[crappy_head]

I know I'm f'ing up at drag but I dont know if its the launch or what. My friends with mustangs are mostly stock and not in my HP range so they can really understand. They think I'm fast but I know my car can go faster. I need help in what I need to improve to get some good times. All I've been running lately is 1/8 mile

My best is
Reaction- 0.81827
60- 2.067
MPH- 83.44
1/8th- 8.86

and the best from last night is
Reaction- 0.76444
60- 2.267
330- 6.03945
MPH- 85.02
1/8th- 8.95263

Any help would be appreciated!

[B's04gt]

My guess would be some slicks and some drag set up suspension would be a major benefit for you!

[crappy_head]

yea. im on shitty nitto and i think i would benefit a lot on some drags, what would be a good price for drag and rims

[B's04gt]

I couldnt tell you, Hit up your local craigslist for some cheap used drags for starters.

[69fastback]

What's your elevation? Do you know the DA for those runs? Regardless of your ET, your trap speed should be faster with 400 at the tires. What do those cars weigh?

[crappy_head]

Elevation is zero
I dont know what is DA
and I dont know what the car weighs but it doesnt have anything out of the ordinary to add extra weight

[ReverendDexter]

I'm no drag racer, but I know a 2.0-2.2 60' time is not good.

What tires are you running? I know you said Nittos, but they make tires for everything from racing to rock crawling and daily driving. How old are they? How much pressure?

How are you coming off the line? What rpm? Slipping the clutch or dumping it? Are you getting wheelspin or bog? Are you doing any sort of burnout or rolling through the water box?

[crappy_head]

Im running Nitto 555R 315 and they are worn out and they were at 12psi

I RPM at 2k, dumping and yes i get wheelspin.

I do a decent burnout at the water box

[ReverendDexter]

Wheelspin is killing you.

What are your reasons for running at 12 psi (i.e. are you doing that because you have evidence that this is an ideal pressure, or because someone told you sometime that that's what you should do)? What size wheels are those 315s on?

Have you tried slipping the clutch instead of dumping it? Maybe starting at a lower rpm? What happens if you just "street launch" it instead of trying to do anything special for the drag strip?

I'm know with street tires you are NOT supposed to do a burnout nor drive through the water box, but I'm not sure if DRs still count as street tires where that's concerned. What happens when you drive around the water box and just do a quick spin to get the rocks out of your tires (i.e. not do a full-on burnout that heats your tires up)?

The short answer for all of this is that you need to focus on that 60'. I'd be trying to get it down to around 1.5 (which I think is pretty normal on DRs, but remember I'm a conehead, not a drag queen, lol).

[crappy_head]

Im on 12psi cuz thats what ppl tell me to put them. the tire is 315.35.17

Thanks for the ideas. Ill try them next week to see if I can improve my times

[ReverendDexter]

What width wheel, though, that's what I'm wondering. A 35-series tire needs more pressure than you're running, but if it's on two-narrow of a wheel (like a 9"), you drop pressure to make up for it.

[crappy_head]

10.5

[ReverendDexter]

I'd actually try bringing the pressure up some.

You've got a lot cut out for you at this point though - just change one thing at a time, and see how it affects that 60'. Enough experimentation and you'll get yourself dialed in

[crappy_head]

what would be a good number to start at for the pressure?

[ReverendDexter]

I'd just bring it up a couple psi, see what happens to that 60'. Do it again, check the results. Either it'll get better or it'll get worse (just do it a couple times to make sure that it really was the psi change that caused the result). If it gets better, keep going until it gets worse. Make smaller changes in the area of maximum gain to get further dialed in.

The trick is to try and keep all the other variables as similar as possible so they don't throw off your numbers. Don't change the psi AND change how you do (or don't do) your burnout as then you won't know which change made the effect.

[RZNCAIN]

Great advice RD

[BaznastyDave]

You gotta boil them Nitto DR's to get em hot to hook, I get high 1.7 60's on them on a 17 inch wheel. They don't hook till about my 3rd pass doing john force burnouts every pass lol

[AMChrisYoung]

OP, it's definitely your launching that is killing your times.

The Rev gave you some great advice already, so the only advice I'm going to give you is to get out there and practice!

Change one thing at a time(tire pressure or slipping/vs/dumping clutch or burning out less). If it doesn't work go back and start again. If it does, keep tweaking it until it stops getting better.

Drag racing, especially in a manual, is all about seat time, practice practice practice and learning what launch style is best for your setup.

[69fastback]

Regardless of the 60', the trap speed will stay consistent, and it's not trapping like a 400whp car.

DRs are not like slicks, and typically want anywhere from 16-20 psi to work right. It's still a radial tire, and too little psi will cause wheel hop. You want to run as much pressure as possible to make the tire work. Burn them in the box until get good smoke, then roll out. They like to be hot.

[69fastback]

Oh, and DA = density altitude