Tips for the 1/4?

[Unir3]

I have been driving a manual for around a year, and I still have not gotten a chance to race. I recently got a 97 Maxima and sold my 86 station wagon, so now I am craving speed. Could someone give me tips on how to race in the 1/4 mile? I would also like to learn the proper way to shift between gears, without ruining my car when racing. Thank you.

[Ceasars Chariot]

one of the best things you can do is just drive the car and get used to her. check out your local dragway and hit test n tunes. I think that is going to be the best way for anyone to learn. Just go out and hit the track.

See what she will do. Then while you are getting a feel for things you can start a plan of attack (mods - technique and such) !

[mynismo]

launch at 2800........

shift very fast, push hard on gas

deep stage

go on third light

[BP2K2Max]

for track 1/4 mile i would launch at around where mynismo said cuz all the cars before you lay a nice sticky pad of rubber that'll make your car bog when you go to take off. on the street i would launch about 1K rpm lower, aroun 1800-2000 rpm.

[Caracicatriz]

How would you do this with an automatic without messing up the tranny?

[mynismo]

its called brake torquing/locking. all you do is hold down the brakes all the way, and slowly let on the gas (only do this with rwd, do NOT do this with the maxima or you'll have problems). you cannot brake torque with fwd cars.

not much you can do with the auto besides deep staging and making sure you're foot depresses the gas pedal completely. you may think you're doing it normal, but PUSH HARD.

and you can start in 1 drive, shift to 2nd, then to d. that almost always leads to faster times. and make sure your overdrive is off.

[carabuser]

Originally Posted by mynismo

(only do this with rwd, do NOT do this with the maxima or you'll have problems). you cannot brake torque with fwd cars.

what do you mean you can't do this with FWD??? I understand many people do that on their Maximas. At least a lot of people do that at maxima.org. Although Manual > autotragic

[BP2K2Max]

yeah, lotsa people do it on fwd. it's pretty bad for your tranny though you're giving power and trying to stop it all at the same time. it's probably not so bad if you keep the rpm below 3000 rpm so the torque convertor doesn't lock up while you're breaking. i'm not really sure though cuz i'm a lil foreign to automatics

[mynismo]

no one in a fwd auto should brake torque. it screws up your tranny. i know people do it, but its really not good for your car............. you can get away with it in a rwd car

i came across this when web browsing yesterday
http://www.therangerstation.com/dragracing.htm

good tips and definitions there



edit: that page is really good.... i knew that deep staging lowers your reaction time, but i didn't know that shallow staging lowers your 1/4mi times. learn something new every day.

[bk2kmax]

Originally Posted by mynismo

its called brake torquing/locking. all you do is hold down the brakes all the way, and slowly let on the gas (only do this with rwd, do NOT do this with the maxima or you'll have problems). you cannot brake torque with fwd cars.

not much you can do with the auto besides deep staging and making sure you're foot depresses the gas pedal completely. you may think you're doing it normal, but PUSH HARD.

and you can start in 1 drive, shift to 2nd, then to d. that almost always leads to faster times. and make sure your overdrive is off.

Yes, you can torque brake on the Maxima, I do it all the time and as long as you don't do it to where you tach is spinning above 2500 then you'll be fine.

Pretty much everything else mynismo said I agree with.

Especially taking the O/D off.

[thrasher]

if you want the best times in a manual, you HAVE to powershift. this always yields better times, though it is rough on your transmission. oh, take everything out of your car before you go, turn stereo and A/C off, and close the windows.

[BP2K2Max]

Originally Posted by thrasher

if you want the best times in a manual, you HAVE to powershift. this always yields better times, though it is rough on your transmission. oh, take everything out of your car before you go, turn stereo and A/C off, and close the windows.

by powershift you mean no clutch, right? that's what we refer to it as on our 4-wheelers.