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My first drag run

4K views 95 replies 23 participants last post by  QTRHORSE 
#1 ·
So my first ever drag run was tonight. I had a .3008 reaction time and i ran a 14.62 at 97.70mph in the 1/4 mile. I have a new kick ass addiction! (even though i knew it was before i ever did it. lols
 
#8 ·
Congrats on popping that drag racing cherry. I'm so addicted I'm at the track every Sunday 12-5pm. Best advice right now is work on the launch and after that its smooth sailing
 
#14 ·
Damn, your reaction time is excellent. A little more practice, you will be in the 13s. Manuals can be a little tricky to launch.
 
#16 ·
Here ye be.



Manual transmission shifting help.

I'll pass along what I have learned over a few years.

Before 10 people say it after I post this, let me say as a warning that all these methods are for racing, not day to day driving, and yes, they are hard on your car. It's hard on the clutch, the transmission, the rear end, U joints, and the engine. And that's assuming you don't blow a shift, which can be catastrophic.

Launching.

Okay. The first thing in racing is the launch. This depends greatly on your car & how much power it makes, what gears you have, what tires you have, and how sticky the track is. Atmospheric conditions also play a part in how your car runs. So even when you find your car's sweet spot, what worked one week for you may need adjusting another week or at another track.

The best launch is one where there is no wheel spin. Wheel spin = less forward movement. Try dropping your clutch at 2500 rpm. If the engine bogs down, you need a higher rpm launch. If you light the tires up, you need a lower rpm launch. Work your way up and down in 100 rpm increments until you find your car's sweet spot.
Sometimes, particularly in cars with lots of power, or in cars with an open differential (non-posi), or on a shitty track surface, you find that no matter where you dump the clutch, you spin the tires too much. In this case, sometimes you have to sidestep, or slip the clutch on the launch. This means slowly letting the clutch out as you roll on to the throttle to launch as hard as you can but without spinning the tires.

Shifting.

The best result for racing is power shifting. It sounds easy in principle, but it takes concentration, as a blown shift can be disastrous, especially if you are running a car with no rev limiter.

To perform a power shift, you keep your right foot on the accelerator pedal during the shift. When it's time to shift, keep the accelerator wide open. With your left foot, you stab the clutch in one quick motion, down and up, moving the shifter to the next gear as your leg is descending & disengaging the clutch. The clutch is only disengaged for a split second, just enough for you to ram it in to the next gear.

How do you know at what rpm to make the power shift? Again, this depends on the car. The reason you power shift is the quicker shift helps keep the rpm up higher where the power is. So this is also a trial & error thing, and takes you getting to know your car. If you are driving a typical Mustang GT that makes it's peak horsepower around 5700 rpm, stab the clutch right at 5700 rpm. Pay attention. If you do it right, the rpm should jump up just shy of your rev limiter, and then when the clutch re-engages, your rpm will still be right where all the horsepower is. Sometimes you're better off making the shift a little sooner in the rpm range, sometimes a little higher. If you bounce it off the rev limiter, you've made the shift too late, or at too high an rpm. You have to work at it until you get the best result for your car.


p.s. breaking **** is cool. :D
 
#27 ·
In fact, here are my thoughts on auto Vs manual from a recent thread in the 99-04 section. lol





-----------------------
A badass automatic is awesome. If you've never driven one, you don't know what you're missing. And if you're a hardcore track guy, you cannot beat the consistency of an automatic versus a manual, especially as you go faster and faster. Unless you're one of those rare supreme gear bangers like me.

That being said. For the average Joe, driving the average decent street car....for me, personally...

I would never have an automatic muscle car again. The automatic is so boring to me. A manual makes me feel like I'm connected to the car; like I'm controlling every facet of what the car does. I forces me to pay attention more; to be into the car more, to listen to the car more, knowing, that when I make that perfect shift there is no better feeling in the world- and also that if I **** it up, I could seriously hurt the car.

So I've learned my car. I know how to power shift without looking at the tach. I know how to rev match any gear at any speed without looking at the speedometer or the tachometer. Because I can tell what my car is doing by listening to it, because driving a manual has almost made me become part of the car.

It just feels far more manly, far more cool, to row through the gears. Whether it's just some spirited normal driving, or hardcore power shifting up near the rev limiter, nothing feels more amazing than when that clutch reengages and the front of the car lifts up as the tires howl. There is nothing like dumping the clutch from a standstill, and working your foot to keep it off the rev limiter as you saw the wheel back and forth to keep it straight while you concentrate on the upcoming shift.

It's called having the ultimate connection to your car. Where you control everything the car does.




Or, you can put it in D and just drive.


Whee. After all, that way the power is the 24/7 fukkers. :shiftyeyes
 
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