Asahi

I have a 1986 944 Turbo with Autothority Stage II chips and Lindsey Boost Valve.

I recently attended a Porsche club Raceway Park Drag Race event in Englishtown, NJ. I had a FANTASTIC time being able to drag race with other Porsche cars. I had the pleasure of drag racing with a Boxster S, 993, 930 Turbo, and a 911 Twin Turbo.

Boxster S (beat me off the line and pulled away)
993 (beat me off the line and pulled away)
930 Turbo (left me on the line and ran away)
911 Twin Turbo (just when the light turned green, I can see him 3 car lengths ahead and I had to plead to him to wait for me)

At the end of the day, my head slumped down and tail between my legs..I ask "why is my car so slow"?

My 1/4 mile times for all four runs:
15.04
15.64
16.05
16.12

Yes, the 944 Turbos were not made to drag.
Yes, it can be my driving skill but seriously, I would think I would improve as the day went on.

So, eliminating driver's skill, hypothetically, what can be wrong with my car?

I'm open to suggestions...

Thank you in advance. <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

John Anderson

Most just lay it in behind the computers. Its safe, won't go anywhere. YOu can zip tie it in to hold it against a bracket back there, but its not needed..just find a sung spot to put it, it will stay.

Take Care!

John..

The 944 was not intended to drag race, but there is something wrong with your car. It should run a lot better than that. Especially with a chip set. I would start by checking compression and boost levels. You could have an air leak somewhere.

adrial

You should be looking at high 13's to low 14's I would expect with chips and the extra boost (I assume you left the lindsey BE at factory setting, which yields ~15 psi)

Something's wrong, compression check and checking for boost leaks is a good place to start. What do you see on the factory boost gauge when at WOT and full boost? (should see full boost on your car by about 3000-3200rpm)

951Racer

A good way to eliminate pilot error is to take it to a Dyno. A decently chipped 951 will be around 200-230 rwhp. If your car falls in that range, then you are the problem. If not, then starting looking for problems. At least you will have a nice baseline HP to work on.

Edman951

Asahi, how did you lanch the car off the line?
In my 951 if i don't lanch it by dropping the clutch at over 3500rpm the car bogs and i get a wooppin off the line and ruines the run completely.

pedro951

there might not be anything wrong with the car. altitide and track conditions can be big factors, as well as the driver. where i run modded f-bodys are running 14s, and my car stock ran 16.1s with those horrobly slow launches you were talking about. in four races i got left off of the line four times. i also had crappy reaction times & little experience drag racing.

guardsred951S

My car ran 13.8@104 but I'm sure it could do better with a little practice on my part .....It's all about the launch. It has been on the dyno with 260 RWHP and 275 RWTQ that's pretty usable.

If you can put your car on a dyno, you'll soon see what the problem is. Altitude has allot to do with HP too so if you're in the 1000's of feet range, expect poor times compared to the sea level guys.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Dwayne Williams

I just dyno'd my 86 951 today - it's got Autothority Stage II chips and a K&N filter element but that's it (stock exhaust, etc...). Of the two runs the best was 214 rwhp and 235 torque (I think that's about 250 flywheel). So - if your car is chipped it should be making similar numbers. I'd highly recommend taking your car to a dyno and running compression tests. That way you know what the car is capable of.

Danno

To get fast 1/4-mile times, you ultimately have to sacrifice a few clutches, CV-joints and tires to the timing-gods! After my turbo-upgrade, I did manage to reel of a couple of 13.3s 1/4-mile runs, but it ended up costing me almost as much in repairs as the entire purchase price of my car!

I don't really think it's that our cars aren't made for drag-racing, all the other cars have the same weaknesses in clutches and associated drivetrain parts. It just happens that a mid-'80s Mustang with a 5.8l engine can pull sub-13s for less money. And it only costs $300 to replace the clutch in those things, even though you'll probably go through them at the same rate.

Jeremy Martin

what were your 60 foot times?

Asahi

Hi All,
Wow, thank you everyone who responded. I'm sorry I didn't reply earlier but I was at Virginia International Raceway for the Porsche DE and I had forgotten about the POST.

I had a wonderful time. The VIR track was amazing. I'm definitely going back again even if it is 8 hours away.

John,
Good suggestion. I'll have my car compression tested.

Adrial,
Yes, I do have my LBE set to factory default. My car hits boost around 4000RPM (pretty lame). You may be right, there must be a leak somewhere.

951Racer,
I hate to admit it but I may be the fixed variable in the equation. I'm betting that there must be something wrong with my car (hope not me).

Edman951,
I thought I launched pretty good. I kept the rev around 4000RPM. My reaction time was between .857 to 1.13 (if this matters). You're right about keeping the revs up. I encountered what you described in one of my runs and I thought I was going to stall the car.

guardsred951S,
13.8!!! That's fantastic! I hope reach that level soon.

Dwayne Williams,
Thanks for providing a baseline for my '86 944 Turbo. I'll compare my dyno info with yours to see if they are similar.

Danno,
You're right again. Our cars can compete in drag races. It's the cost of repairs that prevent us from competing. Definitely cheaper to mod a Mustang then a Porsche.

Jeremy Martin,
My 60ft times were: 2.782, 2.608, 2.931 and 2.976. What will these times reveal? Is there a formula for determining 1/4 mile times?

Thanks again everyone who responded. I'm off to get my car DYNO'd. I hate to say it but I hope its the car and not me.

Take care all.
<img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />

special tool

4000 rpm? How is your air filter. Do you have a cat? Sounds like you are getting a restriction somewhere.