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Jeff Smith's Blog

Chassis Tuning My 11-Second Chevelle

Posted June 15 2009 05:00 AM by CarCraft 
Filed under: Editorials

Dragstrip Chassis Tuning for Quicker E.T.’s

 


I’ve been taking my Chevelle out to the track for the last several weeks with unsuccessful attempts to improve the 60-foot times. The front end comes up pretty quickly while the rear squats right out of the gate. I tried to slow the front end rise with adjustable shocks, but that has not proved to be helpful. The 60-foot times are very inconsistent with a spread of anything from 1.72 to my latest effort—a miserable 1.90 when the car spun badly. The Chevelle has run as quick as a 7.57 (which equates to somewhere in the 11.80s in the quarter), but the car has never duplicated that time. That was also when the weather was really cool. I think what the car needs is a either the Lakewood No-Hop bars, or Global West has a new product that will lower the rear lower control arm mounting point on the rear axle to change the instant center. I think this will be the key to making the car plant the rear axle, put a little rise into the rear suspension, and reduce the 60-foot times. I’m going to also stiffen the front with different shocks and then start tuning the rear suspension with shocks to make the car more consistent and reduce the 60-foot times before I try to make more power. It doesn’t make sense to try horsepower or torque improvements until the car is more consistent.

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