Re: the need for speed

["Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Glenn,

Comments inline...

>
>Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2000 00:01:58 EST
>From: Bagsmode@domain.elided
>Subject: the need for speed
>
>Ok all you car-techies, I had my first drag race with a guy last night (I
>think it was against a Mustang--was night, therefore dark, and I was
>concentrating on my driving.  I did well in my M Roadster, neck and neck 
>all
>the way.  Was talking to a friend of mine and he told me I need to learn to
>power-shift and explained it to me.  Everytime I shifted, I was
Don't "power shift" your M-Roadster.  It's a sure way of f**king up your new 
toy, and a new motor will cost almost as much as half of a Mudstang.  If you 
want to drag race and power shift, you bought the wrong car.


releasing the
>gas; what he explained was that I should keep the gas pedal down while
>shifting to keep the RPMs up.  Also, that I wasn't bringing it to high 
>enough
>RPMs, red line isn't starting until 6500, yet I didn't go past 4500.  He 
>felt
>that I should get the revs up to more around 5000, 5500.
>

Take a look at the power and torque curves for your M-roadster and you'll 
find that it makes maximum torque around 4000 rpm, and peak horsepower near 
redline.  So, you weren't using all of the power available to you by 
shifting at 4500 rpm.  Redline means don't go _past_ that point, but you can 
safely rev the engine up to redline.


>What do you guys think?  What's the effect on my car in doing these things?


For power shifting...can you say "broken car"?  At a minimum, you can mess 
up your transmission.  At a more serious level, you can mess up your engine. 
  At the ultimate level, you can lose control of the car and lose your life.

Name your price...



>I know they're not things I can do everyday.  But like if I let it out once 
>a
>week?  (Don't want to be in and out of the shop all the time ;)
>
>Also, right now all the things that I have on/in the car are all the
>standard, out of the factory stuff.  What upgrades, etc, could I get that
>would give me the most bang for my buck?  For example, if there was 
>something
>that would only cost me a couple hundred and would really help performance
>(whatever), please suggest!