I figured i’d post this since there seem to be a lot of questions coming up about car setup for the track. Add to the list as you feel necessary…
CAR SETUP:
1.Remove excess weight (spare tire, jack, stereo eqipment, rear seats)
-Theres tons of other stuff that could get their own forum here
2. Inflate your non-drive tires rock hard (reduces rolling resistance)
3. Wash and wax your car (dirt has weight and is not aerodynamic)
4. Clean your K+N or replace your air filter (freer flowing)
5. Put a bag of ice on the intake (double bag it so there isnt a mess on
your motor)
6. Increase your spark plug gap .010" (don’t overdue this!)
7. Go to a 1 heat range cooler plug (dissipates combustion heat faster)
8. RWD cars, unbolt or remove front sway bar (better weight transfer)
9. Run highest octane gas for a few weeks before the race (computer
won’t pull timing)
10. Only fill your tank maybe 1/4 full (less weight)
DRIVING
- DO NOT GO IN THE WATER WITH YOUR STREET TIRES!
- Don’t heat them up either, just a dry hop to burn any crap off of them
- Shallow stage for best E.T. (just barely trick the stage beam. This
allows your car a few inches of momentum before the E.T. clocks
actually start, thereby reducing your E.T. a tiny bit)
- Play with the air pressure on your drive tires to get the best traction
(what works for you on the street may not work at the track
you’ll have to experiment. I bring a portable air compressor with me)
I will start a new thread with not so easy weight loss tips for your car too.
I don’t think that bag of ice will do much good. with the heat of racing season (and the engine compartment…duh), you’re just asking for condensation to form in the intake.
water in the engine = bad
Yes condensation MAY form on the intake. And for the first 1…MAYBE 2 seconds that you start your car to go and line up it will exist in your intake. The air entering the intake tract at a paltry 1000 engine rpm (idle) will suck every last particle of water out before you even get your car into gear. 
That thing looks like it was left in the freezer for a few weeks or stuffed with dry ice. If you put 32 degree ice onto an intake it ABSOLUTELY CANNOT freeze (the key word being FREEZE) the metal around it! Water droplets may form, true. But, as I said before, as soon as you start your car the water will be sucked into and out of the motor within seconds. If you aren’t sure then give it a rev or 2 to be sure. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, used by thousands of people with SUCESS, period. If you feel uncomfortable doing it, then simply don’t do it. Maybe let everyone experiment for themselves and see? It only costs a buck.
I was merely trying to point out one of the ideas this part of race-day setup has spawned. No need to tear me a new one. yeesh.
Wash and wax your car? How much dirt and grime do you people have on your vehicles?!
That one maybe more of a psycological one than anything but imagine that you hadn’t washed your car in a few days headed to the track made 5 or so runs and your best E.T. at lancaster was 10.00. The whole rest of the week you’d be kicking yourself knowing that just maybe that bird stool on the roof cost you a hundredth.
hehehe…if it weren’t for the rain today, I could run a 17 in a quarter easily! But today was free-carwash day. lol
LoL look at my car!
That “icebox” on the intake piping, I thought about doing that, but wasn’t sure what the condensation forming INSIDE the tube would do.
With my little piss ant of an engine, I wouldn’t even risk it.
