Hey guys,

like the subject said I'm gonna be doing my first runs at the track tomorrow at Sears Point/Infineon raceway. Gonna bring my camera along with me and have my friend record my runs and I record his.
I've torn out the rear seat but not the back, trunk mats, spare tire, passenger mats, and plastic engine cover. Filled a couple of gallons of fuel over half full so that I'll be almost half way once I get to the track. I'm gonna pull the drop resistor once I get there. Should I pull the resistor while the car is on? I heard that I won't get an SES that way... I can't really think of anything else to do to possibly increase my times.
Any last minute suggestions or advice/words of encouragement? Sorry about all newb questions but I'm amped on getting the day off and spending a day at the races.

Peace.

 

1) Drop your front tire pressure to 25 psi, I ran my best times with lower than stock psi (32 psi) on my tires.

2) The less gas the better, fuel weighs 5-6 lbs a gallon, so having 2-3 gallons while there compared to a full tank is almost a 100 lb weight saving. This weight savings is significant.

3) Run your car as soon as possible, get right in line hot off the street/highway, this will most likely yield your best trap speed. Run your car two more times, and then let her cool down with engine off, hood up, for at least half hour to an hour. If you continue to run, your traps speeds will progressively become worse.

4) If you are an auto, brake torque to 1500-1700 rpm, and feather the throttle when launching. Otherwise, you will torquesteer and spin, and your 60' will be crappy. I hope you can get into the 2.2x's, this will for sure get you high 14's if your car is running well.

5) Avoid waterbox, if you think your fronts are wet, get up close to start line and burn out slightly to ensure tires are dry and then stage.

When you get up to the tree and you are staged, wait until you see the second set of amber lights pop up. This will all happen quickly, and you might be nervous, but when the second set of ambers illuminate, come off the brake, and simoultaneously go into throttle, if all goes well, you will get a good rt (although admittedly, doesn't affect your et) and you will come out of the hole good. If you are able to see the third set of ambers, oopsie, you're late...


Hope this helps and good luck.

Fernando

 

Thanks I'll try those things out.

 

You can pull the resistor while the car is on, shouldnt be a problem. I throw the code when I start the car for a 2nd time... so just plug it back in if ya hafta wait between runs. Far as the launch, I found that brake torquing to around 800-900 then rolling on the gas quickly worked best, if the track it fairly sticky. If you get no wheelslip the first run, brake torque to a higher RPM the next time and give it more gas faster. If ya get a lil wheelspin, it shouldnt make a big difference in times, least thats what I found. Good luck and have fun!

 

Are you sure about that?

 

I know is sounds hard to believe, but I always keep track of unusual things like that in my track log. I write down what rpm I brake torqued to, how well I hooked up, what lane I was in, my psi, things like these.

Everytime I've gone, my first or second run ALWAYS has yielded best trap of the day. My e.t.s always seem to get better, as Im able to experiment with psi and braketorque rpm and such. But for instance, if I do 4 consecutive runs in lets say 20 minutes, my traps invariably get slower. Only after a cool down will my traps spike back up.

 

ofcourse that will happen though, if you make 4 consecutive runs, your first run will be the fastest, then you'll gradually get a little slower because the car is getting hotter with each run.

When you go to the track, you should let your car cool off a bit before racing it right away like you said to do...

 

not to hijack the tread...but i have a similar question.

i have an auto and wasn't sure exactly how to drive it the first time i went to the track a few months ago. with an auto, should i start off the line in "D" (drive), in one of the lower gears, or what.

i did it starting in "1" and then shifting to "2" and then to "D"...not sure that that gave me the best results though.

any suggestions from those of you with auto trannys?