Thanks
I surprised myself today with the cars performance. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the stock '95 & '96 Stealths have a measurable advantage over all other U.S. 3S cars. The weight and less drivetrain loss (no AWS pump on the rear diff) are not insignificant.
The conditions were great today, little to no wind (this track typically has a head wind), 40F ambients, and a sticky start line (they burned the rubber off the starting line repeatedly & the VHT was sticky). Not to mention that we here in Michigan are near sea level.
My car was prepped as follows:
- removed spare tire and tire iron (jack stayed in the car), this equates to a 30 lb weight savings.
- ~2 gallons of Sunoco 94 Octane pump gas
- Otherwise 100% stock including a brand new OEM air filter, some brand new NGK plugs and the car has 43,000 miles on it.
I knew the car could run well based on my 13.5 times at Milan with only ~1.9 60 foot times.
Click here for my times at Milan
I made my improvements by simply launching harder, had brand new plugs this time around, and as already mentioned the track conditions (cold). Left the line at close to 5,000 and the rpms shot up to 6,000 and held there while the clutch tried to grab (almost like a CVT). This was followed by a couple quick shifts (near power shift but did lift gas perhaps an inch off the floor for a fraction of a second). I would have never driven the car this hard except I wanted to beat the competition by as much as possible.
Against a moded red WRX (these things can fly with some simple mods):
WRX ran a 13.633 @ 100.08 with a .730 light (1.826 60')
I ran a
13.087 @ 105.90 with a .716 light (1.772 60')
Against my friends near stock '98 C5 Vette (K&N filter):
C5 ran a 13.443 @ 111.86 with a .701 light (2.145 60') - impressive trap
I ran a
13.127 @ 105.25 with a .660 light (1.784 60')
Video of this race coming very soon (maybe tonight).
Many other 3S cars and friends (C5, Z28, Buick GN, etc.) ran well and will all be covered in a web page soon.
I will not be modding the '96, this is likely the last time it will run the 1/4, my '92 is for racing (well someday it will be). The '96 is just a decent, somewhat collectable, example of Dodge at its best.
If you want the best 3S drag car, follow in Matt Monett's, Trevor's, and black95rttt's foot steps and start with a '95 or '96 R/T TT.
