Sharps SSS

I called up my friend with an 2009 Accord V6 sedan yesterday and we decided to head over to Great Lakes Dragaway to try our hands at a little quarter mile fun.

Yes, I know my S is not made for straight line acceleration, but I was curious what my 2003 with 49k miles, K&N FIPK and Skunk 2 cat back would do.

After all, it felt quick and my curiosity got the best of me!

Also, we are both 47 years old and still love the need for speed.

His 4 door automatic Accord has a throttle body spacer,cat delete with cat back, ported intake runners and under drive pulley.

Heading up there on the highway, (in Mexico of course), we did several highway pulls from around 60-100 with the same results every time. I would slightly pull him about 1/2 car length, which Was what I expected. I figured with a v6 with more factory HP and torque and his given mods, that it would be very close and it was. I thought once we got on the track, I would blow him off the line and beat him by 3-4 tenths.

Fast forward to the first race...
I'm aware that my stock rear end is fragile from the factory and that with my newer sticky Advan AD-08's, that a clutch drop would not be appropriate. So I decided I would bring the RPM's up to around 5500 and slowly let the clutch out as I added throttle. This is when Things got bad.

I did not give a crap about my reaction time and as I have a considerable amount of quarter mile passes with different cars in my past, I know the clock does not start until I start moving, so my plan was to let the light turn green and take my time launching it as stated only being concerned with my total time.

I brought her to around 5500 and let the clutch out at a reasonable rate (not dumping it, to avoid breakage) while at the same time mashing the accelerator to the floor.
Needless to say, my car experienced what I believe to be clutch slip. The RPM's climbed while my acceration didn't. I let off the throttle and then got back in the gas. The slip seemed to stop and my car took off. The result was a 15.390 at 93.36 mph with a 60' time of 2.578.

The clutch slip shocked me because my clutch was adjusted properly and I had never had any slippage at all before (although I had never launched it that hard before)
I believe my clutch is original and thought that by not dumping it, that it would be fine. I was way wrong.

I made one more pass about a half hour later and soft launched it at around 2500 and then mashed the gas with no slippage and ran a 15.339 at 94.42 mph with a 60' time of 2.609.
My friends best run of the two was 15.172.

I believe my slippage is an indication of a weak original clutch, or was my technique a bad choice?

Or, does my 03 have the clutch delay valve and if so, is that what I experienced and how do I delete that?

My plans were to get a Puddymod 4:57 diff and installing it, but obviously, I have to address this clutch issue first.

I would like your opinions on the causes of my slippage and if you think my clutch is weak and needs replacing? Please give me some recommendations on clutch choices.

I plan on tracking my car occasionally with very limited quarter mile action in my future, but I would want a clutch that would be strong enough to easily handle some 6000 rpm launches with my future 4:57 Puddymod diff.

My car is not my daily driver and I will only be putting about 2-3k miles a year on her.

Anyway, thanks for taking your time reading this and I looked forward to your feedback!

Randy

CoolGuy094

I don't understand your confusion. Your clutch slipped because you were slipping the clutch. That would be the expected reaction from the pedal inputs you were providing on your first pass.

How many miles are on your AP1? The 03's do not use a CDV. Your clutch sounds fine.

Sharps SSS

When my clutch was fully out and my foot was floored, the car was not accelerating.
Sorry for the confusion.

MR.T

Sometimes funny things can happen at the strip, but a lot of the time it boils down to being nervous. A lot of the sensations you feel depend on how fast the car beside you is.
I lined up beside a camaro that popped a wheelie at take off and I was sure that I was rolling backwards, haha.
I would try duplicating your technique on the street just to see if it happens again. Doesn't sound like you abuse the car, so at 47k the clutch should have plenty of life.

From what I've read, a good solid 7k clutch dump, actually spinning the tires, is the safest most effective launch on a stock S. don't quote me on that though.

4.57's sound great. My 03 has 4.77's and I love it. Wouldn't trade them for the world. I guess I can't say that... never been in, or driven an S with stock gears, haha. Just can't imagine it being as fun.