Need some teaching

[wcoyne]

What rpm are you guys launching at and what kind of time should i be running at 105.6mph? I am new to having a manual trans car and drag racing. I have had jeeps and trucks until now except for the auto 350z i owned before the 2010 427r. I know that i need experience but just wanted some tips. I am running 14.12. I did beat a 2011 5.0 by 4/10ths and 2010 ss camaro by 2/10ths. The track i ran was Thunder Valley in Bristol, Tn. The cars bone stock with the dunlops.

[redfire427]

That's a tricky question to answer simply because there are so many variables. I am certainly no expert, but with a little practice, you should be in the high 12's or low 13's. My best lap ever was a 12.7' @ 114mph with a 2.0 60 foot. My car is not stock, however, I have seen guys with stock cars like yourself obtain similar numbers. Track prep, temperature, experience, shifting style, etc all play a key factor.
I have tried dumping the clutch at about 1500rpm and stepping into it, and also about 2500rpm and slipping the clutch. Traction is my problem with either method on street tires. Drop the rears to about 20 psi and only do a short burn-out to clean the tires. Apparently, street tires get very greasy with a full burn-out.

Have fun.

Carmen

[wcoyne]

I will try anything to get better. I've wondered if the track prep they do at Bristol for the guys running slicks in the modified class that runs in a top 10 shoot out which are 8 and 9 second cars doesn't hurt my traction on takeoff. There are a few cars which i'd think would be high 11 second cars like vipers and a few corvettes running mid 13's. I definetely don't have a great 60' 2.4 is my best. My father got a 2.1 60' with traction control on but i am beating him by 3/10ths and 2mph.

Thanks for your reply. I will try airing down and see what happens. I might have to get better tires.

[05 ROUSH RACER]

With street tires, you are probably only going to be able to roll out on the launch and then nail it, any hard launch on street tires is going up in smoke. I have an auto n/a, just exhaust, untuned intake, my best is 13.59 @ 101, so you can still run a decent time with street tires and a stock car..

[Deviltaz]

Carmen, I know your car has a little bit more done to it than mine but I had a chance to run my 427R on Darlington Drag strip during Mustang Week. It was super hot and I got on the track after driving over an hour to get there. It was in the neighborhood of 102 degrees. I ran what I thought was decent considering how hot it was. I ran 2.1 60, 8.4 1/8, and a 12.9 1/4 at 107 mph. I think if it had been a little cooler or if I let the car cool down first it may have turned in a better time. But I was satisfied with the results.

[GlennF]

You will need to slip the clutch and feather the throttle to get off the line without excessive wheel spin. Once you are moving well, roll into the throttle as the tires can take it without going up in smoke. You will need to find your optimum shift point too. Don't try revving it very high, a supercharged engine makes gobs of low end torque so there is no need to rev it to the moon. You MPH is sufficient to get you into the 12's with good driving. I was able to get a 12.99 @105 in my 05 Sport with LT headers, CAI and Diablosport tuner on stock 17" rubber.

[gtncpa]

Ha ha! I love to see old threads come back. I only went to the drag strip once. My best 1/4 was 13.1. My best 60 foot was 1.8. To do the 1.8 i dumped the clutch at 3700. The car hooked perfect on my Toyo 888's even though they are not designed to run on a drag strip.

A little bit more info ... my best qtr time did not coincide with my best 60' time. When I got 1.8 on the 60' I refused to bang it into 2nd gear and instead I got off the throttle. Guys at the track said I did not have the balls to get my car in the 12's. Well to be honest .. after watching guys break stuff ... they were right. A new 5.0 on drag radials did it in 12.3. He broke his tranny, damaged his clutch and some thing was clunking in the rear end. After his 12.3 run his comment to me was "You better step up to the Five Point Ohhhh" Well he trailered his car home and I left that track day unharmed and did 4 more road courses that summer. I still have the same clutch and my tranny and the rear is perfect.

I will say this ... it appears much harder to launch a car with gobs of HP.

[wcoyne]

I laughed when I seen this up again. I have only went one more time to the track and I ran a 13.4 but couldn't get traction with traction control off. Its hard for me to figure out how to launch with 40-60 others running.

[gtncpa]

Well my advice is go to a private rental. My local NY Mustang club held one at Atco in NJ. 25 cars. No crowds. No pressure. A buddy of mine with a 10 Sec Notch walked me threw it. Thru the water .. into the burn out box (make sure the traction control is off) up to the line.... and go! When the tree goes green you dont have to go. Get settled ... take a deep breath .. than go. It will still give you your 1/4 mile time. just disregard the reaction time. We were running one car at a time. One lane was for drag tires and slicks and one was for street tires. So there was no pressure to beat the guy next to me.

Be careful with the new Five Point Ohh... One guy on drag radials did lots of damage. I got in 10 passes. I could have gotten many more .. but that was more than enough.

[WVTrakPak]

Remember where you are, for those of you who do not know Bristol, it is uphill and high in elevation. I know when I used to drag race that I could not believe how hard my car pulled when I went to Rockingham compared to Bristol. great facility but do not worry about what your timeslips say, compare your care to similar cars in my opinion. If you wnat the timeslips schedule a weekend in Rockingham!

I did pull a 13:80 at 102 with my 07 GT and it had a tune and CAI and thats it. Outran several other GTs with more mods.