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On Wednesday, June 13th Chad and Rick journeyed to Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, WI. Chad's new 1996 Corvette had posted some scary-quick times on the G-Tech, and we wanted to try out the pitch factor on it -- as well as play around at a dragstrip, of course!
Since we went on a Wednesday we were able to race for a measly $35. There were perhaps 50 cars there for the racing, varying from an eight-second 1974 Gremlin to a 16-second Olds station wagon. there were pros, semi-pros, and people who'd never driving their car in anger before. And it was loud! WHAT?
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Chad and Rick both drove their cars on the strip, although to avoid G-Tech contention Chad drove a half-dozen or so runs first while Rick recorded the proceedings, and then they switched positions while Rick drove three runs.
The initial G-Tech results for Chad's car were off by one or two tenths of a second, and about two MPH. The reason for this is that the G-Tech is an inertial performance meter and measures acceleration and time to calculate speed.
When a car accelerates, by nature it pitches backward slightly. Chad's stiffly-sprung 'Vette pitches less than most cars, causing the G-Tech's estimates to be more inaccurate than normal. After experimenting with the pitch factor the G-Tech started to get within a tenth in the ET and one or two MPH on the trap speed for Chad, and less than a tenth and one mph for Rick:
| Driver/Run | G-Tech Time | Timeslip Time | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chad #1 | n/a | 14.299 secs @ 106.92 mph | n/a |
| Chad #2 | 13.514 secs @ 105.78 mph | 13.640 secs @ 108.25 mph | -0.126/-2.47 |
| Chad #3 | 13.402 secs @ 107.32 mph | 13.542 secs @ 108.60 mph | -0.140/-1.28 |
| Chad #4 | 14.257 secs @ 104.48 mph | 14.287 secs @ 106.23 mph | -0.030/-1.75 |
| Chad #5 | 13.577 secs @ 106.78 mph | 13.608 secs @ 108.34 mph | -0.031/-1.56 |
| Chad #6 | n/a | 13.503 secs @ 108.93 mph | n/a |
| Chad #7 | 13.909 secs @ 106.74 mph | n/a | n/a |
| Chad #8 | 13.426 secs @ 107.58 mph | 13.491 secs @ 109.47 mph | -0.065/-1.89 |
| Rick #1 | 14.287 secs @ 98.79 mph | 14.463 secs @ 97.37 mph | -0.176/1.42 |
| Rick #2 | 14.438 secs @ 97.11 mph | 14.544 secs @ 96.49 mph | -0.106/0.62 |
| Rick #3 | 14.488 secs @ 96.46 mph | 14.504 secs @ 96.58 mph | -0.016/-0.12 |
Regardless of the G-Tech calibration, both of us had a lot of fun thrashing our cars on the track. Chad demonstrated that his 'Vette belongs at the top of the Redline Race Club acceleration heap, and Rick showed that even if you're outgunned by a superior car, you might still come out on top via more experience and practice!
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