Reason my car is faster than his?

[brainfood]

I was out driving with my friend he has a '96 zenki completely stock except ssr mesh 16" wheels and intake. I have a '95 zenki with bbs mesh 16" wheels and intake/cheap exhaust. Now we raced from a stop light messing around (niether of us care about drag racing) he got the better jump because I had a lot of wheel hop in 1st we both shifted into second at the same time and my front bumper was about even with his rear bumper. We both had it on the floor but I pulled on him in second so hard that I reversed our possition his front to my rear when we shifted into 3rd and called it quits. His car is a stock 5sp and my car is a 5sp conversion now the only thing I can think of to explain this is the final drive in the automatic diff on my car and I was wondering if they were diff. for the automatics and the manuals. Or my s13 sohc trans has shorter gearing? Or is it simply that my one piece driveshaft and exhaust made that big of a difference? I didnt think my exhaust gave me any power it is a complete hack job and has some cheap muffler on it, I am going back to stock this week because mine is so obnoxiously loud but now I am worried I will loose some performance. if anyone knows gear ratios for auto/man or s13 sohc/s14 help me out :)

[ghostuss]

beside the gear ratio there is other stuff that matters. Weight is one. Engine health. If he has a bad clutch it would killed him. LSD matters too. I doubt it's the gear ratio since both engine are similar in power but someone tell us more. =)

[blu808]

There is no way to determin that. There are so many variables.

Weight could be different, from different tire weight, to fuel in the tank, to the 5 pounds of bondo on your quarter panel.

Also drivetrain loss. Maybe your tranny has seen more abuse, and it is harder to turn, Maybe you have a sticky wheel bearing.

Motor. Different timing, age, milage, overall engine health, gasoline octane, compression maybe alittle low.

And most importantly... Driver

[brokenben]

Driver

that makes the biggest difference..

[brainfood]

well it was a second gear pull at WOT so not much room for dirver error but we are both about the same level of driving experience. My motor has a lot more miles on it than his and my trans is older. My car if you looked at them looks to be the defin. under dog in this race and I pulled on him like he was stopped. the wieght difference couldnt have been more than 200-300lbs. My drivetrain is a little lighter since I have the one piece driveshaft. who knows? my real question is the ring and pinion in the automatics different that the 5sp cars?

[S14DB]

well it was a second gear pull at WOT so not much room for dirver error but we are both about the same level of driving experience. My motor has a lot more miles on it than his and my trans is older. My car if you looked at them looks to be the defin. under dog in this race and I pulled on him like he was stopped. the wieght difference couldnt have been more than 200-300lbs. My drivetrain is a little lighter since I have the one piece driveshaft. who knows? my real question is the ring and pinion in the automatics different that the 5sp cars?
1pc. driveshaft? Alum???

[andrave]

nah s13 and s14, from what I've read, should have same ratios, and autos and manuals all have the same rear end gears, so it shouldn't be gearing.

[projectRDM]

You want to tell us again mang, we may have missed the first three replies.

But as spoken, diffs and transmissions are all geared the same unless one of you swapped up or down on the ring and pinion.

[brainfood]

hrmm very strange we are going to race again after I put my stock exhaust on. It must just be because my exhaust and driveshaft. nah its not alum. but it is a very nice 1pc chromoly unit and is still very light for not being alum. The driveshaft shop that made it did all of evil keniviel's shafts and his sons also. They do a lot of shafts and they recommended the chromoly over alum since it will get beaten on in a track car and this will be much stronger, and lots cheaper :)

[ghostuss]

Hmm chromly huh? Hope they know what they are doing cause that thing will shatter if the temperature is not right when making them.

[rainier]

i wanna see the next race. haha

[Vatche]

200-300 hundred lbs makes a huge difference....get that straight.....to maybe 2-3 lbs

[s13dan]

S13 have pretty short gear ratios stock... thats all i know.

[sr_sil80]

Maybe you shifted at different RPM's, or one of your tach's are off....Try to switch cars and then see if your car still pulls, b/c maybe it is the driver.