Drag Strip: Leave spare tire?

[xtweakerx]

So what have you guys been doing?

Leaving the spare tire in the trunk or not?

 

[iskwezm]

I run with EVERYTHING in the car, so people dont give me excuses of taking weight off the car.

 

[kooldawg6]

I run with EVERYTHING in the car, so people dont give me excuses of taking weight off the car.

+1
When I ran, I still had my son's car seat in the car and 2 lawn chairs in the trunk. Who knows...with that stuff removed AND the spare, I might have ran a 13.300 instead of my best of 13.345... Removing just that little bit of weight from the rear may not help much. It may hurt in the fact of putting less weight on the drive wheels resulting in more traction loss. You'd be better off removing/moving weight rom the front(to the rear). Putting the battery in the trunk will help(some). These cars are nose heavy...removing weight from the back only amplifies that.

 

[xtweakerx]

yeah ive heard that before with these cars taking out the spare may hurt the time. ive only tried racing it without the spare, i think next time ill leave it in.

because im curious it may help my rear traction.

 

[bigcat]

my 60ft times have all been better with the spare removed.

 

[Hoboattacker]

I took out my spare, trunk carpet, and backseat and ran a 12.96. With all of it in the car I run consistent 13.1's-13.2's. It helps.

 

[Five Oh Brian]

yeah ive heard that before with these cars taking out the spare may hurt the time. ive only tried racing it without the spare, i think next time ill leave it in.

because im curious it may help my rear traction.

The less weight, the quicker your ET's. For every 100lbs you remove, you're improving about a tenth of a second in the 1/4 mile.

If you are having traction issues, the proper fix is a drag radial or slick - not adding more weight back in.

 

[TGJ]

I remove the spare so I can fit both my Drag Radials in the trunk. I don't have anything in the trunk when I go down the track. Losing 100 lbs is roughly a .1 faster in the 1/4.

 

[Five Oh Brian]

Also worth considering for weight savings at the track is fuel level. Premium gasoline weighs a little over 6 lbs per gallon. Running a 1/4 tank (roughly 4 gallons) versus a full tank (almost 16 gallons) save you 12 gallons which is about 75 lbs! Our local dragstrip has gas available to buy onsite, so I run as little fuel as possible and only add fuel when I need to. Remove the spare tire, jack, and rear seat bottom (no tools required, and only about 5 minutes work) for another 55-60 lbs. That's over 130 lbs of ballast out of the car, and a consistent tenth or two improvement in ET without adding any hp into the equation.

 

[Bones187]

I took out my spare, trunk carpet, and backseat and ran a 12.96. With all of it in the car I run consistent 13.1's-13.2's. It helps.

Nice times. Under 13 with spare out cool. How much gas in tank??