Drag Racing Basics

[Scrymerr]

Wow, this thread has been very helpful. Thank you. However I have one question about heat cycling drag radials/slicks in the water. I am running a 50 trim+ all supporting mods, and BF Goodrich drag radials. When heat cycling the DR, should I have the ebrake up, or is the pit deep enough to just keep me in? Secondly, can I use 2st gear for this, or would 1st gear just be better?

Thanks again,

 

[BOOstGhost]

Sup Dan, 1st gear w/ ebrake up is all you need just hold the burn out for about 3-5 seconds should be enough to make'em sticky, 2nd gear is for awesome burn outs

 

[Chromespyder]

for my first time draggin, i sat in the stands and watched at least 6 runs before i raced my car.

watch first(if you're a beginner) and try to get the timing of the lights embedded in your head. my old algebra teacher's husband raced in pro-street. she brought in a mini-christmas tree for the racing type of people. i had no idea how much that helped the first time i went draggin in my civic.

most trees are set up on a .500 baseline. the timing is usually the same. pre-stage, stage, 3,2,1, green. each light is on for exactly a second. as soon as the last light goes out, punch it. i believe my best reaction on a .500 base was .67, and on a 0.000 base, .3(i cant really remember, ilost the timeslip)

know exactly where your tires break loose(rpm wise) i usually sit at idle during pre-stage and stage. as soon as the first light lights,(w/ eclipse) i rev up to about 2-2.5 grand.(w/my old civic, 3 grand)

also, when heating your tires up(burnin) don't shoot over the stage lines. most(maybe all) tracks dont allow that on street cars. i saw a person in a truck(it was test-n-tune night) do it, and he wasn't allowed to race the rest of the night.(he was ejected from the track)

bracket racing(at dragway 42 in ohio) the tree was set-up completely different. pre-stage, stage, 1, green. all 3 amber lights light for 1 second then green.

and best of all, when a super modified muscle car rumbles up, smile and wave. be nice. talk with the domestic guys. don't be a stupid ricer and say that your car can beat a 454 monster.(talking crap doesn't prove anything, E/T's prove everything) dont set your expectations too high, you will be disappointed, or maybe not.

 

[Illicit TSi]

Courtesey Staging. DO NOT STAGE FULLY UNTIL YOUR OPPONENT HAS ALREADY PRE-STAGED. Just a bit of information that alot of first-timers don't understand and can aggravate more experienced racers. Jake

.. It is EXTREMELY annoying.I try not to fully stage and if I do I back off immediately.You can pre-stage before he/she does,but wait until they are prestaged to stage fully.Its just a Common courtesy.From the more experienced racers Point of View-The dont know who you are and if you have ever raced before or not.Its not being mean or anything,they just dont know you and dont know you are new.Also,If you are on Street Tires ,Please dont run in the "Groove" .This tears the track up.The Groove is the dead centor of the lane that the guys with slicks use,Street tire guys are SUPPOSED to use the right side so if you go thru the waterbox and dont or cant do the burn out to remove the water from the tires and any dirt that could be on them off.If they dont do this then the guys with slicks wont be able to get a good run in due to lack of traction or a tire wearing down prematurely or blowing out and causing a wreck(rarely happens).

Just my .02

 

[MarsaGSX]

Nice to read all of these experiences... but can anyone tell me what is wrong with me or my car.. my first run was much then 16s @85,5 ..with 2G awd.. I think stock 2G awd can run 14/15sec...
my mods are simple.. Fidanza flywheel, SBC3500clutch kit,MBC set at 16PSI,some port work on myni and O2housing,got Denso Iridium sparks,underdrive pulley(Megan racing..),custom made part of cat-back exhaust.
i received my new fuell pump walbro 255 (is not installed yet..)

tell me which time I can beat with my set up?? Or what Iam doing wrong..

when dragging.. i run my Engine around 4800-5300rpm´s ..let the clutch on...
(now Iam first.. I mean in 1st and second gears Iam first-faster... when shift 3rd gear.. they are faster then me..
shifting:
1st gear at red line..arond 7000-
2nd,3rdgear red line..6800-7000
4th- ? 85,5miles
shifting is okay..I mean without mystakes...

Iam boring of time 16seconds!!!
I can buy some hondass with V-tec engine.. is the same 16sec!
some ideas??

 

[dustyb]

iono, it sounds ridiculous, but how do you shift? me and my friend has nearly the exact same car and i'm a full second faster than he is, even in his own car. we switched cars and i still whooped his arse. driving technique

 

[MarsaGSX]

iono, it sounds ridiculous, but how do you shift? me and my friend has nearly the exact same car and i'm a full second faster than he is, even in his own car. we switched cars and i still whooped his arse. driving technique

Iam shifting good.. maybe better then good
How I wrote.. In 1st and 2nd gears Iam faster when shift 3rd ..oponents gets me...
max speed 90miles..

Yesterday I raced with BMW with 3,0i more then 250horses.. I had him.. until I shift 3rd..and When I had 6000-6500rpm´s on 3rd he gets me...

just tell me how you shift/how you drag(down this thread is my style..check it and tell me if I did any mystakes..
THX

 

[Turbo Demon]

Iam shifting good.. maybe better then good
How I wrote.. In 1st and 2nd gears Iam faster when shift 3rd ..oponents gets me...
max speed 90miles..

Yesterday I raced with BMW with 3,0i more then 250horses.. I had him.. until I shift 3rd..and When I had 6000-6500rpm´s on 3rd he gets me...

just tell me how you shift/how you drag(down this thread is my style..check it and tell me if I did any mystakes..
THX

For better times, try some bolt on mods. Read the thread on here..."First things first" and "The Bible"
You can add a lot of horses by adding the parts listed on stage 1. Sound like you did quite a few things on stage 2. Your car's gonna haul ass if you do that stuff.

 

[MarsaGSX]

I take out my T25 and tell you..my charger is dead shaft play..In/OUT..maybe 3mm!! up/down..not so bad.. This is my problem..I think.. I hit 16PSI at 3750rpm´s or so.. and at 4500rpm´s got 11PSI...

Now bought bullseye TO4E 50 trim... and whole support mods
FIC850,Walbro255,FPR,MafT setup -my Tuning tool.until I get funds for DSMlink,
custom3" O2 housing(external dump/internal gate) and whole 3"exhaust,Logic P. tubular mani,31*12*3" 3"In/Out FMIC and 3"Alu pipes,3"KaN ,3"custom Intake,Datalogger,SBR3500/Fidanza Flw.Underdrive pulley.. Hope to make over 350+AWHP on my AWD..
Iam affraid of my tuning/MafT setup and logger

Merry Xmas

 

[Shane2GSX]

What exactly is staging?

 

[Wufei]

What exactly is staging?

It's when you line up w/the other car at the tree. You creep forward until the first row of yellow lights shine, then a bit more until the 2nd row lights up. Then prepare to launch!

 

[nightspeed87]

maybe your engine isnt running as good as you think and you may have low compression or timing is being pulled back or something of the sort.

 

[compression]

I would like to add the different tree's

For instance on your normal test and tune you are likely to see your "sportsman tree" which means when both racers are fully staged you will see 3 amber lights flash one after another then a green.

Secondly we have a "pro tree" usually seen at big events which means when you are full staged you better be bouncing off your studder box because all 3 amber lights will flash at once then the green , this is where courtesy staging is almost neccesary

Finally we have the "bracket tree" this all depends on what you and your opponent dial in at.

Ill use myself as an example this past weekend at the sport compact nationals i was running a civic hatch dialed in at 13.99 and i was dialed in at 12.00 so when we were both full staged his lights would come down like a sportsman tree but only on his side and it would be 1.99 seconds before my lights would finally come down because our dial in times were 1.99 seconds apart, here is where reaction time and consistancy come into play , you must beat your oponent to the end of the track without breaking out or going faster then your dial in time , you want to be very close to your dial in time and cut a good light for bracket racing.

Last but not least i made a little video of all the different lights so you can visually see what im talking about, check back in a few minutes for the video

 

[compression]

Here is the video as i promised, once done optimizing it will be viewable for anybody.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/ed5df181-7fc2-41b2-8da3-9825000c08f5.htm

 

[1gjosh]

i would also like to add, if not mentioned allready, before you fully stage pump the clutch a couple of times and go through all of the gears, it kind of lines up all the synchro's and makes for easy shifting down the 1/4 because i notice alot of people miss that second gear

hope this helps some

josh

 

[crash89]

i would also like to add, if not mentioned allready, before you fully stage pump the clutch a couple of times and go through all of the gears, it kind of lines up all the synchro's and makes for easy shifting down the 1/4 because i notice alot of people miss that second gear

I was always told just 1st thru 3rd is best.

Im really wanting to get to the track soon. Like this weekend soon! Im tryin to find a buddy to go with, no luck yet. This thread has helped a lot tho. thanks everyone and hopefully ill see you guys there!

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Listen first timers. I come back with knowledge...
1) Do not expect a fast time yet.
2) When you are in your car and that cammed v8 is rumbling and you could feel it's vibration in your car and you CAN'T even hear your already loud exhaust inside your car, IGNORE IT. I mean ignore it like a bully, ignore it like it's std's or aids. Ignore it as if it's your ex wife( or husband for you ladies)
3) DO NOT care about the tree light. GET use to the track first. Set your car and get it ready to launch so you could feel how the track tarmac feels. Every track is different.
4) After you ran your first time you can then get the feel for the light thingy ma jig ga!
5) Hope you read every post on this thread before you got to this post.
My first time here!
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/socal-region-dsm/404040-going-track-famoso.html

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Refer to Number 3^^^. The time don't start till you car leaves the line. So ignore the light and set your rpm to your desire spot.
Oh and again. Hope you read all the previous post before you got here. It really helped me.