I'm gonna take my slow stock 88' duke 5-speed to the track this week...just to have fun and also have a "baseline" to compare to in progress as I do mods down the road..

Anyways I've haven't beat on it since I've had it since January and drive it like a grandma lol to get optimal mpg, so I don't know what is the "optimal" shift points on a duke? How high should rev on launch and each gear...yeah I know it's going to be slow, but whatever. Thanks

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1995 Pontiac Firebird - 3.4 V6 5-Speed (Engine outta commission awaiting V8/6-Speed swap someday), 93-97 to 98-02 Trans Am body conversion My Firebird's Cardomain Page
1988 Pontiac Fiero - 2.5 I4 5-Speed My Fiero's Cardomain Page

I just took my wife's 85 duke to the track. I just shifted about the time it hit 3000 or so. seamed to work. Listen to the engine, it'll tell ya, and have fun

//www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/087194.html

Based on the stock dyno sheet, I would shift at 5000 RPM for the 1-2 shift, and 4500 RPM for subsequent shifts.

Launch RPM is going to depend on the traction available (tires, track)... 4000 RPM might be a good starting point.

shifting at 5000 with a duke is borderline insanity.

Care to explain how you would extract better performance than the shift points I've suggested, using the Isuzu tranny?

1st: 3.73
2nd: 2.04
3rd: 1.45
4th: 1.03
5th: 0.74

From the thread I linked to:


If you're not revving to 5000, then you're not trying to win the race.

quote Originally posted by darkhorizon: shifting at 5000 with a duke is borderline insanity.

Based on what? Revving it to its GM warranty covered red line?

quote Originally posted by pmbrunelle: Based on the stock dyno sheet, I would shift at 5000 RPM for the 1-2 shift, and 4500 RPM for subsequent shifts.

5000 in first and 4500 in the rest looks perfectly reasonable to me... better than 5000 in every gear...

[This message has been edited by carbon (edited 05-10-2010).]

Hey. its all fun. I ran my VW campervan, stock with full live- in interior in it down National Trails Dragway. I think it turned something like 22 seconds.

I think 4k - 4.5k is a good place to rev to in an 88 duke. It tends to run out of air higher than that, so you probably won't gain anything by revving higher.

i shift 4500-5000 when having fun, i've hit 7000 before ( on accident ) but my engine ( the entire thing ) bucks so can't have alot of fun off the line

Thanks for the responses guys, I guess i'll rev up to 4-5kish

I'm going tomorrow...who wants to play "price is right" (or better yet whatever that drag racing show is on Speed tv) with my best time lol.

I'm guessing 19.86 lol. I'm not offering a prize if you guess the closest, just bragging rights I guess lol.

Btw it's the car in my signature above. All "stock" except for an aftermarket radio and rubber floor mats, removing all unnecessary everyday items like jumper cables/first aid kit/etc. It has about 92k miles on it right now.

well, looking back I guess I was shifting at around 4-4500, but the engine in mine only has about 30,000 on a GM crate engine, so I pushed it a little. How did yours do, and did ya have fun?

I'm going to guess low 18s. BTW, if you post your timeslip, you'll have the distinction of being the only verified Duke entry on the Quarter Mile List.

quote rogergarrison:...Hey. its all fun. ..

Yeah, especially the part where the Duke pushes the snapped connecting rod on the 20+ year old econo engine through the side of the block and the car does a James Bond smoke screen!

BTDT

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: Yeah, especially the part where the Duke pushes the snapped connecting rod on the 20+ year old econo engine through the side of the block and the car does a James Bond smoke screen! BTDT

You need to visit my "the official i threw a rod while doing 80 mph thread"
//www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/076635.html

I've beat on both of my duke powered cars, and so far havn't had any problems with either. My 87 now has a massive leak from the timing cover, but it is slated for a 4.9 swap. The wife's 85 has a 35000 mile reman in it, and it did quite nicely at the track last weekend. There were no official times, so no timeslip, but I am planning on taking it to the local 1/4 mile track this summer before its 3800sc transformation begins, just to see the before and after. Way I look at it, have fun with it, and if the engine does let go, just gives ya an excuse to do upgrades sooner, lol.

quote Originally posted by Blacktree: I'm going to guess low 18s. BTW, if you post your timeslip, you'll have the distinction of being the only verified Duke entry on the Quarter Mile List.

Thanks for the heads up! Going over to the thread now to post my timeslip/info.

So anyways the racing turned out great. I did 4 runs, my best (2nd run) was 18.56 but my 4th would have been my best as it was the best reaction time (.272 which to give an idea my first run was .847) of the night but I missed third, yet I still did a 18.57 on that run! I also met another Fiero owner who saw this thread on PFF he said lol. He had a blue with double white stripes Fiero with a 3800 S/C. While waiting outside cars chatting with everyone in the lanes as we had to wait, another guy came up and said he saw this thread on PFF too, but he didn't have a Fiero (that I saw). Neither person said their forum names...

Anyways now I have a basis to compare and a feel for drag racing the Fiero for when I take it again hopefully in the next couple months after doing a tune up and maybe some minor mods. Fun times..