So I've done plenty of roadcourse tracks on both bikes and recently in my car as well, but I have the opportunity to go to the drag strip. I've never been to a drag strip as a driver before so it's a new experience for me. Official, timed 1/4 mile and all.

Anyone have any newbie advice? I'm in a 6MT.

 

start out slow the first time... almost roll out of the box. Don't drop the clutch and hammer the gas, you'll spin and have axle hop. I think I ended up launching around 3k rpm.

It'll probably take you a number of runs to get comfortable, so relax, let the car cool once in a while, and good luck.

the 60' time is what you'll want to work on improving BTW. I think I ended up getting down to a 2.08 or 2.18 60', I can't remember exactly.

Also, I'd drop off the muffler, take out the spare tire and tools and go on a 1/4 tank of gas. Every lb. counts.

 

^^ what he said... + get some DR's and a remote control for your car... i weigh like 200lbs... so i never run the qtr mile with me in the car... James Bond ISHT FTW

 

First off, sorry for posting in the wrong forum... Had no idea a drag forum even existed. Heh.

I already knew about the gas and the spare tire. I don't want to go overboard on that type of stuff or I'd figure out how to remove the rear seat too. I just think it would be fun / nice to see what I can do... From my roadcourse stuff I know better than to drop & hammer, but wasn't sure what the best launch point was or if there's anything else I needed to keep in mind.

Thanks for the 60' reminder too. That's where the driver is measured as opposed to the car, right? (ie, more RT as opposed to HP/Torque?)

 

You said first time so I will give you very basic advice if you know this already dont take it as me insulting your intelligence this is stuff I never knew my first time. I would watch a few people get up to line prior to going for it myself. When approacing the line you will see a small cut out (or hole) in the island that is where the beam is located. As you get close roll up slowly watch the two groups of smaller yellow lights as you get closeone group of the yellow lights will light up this means you are real close....inch ahead(very slowly like a matter of inches) until the second group of yellow lights comes on you are now staged. As the lights start to go if you leave when the bottom yellow light comes on you will be good depending your reaction time some people leave on the second yellow light from the bottom...if you wait to see the green your r/t will suck. Burn outs: running street tires a big smokey burn out will only bring the oils in your tires to the surface. Just give the tires a small spin to remove any dirt dust or gravel you may have on your tires. Remember breath and relax it is embarrasing to miss a gear or stall the car take it easy and be sure your first run then get more aggressive as you get comfortable. Hope that helps good luck.

 

Had no idea about the hole. Thanks! I'm sure (I hope, HA!) that one of the guys I'm going with would've told me that, but it's more fun to know in advance and surprise them.

 

Also, the timer usually starts when you break the beam.... so just because the light turns green doesn't mean you're on the clock.

Take your time and launch the car well. Reaction time means next to nothing for a test and tune type dragstrip trip.

 

Rev up to 3000rpms and release the clutch just prior to the point is grabs. When it's time to go, release the clutch just enough to get a slow roll, then quickly start releasing the clutch while feeding the gas. You want to keep the rpms above 3000 so you don't bog. You also don't want to shred the tires either. You can't get greedy with the throttle until the top of 1st. On street, you've got to be patient especially at the strip where traction will be against you.

 

and dont expect youre clutch to last much longer, i got 13 passes and 20k miles on mine... and now its toast.

 

Well, I got there and it turned out what I was told was wrong. It wasn't an open event day and I didn't get to run. I was fairly angry , but that wasn't going to change anything so I calmed down and watched the rest of the guys run.

Got to see a Buick GN run a 9.479 and an alcohol dragster run a 4.988 at ~277 mph! There were lots of fast cars there (at least 20 under 10 seconds). I took a few pics, but I've been too lazy to upload 'em to my website yet. Maybe tonight.

 

I agree here...try to drop as much weight as possible. Remove the passenger sear and back seat as well as spare tire.

 

Damn. I wonder why these clutches are so damn weak in these cars? My VQ30 Maxima had around 250 1/4 mile passes on the stock clutch and the clutch was still rock solid with 113K miles when I sold it. My launches varied from 3500-5000rpms with a slight clutch slip (50 of which were on DRs) and hard shifts (no powershifting) into 2nd and 3rd. Never once did that clutch slip or even smell after hard driving. The car weighed around 2950lbs and made 205whp/200wtq.