Took the HHR to the track this last Friday night and did some racing with real lights and not a dash mounted meter! Cold track added up to low traction so my launches were crappy all night. Raced a 2.4SS Cobalt auto. He had a full exhaust system and his 17's had better tires than my crappy stocker 16's. First race I won! Ran a 16.901 and he ran a 16.977! I was also trapping 4mph higher than him all night. I really need to work on my launches! Coming from a previous honda owner I'm not used to having anything close to torque! Second race I lost because I missed 2nd. Oh well. Going again on Saturday to work on launches.

 

How were you launching with the clutch?

 

it would either bog down or spin too much... it sucked. Tried everything from lauching at 1500 to 3500... No good.

 

what mods you have to beat him?

 

Well, not to offend you, but coming form the cobalt community, trust me, there is by no means any way a 2.4ss can run that bad. 2.4 ss auto's are low low 16's or mid to high 15's, and the manuals onyl get better. Are you sure it wasnt a 2.2 with some ss badging or something to that affect.

 

Possible might need an anti/reduce torque damper to reduce the tire spinning.

 

I know this guy personally and know for a fact its a 2.4 SS. Our track elevation is over 3000 ft plus the track was cold. Both of us were running badly. My mods are:: REAL cold air intake, GMPP Mani, 2.25 Exh... That is it. He has a 2.4SS coupe, auto with short ram intake and 2.5" exh... He was launching good and with an auto never missed a shift.

 

The main reason you were running faster times in the 1/4 is tire size. Your 16's are smaller in diameter and lighter (total wheel/tire weight), than his 17's. This makes for slower spin-up down the track. Wanna prove this theory? Just swap wheels with the guy for a run next time and watch him walk away from you.

If you check the Honda boards, you'll find that most people drag racing are running 15's. Should you go down to a shorter tire height your track times would be even quicker. The engine will wind out quicker and top out faster. You don't need full top speed at the track in an HHR - you will never break 100.

And as far as slamming on "dash mounted meters" - why not watch the video on this page:

G-Tech Run

It is impossible to "fool" a G-Tech. The accelerometer only "starts" when the car launches - there is no "reaction time" like at the drags. That makes it more effective at measuring the actual 1/4-mile time than strip lights, which always factor in the driver's sluggish response (reaction). I had a great conversation with the designer of the G-Tech at SEMA yesterday and they have another awesome new product coming out soon that is amazing...cant' wait!

 

Not too worried about reaction times. I am consistantly at .120 or under. Every dash mounted meter has a +/- error rate. +/- a tenth or 2.. most are this way. Thats the only reason I don't trust them. Numbers aren't 100% accurate. To me track times are. I know the elevation, temp, weight of my car, so on and so forth. I know what the other guys around here run. I can take any dash mount and say I ran a XX.XXX but nothing to prove it. Could have put it in a Corvette and say I ran a 13.xxx... point is at the track I have an assigend number. Pictures/video of my car with said number on it. Time slips with number above my times. Black and white proof of what I am running. Not a dash mounted piece of tech that can be moved. Anything can be fooled. Even the most sophisticated piece of tech in a car.

As far as tire sizes go. Even if his 17's were weighing more and had a bigger drag on power with rotating mass and all the mathematics you can summon, he was still slower in a faster machine. I hesitate to post things like this because of people like you. Hoping to get a positive feedback... like "wow a 2.2 with mods can acutally beat a SS cobalt, great job" would be too much to ask. Instead you have to be the end all know all of auto tuning and modification and belittle someone else's work that may not agree with your own. I'm sorry you feel the way you do and take pride in making other's accomplishments feel like they did nothing. I wasn't asking for the smallest reason as to why I beat him. I was just proud that my 3300 lbs HHR with a small 2.2 was beating a 2800 lbs 2.4 cobalt with same mods. Anyone else that has anything positive to say, and those that have already, thank you! But this is the reason I don't like posting about these things anymore. And probably won't. I will stick to monthly meetings with my local group and maybe a regional meeting or two. So long, and thanks for all the fish. Or something.

 

Good job. You forgot to mention the aerodynamic difference on top of the weight and power differences. Our car is shaped like a brick compared to the cobalt.