Need Advice

[jboogie]

Hey,

Me and a friend of mine are going to a track (definitely legal, and in no way street racing) to drag race. He has an automatic 2005 Nissan Sentra SE-R modified with Nismo exhaust system, Cam Shafts, Nismo Headers, and Nismo Cold Air Intake. I have a completely stock, manual 2005 Honda Accord Ex 4-cylinder. I know I am beat when it comes to horsepower since he says he has about 200 hp (even though I know its less since those mods alone probably will not gain that much hp and his car will not transfer power to his wheels at 100% efficiency) but I need advice on how to get a proper launch to keep up with him. I am sure I will not win, however, I do not want to be blown completely out of the race. Any advice on how to get the best launch? Me and him have raced once before on an empty parking lot(yes, we were dumb but he is getting on my nerves with his trashtalking), but it seems that my car kept up with his pretty well when I wasnt even flooring the throttle, though he wasnt either.

Any other type of advice you can give me will be appreciated.

Thank You

[turtlecrxsi]

Go on the third yellow right before the green. I've read that this will greatly improve your 60ft. etc. Don't bog the launch or go prematurely. Hold your revs at about 3-4k rpms (only you really know your own car) and slip the clutch. Don't dump it and floor it cuz if your car has any kind of power, you'll just spin your tires and you want to hook up. If you bog the launch in a Honda or spin out, you'll be dead in the water cuz most hondas don't have much torque/power in the lower rpms. Burnouts prior to your run is probably unnecessary unless you're running slicks. Try letting some air pressure out in the front tires so you'll hook up better.

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by turtlecrxsi

Go on the third yellow right before the green. I've read that this will greatly improve your 60ft. etc. .

You read wrong. Whoever wrote the book or article doesn't know what they're talking about. The reaction time doesn't have the slightest effect on the short time or any ET for that matter. The clocks don't start untill you break the beams. So it doesn't matter if you get a .000 or a 2.000, the ET is still going to be whatever it is going to be.

Now staging does effect the ET. Shallow stage and you'll run a hundredth or two faster. Deep stage and you'll run a hundredth or two slower.

As for advice, beat the guy on the tree. If neither of you have ever raced at a track, then chances are both of you will be terrible on the tree. Don't wait untill you see the green light. Leave as soon as you see the bottom yellow light flash. By the time your car reacts, you should have a pretty good reaction time, and odds are your friend is going to wait for the green to come on and so basically he'll wind up spotting you about 4 or 5 tenths on the tree, and unless his car is A LOT faster then yours, he'll never be able to overcome that and you'll beat him to the finish line, even with the slower ET. If his car is a lot faster then yours, then you'll never beat him in a heads up race.

And trust me, there's nothing worse then getting loaded up because you got beat on the lights, lol.

[jboogie]

thanks for the advice, i'll definitely listen and do more research. Once I'm off the line, and we're going, is it better to power shift or just shift as fast as I can without keeping my foot on the gas pedal? I mean this is important to me because I do want to win so i can shut my friend up, but at the same time, I love my car and dont want to do any permanent or major damage to my transmission just for one race.

[90redgt]

Don't worry about powershifting...you'll end up breaking something. just speed shift

[turtlecrxsi]

Originally Posted by chevytrucks92

You read wrong. Whoever wrote the book or article doesn't know what they're talking about. The reaction time doesn't have the slightest effect on the short time or any ET for that matter. The clocks don't start untill you break the beams. So it doesn't matter if you get a .000 or a 2.000, the ET is still going to be whatever it is going to be.

Now staging does effect the ET. Shallow stage and you'll run a hundredth or two faster. Deep stage and you'll run a hundredth or two slower.

As for advice, beat the guy on the tree. If neither of you have ever raced at a track, then chances are both of you will be terrible on the tree. Don't wait untill you see the green light. Leave as soon as you see the bottom yellow light flash. By the time your car reacts, you should have a pretty good reaction time, and odds are your friend is going to wait for the green to come on and so basically he'll wind up spotting you about 4 or 5 tenths on the tree, and unless his car is A LOT faster then yours, he'll never be able to overcome that and you'll beat him to the finish line, even with the slower ET. If his car is a lot faster then yours, then you'll never beat him in a heads up race.

And trust me, there's nothing worse then getting loaded up because you got beat on the lights, lol.

I stand corrected. Although, this is kind of what I meant. Thanks for straightening out my ill-advice.

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by turtlecrxsi

I stand corrected. Although, this is kind of what I meant. Thanks for straightening out my ill-advice.

Lol. Just remember its always to your advantage to get a good reaction time. That will always give ya the advantage on the big end, regardless if its a heads up or bracket race (especially if its a bracket race).

[AWP9521]

Originally Posted by mosislac

put in a slower dial in time so you get a bigger head start shit head

Uhh, hmm, ahh, ok yeah sandbag that's the way to do it, get a big lead then slam on the brakes at the finish line! Hope like hell you don't break out or get thrown off the premesis for "unsafe braking" because you skid a tire or the nose of the car makes a sudden dive!