Launching with a lowered / pro touring setup?

B

BuickMike

Money pit
Joined
Jun 7, 2001
My car can't hook worth $%^T. Now that we have that out of the way, here is my setup:

SPC lowering springs with Bilstein HD shocks.
IROC front swaybar
S10 rear sway bar that is basically a home brew HR style setup thanks to CharlieF1
Front UCA's are UB Machine
Stock front LCA's with 1LE bushings.
Boxed rear LCAs with HR poly bushings.
Baseline suspensions rear UCA's in the middle hole, which is what I calculated is the best IC for my car.
I also set the pinion angle correct. (Don't ask me what it is because I calculated it all year's ago following Kevin's site).
GTA rims. Rears are widened to 9" with Toyo Proxes TQ 275/45/16. These are supposedly drag radials.
60ft is always low 2's now. MPH is between 118-123 depending on DA.

Alrighty. My issue is that this thing smokes the tires hard even if I baby it off the line and boost kicks in. I took it as "the nature of the beast" or "my small turbo comes on too hard" for a long time. That was until I got my CTS-V wagon that launches surprisingly well with 285/35/19 Bridgestone S04's. Then I thought back to how I got 1.6 60's on BFG DR's with stock suspension and worn out springs, cheap shocks, and a rr airbag.

So, I'm assuming my biggest issue is really the front spring / shocks that are holding me back. The front springs are really short and have a 675 spring rate according to their site. The back seems to do right and lift when I bring boost up, but on a launch the front does not lift one bit, which is most likely to the fact that the fronts are not compressed much and don't have any energy to push the front up when weight is trying to be transferred.

So.....how do folks get the pro touring setups to hook when they want to drag race? Is it better to get some coilovers with dual adjustable dampers? I would assume that setting the spring preload on them high in the front and adjusting the dampers with high compression and low rebound would help?

Let me know if I'm heading in the right direction here. Thanks!
 
Next time u are going to drag race try taken off the front sway bar . That will allow the front end to come up when u launch . that should help Alil . I don't run a front bar at all and it has allowed the weight transfer to the rear tires to aid in traction . There are numous other things to do this is just a small peice of the pie . Good luck
 
I run the toyo tq's on the street because there arent a lot of choices for wide 16's out there for gta wheels. They hook up better than regular radials (which are borderline dangerous on the street) but at the track they dont perform well at all... remove your front swaybar as mentioned above and if your budget allows try to score a set of 275-60-15 et streets or et pro radials and a cheap pair of 15" rear wheels for track use and it will make a big difference. After that, experiment with different tire pressures and burnout length to get the most out of it depending on track conditions
 
BuickMike said:
My car can't hook worth $%^T. Now that we have that out of the way, here is my setup:

SPC lowering springs with Bilstein HD shocks.
IROC front swaybar
S10 rear sway bar that is basically a home brew HR style setup thanks to CharlieF1
Front UCA's are UB Machine
Stock front LCA's with 1LE bushings.
Boxed rear LCAs with HR poly bushings.
Baseline suspensions rear UCA's in the middle hole, which is what I calculated is the best IC for my car.
I also set the pinion angle correct. (Don't ask me what it is because I calculated it all year's ago following Kevin's site).
GTA rims. Rears are widened to 9" with Toyo Proxes TQ 275/45/16. These are supposedly drag radials.
60ft is always low 2's now. MPH is between 118-123 depending on DA.

Alrighty. My issue is that this thing smokes the tires hard even if I baby it off the line and boost kicks in. I took it as "the nature of the beast" or "my small turbo comes on too hard" for a long time. That was until I got my CTS-V wagon that launches surprisingly well with 285/35/19 Bridgestone S04's. Then I thought back to how I got 1.6 60's on BFG DR's with stock suspension and worn out springs, cheap shocks, and a rr airbag.

So, I'm assuming my biggest issue is really the front spring / shocks that are holding me back. The front springs are really short and have a 675 spring rate according to their site. The back seems to do right and lift when I bring boost up, but on a launch the front does not lift one bit, which is most likely to the fact that the fronts are not compressed much and don't have any energy to push the front up when weight is trying to be transferred.

So.....how do folks get the pro touring setups to hook when they want to drag race? Is it better to get some coilovers with dual adjustable dampers? I would assume that setting the spring preload on them high in the front and adjusting the dampers with high compression and low rebound would help?

Let me know if I'm heading in the right direction here. Thanks!
Click to expand...
With the car being so stiff and no sidewall on the tire your asking for a lot.at that point your relying on contact patch alone so boost controller,or a combo change favoring a softer hit to the tire.118/123mph is solid 10sec power.ctv wagon is a diff car altogether.
 
My car is setup completely for pro touring. A high 1.6x is a poor 60 for it. It has been a best of 1.48 on Nitto555r 18" which aren't nearly as aggressive as a MT or NT05r. It has AFX spindles, eibac springs, pro touring sway bars....i have no air bags in it and it launches straight and square. I DO NOT remove or disconnect the front sway bar. I let the air down in the rears, adjust the shocks and run it like I drive it to the track. The front shocks are adjusted loose, loose recount and compression and the tears are usually somewhere in the middle on rebound and compression. It has been just as fast with Napa refilled on the rear so far. Your pro touring suspension can work at the drag strip and be fun driving it there!
 
gdsims231 said:
My car is setup completely for pro touring. A high 1.6x is a poor 60 for it. It has been a best of 1.48 on Nitto555r 18" which aren't nearly as aggressive as a MT or NT05r. It has AFX spindles, eibac springs, pro touring sway bars....i have no air bags in it and it launches straight and square. I DO NOT remove or disconnect the front sway bar. I let the air down in the rears, adjust the shocks and run it like I drive it to the track. The front shocks are adjusted loose, loose recount and compression and the tears are usually somewhere in the middle on rebound and compression. It has been just as fast with Napa refilled on the rear so far. Your pro touring suspension can work at the drag strip and be fun driving it there!
Click to expand...
Op is on a much smaller tire 16,nice to know the 18 with a good contact patch and diameter can get a strong 60ft on a buick.
 
I can try the bar. I know the TQ's are not the greatest tire, but when I can hook a 600hp car on a 35 series tire, it drives me towards looking at suspension issues. From what I remember, the Eibach front springs are quite a bit lighter spring rate and taller than my springs, which will give the car the ability to push up in the front with the right shock adjustment. What shocks are you running gdsims231?
 
Last edited:
Mr.Spool said:
Op is on a much smaller tire 16,nice to know the 18 with a good contact patch and diameter can get a strong 60ft on a buick.
Click to expand...

He is on a 275 versus my 285. I don't think there would be a huge difference in roll out between the 16 and 18.
 
BuickMike said:
I can try the bar. I know the TQ's are not the greatest tire, but when I can hook a 600hp car on a 35 series tire, it drives me towards looking at suspension issues. From what I remember, the Eibach front springs are quite a bit lighter spring rate and taller than my springs, which will give the car the ability to push up in the front with the right shock adjustment. What shocks are you running gdsims231?
Click to expand...
BuickMike said:
I can try the bar. I know the TQ's are not the greatest tire, but when I can hook a 600hp car on a 35 series tire, it drives me towards looking at suspension issues. From what I remember, the Eibach front springs are quite a bit lighter spring rate and taller than my springs, which will give the car the ability to push up in the front with the right shock adjustment. What shocks are you running gdsims231?
Click to expand...

I don't remember the spring rate on the eibacs. I am running DA Varishocks on the front with the compression and extension both at the minimum setting, i.e. 1 1. On the rears I have Mencers, it has been no faster to the 60 with these than it had been with Napa Reflexes on the rear. It will, I just don't have the passes to get it dialed in yet

I am confused as to why people unhook the front sway bar other than weight off the nose. As far as suspension travel, it has no affect other than helping keep the car "square" which is a benefit, not an obstacle.
 
gdsims231 said:
I don't remember the spring rate on the eibacs. I am running DA Varishocks on the front with the compression and extension both at the minimum setting, i.e. 1 1. On the rears I have Mencers, it has been no faster to the 60 with these than it had been with Napa Reflexes on the rear. It will, I just don't have the passes to get it dialed in yet

I am confused as to why people unhook the front sway bar other than weight off the nose. As far as suspension travel, it has no affect other than helping keep the car "square" which is a benefit, not an obstacle.
Click to expand...
The front end comes up faster and free floats as the car torques of the hook.
 
As a test, disconnect your front sway bar end links and try to rotate just the bar in the bushings, that friction isnt helping the front end rise quickly. Its a small piece of the puzzle but it will help.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. The Toyos are definitely a good part of the equation. I never got below 2.something 60ft on them. They do make decent street tires though. It may be time for me to sell the GTA rims and go another route due to lack of tire selection. That may be a hard decision though since I really like how they look on the car, especially since mine are staggered. There are still other issues though. I used to have M&H 275/55/16 DR's and the best I could muster was 1.86 60 ft. I think better tires and dual adjustable shocks should make a decent difference.
 
Not necessarily discounting the swaybar, however my personal experience was no significant difference when launching with it on / off. This was way back when the car had stock suspension and was getting 1.6 60's. I was already planning to just remove the endlinks and tie up the swaybar next time I go to the track.
 
I don't want to get into an internet argument but why would the sway bar slow down transfer if all of the pivots aren't binding, other than weight? Second we put all kinds of braces on these cars to help stiffen the frame, to help it not twist. Is the sway bar not basically a brace that is helping tie the frame horns together, helping resist twisting?
 
Get yourself the UMI rear lower relocation brackets for the lower CAs. Don't mess with the upper UCA brackets, keep them at the stock angle. Use the lower CAs to adjust the IC of the car first. Changing the angle and length, which the UCAs would have more effect on, will change the IC location and your ability to hook much more drastically than what adjusting the LCAs would do.
 
gdsims231 said:
I don't want to get into an internet argument but why would the sway bar slow down transfer if all of the pivots aren't binding, other than weight? Second we put all kinds of braces on these cars to help stiffen the frame, to help it not twist. Is the sway bar not basically a brace that is helping tie the frame horns together, helping resist twisting?
Click to expand...

Technically the swaybar is a more similar to a spring in that it has rate that determines how much force it applies to the chassis. The swaybar will try to keep the chassis straight via pivoting on the mounts, so I could imagine not allowing the flame to flex a little could have some dis-advantage....but then again a ton of really fast cars use swaybars...but that is more to due with keeping the chassis straight... trying to stop that G-body Shuffle, as they say...
 
marleyskater420 said:
Technically the swaybar is a more similar to a spring in that it has rate that determines how much force it applies to the chassis. The swaybar will try to keep the chassis straight via pivoting on the mounts, so I could imagine not allowing the flame to flex a little could have some dis-advantage....but then again a ton of really fast cars use swaybars...but that is more to due with keeping the chassis straight... trying to stop that G-body Shuffle, as they say...
Click to expand...

I was referencing the front sway bar. When the front suspension travels up together it should have no effect, other than sprung weight and possibly a frame brace.
 
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