On April 30 I took my Supercharged 4Runner to the local track, US131 DRAGSTRIP. Racing on the dragstrip is not new to me, I own a 1982 SUZUKI DRAGBIKE equipped with a slick and all the goodies. I can run 10.04 @ over 138 MPH with no weelie bar. I never really have any tire hook up problems with the bike and thought the dragstrip would provide same results for the 4Runner. I guess I was surprised on the first 4Runner pass when I warmed up the tires three times, staged and launched at 2000 RPM to an incredible tire spin that lasted through third gear. The time was a very un-impressive 16.868 @ 84.44MPH. Well, thank goodness it got better from there. I did have a problem with tire spin (and so did everyone else, the track was very "green" because very few runs had been made this season) on every pass but was able to improve to a best time of 15.43 @ 86.49MPH
Modifications to my truck as of race day: 1998 5 Speed 4Runner with TRD Supercharged 3.4L V6. K&N stock replacement air filter. NGK BCPR7ET (2164) plugs. Check valve installed on the air assist line.
I have detailed my track results below for your review. At the very bottom of this page is an actual time slip of me blowing away a CHEVY 454SS El Camino (that was a blast !)
1/4 MILE ET MPH TEMP COMMENTS
1.
16.868
84.44
70F
Tire spin through third gear, check valve installed.
2.
15.432
86.49
70F
Tire spin in first gear, check valve installed.
3.
15.457
86.70
68F
Tire spin in first gear, check valve installed.
4.
15.497
86.54
62F
Tire spin in first gear, without check valve, shift at 5K RPM
5.
15.518
87.21
60F
Big tire spin in first, no check valve, shift at redline.
6.
15.480
87.34
58F
Tire spin in first gear, no check valve.
It kind of looks like removing the air assist check valve improved performance based on the results above but ... you must consider the fact that the temp had dropped from 70 to under 60F by the end of day. My feeling is that the check valve really had no affect on overall performance at the track.
I really had a blast at the track, everyone that observed my runs quickly came over to see what was going on under the hood. My second pass was against an intercooled Isuzu Turbo car owned by Noah, a well known quick car fanatic. Noah did make it to the end faster than I (his 14.967 to my 15.432) but It was heads up race until he hit third gear. Everyone was impressed with the performance of the 4Runner, if only it could hook up. I experienced much more tire spin on the track then on the street. (?)
I guess the best run I had was against one of those CHEVY SS454 El Camino's. His ride was very loud, with headers & duel exhaust. It had some kind of wide tires for improved traction. He achieved better reaction time than I but the 4Runner immediately took the lead and kept it. Check out the time slip below for all the details, my # is 703.
That is me on the left (#703)
and the CHEVY SS454 on right (#706)
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