I finally got around to taking my Z to the drag strip. I'm running a 3.0L stroker motor with bored out SU carbs. 3.7 LSD, with 1983 280zx 5speed tranny, street tires, and my best time was a 15.103 with a .807 reaction time. Is this a good time for this type of set up??? I did notice that my car would hesitate a little around 5500 rpms, kind of went on and off up to 7000. I crossed the finish line in 3rd gear, at around 5900 rpms at 94 mph. I'm guessing my gear ratio is a little tall for drag racing, or I could probably get solid 14's.

hhhmmm post at 8 this morning and at end of the day..... no replies. can't a Z nut get a little love:love:

well since it's your first time..

looks like your running ok..

with some practice... you can definatly pull of an low 14.....

almost 90% of the time.. the more practice a driver has, with a quicker reaction time, they always always get better overall times.

Your .8 sec reaction isnt bad!... but like i said practice makes perfect.

If you keep on getting consistant runs at or around the same time, then that's all your car can run.

Since it was your first time.. i definatly guarantee you can get low 14's or even high 13's with RACE fuel.

well, I'm taking my car to the Dyno next week to see what I have at the wheels. I don't think I was getting all that my engine had. Funny, on my slowest run of 15.3, my reaction time was .666. After they I find out how much power I have at the wheels, I have a better bench mark for where I should be.

maybe it is the gearing of the tranny that is slowing you down.

with that stroker in there you should be doing a better time then 15's, perhaps a 78 tranny is in your future.

having it dyno tuned would be a good idea as well, see what the loss of power is and why its happening and get your car dialed in, i cant see why you wouldnt pull a better time.

norm over at Zcar.com has a best time of 12.9 with a 2.9 stroker on dual su's, another went to 13.4 with a 3.1 stroker.

as you can see your running a little slower then these guys, norm is the exception to the rule though.

i would say mid to low 13's should be attainable.

find out where your power loss is and go back to the track. your RT's are awesome though:devious:

I found out why I was slow. Bad tuning. My valves were out of adjustment. I adjusted them, the car felt a lot faster. I decided to have the car dyno'd, just to see were I was at. Seems it was more than just valves. With my carbs running way too rich and a problem was found in my distributer, I still pulled 191 hp with 176 torque at the wheels. I have since corrected my problems and I see 13's in the cars future. I haven't had it dyno'd again, but should be around 220 at the wheels according to the tech.

Hmm, with that kind of power to the wheels and a 4:37 or 4:62 diff, just think what you could do... and with the ZX 5 speed, it would be almost still streetable.. might be a bit "busy" on the interstate though.....

Shame, there was a 5:88 R-190 LSD on Ebay a week or so ago... bet that could have put it in the 12's with no trouble if you could shift it fast enough.

REACTON TIME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH 1/4 MILE ET! You can sit at the light all day and still run the same time as if you had pulled a perfect .500 R/T.

What were your 60ft times? 94mph is enough for a mid 14 w/ a 2.2-ish 60ft time, or a low 14 w/ a 2.0-ish 60ft.

You can probably pick up a couple mph with improved shift speed and points.

The tuning alone should give you a half second, and as long as you can back up the power with a good launch and good driving, you should see solid mid/high 13's.