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First time to track looking for tips.

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gusu

10+ Year Contributor
1,949
32
Sep 9, 2009
Independence, Oregon
First off my profile is up to date, except I will be buying a Joe P inline boost controller before I go to the track.

This is what I'm planning for weight reduction. Keep in mind this all has to go back on
Passenger seat removal
Back seat removal
trunk carpeting removal
The hatch privacy thing
The spare tire is already gone

That's all I can think of for quick weight reduction.


Now for cooling and "ram air", I'm planning on a ghetto cowl with washers on the hood. I'm also thinking on removing the passenger head light and that metal piece behind it to allow for better air flow to the air filter.


For traction all I got is cheap H rated tires which I think will be good enough for my limited power. I don't have any idea what pressure I should run or if the front/back tires should be different or not. That's all I really can think of as far as traction goes.

For my launch, I've tried 5500 RPMs and 4500 RPMs honestly slipping the clutch at 4500 feels like a much faster and smoother launch where as the 5500 RPM launch chirps the tires then bogs. I'm not sure if I should feather it to try to build boost or not because I've never tried. Maybe I should try to use the e-brake to build boost?

I've also heard shifting from 1st to 2nd to 3rd then back to 2nd and then to 1st preps the syncros. Not sure if that's true or not. Anyone got any insight on this?


Finally I have to be honest, I have NEVER been taught how to drive a manual car and my upshifts are terrible but my downshifts and heel-toe is fine because I can actually find information on that. What can I do to not feel like I'm slipping the clutch too much or letting it out to fast? I think shifting will honestly be what kills my time.:hmm:


*edit* I decided to add a story to break up some of the boringness of another typical thread. How I learned how to drive manual was my friend letting me figure it out on his shadow which had a clutch that engaged VERY close to the firewall. So after about 5 minutes of driving and him giving me pretty much no advice we go on with our day. I buy a 91 civic DX four door a few days later, it was about a four hour drive. So my friend's decide to leave me there instead of at least riding with me to see if I'm doing anything wrong. Well every car I have had since (which is 3) has had a clutch that either engages about halfway out to 3/4 the way out.
 
I don't really have any tips but I am interested to see some tips :thumb:
 
I really don't think this is the correct place to talk about this.
Maybe you should've posted in the drag section or Hang out..

But ANYWAYS, You want to try to get most of the moisture off your tires before you launch.
Before you pull up to the stage lights, on the pad, smoke them.

That's for starters.. When shifting up on the track; power shift my friend ;)
 
I really don't think this is the correct place to talk about this.
Maybe you should've posted in the drag section or Hang out..

But ANYWAYS, You want to try to get most of the moisture off your tires before you launch.
Before you pull up to the stage lights, on the pad, smoke them.

That's for starters.. When shifting up on the track; power shift my friend ;)

Im not tottaly sure but I dont think you need to smoke your tires unless your using slicks a quick chirp would be fine for the tires, also dont leave when you see the green light leave on the last yellow!!!!
 
He has an AWD, how is he gonna smoke the tires? Lol

I have a car basically the same as you and what I have been doing is launching around 4k rpms and it seems to do pretty good, but I still can't below 2.0 60'. I have tried launching higher and lower and they are all slower so I don't know.

I'm shifting at 6k as the 14b will not make any power beyond that. Shifting you basically just have the clutch, shift, and get back on the throttle as fast as you can.

I ran pass after pass and my coolant temp never increased a bit but I did notice I had heat soak pretty bad so take some time between every few passes.

That's all I got for tips right now.
 
Im not tottaly sure but I dont think you need to smoke your tires unless your using slicks a quick chirp would be fine for the tires, also dont leave when you see the green light leave on the last yellow!!!!

Yea definitely not. Street tires get greasy and slick when heated up. At most just a quick peel to remove any dirt and debris that may be stuck to them. Some dr's dont even need to be heated.

Edit: nm hes awd. Avoid the water box if you can. Try and drive around it if theres room at the track. If your driving there, park and pop the hood, let her cool down before running it. Also the same between runs. A shitty heat soaked smic will pull timing hardcore.
 
He has an AWD, how is he gonna smoke the tires? Lol

I was thinking the same thing =P

Taking out the headlight would be a good idea. Especially if you are taking the time to take out the seats and are taking out the hatch cover that weighs like 4lbs. Taking out the passenger headlight and the metal plate behind that would benefit the most on the track.

Launch at the RPM range where you feel your car takes off the best at. Nobody knows the car better than yourself.

Experiment with the boost controller when you get it. Just don't do anything crazy.
 
He has an AWD, how is he gonna smoke the tires? Lol

I have a car basically the same as you and what I have been doing is launching around 4k rpms and it seems to do pretty good, but I still can't below 2.0 60'. I have tried launching higher and lower and they are all slower so I don't know.

I'm shifting at 6k as the 14b will not make any power beyond that. Shifting you basically just have the clutch, shift, and get back on the throttle as fast as you can.

I ran pass after pass and my coolant temp never increased a bit but I did notice I had heat soak pretty bad so take some time between every few passes.

That's all I got for tips right now.

I guess you've never seen an actually fast awd car. Many guys on slicks, will do a burnout. I've done it in my car and it helps quite a bit.

Leave on the last yellow
Bring ice
Bring a trailor
Don't miss any gears.

Best thing to do if you're not satisfied with your launch, go out on private property and practice. I had 20psi in all my tires (BFG radial) and didn't spin at all with a burnout. So just practice yours til you're satisfied.

Sent from my T-Mobile HTC HD2 using tapatalk
 
I guess you've never seen an actually fast awd car. Many guys on slicks, will do a burnout. I've done it in my car and it helps quite a bit.

Key word, fast on slicks. He's basically a stock car on street tires. Be relevant here.
 
First, stock or not, it can be done and I've done it in a completely stock car with ease.. This is nothing but relevant. As he said, he gets little wheel spin with a 5500rpm launch.. Right there, set limit to 5500, hit the water, burnout, sticky for the 60'. It's common sense.
 
Doing a burn out on street tires hurts you, it doesnt help you. With heat slicks become sticky, the opposite goes for street tires. Street tires become slick with heat so doing a burn out is pretty damn dumb.
 
When I got my first DSM, stock 95 talon with a MBC I wasn't able to do anyting more then chirp the tires. As for launching it sounds like your car is pretty much stock, I would launch arond 4k and slip the clutch. When I was expiermenting with it I noticed dumping it would cause the car to bog way down and it would have been faster not to have even bothered with the launch. With the stock t25 I launched at 4k and slipped the clutch and it seemed to pull pretty good off the line. As for its your first time I wouldn't bother with warming up the tires or any of that just get on the line, launch the best you can. When I shift I only push the clutch in as far as I have to and then its up to your to shift quick I also let it out as quick as I can. Some people like to power shift but I'm not the greatest at it and missing a gear would be way slower than shifting normal. Also when launching I would pull up the e-brake and hold the button let the clutch out till the drive train meshes this will give you a harder launch and lessen the chance of you breaking something. Let the clutch out and drop the e-brake simitaneously and if you do it right you will get a hell of a launch.

Enless you have a way to tune turning up the boost isn't the greatest idea. This will lean out the car and could cause nock resualting in potential problems. Also you probably won't see much gain without turning.
 
Thanks for starting this thread I'm planning to hit the racing tracks in a couple of weeks. It will be my first I hope to hang with the big boys. aiming mid 13s on my bone stock 1G with free mods. I dont plan on blowing up anything up so ill be conservative the whole time unless I end up with a bad 1/4 time.
 
There are already threads on this and there is some misinformation in this thread. DON'T attempt a burnout on street tires with a lightly modified awd car. Avoid the water box if possible. To launch, don't dump the clutch, slip it. Pull up on the e-brake to hold the car still while you preload the drivetrain (rev to your desired launch rpm and let out on the clutch just until it starts to grab and want to move forward). This is the safest method for a street car. You'll have to experiment with tire pressures on your own, but in general, I would lower all 4 a little bit. Just experiment until you get it right. If you're inexperienced, definitely don't power shift, just shift as fast as possible and focus on not missing a gear. Find out what kind of tree you'll be starting off of and get used to it beforehand. Other than that, have fun!
 
ok heres some things to consider that i think are helpful and important. work on your reaction time... which is the time it takes from the green light to light to when your car breaks the lane start sensor. it takes fractions of seconds for each event before you even technically start the race... it takes time off your elapsed time before you ever start. Watch the experienced people and when the car starts to jump and how long the last light has been on and try to antisapate the green. Cool your engine as much as possible between runs, talk to others at the track for advice and make friends, fill er' up with high octane, dont redlight (start before green), dont take it too seriously and get too nervous, practice, practice, practice and most of all... have fun! good luck man
 
I've ran my car down the track a few times (unfortunately i did not keep the time slip) but if you keep any washer fluid in your windshield washer fluid resevoir it helps to drain and/or remove it. (if you haven't already). I usually take everything that is loose out of the car also.
ie: center console change, pens, etc... and glove box: shades, cd's, etc..

I'm sure you'll be fine man, just practice.
 
There are already threads on this and there is some misinformation in this thread. DON'T attempt a burnout on street tires with a lightly modified awd car. Avoid the water box if possible. To launch, don't dump the clutch, slip it. Pull up on the e-brake to hold the car still while you preload the drivetrain (rev to your desired launch rpm and let out on the clutch just until it starts to grab and want to move forward). This is the safest method for a street car. You'll have to experiment with tire pressures on your own, but in general, I would lower all 4 a little bit. Just experiment until you get it right. If you're inexperienced, definitely don't power shift, just shift as fast as possible and focus on not missing a gear. Find out what kind of tree you'll be starting off of and get used to it beforehand. Other than that, have fun!

wow there is a lot of really bad info in this thread. Do what he said.

Also, since it's your first time out there, don't worry about your reaction time. Just go when you're ready. If wont effect your time and you will be able to focus on slipping the clutch rather than looking at the lights.
 
one thing i do is pretend its only you out there trying to run a decent time i launch at 5grand and shift as high as you can go effienctly and quickly as possible and keep it to the ground
 
wow there is a lot of really bad info in this thread. Do what he said.

Also, since it's your first time out there, don't worry about your reaction time. Just go when you're ready. If wont effect your time and you will be able to focus on slipping the clutch rather than looking at the lights.

That's also great advice.
 
First time at the track, i would do an easy launch, its going to be sticky and unforgiving, you can break stuff to easy there and i would so that just untill you get used to how much clutch and gas to give it.
 
ok heres some things to consider that i think are helpful and important. work on your reaction time... which is the time it takes from the green light to light to when your car breaks the lane start sensor. it takes fractions of seconds for each event before you even technically start the race... it takes time off your elapsed time before you ever start. Watch the experienced people and when the car starts to jump and how long the last light has been on and try to antisapate the green. Cool your engine as much as possible between runs, talk to others at the track for advice and make friends, fill er' up with high octane, dont redlight (start before green), dont take it too seriously and get too nervous, practice, practice, practice and most of all... have fun! good luck man

reaction time has absolutely zero to do with your elapsed time. I can sit at the light for 15 minutes and as long as i don't break the beams I'll still have the same time as if I pulled a perfect light.
 
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