Did you know that there’s a lot more information on the timeslips you get after a lap down the dragstrip than what’s listed there? There’s actually nearly twice as much data there when you start to read between the lines. If you were to couple the time slip with a weather station, the data becomes even more impactful! So how do you get the most out of that seemingly small piece of paper? Join me and we’ll talk about all the ways that these can be applied to your car to help you make better decisions and turn on more win lights. Grab the free log book to start keeping track of your runs!
First off, why would anyone want to go to the lengths to interpret that data? Because they want to make their car better and run more consistently. A car you can depend on makes it much easier to turn on win lights.
So, where is all the data actually hiding? The numbers that we want to start looking at are actually called the split times or interval times. These are the times between the intervals listed on the timeslip. The 60-330 foot, 330-660 foot, 660-1000 foot and 1000-1320 foot. These intervals all have important information for us.
For example, the 60-330 foot usually has at least 1 shift. If you can see that the split times are consistent over several passes you can see that you are hitting your shift correctly. The same goes with the 330-660, with my Th350, I’m grabbing third just before the 660 mark. If those intervals are consistent then I know that I’m doing a decent job of doing my part in the car.
Now most cars don’t shift much past the 660 mark. Inconsistency in the long top half pull could indicate that there may be some mixture irregularities or unnecessary turbulence along the carburetor. The other thing that becomes a bigger issue on the top half is wind. Wind at 50 is less of an issue than wind a 100mph.
When you add weather to this, you’ll start to see how your car reacts and how it changes. This is why it’s so important to keep track of the data and use it to make better decisions on the track. It also makes it easier to hand off your run data if you are working with another person to help make tuning decisions.
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