A while back SCC wrote an article comparing street tires/drag radials/slicks using a turbocharged Sentra as the test vehicle. Their 60' times sucked BAD, 2.8 on street tires, 2.6 (best) on drag radials, and a BEST of 2.2 on slicks. You may be thinking that this is a high power FWD and traction is a big issue however a good friend of mine owns a '97 Eclipse GST (modded) and runs 2.0/2.1 on STREET tires all day long. His Eclipse weighs in close to the Sentra and puts down similar amounts of power, I don't see how they got such shitty times when my friend, who goes to the track maybe once a month, can knock of 2.0/2.1 on crappy street tires. A recent issue had them testing a non-turbo Sentra with various stages of weight reduction and they had the same problem! Their 60's were horrible and i'm sure the timeslip would reflect that if they'd let a decent driver make a few runs in the car. I knock approximately .2 seconds off my 1/4 mile for every .1 second I take off my 60'. Am I crazy or can the testers at Sport Compact Car not seem to drive to save their lives? I don't think i've ever gotten a 60' as bad as they average, my worst was with crappy tires and a slipping clutch and it was still a 2.3, my car doesn't compare very well to the turbo Sentra but it does to the non-turbo SR20DE Sentra they tested recently. Any thoughts on what might be causing these horrible launches?

 

SCC aren't drag racers and don't spend their weekends at the strips
Nor is it a setup that they're used to

It's like asking Papadakis to test a car's lap times and tell him he's a sorry driver when he doesn't do good



Next?

 

They are not idiots over there. A 2.2 60ft time on slicks is soo bad it has to be a problem with the car. I think the suspension is the problem. I have heard alot of people having problems with launching those cars.

 

Where the hell have you been? You just noticed???
I bet you just thought you had "mAd sKiLLz0rz"!

hehe

 

Hmmm... is my name Papadakis??? I rarely get to the track and when I do I never pull worse than a 2.3 even on shitty street tires with 500 treadwear rating. I could almost guarantee that the drivers at SCC hit the track more often than I and the fact that on two different occasions with two different cars they pulled equally horrible 60's is what lead me to believe they're shitty drivers.

 

yep, just because there not "drag racers" isn't a good reason that they suck so bad, my mom could pull better 60' in her accord

 

Write them a letter.

 

Did you see the old ultimate street car challenge tests? The supercharged ITR supposedly putting down 240whp, running a 14.7 in the 1/4. A stock ITR can do that. I don't care if it had a worn clutch, they just suck.

 

I will defend them, they most definently CAN drive...I've been impressed with them from day 1. That type R wasn't even piloted by a SCC staffer and it was dome at high 90ish temps at PALMDALE...sheeesh. Why do you think that Mustang only ran 12s?

 

What have they done to make you think they can drive??? All i've seen is example after example as to their inability to pilot a car down the 1/4 mile. If I have somehow missed the issue where they took a car to the track on street tires and pulled respectable 60's then please, by all means, correct me. Considering I pulled better 60's on 195/50/R15 Bridgestone Potenza SO3 Pole Positions than they did on SLICKS... i'm going to have to say that they can't drive to save their lives.

 

Remember when they took out the parking brakes in the Civic Si challenge against the other magazines, they couldn't even do a burn out.


[Modified by Trac226, 7:41 AM 7/26/2002]

 

ED BERGENHOLTZ couldn't do the burn out dipshit.

I'd like to see a road race between you and some of SCC's drivers. 1/4 mile isn't **** when it comes to driving skills. Honestly.

 

LoL, if the scc drivers are so great, they would be a great driver all around. Drag racing and road racing both takes skill and confidence. A great driver can drive anything any time and any place. WTF do you know about that? If somebody doesnt know how to drag race dont put them in a car going down the 1320's and dont do an article on the drag strip. They might as well have taken the car to limerock and did some laps.
EVIL

 

I'm not praising SCC for being some type of godly driving skills team or anything. I'm saying this guy is a dumb *** for calling them out like that and blatantly saying they suck just because they can't launch a car for the 1/4 mile.

WTF do I know about that? I guess since you know me so ******* well I'll leave it up to you.

 

"I'd like to see a road race between you and some of SCC's drivers. 1/4 mile isn't **** when it comes to driving skills. Honestly."


You can't state that you are a good driver and then state that you only drive autocross. A good driver can drive any car, any time. That was the point I was trying to convey. Just because you are good in the twisties, doesnt mean that you HaVe Mad DrivINg SkILLZ yO. I have talked personally with the sport compact editors and the people that actually drive the cars. They are not autocross guys or drag racing professionals, they are just regular car guys that get paid for doing what the love. That is the reason I came down on you a little bit harsh because, scc guys are not drivers, they are editors.
EVIL


[Modified by Evil GS-R, 10:40 AM 7/26/2002]

 

Don't tell it to me - tell it to pfcfutrell

 

When I get around to it, I might even spend some time writing them a letter stating that they are making imports look bad in general. Think about this senario, a domestic guy picks up an import magazine and sees 15 second turbo charged HKS integra, and high 14 second supercharged type r's. It just gives him more of a reason to go out and hike on imports like no tomorrow. I know a lot of domestic guys with really fast cars and they respect the import scene etc. But the general public can get the wrong idea from reading these articles. Maybe sport compact guys need to hire drivers to take these cars out to the strip???? Who knows, but something must be done about these repeated embarrasments.
EVIL

 

Tell them to get rid of their damn "Reader's Rides" section too. Ths month's killed me

 

And I am just a soldier in the US Army, I work 10+ hours a day atleast 5 days a week. I don't know how I find time to manage an active social life, work on my car, and take my car to the dragstip/autocross but I seem to manage somehow. My car was built for road-racing/autocross before I ever spent a dime on making more power because I believed that drag-racing was for fast cars and auto-x was for fast drivers. My first time to the dragstrip EVER I netted fast 60's than SCC on regular street tires and very minimal suspension mod's and since then i've improved even more when my busy schedule allows a few hours for the track. I would be happy to test my amateur driving skills against any of the editors of SCC, I can just about gaurantee that given equal cars I would beat them down the quarter mile, and probably on a road course. I would also like to state that I agree completely with whoever mentioned that they're giving imports a bad name by netting horrible times at the track, they should hire a professional or atleast someone who goes to the track often enough to keep their skills honed. I usually make a couple passes to warm myself up when I haven't been to the track for a while, both articles I mentioned above had them running the same car repeatedly down the track and still saw little or no improvement on 60' times. I still enjoy reading SCC but their driving skills seem nonexistant, I don't see how anybody who's read the magazine could disagree.

 

I agree on everything including the 10 hours a day at work. **** I am lucky if I make it to the track with my friends once a month. Work, school, and the gym takes a lot of my time, but driving has always been my thing. I saw we all write a letter to sport compact stating some facts that were discussed in this thread.
EVIL

 

They drive alright at SCC,reason for the shitty 60ft times was the POS 4dr Nissan with its horrible suspension and its fucc up differential,cool 13.2 ET 4-door cruiser but definitly not a drag car...and they did drive good enough last year to make a stock mustang GT run a 14.2.

 

I am on SCC's side, but stock GT's run 14.2s....they didn't shock the world with that one.

 

Right,but what im saying,if they where such bad drivers,they would run hi 14s and up with a stock GT

 

I'm stupid...sorry.

 

It's been a while since I read the article but wasn't the turbo Sentra they used to test tires one of the competiters in the "Ultimate Street Car Competition"? If so wouldn't the suspension most likely be moddified for performance use? Maybe whoever drove that Mustang should have been recruited for driving the Sentra's in their later tests.