I raced a BMW for fun this morning...
 

This morning i was going to work on PCH as usual and me and this new BMW 325 (auto trans) were cruising along together. we pull up next to each other at a light and he starts asking me questions, the usual stuff. after he asks the price and who makes it, etc. He asked if it was fast
(like a 15,000 Toyota is going to be fast) and just to be a jerk i said that it was faster than his new BMW. haha. he said ok, let's find out. so i was like sure, why not? I didn't rev or anything because this was just for fun, so when the light turned green, we both kind of took off. no tires spinning or anything.

Well, to my surprise, I pulled a little ahead of him at first, and then after shifting to second gear, I was even farther ahead. he caught up a little at the end of second gear, but I shifted into 3rd and he fell back again. we only took our cars up to 60-70ish, even though it was a big open area,
but that was enough for me to see that his 6 cylinder ultimate driving machine was not all that. I never got to talk to him again because there were no more red lights and eventually he turned off, but it's always fun to do stuff like that. it's so 'Fast and the Furious' (more than you can afford, pal).

My car is running the stock wheels and tires right now and I have a GReddy catback exhaust and I'm running 91 octane. Teddy said it would help, and it really does. I'm going to be taking my car to California Dragway (Speedway) this Saturday I think, so if any of you guys want to see me
take on some high performance cars and look like an idiot out there, there's your chance. I just want to do it for fun. I have nothing to prove, really.

In conclusion, I think the manual trans xB is faster than the automatic transmission. if someone disagrees, i would like to fun the cars side by side and find out.

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haha cool 8)

Eric had a encounter very much like your with a Civic ex auto about two nights ago
wasn't going to post but now i have to. we left first light and i just took of normal
and pulled him at next light he's looking at me a rev's I'm like great so as light changes
no hard launch just drop it and went thru first side buy side start to pull a little and
when i shifted to second pull half a car length stayed that way and then it was over
. now I don't support street racing [got rid of my Civic for just that reason]
now can anyone explain how this is possible with 108hp this is not the first Civic i
have pulled on? Well anyway congrats, Eric.

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i don't support street racing either, but this is for research purposes. i need to know which cars i can beat so when people talk crap about my engine i can tell them that it's not actually that slow after all.

it's possible because of the VVT-i which can change cam timing to give more performance. but also because when you add certain aftermarket "performance" accessories, it can really slow your car down, since it has parts the car was not designed for, and the car's computer can actually detune it a little to keep it running safely. depends on the car though. also, automatic transmissions suck because you lose a lot of power inthe torque converter. and with a small HP car, it makes a big difference because you need all the power you can get.

Hey eric when does vvt-i kick in ? Next i think i might have to try some el parts
no wait thats not why i bought this for. On a differant note have you worked on
your air kits for other people to buy. I am very interested in this mod.

Thanks Eric
BILL

yeah, i'm working on the air thing right now. i just want to make sure all the brackets will hold up before i sell them to people. so far mine are working great.

You said you had a Greddy catback exhaust... did they already started making em, or is yours custom?

My friend had a GReddy exhaust with a 3" pipe on the back, so we sawed it off, and welded a smaller pipe and cut up my stock muffler so it could bolt on to stock. I used WRX exhaust hooks and Cusco hardened hangers, along with a flex pipe to make it easier to line everything up.
If anyone needs a custom exhaust or anything else welded on their car, i have a friend that can do it. from aluminum to stainless to mild steel, anything can be TIG welded and it will be good quality welds. much better than a lot of "professional" welding jobs. send me a PM. we will not charge you a lot.

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I don't believe that VVT-i "kicks" kicks in like VTEC. It's a continuosly variable system. Also, because the lift doesn't change like VTEC or VVTL-i, you won't feel it kick in.

Also, to the person running 91 octane – save your money. Your ECU is calibrated to run 87 and running a higher octane can actually decease performance and fuel economy.

I suspect that the gearing of the Scion has a lot to do with it. The final drive ratio is really high numerically. This is great out of the hole, but the downside is a lot more shifting and higher RPM at cruise.

George

you are right about vvt-i being continous. another guy said something about it kicking in the e.l. prototypes cai thread and that is just wrong. about vvtl-i though, it does kick in and you do feel it. i will be glad to give someone a ride in my matrix, so they know what it is like or if i know somone is expierenced enough they can drive my matrix. the lift kicks in about 6200 rpm.

Yes, but you have VVTL-i (I assume you have a Matrix XRS). That his the lift control (like VTEC in a Honda). And, yes, you can feel VVTL-i – I just test drove a Matrix XRS last week.

VVT-i = Echo, Corolla, Scion, RAV4 (and others I'd bet)
VVTL-i = Celica, Matrix

Also, a Civic weighs more than a Scion. A Civic EX coupe weighs 2,5XX lbs. A sedan weighs more than that.

That's kind of pathetic. it has less interior room and weighs more with a similar sized engine. it costs more with the same features. don't get me wrong, Civics are great, so if the Scion is bigger, and weighs less to begin with,
if you strip it out you could probably get it going pretty fast with the proper engine swap/mods. And don't give me that aerodynamic nonsense. the Scion isn't as bad as it looks. and it isn't such a big issue in the 1/4 mile.

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No offense, but are you kidding me? Not as bad as it looks? I do believe it is as bad as it looks. The xB is a slab-sided box – the drag coefficant of an xB is most likely much higher than a Civic and it would have an effect on 1/4 mile times. Not that there's anything wrong with the xB, but aerodynamic it ain't!

I doubt the xB will have to worry about being aerodynamic. I don't see one going over a 100 down a track and until that happens there is real no need to concentrate on the aero part of it.

Exactly. you see that, Sushiguy? Aerodynamics are important but not in low speed applications. and for a car like the Civic or xB that will rarely see 80mph in the 1/4 mile,
it's not that critical. the faster the car goes, the more it becomes a factor, but I would think thinks like weight and gearing would make more of a difference at lower speeds. just my uneducated opinion.

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Congrats Eric on beating the BMW! It fits under my theory...Its not necessarily about the horse power or the engine but the driver of the vehicle. If you are a good driver you will kick some arse!

Good to know that it can beat a BMW that is what I have right now 8)

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I still beg to differ. Have you ever held your hand out the window at 50 mph? Hold it flat, and there's a lot of resistance. Make it more level and it flows through the wind better. This is only at 60 mph and with a hand. Take the frontal area of an xB vs the frontal area of a Civic and you'd see that the xB has much more frontal area and a much higher drag coefficant. Even at drag racing speeds there would be a difference. You are correct – aerodynamics don't have much of an effect at lower speeds, but I'd bet that you could get an xB up to 80 at the end of the 1/4 mile and at that speed, you can bet that the xB's shape is playing a role in wind resistance. You can't argue with physics.

you're right, but it's still fun pretending like the xB is actually aerodynamic when in fact it is not. i think the underage girls riding in their mom's suburban put it nicely when they quickly shouted before rolling their window up, "nice toaster car!".