OK, the day is finally approaching. I am going to drag my car for the first time ever at Rockingham....about an hour from Charlotte.

There is a big event there this Sunday, I am I ready to enter the world of 1/4 mile racing!

Believe it or not, I've been modding cars off and on for 10 years, and have NEVER driven a car on a 1/4 mile track before. So I am a total newbie, and need to some REALLY basic advise on how to get some good times recorded....and of course...how to not look like an idiot doing it.

Any suggestions? Tire Pressure? burn-outs? What type of start? How do I stage up? I need all the details you folks can give me. Thanks! No detail is too small!

 

Start by airing down your tires if your running on streets...After that its all just relaxing and launching your car right. 3/4 of the race is in the first 60 ft. Your 60 ft times will make or break your ETs. Being that you have a TT prepare for a lot of wheel spin. If you are still running the stock clutch and flywheel take it easy when feathering the clutch on launch or you're going to smoke them REAL quick. Just relax and pretend your at a stop light. When the light goes green you dont HAVE to get out of the hole right away. Remember the time doesn't start until you cross the beam so being that its your first time take your time on the launch till you have it right. Forget the guy next to you. I personally prefer to stage as far back as possible. This gives you a little bit of room to get your tires moving before you cross the beam...Most important HAVE FUN!!!!! PS: Being that you are TT it would be a VERY good idea to pop your hood and cool down between runs. If you are going with friends get some dry ice to drop in your FMIC between runs if you have time...

 

Especially with high TQ cars , aka Viper , Cobras , TT Z .
Don't try to juggle clutch + brake + gas all together at launch, you'll just over spin and loose time. Use just your gas (staic) and clutch (modulated). If you want to pre-spool , use your emergency brake. "Find the proper launch RPM" , repeat , repeat. With your setup , prolly something between 2500 and 3500rpm. With RPM (throttle) fixed , use the clutch (feathering to launch and control wheel spin). This will help mucho.

Also avoid the water box at all cost on streets...

 

Also, I go around the water box, and unless you are running slicks, I would advise going around it. Once you are past it, stop the car, put it in 2nd gear, rev to about 5K and drop the clutch. This will cause a quick burnout and get any debris off your tires. You may go right past the light, but you can reverse. The tree will tell you where you are... and keep your windows down, so you can hear the track crew if they tell you to move forward or back up.

As far as your launch, do not rev past 2,500 no matter what. Your 60 ft will be 2.5 ig you do. If you can cut a 2.0 on the 60 ft, you are in the 12's easy. The key is the first 60 ft. And as said before, clutch and gas only, no brake. Good luck!

 

As a testament to gas and brake only , my workmate dropped .7s off his 60 ft times in his Viper. when he started , he was trying to transfer from brake to gas at launch. A little too much throttle especially, in a Viper just sits there an toasts the tires. He found that a launch at 2500rpm in the Viper (streets and stock) resulted in best and most repeatable 60ft times.

 

wow...great advise guys...thanks! So I should or should not use the e-brake? I am assuming that I shouldnt use it to load the turbos...especially since its my first time.

One other question I have. I feel I can probably get a good start using the technique you all discribed. But my problem is shifting into second. How should I modulate the clutch. On the street, when I do a fast hard shift into 2nd gear, I spin my tires all the way to redline in second gear, and the car gets kinda squirly. Should I try gently shifting into second, or even slipping the clutch in second?

Any help in getting a solid planted 2nd gear shift will help me greatly. Thanks!!

What time pressure would you recommend for Toyo T1-S's on 19 inch rims and 275/35's in the rear?

How about my EDFC settings? Should I go full stiff, or full soft in the rear?

 

I would assume that you would only want to fully spool your turbos if you were running slicks. As for 2nd gear , I would assume you , apply gas gradually as to not get sideway (VLSDs can pull off kilter when over powered) , nothing worse than contacting the wall with your new paint job. You prolly want to consider a real LSD at some point. The the Cusco RS is phat IMO.

 

I want an LSD that is totally streetable, and does click during low speed turns. Are most of them easily user adjustable?

 

Most require at least partial diss-assemby to re-adjust . The Nismo allows re-adjustment in place though.

With the RS set to default 60% and fat street tires , it can jerk on sharp slow turns but it should't be as extmreme as to drag the outside tire. A really good synthetic such as RP-max helps smooth things out also.

 

As far as traction...if you lower your tire pressure to around 20psi you will have much better grip. Forget what you know on the street. The track will/should offer much more grip if properly treated. I couldn't dream of flooring first gear on the street and I can get away with it almost every time at the track turning consistent 2.0-2.1 60ft times. Watch closely some other drivers how they stage and try to take someone with you who knows how to stage when you go the first time. It could save you sitting on the line looking confused. I once saw an inexperienced teenager stage his rear tires, and they made him back off the track. I laughed although I felt for him. Don't be that guy, he was in a Tiburon, you have a more sofisticated Z. Take some ice in a cooler to cool your plenum between runs. Use a towel as a water absorber for melted ice. Turn off a/c 10 minutes prior to arriving at the track, you car will drip otherwise, people will be pi$$ed. Use the whole cool down of the track, don't jam the brakes after the finish line. Turn off all accessories, radio/fans/radar/headlights, leave parking lights on as you must have a rear light to race. Run your car with less than a 1/4 tank of gas and buy 100 octane, 2-3 gallons at the track. If you car acts up during the run, don't try to push it to get a good time. There will be more chances. Save your times slips and get back to us with those ET's!!!!

Hope this helps, the first time is very exciting/nerve racking. Have fun and respect your car.

 

When I go to the track on my street tires (same as yours), I just leave it at whatever pressure I run in the street, 32 or whatever it is. I cut 2.0 flat 60's like that, even a 1.9 once when I had my Procharger installed. I've learned and had luck leaving the line fairly hard, like dump it at 3k-3500 and just go. Good luck.

 

Damn...reading these posts is making me nervous as shiiite!

Ravaz...how do you execute a good shift between first and 2nd. On the street, I spin my tires when shifting into second gear...all the way to redline! I dont wanna do that on the track.

Also, any idea if I should go full stiff or full soft on the rear suspension.

Also, can someone please explain "staging" and what exactly that entails? I know it involves the light tree...and creeping up to the line..but I dont know how exactly it works.

I feel like such a lamo!

 

When going from first to second, I just ease it in then I'll nail it, otherwise I go sideways. Obviously this isn't the best for your times, traps etc.. But on street tires, you can't expect much more. 12.3@118 isn't too bad.

 

GQ...seems like when Cheston tracked his SkiDaZZeL advised EDFC settings at / 16F...Zero R

link:
https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....995#post865995

Good luck...and have fun...

 

Yup, saw that thread..but seems counterintuitive. I thought the ideas was to maximize weight transfer to the rear tires. If so, then wouldnt the softest setting be better? But maybe on the softest setting, the suspension is bottoming out.

Does anyone else have experience draggin with Tein's with EDFC?

 

Sharif...

You're putting waaaay too much thought into this... just go out there and have fun, man!

I can tell you, you are definitely not going to be the only one there for the first time. After listening to a lot of commentary from those who have been to the Rock many times (some of the Z club guys have been a couple times, some have never been), here is what I have gleaned from their experience.

Tire Pressure - maybe not worth the trouble for this type of an event. You're not "racing" the guy in the next lane. Your just running your car. If you want to see how fast you can get your car down the strip, do it. If you want a realistic measure of how your car performs on the street, don't. I'll probably do a few runs before I decide whether to drop air or not.

2nd Gear - I feel your pain, brother! If I hit 2nd too hard, I get sideways! Very bad for a straightline race. I've found if I do something between a normal shift and an agressive shift to 2nd, I can get into it with very little, if any, spin. Also, for traction, you need to dump those Toyos... IMO the lighter weight does not make up for the lack of traction.

Launch - what everyone else has said... gas and clutch. No brake... no e-Brake. You'll need to figure out where you're best launch point is (and I probably will too!). On the street, I have pretty good luck with mid-2K launchs feathering in the clutch. However, sometimes I get too eager. I've found it easy to ease into first, get rolling, then hammer it... and still spin like crazy!

Accessories - Turn them all off... every bit of power helps

Windows - mixed bag here. You need them down to hear the staging crew, but you will actually run a little quicker with them up. Some may say it won't make much of a difference, but guys in our club can tell you first hand their times improved slightly just by making their run with the windows up.

That's about the sum of my knowledge... we're leaving from Monroe around 11am. Look for us at the dragstrip a little before 1pm. We can talk turkey there.

 

very good tips!

Maybe I will roll the windows half-way up.

 

I seem to recall why those with EDFC preffered stiffer rather than softer was that with a softer setting you can get nasty wheel hop.
Don't want that unless you need to justify a replacement LSD.

 

gq I cant tell you anything that hasnt already been covered, just wanted to say good luck @ the track-dont be dissapointed in yourself if you have a bad run and have fun. With that being said go easy into 2nd if you spin all the way through it, and close the passenger window all the way, just leave the drivers cracked like 1"---I find that is all I need to hear the track officials and hear my tires at the launch. Dont forget to fold your mirrors in for that extra trap! j/k cant hurt though.

If your running 9psi, Im calling 2.2 60ft 12.7 @ 114....let us know how it goes

 

OK, looks like I am all set. Lets have some fun!