8: 9.978 MPH: 73.77
1000': 12.841
1/4: 15.227 MPH: 95.01

5th RUN (Final and Best of all)

R/T: .509
60': 2.395
330': 6.474
1/8: 9.758 MPH: 74.58
1000': 12.594
1/4: 14.961 MPH: 93.80

Sorry I don't know how to upload pics, or else I could get actual pics of my slips, anyway, let me know what you guys think about those times and such, and what I could maybe work on to become a little better. Although I was very happy breaking the 15 second barrier, I think I can run somewhere around a 14.5-14.7 with some coaching from the pros on cobaltSS.net!

Thanks for taking the time to look this over and for any and all help provided.

-Clayton

 

I Have the same cheap tires as you lol, they do ok for normal driving, will see how they work for me at the track this summer. For your first time I'd say you did fine. Your just learning the car and havent raced before so I'm sure you were a bit nervous. Obviously you can go a good bit faster, but for the first time its not bad.

 

Yeah those crappy Cooper's came on it when I bought it, and I was HELLA nervous to be honest, dry mouth, shaky, blah blah the whole spew, lol. Let me know what you run at the track this summer, good luck and thanks for the reply!

 

i cut a 14.9 with a 2.39 60ft my first time at the track so they seem about normal work on ur shifting and your launch best way is to rev it to about 3ish and roll the clutch out quickly and floor it when it engages, if u start to hop at all even the littlest bit let off not worth the damage

 

just so u can compare ur times to mine ill tell u my times...at that time i just had exhaust and was running on the stock pirelli tires these cars come with.(btw it was my first time on a boosted fwd car and my other times at the track were with a b16 civic that ran 16's when i ran it for the first time lol)

so my first run was horrible with traction i just kept spinning and ran a 19
second run was amazing and ran a 14.409
the next few runs ranged around 14.6-14.6
last and finally run was my best 14.402

these cars stock run 14.3 so thats where u should get around..i have recently installed and injen cold air intake so im not going back just yet..might wait for my headers and dp before i try again but im hoping for like 13's when i go back...ull get there man just keep up the practicing

and also my best 60 footer was when i ran the 14.402 and that was 2.1
i had a great time that night haha and i was also at 98 mph the whole night..i have some videos if ud like to message me and ill send them to u to watch

 

Wow guys thanks for the input! It makes me feel a bit better about it. I know on my 2 slowest runs I had massive wheel hop, when i ran 15.9 i had it so bad my review mirror moved down from the violent shaking.. so I immediately let off and shifted to 2nd, losing pretty much if not all of my boost and that's why you see the 15.9 in there

I can't decide on what upgrade I want to do first. Thinking of asking either for Stage 2 or a 2.5in Exhaust system w/catback for a B-day/Xmas present. I've heard stage 2 runs really rich though with a GM tune and I don't have any custom tuners in my area, because I live in a small town about 40miles from Indy, (I'm sure someone in Indy can tune, but not that I am immediately aware of anyway) Also heard that Stage 2 reduces the life of your supercharger, and that with it running rich with the GM tune you have to change plugs very often cuz it fouls them easily. So I'm personally leaning towards an exhaust system. I would put a CAI but I just spent $50 drop-in K&N) I know $50 isn't that much at all but I figure I can wait on the CAI and go for exhaust then maybe CAI later. Also thinking about picking up some Ingalls TD's, because I hear it helps reduce wheel hop and un-needed engine twisting/turning.

Let me know what you guys think,

Thanks again!

 

Id look at this http://www.ottperformance.com/store/...-2-Kit-4p6.htm

 

idk if ur rich but exhausts for these cars are expensivee haha luckily mine came with the car but for your info magnaflow, corsa, borla are like the top 3 exhausts to get..my buddy has a corsa and its loud as ****..i love how it sounds..i have a magnaflow...2.5 piping is good for u...next gm stage 2 is crap..go with zzp or ottp (zzperformance.com or ottperformance.com) as they are cheaper and better. cai would be injen and my opinion and also my buddy was tlking to a vendor on here and he said instead of the ingalls get the upper mount that goes in the same spot but its better

 

Damn man thanks for all your help, I'll definitely look into these things!

 

no problem dude u have any questions hit me up..im in no way a pro at this car bc im still learning..im only 18 and still have alot of questions myself haha but i can help a good bit

 

@ Adams23

Why did you go with a Injen CAI? My dad has always swore upon K&N for any and all air intake modifications (which leads me to kinda lean towards K&N, b/c you live what you learn I guess, lol)
I was looking at K&N's Typhoon CAI and its MSRP'd at $289.99 and they said it takes about 90mins to install with an 8HP gain and 7-ft. pound gain. How much did you pay for your Injen and why did you decide to go with Injen? How long did it take you to install? Sorry for all the nosy questions, lol, just trying to get some nice input on upgrades so I don't regret any purchase I do end up making!

Thanks again!!

 

regarding to what Adams said; get a 3" intake from OTTP or ZZP. a 2.5" intake is just a waste of money. also, for the exhaust don't worry about name brand or price, find one that you think sounds good. cause there isn't going to be any performance difference between 2.5" piping from borla, or 2.5" piping from magnaflow. and all the exhausts for these cars are straight through muffler designs.

as far as mounts go. i ran the TTR upper mount with the stock trans mounts. still got some wheel hop at the track. ran the stock upper mount with the OTTP stage2 trans mounts and got no wheel hop at the track.

as far as racing goes..just takes practice, seat time is king. plain and simple. i guess a good way to put it is, you aren't gonna learn how to race, by reading. first time i went to the track i was lucky and was able to get 15 passes in. only had one 15 though, 5 or 6 14.4s-14.6s and the rest were 14.2s after i got everything down consistently.

it just takes time and practice.

 

honestly i went with INJEN bc everyone else has it..its just one of those things were apparently everyone has it bc it shows performance and yes it did..u can hear my supercharger alot louder now and i can feel a big difference...i actually bought it from a vendor on here for $215 shipped...thats why i bought it bc it was on sale...andd it took me around 3 hours to install bc of all the stupid **** that sets u back like dropping a screwdriver bit between the headlight and bumper haha and break the mount for the intake by the tire. FML...but all in all it was fun and i love my intake

 

Hey.. make sure you check in next time you go.. there's a few of us with cobalts in Indy that make that outting once a monthish.. it would be cool to meet another SS.

 

Ah, yeah for sure man. Like I said, I'll usually be running with my best friend who drives that '69 Chevelle I was talking about earlier, and probably a Mustang or 2, and my friends brother-in-law who has an '03 350z. We don't take it to seriously, more of just chillin and having a good time, I'd love to see some other SS's up there! Ill def post next time I'm heading over to ORP and we'll see what we can put together.

Cool cool man, thanks for the heads up, I'll definetly be looking into a CAI and exhaust system. Regarding sizes on both, what size of intake would you recommend and I know you already said 2.5in exhaust would be good enough. Does injen make a 3" intake or do you just have the 2.5in?

 

not bad for the first time out man. i run the cooper tires too but when i take it to the track i run like 20psi in em to try to get as much traction as possible. what was the temp and humidity when you were runnin? quickest pass i made so far in my 06 SS/SC with a injen CAI was 15.03. it was 85 degrees with 75% humidity and a shitty track prep, did nothing but blow em off till 2nd gear.

 

I personally hate my Cooper Zeon ZPT tires. I think they are the worst wet weather tire ever, borderline dangerous. They have a lot of side wall flex, they dont heat up and/or stick in the dry, they just always break lose or push. I hate them. BUT they do have some diesel tread depth and ya get a good amount of miles from them, but they are useless if the weather is anything but dry so even when you do get consistent with the drag racing, just do yourself a favor and upgrade the tires and i bet you will see better times from that as well.

 

yessir since ur stock 2.5 inch exhaust is big enough..im gonna be making a custom exhaust with 2.5 inch piping and an hks carbon ti muffler...and im pretty sure i have the 2.5 piping on my CAI but i doubt they make 3 inch piping

 

Just got back from my first night. Your times are mirroring mine, and yeah I was pretty nervous. I race BMX, so you'd think I would have been cool headed in staging, but I flailed.

Pulled a 14.82, but it was a freak if you compare against the rest of my times.

Here's my question. My quickest pass, I spun it up to 2500, with the e-brake pulled. Most of the time I found pulling the brake just another thing to think about. And they were staging us so fast, it hurt me a few times.

Anyone else use the hand brake to prep the car for launch?

(I tried without once, and ran a 15.3, then it started raining)

 

lol im confused? lol why do you mean prepping? and e brake??? who taught you that??? NOOOOOOOOOOOO never use ur e brake

you shouldnt be prepping your car if your on street tires, you dont want your tires hot or wet or anything, keep em dry, water/heat=no traction, and with our cars, the launch is SOOO key to making a good pass. just stage ur car normally

i launch around 3k and slip the clutch out and then punch it, never dump the clutch cuz the ends up wheel hop and then broken axels lol

 

It gave the car the same feel as an auto in staging, having a brake to lean up against while spooling up the motor. I saw it in a vid somewhere. Thought I'd try it. But I'm not an advocate or anything.

The highlight of the night was beating a modded focus and hearing him ask the ET shack what kind of car I was driving. That was cool.

 

dont ever touch ur e-brake..ive never heard of such a ridiculous thing to do while staging..get in there put ur car in first rev to the desired rpm(suggested 2000-3000) and feather out the clutch then gun it...yall should be around the 14.3 range..

 

Yeah I never staged mine with the e-brake, when I went to the track it was 88 degrees with like 70ish% humidity, wasn't a very good day at all to be at the track, but it was my first time so I wasn't trying to go ALL OUT, lol. I'm hopefully going to go thru these Cooper Zeon's pretty quick because they are pretty much worthless on a wet road. I actually had better results on my 60' time when I didn't rev to 2-3k RPM's but rather I just launched at about 1-1.5k RPM's, this seemed to keep wheel hop/spin way down and it just seemed more smooth all in all.

 

yea the heat here in louisiana sucks..i went from a 14.4 in march or april(when it was still cold out) to a 15.0(now that its hot as *****). wont be running again until october probably when the weather gets cool again