I made $ drag racing my stock 3 cylinder Geo! Long!

[93Cobra#2771]

That's funny, I was thinking the same thing the other day. I know Autometer tachs can read 8,6, and 4 cylinders (you cut certain wires for each combination).

Perhaps lift a tach off a three cylinder tractor? :lol:

Or, use one for a four cylinder and plan on it reading 25% fast? Of course, then you could make everyone think the 3 cyl can turn some rpms. :lol:

[ATaylorRacing]

Originally Posted by metromizer

That's a great story Angelo!

Forget leaving on the third one, you practically need to leave on the first yellow with a car that slow! haha

I had no tach in that car so I used some strips of blue tape on the speedometer so I could at least shift at a consistant mph. Like you said, I found it real hard to race the top end with such a big difference in speeds.

one serious question; Where did you find a tach that reads 3 pulses per 2 rpm (3 cylinder)? My 3cyl. Metro needs one

I actually just staged and launched like I do the other cars that I race. Never had too bad a RT at that race. The combination of 1660 lbs and small diameter tires with enough power to spin, but not smoke the right front garnered decent RTs without planning for them. In fact I was chirping the rt ft tire on all the 1-2 shifts since I do not lift off the gas when I shift!

As far as a tach, I had purchased a Equus from O'Reilly Auto. You can set it up for 1-12 cylinders. When you buy it you MUST open it up and look at the directions first and make sure that the model you are getting has a set up to read off of a induction wire clamped to a plug wire. The web site shows all of them like that but at the store the cheaper ones did not do it. When first hiooked up it was not reading correctly at all so we moved the induction calmp on wire from #1 to the coil wire and every thing worked great!

[Intrigued]

LOL! Love it!

At a special drag day this summer at the strip close to here they did a "29.5" single run elimination during a break in the action. You were supposed to run as close to 29.5 seconds as possible without breaking out - one pass only. Only a couple of cars ran slow enough. One guy crept along in first gear and ran like 39 seconds, and another was in the 30s somewhere.

The coolest part of the whole event was when some guy pulled up in an old rusted-out Model A (T??) pickup! Had his grandkids with him: one holding a stopwatch, and one with a balloon and sucking on a tootsie pop. There they go down the strip, waving at folks. I had a grin almost as big as an EV grin and was giggling like an idiot. I soooo wanted them to win, but they broke out... ...but not by much!

I could have won the event easy. Tried to get my son to run in the GMC, but couldn't talk him into it. All he would have had to do was run up to 30 mph real quick, and then hold it there! (30 mph = mile in 2 minutes = quarter mile in 30 seconds...) If the cruise would engage at 30 you could have used it, which is somehow so very funny for strategy at a drag strip...

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by ATaylorRacing

As far as a tach, I had purchased a Equus from O'Reilly Auto. You can set it up for 1-12 cylinders...

Equus... Good to know

Originally Posted by ATaylorRacing

you MUST open it up and look at the directions first!

Directions??? what is this activity you speak of ??? Should I also put the toilet seat down when I'm finished? j/k

Originally Posted by ATaylorRacing

and make sure that the model you are getting has a set up to read off of a induction wire clamped to a plug wire. The web site shows all of them like that but at the store the cheaper ones did not do it. When first hiooked up it was not reading correctly at all so we moved the induction calmp on wire from #1 to the coil wire and every thing worked great!

Seriously though, great information Angelo. Do you have an Equus part number you could share?

I can't be the only 2nd generation Metro owner who wants to instal a 3 cylinder tach in his car. 1st gen owners could find a convertable and salvage the cluster, but they don't fit the later years. Every wrecking yard 2nd gen metro that came with a factory tach (that I've looked at least) is a 4 cylinder, which would read low if used on my 3 cylinder.

[ATaylorRacing]

Originally Posted by Intrigued

At a special drag day this summer at the strip close to here they did a "29.5" single run elimination during a break in the action. You were supposed to run as close to 29.5 seconds as possible without breaking out - one pass only. Only a couple of cars ran slow enough. One guy crept along in first gear and ran like 39 seconds, and another was in the 30s somewhere.

at a drag strip...

Nearly every year at the Shelby/Dodge Nat'ls they have a turtle race where everyone trys to run a 19.99....maybe I should bring the Geo for that! It's hilarious to watch guys that are running 10 seconds in their FWD Mopars at 140 mph try to slow down to a 19 second pass. I usually win by launching as I normally would tio get a great reaction time, then shift into high gear (full manual valve body) at 3000 rpm and not exceed 60 mph. The 1st time I tried this was by leaving in high gear (easy to do with efi and a 4000 stahl convertor)....flat out it would then the 19.9 somethinng but the reaction time would suck.

[IheartGeos]

I really did not know that Geos had that much power or could withstand that much punishment! Now that I know, I will not be afraid at all to run mine hard when needed. Thanks for the great story, I will be sure to tell it to all my friends who also have Geo Metros!

[ATaylorRacing]

Originally Posted by IheartGeos

I really did not know that Geos had that much power or could withstand that much punishment! Now that I know, I will not be afraid at all to run mine hard when needed. Thanks for the great story, I will be sure to tell it to all my friends who also have Geo Metros!

When I had a tach put in the car I had always thought that when I ran it hard on the street I was shifting at 5000 rpm, but the new tach showed I was only shifting at 4000. At the drag strip you have to run at least a 19.99 to be able to bracket race. To do this I had to launch hard enough to get a little spin off the right front tire and also had to shift at 5500 rpm. On the street I never shift passed 5000 rpm which was only good enough for 20.23 seconds.

Using my drag strip at the tire hp formula I found that a best time of 19.84 seconds showed 50.8 hp at the tires....during eliminations my best time of 19.9 equalled 47.8 hp while my worst run in eliminations of a 19.99 showed only about 47.2 hp. I am sure that if the motor did not have 160,000 miles on it and/or had a valve job it would be quicker. A new fast time of 18.99 should be obtained if the car had 55 hp at the tires, but it is hard for a car to have as much hp at the tires as the motor is rated at due to drivetrain losses.

The thing I was afraid of the most was tranny breakage...I had to launch at about 3000 rpm to get a bit of tire spin or else the take off would slightly bog the motor down. I would certainly be warry of this thing lasting an entire season being raced like this. I have no idea if the trannys in these are the same as or as tough as the ones in the turbo Suzukis GTI models.

Bracket racing requires a good reaction time to the strarting light and a consistant car....fast does not win the race unless it includes these two items. The car I USUALLY race is a high 16 second 84 Horizon that barely hits 80 in the 1/4. I used it to win the VAST majority of my 34 NHRA/IHRA championships. My 12 second SRT4 Neon has not won a championship yet, but I did manage a runner-up finish at the Stick Shift Nationals in November.

[elhigh]

All that and an average over 37mpg. That made my eyebrows go up, funny stuff.

Hey, nice racing. I like the "Run what you brung" bracket races best, that's a real driver's test, not a battle of the checkbooks.