I heading to track for first time and need some tips.

Hey Guys, as much as I hate sounding like a newbe I'm gonna act like one. Next Sunday I'm heading to the local drag strip for the my first time. This is going to sound really sad but I hardly have any idea what all goes on and I'm just looking for some basic pointers on what all I should be doing. My car is a '94 Integra GS-R. Totally stock, I'm just looking to get an idea of what its going to run right now. Its Bridgestone tires on stock rims. It's running stock suspension and height also... I haven't installed the springs and shocks to lower it yet. And don't worry, I'm not some rice boy that has no idea how to drive, I just never have drag raced. I'm more the autocross/twisty high speed hauling around corners heel tow shifting type. I'll be running a 1/4 tank of 92 octain gas, and I'll probably pull the spare tire and whatever else is fairly simple to pull out of the car on race day. It'll probably be about 50-60 degrees that day and sunny.

some of my questions are:
-pre race warm up... what should I do with the car.
-tire presure... should i lower it... to what psi??
-launch RPM
-shift RPM... and should i shift at differnt points for different gears.
-what should i get for a time?

thank you so much!

damn another person who loves crazy turns n twists n what not and hes all the way in wisconsin, hell if u end up in washington with your car (stock motor, suspention not stock) you should hit me up i know some really good curvy n twisty roads (not to mention with the ups n downs)

oh yeah by the way, id ont know about prerace whatever(i dont really care to do drag, but you should be somewhere (giving driving ability and other important factors) i believe about 13 to 14 give or take, but im shootin the moon with that guess

mid to high 15's i think...

sorry.. idon't have any tips for you. im the the same as you..never been to a track..just enjoy going fast, hittin the twisties and the up-downs. lots of fun.. but ya.. i looked up some stats and i think you should get somewhere inthe mid 15's

i'm one of those people who go out and hit a 15mph corner at 50mph. buwhahahaha. I've got so many great roads around here in wisconsin. yeah i was figuring that i would be getting mid 15's. Any GS-R people out there?

launch rpm id say a good place is between 3-3500 rpms, just a little wheelspin, and floor it, you should get traction pretty quick
- shift at 7900 every gear - i dont know what the trap is on a stock gsr but you redline 3rd at 90 - that been said, if you shift into fourth before the end of your run and you shift at redline every time - you just trapped above 90 mph!

- good luck bro, i wanna hit up a speedway soon

I just went out and played around on some back road. anyhow I was getting some violent wheel hop launching at 3k. So I figured I'd try taking some air out. Anyhow I lowered my tire presure to 25psi and I was able to launch at 3,800-4,000. I was watching my odometer for the heck of it and I was hitting 90-95 easy at about a 1/4. :naughty: Gotta love 45 degree dry air. I was smoking tires coming off the line for the first 15 feet. hahaha Now I can't wait to get to a track and see what I will run. Think I should be happy with a low to mid 15 or am I just dreaming?

low-mid 15 sounds right

-- yeah about that, i get violent wheel hop sometimes too but thats only if im spinning them too much

anyone live around boston and know of a good place to race? if you do let me know

just as everyone else said, mid to low 15's.

anyway, with you mentioning pulling your spare, most tracks make you empty out your car anyway (yes that includes your spare)..if you have hubcaps, they make you pull those too. anything loose in your car, they make you take it out. while you're at it, i'd go ahead and pull your rear and passenger seat.

good luck. :smokin:

you should at LEASE drop the tire pressure half...
run around mid 15 (nice weather)
drop it around 4200, (closer to vtec)
pre with a fatty burnout to soften those tires up too
and of course, have fun and don't panic
drop the clutch when there is one light left on the tree from green. don't think too much, but pay attention

drop your rear seat and launch a couple 100 rpm HIGHER on the track b/c it will be stickier than normal roads,

drop your rear seat and launch a couple 100 rpm HIGHER on the track b/c it will be stickier than normal roads,
first off go practice on back roads with have only half air pressure then when your at the track when you pre stage when most people burn out, this is a good time for you to practice your launch and if you peel out to much you know that you have to launch a little lower or vise versa then the biggest mistake for beginer drag racers is they think they have all the time in the world to stage when that stage light comes on you have to be ready to go, hurry and get your rpm's where they need to be and try going right before the green light comes on cause alot of beginers dont go tell after they see the green light and thats can easily give you a 1.000 or higher r/t time. so practice a feww launches when pre staging then once you get your launches down use your pre staging time to burn out and get your tires nice and warm to cetch the pavement easier and faster

What ever you do go around the bleach box(where the water is) Street tires should never be run through the bleach box, b/c the tread will hold water and cause tractio issues when launching the car. Even though you burned out the water will still stay in the tread.

anyone live around boston and know of a good place to race? if you do let me know
From Tewksbury, and New England Dragway is probably the closest around here.


http://www.newenglanddragway.com/

anyone live around boston and know of a good place to race? if you do let me know

From Tewksbury. New England Dragway is probably the closest around here.


http://www.newenglanddragway.com

well i gutted the car tonight, i'm heading down tomorrow morning to the track. I'll post some time slips up when i get back. thanks guys for all your help. man can't wait for tomorrow, its gonna be fun.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/93885time_slip.JPG


well i got a 15.1 @ 91 MPH.... not to happy with it, but it was my first time and i'm learning so i figure what the heck, it was fun.

dude, that's not bad at all. pretty good i think.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/93885time_slip.JPG


well i got a 15.1 @ 91 MPH.... not to happy with it, but it was my first time and i'm learning so i figure what the heck, it was fun.

That is about average for you car. You have no mods in your sig, so I am assuming it is stock?

yup she's bone stock. I had the tire presure at 20psi and i was launching at 5,000 rpm.

yo jake, nice run man! --- that was your first time at the track and you had a 2.43 60' time, just think, you shave that 60' time down and you could break 14's bone stock!

- btw what did you take out of your car when you gutted it?

good job representing the gsr's man

yo jake, nice run man! --- that was your first time at the track and you had a 2.43 60' time, just think, you shave that 60' time down and you could break 14's bone stock!

- btw what did you take out of your car when you gutted it?

good job representing the gsr's man


yeah i felt cool cuz I was one of the only one there with a gs-r. everyone had LS or ITR's. So what do you think about my reaction time of .667?

I had my back seat, passenger seat, floor mats, and spare tire out of the car, thats my gutting. lol

yah i know i need practice, I got knocked out of the first elimination by a CRX running a H22 with slicks... I dialed in at 15.0 that time, ran a 15.1 again and he ran a 15.0 like perfectly.... for some reason i didn't think it was to fair of a matchup... lol. he had a .02 reaction time also... lol. he was like a 1/8 mile out in front of me before i even got moving, and then hit his brakes so he stayed under and didn't break out. I watched him run a high 13 earlyer in the day. grrr oh well i was sorta frusterated about that, I was trying to drop the clutch like everyone was telling me on the last yellow, but i guess i just need practice.

the track costs $35... is that alot?

...the track costs $35... is that alot?

Man that is crazy. Here it is $10 to watch and $15 to race, so you can guess what most people do :icon16:

Man that is crazy. Here it is $10 to watch and $15 to race, so you can guess what most people do :icon16:


yah its $10 to watch and $35 to race. they had the place packed though, both with people watching and race cars. we had all 13 or 14 staging lanes full of cars.... just think about this... a block of imports 14 cars wide and about 600-700 feet long. it was nuts, i was there from 9am - 4pm and I raced 6 times.

http://www.rockfallsraceway.com/

I was in contact with the track last winter trying to convice them that they need to lower the cost somewhat so high schoolers can afford to keep it off the streets and bring them on the track, but no, what do they do? raise the cost 10 bucks... last summer I think it was $25 to race.

I am from Portland and race PIR.
Nice time you ended up with