I have not been on a drag strip since 1979. I raced a couple Camaros quite a few times back then, but otherwise I have no clue what I'm doing today.

Sunday I will race my '94 for the first time on street tires. I think I have had this conversation before, but need more input. My car is an A4 with 3000 stall PeteK converter and 354 gears.

What I understand and this may be way off:

Drive around the water; don't spin in the water
Stage to the lights
Mash the go pedal on the second to last yellow light on the tree?

What else?

Oh yeah - put on the brakes at the end and drive back to the pits.

You might have some trouble hooking up on street tires. Lowering the pressure to about 18 psi cold will help some.
You are correct in everything else, except go on the last yellow, you might red line on the second to last yellow.
If it is hooking up then you can 'play' with footbraking it for a quicker launch. You can also lighten the car up before you go by leaving the spare tire, jack and anything else at home, but it really won't make a huge difference.

I was deflowered when I went late last year. I kept smokin the tires on the launch with street tires. Try to get off the line before you mash it. Taper your accelleration.

Your tires will grip better if they get warm. A small burn out will also clean them off. At the light bring the idle up slightly till the car wants to move. This will help keep wheel spin down. Roll into the throttle rather then mash it. You don't want TO much wheel spin.

Drive around the water box.

Spin the tires just barely enough to do a few rotations and clean all the crap you got on em from rolling around in bits of everyone else's tire rubber. They warm up really quickly, and it's very easy to overheat street tires. Do not smoke em!

I would leave them up at 25-30 psi. Too low and you'll lose your contact patch. You can always let more air out later.

Go on the last yellow. I always stage as shallow as possible. If you don't stage consistent, you will never have consistent reaction times.

Don't change a bunch of shit between rounds either! Or you'll be chasing your tail all night.

Bracket or heads up?

Quote:

It will be standard brackets and then the club will be giving out trophies to winners in each class, but I have no clue as what class is what, I just want to go see how fast my car will get to the end of the strip. I'd like to shut up a few big mouth C5-C6 racers that think C4s can't run with the big dogs. If I could break into the 12s I'd be happy.

Last night a bunch of them were kidding around with me and said that I could be the car to take the kiddies for rides down the track. The race track allows a few runs at the end of the day with a passenger, but the car cannot go under 14 seconds. I'm the president of the club so I get ribbed real hard about my C4 "race car wannabe". I have pretty thick skin so a little ribbing is in fun, but I'd love to get under that 12 mark to at least get in the ball park with most of the later model cars.

can you borrow some drag radials?

Quote:

I doubt at this late notice, besides everyone I know that has drag radials will be at the race.

Being bracket racing work on being consistent than times

I went to one club race, a woman's Corvette was in the shop
She showed up with her Kcar and wound up winning!

The faster cars on slicks wind up waiting while the slower car goes
Their slicks cool off loose grip
Throwing their consistency off

Quote:

You better nail down the 13 second times first! I don't think you've got any chance at 12s without DRs or slicks, and LOTS of practice. Inexperienced drivers in C5s tend to run high 13s, C6s wouldn't be much better unless they have launch control.

If you want to beat up on those higher hp cars, you'll need to concentrate on your launch and reaction time. Don't be one of those dumbasses that goes up in a cloud of smoke every run and then claims his car is just too powerful. Smokem on the first run, bog on the next, and work your way to the happy middle ground. It's much busier with a manual, so I would always try to stage quickly and then concentrate on my launch rpm and the tree. If you stage after the other guy, the the tree is already lighting up before you're ready for it.

What I hate most about drag racing is waiting so long in between rounds that I can't even remember what I did wrong on the last run and how to adjust. And generally your day is over before you get a chance to figure it out. If I only get 3-4 runs, I'm so nervous about wasting one that I won't experiment with my launch technique.

With road racing, when you screw up a turn, you get to try it again 40 seconds later, over and over again.

Do some dry runs on an empty road somewhere! Once street tires start to spin, the run is over, not much you can do to recover. I upgraded to drag radials for that reason, street tires were just unforgiving and unpredictable. It really depends on the track prep though.

Also since you're doing brackets, I assume you know how to fender race and sandbag?

Being the slower car, you have a disadvantage there. I would setup my rearview mirror so I could see the other car catching up to me.

Kevin, Brian and all

Thanks for the great tips. I know it will be a learning experience and not to expect too much on my first time out. I wish I had a way to get hold of some DRs by Sunday. I'll look at the local CraigsList and see what they have. I might be able to get a set of old wheels from the Dealership that sponsors us if I find the tires. Any suggestions for size tires to look for?

I would get the widest Mickey Thompson drag radial that they say will fit.

If you do race on drag radials, then you can back in and get the rear tires wet, this makes for an easier burnout. Do your first burnout pretty heavy until they smoke up good. On the runs after that, burn em just enough to get a little smoke. If the car is moving too much, just get back on the brake a little with your left foot while continuing the burnout. As they spin, you should start feeling the friction increase and pull the car forward more. It's a bizarre feeling, but it means they're at their stickiest.

Drag radials are nice because they can slip a lot without completely losing traction.

Glad to hear

best of luck

Hey Brizz, if you get a little squirrely get out of that thing fast. Street tires will make it go nuts if you're not careful. We don't want to see you in the wall or anything. Good luck finding some Dr's!

Aww don't scare him now. The only cars I've ever seen hit the wall were lifting the wheels off the line. You can bark the tires with about any motor if you shift a stick hard enough, but I doubt it'd be an issue on an automatic.

Well we will see what unfolds. I'm a little nervous about using my buddies DRs for the first time out as it adds more things to think about.

Thanks guys - One way or the other I hope I have some fun experiences to relay on Sunday evening.

Drag radials are a nice touch for any noob. Way easier to race on than street tires. Good luck!

Air em down to 18-20psi or so at the track and then pump them back up at the nearest gas station for the ride home. What brand? The websites usually will tell you a good pressure to start at depending on the weight of the car.

Don't be afraid to smoke em up, they're good for about 100+ runs or so.

Don't "flatfoot" that converter.
With street tires, smashing the throttle to the wood from idle will allow it to flash as high as it will go. Even a drag radial would have a hard time gripping 3000 stall on a so so prepped track. If the track is well prepped, that stall is enough to "possibly" break something.

Start small and work your way up.
Foot brake it up to about 1800 rpm, and smash it to the wood on the 3rd yellow. Then, experiment moving your launch rpm up (a couple hundred rpm at a time) to find the sweet spot the car likes.

I have found that running low tire pressure allows the tires sidewalls to cushion the shock. By lowering the pressure to 17-18 pounds, you trade contact patch for shock absorption. It works well for me.

A converter does not only give you gain from the launch, but allows you to keep the rpm's up on the shift, so there is gain there as well.

Regardless, have a good time, and experiment. Every car and combination are different, and only you can figure out what is best based on trial and error.

Always rememember to lift if you blow the tires away. If you have severe wheelspin, the run is useless for data.




Just my 2 cents.

Here is another really good tip many do not know about.
When you cross the finish line, your foot will be to the boards, naturally.
Your first urge will be to lift your foot quickly off the throttle, and begin to apply the brakes.
Resist that urge.
After crossing the finish line, slowly lift off the throttle, then gently begin to apply the brake.

Snapping the throttle shut, and smacking the brakes will change the position of the car (nose down), and could possibly let the oil sump run low or dry.
Motor goes boom, bad day for all.
I have seen many street cars waste the motor in the traps because of this, and they never knew why.
1/2 qt over full on a stock motor with a stock pan rarely has negative effects.

Alright, last tip of the day before I head to the local friday night drags.
I would not lighten the car.
Fill the tank to the top, and toss the floor mats in the hatch area.

Without consistant 60' times, your et's will be all over the place.

When I am breaking in a new combo,
I always work on traction and consistant lauches first.
Then shift points.
Once I achieve that, I go for the throat, and lighten the fuel load, spare tire, change in the ashtray etc.
With traction, less weight =better et and mph.
Without traction, less weight =shitty et and mph.

Oh, and the floor mats in the rear because I have seen them stick the throttle at top end. Unlikely, but why take a chance.
Toss the kitchen fire extinguisher in the car too. Better to have, and not need than to need and not have.

Long sleeve shirt and pants
helmet
shoe polish
Pen
window cleaner
and a tire gauge are a must too.
[IMG]http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s88/v-rodpete/bsd2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s88/v-rodpete/bsd1.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks Pete! I'd hate to smoke your converter!

Don, remember your insurance is invalid on a racetrack. Chances of any damage are nil, just something to be aware of. Go have fun.

Quote:

Lol, that filthy thing looks just like mine. Drag racing is fun, no matter how much you go, there's always something new to learn or improve on. I just wish there weren't 200 other cars there.

Make sure you're good for tech, battery should be secured, that's about all they'd check that you might fail on. At night they usually let me race with just the foglights on, but some have made me flip the headlights up.

I agree on the full tank, extra weight on the rear tires really helps. If you want to get carried away, you can disconnect the sway bar too. I've never brought shoe polish, usually just bum it off someone else if I need to change my dial in.

I always dial tight (high) for the first run so I can go all out. Plus in the first round you are more likely to go up against a less experienced racer. Any time you dial too soft and have to fender race at the finish, you aren't getting feedback to use for the next run.

Attach file:

---

  DSC01019.jpg (50.52 KB)


  DSC01017.jpg (24.06 KB)

Quote:

No worries about the converter. You are not going to hurt it. It can handle a bunch of power.

Another thing I notice noobs do is not know exactly where the finish line is, and sometimes let off too soon. Sounds dumb, but when in doubt, run it out. You can always take the last return road.

Is it better to shift manually or let the trans do it?
What about using that spray on traction stuff?

Quote:

It is better to let the car shift itself. Once you can get down the track consistanly, then you can play with shift points to determine what is best.
The tracks do use a spray on traction compound as part of their routine track prep. Typically, they use less for the street car events, compare to race day when there is cash purses.