Going to the track tomorrow

Jake, do yourself and a favor and don't come home thinking "what if." Do everything you can to run as hard as possible on your first trip out. Ice the intake, pump up the front tires, cool the car as much as possible, put the pass seat all the way back (or yank it out completely), run with 1/4 or less of fuel, take all the unneeded crap out of the car (ie CD's, change, floor mats, whatever you can), take the spare and jack out, etc. HAVE FUN!

Oops, I had this thread up for a while and didn't see all the new post before I replied. ANyway, DEFINTELY do a smokey burnout NOW!!! Do it right now, don't wait. Let the tires then cool before you leave. These tires need heat cycling. I did this to my nitto's before my first outting on them and pulled 1.66 60'! That NEVER happens on a brand new tire, at least not in my experience. I'd run them at ~25-28 on the street, and I'd start at around 18lbs at the track. Keep in mind, these are not a slick and you may very well have to slip the clutch out of the hole to get them to hook properly depending on track conditions. BFG told me that they do not recommend a really long smokey burnout as the rubber tends to ball up and act as "ball bearings" hurting traction. I've never run them so I can't tell you based on my experience, I know a lot of guys have called BS on that though and say smoke the crap out of them.

Alter your shift points slightly, shift the 1-2 higher than the rest. I don't have time to look at your graph right now, so I don't remember what rpm your peaks were at, but I'd start at no less than 5900rpms. Depending on how many runs you think you may get, you might want to run the 1st pass shifting at 5800, then 6000, then 6100 or 6200 and see which on yields the best MPH and go from there. Anymore, I shift my car more on feel than anything, but I know from sound and feel where I'm at in the rpm band.

Stage as shallow as possible. When you roll up to the lights, pull up until you break the pre-stage beam only (the top lights will go on) then VERY SLOWLY inch forward until you just break the second set of beams. This will give you about a 6" head start before the timer starts as it doesn't start until your tire completely breaks the beam, so you get to start rolling before it knows you are.

Run the car as cold as possible. Run the heater on the return road and pop your hood as soon as you can. If there are multiple people in front of you in a lane, wait until they move up 2-3 cars before starting yours and then pull up and shut the car down. Don't let it run anymore than you have to. HEAT IS YOUR ENEMY, especially in our 94-95's.

Shift as fast as possible. I know this seems like a given, but MANY people shift like they have their grandmother in the seat next to them. You don't need to "beat it" just be smooth and quick. Get a good driving position where you don't have to reach for the steering wheel or shifter. I like to sit closer than normal to the steering wheel when I run, that way when I'm rwoing the gears I have my left are locked against the door and I don't get the "gear change sway" that many people do when they shift the gears.

Make sure you know where the finish line is. This too seems juvenile, but we were at a track once where the timing boards were set up at the 1/8th mile... our track has them at the 1/4. Well, with it being a new track and a new combo, my dad was letting off at the 1/8th mile and coasting through the 1/4. We couldn't understand how he was running 12.4's at 92mph... that is why!


Have fun... and DO A BURNOUT NOW!!! Do 2nd gear burnouts at the track BTW to get enough heat into the tires. Just put the car into 2nd, tach her up, and side step the clutch and throw your left foot quickly onto the brakes to hold the car still.

Jake, if you make a few passes and keep blowing off the tires, STOP. Stop and then make a pass leaving just as you would a stop light. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS. All too often people get so excited and want to run so hard that they try too hard, the car spins, and they come home unhappy and with mixed results because they didn't get one good pass in. If you do this, the ET won't be stellar, but it will give a close evaluation as to what the trap speed will be. It still won't be exact, but it will be closer than if you had to lift off the throttle, or spun through the first 3 gears.

Jake - I don't want this to come off the wrong way, so I'm trying to word it as precise as possible.

You can't go to the track fearing you'll break something. That thought will be in the back of your head during every pass and every second of your ET. Drive the car like you want to. If something breaks, it could have broken now or next time, but more than likely, it would have broken. I know it's much easier said than done. Don't be afraid to launch the car HARD if the tires will handle it, and don't be afraid to shift the car fast. As long as you lift, there won't be a problem. With how new your car is, I'm sure it could hold up to some powershifts too.

Like Paul said, just have fun.

Joe

P.S.- put that DS loop on I see in your second pic before you race too! Nice mach 1 in the garage... My dad used to own one.

I'm not even a 94-95 guy and I can't wait to see what you run. Good luck.

Well, what was the result? I have to go to work all day with my dad to make a few extra bucks to buy a new clutch... I was hoping to see/hear the results before I left. Hope all went well Jake!

ive been waiting for the results as well....his car put down so much power im very excited to see how it went the first time out....I'm not expecting to see like 12 flats his first time out, but im still curious....


Anthony

I think he's there all weekend so most likely no results till monday????

DAMN i was waiting tooooo