Took the Prius Drag Racing!

[F8L]

My local track had some kind of Import event with a car show today and such so I decided to take the Prius out racing after being dissapointed in my trucks performance the night before.

I removed the spare tire/jack and my subwoofer box BUT had a full tank of gas

Temps between 75deg and 88deg. Havn't calculated the DA yet as I just got home.

Best Run:

Reaction Time: .071
60': 2.678
1/4 ET: 17.645
1/4 MPH: 78.91

Best MPH

79.2

Worst Run:

Reation Time: -.015 (red light)
60': 2.766
1/4 ET: 18.457
1/4 MPH: ??? (didnt print right)


So in all I found that hot lapping and rising temps really killed my ET and my MPH. Its not common that an N/A car loses that much MPH with only a 10deg ambient temperature change but maybe pushing the car with high compression on 87 octane was the problem. Next time I'll try a cool night with 91 octane.

[efusco]

Were you force-charging the battery before your runs? That can help. Were you sure the Engine temp was all the way into it's optimal range as well?

What tires were you running on?

Not that any of those things will make dramatic differences, but the forced charged battery and decreasing the weight in the car as much as possible certainly could.

Sounds like fun, I'd still like to play at a SOLO2 race someday...just for the fun of it!

[F8L]

I dont know how to force charge the battery but I would assume it could only help to have as much charge as possible so I was drivign down the turn road using the ICE with arrows to the battery and even using the ICE braking when I needed to slow down.

I was running on my 17" Kumhos so I was about 3lbs heavier at each corner than stock. Racing the Prius wasnt important enough for me to bother with switching back to the stock tires

[efusco]

Indeed, getting the battery into the green can help quite a lot. I believe the technique is to put the car into drive, press the brake and push the accelerator to the floor. It'll run fairly hard for a while, then it'll back off and sound like it wants to shut off as you start getting to the top of the SOC range...then eventually it will shut off and you won't be able to add any more charge...but you can, usually, get into the green range.

And yea, those big wheels are gonna hurt in a short drag like that.

[F8L]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 27 2006, 02:52 PM) [snapback]310288[/snapback]</div>

Indeed, getting the battery into the green can help quite a lot. I believe the technique is to put the car into drive, press the brake and push the accelerator to the floor. It'll run fairly hard for a while, then it'll back off and sound like it wants to shut off as you start getting to the top of the SOC range...then eventually it will shut off and you won't be able to add any more charge...but you can, usually, get into the green range.

And yea, those big wheels are gonna hurt in a short drag like that.
[/b]

Thats nearly what i was doing once I got close to the stanging lanes. Just gas and brake at the same time. I'll try to do it longer next time. Thanks for the tip!

The tire/rim combo is the exact same diameter as the stock ones so its doubtful it would have had much of an effect if the weight was the same. Thats been my experience when racing my T/A or C5. Sidewall flex is negligible because we have no TQ lol.

[Anubis]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Aug 27 2006, 03:55 PM) [snapback]310290[/snapback]</div>

Thats nearly what i was doing once I got close to the stanging lanes. Just gas and brake at the same time. I'll try to do it longer next time. Thanks for the tip![/b]

Yes, efusco is correct. I also discovered this trick when my brother and I raced our Prii. (see thread and racing slip results here) I'd be interested in seeing your results on a cooler day (our races were on a REALLY hot day, full tanks, high altitude and everything stock -- including the spare tire and jack in our cars [mine also had my office work, a laptop and a cooler; approximately 40 extra lbs above and beyond the stock stuff in the back]).

[Lola&#39;05]

This drag racing has got to be a male thing.

[F8L]

Anubis, I am definately going to try that next time out. I was launching with about half bars and by the end of a run I was down to about 2 bars. If I can get it to full bars I might have a better 60' which would drop my ET nicely (1.75-2 10ths of a second in ET for every 10/th in 60') I'll wait until I can get somewhat cooler temps and a lot less gas although Im not sure where the pump is in our tanks so I dont wanna go too low and starve the pump with my savage G forces upon launch LMAO!

Lola, could be although a lot of girls go out there and race their cars

[BobZ]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lola'05 @ Aug 27 2006, 08:47 PM) [snapback]310334[/snapback]</div>

This drag racing has got to be a male thing.
[/b]

YOU BETCHA...!!!!!!!!

[Anubis]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lola'05 @ Aug 27 2006, 06:47 PM) [snapback]310334[/snapback]</div>

This drag racing has got to be a male thing.
[/b]

Hi Lola!

To tell you the truth, I'm a 40-yr-old divorced mother of three little boys (ages 9, 8 & 7)! I'm as female as there is (I'm tall yet have a very tiny bone structure), but I sure enjoy "guy" things! I think it was my four big brothers who got me into all this stuff (auto mechanics, fancy home theatre systems, fun car stereo sound, etc. -- I was even the first one in the family to have a motorcycle license [my brothers drove them all the time when we were growing up, but never got their licenses until they hit their late-20s to early-30s]).

Just don't make me go out hunting, but I'll go fishing as long as I don't have to live-bait my own hook or gut my own fish (I don't like seafood anyway) -- EEEEEWWWWW! :P