...For the Maverick, and for me. Probably going this week for Test and Tune at the 1/4 mile track here in Memphis unless somebody talks me out of it. I have a few questions I'd like to ask of the veteran drag racers around here... First of all, the reason I haven't done this already a long time ago is I still have a stock 3.00 geared open diff. I figured there's no point in trying to race with that, but a friend who is one of those devil-on-your-shoulder types said I ought to just run like it is and get a baseline, then run again when I've upgraded the diff. So I ask, is there any point in trying to run with an open diff or am I just setting myself up to get laughed at? The car doesn't even think about hooking on the street, but then again the track is stickier than the street. But how much stickier? I know it's not magic... If I do run it, how should I launch it? How should I shift? Hell I don't even know how to stage, or what happens between the time cars disappear down at the end of the track and they show up again in the staging lanes. I know nothing. I'm an empty vessel, fill me with your sage wisdom... Car's specs are in my sig, mostly. Y'all take pity, nobody's born knowing this stuff... Or maybe I'm just defective... :16suspect
I dont know if I am considered a veteran drag racer but have been down the track a few times and am a member of the 1001 ways to lose a race club If you have a chance try to take a run down the track in a friends car, at least that way you will know the layout of the track, staging sequence and where the turnout is and such. Staging the car at the lights is always fun for the first time, a lot of people drive right by the staging lights and park at the tree, dont worry they will back you up 3.00 gears and one wheel peel you are just going to have to come out easy and get the car moving and pedal the car to the brink of breaking loose. Remember your there to have fun and see how and what the car will do so it will all be a learning experience. Even when you get the car set up with gears and traction problems eliminated it will still be a learning curve until you have made several trips down the track. Do not hesitate to lift off of the throttle, things can happen pretty fast
It would answer a lot of questions for me if I could ride with someone just once, but I'm pretty sure they don't allow passengers. Will have to find out... I assume I'm going to botch the hell out of the tree the first time, but my understanding is even if I screw that up it won't mess with my ET, just reaction time right? Any idea what to expect from tech? I know all tracks are different on that, guess I'll need to call them.
Well PLEASE, share with the class! How was the experience? What surprised you the most? What were you worried about that you shouldn't have been worried about, and what should you have worried more about?
Also, what sort of numbers should I expect? From the car, I mean. Let's assume it was driven by someone who knew what they were doing. If I knew what the car should be able to do, it would help me know whether or not I'm doing it right...
Is the track a NHRA certified track. Main thing they will want for tech is the battery tied down good, no bungy cords. Bolted in place. A catch can for radiator overflow, good seatbelts, long enough wheel studs so the you lug nuts show through them, 2 springs on your throttle cable, factory throttle cable counts as one. They sometimes check to see if the neutral safety switch is functional. If you run slicks you will need a drive shaft loop if you run traction bars you will some kind of method to keep the front of the traction bars from digging into the track in the event that bars break. If battery is in the trunk you will need a disconnect switch that is mounted in the rear and clearly labeled on/off. Most of the time if you are new to things they will let you go and tell you what you need, unless your car is really quick, like under 12sec then you may only get one run. As far as what the car is capable of doing, I have seen similar set ups run in the low to mid 12s, if I were you I would be happy with around low 13s and go from there
Thanks! Alright then, let's see. The track used to be an NHRA track, but it closed down for a while, got sold, and then reopened as an IHRA track. Battery's tied down fine and it's in the front. Catch can, check. Seatbelts are good. As for the wheel studs I'm really not sure about that. I have enclosed lug nuts, but so do a whole lot of factory cars. Think this might be a problem? I have one spring on my throttle cable but if that's an issue I can add another. And there is no neutral safety switch. Something I meant to deal with after I installed the shifter, but then I ended up needing to build an engine instead. Also have no reverse lights. No slicks, I will be running street tires. The front ones are a little bald on the sides from when my alignment was bad but it's not like they are showing cable or anything. No traction bars. Thanks. That is about the range I was expecting to hear, but of course all I've ever done is watch...
i went down the 1/4 my first time about a week and a half ago it was pretty cool remember just have fun
I had the same problem hooking up, both on the street and at the track, on street tires. Just spun and didn't go anywhere. One time at the track I had to let off at about 100' because it was getting too squirrly. I had Traction Loc 3.00 gears, 235 60 15 BFG Radial TAs, and a Broader Perf C4. It was an 1/8 mile track and I was in the high 8 sec ET first time out with way too much wheel spin. My buddy has a Trailblazer SS. It has a lot more weight and a lot more HP and he was kickin' my butt. Rather than trying to develop some launch skill and throttle back the launches to match the tires, I found a pair of 225 50 15 drag radials. (Also installed a 2400 stall converter, but for other reasons.) Needed to get the power to the track to keep up with the TB. The drag tires were over 2" shorter than the TAs, giving me the same effect as changing to a 3.23 (IIRC) rear end. Think the shorter DRs were a good idea. Traction is no longer a problem. Here's a video of one run with those improvements. Went back again and got more aggressive with the launch and got an ET of 8.2XX, which should be right near 13 flat in the 1/4, maybe just into the 12s. We didn't have a camera man on that trip. A thing to remember -- if you're just doing a timing run, who cares about reaction time. Your ET starts when the wheels break the light beam at the start and ends when you break the beam at the end. If you're racing your buddy in a TB SS, however, its everything. He whooped me in reaction time every time and I was able to run him down on 2 of 4 runs. My uneducated guess for you on street tires is about 14 sec. It will depend a lot on how much you can control wheel spin. Have fun and save your time slips.
sounds like your almost covered on the safety end of things. Might want to take a helmet. Some tracks require them regardless of e.t. . Dont do a burnout, and id run a full tank of fuel. And avoid the water in the burnout box. Get up on the converter but only slightly off idle and leave on the last yellow. Just release the brake and hold the throttle steady at this point and roll in the throttle. Gonna be a fine line on the traction end of things. If you want to get a little more serious you could remove the front sway bar also. Hope that was some help.
I also had the same questions about shift points first time out. Tried to get some guideance here but that didn't go so well. Looked around on the web and found two theories, both based on the HP curve from a chassis dyno run. Don't know if you have a dyno run. If you do, there are some online calculators that can give you an idea of where to start. Optimum shift points I suppose are best arrived at by trial at the track. Both theories had my shift points higher than I wanted to spin the engine. ET just isn't that important relative to driving home with a good engine. So I just go to 500 RPM below the max I'm comfortable with and shift there. If it runs a little past the target, no problem.
That may be the case with this track. What sort of helmet do I need to be trying to find? That is very helpful actually... What's the school of thought on the full tank of gas? Weight over the wheels? Should I leave my toolbox in the trunk too?
