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Racing Tips


89tracerman
09-15-2004, 11:13 PM
if you have any RACING TIPS you want to share with the rest of us

JekylandHyde
09-16-2004, 12:12 PM
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=230430

OCBCAddict
10-11-2004, 10:51 PM
Rev the car up to about 3000 RPMs, let go of the clutch until it starts to grab and wants to go and just wait for the light to turn green. I just know the basic stuff I dont think there's a lot of extra stuff you can learn with drag racing. It's mostly just working on your reaction time and your shifting

AWP9521
10-13-2004, 09:54 PM
To quote John Force: GO FAST! DON'T TURN! :)

Seriously though, OCBCAddict is right when it comes to working on the Reaction Time and Shift Points, CONSISTANTCY is the key, but I wouldn't let the clutch out til it starts to grab, all that will do is heat up the clutch and you will loose consistantcy because it's hot let alone cause a bunch of premature wear on the Friction Disk and hot spots on the Flywheel.

But I offer this, If you use a Manual Transmission Car, get a "Line Lock" to keep the car from moving at the line while you are staged with one foot on the clutch and the other on the gas, A Line Lock is a device that is plumbed into the front or rear brake line when the brakes are applied and you press a button (Usually mounted to the shifter handle) it energizes a solenoid that will hold the pressure on the brakes allowing you to release the brake pedal, when your ready to go rev the engine, pop the clutch, and release the button at the same time. Automatics can get by with the Brake Pedal, Brake torquing the engine (Applying the throttle slightly while holding the car with the brakes) can help get a better launch but do not do it until the first amber bulb lights on the Tree or you may overheat the Tranny. Always shift at the same RPM on each run so your consistant with the ET's at the track, If you want to experiment with different shift points to get a better time, go to a test n tune session to do that, DO NOT do that during time trials, you may not get enough runs to see if changing shift points will make you more consistant or not where at a test n tune session you can change the shifting point and do a few runs down each lane and evaluate the runs to see how consistant you and the car is.

Definitely work on getting the reaction times down, anything in the .500 - .520 range is considered a pretty good reaction (.500 or .000 at some tracks is a perfect light) to the Tree, if you "wait for the green" your snoozing! Each bulb sequence is .500 seconds long, so from the time the top amber bulb lights to the green light is 2 seconds, the reaction timer starts when the last amber bulb lights and stops when the front tire moves completely off of the starting line and the Staged Beam is no longer broken by the front tire. The average car can move between 8-10 inches on the line and still block the staging beam, when that beam is no longer blocked then the reaction timer quits and the race timer starts. The idea is to get the car moving during the last amber bulb but not too soon as to leave the line completely before the green bulb lights, this takes practice and lots of it, you also need to have a real good sense of timing to master this consistantly, if you do it enough times then you'll get the hang of it. Also Staging the vehicle the exact same way every time is the best way to get consistant on the reaction time. They say that the majority of all bracket races are won at the Starting Line, this is true in about 75% of all cases, which leads me to the next tip.

If you are way ahead of the other driver before the finish line, GET OUT OF THE THROTTLE and coast it out or apply the brakes if you have a really big lead (More than 1 or 2 car lengths) or you will loose your race due to a breakout for running quicker than your dial-in time. The idea is to stay "just" ahead of the other car at the finish line but not a run away win. Conversely if you are in eliminations and get a bye run or the other driver red lights (Foul Start) allways make a full power pass for the whole length of the track, I call that a "free time trial", You may find that as the day goes on the car might of gotten quicker and thus will be valuable information for dial-in changes on the next run, and don't go celebrating if the other driver does redlight, keep on doing what you are there for and make a consistant run, unless of course it was the final round and you won the bracket!

Traction is also very important, if you leave spinning the tires you will never get the car consistant as some runs you might get better grip sooner and others you may smoke them to oblivion, either way is not good. If you use Street tires, try to avoid doing a burnout, spin them a little bit to clean them off but don't do a "smokey one". Often times doing a burnout with street tires will actually make them less grippy on the track than if they were cold, some even may not grip on the rubber on the track but will grip better if you stage off of the rubber laid down on the track. If you got an old almost bald set of street tires use them instead as the lack of tread may actually get you better traction. Also if you spin them at the line, try lowering the air pressure in the tire 2 or 3 PSI at a time, this will make the sidewalls softer and help the tire plant better.

Cool downs are also important, most tracks will allow you ample time for cooling down your car between rounds, NEVER make back to back runs at the track during time trials and test n tune sessions. Ideally you want your engine temps to be pretty much the same for each run, if it is too cold, warm it up a little about 5 or 10 minutes before the run if the period between rounds go for a long time for sone reason (big car count or accident or oil down from somebody blowing an engine or tranny) by keeping the engine temp fairly the same on each run will keep the car consistant.

There's more but this post is getting long winded but as you can notice, the word "consistant" or variations of are used frequently, that is the key. Consistant at staging, leaving the line, shifting, traction, and even the temperature of your engine.

86MonteSS
10-19-2004, 04:45 PM
Everything you need is right there ^^^^ it also determends on how much power you have if you have a stock 15 or 16 second car try leaving when you feel the second amber has been on a while.....when i race i bump in just barely turning on the stage light and as soon as the 3rd amber is on i take off....i average low .5 times .505 to 5.30.....just take you car and keep testing on it until you find whats best for you.....also if your going the be bracket racing not heads up and automatic tran is much better than a manual...i would get a racing shifter to keep you from skipping gears...dont get a z-gate there shit....i use a pro-stick

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