I did write a how-to somewhere here how to rotate the mounts.. You have to use a lube to rotate them, Id reccomend dish soap.

 

Thanks for the information and support everyone! I'm going to spin those probably this weekend. Chris (SCC24540) has already done so, and said he actuallyhas a hard time keeping traction it helped off the line so much! so yeah, definitely some valuable information there.

Anyone else know of free mods for these cars? I mean besides unbolting everything under the sun for weight reduction.

Next test and tune day I'll probably go stock again, just have a buddy bring my tools. Get a stock run, and work on my R/T some. Then when I'm happy that it's not going to get any better, do the mount flip, and runsome more... then get rid of the sub system, spare, and other junk, and go again. Be a full day, but I think I could possiblyknock off2 tenths with the weight reduction and by flipping the mounts.

Again, nothing crazy, I'm not gonna go out and get a fire suit and a cage... just to see what can be done without dropping thousands of dollars into a number. Like there's a guy running this super aggressive whipple on his daily driver rustang... actually on the track he's afraid to use the fogger kit I saw installed... almost tried talking him into selling it. But he had the whole works, aftermarket ignition box... nitrous pressure controller... I mean there was at least a good 8 thousand into that engine alone. I mean.. spend a good 40K on a cobra.. only to spend another 8K on accessories..all to beschooled by a weekend racer that has maybe 12k into a 90's Camaro when all is said and done?

ahh well, I'll update y'all next Test and tune day.

 

Hey, Almost forgot to tell you. It's the Tri State Raceway near Earlville Iowa... It's like 60 miles from Waterloo, maybe 35 from Dubuque?

Here's their website:
http://www.tristateraceway.com/

Nice place, down to earth, don't expect you to be perfect.... allthough I can't say the same for some of the other racers... asking them to change lanes so you can run a buddy is like asking a politician to speak the truth... I swear they'd rathergive awaytheircar then have to run the "slow lane"

 

Why is everyone so concerned about the reaction times? They do not affect the ETs whatsoever.

Reaction times are only for bracket racing competitions, where you dial-in your time, and race the other, regardless of how fast they are... reaction times are all about running consistently, and racing as close to what you think you are going to run, aiming for a perfect reaction time.

Worry not about the reaction times...forget the tree, andworry about your launch.

When I used to run on street tires at the track, I always got down into 2.0s by following these steps:

1) DO NOT BURNOUT ON STREET TIRES
- Why? Because on street tires, when you heat them up, they lose traction... there's a higher chance of spinning off the line if you heat them up.
- At most tracks, when you are going up the lanes before reaching the launchpad, there's alot of gravel, dust, rocks and such... this doesn't help either, so what you do is go AROUND the water box, and as you go around, stop the car, keep it in D, put on your e-brake, turn off your trac control, and mash the gas pedal for a quick half second, just to spin them so they clean off the crap, let it roll up to the line. Keep it in D at all times... automatic trannies work better when left to shift on their own.

2) StageSHALLOWrather thanDEEP
- What this means: You know when you are lining up, and the guy is telling you to move up, or back up, so you are properly lined up? Well, those two stage lights are what says you are in the right spot to take off. There is actually some play in there, so when you take off, you can actually get moving up to 1-2mph before you trigger the timer to start your 1/4 mile run. When you are creeping up to get the first stage light lit, stop the car, and slowly let the car creep up inches at a time... when the second light lights up, STOP! You are staged shallow! That means when you take off, it will take a split second longer to trigger the timer, and you'll improve your 60' time, and ultimately, your ET.

3) Once staged, hold the brake, rev up between 1800-2200.
- Wait until the other guy is staged before doing this to save your drivetrain and brakes from punishment. When his two lights are lit, or if you stage after him, that's when you can hold the brake, and start revving up... hold the revs betweeen 1800 and 2200, and once you see the tree starting to light down, wait till the last yellow (or the green, since reactions don't matter now), and let off the brake, and give more throttle, but not more than 50%, if you are not spinning your times off the launch immediately, then keep giving more gas, gradually up to full throttle (take about a second for SC cars, and half a second for N/A cars)

4) keep the car straight, don't let it swerve at all... you can shave almost a 1/10th off your ET by keeping the car straight off the launch.

By doing this, you can gradually work your way up to the point before breaking traction, rather than trying to work your way down from spinning all the time to trying to "find" traction. I realize it's tough, because you have so much adrenaline pumping from that feeling of being on the track, and knowing you're going to run it up to near or over 100mph. I know I have that feeling, so before everything, keep PATIENCE in mind, and it will pay off on your 1/4 mile time.

You already have traction, keep pushing it until you have no more.

Good luck, and happy racing !

 

 

wish we had a quarter mile around northern NC somewhere, all we got are those danged 1/8 miles

 

Agree, wish we had a track around here, closet place from here is like an hour and half away and only 1/8 mile track. We do have a place where we measured out a 1/4 that we usally race, wide country road, no one uses. But a lot of the time it's if someone is next to you and the road is clear it's go time. Do wish had a place where could do it without the treat of cops.

 

Lav74 is right... RT has no effect on ET...However it's always goo to work on RT.

 

Thanks for the great info there! I didn't even try a burnout...but didn't feel the normal hopping effect I get when losing traction normally, so I think the "stickier" track probably helped.

I just want to get my R/T down to compare with the "regulars"... they're pulling an average of .250 or so... and here I am my best time a hair under .750

I think a little weight reduction... and flipping the mounts will really help on the 60 ft, and the R/T... Plus get getting used to it. Last Sunday was rough because on an Unlimited day like that there's so many cars... you'd wait in line for 20 minutes before finally get to the track... I had more fun just cleanin the car and bs-ing with other guys working on their cars.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence Space! I don't think it will be too hard... just expensive, lol. You should look around on the internet for tracks,never know what you'll find. Heck, even ask yourGrandpa, I mean if anyone would know, he probably would, and heshould be glad to hear that you wanna race...and even happier that youwant to do it on a track.

Honestly the only prep I did was taking the junk out of the car, and cleaning the interior. Most of the cars there hadn't been cleaned in weeks.... or years lmao! I mean, it's surprising how many ppl have cars that they only use for racing.. I think only 20% or less of the cars there would be considered a "streetable ride". Meaning something the owner would actually be comfortable with driving on the street... daily or even the "sunday driver". The first car I raced (also on my weakest run) was only 2.5 seconds quicker ET,was this 70's Impala with a couple of 3 foot wide slicks hidden in the ****-end, and then a massive4" diameter side exit exhaust that was deafening. I mean.. by looking at those massive slicks I would have thought I was dead.. but really we weren't that far apart, considering his is a heavily modified and mine being bone stock. (down to the meats)

You shouldn't need more than 1 hour to prepare, and maybe 5 hours for the event at best. It depend on what they expect, and the kind of event going on. Look for a test and tune day, or something very open (stock, heavily modified, sport/sub compacts, etc) You should plan 1 hour per run at an actual event like this. There wasn't any racing prizes. Just raffle, and then some door prizes.

But don't sell yourself short on time/funds because you're expecting it. I did this for a mere 60 $. 30$ event fee... 15$ worth of premium, 5$ for aauto-no touch wash, and 10$ for food/snacks. The whole day was only 10-3, a mere 5 hours (plus a ~ 45 minute drive)
If I hadn't spent the time cleaning my engine compartment and bs-ing with other racers I could have had 3 runs in by one.

I mean, the inspection guys didn't even ask me to pop the hood to see if the battery was bolted down. They saw a nice, new, bone-stock ride and figgure ehh... he's safe enough... lol. The only thing they checked was the fact that I actually HAD a helmet, didn't even check it to see if it was DOT/SNELL approved or anything... and they said nothing when I wasn't wearing it on the track. (wanted to at least TRY to hear if I was losing traction)

The ONE thing I would worry aboutor be sure to double check is the brakes. I mean I got up to 95 MPH... and my brakes seemed sluggish to slow her down from that speed. Luckily this track had another 1/4 mile after the timed quarter just to slow down.. and it was all paved too. I imagine my tires warmed up more by the slow down than they did by the actual running.

Oh, and if you're an adrenaline junkie... you'll love Drag racing. lav74 was DEAD on! I was high on adrenal-drippings until I left. Then I went home and took a nap...heh... I mean you should have seen me while I was waiting in the line for the tree... it's hard to suppress the inner urge to bumper car your way to the front of the line. Of course, most of thevehiclesweren't nice enough to care... but there was the occasional Vette, or Firebird there.


BTW, 06MCLTZ... that's a great looking ride there... White on the 06 and laters looks sooo much better with the painted rockers....