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Rookie Advice

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I am going to 1/8 mi drag my stock Boss LS tomorrow night. I would appreciate some general advice, because I've never done this. I'll use Trac Key, and my wheels and tires are stock LS.
Should I be using Launch Control? If Yes at what RPM should I set it?
Should I be launching in second gear?
Should Traction Control be on or off?

Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but I want to do the car proud, and want to skip the huge mistakes off the bat.
 
Use launch control,2500 RPM to start and see how that goes. raise or lower the RPM depending on wheel spin or Bog. Traction control off, stay out of the water box. Do a couple of dry hops to clean the tires, launch in first. Don't red light. :) Experiment and have fun.
 
1,281
3
Tulsa, OK
Drop your tire pressure as well. Maybe start around 20 pounds or so? At least that's what I do with DRs.

Also don't just drop the clutch off the launch, think of it like leaving a stop light on the street but much quicker. You don't want to shock the tires too much or they will just spin and you won't get off the line quickly.

And definitely have fun :) The first few times will be a little stressful but you'll start to get the hang of it after a few runs.
 
I wish I had read Roadhouse's advice before the weekend, not after, but I did spin too much. Too much off the line with TC at 1500, and I had an insane amount of wheelspin in second, after a speed shift at 7,000+ rpm. Had the tires at 24lbs, and it may be that they just won't hook in the cooler Canadian air (around 72F) Felt like the track was ice. At best I was 9.1 sec in the 1/8 and at worst a 9.9. Truly awful. Kid in a 2013 GT automatic, with stock tires was 8.86. killed me.
 
1,281
3
Tulsa, OK
Fixy said:
I wish I had read Roadhouse's advice before the weekend, not after, but I did spin too much. Too much off the line with TC at 1500, and I had an insane amount of wheelspin in second, after a speed shift at 7,000+ rpm. Had the tires at 24lbs, and it may be that they just won't hook in the cooler Canadian air (around 72F) Felt like the track was ice. At best I was 9.1 sec in the 1/8 and at worst a 9.9. Truly awful. Kid in a 2013 GT automatic, with stock tires was 8.86. killed me.

Now you know for next time! Yeah I would drop the pressure more. Could be an issue with track prep as well. It's all about seat time, you'll get better with the car the more you get out there and beat on it.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
there is no benefit to dropping the pressure anything below 28psi in street tires. Street tires have stiff side walls so you are not increasing the contact patch you will be making it worse because the center of the tire goes inward when you are that low and it rolls onto the side wall.

Get a tire made for drag racing and running low pressure before you end up in the wall.

this is a good entry wheel tire package to use at the strip
http://www.brenspeed.com/silverdragpack.html

leave in first gear.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
Tires - lower tire pressure may very well be worse for two reasons. Losing traction from lack of grip means sitting and spinning while your opponent is accelerating. Also, if there is an increase in the rolling resistance of the tires, that is a parasitic drag. Every little bit counts when counting in tenths of a second or miles per hour.

When equipped with high performance low-profile tires which have stiff sidewalls, a common misconception is that if you lower the tire pressure significantly, you'll have more traction. This is because racing slicks use lower tire pressure to soften the sidewalls and increase the size of the contact patch. If the modern low-profile tires have structurally stiff sidewalls, less air will mean less contact patch in the center of the tire while the sidewalls maintain their stiffness. What is very important here is knowing how your tires respond to air pressure. Unless there is an established technique that is getting 60ft times below 2.0 seconds, try starting with pressure in the high 30s and work your way down. You may find a range that your car performs the best is far higher than those that are running 22psi in their low-profile 35 or 45 series high performance tires.

One last point regarding tires. The smoky burnouts look and sound fun, but do it for too long and a street tire can become slippery rather than sticky. A general rule used for non-drag radial street tires is do it just long enough to see smoke, then stop.

http://www.examiner.com/article/drag-racing-tips-for-your-street-car
 
This advice matches my experience as my best run at 9.1 was before I changed any tire pressure, so 32 psi. When I reduced it to 28-26-24, I had more wheel spin not less. I had to turn TC back on to have any sort of second gear. Regardless, it's new tires for me. I shouldn't be slower than a stock 5.0!
 
Fixy,

If you are somewhat serious about drag racing; and I don't mean that in any negative way; if you enjoy it and spend time doing it, then it is absolutely worth the extra cost of drag radials.

I'm running MT Street ET II's 315/35/19 they fit on the standard Boss wheel.

I went from being frustrated to winning first place in my class last week. I only mention this in this thread is to point out that with the street tires and me nursing a launch at 15-1700 rpms and still not getting enough traction to beating other 5.0's ,etc. to completely dominating the Stang GT's will all kinds of mods (not blowers) and drag radials.

since I only drive 400-500 miles per month, I just leave the DR's on the car and will put the Pirelli's on in Oct or Nov.

Much more pleasurable experience. Mickey Thompsons or Nitto NT05's.
 

unrealford

Mustang owner since 84
521
0
I run stock Pirellis at 25lbs, I launch at 2100 rpm WITHOUT track key.
I don't drop clutch, I smoothly release it as I step on gas.
My car is stock I run 1.82..60 fts and Run 7.97 in 1/8 mile and 12.24-12.3ss I average around 12.4-12.5s with 1.90 60fts.
ill provide videos and timeslips me running on stock tires

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4
 

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