drag racing tips

[SkylineObsession]

there also not much point doing a big burnout on most street tyres, it will very rarely improve your 60ft times and some tyres grip levels do strange things when overheated.

Yeah, on two of my runs at the Alexandra drag racing a few months back in the GTS i did a wee skid each time and it did nothing to my times, they were slower if anything.
My quickest time was with no skid, while racing an 800hp+ Skyline GT-R (for the fun of it - he'd been finished for a second by the time i passed the halfway mark :p).

But yeah, it takes practice to get your launches right, and surfaces do vary. I was a second slower at Alexandra (on an airport runway) than i was in Dunedin (on a public road). Maybe timing systems vary too...

[Lith]

Yeah, on two of my runs at the Alexandra drag racing a few months back in the GTS i did a wee burnout each time and it did nothing to my times, they were slower if anything.
My quickest time was with no burnout, while racing an 800hp+ Skyline GT-R (for the fun of it - he'd been finished for a second by the time i passed the halfway mark :p).

Interestingly enough - on street tyres I definitely got slightly better times when I did burnouts, maybe JUST enough to get a bit of smoke off the tyres. Were you running standard tyre pressure when you did this? Burnout raises the pressure a bit, so make sure you are considering what the resultant pressure will be.

I tried my first meet using some sticky not-so-street tyres (and the necessary getting my head around burnouts and tyre pressures) at the most recent meet I raced at and got one of those "Hey wanna race?" from a dude driving an 800+hp GTR line ups and agreed for rofls sake and got spanked but managed to keep him within sight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFY_ATLRGu8

But yeah, it takes practice to get your launches right, and surfaces do vary. I was a second slower at Alexandra (on an airport runway) than i was in Dunedin (on a public road). Maybe timing systems vary too..

The timing systems definitely shouldn't vary, I've definitely found different days even on the same strip can get different results - hotter/colder track and day etc etc can all come into it. I've had

[pc]

keep lowing the pressure each run till the tyre turns on the rim then pump it up a little.

what do you mean by that?
i was launching at 3-3500, letting the clutch out quick but not dropping it, it would spin for one and a half seconds or so.

Don't listen to him. A proper street radial wont like running low pressures.
You'll actually end up with less footprint than if you ran higher pressure.
By all means drop it down a little bit, but not to the extent it looks like a Drag slick hahaha.

I assumed some type of semi slick, but yeah many road tyres can be a mixed bag, what tyre is being run?

[SkylineObsession]

Never did anything to the pressures or anything, and changed it from a burnout to a skid - never done/tried a burnout (staying in one place with the wheels spinning).

I've got vids of my runs, but they not online yet.

[Lith]

If you do it again sometime, try the tyres at around 18psi with a bit of a burnout

[ch4ng]

currently have a set of "firenza st-08" which are a mid range street directional

definitely going racing again, it was so much fun!

lith: looks like you did alright

[pc]

Try different tyre pressures and see how the 60's go, lower pressure will probably be better.

[loose_unit]

I always ran my street tyres at 18 psi and did a short 1st gear burnout. Going to a circuit type semi slick took .4 sec off my time straight away.

[matt dunn]

I found I got almost a full second off my time between semi-slicks and road tyres.

Also found out the full circuit race slicks are about a second slower than road tyres as you just cant get them up to temp quick enough.

[B_giB]

I have always found dropping pressures gives you slower times on street tyres, same with big burnouts, only need to do a small skid to get the stones and dust from the tyres.

I only did big burnouts in my AE86 because I could, I did them in my AE101 untill I murdered my superstrut bushes, but once again, that was for fun

[Loudtoy]

Imho i wouldn't bother getting semi's or other untill you haven't managed to decrease your et for a couple of meets and you've done everything else you can (thats cheaper than semis) to go quicker anyhow. I used to run 17psi in the tires in a relatively standard ae101 silvertop and managed to do alright, traps were never overly high but managed to get down to a 1.7 60 as my best which i thought was pretty reasonable for open diff and standard road tires with low psi.
Probably the best gain was from the intake i had, 2 runs same day, same safc in (was only to measure intake pressure wasn't actually fully wired in or controling anything) gave me atmosphere with head light in and 1.7psi with it out and was probably even higher when i'd finished playing with it.

Oh yeah better say that the car i had was Ae101 silvertop
Best was 14.7 at 93mph (materton), and backed up with numerous 14.8's at both meremere and masterton

[MAGN1T]

I've never seen the point in doing burnouts with street tyres and a turbo. All it does is heatsoaks your intercooler. Maybe not an issue if you've got an oversize one.
Softer tyres means more drivetrain loss so even if you pick up a bit with the 60 foot you'll loose a bit with the MPH at the end.

Steve

[sergei]

It was very funny when I was on the strip in my 165, the marshal (or official/christmas tree operator/santa/whoever he was) was telling to do burnout, but I was shaking my head, and he was looking at me like I was a wierdo.

Then people were giving me surprised looks, that my grubby 165 (that looks like some old shitty FWD celica) did low 13s, with 4 wheel spinning in second gear .

[GTTpower]

It was very funny when I was on the strip in my 165, the marshal (or official/christmas tree operator/santa/whoever he was) was telling to do burnout, but I was shaking my head, and he was looking at me like I was a wierdo.

Haha im bound to get that when I eventually put the 85 down the strip.

[Quirky]

I've never seen the point in doing burnouts with street tyres and a turbo. All it does is heatsoaks your intercooler. Maybe not an issue if you've got an oversize one.
Softer tyres means more drivetrain loss so even if you pick up a bit with the 60 foot you'll loose a bit with the MPH at the end.

Steve

When your driving around the pitstop, theres dirt, mud and grass.
Best to do a very quick spin of the tyres to free them loose.

[THA SHZ]

I always ran my street tyres at 18 psi and did a short 1st gear burnout. Going to a circuit type semi slick took .4 sec off my time straight away.

yes but that wont help him if hes doing NIGHTSPEED , as its too dam cold and moist

[holden_fan2005]

I've never seen the point in doing burnouts with street tyres and a turbo. All it does is heatsoaks your intercooler. Maybe not an issue if you've got an oversize one.
Softer tyres means more drivetrain loss so even if you pick up a bit with the 60 foot you'll loose a bit with the MPH at the end.

Steve

When your driving around the pitstop, theres dirt, mud and grass.
Best to do a very quick spin of the tyres to free them loose.

I agree. It saves putting shit all over the track for other people too

[Lith]

I've never seen the point in doing burnouts with street tyres and a turbo. All it does is heatsoaks your intercooler. Maybe not an issue if you've got an oversize one.
Softer tyres means more drivetrain loss so even if you pick up a bit with the 60 foot you'll loose a bit with the MPH at the end.

Come on man, you've been around drag racing long enough (racing for far longer than me, seeing your car at Wineera drive is part of got me into imports!!!) to know the race can be won or lost in the 60ft - as much as I love a good mph, losing one or two to knock off a couple of tenths is a worthwhile compromise

I've definitely run quicker 1/4 miles with a little burnout at the start. What I (and I assume Looseunit) are referring to are essentially launching out of the water trap with far too many revs and not feathering the throttle - drying the tyres off, getting any crap stuck to them off and maybe warming them up slightly.

I avoid statics..... I might stay put for a couple of moments on drag tyres but thats just to get them spinning, then edge the car out of the water trap and make sure that I am spinning them on a dry clean surface. Statics in the watertrap are a trap for young players

[ch4ng]

hmmm i just realized that my front tyres where in the water where the marshal/santa/whatever stopped me, will remember to move out of there next time.

once i get fxgtrace's semislicks ill experiment with doing a burnout and not.
but at the end of the day i think i will end up doing a burnout

How else are you supposed to impress the honeyz if your cars slow?