Ran the '04 Sport at the 1/4 mile track last night....

[Weedo]

Ok, so I'm mean to my car, I took it to the 1/4 track last week. 200 miles on it. It's an '04 SE Sport. Firebird (here in Phoenix) is known for slow times. I'll give you examples: My Lightning ran a 14.2 stock (should be a 13.8 per the magazines). Same with my SS Camaro - 14.2 stock and should be 13.7 or 13.8.

Anyway, Road and Track has us at 15.0 at 94.1mph. I ran 15.9 @ 89.6, best run, shifting manually. Now, I KNOW the dealer puts in 87 octane so that should account for some of the crappy time. Plus it's new and not broken it at all, and Firebird is slow. It's usually up to .5 slower, but I ran .9 slower than the magazine, sucks.... I still ran an almost identical time to a '92ish Mustang LX 5.0 with a stick. He got a better 60' time, thus the slight win on his part, same mile per hour though.

The WORST part about the Solara is the 60' time. My BEST was a 2.4x which is the worst by far of any car i've taken there (I've had about 10 there). Years ago I had a '97 Sentra SER that would get 2.0 or 2.1. Every tenth in the 60' is a tenth and a half at the end.

Moral of the story, we need a STALL CONVERTOR!!! The MPH is pretty good. There were 2 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP's (supercharged) running that night at around 15.1 @ 88mph. So, quicker, but slower on the big end.

Anyway, just thought I'd fill you all in.

[VirtualSlayer]

shouldn't u break it in b4 doing those runs?

[krawzyazn]

ok your not gonna get the road and track times they did many test passes done by pro drivers and then they take the lowest time and post it in the mag

[Weedo]

ok your not gonna get the road and track times they did many test passes done by pro drivers and then they take the lowest time and post it in the mag

I've been running the 1/4 mile for years, with about a dozen different cars, so yes, I know the deal. But I have put many of the cars within a few tenths of the published times, and remember, our track is a few tenths off so for the most part, they're right on the money. The Solara was the farthest off I've seen, but accounting for the VERY newness and most likely 87 octane, I'll have to head back in a couple months. Maybe even take the baby seat out.

Yeah, I like to break my cars in "right"!

[NOBOOST]

Anyway, Road and Track has us at 15.0 at 94.1mph.

Thanks for the info but I can guarantee you that R/T and the other magazines correct their times to sea level so that is 1 reason the times may seem slower... did you happen to better your times as the night went on?

[Weedo]

Anyway, Road and Track has us at 15.0 at 94.1mph.

Thanks for the info but I can guarantee you that R/T and the other magazines correct their times to sea level so that is 1 reason the times may seem slower... did you happen to better your times as the night went on?

Oh, believe me, I KNOW why the times are slower. Go to the back of the magazines, the section called Road Test where they post all of the cars times. They tell you right there exactly how they're tested. Again, like I said, our times here are usually about .4 slower than the magazines, car for car, over and over again. Which is why I was expecting a 15.4 or so with the Solara. But remember, it's brand new and most likely running 87 Octane crap gas.

My times were 15.9 all night long. My best run was at the end though, manually shifting, and brake-stalling the launch. The mph of just under 90 shows that this car has some real HP/TQ, it's just the doggy launches (poor 60' times) they get.

I took our '99 Lexus GS400 to the same track a couple years ago. I was running consistant 15.3's so that will give you an idea of the difference between the two cars. My guess is when broken in with good gas I should see a 15.7 out of the Solara, maybe a tick better.

[Buckeyegirl]

Weedo, what brand of tires does your car have? Also what air pressure did you run in the front tires? Road & Track had Toyo's on their test car, and I don't recall them saying if they lowered the air p.s.i.

[Weedo]

Weedo, what brand of tires does your car have? Also what air pressure did you run in the front tires? Road & Track had Toyo's on their test car, and I don't recall them saying if they lowered the air p.s.i.

I don't have the Toyo's (couldn't find any in the Denver Region, which is crazy, but...).

But none of that matters (psi or brand or rating) as the tires aren't spinning off the line anyway. Even though they're just all-season tires, there isn't enough power right off the line to spin them, just a simple chirp-chirp. The track is stickier than a normal street too, of course. I tried both brake-torqueing and a basic "off the brake then hammer it" approach.

[mattyboyl]

First off, this car is putting down 196 hp to the wheels! This car runs much better than 15.9, I can guarantee you that! I had a 3000GT auto that ran that time and this car is much faster than that! Secondly, I remember my Solara at 200 miles. It was very stiff and had no pull. I would of gotten 16.0's all night too. You need to break this car in before doing any runs. I remember seeing numbers from mags and the inet, including the one and only Motor Trend article on the Solara when this car first came out running flat 16's. As the car started to get miles on it the mags tested this car again and now your seeing 15.4 - 15.0. Big difference! I guarantee, if you already didn't screw the car up already, if you run this car at 1200 - 1500 miles, you will see a huge difference! That is regarding you are a good driver of course. This car is capable of good runs. I have already spun the tires while moving 5-7 mph trying to pass someone in 1st gear. I have also spun tires with new rubber with no problem. This car has gobs-o-torque, just be patient with your break-in and you will reap the rewards of the torque monster. I'd be willing to bet that someone out there can dip into the upper 14's stock. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Weedo]

First off, this car is putting down 196 hp to the wheels! This car runs much better than 15.9, I can guarantee you that! I had a 3000GT auto that ran that time and this car is much faster than that! Secondly, I remember my Solara at 200 miles. It was very stiff and had no pull. I would of gotten 16.0's all night too. You need to break this car in before doing any runs. I remember seeing numbers from mags and the inet, including the one and only Motor Trend article on the Solara when this car first came out running flat 16's. As the car started to get miles on it the mags tested this car again and now your seeing 15.4 - 15.0. Big difference! I guarantee, if you already didn't screw the car up already, if you run this car at 1200 - 1500 miles, you will see a huge difference! That is regarding you are a good driver of course. This car is capable of good runs. I have already spun the tires while moving 5-7 mph trying to pass someone in 1st gear. I have also spun tires with new rubber with no problem. This car has gobs-o-torque, just be patient with your break-in and you will reap the rewards of the torque monster. I'd be willing to bet that someone out there can dip into the upper 14's stock. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Matt, I think you need to re-read my posts.
1. I'm an excellent driver and have been racing for years.
2. Yes, I know the car had 200 miles on it and will be slower than when it has 2,000 or 20,000 miles on it.
3. The 15.0 that Motor Trend got was when the car was brand new, not broken in.
4. The track here is notoriously .4 or so tenths off of other tracks and magazine times. I ran .9 off the mark. And yes, i've brought down plenty of my brand new cars to the track and run roughly .4 off the mark. .9 is a bit much, let's hope it had 87 octane in it and the mapping was off enough to drop considerable horse power. Every 10hp equates to roughly .10 in the quarter on an "average" car.
5. Have you been to the track at Firebird with your car to gaurantee me better times than 15.9?

As far as "already screwing the car up" I think you've been misinformed. You can't "screw a car up" by flooring it before the "break in" period. There have been plenty of tests on this. Most schools of thought are to "drive it exactly like you'll drive it when it is broken in". This is the proper way to brake it in for my driving. Yes, if you ask the dealer, they want you to baby it for 1500 miles. We'll see how quick a babied car is compared to one that's driven with some balls.

[mattyboyl]

I don't want this to sound like I am flaming you or being arrogant in any way. I just know for 100% fact that if I took my car to Atco Speedway here in NJ, I would run a much better time than a 15.9! I know this for a fact because my 3000GT ran that crappy time. My 3000GT auto put no power to the ground, plus it weighs as much as a Solara! My GT never put me in the seat the way this Solara does. I could barely burn rubber in my GT unless I overloaded the torque converter while heavy braking. There are many factors that could have caused a bad run, like humidity, altitude, cheap gas (like you mentioned), driver (which I doubt in this case based on your claims), and in my opinion an unbroken in car. Now it is a fact that you shouldn't brake hard due to the new brake lines needing to be broken in. It's also a fact that you shouldn't stay at one speed for a long time, but must alternate your speed. This is all break in stuff that can down the road come back to haunt you. I've heard that someone who beats the hell out of a car in the break in period runs the risk of internal damage of engine components down the road. This stuff usually happens after the warranty is over. If you have a different opion, that's fine, do what you must. I just wouldn't recommend doing something like that to others without any hard evidence. Again, run your car within the 1500- 2000 mile mark. I will be utterly suprised if you don't see a big improvement.

[Weedo]

I don't want this to sound like I am flaming you or being arrogant in any way. I just know for 100% fact that if I took my car to Atco Speedway here in NJ, I would run a much better time than a 15.9! I know this for a fact because my 3000GT ran that crappy time. My 3000GT auto put no power to the ground, plus it weighs as much as a Solara! My GT never put me in the seat the way this Solara does. I could barely burn rubber in my GT unless I overloaded the torque converter while heavy braking. There are many factors that could have caused a bad run, like humidity, altitude, cheap gas (like you mentioned), driver (which I doubt in this case based on your claims), and in my opinion an unbroken in car. Now it is a fact that you shouldn't brake hard due to the new brake lines needing to be broken in. It's also a fact that you shouldn't stay at one speed for a long time, but must alternate your speed. This is all break in stuff that can down the road come back to haunt you. I've heard that someone who beats the hell out of a car in the break in period runs the risk of internal damage of engine components down the road. This stuff usually happens after the warranty is over. If you have a different opion, that's fine, do what you must. I just wouldn't recommend doing something like that to others without any hard evidence. Again, run your car within the 1500- 2000 mile mark. I will be utterly suprised if you don't see a big improvement.

I think you misunderstood again... Yes, run your car in NJ and it WILL NO DOUBT run better than 15.9!!!! I keep trying to make you understand that our track here, in Phoenix AZ runs roughly .4 slower than other tracks and what the magazines get (track prep, altitude, etc). I've stated this 3 times now. What i've been trying to point out is that my time is .9 seconds slower than the magazine. Of the dozen or so cars I've raced here, this is the biggest drop of time of any car I've taken there. Yes, I've taken quite a few new cars there that all lost in the .4 range over the magazines or others in different parts of the country claim.

I hope this finally makes sense?.?.?

I'll go back again in a few week with more miles on the car and better gas to see what I come up with.

[mattyboyl]

Again, all I am trying to say is wait until the car is broken in. You should get a better time within 1500-2000 miles. Sound familiar? Once again, if I took my car to the track right now with <2000 miles, I will surely get close to 15.0. Sound familiar again? I'm listening, how about you?

[Weedo]

Again, all I am trying to say is wait until the car is broken in. You should get a better time within 1500-2000 miles. Sound familiar? Once again, if I took my car to the track right now with <2000 miles, I will surely get close to 15.0. Sound familiar again? I'm listening, how about you?

Read my post again, really, read it this time. I stated that I KNOW it will be quicker when it is broken in. Believe me, you're not telling me anything that I don't already know or haven't already stated. My post was informational only, not for you to tell me "how it is". But thanks...

[mattyboyl]

That's all I wanted. You're welcome.